Miao Chu

Chapter 65 Greetings
Diao Zi was in a hurry to find Liu Er, while He Qi was busy dealing with the shrimp in front of him.

The shrimp, about half the length of a palm, has a bright red shell. Its tail is curled into a bow shape and covered in a thick, amber-colored sauce.

Wasabi is alright, refreshing and slightly spicy, with a relatively restrained spiciness, but the mustard seeds have a pungent smell.

Stir-frying it in a hot pan reduces the spiciness by most, leaving only the pungent aroma.

The sauce and shrimp oil had a unique aroma. He Qi couldn't bear to peel the shrimp directly and couldn't help but suck on the sauce on the shrimp first.

It's savory and slightly milky, with a hint of spiciness that's not overpowering but incredibly rich and complex.

The shrimp had been deveined and its backs opened, so He Qi was too lazy to peel them and simply used his teeth to remove the shells and eat the meat.

The shrimp meat was very thick and firm. Although this variety was strange and didn't have much of the fresh sweetness that live shrimp should have, the sauce had thoroughly infused it and coated it completely, which made up for it perfectly.

As you chew, the shrimp meat provides a satisfyingly chewy texture and a satisfyingly meaty bite. It has a very subtle sweetness from the fresh shrimp, and the sauce has the salty aroma of soy sauce, the rich flavor of shrimp roe and shrimp paste, the sweetness of honey and sugar, and a hint of garlic and the refreshing spiciness of wasabi seeds.

Towards the end, there's a lingering milky aroma—this is from the ring of milk that Song Miao added when she took the dish off the heat, to enhance the flavor.

The sauce smells so good! If the shrimp shells weren't so hard, He Qi would have even chewed up and swallowed the flavorful shells too!
He ate several in a row, not even having time to peel them, and just ate the meat haphazardly in his mouth.

He Qi was so focused on eating the wasabi shrimp with wasabi seeds that he completely forgot about the golden pea flower fried eggs that were served next to him.

While eating the fried eggs with golden pheasant flowers, Sister Zhu had long forgotten that there was a plate of shrimp next to her.

These dishes made with flowers are very beautiful and extremely appealing to children.

The broom flower is coated with a layer of egg liquid. After being lightly stir-fried, the egg liquid solidifies, and it looks like golden yellow and light yellow are wrapped together, with a very bright color.

Zhu Jie'er didn't use chopsticks, but a spoon.

A spoonful into the mouth, the egg is rich and fragrant, and the golden pheasant is tender and fresh. In particular, Song Miao uses flower buds, making it even more tender.

The floral scent is very pleasant, with a sweet aroma and a hint of honey.

The nectar doesn't taste overpowering; instead, it's sweet and fragrant, with the aroma of flowers and the scent of eggs.

As Zhu Jie ate, she felt that she had been completely immersed in the fragrance and nectar of the flowers, and that she was a real little flower fairy!

She took a few bites of the broom flower scrambled eggs and felt that the floral fragrance wasn't as strong as the first bite, so she quickly took another bite of porridge to cleanse her tongue and mouth before continuing to eat the broom flower scrambled eggs. In no time, the floral fragrance was enough again.

With a mouthful of porridge and a bite of goldenrod scrambled eggs, Zhu Jie'er played the fairy countless times, having a wonderful time.

He Qi ate quite a few shrimp in one go before suddenly realizing what was happening. He quickly peeled one for Zhu Jie'er, dipped it in sauce, and put it in her bowl, saying, "Zhu Jie'er, eat some shrimp."

After serving his sister a shrimp, He Qi didn't stop, busy peeling one for himself, praising "Stayer Song's skills are excellent!" and "This shrimp is so delicious!"

Hearing his praise, Zhu Jie hurriedly echoed it, exclaiming, "How delicious is the golden brocade scrambled eggs!" and "How can you cook so well, sister?" Unfortunately, she only had one mouth. After a few words of praise, she was busy eating shrimp and golden brocade scrambled eggs. While swallowing the delicious food, she would try to interject a few more words of praise, as she was too busy to speak.

Song Miao made half a bucket of shrimp, each about the length of an adult's palm, which was at least forty shrimp. The shrimp meat was thick and quite heavy even after the shells were removed, but the two of them, one big and one small, ate them all up, leaving only a few that they had ordered in advance.

After finishing their simple meal of porridge, Song Miao had already mentioned that she had other matters to attend to, so the brother and sister couldn't stay any longer. Led by the older brother, they reluctantly took their leave.

Before the people left, Song Miao wrote down the recipe for wasabi shrimp and gave it to He Qi. She then claimed that she had prepared the ingredients in advance and had someone take away the remaining half bucket of shrimp. However, she couldn't refuse their hospitality and was forced to leave seven or eight shrimp in a basin.

After receiving the shrimp for free, Song Miao then handed each of them a bamboo tube of rice cake.

Upon learning that the rice porridge was made by pounding rice into a very fine paste with a stone pestle and cooking it together with rock sugar and milk, and that it was a small dessert to eat and play with, Zhu Jie'er hugged it and refused to let go.

She kept making promises to Song Miao, saying that she wanted to come and play often in the future, and asked if that was okay.

Song Miao naturally agreed and smiled as she saw her onto the carriage.

While Zhu Jie'er was getting into the carriage, He Qi turned around, hesitated for a moment, and then took out a letter and handed it to Song Miao.

Song Miao took it and asked with some surprise, "What's this?"

“It’s a visiting card, from my elder brother.” He Qi became a little embarrassed. “I know that the Song family has some troubles and I can’t help them much, so I asked my elder brother for a visiting card.”

"If we really can't solve it in the end, we might as well take this invitation to the Kyoto Prefectural Government Office and find a judge surnamed Xie to see if he can help."

“If he can’t help, then come and tell me. I can ask someone else to think of another way. I wanted to come as soon as I got this invitation this morning, but I was afraid of bothering Mr. Song, so I left at noon. But if I hadn’t been delayed until now, I wouldn’t have been able to eat such good food!”

As He Qi spoke, perhaps thinking of the taste of wasabi shrimp with wasabi seeds, he couldn't help but laugh.

Although Song Miao did not know the specific identity of this "elder brother" of the He family, she heard that even He Qi said that "if it really cannot be resolved in the end," then she should take this visiting card to ask. She knew that this visiting card must be very rare, so she quickly thanked him.

He Qi waved his hand, and as he led the North and East branches to mount their horses and prepare to move forward, he said with a smile, "I've been freeloading for the past two days, and I was quite embarrassed, but I guess I've done my part!"

Only after watching the carriage and the riders disappear into the distance did Song Miao return to her room.

This time, as soon as the door was locked, the guards in the inner room and the back rushed out.

Seeing everyone, Song Miao was also very embarrassed and said, "I didn't expect it to take so long, and I've made you all hungry for so long."

The others were still a bit awkward and didn't dare to speak, but Sun, the village head, sighed and said, "Being hungry is one thing, but smelling such delicious aromas from outside, I'm afraid my stomach will growl out and the young master and girl will hear it and think there's a ghost somewhere!"

Song Miao had actually made preparations in advance, and at this moment she smiled and said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, the food that Young Master Qin asked someone to buy should be on its way by now. I'll also add a couple of side dishes for everyone, it will be ready soon."

***
The crowd chatted and laughed, while a few streets away, just past noon, Diao Zi hurriedly ran back to report to Liao the head of the household: "The Liu family said that Liu Er did not go back last night, but the yamen runners went to his house in the middle of the night, saying that there was an urgent matter in the storeroom."

"Most likely, those constables encountered him on the way and took him away, which is why there's still no news from his family."

Liao, the head of the household, felt something was amiss. He stopped using Diaozi and instead sent someone else to investigate.

News came quickly.

"Last night, Liu Er and his yamen summoned several people back, saying that the higher-ups wanted to check the files, but none of the people who were summoned back have shown up today."

Liao's quick reaction was remarkable, managing to climb out from the bottom of the crowd.

He immediately went to find an acquaintance.

The Kyoto government office was crowded and noisy, and they didn't try to hide the fact that Qin Jie had summoned people for questioning the day before.

He spent some money and soon received word of it.

—Liu Er made a mistake and was investigated.

Not only Liu Er, but Zhang Ji, who had often partnered with him over the past two years, was also investigated.

Although he couldn't find out exactly what the mistake was, the acquaintance deduced that it was mostly related to the house sale documents.

Upon learning of the situation, Liao the Elder immediately became vigilant.

Over the past year, he has accomplished a great deal through Liu Er's connections, amassing a fortune that cannot be counted on two hands.

However, forgery is a serious crime.

If Liu Er is arrested for something else, that would be fine. But if this really comes to light, he will most likely drag himself down with him in order to escape punishment.

If things go wrong, I might only get a beating, but if I'm sentenced to exile, who knows what will happen to my family's wealth when I return?

Liao, the head of the household, hadn't read many books. He didn't know how to write two of the four characters for "prepare for a rainy day," but he knew that one should never wait until the last minute to think of a solution, and that one should always be proactive in dealing with matters.

He first summoned everyone related to Song Dalang, asking about every detail. Only after learning that everything had been taken care of did he feel relieved. He then instructed the accountant to prepare this month's profit share and went home to have his wife bring out a set of jewelry that had just been made.

His wife was very reluctant and asked, "We bought it for three hundred strings of cash, and it hasn't even been warmed up at home yet. Are we going to give it away again?"

"I'll give you new ones in the future," Liao promised.

"It's not that I want these expensive jewelry. I'm just a country woman. I can use a wooden hairpin, I can use chopsticks, what can't I use?"

“But ever since you got this title of head of the household, you look glamorous on the outside, but you spend even more money. Money flows out like water. You send so many things to Master Wu all year round, but you don’t get much benefit for yourself. What’s the point?”

"In my opinion, it would have been better if we had worked honestly and earned some money back when the old boss was still around. Wouldn't that have been better than living in constant fear like this?"

His wife tried to persuade him for a long time, but Liao didn't take it to heart at all. He waved his hand impatiently and said, "You woman, you're all talk and no action, what do you know!"

He added, “If it weren’t for Master Wu behind me, could I have secured this position? What we gain today, we’ll have to give back tomorrow. Only by feeding him can we have anything to eat.”

After saying this, he picked up the box containing the jewelry and his share of the commission money, and hurriedly headed to the west of the city. When he arrived at the gatehouse, he sent someone in to announce his arrival, and he was called in almost without waiting.

He was led into the study.

Master Wu was plump, with a ruddy complexion, a full forehead, and flesh piled up on his face.

Although he was nearing sixty, he had few wrinkles on his face and looked kind and gentle. He was sitting there playing with a jade ring.

Upon seeing Master Liao, Master Wu didn't rush to acknowledge him. He glanced at the jade ring, then lowered his head and stroked it for a while before setting it aside. He then looked up and asked, "What's wrong this month? It's coming so early?"

"Recently, interest rates have been good everywhere. I was thinking that your daughter is about to have her full moon celebration, so I added 30% to the amount and sent it over. Although you may not care about this small amount, it is just a small token of my appreciation."

Manager Liao took out the interest money and jewelry, placed them on the table, and opened them one by one, saying, "There is also a newly made headdress for the young lady to play with."

The sight of the overflowing silver ingots and the gold-plated ornaments worth three hundred strings of cash made Master Wu nod in approval. He said, "You're a capable person. I don't need to say anything more. Just do a good job!"

He sighed again and said, "At my age, I don't know which ancestral grave I've neglected, because I still have no descendants to offer incense."

Liao, the head of the household, hurriedly said, "Master is indeed full of vigor and vitality. It's all because those women are useless. If we take in a few more, we'll surely have a son to carry on the family line."

“It’s not easy to take a concubine these days; truly beautiful women are hard to find,” Master Wu shook his head.

As he spoke, he suddenly seemed to remember something and asked, "That young lady you mentioned last time, the one surnamed Song, I thought she was quite pretty. It's already past the first month of the lunar year, and her family's funeral should have been over long ago. Why haven't you sent her over yet?"

Liao, the head of the household, exclaimed "Ah!" and then recounted how Song Miao refused to agree, how the village head was disloyal, and how the young lady had set up a stall with a cart at the entrance of the Imperial Academy. Finally, he said, "The student is difficult to deal with. I'm afraid of causing a commotion, so I'll have to take it slowly."

He added, "It won't be long, just a little while. I'll definitely send it to you after the Cold Food Festival."

Upon hearing that the matter involved students, including some from the Imperial Academy, Master Wu's expression darkened. He said, "I remember there's a brothel nearby. You'd better not let the students get involved, lest it cause trouble."

He sneered again, "This woman, her whole family is dead, I don't know where she got this temper from. Don't just wait around, hurry up and do it, I want to taste what she's like."

Manager Liao quickly agreed, then cautiously added, "There's another matter. Many of the premises I handled were acquired through connections, but it seems that the person who handled them has run into trouble."

He recounted Liu Er's story, then added, "I'm not afraid of anything else, but I'm worried that the capital's government will trace it back to me. I don't care if I get a beating or go to jail, but if it affects my business..."

Upon hearing that it was the Kyoto Prefectural Government Office, Master Wu didn't take it seriously and said, "I'll just have someone say hello to them."

He added, "Keep an eye on the place, don't ruin the business, and also that woman..."

"Don't worry, sir, I'll figure something out right away. If she really refuses, I'll even tie her up and bring her here for you!" Master Liao laughed. "Once the deed is done, there won't be any more anger or resentment. She might even thank me for bringing her to your house to enjoy a life of luxury!"

Thank you to the bookstore and my cat, Egg, for gifting me a typing aid and two small tokens =3=
Thank you so much, Furuan from the bookstore, for gifting me this amazing writing tool! It's a small token of my appreciation. ^_^
Many thanks to Ms. Ultraman from the bookstore and book friend 20230430918494 for each of the two small gifts they sent me~
Many thanks to the four lucky charms from the madman at Qidian.com for sending me! :)


(End of this chapter)