Miao Chu

Chapter 69: Lazy
The man took the paper in his hand and examined the entrances of various houses. When he saw the faded characters on the "Song Family Restaurant" sign, his beard trembled, and he looked very excited.

Seeing Song Miao standing at the door, he quickly stepped forward and asked, "May I ask, young lady, is this the Song Family Eatery at the end of Suanzao Alley, the one that sells 'Song Family Green Bean Paste Sticky Rice'?"

Song Miao was taken aback for a moment, then replied, "That's right, but I don't know what this is about, sir?"

The old man immediately smiled and said, "I'm here to find that stall owner, Ms. Song. Didn't she used to sell glutinous rice and shumai behind the Imperial Academy? My younger family members bought some and I tasted them. They were very delicious, but for some reason, I haven't seen her at her stall for the past two days."

"I just happened to be free today, so I decided to come by myself and see if I could buy a few portions to take home and eat!"

He then asked, "Does the young lady know if that stall owner, Mr. Song, is here?"

Song Miao smiled and pointed to herself, saying, "I'm the stall owner who sells mung bean paste glutinous rice."

The old man was taken aback and said, "So it's such a young girl."

But as soon as he finished speaking, he immediately asked, "Why haven't you been setting up your stall these past two days, young lady? Do I still have any sticky rice or shumai available for sale right now?"

"The old man is too late. All the food for today has been bought up, and there's nothing left," Song Miao said.

The old man was stunned for a moment, clearly incredulous. He looked at the sky and couldn't help but ask, "What time is it? I've arrived so early today, and there are still people ahead of me in line?"

Song Miao gave a brief explanation, saying that the food had been booked in advance, which was why there wasn't a single serving left.

"As expected, good things are always in high demand and competition." The old man sighed, then asked, "So how will we be able to eat them in the future?"

Song Miao smiled and said, "After the Imperial Academy's public examination is over and they start school properly, I will go back to the back of the food alley to set up my stall in the morning. It's rare that the old man likes it, so just ask the family to come and buy it. I will save a portion for you."

The old man looked like the sky was falling when he heard that they would have to wait until the students returned to school. He said, "Waiting for them to go back to school is taking too long. Can they come back tomorrow?"

"I can, but I have to set up my stall early in the morning, so I'm afraid I might not be able to catch it."

The old man said, "If we could arrange for someone to come halfway here within an hour..."

But he immediately rejected the idea, saying, "Forget it, if something happens along the way, it's not right to wait on either side, nor is it right not to wait."

Such an elderly man, so insistent on eating something he made himself, pleased Song Miao, the cook, but also felt a pang of sympathy. So she said, "If you don't mind, sir, I'm about to make breakfast too. Why don't you stay and sit for a while?"

The old man exclaimed in surprise, "Ah!" and said, "Isn't that a bit impolite? Won't it bother the young lady?"

But as he spoke, his legs moved like a horse's, as if he knew the way on his own. He had already followed along and stood by the door in a proper manner, waiting for Song Miao to push the cart in. He then diligently picked up the wooden mats on the ground.

After Song Miao parked the cart, the old man had already entered the house with the wooden mat in both hands and asked, "Young lady, where should we put this?"

Song Miao hurriedly stepped forward to take it, saying, "I'll take care of it!"

The old man stepped aside and said, "Who do you think you are! I used to ride horses and fight battles. Even though I'm a bit old now, I'm still much stronger than the average person! A mere board is nothing to me!"

No matter how much he boasted, the old man looked short and thin, with a slightly hunched back, and had nothing to do with the word "martial" in the traditional sense.

Afraid that he might hurt his back, Song Miao quickly stepped aside and pointed to the nearest spot.

The old man was quite particular. He neatly placed the wooden board against the corner, dusted off his hands, and admired the spot he had placed it with satisfaction before sitting down on the futon that Song Miao had brought.

Seeing that he had sat down, Song Miao asked, "Does the old man prefer sweet or savory food?"

“Anything is fine, I love it! When you’re a guest, you should do whatever the host says. There’s no such thing as being picky when you’re a guest. Just make whatever you originally wanted to make, young lady,” the old man said hurriedly.

Since he said that, Song Miao didn't ask any more questions and went straight to the stove.

When she used to have a stall in the food alley, students would always ask if she had any sweet food, and some would urge her to make those yellow steamed buns again.

However, making yellow steamed buns is really laborious, and the existing varieties have already taken up most of Song Miao's energy, so it's not really feasible to add this one.

However, the variety of food must be changed with the seasons.

Especially when the weather gets hot, glutinous rice and other soups are fine, but shumai is no longer so palatable. Firstly, it's a bit greasy, and secondly, bamboo shoots and shepherd's purse are only available for one season and then they're gone.

She was too busy and overwhelmed with other things lately, so she had to put things on hold for the time being.

As a result, when I set up my stall yesterday, many passersby came up to me asking if I had any sweet snacks.

Since Qin Zong bought everything today, saving her a lot of trouble, she decided to try making a new variety.

Since it's intended for a street stall, and it's a niche market, low cost and simple preparation are naturally the most important factors.

As for taste and appearance, those can be secondary.

Song Miao thought that perhaps she could try steamed snow cake.

This dish is sweet, made with simple and inexpensive ingredients. The flavor isn't particularly outstanding, but it's very palatable and is a common breakfast in the south.

But for some reason, Song Miao was rarely seen in the capital.

Snow-steamed cake is suitable for all ages. Even if students don't like it, they can take it to other places and sell it and it will sell out.

She had already ground the rice and glutinous rice into powder according to the amount she needed that morning. Now she added some water, sifted it twice, and saw that the steamer was already steaming. Too lazy to use any molds, she simply lined the bottom of the steamer with gauze, piled the sifted fine powder and the chopped brown sugar powder into three layers, and steamed it directly in the pot.

They make steamed snow cake there, but eating too much of it can dry out your throat, so you always need to have a drink or two with it.

Song Miaoteng took the initiative and started making soup.

Because Qin Zong said that his soups only contained white radish, there were some spare ribs left, and there was also a bowl of white radish and spare rib soup.

Song Miao originally planned to drink it all herself, but now that there's another person, it won't be enough.

She thought for a moment, then took a yam that Sun Lizheng had given her a few days ago, peeled and cut it into sections, and put it into a small pot along with the pork rib soup to stew together.

While Song Miao was working, the old man watched with great interest. After she finished, he smiled and said, "I can also start a fire. Young lady, why don't you step aside and let me watch the fire?"

He looked eager to try.

Thinking of the old man's boast of being "strong and powerful," Song Miao dared not believe it and quickly stopped him, saying, "It will be done soon, sir. You just need to sit for a while longer."

The old man was quite disappointed. He looked around and said, "Young stall owner, your room is too simple. A business should be more sophisticated. How about I write a 'May wealth and treasures come to you' for your main hall?"

He then boasted, "My horsemanship and archery skills may be ordinary, but my calligraphy is quite remarkable."

Song Miao smiled, pointed to the two stoves in front of her, and said, "Grandpa, you're joking. I have pots and stoves here, and there's a lot of oil and smoke every day. What calligraphy or painting can withstand such damage?"

"So what? I'll just write you another one when it gets dirty!" the old man said dismissively. "It's just that my calligraphy is only so-so, otherwise I could write you a signboard too!"

As he spoke, he suddenly became serious, tapping the bench in front of him with his knuckles, closing his eyes, shaking his head for a moment, then suddenly opening his eyes and saying, "I've got it! I'll write you something that's both vulgar and elegant..."

But before he could even utter his vulgar yet elegant inscription, Song Miao lifted the lid of the steamer, and a faint fragrance wafted out. The fragrance was a very simple and gentle rice aroma, mixed with a subtle hint of brown sugar.

The old man immediately stopped talking, having completely forgotten what he was about to say.

Song Miao didn't bother with a knife to cut it. Instead, she took a spatula, scooped a piece of steamed snow cake into a plate, put it on a pair of chopsticks, and placed it on the bench in front of the other person, saying, "Grandpa, could you please taste this for me first—is there too much or too little sugar?"

The old man immediately picked up his chopsticks, took a corner of the steamed snow cake, and put it in his mouth.

It's warm and has a very comforting aroma of rice.

The two types of rice are ground into an extremely fine powder, which makes the steamed rice exceptionally light, white as snow, very soft, fluffy but not crumbly, with a texture somewhat like thick willow catkins or heavy clouds before rain.

The aroma is very simple, without any hint of seasoning.

The rice itself has a slightly sweet taste. As you chew, that sweetness comes out. Just when you think it's a little bland, the next bite reveals brown sugar rolling into your mouth—it turns out that the steamed rice cake is made of two layers of glutinous rice flour with a layer of brown sugar sandwiched in between.

Brown sugar smells so good!
The brown sugar crumbs melted in the steam, releasing a strong sugary aroma that seeped into the rice cake, both upwards and downwards. However, the seepage wasn't deep, making the part of the steamed rice cake infused with brown sugar especially sweet and slightly firm. Sometimes, where more brown sugar was sprinkled, it would even have a molten, gooey texture when you bit into it.

The old man blew and blew, finished a scoop of steamed snow cake, and let out a long, comfortable sigh, even stretching his legs into a more comfortable position.

When he came to his senses, he saw Song Miao looking at him, and then he realized what was happening and hurriedly said, "Delicious! So delicious! Such comforting steamed cake! Grains really do nourish the body!"

Song Miao barely managed to stop herself from sighing as well, and could only ask, "Grandpa still hasn't told me—is it too sweet or too bland?"

The old man was taken aback, thought about it carefully, and said, "It seems just right, yet it also seems a little bland, but upon tasting it again, it seems sweet enough."

He muttered to himself, then hurriedly picked up the plate in front of him and handed it to Song Miao, saying, "Give me another piece, young lady. This time I'll definitely taste it carefully to see if there's too much or too little brown sugar!"

Song Miao had no choice but to give him another piece, which was much smaller. When she handed it over, she added, "It's rice, so make sure you're full. Don't overeat, Grandpa."

Looking at the soup pot again, it was indeed made with top-quality Rongxian yams. After cooking for a short while, they could be easily pierced with chopsticks.

She then served the old man another bowl of soup.

With radish and pork rib soup as the base, and yam added, the soup is undoubtedly very sweet and fragrant.

Yam is good for the spleen and stomach. Although it still has its shape, it is very soft and tender. You can melt it with your tongue and the back of your teeth. The ribs are also stewed until very tender. The meat flavor has been fully cooked into the soup. You can hardly taste the texture of the meat.

It was a soup that looked like nothing but was actually completely soft and mushy, which suited the old man's tooth, which was now only half intact.

He ate his breakfast very comfortably and didn't want to leave. He kept sighing, "This is the kind of life an old man like me should live! This is the kind of breakfast I should eat!"

Song Miao smiled and said, "If the old man likes it, please have your family come over early tomorrow."

She gave a time: "Just knock on the door, I'll probably not be out yet by then."

The old man hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I will come myself. The younger generation has been busy with the Imperial Academy exams these past two days and I'm afraid they won't be able to find the time to come."

“That’s too early.” Song Miao shook her head and advised, “It’s not like we’ll miss out on a meal or two. We can eat it when I go back to my stall in a couple of days.”

The old man was extremely conflicted, but finally said, "Fine, if I shirk my duty today, I'll probably be asked to look at that paper again tomorrow. I might not be able to avoid it then. If I can get away, I'll come to ask the young lady for food first thing in the morning. If not, I'll just have to wait a couple of days."

As he spoke, he took out two handfuls of copper coins from his sleeve pocket, didn't count them, and casually placed them on the bench. He laughed and said, "Thank you very much for your hospitality today, Mr. Song. My surname is Chen, and I've been teaching at the Imperial Academy. If you ever have any good food in the future, please don't forget this old man!"

Song Miao was stunned for a moment.

She had a preconceived notion that this person lived nearby and had a grandchild studying at the Imperial Academy, especially since she had just heard him say that "the younger generation is busy with the Imperial Academy exams." She never imagined that he was actually a teacher.

At that time, the teachers of the Imperial Academy were also called Doctors. The number of positions was very small. They had to teach the Upper, Lower and Inner Schools. Most of them would be selected from the young and strong, and older people were not common.

The old scholar in question looked to be over seventy years old and claimed to be surnamed Chen, which made Song Miao suspicious.

She couldn't help but ask, "Does the gentleman know a student of the Imperial Academy named Han Li?"

The old man was taken aback: "Are you speaking the truth?"

Seeing Song Miao nod, he immediately smiled and said, "Zhengyan is also my junior!"

Song Miao bowed and asked with a smile, "Then you must be Mr. Chen Yan, who served as tutor to two emperors and has countless students?"

Having just tasted the delicious food prepared by someone, and then being praised to his face, Master Chen felt a little dizzy, whether it was because the steamed snow cake was a bit too sweet or because he had eaten too much rice. He chuckled and said, "I don't deserve it, I don't deserve it!"

He laughed and scolded, "You cunning kid! When I asked him before, he said he didn't know you. He only got some good food because of that student named Cheng Zijian's kindness. I got a bite or two of the braised pork trotters and braised pork. Everything suited my old man's taste perfectly!"

"If I had known this would happen, why would I have bothered going through all that trouble? I would have just stated his name from the beginning. Wouldn't that have been much simpler?"

Song Miao smiled and said, "We've only known each other for two days."

She briefly recounted how they met, then added, "I was originally thinking of asking Mr. Han to introduce us, but now that you've come in person—I have a favor to ask, though it may be a bit presumptuous..."

Master Chen waved his hand repeatedly and said, "What's so presumptuous about it? I wouldn't be presumptuous even if I came to beg for food!"

Song Miao smiled and told her about her request to check the public records of the gambling den.

Here, Song Miaozheng asked Master Chen for help. In the teaching quarters of the Imperial Academy, several teachers gathered a group of students from the upper dormitory and said, "The task of grading the papers is entrusted to you."

The Imperial Academy's annual examination was only for students in the lower and inner dormitories. Students in the upper dormitories took a separate exam and were not included in the examination. Among the upper dormitories, those who achieved excellent results were inevitably called upon by the teachers to help grade their papers.

Today, I am grading the lower-level students' answers to the sutra questions.

The approval process started in the morning and continued until the afternoon, with the students in the upper dormitory only managing to eat a few bites of food in between.

Grading papers is a very tedious task, especially since the lower-level papers are all quite absurd. To these people, it's a waste of time, but they can't refuse.

Taking advantage of the husband's absence, everyone naturally complained.

However, while others complained about the poor answers to the test and the tediousness of the task, one person jokingly said, "You all just talk, but you're not as smart as some people who know how to shirk their responsibilities."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked over and saw that the speaker was Cai Xiu, one of the four.

"Who's slacking off?" someone asked.

Cai Xiu smiled, but did not name names directly. Instead, she said, "There is someone who has just received a transfer order. Can you guess who it is?"

Someone immediately answered, "It's Han Li!"

Cai Xiu laughed and said, "Zheng Yan is always so clever. Every time, he makes an excuse to slip away early. Over the years, who has ever seen him reviewing papers with us?"

Thank you so much, Qing Tang Niu Nan He, for the sachet! And thank you to my cat, Dan Dan, at the bookstore for the little gift! =3=
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(End of this chapter)