Miao Chu

Chapter 81 Wrong
After bidding farewell to the constable and glancing at the sky, Song Miao simply pushed her cart directly into the market to buy things, just like the day before.

Compared to the two food alleys, Xunpu was much farther from Songjia Restaurant. In addition, she was stopped by customers along the way, so she had to stop and go. By the time she finished eating all the food, it was almost an hour later than usual.

Sweet fermented rice and steamed snow cake are selling very quickly today. The former is suitable for all ages, while the latter is especially popular with women and children.

Several customers tasted the flavor and went home to bring back bowls to buy the original sweet fermented rice, intending to use it to make tea.

Although these two foods are not expensive, the cost is reasonable. If more people buy raw food in the future, she can bring less bamboo tubes and won't need to add water, making the cart even lighter.

Now there are more and more kinds of dishes, and several soups and broths have been added. The journey is still long, and even with her youth, Song Miao is finding it difficult to push the cart. After a morning, her back aches and she is exhausted.

She originally planned to split into two groups in the morning: the first group would go to the food alley, and the second group would go outside to find a place to sell steamed snow cake and sweet fermented rice. Since the students had to go to class early, it wouldn't delay the business later.

But after trying it today, I realized that manpower is indeed limited. One or two days is fine, but if it's like this every day, it's simply not enough to keep up, and we can't withstand such exhaustion.

Since arriving, Song Miao has been feeling unwell due to the debt. She can't earn the money she has because she lacks the strength and time. All she can do is sigh and think about how to make the most of her limited resources.

Seeing a grain shop ahead, she bought some more wheat, barley, and rice, parked her cart to the side, and asked the shop assistant to keep an eye on it.

After buying the ingredients for tomorrow at the vegetable and meat shops, she returned to the grain shop, greeted the people inside, and was about to push her cart away when she heard someone behind her ask the shop assistant, "Young man, do you have any old rice for sale?"

The shopkeeper said, "Our rice is all good quality. Where would we get old rice? Madam, go ask around elsewhere."

Song Miao recognized the voice and turned around to see a young woman with a four- or five-year-old daughter—the very mother and daughter who had taken shelter from the rain at the entrance of Song Family Restaurant that day.

After a few days apart, the woman was carrying a large bamboo basket on her back, filled to the brim with dirty clothes, which was higher than her head. Her little daughter was also carrying a large basin in front of her, filled with several dirty clothes, two washing sticks, and a wooden mat.

This road leads to the river, and judging from their posture, they've probably taken on a job washing clothes for others.

As soon as Song Miao turned around, the mother and daughter saw her and quickly recognized her, coming forward to greet her.

After exchanging greetings, Song Miao asked her if she had found her relatives.

The woman smiled and said, "We found him, but he's been busy these past two days, which is why we've only just arrived. We're all in a bit of a rush, so we didn't want to bother him."

Pointing behind her, she said, "There's a Guangji Temple over there. My daughter and I have settled in there for now. Thank you for taking care of us that day, young lady. If you need anything, feel free to come to me! I may not be able to do much else, but I can manage some washing, cleaning, and tidying up!"

Song Miao smiled and agreed. After exchanging a few pleasantries, she said goodbye and pushed her cart away.

Upon seeing the person, the daughter, who had been hiding behind her mother, suddenly ran up from behind, holding up something in her hand, and said, "Here you go."

Song Miao was somewhat surprised. She looked down and saw a small, round, and wet stone in the open palm.

“I picked them up from the riverbank, they’re so pretty! There are more here!” she said, reaching for the basin in front of her.

The woman looked embarrassed and hurried forward, calling out, "Xiao Lian, oh dear! How could you give a stone to a young lady like that!"

Xiaolian was a little flustered and said, "Didn't Mother say we should thank you properly, Madam? I've been picking them up for a long time."

Song Miao smiled and took the stone, saying, "This is fine with me. I'll use a small bowl to keep it in water, just enough to raise two little fish."

Xiao Lian hurriedly brought over the wooden basin she was holding, then moved aside the clothes and washing stick covering it, and pushed aside a pile of soap pods, saying, "One stone is too little, how can we raise two fish? There's not enough to go around. I have more here, my lady, take them all."

Seeing her eager look, Song Miao carefully picked out a piece from the pile.

Xiao Lian was overjoyed. She put the wooden basin on the ground, squatted down, and compared the pieces to the others. She carefully selected a few pieces that she thought were the prettiest and presented them to Song Miao, saying earnestly, "These were the ones I gave to my wife before, and these are the ones I gave to Yu'er!"

Only then did she begin to resemble a child.

Song Miao accepted the gift with both hands, carefully put it away, thanked her, and then picked up the wooden basin from the ground and turned back over the outer robe whose hem had fallen out of the basin.

But as soon as she turned the robe over, she caught a glimpse of several holes at the hem of the outer robe out of the corner of her eye. She felt a little strange and couldn't help but take a closer look.

The fabric was ordinary coarse cloth, and the clothes were simply cut. However, the edges of the holes were dark, either round or oval, and they looked like they had been burned by something. They looked somewhat familiar.

It looks very similar to the one I found on the cart outside yesterday.

Song Miao reached out and fanned the air. Sure enough, apart from the indescribable stench, there was a faint smell of incense.

She casually showed the clothes to the woman and asked, "Where are these clothes from? They look torn. Do you want them mended?"

"Oh no, it's burned open again!"

The woman hurriedly reached for the belt around her waist and pulled out a small sewing kit. She breathed a sigh of relief and said, "They are a few people who are staying at Guangji Temple. They work for people everywhere and do some manual labor for the temple. I guess they burned their clothes when they were emptying incense ash."

"Since no one was home, they gave me some money to help with the laundry—I'll mend it first so it won't get ruined."

Song Miao found it strange and asked a few more questions, such as the ages of the people, what they usually did, and whether anyone had disappeared in the past few days.

"They're all young men in their early twenties. They go out early and come back late every day. I only saw two of them once when they moved in, and I haven't seen them since," the woman said.

Seeing that she didn't know much, Song Miao just smiled, greeted Xiao Lian, and took her leave.

She rushed home, exhausted from days of travel, and barely had any appetite. She ate a few bites, took a nap, and then started making Fu Gao (a type of rice cake) after waking up.

The day before, she sent some lucky cakes to Sun Lizheng. The next day, Zhu Shi came to her door and ordered two large boxes, saying that she wanted to give them to an elder to celebrate his birthday. Song Miao kept this in mind and asked about it when she came to her door yesterday. It still counted, but the time was changed to this afternoon.

Fortune cakes cannot be kept for long. Although they are not difficult to make, they are very time-consuming. By the time Song Miao finished embedding the characters "fortune" and "longevity" and put them into the food box, it was already past 1-3 pm.

She took it to the Sun family's house.

This time, it was Madam Zhu who answered the door. Upon seeing Song Miao, she quickly thanked her and, without waiting for her to ask, told her about her family affairs.

It turned out that Sun, the village head, had returned last night and made the decision. He said that Sun Er was most likely to go to jail. If Sun Er's wife didn't want to wait, he would ask someone to go in and question her after the verdict was issued, write a letter of release, and have her fingerprints put on it before she was released. As for the children, as long as Sun Er's wife was willing, she could take them all with her.

No one knows how he appeased them, but Uncle and Aunt Sun didn't object; they just sighed.

At this time, Sun Li was at his uncle's house making arrangements, while Zhu Shi had returned to prepare the birthday gifts. Once everything was settled, she would still have to go back to help take care of them.

As Zhu spoke, she sighed, and finally said, "Never mind that. I must thank you for helping to deliver the message this time, otherwise I might not have been able to return so soon."

After exchanging a few words about family matters, Zhu paid the bill before letting her put the food box onto the two carrying poles.

Seeing this, Song Miao said, "These pastries are made with two kinds of bean paste. If they are jostled on the road, they might fall apart. We would appreciate it if the porters were to be careful."

Zhu said, "There are no porters, I'll deliver it myself."

She said, "Let me tell you the truth. This time it's Li Dutou's mother's birthday. Because the officers in the Left and Right Military Patrol Offices have just changed, no one dares to hold a celebration or accept gifts. However, our two families have been on good terms for many years and have frequent private exchanges. We can't let those exchanges be broken. I'm afraid that if I ask someone from outside to deliver the gifts, it will cause some rumors. So I'd rather go myself."

Seeing that the carrying pole was full of things, Song Miao asked, "Auntie, how are you going to carry all this?"

"I carry a big basket on my back, holding it in both hands..."

As Zhu spoke, she gestured, but as she gestured, she realized something was wrong and said with concern, "It seems like there's too much; it's not easy to carry."

Song Miao, seeing things through to the end, smiled and said, "If you trust me, Auntie, I'll go with you. It'll be a favor."

***
Leaving aside Song Miao's journey to deliver birthday gifts to Madam Zhu before mealtime, in a room in the rear office of the capital prefecture, Prefect Zhao, Magistrate Zheng, Clerk Tao, and a Vice Minister of Justice sat in attendance, with Qin Jie accompanying them. The case, though not yet settled, was already somewhat clear.

After the court session, those responsible for specific tasks would inevitably gather together to check on the progress, discuss the division of labor, and decide how to report and what wording to use when attending court the next day.

Seeing that it was almost lunchtime, and most things had been discussed and settled, with only a few details to be confirmed, Prefect Zheng said, “Everyone must be hungry after a busy day, right? I’ve instructed them to call the kitchen to prepare the meal, which should be ready by now. Why don’t we eat first and then discuss things further?”

He added, "The kitchen is too crowded, so let's eat here today."

Tao Gongshi laughed and said, "I'm starving. Other things are fine, but you should have some stir-fried bean sprouts, right?"

Seeing that the Vice Minister of Justice was a little strange, Tao Gongshi smiled and explained to him, "The kitchen of their capital city government is very respectable, especially the stir-fried bean sprouts. The chef stir-fries them exceptionally well and they are particularly delicious."

As they were talking, servants brought in the food one by one.

Last night, the group arrived in a hurry, and the kitchen served them a large pot of food. Today, preparations were made in advance. Although the meal wasn't full, a table was set out, and the four of them ate five dishes and a soup, including chicken, duck, fish, and meat, as well as cold dishes and fruit.

The group ate rice or steamed buns, and continued their conversation as they ate. Finally, the last dish was served: stir-fried bean sprouts.

Tao Gongshi reached out with his chopsticks first, and just as he was about to smile after taking a bite, his smile suddenly froze.

He swallowed the food in his mouth, still not believing it, and picked up another piece with his chopsticks.

At this moment, the vice minister had also picked up a bean sprout, tasted it carefully, and then asked, "Does the official particularly like bean sprouts?"

However, as soon as he asked the question, he saw the other three people at the table also frequently reaching their chopsticks into the plate of stir-fried bean sprouts.

After everyone had eaten, their expressions were all strange.

In the end, it was Prefect Zheng who was the first to ask, "Why do I feel like there's something wrong with these bean sprouts?"

"Isn't this what stir-fried bean sprouts taste like? What's wrong with it?" the official said.

"This is just a regular stir-fried bean sprout dish; it wasn't like this yesterday."

Upon hearing this, everyone at the table who had eaten yesterday nodded in agreement.

"The seasoning is wrong."

"It's overcooked."

"Has it been sitting out for too long? These bean sprouts don't taste as crisp as they did yesterday, and they're greasy too." This time, it was Magistrate Zhao who made the final decision.

Prefect Zheng then said, "It's probably been cooked a long time ago and left out for too long, so the taste has changed. Let them stir-fry another fresh plate."

He gave the order, and soon two new plates of stir-fried bean sprouts were served, piping hot, clearly freshly cooked.

One dish had the bean sprouts cut off at the ends and the bean sprout heads left, stir-fried with scallion segments; the other dish had both the ends cut off and stir-fried with chopped scallions.

Just by looking at them, something doesn't seem right. The bean sprouts aren't as clear or as firm as they were yesterday.

If they each take another bite, it will feel even more wrong.

Both were made with lard, which made them fragrant, but also very greasy.

Especially since the table was full of meat and fish, and the bean sprouts were stir-fried with lard and overcooked, they lost their tender texture and weren't refreshing at all.

"The oil is wrong, the taste is wrong—tell the kitchen to stop changing it and let the chef from yesterday cook it!"

The news quickly reached the kitchen.

Official Zheng was so anxious he was practically steaming. He hurriedly asked the man, "What did the Prefect say? What did the Governor say? What did they say was wrong?"

He then pressed the two workers who were making the flatbread, asking, "How did that young lady fry it yesterday? What did she put in it?"

Dabing shrank back and whispered, "I'm only responsible for tending the fire... Miss Song told me to tend the big fire..."

Another worker said, "I was outside serving soup, I really didn't see it..."

After hearing the visitor describe the prefect, the governor, and the other officials, the cooks in the kitchen were somewhat helpless.

"Was it stir-fried with vegetable oil?"

"It's best to use lard when stir-frying bean sprouts; if you use vegetable oil, they won't be as fragrant."

"This is already cooked for a shorter time than usual. Any shorter and it won't be cooked through, and it will taste like raw vegetables."

"You didn't explain exactly what was wrong with the seasoning. Was it too strong or too weak?"

The group was completely baffled, so they just made a haphazard attempt based on their own guesses.

After tasting them, Zheng found that each flavor had its own unique taste, but ultimately, they were just stir-fried bean sprouts. There was nothing particularly special about them, and he couldn't compare their quality; they all seemed pretty much the same.

He had no choice but to pick out the two best-looking plates and personally deliver them.

However, after the officials had eaten, without even listening to their comments, just by looking at how they ate, Zheng knew that the taste was wrong again.

He quickly explained, "The cook had some family matters to attend to yesterday and went home first. How about I ask them to cook another dish for us..."

“Since the person is not here, this should have been made clear beforehand. Now that so much has been cooked, how can we possibly finish it all? Isn’t this a waste?” These were the words of Prefect Zhao.

He usually avoided meddling in other people's business, but his words today, though not harsh, made Master Zheng break out in a cold sweat. He quickly apologized and was about to leave when he saw Prefect Zheng give him a cold look, which made him even more flustered.

When he returned to the kitchen, he ignored everything else and summoned the day's handyman and two laborers, asking, "Where does that young lady surnamed Song live? Are any of you acquainted with her?"

***
Here, Zheng Guanren was looking for someone. Cheng Zijian, who had just finished the last exam, was feeling uneasy. As soon as he stepped out of the exam hall, he hurriedly began to flip through his books.

But someone called out to him from the side, "Zijian! Where did you solve the problem in today's policy question?"

Cheng Zijian swallowed hard and said, "I broke down the topic of criminal law, citing the 'Wei Xing Tong' (Criminal Code of the Wei Dynasty)."

The man was taken aback, then slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "How could I not have thought of that!"

"I don't know if my solution to this problem is correct..."

Cheng Zijian was about to speak again when he heard someone calling his name from afar.

He turned his head, waved his hand, and said, "I am! I am!"

The man ran over and asked, "Are you Cheng Zijian from the lower quarters? From Fuzhou?"

After he nodded, the man said, "There's someone looking for you outside the front gate. He says he's from Fuzhou!"

Many thanks to Xianlin for sending me two amulets :)
Thank you to the three kind friends from the bookstore (my cat is named Egg), book friend 2021030176548967272, and Jingyuan for each of the small gifts you sent me =3=
My update schedule has been a bit irregular lately. I think I'll eventually switch back to updating in the evenings. Sorry QAQ
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(End of this chapter)