The Great Tang Dynasty: Heavenly Official Bestows Blessings, Starting with a Little Rhinoceros Offer

Chapter 32 Little Sizi's First Taste of Soda

Seeing this, Jiang Lin smiled and nodded.

I took a tissue and gently wiped away the grease from the little guy's mouth.

"Mingda, I'll tell you a secret."

The little boy stared wide-eyed at his master with curiosity.

"What secret?"

Jiang Lin pointed to her lower abdomen and then said softly.

"Mingda is actually... already practicing."

"There is no need to meditate deliberately, nor is there a need to practice hard."

"As long as you eat happily and are full."

"At that time, Mingda will become as powerful as Master."

Xiao Sizi was stunned for a moment after hearing this.

Then he looked up excitedly, almost jumping off the chair.

"Really?"

"Master, are you serious?"

The little guy waved his little hands excitedly and asked.

"The rhinoceros only needs to eat 'haochida'..."

"Can you be as good as Shi Hu?"

When Jiang Lin first told me, I didn't have a clear understanding of it.

Now, after eating, I have a firsthand experience.

For a foodie like me, this is absolutely the best news in the world!

Jiang Lin nodded affirmatively and patted her little head.

"Of course it's true."

"When has your master ever lied to you?"

Upon hearing this, the little guy clapped his hands happily.

"I love it!"

"I absolutely love it!"

Little Sizi wiggled happily, her face beaming with a blissful smile.

"That little ox is going to eat so much ghee!"

"I want to eat until my belly is round and full!"

"Then you'll become just as amazing as Shi Hu!"

Seeing her so confident expression, Jiang Lin couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"You little glutton."

"You just want to eat, right?"

Having her thoughts exposed, Xiao Sizi wasn't ashamed at all.

"Hehehe..."

"I just want to eat it!"

Jiang Lin shook his head, but he couldn't hide the doting look in his eyes.

Next, he stirred some of the translucent shrimp paste and scraped it into the boiling clear soup pot.

The shrimp paste quickly sets in shape when it hits the water.

Then, estimating that it was almost done cooking, I used a slotted spoon to scoop it out.

It was placed in Xiao Sizi's bowl, and then carefully cooled by blowing on it.

"Here, Mingda, try this."

Little Sizi blinked curiously at the round, pink thing in the bowl.

Carefully pick one up and put it in your mouth.

With a gentle bite, the smooth and bouncy texture of the shrimp paste explodes in your mouth.

That delicious flavor, mixed with the sweetness of the clear broth.

With just a touch of its own sweetness, the little guy almost jumped for joy.

"Hmm!"

Little Si let out a gasp, his eyes narrowing into slits.

Two little feet were swinging happily under the table.

"Houchi!"

"This is so luxurious!"

I couldn't wait to pick up another one and put it in my mouth.

He chewed while asking questions indistinctly.

"Master..."

"What kind of duck is this?"

"I've never eaten such a lavish meal before!"

"It's so smooth and bouncy, it's even dancing in my mouth!"

Jiang Lin looked at her enraptured expression and explained with a smile.

"This is shrimp paste."

"It's essentially just shrimp meat."

"It's just that the shrimp meat was minced, some other seasonings were added, and that's how it ended up looking like this."

Upon hearing that it was shrimp meat, Xiao Sizi tilted her head.

"Shrimp?"

"What is shrimp and duck?"

Jiang Lin suddenly remembered that the Tang Dynasty a thousand years ago was not as convenient as it is now.

Neither transportation methods nor aquaculture techniques could compare with modern ones.

Chang'an City is located inland, so even river shrimp are extremely difficult to transport.

Even if Xiao Sizi has eaten shrimp meat, it's probably mostly the dried kind.

Because fresh shrimp could not be preserved when they were presented as tribute from local areas, they were mostly presented as dried shrimp meat or other similar products.

Those dried shrimp are tough and dry, and they lose a lot of their freshness.

No wonder the little guy couldn't tell the difference, since the textures are completely different.

Seeing the bewildered look in his apprentice's eyes, Jiang Lin picked up a river shrimp from the plate next to him.

This river shrimp is quite large, and its body is bluish-gray.

Jiang Lin pinched the shrimp whiskers and held them in front of the little ox.

"Mingda, take a look."

"This is shrimp!"

"That's the raw material for the shrimp paste we just made."

The little guy curiously came closer, immediately exclaimed "Wow!", and subconsciously shrank back a little.

"Huh..."

"This shrimp is so ugly!"

The uncooked river shrimp were grayish-brown and didn't look very appealing.

O

Xiao Sizi shook her head, even looking a little disgusted.

"Master..."

"Was that delicious thing really made from this ugly thing?"

"The rhinoceros doesn't believe it!"

Jiang Lin responded with a smile.

"This is a case of 'you can't judge a book by its cover,' and 'you can't measure the sea with a bushel.'"

"The same goes for food."

"It looks ugly now, but once it's cooked, you won't think it's ugly anymore."

As he spoke, Jiang Lin threw the river shrimp in his hand into the boiling pot.

"Watch closely."

Little Sizi stared at the pot with a mixture of belief and doubt, and saw only a bluish-gray river shrimp.

The color begins to change dramatically the moment it comes into contact with boiling water.

Her whole body turned visibly red, making her look especially tempting in the bubbling broth.

Upon seeing this, the little guy clapped his hands excitedly.

"Wow!"

"It changed color!"

"Hey, it's turned red! So red, duck!"

"What a beautiful red!"

Jiang Lin smiled as he scooped out the cooked shrimp; their bright red shells emitted an enticing aroma.

Do you still think it's ugly?

Little Sizi shook his head and slurped his saliva.

"It's not ugly!"

"It looks so extravagant!"

Jiang Lin then peeled the shell off the little ox, quickly revealing the snow-white and rosy shrimp meat inside.

"Come on, open your mouth."

The little rhinoceros obediently opened its mouth, like a fledgling bird waiting to be fed.

"ah-

—

Jiang Lin fed her the shrimp meat; the tender shrimp meat had a hint of natural sweetness.

It has a firm texture and is full of umami flavor.

Suddenly, her face was filled with happiness again.

"Hmm"

"So fresh duck!"

"Master, I want more! I want more!"

After eating a lot of shrimp, Jiang Lin then fed her mutton, which the little one was already very familiar with.

After all, during the Zhenguan era, mutton was a common food for them.

At that time, pork was considered cheap meat, and nobles mostly ate mutton.

Even though she had eaten mutton countless times, Xiao Zhouzi was still incredibly happy with the modernly made sesame sauce dipping sauce.

Jiang Lin also cooked mutton in the hot pot, picked up a piece of mutton covered in red oil, and ate it with relish.

Seeing this, the little guy came closer again.

"Master..."

"Sizi wants to eat that too!"

Jiang Lin countered with a question.

"This is very spicy."

"Didn't Mingda just try it?"

Little Sizi, however, was unconvinced and puffed out her little chest.

"Just now... just now, Sizi wasn't prepared!"

"The ox is ready this time!"

Seeing her eager expression, Jiang Lin picked up a small piece.

"Then you can only eat a little bit."

"ah"

The little rhinoceros bit down, and that's what happened.

"Hiss—!"

The little guy was spicier than ever before, his whole face turned red, like a ripe apple.

The little tongue kept sticking out, and the little hands were fanning the air around the mouth.

"hot!"

"So spicy! So spicy!"

"Master, help me!"

Jiang Lin smiled as he looked at her comical yet adorable appearance.

"I told you it was spicy, but you insisted on eating it."

Jiang Lin prepared water for her again to relieve the spiciness, but then turned his gaze away.

Seeing the complimentary Coke next to me, I had an idea.

"Here, have some of this."

Pull up the ring, and with a soft hiss, white gas comes out.

Jiang Lin poured half a cup for the little guy.

The dark brown liquid swirls in the glass, releasing tiny bubbles.

Little Sizi was burning up from the spiciness, her mouth feeling like it was on fire.

But when she saw what was in the cup, her little face showed disgust.

Seeing that cola was black easily reminded the little guy of the medicine he often drank in the palace.

It was also black, and tasted incredibly bitter.

Every time she had to take the medicine, it was the most painful time for her.

Each time, my older sister would watch over me and force me to drink the medicine.

I already had a lingering fear of this dark thing.

He immediately waved his hand and said.

"don't want!"

"Sizi, don't drink your medicine!"

"It's so bitter! Don't drink it, Sizi!"

Jiang Lin found the little boy's reaction rather amusing.

This is supposed to be a source of joy for modern children, but it's being treated like bitter medicine.

"Mingda, you've got it wrong."

"This is not medicine, and it's not bitter."

"It's sweet, you can smell it if you don't believe me."

Xiao Sizi looked up at Jiang Lin, then at the black liquid in the cup.

"Really?"

Jiang Lin nodded encouragingly.

"Really, you can tell just by smelling it."

After hearing this, the little ox slowly moved closer, put its little nose to the rim of the cup, and gently sniffed it.

The next second, I didn't smell the herbal scent.

Instead, it had a... somewhat intoxicating smell?

Little Sizi's eyes lit up immediately.

"what?"

"It really doesn't smell bad!"