Chapter 72: The Poetry Gathering and Salt-Baked Chicken at the 72nd Inn

Yunyin sold out of all the candied hawthorns she made that day, so she got up early the next morning to make more, this time in order to avoid running out.

Besides candied hawthorns, Yunyin also made rock sugar pears and bowl cakes. By the time Xia Yan and the others arrived, her mung bean soup was also ready.

Yunyin first brought the jelly and plum juice to the main hall. After everyone who came in paid half a string of coins, she pointed to the table and said, "Eat whatever you like here. There will also be snacks over there when you play Cuju later."

Xia Yan sat down with her friends and said to Yun Yin, "We planned to watch Shen Rong and Xie Yan's poetry recital and then play Cuju (ancient Chinese football). Where are they? We haven't seen them. Are they not planning to come?"

Yunyin smiled and said, "They replied to me, saying they will arrive on time. They should be here soon. Ladies, please have some pastries first."

She brought out the donkey rolls and glutinous rice balls, and then pointed to the chestnut cake, saying, "If you don't want to eat too much glutinous rice, there isn't much glutinous rice flour in the chestnut cake, so you can eat this instead."

"We have rock sugar pear soup and mung bean soup, and of course, I've also prepared sour plum soup. You can ask someone to serve you whenever you want, or you can make it yourself if you prefer. Please help yourselves. I have other things to do, so I won't stay here with you any longer."

Xia Yan waved her hand and said, "Go ahead and do your work. I'll take care of things here. They're not the type to overthink things; they can take care of themselves."

After Yunyin left, Xia Yan's friend said to her, "This is the chef you used to like so much. I heard that your family learned how to make dairy products from her. I was planning to try some today to see the difference between hers and your family's chef's, but it turns out there's no difference."

Xia Yan said, "You can ask her to order a milk tea. She doesn't have much milk here, so she usually uses it to make milk tea. Other dairy products require too much sugar, so she rarely makes them unless someone specifically orders them."

The woman continued, “I can get milk tea in the county town, but I can’t eat the dishes that Lady Yun makes. I wasn’t there when you held the lotus banquet, so I didn’t get to taste her cooking. Before A-Yue got married, she was still reluctant to leave. I’ve always wanted to try Lady Yun’s cooking, but it’s inconvenient for me to come out alone.”

“It’s good to come out with you now. You have someone to protect you, so you don’t have to worry about your safety.” She sighed. “My brothers at home don’t like to take me out to play. I can only wander around the county on weekdays. It was not easy to persuade my family to let me come out this time.”

Xia Yan said, "Ahui, why don't you ask your family to provide you with attendants? That way, it will be more convenient when you go out."

Ahui shook her head and said, "Forget it, the family's resources all belong to my brother. Unlike your family, we don't have people serving as officials in Chang'an. It's already extremely difficult for me to go out. I don't need to think about anything else. It's more practical to come out with you."

Just as the group was chatting, Shen Rong and Xie Yan arrived. There were many of them, and they quickly blocked the entrance. Yun Yin patted the people blocking the entrance and said, "Go in! What are you doing blocking the entrance?"

The man turned around, saw Yunyin, and blushed, saying, "Miss Yun, I'm sorry, I was blocking your way." He stepped aside to make way for her, and as he turned his head, he saw the scarecrow she was holding, covered with candied hawthorns. He excitedly asked, "Miss Yun, did you prepare this?"

Yunyin placed the candied hawthorns on the counter and said to the students who came in, "Well, I've prepared candied hawthorns for you today. You can eat as many as you like after you pay. However, I only made these, and there won't be any left after you finish them."

Upon hearing this, the others who had paid immediately surrounded the scarecrows, looking at the various kinds of candied hawthorns, and for a moment they didn't know which one to eat.

Xia Yan and the others walked over from their seats and said to Yun Yin, "You didn't mention before that you could also make candied hawthorns, and the variety of candied hawthorns is too rich. I've never tasted any of these flavors before."

She took a bunch of candied grapes. The grapes had already been peeled and seeded, so there was no need to worry about eating seeds. The layers of shiny rock sugar were sweet, and the grapes didn't taste sour at all.

Xia Yan didn't really like grapes; she thought the grapes grown in the Central Plains were all a bit sour. She also didn't particularly like the candied hawthorns, except for these grapes. Although she loved sweets and desserts, she really didn't like the inconvenient candied hawthorns. She thought eating them was too unrefined. But after eating Yunyin's candied hawthorns, she suddenly didn't find them so bad.

After finishing a bunch of grapes, she tried two other kinds, hawthorn and orange, which gave her a novel feeling. She didn't think the fruit was delicious when she ate it, but it tasted better after being coated with syrup.

What surprised Xia Yan the most was the hawthorn candied hawthorn. The sourness of the hawthorn blended perfectly with the sweet and sticky red bean paste, making it much tastier than hawthorn candied hawthorn alone.

She exclaimed, "Miss Yun is truly ingenious; she's made even someone like me, who doesn't like candied hawthorns, fall in love with them."

Upon hearing this, the students still in line quickly said, "Leave some for me, I haven't tasted it yet."

After all the students came in, the counter was already crowded, and those at the back couldn't get forward. Yunyin had no choice but to say to those in front, "Those of you who have eaten, go and prepare. Aren't you going to have a poetry contest?"

The students standing in the front row shook their heads and said, "Poetry gatherings are nothing compared to candied hawthorns. What I used to eat wasn't candied hawthorns; it was just hawthorn fruit, and it wasn't sweet at all."

Wang Yu squeezed through the group of students, returned to his seat with a large bunch of candied hawthorns, and handed a skewer to Xie Yan, saying, "You should try some too, it's really delicious."

Xie Yan handed a skewer to Shen Rong. He took a closer look at the candied hawthorn that everyone praised as being the best in the world. He took a bite and chewed slowly. By the time he finished one, Wang Yu had already finished the whole skewer. He shook his head and said, "Although the taste is indeed good, it's not as exaggerated as you all say."

Wang Yu shook his head and said, "That's because you don't understand. You've never secretly bought candied hawthorns at school. Yun Niangzi's candied hawthorns are really much tastier. Back in school, I could eat a skewer of candied hawthorns every day, and I felt happy all day. Later, when mushroom sauce came out, I finally stopped craving candied hawthorns so much. But Yun Niangzi's candied hawthorns are different. It would be great if I could buy them at school."

"It's a pity that Madam Yun only makes this during special events; she doesn't sell it at other times. If you want to try it, you'll have to wait until the next event," Wang Yu said, patting Xie Yan. "How about we come back to Madam Yun's place next month and hold another event?"

Xie Yan: "Are you thinking about Lady Yun's food, or do you want to go out and have some fun?"

Wang Yu smiled sheepishly and said, "Can't we have both?" He glanced at the leisurely Shen Rong, then leaned close to Xie Yan's ear and whispered, "You guys absolutely have to beat Shen Rong and the others this time. I'd also like to try Yun Niangzi's prize; I wonder how delicious it will be."

Xie Yan and Shen Rong exchanged a glance, then shook their heads helplessly and said, "We'll try our best."

After finishing the candied hawthorns, the students noticed the snacks and sweet soup on the table. They were so engrossed in their meal that they completely forgot about the poetry contest. It wasn't until Xie Yan and Shen Rong stood in front of them that they left the table, taking a lot of snacks with them.

Xia Yan and the others returned to their tables and looked at the people on the platform in front of them. This platform was specially arranged by Yun Yin, and the flowers she had given them were placed on it. She smiled with satisfaction and continued to watch the people on the platform compete in poetry.

Their poetry contest this time was similar to the one Song Xuan had participated in before, also in the form of a flying flower order. However, the difficulty was that they needed to set a specific order. The first character was in the first position, so when the second person took over, a specific character had to be in the second position, and so on, until the seventh character position when the rotation started again.

"Their poetry contest this time was quite difficult." Xia Yan watched as one person from Beijiang County was defeated and withdrew, and the remaining people continued. She smiled and asked Song Xuan, "But if it were you going to go, you should be fine, right?"

Song Xuan watched intently as the people above engaged in a poetry contest, pondering deeply and silently reciting verses. Upon hearing Xia Yan's words, she shook her head and said, "Common verses like 'flowers, moon, and wine' are easy to come by, but the verses they're using now are quite uncommon. It takes me a long time to think of a single line; it's rather difficult."

Seeing Xia Yan's idle appearance, she said helplessly, "Since you don't like poetry gatherings, why did you come to watch them compete in poetry?"

Xia Yan: "I only came to watch their poetry contest because I was bored. Don't you think it's hilarious how they scratch their heads? I enjoyed watching it too."

"Don't say that to their faces, I can't argue with them."

Just as their atmosphere was tense, Yunyin brought over several plates of salt-baked chicken. She placed one plate in front of Xia Yan and the others, and another in front of Wang Yu, saying to them, "This is a new dish I made. You can eat it as a snack."

When Wang Yu saw the plate of chicken, he stopped watching Xie Yan and the others' competition. He figured he'd just go and get a free meal no matter who won. He'd rather eat some of Yun Niangzi's new dishes first.

The chicken skin is golden yellow with a glossy, oily sheen. Upon first bite, Wang Yu was amazed by the salt-baked chicken. The skin was very chewy, while the meat was tender and smooth. The slight saltiness made the chicken's umami flavor even more pronounced. Both the skin and the meat were infused with flavor, and the saltiness was just right. It was a really pleasant snack.

No need for rice or sweet soup, Wang Yu could eat quite a lot on his own. But the portion of chicken was too small. He had barely tasted it when the salt-baked chicken on the table was already gone.

"Miss Yun, this portion is too small. I haven't had enough yet."

Yunyin: "Don't rush, it's still early today. There will be braised meat and other snacks later. If you eat your fill now, you won't have room for the leftovers later."

Upon hearing "braised meat," Wang Yu's eyes lit up. "Miss Yun, you made braised meat again?"

Yunyin nodded and said, "The weather is cooler now, so we can continue making braised meat. You can eat more today."

Wang Yu looked around and, seeing that no one was paying attention to him, walked to Yun Yin's side and whispered, "Yun Niangzi, since you're making braised meat again, please braise some more for me this time. My family loved it when I brought it home last time, so I'll bring more this time. I'm sure they'll be happy."

Thinking of the salt-baked chicken he had just eaten, he added, "Can I buy some salt-baked chicken? I'd like to take a few with me when I leave."