Chapter 95 Fish Ball Noodles: A soup noodle dish made with fish meat, it's definitely different...

Like the official, Ning Yi and his friends, who were reluctantly returning to the academy to study, were also captivated by the unique deliciousness of the fish balls.

Just as the evening drum on the bell and drum tower fell silent, the bronze bell signaling the end of the school term at Biyong Academy was rung by the old servant in charge of ringing the bell.

Today is the first day of school after spring break, and most people are still a bit absent-minded. Even Dr. Feng Yuan, who is a lecturer, immediately slipped his books under his arm and made a quick getaway when the bell rang.

Xie Qi closed the book "The Doctrine of the Mean" in his hand. Outside his study, students from other studies were already pouring out, chatting and laughing as they passed by his window. In spring, the students of the academy all wore the same blue-collared robes and plain gauze scholar's headscarves. As they moved, their robes fluttered in the wind, giving them a graceful and elegant appearance, like floating clouds.

Shang An stuffed the purple-tipped brush into the rattan book box, when he heard Ning Yi, who was standing nearby, shove the haphazardly stuffed book box into his servant's arms and carefully instruct him: "Go outside Dingsheng Gate and buy a pot of shepherd's purse spring rolls. Make sure they're freshly fried and ask the stall owner to fry them until they're a little crispy, so they'll be even more fragrant."

The pageboy, holding the book box with a calm expression, said, "Don't you remember? After the New Year, they stopped allowing small stalls outside Dingsheng Gate. They said they were going to build a granary for military supplies there, and all the grain transport ships that urgently needed to deliver military supplies would have to transit there. The old man who fried spring rolls has long since moved away."

Ning Yi's expression froze, and he grabbed Shang An's hand in alarm: "Oh no, Brother Shang, am I going to have to eat swill at the Zhuoyintang today?"

Is he going to suffer in the drinking hall on his very first day at the academy?

“It’s not that bad. If you don’t mind, I brought some sweet rice cakes that my mother made,” Shang An patted his hand sympathetically. “I’ll share a few with you later. I also brought some osmanthus sugar that my mother stored last year. It’s very sweet and delicious when you dip it in the rice cakes.”

"Don't even mention rice cakes." Ning Yi's face turned pale, and he trembled as he said, "My family steamed rice cakes every day during the New Year. I'm practically a rice cake myself."

Shang An shrugged: "There's nothing we can do about it."

"Why are you still here?" Meng San suddenly poked his body in through the window, smelling of salted fish. "My mother gave me a box of salted fish. How about I share a few jars with you? I really can't finish them all. I even dream about sleeping in salted fish."

Ning Yi pinched her nose: "I appreciate the thought, but you...you should eat it yourself." Meng San's mother was an exceptional cook, and her favorite dishes were pickled rotten fish, rotten eggs, and rotten winter melon. The rotten eggs and rotten winter melon were alright, not too rotten, but the salted fish was exceptionally smelly.

According to Meng San, his mother pickled fish by simply removing the heads and innards of the small fish, then roughly rubbing them with salt and stuffing them into a brine pottery jar to pickle. She would pickle them until the brine became thick and juicy, grayish and bubbly, and the fumes from the mud-sealed jar would be enough to knock out a whole room of people when it was opened. That was when they were considered pickled.

Meng San always said that it smelled bad but tasted good. Ning Yi was persuaded by his sweet talk to muster up the courage to take a bite. That day, she almost vomited up his bile. She vomited until her stomach was empty and she was still dry heaving. Finally, she was dizzy and collapsed to the ground. When she closed her eyes, she vaguely saw her deceased grandmother.

"Brother Shang, Xie Jiu and you..." Meng San then looked at the other two.

"No need, thank you." Shang An immediately refused.

Xie Qi smiled and gently shook his head: "Madam Chen has prepared a lot of food for me, so I don't need it."

Lady Shen?

Ning Yi's ears twitched, and she immediately turned around, gripping Xie Qi's shoulders tightly with both hands: "Why are you only telling me now? What food did Madam Chen prepare for you? Speak up immediately!"

Xie Qi blinked, thought for a moment, and then pointed to each dish, listing them one by one: "Side dishes include spicy and sour bamboo shoots, spicy white cabbage, and sweet cabbage hearts; braised meats include pig's trotters, chicken wings, duck feet, duck necks, pork belly, dried tofu, and eggs; soup dumplings include fish soup dumplings, spinach soup dumplings, yam soup dumplings, and coriander-flavored instant soup dumplings; meats include sausages, cured pork, and fish balls; pastries include scallion and pork floss flaky pastry buns and egg and milk mille-feuille pastries; snacks include amber walnuts and sugar-roasted melon seeds..."

Before Xie Qi could finish speaking, Ning Yi burst into tears, hugging Xie Qi with teary eyes: "Xie Jiu, does Madam Chen still need a husband? I can be her concubine..."

Before he could finish speaking, Xie Qi smacked him on the head with a book: "If you dare to talk nonsense again, I won't give you a single bite!"

Shang An shook his head, suppressing a laugh. Hearing this, he came over and patted Xie Qi on the shoulder: "Congratulations! I heard your good news at home. I didn't expect you to win the heart of your beauty so quickly."

Meng San was surprised and envious: "Ah? You...you really..."

"Meng San doesn't know? The news of Xie Jiu's marriage proposal has already spread." Shang An smiled slightly.

Xie Qi was handsome, from a good family, and talented, making him a highly desirable son-in-law whom many matriarchs had considered carefully. If it weren't for his extraordinary destiny and his betrothal to a cousin since childhood, Xie Qi's marriage would likely have been out of his control long ago.

After Xie Qi unfortunately broke off his engagement last year, some close family friends, uncles, aunts and other relatives wanted to act as matchmakers for him, but Madam Xie politely declined all their offers, and no one agreed to help.

Now that word has leaked out, the Xie family is arranging a marriage for their second son and has already gone through the six traditional betrothal rites. This has made people from all walks of life, whether they are related to the Xie family or not, curious and eager to inquire.

After all, his future bride was a commoner who sold food on the street, and she was a second-time bride with a family to support. Choosing a wife of such background was rare among the gentry, and his marriage naturally became a topic of conversation among various families and clans.

Even on the eve of Shang'an's return to the academy, his mother summoned him to inquire why Xie Qi wanted to marry a commoner woman. As Shang'an packed his books, he asked, "Why does Mother ask me this?"

"Since you are close to Xie Jiu, it's natural that I would ask you."

“Since that’s the case, Mother surely knows that as Xie Jiu’s friend, I would only speak in defense of Xie Jiu. Why should Mother ask any more questions?”

Shang An smiled and raised his head. "If Mother insists on hearing this, I think it might be because Xie Jiu truly loves that Lady Chen. People's feelings are mostly tied to appearance, talent, social status, and wealth. But if one day, beauty fades, talent wanes, social status declines, and wealth dissipates, will those who married for these reasons also break up? So, Mother, I don't know how to answer your question, but I believe Xie Jiu's heart is clear, and there's no need for any further proof."

The eldest daughter-in-law of the Shang family chuckled upon hearing this: "Alright, alright, I understand what you mean. If anyone outside ridicules the Xie family, I will definitely not get involved. Is that alright? You don't even have a woman you like, yet you spout all these grand principles."

However, many conservative family members still mocked the Xie family behind their backs, saying they had lost their minds, that the knees the Xie family knelt on three years ago could never be raised again, and that in order to prolong their existence, they had abandoned their eldest son and now even hastily called off their second son's marriage. Some, still clinging to the fading dream of the Jin dynasty's "Wang and Ma sharing the world," lamented this, believing that from this point on, the once most noble and glorious Wang and Xie families had vanished, and that the aristocratic clans might never regain their former glory.

Shang An couldn't be bothered to listen to those words.

It happened more than 500 years ago, and you're still bringing it up?

That's hilarious.

Despite the rumors, the Xie family remained calm and continued preparing the six rites. Shang An also heard that the Xie family's betrothal gifts were prepared according to the rites for marrying a member of the imperial family. They not only prepared gold and silver jewelry, brocade, and land, but also chartered a large ship to go to Lin'an, Jinling, Mingzhou, Quanzhou and other places to purchase the latest and rarest imported goods to fill the boxes.

Normally, a dowry of twelve loads is considered a lot, but the Xie family seems to have prepared thirty-six loads, and they're still not finished.

While Shang An was lost in thought, Ning Yi was already clinging to Xie Qi. His legs were wrapped around Xie Qi's waist, hanging tightly behind him, and he kept pleading:

"I was wrong, I was wrong. I spoke without thinking, I was simple-minded. How could I possibly compete with you for Lady Chen? I came here to join you... Pah, pah, pah, Xie Jiu, don't glare at me. I really won't talk nonsense anymore. I'll listen to you!"

"Please, Xie Jiu, take me with you today! Your constant chatter has made me so hungry. I want fish balls and fish soup dumplings. These fish balls must be made in the south; they're not commonly found in Bianjing. I've never had this dish before. It must be a new addition to Chenji's menu, right? Also, ask Qiuhao to cut some braised pork and crisp bamboo shoots to go with it. After that, we can have some of that egg and milk mille-feuille. That would make a proper dinner."

He gripped Xie Qi's neck tightly, shaking him violently back and forth and side to side, as if he wanted to shake all the delicious food off him.

Xie Qi was almost strangled to death. Originally, in order to cover the mark on his neck, he had specially changed into a double-breasted, stand-up collar undershirt before coming to the study and fastened the buttons tightly.

With Ning Yi holding him by the neck and shaking him like that, he was even more breathless, and he lost his temper: "Alright, alright, let's go."

"Xie Jiu, you're no different from my second parents!" Ning Yi jumped down excitedly and hurriedly called to the page.

Upon hearing this, Xie Qi pushed the person away, saying with utter disgust, "I don't want a fool like you."

Meng San, however, sidled up to Ning Yi with a cheeky grin and hooked his arm around her arm: "I'd be willing, if you call me 'Dad,' I'll give you as much salted fish as you want."

"Pah, don't try to take advantage of me."

The fish balls and fish noodles that Xie Qi brought were naturally raw. The fish noodles were dried and could be stored for a long time in a cool, dry place. But the fish balls had to be cooked and eaten as soon as possible, so Shen Miaozhi packed a small bag for Xie Qi, about a dozen or so, anticipating that he would share them with his roommates. This way, one pot would be used up in one meal.

Along with the fish balls were garlic, celery, raw eggs, and scallions. Also included was a detailed cooking instruction manual for fish ball soup, dictated by Shen Miao and copied down by Xie's father.

Several boys who were not good at farming squatted in front of the stove. Shang An read the menu line by line, and the boys followed suit and cooked step by step.

"Is this Uncle Xie's handwriting? It's really well written..." Shang An admired it for a moment.

Ning Yi, holding the fish balls, rolled her eyes and slapped him: "Stop just looking at the words, tell me how to make it?"

“Take a single-clove purple garlic, chop it into powder, and roast it in a pot.”

Speak like a human.

"Sauté minced garlic until fragrant."

Ning Yi hurriedly took the minced garlic that the pageboy had just chopped and threw it into the hot oil pan. Oil splattered everywhere, startling the others who scattered and tried to stir it with spatulas from a distance. But in no time, the minced garlic burned black and stuck to the bottom of the pan.

"Oh no, oh no, what if it's burnt?"

Let's start afresh.

"No, let's skip the garlic. What should we do next?"

"Fried eggs."

With a sliver of hope, Ning Yi turned and solemnly swept his gaze over the others: "Who can?"

Shang An coughed lightly, and Meng San gave a smirk.

Xie Qi remained silent, then helplessly turned to Qiu Hao and said, "Go to the children's school and find Ji Ge'er."

After being summoned by Qiu Hao, Shen Ji glanced at the list and quickly memorized it. Reliably, he first took out half of the charcoal and slowly fried the garlic oil over a low flame. After setting it aside, he added more charcoal and heated the oil in a wok over high heat to fry the eggs.

He cracked the eggshell on the edge of the earthenware pot with one hand, twisted it with two fingers, and slid the egg liquid containing the yolk intact into the pot. Then he casually threw the two pieces of eggshell into the sludge bucket and cracked the next one.

Ning Yi's eyes widened at his skillful and fluid movements, and he could even fry three eggs at once! The fried eggs had slightly browned edges but soft, runny yolks, and they smelled delicious.

Add boiling water and pour it directly into the pan where you fried the eggs. It will quickly boil for a while, and the soup will turn milky white and have a rich egg aroma.

Afterwards, he took the fish balls and fish soup noodles, put the fish balls in the pot first and cooked them until they expanded and floated, then added the fish noodles and continued to cook them. Finally, he added some salt and soy sauce, sprinkled on celery and chopped green onions, poured in garlic oil, divided them into bowls, and topped each bowl with a poached egg he had taken out of the soup. It was done in no time.

The fish ball soup served in front of me had a light, clear broth, infused with the aroma of eggs and the freshness of fish, with absolutely no fishy smell. Large, round fish balls lay beside a fried egg, while thick, round soup dumplings curled up at the bottom of the broth. The rising steam carried the fragrance of wheat and the freshness of fish.

Ning Yi, a gourmand who vowed to eat his way through Bianjing, knew something was delicious just by smelling it, without even touching his chopsticks.

"Ji-ge'er, you truly live up to being Madam Shen's younger brother! Your cooking skills are impeccable!" Ning Yi picked up the large bowl, took a sip of the soup, and immediately nodded, "So delicious."

Shen Ji smiled shyly: "It's because my sister's fish balls and soup dumplings are so good, and there's a recipe to follow, otherwise I wouldn't be able to make them either."

The fish balls and fish soup dumplings are really good.

The sweet and savory flavor from the soup dumplings and fish balls permeated the clear broth. He quickly picked up a thick piece of soup dumpling with his chopsticks, slurped it down, and felt a firm and chewy texture in his mouth, as if he were eating tender, smooth meat rather than soup dumplings. It was both bouncy and smooth.

Shang An first ate the fish ball, which had swelled up to almost half the size of a fist. He used a single chopstick to pick it up and eat it. When he bit into it, juice burst out, and soon layers of sweet and fresh flavor spread in his mouth. He didn't stop and ate one in a few bites.

The fish balls were as delicate and soft as tofu, yet each bite had a chewy texture. He wondered how they achieved such a tender yet resilient texture. As he ate more, the fish balls became more and more fragrant, filling his mouth with the unique freshness of fish.

Meng San had never eaten fish balls prepared this way before. He opened his mouth wide and took a bite of half a fish ball, savoring the taste. He then curiously examined it closely in the light. The fish ball was snow-white, glistening with the oil from the soup. Inside, one could vaguely see air holes: "There are so many tiny holes inside."

Shen Ji naturally stayed here to eat fish ball noodles as well. He served himself a bowl. He had actually eaten the fish balls before, but his sister had Tang Er deliver a bowl to him from afar the first time she made them.

When Tang Er taught him how to cook fish balls over the wall, he also explained the process in general. Because fish balls are indeed difficult to make, and such a troublesome thing was made to taste especially delicious, Tang Er really admired Shen Miao's patience.

Hearing Meng San mutter to himself, he explained, "This was made by my older sister. She has to keep pounding the fish and meat dough on the cutting board, about three hundred times, to extract all the gelatin from the fish and meat, so that it has such a chewy and delicious texture and air pockets. If you use a stone mortar and pestle to pound it, it will be different."

Meng San gasped, "Three hundred strokes? That would take so long!"

Shen Ji shook his head. He didn't know either, but he knew that several people should take turns slapping him, otherwise, if only one person did it, his hand would break.

"Half an hour." Xie Qi finished a whole bowl of soup dumplings without saying a word, even finishing the soup, before suddenly continuing, "We have to keep fighting for half an hour. When Madam Chen's hands get tired, we switch to Fuxing, and when Fuxing's hands get tired, we switch to Tang Er, until it's all done."

He saw all the hard work and tediousness that A Miao went through while chopping fish paste and making fish balls.

Although Shen Ji's shop was doing well, it was all hard-earned money. Xie Qi sometimes felt a pang of heartache and even thought... the Xie family had enough money to treat her well for the rest of her life, so she didn't have to handle these things herself. But seeing her eyes shining as she prepared new dishes and busily preparing meals for the family reunion, he swallowed his words back.

He was unwilling to condescendingly criticize A Miao's life.

A Miao once said that she likes cooking.

He was not as good as Youyu at cooking and washing dishes, not as good as Tang Er at knife skills and food preparation, and not as good as Fuxing at soup and roast duck. He couldn't get involved in any of these kitchen matters, so what right did he have to say such things? He could only help Amiao with other things: help her with accounting or bookkeeping, or take good care of Xiangjie, Chen Chuan and the cats and dogs.

Or get up early and accompany her to the morning market, carrying a large basket full of vegetables, the two of you walking side by side under the pale gray sky that is not yet fully bright, squeezed in the steamy and noisy market.

Just keep walking slowly.

That's good too.

Xie Qi stared blankly at the empty ceramic bowl, lost in thought. Around him, there was a commotion: Ning Yi was fighting with Meng San over a pig's trotter, and Shang An and Ji Ge'er were seriously discussing whether or not milk had been added to the baked buns. Only he looked out the window and sighed wistfully.

It's so noisy.

I miss A Miao so much.

Shen Miao, who was being thought of by Xie Qi, stood on the edge of the field, her mind completely blank except for the quacking ducks.

She looked with delight at the yellow ducklings wandering around the duck farm enclosure, her eyes filled with the tenderness of someone looking at their own children.

More than 600 ducklings, with big, round heads and fluffy feathers, huddled together in a ball, their downy feathers shining golden in the sunlight.

They kept chirping, but their chirping wasn't annoying; it was soft and gentle.

So cute!

These ducklings have just come from a long journey and arrived in a new place, so they are all a little scared, which is why they are huddled together like this and chirping incessantly. But fortunately, they all look healthy, their vents are clean, and they don't have diarrhea. The ones I picked out are also quite large.

This is all thanks to Aunt Li's meticulous care.

Shen Miao was extremely impressed when she heard her story about how she brought the ducks back from the boat. She was so amazing! She and Uncle Li had to take care of so many ducks, feeding them, changing their water, herding them around regularly, and cleaning their cages.

She had decided to give Aunt Li a larger reward; the journey had been too arduous, and she couldn't be stingy at a time like this.

Moreover, as soon as Shen Miao saw Aunt Li, she brought up the matter and immediately reimbursed her for some of the "travel expenses" she had paid for the trip.

"Oh, let's settle it when we get back, sister, you're being too polite." Although she said that, Aunt Li didn't refuse the few strings of cash that Shen Miao insisted on giving her. Instead, she was overjoyed.

After receiving the money, she looked even more radiant, even though she hadn't slept the night before. Right now, she was giving the Hong family, who had come with her, a critical look.

She quizzed them on how to mix duck feed, how to clean the duck house, how to prevent heatstroke in summer and how to overwinter. Hong Ba was so intimidated that he initially stumbled over his answers, but gradually stopped stammering.

But at least they all gave meaningful answers.

Only then did Aunt Li reluctantly agree that Hong Ba's family was usable.

She also reminded Shen Miao to have Hong Ba keep a daily account of the duck farm, and even showed Shen Miao how she usually managed the ducks at home—she had a simple little booklet sewn together from rough straw paper.

Inside, there were drawings of standing ducks, fallen ducks, round duck eggs, and an iron basin. Below each drawing, she used horizontal lines to record the quantity. These drawings represented the number of ducks that survived, the number that died, the number of eggs laid, and the amount of feed consumed that day.

"Only by remembering all these important things can we know how much duck feed to prepare each month, where things went wrong, when to add new ducks, and when to start incubating eggs." Aunt Li said, putting away the "duck account" that only she could understand.

She even had another duck logbook, which recorded what diseases ducks were prone to get during which season. She also recorded the methods used to cure them, all through drawings and carvings.

Shen Miao looked at Aunt Li in surprise. What a meticulous mind she had! This was like the ledger management method of later generations!

No wonder she raises ducks so well; you can tell at a glance whether someone is dedicated to their work.

Afterwards, Aunt Li and Hong Ba discussed how to divide the tasks of the duck farm. For example, Hong Ba would be responsible for cleaning the duck shed, removing manure, and handling leftover feed every morning. Every month, the ducks would be herded out, the duck shed would be thoroughly cleaned, and lime would be sprinkled on it.

The task of mixing the duck feed was done by Hong Ba's wife, Luo Niang. These tiny ducklings needed to be fed six times a day, and the feed had to be mixed with a lot of fish paste, snails, and millet. As they grew older, the number of feedings could be reduced.

Aunt Li also instructed, "After feeding them, keep an eye on them. Once the ducks are full, check if there are any leftovers. If there are, it means you mixed too much. Remember to mix less tomorrow. This way, you'll gradually know how much the ducks eat, so you won't waste too much feed and the ducks won't be overfed or underfed."

The two children of the Hong family were responsible for "herding the ducks" every day and also had to patrol the flock to prevent any sick ducks.

Shen Miao was relieved after hearing this.

Aunt Li made the right decision to invite her.

After settling the ducklings and Hong Ba's family, Shen Miao, Aunt Li, and Uncle Li took the mule cart back to the inner city. On the way back, she had already decided that she would also need to tether a dog to guard the duck farm. She would bring Zhui Feng to the duck farm, since it liked to run around outside when it wasn't chasing chickens, and the large area would make it easy for it to roam freely.

And with so much duck droppings, wouldn't Zhuifeng be living the dream? It could practically have a buffet! Shenmiao couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. It seemed its symptoms were incurable. They'd been to Wen Shiqi Niang's cat and dog clinic several times, tried everything, but nothing worked. Later, Wen Shiqi Niang even said that it wasn't eating chicken droppings because it was hungry, but simply because it had a particular fondness for them, and it was hard to change that habit.

Besides Zhui Feng, Xiao Niu Du and Niu San Shi Chen Miao also plan to let them live in the duck farm. It is spacious, with plenty of fresh grass, and there is a place to "graze cattle". Xiao Niu Du will no longer have to be squeezed against the wall by Shi Yi Lang and his mother because the donkey shed is too small.

Lost in thought, the mule cart soon returned to the inner city.

As soon as they entered the inner city gate, Aunt Li and Li Tiaozi became inexplicably nervous. One kept stretching her clothes to smooth out the wrinkles, while the other kept smearing his stray hairs with saliva.

"It's been so long since I've seen Gou'er. I've never been away from him for so long since he was born. This is truly the first time." Aunt Li was filled with anticipation, wondering if Gou'er had lost weight in the past month, and if he missed his parents. She also wondered what a mess the house had become of the house because of the silly boy, and whether he could even get his clothes clean.

Shen Miao smiled and said, "Gou'er often talks about his aunt and Uncle Li. He is also very well-behaved and capable. He helps his aunt feed the chickens and ducks every day."

Aunt Li was beaming with pride after being praised.

Gradually, they got closer and closer to Yangliu East Lane. Just as the mule cart was about to cross Jinliang Bridge, Chen Miao suddenly seemed to catch a glimpse of Yao Luoge's figure.

The two-story Kangji Tangbing shop was closed. Yao Luoge had his back to her, holding a paste brush, and was pasting a red paper that read "Shop for Rent" on the door.

Shen Miao kept looking back in surprise.

Kangji has stopped operating?