Chapter 12 Chapter 12 Sorrowful and Strange Stories and Sophora japonica Cold and Refreshing Beans…

The weather is getting hotter and hotter now, and people are already selling cold ice, straw mats, bamboo wives and the like on the roadside. Aunt Duan loved beauty, so she went to the West Market early in the morning and picked out some jasmine flowers with stamens and stems to wear as her hairpins.

Duan Zhiwei also took a bunch of fragrant jasmine and pressed it on the lapel of the little Pu Tao. The little Pu Tao had a round face, like the Fuwa in the painting. She smiled whenever she saw people, and all the neighbors liked her very much.

Here, Duan Zhiwei is teaching Pu Tao how to boil licorice water. The recipe is very simple. Just boil the licorice and sugar together, and if conditions permit, add some crushed ice. She paused and shrugged helplessly, "Unfortunately, the ice is expensive. We can't afford it for the time being."

Little Pu Tao also imitated the helpless shrug and made everyone laugh.

Licorice is particularly cheap this year. Duan Zhiwei boils a jar of cold water every day and places it under the locust tree at the door, covering it with a layer of clean coarse gauze. Passers-by only need to spend a copper coin to drink a large bowl of licorice.

Duan Zhiwei even sent a bowl to every household in the neighborhood, so few of her neighbors were jealous of her family's good business.

Duan Zhiwei turned around and taught Xiao Putao, "The most important thing in doing business is to be harmonious and make money. Don't be stingy. This way you can make many good friends."

Little Putao nodded vigorously, turned around and poured double drinks for the customers in line. Duan Zhiwei coughed lightly and said, "Don't be too generous."

If everyone is given double, the money won’t be recovered.

It has rained continuously in Chang'an since the Dragon Boat Festival, and business has been bad as a result. Pedestrians look at the cloudy sky and hurry on their way, leaving them no time to buy food.

Seeing that the store already had A Pan and Pu Tao, Aunt Duan was happy to have some free time. Every day she would change into a bright purple skirt and go around visiting people, and from time to time she would go to listen to storytelling.

That day, Aunt Duan came back hurriedly holding an umbrella and happily told a few idle young ladies: "There is an interesting rumor in the market recently."

The store was quiet, and Duan Zhiwei was bored. Hearing her say that, he hurriedly asked, "What's the rumor?"

Madam Duan sat on the couch and said, "Pour me a cup of sour milk."

Pu Tao hurriedly went to get some sour juice. Aunt Duan took a big sip and then said mysteriously, "The owner of the largest jewelry store in the East City, Wei Langjun, died in Pingkangfang on the night of the Dragon Boat Festival."

Duan Zhiwei quickly sat up and covered Pu Tao's ears: "Aunt!"

It is easy to imagine that a young man died in a brothel at night, which is a romantic and erotic story. Although Duan Zhiwei was also curious, there were children present.

Aunt Duan waved her hand and frowned at her: "What are you thinking about?"

It turned out that Wei Langjun was hanged in the upper wing of Yuchun Tower at night. It was said that his death was extremely tragic. The screams of the singing girl attracted many people to watch. The rumor spread throughout Chang'an as the curfew was lifted.

It did sound creepy, but it was still not as good as the various monsters and ghosts told in the stories of the Da Ci'en Temple. Duan Zhiwei was unhappy to hear it, and called A Pan and Pu Tao to the backyard to help pickle the fish.

"That's different. This Wei Langjun is not an ordinary person." Aunt Duan paused, as if trying to arouse their interest.

"What's your identity? A royal relative?" Duan Zhiwei asked.

"Is he a monster?" Pu Tao guessed.

Aunt Duan smiled mysteriously and said quietly, "He is the prototype of Young Master Wei Yin in The Biography of Ren."

As soon as these words were spoken, Duan Zhiwei and Pu Tao immediately sat back down with their eyes shining. A Pan had already walked to the back door, but after hearing these words, he hesitated for a moment and also sat back down.

The Biography of Ren, which is well-known throughout the city of Chang'an, says that there was a young man named Zheng Liu who met a charming woman in white at a mansion at Shengpingmen one day and spent a night with her. When I went to the house again the next day, I was told by my next-door neighbor that the house had been abandoned for many years and no one lived there. The neighbor laughed and said, "My dear, you may have met a fox spirit."

More than ten days later, Zheng Liu met Ren again in a clothing store in the West Market, but Ren avoided him everywhere. Zheng Liu found her and said that he did not mind her identity as a fox spirit. The two made a vow of eternal love.

Zheng Liu had a wealthy brother named Wei Yin. One day, he heard that Zheng Liu had married this beautiful woman, so he took his servant to the house while Zheng Liu was not at home. Seeing that Ren was indeed as beautiful as a fairy, he wanted to force her to take him as a concubine. Unexpectedly, Ren refused to obey until her death, and instead won Wei Yin's respect.

This is a story of a talented scholar and a beautiful woman, but it has a heavy and sad ending: Zheng Liu was transferred to Huaili Prefecture to serve as Guoyi Wei, and begged Ren to go with him. Ren said with difficulty: "The witch calculated that I should not go west this year."

Zheng Liu begged her again and again, and Ren had no choice but to follow him. On the way, they met a group of hunters. A greyhound jumped out. Ren was frightened and turned into a white fox to escape. Although Zheng Liu rode his horse and scolded him, Ren still died in the mouth of the greyhound. Zheng Liu was deeply saddened and spent all his money to redeem the body and bury it.

The story was novel and interesting, and the ending was sad and touching. It soon became popular throughout Chang'an. Bookstores always sold out of "The Biography of Ren". Woodblock printing was not enough to print the book. In those days, all the dramas, folk music and shadow plays in Chang'an were based on "The Biography of Ren".

As for why the deceased Wei Fu was the young master Wei Yin in "Biography of Ren", it was all because he admitted it himself when he was drunk in Pingkangfang, and his identity matched the details in the book.

After admitting that he was the prototype of Master Wei Yin, Wei Fu became famous overnight. In addition, there were so many people who wanted to listen to Ren's stories, so Wei Fu's shop business in the East Market became very popular.

Duan Zhiwei got angry when he heard this. This scum who forced a decent woman and stopped her from committing crimes because she resisted actually made a fortune. His death was what he deserved.

After hearing the story, Duan Zhiwei took advantage of the fact that no one was in the shop and prepared to try making some new food.

The sales of Hu Bing and Crispy Pork have not been good recently. The weather was so hot and humid that even Aunt Duan wiped her sweat and refused the fried crispy meat, saying, "It's too greasy and I can't eat it."

However, mung bean porridge, lotus cake and cold drinks were selling well, so Duan Zhiwei had to urgently prepare to change the menu.

It was rare that it didn't rain before the evening curfew. Neighbors gathered around the old locust tree, fanning themselves with palm-leaf fans to keep cool. Cicadas chirped noisily in the tree. Duan Zhiwei came over with a pot of yogurt to solicit public opinion. Aunt Yelu thought without hesitation, "We must eat locust leaf cold noodles today."

Sophora japonica leaf cold noodles, to put it simply, are just cold noodles, except that some emerald green Sophora japonica leaf juice is added when kneading the dough. It looks refreshing and tastes lightly of Sophora japonica leaves.

Unexpectedly, Ye Na at the side suddenly said, "Since I married to Chang'an, I have been eating cold soup with locust leaves every summer. I am tired of eating the fluff. I don't want to eat it anymore."

Duan Zhiwei decided to try to improve the Sophora japonica leaf cold soup.

First, mash the Sophora japonica leaves to extract the juice, mix it with clean water, sift it again, and stir it into a green batter.

Scoop a spoonful of batter into a large coarse porcelain plate. Cover the pot and steam it for a while until the batter starts to bubble.

Duan Zhiwei instructed Pu Tao to put the plate into well water to cool it down, so that it would be easier to remove. The layers of green dough stacked together are crystal clear and look cool and refreshing.

Duan Zhiwei nodded with satisfaction, and then went to prepare the sauce. He first heated the pan and fried a pot of egg sauce, then put the fermented black bean sauce, sesame seeds and chopped Sichuan peppercorns into the mixture, and added some dogwood water to increase the spiciness.

I also prepared some carrots, cucumber shreds, mung bean sprouts, and chopped peanuts and put them in the well water to preserve them.

Everything was ready, Duan Zhiwei breathed a sigh of relief and asked everyone to take a rest. He planned to sell the improved locust leaf rolled dough as breakfast tomorrow morning.

The next morning, Su Qun, who had worked the night shift, wanted to buy a Hu pancake, but found that the pancake oven was cold.

Duan Zhiwei apologized awkwardly: "It's too hot recently, no one likes to eat meat-filled Hu pancakes, would you like to have some locust leaf rolls?"

I saw crispy bean sprouts and juicy and crispy cucumber strips neatly arranged on the wooden table. The egg sauce in the bowl next to it is golden in color and has a rich aroma.

Su Yu swallowed and said, "Then have one."

Duan Zhiwei held the chopsticks in one hand and spread the roll dough on the other hand. He first put in the crispy bean sprouts, crispy raw cucumbers, and then scooped a spoonful of fragrant egg sauce, wrapped it into a bulging bun-shaped roll and handed it to Su Xun.

Su Xun couldn't wait to take the pancake and take a bite. The dough was chewy and tough, the cucumber was crispy and fresh, the bean sprouts were refreshing, and the best part was the egg sauce inside. The egg sauce was tender and delicate, fried just right, with the right viscosity, not too thin to affect the taste, nor too thick and greasy.

The most important thing is that the salty, slightly spicy flavors in the egg sauce are distinctly layered, and it is very comfortable to eat in this hot summer. Su Xun ate it so well that his mouth was full.

Duan Zhiwei considerately brought a bowl of licorice water and asked, "How does it taste?"

Su Xun had no time to speak and could only nod frantically at her.

Duan Zhiwei was secretly delighted and hinted, "Since it tastes good, Mr. Su should take some back to the office."

This locust leaf pancake tastes good and refreshing. I think Yuan Shenji should like it too.

Su Que swallowed the last mouthful, and then drank the licorice water in one gulp. He didn't think much about it, thinking that Duan Zhiwei wanted to do more business, so he could only apologize and said, "Except for me, a civil servant, there is no one else in the office recently."

Duan Zhiwei blurted out in surprise: "What about Captain Yuan?"

Su Qi looked even more surprised than she was. "There is a curfew near Pingkangfang. Madam Duan, haven't you heard about the strange murder case in Pingkangfang?"

Su Qun looked around and lowered his voice to Duan Zhiwei, "It is rumored that the deceased Wei Langjun is the prototype of "The Biography of Ren". Now the whole Chang'an is saying that it is the revenge of fox spirits and ghosts."

It was gloomy and rainy outside. Duan Zhiwei couldn't help but shudder at Su Qi's words. The strange and legendary story "The Biography of Ren" was about the wealthy young man of the Wei family who died in Pingkangfang.

After finishing his locust leaf rolls, Su Yu stood up and thanked him solemnly: "I still have some documents to sort out in the government office, so I won't bother you." He took out the money and was about to leave when he turned back and said, "If you want to do business with Captain Yuan, he is on duty in Nanqu, Pingkangfang, so you can go directly."

Duan Zhiwei was originally worried that Yuan Shenji would not have enough food to eat, but after hearing him say that, it was hard to refute him, so he just nodded and said, "Thank you."

The rolled noodle business was really good. The brightly colored vegetables and sauces placed on the table were very eye-catching, and customers came one after another.

Duan Zhiwei taught how to make the dumplings to A Pan and Pu Tao, and kept one for himself, intending to go to Ping Kang Fang to deliver it to Yuan Shen Ji. As soon as he went out, he bumped into a woman holding an umbrella who was about to enter a restaurant.

Duan Zhiwei hurriedly looked up to apologize, but was stunned when he saw the woman's appearance.