Chapter 48: The ultimate revenge against a gourmet...

How could that be?

Fan Chunren said innocently, "The Grand Master has already decided that if His Majesty really comes, you and Su Xiaolang will be allowed to show your faces. In that case, how can you manage if you don't know how to farm?"

"Huh? What??"

Fusu was startled, then shook his head violently: Let him show his face in front of the Emperor? Won't he burst out laughing?

“No, no, we…” Fusu stopped mid-sentence, then thought that Su Shi might be willing, so he quickly changed his mind: “I’m too young, I definitely can’t do it well.”

Fan Chunren tapped his brow and said gently, "So what if you're young? To be fair, although you're young, what you've done surpasses that of many older people."

"Besides, you two were granted special permission to enter the prison by imperial decree, and you are also members of the Food Committee. You were the initiator. If we don't let you get the credit, are we supposed to steal it for nothing? Your senior brother is not a shameless person."

"Alright." Having said that, Fusu could only reluctantly nod in agreement. Could he really let Fan Chunren take the blame?

All we can do now is diligently farm, and then go over the script with the emperor before he leaves, making sure neither of us bursts out laughing!

Fan Chunren sighed again: "To be able to perform before His Majesty is an opportunity that so many people would rather die for. Even though he is the son of the prime minister, he has only seen the Emperor once in his entire life. Zhao Xiaolang is so young, yet he shows no greed whatsoever. What an unperturbed mind he is, unmoved by favor or disgrace!"

Despite his sighs, Fan Chunren picked up the rake and handed it to Fusu without hesitation: "Here, turn this land over. If you can't manage it, ask your senior brother for help."

The common agricultural tools in the Northern Song Dynasty were the curved-shaft plow and the toothed harrow. These were tools that had undergone several innovations with the progress of the times. Yet, Fusu still found them extremely difficult to use.

Firstly, he was young, and it was difficult for him to even hold a rake that was taller than him, let alone use it to exert force. Secondly, there was hardly any fertile soil inside the Imperial Academy; every turn was filled with sand and gravel, creating a lot of friction and requiring a great deal of effort.

"Cough cough cough..."

By the time Fusu had finished shoveling up the palm-sized patch of land, he was covered in sweat, panting heavily, and his breath carried the faint smell of sand. He immediately wanted to wash his mouth and nose with water.

He took the handkerchief handed to him by Fan Chunren: "At first, they said they would let the students in the prison school experience firsthand what 'every grain is hard-earned' means, but I didn't expect to be the first to know. The boomerang came really fast."

Moreover, he only cleared a tiny patch of land, less than one percent of an acre. Farmers cultivate several acres or even tens of acres, requiring an enormous amount of labor.

Isn't there an easier way?

Fusu fell into deep thought.

Innovations in the appearance of agricultural tools could only be minor tweaks and tweaks. At least in Fusu's memory, until the Qing Dynasty, the curved plow and the dragon-bone waterwheel were still the mainstream tools. He wasn't an expert in this area and couldn't explain anything about it.

What if we changed our approach and replaced wooden farm tools with iron ones? This would require innovation in iron smelting technology. Coincidentally, I heard that the Western Xia have already presented their annual tribute—iron ore. I'll inquire about that later.

He secretly kept this in mind.

"Alright." Fan Chunren thought Fusu was tired since he hadn't spoken for a while. "Now that it's all done, other students will come to plant the seeds tomorrow. Let's go to the dining hall to fill our stomachs."

"Hmm... Hmm? Wait a minute?"

Fusu suddenly realized something was amiss: "Senior Brother Fan, didn't you say that I should cultivate my own fields? How come there are people specifically in charge of sowing? Doesn't that mean there are also people specifically in charge of shoveling soil?"

What about the piece he just lifted?

Fan Chunren looked away: "Well, wasn't your senior brother worried that you'd give yourself away when you presented your answer to the emperor? Now that you've participated personally, you'll have more confidence in your response."

The problem is, the government won't undermine him at all.

It's more like we're trying to cover for him!

Fu Su's round eyes widened, his gaze burning brightly: "Besides that, Senior Brother, you really were just trying to prank me, weren't you!"

"..."

"Senior brother, if you don't say anything, I'm not going to be friends with you anymore!"

Under Fusu's accusing gaze, as if he had been betrayed, Fan Chunren felt his scalp tingle and his conscience tremble. He couldn't take it anymore: "Ahem, alright, it was actually Junior Brother Li and Young Master Su's idea. I was just an accomplice."

Fusu stiffened his neck and refused to speak.

Fan Chunren panicked a little: "Don't be angry, don't be angry. Your senior brother will treat you to dinner...we'll eat at the Xiangguo Temple night market, is that alright?"

Fusu let out a cold laugh: Is the Xiangguo Temple Night Market enough? He's hard to please; you have to eat him from one end of the market to the other to appease him.

In the end, Fan Chunren only managed to win the chance to speak with Xiao Fusu again, at the cost of having an empty purse. He sighed repeatedly: he hadn't even come up with the idea, yet by directly confronting Zhao Xiaolang, he had become the primary target of Zhao's anger. Meanwhile, the instigator of the prank was probably laughing to himself somewhere.

Did you enjoy your meal?

But when he saw Zhao Xiaolang eating intently with oil on his lips, he unconsciously softened his voice and looked at him with loving eyes: "Is there anything else you want to eat? I'll go buy it for you."

Fusu patted his chest, swallowing the hiccup that was about to rise: "No need, I'm already full."

"Are you sure you don't need it?"

"real!"

Look at his and Senior Brother Fan's hands; every finger is stuffed full. Even their stomachs are crammed with food—even the desserts in their other stomachs. Or is Senior Brother Fan's hobby simply feeding them? Really?

Fusu pondered for a moment, but to no avail.

"Aww!" I took a bite and ate the meat off the braised duck leg. It smelled so good.

As he chewed, a serious question suddenly occurred to him: "By the way, what did the Emperor eat when he came to our Imperial Academy? Did he eat in the dining hall like us?"

Fan Chunren suddenly fell silent.

After waiting for a while without a reply, Fusu raised his head and said quietly, "...You didn't think of this issue, did you?"

"How could that be!" Fan Chunren tried to explain, "It's just that no one in the Imperial Academy can be sure whether His Majesty will come or not. The Chancellor also said that we should focus on preparing the vegetable garden first and not worry about anything else."

"But if the Emperor comes, as long as he remembers the food allowance, he will go to the current dining hall to find out what's going on. That's a foregone conclusion."

Moreover, Fusu knew that the Emperor would definitely return.

Because he asked for it himself.

Although the Imperial College's dining hall has added meat dishes and, after an investigation by the Dining Committee, removed pickled vegetables and replaced them with freshly stir-fried fruits and vegetables, and the payment window is under slow construction... it is still far too shabby for the emperor of a country.

Of course, given Emperor Renzong's temperament, eating a couple of meals of vegetables that didn't suit his taste was no big deal; he could consider it an opportunity to understand the people's plight and share their joy. But Fusu himself couldn't bear it. This was his own father, who had come all the way to clean up his messes, and now he had to eat greasy pork without any salt? That was just too miserable.

He volunteered to take on the task: "How about you leave this to me?"

Fan Chunren hesitated and did not agree immediately.

Just as Fusu was about to say, "Senior brother, do you not trust me? Are you going to use the private kitchen of the Prince Pu's mansion as an endorsement?" he heard a voice from above: "Young man, aren't you a little too busy?"

Fan Chunren meticulously listed the tasks on his fingers: "The Food and Beverage Committee can't function without you, you have to farm and grow vegetables, teach classes daily, and prepare for the fasting exam. Before meeting the Emperor, you'll need to spend some time preparing... Won't that be tiring for you?"

Not only that, but they also had to find time to go over the script with the officials.

There's also the matter of the Third Sister, whose future needs to be kept in mind.

Oh right, I also take Miaowu out for a stroll on my days off.

Strangely enough, despite all these responsibilities weighing on Fusu, he didn't feel any pressure and lived his life with remarkable ease. Perhaps this was the dopamine rush of freedom? Fusu felt a million times more comfortable than when he was going to and from school at Zishan Hall according to the usual routine.

"Now Senior Brother Fan remembers that I'm only three years old?" He winked mischievously at the person: "You've clearly taken on a lot on your own, yet you only suspect that I can't handle it all by myself."

Fan Chunren was speechless: "You, you..."

"Alright, you can go by yourself. I'll put in a good word for you with the kitchen staff. Just think of it as you going to relax in front of the stove and relieve some of the stress from your studies."

Fusu was overjoyed: "I knew it! My senior brother is still the best to me!"

Fan Chunren's smile became much more genuine as he earnestly instructed, "You must also remember not to use overly luxurious ingredients. The Imperial Academy cannot give the Emperor the impression of currying favor. Just use the meat and vegetables we usually eat in our dining hall. It would be best to make it into a large pot of food so that the students can eat together."

Based on what he heard from his father about the emperor, he deduced that the emperor was unwilling to allow the imperial kitchen to prepare a special meal just for him.

Fusu understood this even better than Fan Chunren: "Yes, I've got it."

"If you really invent a good dish, you will not only leave a good impression on the emperor, but you can also add it to the imperial kitchen's menu as a regular dish."

But even Fan Chunren himself didn't believe it after saying it. First of all, no matter how precocious Zhao Xiaolang was, he couldn't possibly know anything about cooking. Secondly, he was the son of a prime minister and had tasted many delicacies. What kind of fancy dishes could he possibly make from the most common vegetables and pork used in the dining hall?

If Fusu knew what he was thinking, he would definitely shake his head fiercely: You just don't understand, do you?

The culinary culture of the Song Dynasty reached a new level compared to previous dynasties, but the basic principle remained the same: to bring out the original flavor of the ingredients. Therefore, any famous dish always needed some delicacies from land and sea as a base, such as dried bamboo shoots and sashimi. Only in this way could the taste be unique enough to become a famous dish.

They had not yet evolved to the point where dishes based on the concept of complex, mixed textures had not yet appeared.

Who says simple ingredients can't be cooked into delicious dishes?

In an instant, many dish names flashed through Fusu's mind. At the same time, he also figured out how to repay Su Shi and Li Guanlan.

Hmph, Fan Chunren has already taken his revenge. The rest of you, just wait to be dealt with!

Fusu took another bite of the duck leg and chewed it.

There's nothing I can do; he's just a vengeful person.

-

early morning.

Half-asleep, Su Shi smelled a strong aroma of chess pieces. His nose twitched incessantly, trying to pinpoint the source of the fragrance. Just as his breathing grew heavier, he opened his eyes and woke up.

"Zhao Zhao Zhao Zhao Xiaolang?... What are you doing in my dorm?"

Su Shi quickly touched the corner of his mouth; thankfully, it was dry. No one saw his drooling. However, because he and his fellow student Fan (whom he vehemently denied being the mastermind) had tricked Zhao Xiaolang a few days earlier, Su Shi still felt somewhat guilty when he saw people.

He threw off the covers, got out of bed, and dressed in one swift motion: "Aren't you sleepy? Why are you in my dorm so early?"

Fusu thought to himself: I'm sleepy, of course I'm sleepy.

But if I don't get up early, how can I get revenge for what you did?

He said with a smile, "I'm here to bring you breakfast. The cafeteria has been developing new dishes lately, right? I tasted one that was pretty good, so I brought it over for you."

"Come on, open your mouth—"

Su Shi instinctively opened his mouth, and before he could even see what it was, he chewed and swallowed. The next moment, he finally understood where the aroma had come from. His eyes sparkled as he grabbed Fusu's hand: "What was that? It was so delicious! Was it really made in the kitchen?"

As long as it tastes good.

I'm just worried you won't like it.

But did you think I would tell you my name?

For a gourmet, there is no better revenge than letting him taste a delicacy only to have it abruptly end, leaving him unable to find it anywhere else.

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Author's note: Are there any students taking the college entrance exam who are reading my story?

Good luck on the college entrance exam! Sending you all the best! [Lop-eared rabbit head][Lop-eared rabbit head][Lop-eared rabbit head]