Chapter 23 Chapter 23: Braised Duck Soup.
Soon, the number of people in front of Chen Yan gradually decreased.
When it was Chen Yan's turn, the steamer was empty. He stood there in front of Lin Zhi, stunned, as if struck by a bolt from the blue. He felt completely shaky.
"Um, Chen Lang...the steamed buns are gone." Lin Zhi didn't expect it to be such a coincidence that when it was Chen Yan's turn, the steamed buns were all divided up.
"It's okay, I'm not hungry either." Chen Yan didn't want to bother Lin Zhi, so he forced a smile.
But just as he finished speaking, Chen Yan's stomach growled in dissatisfaction.
Linzhi couldn't help but glance at his belly.
Immediately, Chen Yan's face flushed red. He didn't dare to look at Lin Zhi's eyes. He quickened his pace, wanting to get back to the carriage before anyone else noticed him.
Chen Yan left in a very embarrassing manner.
Linzhi looked at his back, as if seeing a puppy drenched by water... Ahem, it was too rude to think like that.
She lowered her eyes to the small steamer beside her: there were still six in it, which she had originally intended to keep for her family of three.
"Wait." Lin Zhi called out to Chen Yan, then picked up the plate, put three steamed buns on it, and said with a smile, "I remember the two Tao Langs weren't here just now? Could you please, Mr. Chen, bring the buns over for me?"
Chen Yan paused. Seeing Lin Zhi's actions, his eyes lit up, and then he felt embarrassed again: "This belongs to your family."
Lu San and his group ate nearly a hundred steamed buns. It would have been fine if Chen Yan had just tasted one, but it was really embarrassing for him to take some of Lin Zhi's food for himself.
"It's okay, we have duck soup here," Lin Zhi said unconcernedly. She packed three steamed buns and scooped a bowl of duck soup for him. Seeing Chen Yan hesitate and open his mouth as if to say something, Lin Zhi spoke before him, "To be honest, I don't have many relatives at home. When we get to Bianjing, I might ask for your help."
"Besides, I made these meals to make everyone feel more comfortable and in better spirits during the journey."
"These are just a token of my family's appreciation."
"Sister Zhi is right. Just accept it, Mr. Chen." Lin Sen, who was standing next to him, heard this and responded.
"That's right, why are you so polite?" Song Jiaoniang also nodded with a smile. If Chen Yan continued to procrastinate, she would deliver it to him personally.
Seeing the three of them say so, Chen Yan no longer refused. He shamelessly took the bowl and said frankly, "I'm just an ordinary official. If Miss Lin has any problems in the future, you can come to me. Just don't think I'm useless."
"How could that be?" Lin Zhi smiled and waved her hand. There's a saying, "It's easy to meet the King of Hell, but hard to deal with the little devils." For ordinary people like them, the people they most often interact with aren't the powerful and noble, but the petty officials.
At present, they are not formal "civil servants", but belong to a large number of non-staff personnel, and almost all matters that directly deal with the people are handled by them.
Lin Zhi felt that as a foreigner, if he wanted to settle down in Bian Jing, he would certainly have many opportunities to deal with minor officials in the future. Maybe he would really need to ask Chen Yan and others for help.
"Then I'll accept it." After hearing this, Chen Yan felt that there would always be opportunities to help in the future, so he accepted it with a smile and took the food back.
After he left, Song Jiaoniang came over to her daughter and watched her clean the remaining chicken carcasses while she gossiped quietly, "So Chen Lang isn't an official, but a minor official? Earlier, I saw him close to Tao Lang and his brothers, well-dressed and with a decent demeanor. Furthermore, Madam Xie and Lu San all respected him very much, so I thought he was an official like Tao Lang, or perhaps even from a government official family."
"Yes." Lin Sen couldn't hide his surprise. "Chen Lang's demeanor and appearance are better than those of the yamen officials I've met in the past. I never thought he was still a clerk."
The difference between a clerk and a regular official is as great as heaven and earth.
After a pause, he continued, "But Shen Lang is still young. Maybe he will resign from his official position and take the imperial examination again."
The couple looked at each other and said so, but they also knew in their hearts that if there really was a scholar in the family, the family would probably support him with all its strength. How could they let him not study but directly send him to the government office to work as a clerk?
I'm afraid that although Shen Lang looks good, he actually has no talent for studying and cannot take the path of imperial examinations.
When they were still in the Xi Mansion, the couple saw that the eldest son studied hard day and night. When he was admitted to a famous academy, the master's family was ecstatic and hosted a banquet for guests. Even they, the servants, received a large reward.
The couple had also heard many stories about the descendants of officials who had wasted more than ten years of hard work but had not been able to make a name for themselves in the imperial examinations. In the end, they could only enter the officialdom through selection and patronage, and the family gradually declined.
If this is the case even for officials, the imperial examination is an even more difficult path for ordinary people.
Most people waste their entire lives and ultimately choose to be recruited by the government to become minor clerks. Some are even worse off and cannot even become minor clerks, and can only make a living by copying documents on the streets.
"Of course there are other possibilities." Lin Sen thought of something else, "Maybe Shen Lang's information is not fake. If he has no one at home, then there is no one to support him."
The couple sighed for a moment, but were quickly brought back to their senses by the aroma from the pot. They looked at the bubbling duck soup in the pot and asked curiously, "Sister Zhi, what is this?"
"Didn't mother see what I did?" Lin Zhi was amused by Song Jiaoniang's reaction. She placed the cleaned chicken rack on the table with the back facing up, and broke the spine to make it as flat as possible.
After finishing the preparations, she wiped her hands, took a spoon and scooped out the stewed soup one by one, passing it to Song Jiaoniang and Lin Sen: "Of course it's the pickled duck and wild vegetable soup. I also added some hard-wheat flatbread in it, which is guaranteed to fill your stomach."
"Sauerkraut duck...and wild vegetable soup?" This was the first time Song Jiaoniang had heard of this recipe. She lowered her head and looked at the porcelain bowl in her hand. She saw that the sauced duck and wild vegetable soup that had just been served was steaming, with amber-colored duck skin floating on the soup, and green wild vegetables and the inconspicuous Hu pancake hidden underneath. It looked very tempting.
"Look at the pickled duck, how come it looks better now?"
"This braised duck was air-dried for too long, causing its skin to shrivel. After being stewed, it absorbs the broth and looks moist and tender," Linzhi explained. "Not only does it look better, but it tastes better too!"
Song Jiaoniang nodded subconsciously, a puzzlement rising in her heart: the fish soup last time could be considered a coincidence, but this time there were steamed buns, braised duck soup, and those unprocessed chicken legs... When did her daughter learn this skill? How come she had no memory of it at all?
Song Jiaoniang was full of questions, but as the fragrance that entered her nose became stronger and stronger, she had no time to think about them and kept swallowing her saliva.
She first picked up a piece of half-soft Hu pancake and put it in her mouth, and her eyes immediately lit up: the hard pancake had been stewed for a period of time. As it absorbed the soup, the outer skin gradually became soft and chewy, the inside was firm and dense, and even the aroma became exceptionally rich.
"Okay, it's delicious, huh?"
Almost at the same time, Tao Yingce, who had tasted it, exclaimed in amazement. He picked up a piece of the pickled duck and observed it carefully: "Wow, Miss Lin is amazing."
"Isn't it?" Chen Yan took a sip and his brows relaxed: "It can be said that it turns decay into magic."
"Turning decay into magic? Big Brother Shen is exaggerating." Tao Yingheng said casually, "Isn't it just stewing pickled duck with water? As long as there is good pickled duck, it should be possible to make it, right? Any pickled duck shop in Bianjing can make this."
Chen Yan smiled and didn't respond.
Tao Yingce glanced at his stubborn brother and shook his head: "It's not that the pickled duck is good."
"The best braised duck in Bianjing is undoubtedly Wujie's. The duck has an even color, intact skin, and the right amount of fat and lean. Just the smell of it gives you a rich aroma of sauce."
"The duck in front of me has dark meat and wrinkled, dry skin. It's obviously over-cured. If any restaurant in Bianjing dared to serve such a duck to its guests, it would be laughed at."
Tao Yingce picked up another piece of pickled duck and showed it carefully to his brother: "Try it carefully. Miss Lin stewed it for a long time, and the saltiness of this pickled duck is just right."
"Tell me, the original flavor was probably too salty! Now the duck meat is just right, and the soup isn't too salty either. It's obvious that Miss Lin re-seasoned it."
This level of seasoning is definitely not something that ordinary people can do.
Tao Yingce was amazed and asked Chen Yan, "Did the people who investigated Xi Zhizhou's mansion make a mistake? Was Lin Zhi really an embroiderer in the Xi family, not a cook?"
Tao Yingce picked up the braised duck soup and took another sip, then picked up a piece of hard-dough Hu pancake and put it in his mouth. He ate with great satisfaction and secretly sighed that he was lucky to have met such a powerful person.
When Tao Yingce thought of this, he couldn't help but look at Chen Yan and secretly made up his mind that he would learn to do some good things next time he went out.
Look, he softened his heart for once, and Yan Ge'er brought back the "savior".
Chen Yan lowered his head, his long eyelashes trembling. He ate a mouthful of braised duck soup and a mouthful of steamed bun, each one tasted incredibly sweet. After finishing the bun, Chen Yan raised his head, his gaze settling on the two remaining buns on the plate. "Ce'er, Heng'er, do you two want to eat the buns? If not, I'll eat them."
"This must be a steamed bun stuffed with pickled fish and pheasant." Tao Yingce thought of this unheard-of combination and picked one up and put it in his mouth with great interest.
After just one bite, he raised his eyebrows and looked surprised: "What a wonderful taste."
Although the combination of ingredients is a bit strange, the taste is really amazing. The salty flavor of the pickled fish penetrates deeply into the chicken, and combined with the unique sweetness of the mushrooms, the flavor is truly eye-catching.
"You're exaggerating." Tao Yingheng, who was sitting nearby, curled his lips. He didn't think this thing could be delicious just by hearing the name: "Pickled fish and chicken steamed buns, how can they be delicious? You're exaggerating."
"Then you don't want to eat?"
"I don't want it." Tao Yingheng crossed his arms over his chest. Even though the tempting fragrance kept pouring into his nostrils, he shook his head firmly.
"Then it belongs to me." Seeing him so sure, Chen Yan's mouth corners slightly raised, and he picked up the second one in a good mood.
Tao Yingce shook his head and ate the steamed bun in three or two bites before saying, "You don't understand. The combination of pickled fish and pheasant sounds strange, but it actually makes some sense."
Tao Yingheng did not retort, but from his expression it was clear that he was not convinced.
Tao Yingce was in a good mood after enjoying the delicious food. He explained in a rare and pleasant manner, "Do you know Yuyangxian?"
"Brother, I'm not stupid. Of course I know about the combination of fish and mutton," Tao Yingheng said with a smile. "The combination of fish and mutton is called 'xian', which shows how delicious it is. It has been sought after by people all over the world since ancient times. But what does this have to do with the combination of pickled fish and chicken? That's pheasant meat, which is completely different from mutton!"
"That's true." Tao Yingce nodded, "But the combination of fish and chicken also has a famous dish called Fresh on Top."
"This fish and chicken go well together. Even fresh fish and mutton can't compare to its taste."
Seeing that Tao Yingheng still didn't agree, Tao Yingce simply turned aside and said to Shen Yan, "No wonder Feng's Steamed Bun Shop at Hezhou Ferry was willing to pay 200 strings of cash for her recipe. This Miss Lin is really quite capable."
"Feng's Steamed Bun Shop?" Tao Yingheng was stunned when he heard this. "The one at Hezhou Ferry?"
"That's right."
"How... could that be?" Tao Yingheng was immediately incredulous. During the last two days of the caravan's stay at Hezhou Ferry, a local official recommended that he try Feng's Steamed Bun Shop.
Tao Yingheng thought pork was fishy and cheap, not something a gentleman should eat, so he bought mutton buns instead. Because the buns were delicious, he bought a few for his brother to try. His brother praised the taste as being no less than that of the shops in Bian Jing, and said it was indeed a famous shop.
But Miss Lin had just arrived in Hezhou with her own caravan, so how did she get in touch with Fengji Steamed Bun Shop?
Tao Yingce looked at his brother's shocked expression and laughed out loud: "Oh, I forgot. After all, you are not an official, so you don't know the result of the interrogation yet."
"The bandits followed Miss Lin and her family because they learned from the brokerage that Feng Ji had signed a contract with her and had just received two hundred strings of cash."
"ah?"
"It is said that it is to thank Miss Lin for improving the steamed bun recipe." Tao Yingce was at ease, watching his brother's reaction with great interest, and considerately concealed from him the fact that Lin Zhi had improved the steamed bun with scallions and pork, not mutton.
"Is this true?" Tao Yingheng's pupils trembled and he turned his head to look at the porcelain plate on the table.
Naturally, there was nothing on the porcelain plate.
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