Chapter 40 Chapter 40 Red Bean Rice Cake Soup. (Two in One)…
In the Doctoral Hall, several doctors and teaching assistants from the Imperial College were chatting, and the topic mostly revolved around the students of the Imperial College.
"Look, this is the essay that the candidate student handed in today. Every word is full of gems." A doctor smiled and handed the homework of his beloved student to everyone to check, his face full of pride.
Even though this dynasty implemented the practice of sealing and transcribing papers, and there was no need to submit poems and essays to the chief examiner and powerful officials for reference before the imperial examination as in the previous dynasty, it could not resist the sincere wishes of the doctors, who wanted their beloved students to have a higher reputation and a smoother official career in the future.
"Let me see." One of the doctors took the article, read it carefully for a moment, and nodded repeatedly. "As expected of a talented student of Dr. Li, your article is beautifully written. I'm sure you'll get a good score in next year's imperial examination."
"Oh, it's really good." Another person flipped through it and his eyes lit up: "In my opinion, it's not inferior to Shen Sheng."
When Shen Sheng was mentioned, everyone fell silent.
Dr. Li's smile froze on his face. After a while, he shook his head and said, "Everyone has their own aspirations. There's nothing we can do about it."
"What kind of ambition is it to be a minor official?!" The doctor beside him slammed his palm on the table, puffing his beard and glaring, "The Tao family is the same, they don't even know how to give them some advice."
"The Tao family are just relatives after all, how can they really control it?" Dr. Li shook his head and changed the subject: "Besides, if they can have such ability, that Tao Silang——"
Speaking of Tao Silang, the people in the room sighed again.
The doctor who had just slammed the table shook his head repeatedly: "He's not bad at school, and his writing is good, but that's his temper..."
"It would be nice if I were like Tao Dalang."
"I heard," an assistant teacher interjected with a smile, "that after Tao Silang came back, he's become much calmer and more polite."
Just as he finished speaking, hurried footsteps were heard outside, and soon a student rushed in: "Dr. Li, Dr. Dai... Huh, huh, Gao, Gao Yanei... Oh no, Gao Sheng and Tao Sheng, they took Hou Sheng and Xu Sheng away!"
"What!?" Several people stood up suddenly, and Dr. Li had the ugliest expression among them.
Last time, he discovered that Gao Yanei was bullying students in the Imperial College, so he scolded him and said that if he did it again, he would report him to the Imperial College's chief academic officer. Only then did Gao Yanei behave himself for a while.
"Which Supervisor Tao?"
"It's Tao Yingheng!"
When Dr. Li heard the answer, he was even more shocked: "This Gao Yanei is getting more and more outrageous. He even dragged Tao Silang into a fight!"
"It's simply a disaster!"
"Has Tao Silang changed his personality? Hasn't he become evil?"
Dr. Li was furious and walked out the door first: "Where are they? Take me there!"
The other doctoral assistants looked at each other, then stood up and ran forward to see what was going on.
The group hurried along, following the student guide to the backyard of the Imperial College. Before they even got close, they noticed a large crowd gathered in front of them, and could hear the faint sound of an argument.
"Hey, hey, hey, how could you do this!"
"Tao Shilang! You've gone too far!"
"Wow... aren't you the ones who are going too far?"
The last bit of hope in Dr. Li's heart disappeared completely. He could no longer control his anger and shouted, "What are you doing!?"
The talking in the venue stopped abruptly, and the next second the crowd that had gathered together gradually dispersed, revealing a few people surrounded in the center.
Tao Yingheng held chopsticks in his hand and looked at Dr. Li and the others in doubt, his eyebrows and eyes full of confusion: "...Eating?"
Dr. Li's anger froze for a moment. He scanned the room, looking at students who were either holding wooden chopsticks or soup spoons, or who had marks on the corners of their mouths or whose cheeks were still moving. After a long pause, he managed a word: "Ah?"
Tao Yingheng felt aggrieved because he had brought back a lot of food, so he invited his classmates, thinking that each person could eat two portions at most.
But soon after he opened the lid of the food box, someone else came over, smelling the fragrance.
Then more and more people came, and before he even had time to fill his stomach, his food was devoured by these hungry wolves, and they even turned the tables and said they ate too much!
Please, this is my lunch!
While they were still arguing, Dr. Li and his team came again.
Tao Yingheng was upset: "Dr. Li, you are late. There is no food left."
Dr. Li et al.: …………
The students who came to lodge a complaint were even more confused. After listening to the description of the students in charge of tracking, they looked as if they had eaten bitter herbs, and their faces turned pale.
What the hell? Forced to eat? No, is that something a human being could do? Just this matter, is this reasonable?
It took a while for Dr. Li to realize that he had made a mistake. His expression was complicated, and Tao Lang was also dumbfounded. He even glanced at Gao Yanei with disdain: "I am not that kind of person with no manners. I actually go and bully my classmates...tsk tsk tsk tsk."
Then he turned to Dr. Li and the students and said, "How can you confuse me with him?"
Everyone was silent, but Gao Yanei was furious, his face flushed red: "I just caused trouble for him once."
Tao Yingheng chuckled: "I~just~caused~him~something~"
Hearing Tao Yingheng's strange tone, Gao Yanei was completely furious. If the two followers had not seen that the doctors were all there and pulled Gao Yanei back, he would have rushed forward to argue with Tao Yingheng.
Dr. Li looked at the two people who were quarreling, and then asked Mr. Hou and Mr. Xu. Only after confirming that the two were indeed invited to have dinner together did he feel relieved.
Then, he looked around at the students around him and wondered, "What about you?"
The students blushed. "We, we were originally following... then, then, then... we smelled the delicious food and saw there was plenty of food, so we just came over to eat."
Even when they said this, the students couldn't help smacking their lips, as if they were still savoring the taste.
"Oh, I see..." Dr. Li looked at the group of students and then at Tao Yingheng.
The food that Tao Silang bought specially to share with others must be of great value. However, he had this intention but was misunderstood by others.
Dr. Li's conscience couldn't help but linger as he thought about this. He looked at the people in the room, some embarrassed, some depressed, some unhappy, and some ashamed, and gritted his teeth and said, "Well, I'll take you guys out for a meal later!"
"Huh?" The student, upon hearing this, understood Dr. Li's intention and couldn't help but show a look of surprise on his face: "Dr. Li, this is unacceptable."
"We misunderstood Mr. Tao. If anyone wants to treat someone, it should be us."
"What's so difficult about it? You don't have a salary." Dr. Li patted his chest, "But I have money!"
Several students looked at each other in confusion, and after a while someone whispered, "But Master Li, didn't you say last time that after receiving your salary, you bought two bolts of silk cloth each for your mother, sister-in-law, and wife, along with other miscellaneous items, and spent it all in just ten days? For the rest of our lives, we'll have to live on pickles and rice?"
Before Dr. Li could object, another student chimed in, "Right, right, right. It was your wife who realized something was wrong and sent the servants to prevent you from starving."
Dr. Li: “…”
Dr. Li: “…………”
He felt the gossiping glances of his colleagues behind him, and he felt extremely embarrassed and annoyed. After a while, Dr. Li gritted his teeth and said, "That's a hobby between me and my wife... You bunch of unmarried brats, what the hell do you know!"
Without waiting for anyone to say anything, Dr. Li shouted again, "Alright, alright, I said it's my treat, so it's my treat!"
"Whoever sees it gets a share?"
"Hey! Dr. Li's treat!"
"Hey, hey, hey, I didn't say I invited you!"
Dr. Li and his colleagues chatted for a while before walking towards Tao Yingheng, intending to ask him where he ordered the meal.
"Dr. Li, treat me..." Tao Yingheng first mentioned the shop's location, then heard Dr. Li's invitation and immediately waved his hands repeatedly: "How can I bother you to treat me? This shop is owned by an acquaintance of mine, so if anyone wants to treat, it should be me."
"That won't do. I misunderstood you and Gao Jiansheng. This time, I have to treat you." Dr. Li flatly refused and immediately said that he would treat everyone to a meal this afternoon: "Let's talk it out and clear up the misunderstanding."
Dr. Li was afraid that Tao Yingheng would refuse, so he patted him on the shoulder and said, "Just consider it a favor to me, your teacher."
Since Dr. Li said so, Tao Yingheng had no choice but to agree.
Shunzi, however, listened with a strange expression. He had brought back two large food boxes worth less than three hundred coins, and this was just a treat...was there any need to push the buck?
After Dr. Li and the others left, the students dispersed. Shunzi quickly stepped forward and explained the situation: "...This shop sells rice topped with toppings. When I ate there, the dishes were served directly on top of the rice. Only for takeout do they serve the rice and dishes separately. This... is not a place for a meal together?"
"Wait a minute?" Tao Yingheng didn't ask about the rice bowl, but just stared at him: "You said you were eating there just now!?"
Shunzi finally came to his senses, but it was too late to cover his mouth. Seeing his flustered look, Tao Yingheng was furious. "You are so good, Shunzi! I was waiting here eagerly, and I even saved a meal for you, but you actually ate over there without telling me. Did you even think of me?"
Shunzi complained repeatedly and quickly talked about Tao Yingce and Shen Yan's affairs: "Thanks to my words, the two gentlemen are fine. Besides, I was just waiting there for nothing..."
Then, Shunzi remembered something else and said quickly, "Also... I paid for this as well."
Tao Yingheng: ???
His eyebrows were raised. "What nonsense are you talking about? I'm giving you two Jiaozi."
Shunzi was speechless. He took out a Jiaozi note from his pocket and stuffed it into Tao Yingheng's pocket. "My dear husband, those ten meals only cost two hundred and sixty-eight coins. I couldn't make the change, so I had to pay for it myself!"
"Two hundred and sixty-eight wen?"
"That's right, two hundred and sixty-eight wen." Shunzi nodded. "You said it was just this price, and you were still arguing with Dr. Li..."
Tao Yingheng stared, silent, then remembered that he had already ordered every dish in the shop. He walked around with his hands behind his back, then told Shunzi to run again, "Go tell Sister Zhi that Dr. Li is hosting a dinner at the shop tonight. Tell them to prepare a few more delicious dishes and have them delivered to us tonight."
"I'll send my Jiaozi along too."
"I'll pay for the extra money, and then you can give Dr. Li a similar price."
While Tao Yingheng was discussing with Shunzi, Linzhiji also closed its lunch business.
After Lin Sen saw off the last guest, he turned around and saw a tub of dishes waiting to be washed: "Oh my god!"
"It's no use calling me mother! There are still these. After you wash them, return them to Madam Yu." Song Jiaoniang pointed to the basin and dishes next to her, feeling helpless.
"Hiss..." Lin Sen had just let the basin leak. He took a deep breath when he saw it. Without thinking, he turned around and walked out: "I'll go to the market to hire a woman. If all else fails, I can call a free man to help."
"Look at you! Hurry up and go!" Song Jiaoniang rolled her eyes at Lin Sen's back, spat, and then complained to Lin Zhi: "Look at your father, he just said he would wash it himself, but he changed his mind in such a short time."
"Dad!" Lin Zhi heard this and hurried to the kitchen door, shouting at Lin Sen, "Then go to the pawnshop and rent some silver and copperware!"
"I understand!" Lin Sen responded and went out.
Although Jun kiln porcelain is highly sought after by collectors in later generations, it was a common commodity in this dynasty.
Since it is a common commodity, it cannot demonstrate the status of the owner, and naturally it will not be liked by the powerful.
Because of the influence of the upper class, various porcelain items such as porcelain pillows are cheap and only used by honest officials and the poor, and porcelain cups, bowls, and plates are only used by ordinary people.
As for officials, they all used copper, silver, and even gold utensils. For this reason, all the shops on the road in front of Dali Temple Street, regardless of size, used copper and silver utensils.
These utensils were expensive, and buying them all would be an astronomical sum. In Bianjing, there were countless shops that needed silver and bronze utensils, and where there was demand, there were also rental options. Pawnshops, grocery stores, and even pawnshops all offered silver and bronze utensils for rent, and the prices were not expensive.
Linzhi prepared a lot before opening the shop, but he didn't expect that the business would soar as soon as the shop opened, and there were not enough bowls and plates.
Fortunately, Song Jiaoniang and Yu Niangzi have a good relationship and helped to borrow some. Otherwise, I really don’t know what to do.
Thinking of this, Linzhi opened the lid of the pot and stirred the stewed red beans: "I will make some snacks later, and mother will take some to Aunt Yu. Thank you for your help."
Song Jiaoniang responded with a smile. Since Lin Sen had gone to hire someone, she was not in a hurry to clean the house. She simply leaned against the stove and watched her daughter's actions.
"Sister Zhi is planning to make red bean soup?"
"No, I'm preparing to make Chongyang cake." Lin Zhi shook her head and mentioned the upcoming Double Ninth Festival: "Mom, do you want to drink red bean soup? Then I'll pour you a bowl."
"No, no." Song Jiaonian shook her head.
"It's okay. I'll cook two more sticky rice cakes for you." Lin Zhi smiled, scooped out a bowl and put it into the small pot next to her. She first added a little malt sugar and honey, stirred it evenly, and then added the square glutinous rice sticky cakes.
Along with the bubbling sound of the small pot, the soft glutinous rice cake spread out on the red bean soup, and the whole kitchen was filled with a sweet fragrance.
Song Jiaoniang, who originally said no, couldn't help swallowing and stared at the small bubbles coming out of the pot.
Linzhi was placed in a small bowl and brought to Song Jiaoniang's side. Song Jiaoniang couldn't resist the temptation and couldn't help but move forward, scooping a spoonful into her mouth: "Hmm!"
"How about it?"
"It tastes so good!" Song Jiaonian's eyes sparkled, and there was satisfaction in her eyes and brows.
From the perspective of taste alone, the red bean sticky rice cake soup is just ordinary, but sitting in the kitchen like this, surrounded by the heat and fragrance, makes people feel happy.
Anyway, Song Jiaoniang felt that this was the best red bean soup she had ever tasted!
Song Jiaoniang was not satisfied with drinking alone, so she scooped up a spoonful and put it to her daughter's mouth: "Sister Zhi, have a sip too!" Lin Zhi opened her mouth and took a sip.
The mother and daughter took turns eating and enjoyed the meal.
By the time the mother and daughter had finished their red bean soup, the beans were almost cooked. Linzhi scooped out the beans, drained the excess water, and then ground them with a pestle, trying to make them as fine as possible.
Seeing this, Song Jiaoniang also came to help.
At the same time, Lin Sen rushed to the market, hired a maid as quickly as possible, and then rented a bunch of copperware from a grocery store.
As he was rushing home, Lin Sen heard someone calling out, "Uncle Lin, Uncle Lin—Uncle Lin from Linzhiji!"
Lin Sen hadn't paid much attention until he heard the second half of the sentence. He quickly asked the driver to stop, and looking back, he saw a familiar man on the donkey cart behind him: "Are you... Shunzi?"
Shunzi saw the donkey cart in front of him stopped and quickly got off to greet him: "Yes, it's me. I was just going to your shop..."
"Are you here to return the dishes?" Lin Sen said with a smile, "Give them to me, so you don't have to make another trip."
"No, no, I have something to say." Shunzi loaded the food box onto the donkey cart and sat on it. "Let's talk about it at the shop! It's a happy occasion anyway!"
Lin Sen was confused, but he took Shunzi back to the shop. After they entered the shop and saw that Lin Sen had arranged for the washerwoman to do her job, Shunzi told him about Dr. Li's plan, which immediately shocked him.
"Hey? Dr. Li wants to treat us?" Lin Sen confirmed again and again, then hurried into the kitchen to tell Lin Zhi and Song Jiaoniang about it.
"Are you saying that Hengge'er's master, a doctor from the Imperial College, is going to host a dinner in our shop?" After hearing Lin Sen's announcement, Lin Zhi couldn't help but put down the work in her hands, walked out of the kitchen and asked Shunzi again.
"Brother Shunzi, did you hear it wrong?" Song Jiaoniang was also in disbelief.
You have to know that the Doctor of the Imperial College is an official of the fifth rank. If he wants to treat students and colleagues to a meal, he should book a table in a restaurant. Why would he book a table in his own foot shop, which is not even a proper restaurant?
Shunzi recounted the incident and said helplessly, "What a coincidence! Dr. Li had already informed everyone about the matter, and Master Lang just remembered not to mention it."
"Well, Master Lang was worried that you wouldn't be able to entertain us tonight, so he sent me on a quick trip. Please prepare everything carefully so we can entertain you."
"So that's how it is..." Lin Zhi thought about it and then made a plan: "Brother Shunzi, please go back and tell Brother Heng that my family knows about it and that we will take care of it."
Shunzi sighed and handed the two Jiaozi notes forward, saying, "Sister, if you need anything, feel free to buy it. If there's anything you can't find at the last minute, please let me know and I'll go back to the mansion and get it for you."
"Don't worry, it's okay." Lin Zhi shook her head and told Shunzi to go back and report, and let Hengge'er bring everyone over in the evening.
Shunzi confirmed it again and again before leaving.
After he left, Song Jiaoniang couldn't help but clench her fists and said, "Jijie! This is Doctor Li from the Imperial College, a fifth-rank official!"
If he eats well in my shop, then my shop will take off in the future! ?
Song Jiaoniang held her cheeks and daydreamed.
Lin Zhi had no choice but to pour cold water on Song Jiaoniang and said, "Our shop is so small, it's impossible to convert it into a restaurant. Besides, Gang Shunzi also said that Dr. Li has never eaten here, and he just thought the students liked it and booked our shop."
"If what we do is very different, the students and doctors are not fools, so it will be difficult to explain." Lin Zhi raised her eyes and glanced at the wall. What's more, there were various drawings on their walls.
Song Jiaoniang instantly felt like a deflated ball, pouting and complaining, "So we're just going to let this opportunity fly?"
"That's not the case." Lin Zhi stroked her chin, she already had an idea in her mind. She originally wanted to cook the rice with toppings for a while before transforming it into a small dish, and now she was just experimenting in advance.
Lin Zhi thought for a moment, then wrote down a list and told Lin Sen to go to the market to buy vegetables. She then returned to the shop and continued making Chongyang cakes.
She poured oil into the pot, then poured all the ground red bean paste into it, turned down the stove heat and slowly stir-fried it evenly.
The red bean paste just put into the pot is still moist. As it is stir-fried, the moisture inside gradually evaporates, and the whole thing has become a ball and no longer sticks to the pot.
At this time, you can add some honey and malt sugar to increase the sweetness and flavor of the red bean paste.
Linzhi scooped up a spoonful and said, "Mom, please try it."
Song Jiaoniang couldn't wait to smell the sweet bean paste. She opened her mouth, took a sip, and nodded repeatedly, "This bean paste tastes good, just the right sweetness."
Linzhi also tasted it, and after confirming that there was no problem, she took it out and let it cool for later use.
After the red bean paste was prepared, she poured the japonica rice flour and glutinous rice flour into a basin, kneaded them evenly, and then divided them into several portions.
Except for the two portions that contain sugar and water, add spinach juice and pumpkin juice to the remaining portions respectively.
Mix the four parts of flour separately, rub them into a loose consistency, and then sift them twice until they become a fine consistency.
Then they place it layer by layer, with delicate and sweet red bean paste in the middle. When it comes to the top layer, Linzhi puts chopped red dates, chestnut meat, ginkgo nuts and pine nuts to form an auspicious pattern, and the job is done.
Finally, just steam it until cooked.
When Lin Zhi put the Chongyang cake in the pot to steam, Lin Sen also bought all the ingredients she wanted and brought them back to the shop.
Then, it was time to get busy with preparations.
Song Jiaoniang saw that her daughter's movements were incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, she had easily cut the vegetables and pork and mutton, and stewed or boiled them. As for what they were cooking... she didn't even know!
Song Jiaoniang watched for a long time, and tried to help several times but didn't find any opportunity to do so. Finally, she got up dejectedly and went to the door.
She first hung a sign at the door according to her daughter's instructions, which read: Our restaurant's evening session has been booked and we will no longer accommodate other guests. Please understand.
Then, Song Jiaoniang took out a portion of steamed Chongyang cake, along with the dishes washed by the maid, and sent them to Yu Niangzi's house next door, intending to chat and kill time during their free time.
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