Chapter 53: Garlic Roasted Eggplant. (Second update)...
Not to mention the complicated feelings of Shopkeeper Zheng, Madam Hua went to her parents' home and talked a lot of nonsense, which really moved her parents.
"That sounds really good."
"Erlang, what do you say?"
Hua Jilang hesitated, neither agreeing immediately nor refusing directly. After thinking about it, he said that they had to see each other again.
Seeing this, Madam Hua told them what she had learned: "I heard from Madam Song that they will be closing the shop tomorrow and the whole family will go to the top of the mountain to worship Buddha. We should go over there then. Erlang and his wife will take a look and we can make a decision later."
Hua Erlang finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly agreed to the task. After seeing Hua Niang off, he finally spoke, "Dad, Mom, didn't we agree that we would help our son pass the imperial examination and then find him a capable wife from an official family? This merchant girl from out of town is no match for our son!"
"Of course I know a merchant's daughter isn't worthy of our young man," Hua Aong sighed, stroking his beard. "But you also know how tight our family's finances are right now. We can't even afford the tuition for our young man's tutor... Look at him, he can only copy books for others in the bookstore every day to review his lessons. Even those who used to lag behind him are now surpassing him."
Hua Erlang blushed at these words. Last time, his brother-in-law sent a message home, asking them to stock up some raw silk to make money.
At first, he didn't believe it at all, and after a few perfunctory words, he put the matter behind him. It was not until he heard the news of the increase in raw silk prices that he rushed to stock up. He never expected that within two or three days, his brother-in-law would send a message to let them sell.
Seeing that he hadn't made much money from buying and selling, Hua Erlang was reluctant to give it up and just brushed it off once again.
But he didn't know that the price of raw silk would drop sharply later. When he hurriedly sold it, he not only didn't make any money, but instead suffered a huge loss.
But Hua Erlang had to express his gratitude on the surface and bought things and delivered them to the door, but behind the scenes he encouraged his sister to take the things home and often complained to his parents.
Seeing Hua Erlang remained silent, Hua Aweng continued, "Although the girl your sister introduced is a merchant's daughter, her family earns a lot of money and can afford to send her to school. Besides, she's the only girl in her family, and she's not from here, so it won't be difficult to manipulate her."
After hearing this, Hua Erlang reluctantly agreed and prepared to take his wife and children to climb the mountain tomorrow to see what was going on.
At that time, Linzhi didn't know that she was being targeted and was squatting in the market picking chrysanthemums.
There was a custom in the city of Bianjing that on the Double Ninth Festival, every household would place a flower gate made of chrysanthemums at the door. Street guilds would also come to compete to see whose chrysanthemums were the most beautiful and displayed most decently.
Linzhi felt dizzy just looking at them. She couldn't think of any other word except "good". She couldn't understand why chrysanthemums had so many colors and names. In the end, she had a severe headache and couldn't help muttering, "I should have asked my mother to come..."
"Sister Zhi?"
"?" Lin Zhi turned around when she heard the voice and saw that it was Chen Yan. She was stunned for a moment: "Ah, Chen Lang."
Chen Yan stepped forward with a smile: "You——"
Lin Zhi looked around: "You——"
They both spoke at the same time: "Why are you alone?"
After the words were out, they were both stunned again.
Chen Yan's brows relaxed and he chuckled, "The Tao Mansion is hosting a banquet today, and I didn't feel like showing up for the socializing, so I came out to stroll around the streets and enjoy the flowers. How about you?"
Lin Zhi frowned and sighed, "Tomorrow is Double Ninth Festival, and my parents asked me to buy chrysanthemums. But I've never grown flowers before, and I've never paid much attention to them. Now I'm dazzled by the sight, and I really don't know how to choose."
"If you don't mind, I'll help you?"
"Hey? Is that okay?"
"Of course." Chen Yan led Lin Zhi through the flower stalls, introducing them like a treasure: "This yellow-white one with lotus-like stamens is called Wanlingju. It means longevity and most people like to use it."
Lin Zhi understood what Chen Yan meant. Simply put, this was a basic model that you couldn't go wrong with. She waved her hand and said, "Okay! Boss, give me two... no, three basins!"
"Wait, wait." Chen Yan was at a loss for words and quickly stopped Lin Zhi from placing an order. "Have you decided what kind of flower gate you want?"
Lin Zhi froze and shook his head silently.
Chen Yan sighed helplessly: "Then I'll take you around first and introduce some to you. After you have an idea, you can decide on the style and look you want."
"This pure white one, with particularly large flowers, is called Xirongju."
"There's also this pink one called peach blossom chrysanthemum."
…
Lin Zhi listened expressionlessly, her thoughts a jumbled mess. When Chen Yan lowered his head and saw her clear eyes, he knew his words had probably gone in one ear and out the other, leaving no trace in her mind.
Chen Yan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He couldn't help but think that Zhi Jie'er had a new idea every now and then when cooking. It seemed that if Zhi Jie'er was a genius in cooking, then she was a fool in flower arrangement.
He laughed dumbly: "Forget it, why don't I just help you choose?"
Lin Zhi's eyes lit up and she nodded repeatedly.
Chen Yan took into consideration that the Linzhiji shop was newly opened, so he chose red as the theme. He then went forward to ask the price and choose the flowers. Soon, several pots of flowers were placed in front of him.
Seeing that the number of chrysanthemums was almost the same, he turned around to look for Linzhi, but saw her squatting in front of another stall. After a while, she paid a handful of copper coins and picked up two pots of flowers.
Lin Zhi held the flowers and looked at them intently for a long time. Then she turned around and looked at him. When Chen Yan came to his senses, he found that a pot of flowers was stuffed into his hand.
"This is for you." She pushed another basin into his arms, feeling quite happy: "I didn't expect that this is sold in the market!"
Chen Yan looked down and saw that the plant in the flowerpot was not big, but it was growing lushly. Small lavender flowers similar to morning glories bloomed on the branches, which looked very refreshing and beautiful.
But he had never seen one before. He looked left and right for a while before he asked curiously, "What kind of flower is this?"
"It's eggplant flowers!" Lin Zhi said excitedly, "These two plants are growing strong. I think if I take good care of them for a while, they will definitely produce plump and round eggplants!"
"I'm telling you, eggplants you grow yourself are the best!" She became increasingly excited and enthusiastic as she spoke. "Boil them in eggs and fry them, or coat them in batter and deep-fry them, or just cut them in half, spread some garlic sauce on them and grill them—mmmm!"
Lin Zhi held her cheeks, her eyes sparkling. "I can't stand it just thinking about it. How about making some fried eggplant boxes to satisfy my craving when we get home?"
Chen Yan couldn't help but burst out laughing when he saw that she couldn't stop talking about food.
"?" Lin Zhi came back to her senses and her face gradually turned red.
"Ahem." Chen Yan hurriedly held the eggplant flower high, fearing she would get angry and snatch it back. He smiled and changed the subject: "I haven't seen eggplants bear fruit yet. I'll have to take a good look at them later."
Lin Zhi was about to respond when the flower stall owner coughed and said, "Young lady, young master, it's time to pay. The total is three hundred and twenty coins."
He spread out his hands and winked at Chen Yan.
Unexpectedly, Linzhi was quicker and took out small-denomination Jiaozi and copper coins from his purse and handed them over.
The stall owner was stunned, glanced at the motionless Chen Yan from the corner of his eye, and shook his head secretly: He doesn’t even take the initiative to pay, I’m afraid he won’t be able to find a wife!
Chen Yan sneezed for no reason and looked back blankly, feeling as if he had been poked by someone.
He looked around for a moment, shook his head silently, lowered his head and asked Lin Zhi: "Shall I take you back?"
Lin Zhi waved her hand and said, "No need. I've already paid the boss. A porter will deliver the chrysanthemums to my home later."
After a pause, Lin Zhi recalled what Chen Yan had just said: "Oh, I forgot, you are not going home for dinner today? Then come to my shop, I have fried eggplant boxes for you!"
"And the garlic eggplant—"
"Hmm, some more roasted lamb?"
While talking about food, the two squeezed out of the crowd and got on the Tao Mansion's carriage one after another.
What they didn't know was that in the donkey cart next door sat the shopkeeper Zheng. He was just feeling depressed about what his family had said, and while Bai Wulai was chatting, he saw Lin Zhi getting into a carriage - a carved elm wood carriage with green curtains hanging on both sides, clearly a carriage used by officials of the fourth or fifth rank!
Shopkeeper Zheng was stunned, thinking he had seen it wrong, until the donkey cart he was riding in followed the horse-drawn carriage through the streets and alleys and finally stopped at the Dali Temple Front Street.
He got off the carriage with a stern face, and glanced at the carriage from the corner of his eye. He saw with his own eyes that Linzhi and the young man got off the carriage, talking and laughing, and entered the shop one after another.
Shopkeeper Zheng's vision went dark, and he nearly tripped over his own doorstep. He staggered into the shop, his attention absent-minded, his eyes frequently glancing towards Linzhiji.
Soon, a porter brought chrysanthemums.
Lin Sen, with a beaming face, pulled Song Jiaoniang, followed by Lin Zhi and Shen Yan. The four of them gestured for a while, some putting up ladders, some putting up flower stands, and they were busy in full swing.
In the eyes of Shopkeeper Zheng, that man seemed like a member of Linzhiji! The more he thought about it, the more incredible and confused he became: Didn't his family come from other places? How could he be so close to the young man of a fifth-rank official?
While Manager Zheng was filled with shock, the Linzhi family was busy and finally put up the flower gate under the command of Shen Yan.
A family of three stood at the door, admiring the results.
After admiring it for only three breaths, they all went inside: "Alright, alright."
"Finally done—"
"Let's go barbecue in the backyard!"
"Shen Lang, don't just stand there, come in quickly!"
Linzhi was halfway there when she remembered something. She put the wooden rack at the door and put up a sign saying that the shop would be closed tomorrow. Then she walked in leisurely.
When she arrived in the backyard, Chen Yan and Lin Sen had already started skewering meat and vegetables. Song Jiaoniang pulled out two large eggplants and asked, "How do you make roasted eggplants with garlic?"
Lin Zhi rolled up her sleeves and said, "Let me do it!"
The most important ingredient for making garlic roasted eggplant is the garlic sauce. She pulled out a bunch of garlic and said, "Here, first you need to peel the garlic, then you can make the garlic sauce."
Use a kitchen knife to remove the shell.
The garlic paste used to roast eggplant requires large particles, so Linzhi did not put it in the stone mortar, but placed it directly on the chopping board to slice and dice.
After washing the chopped garlic, fry them in a pan until golden brown. The aroma of garlic mixed with the aroma of oil is tempting enough.
But this is just the beginning. Then Linzhi takes out the fried garlic, adds ginger, peppercorns, pepper, soy sauce, oyster juice and other ingredients, and finally stirs them evenly to make the real garlic sauce.
Next, Linzhi brushes the fat eggplants with a thin layer of oil, places them on an iron net, and then places them on a small stove. Use charcoal fire to roast both sides until they are charred. The surface is slightly wrinkled, and if it is soft when pressed with a knife, it means it is cooked.
At this time, just use a knife to gently cut the eggplant, pour the full garlic sauce into it, mix it with the cooked eggplant meat, and finally put it on the grill, watching the cut meat and garlic gently stir under the heat, and the garlic aroma and eggplant meat are completely blended.
At the same time, the fragrance became stronger and stronger, making everyone swallow their saliva, and their eyes were glued to the eggplant for a long time, unable to look away.
It smells so good, so good, so good!
Linzhi picked up the ripe roasted eggplant with garlic and brought it to the table: "Come, try it."
Chen Yan and Lin Sen didn't hear what Lin Zhi said at all. They stared at the roasted eggplant with garlic sauce, and couldn't wait to pick up the chopsticks and peel off the crispy and slightly curled eggplant skin to reveal the eggplant flesh soaked in sauce.
Pick it up with a big chopstick and put it in your mouth!
In an instant, the soft eggplant flesh wrapped in garlic flavor melts on the tip of the tongue. The aroma of garlic, eggplant flesh, and burnt oil intertwined together. The strong and rich taste exploded in the mouth instantly, rushing straight into the nasal cavity like a hurricane, and soaring all the way to the top of the head.
Chen Yan subconsciously held his breath, and only exhaled after a while when his face turned red.
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