Chapter 70 Chapter 70: Scallion and Lamb Stuffing. (First update)…
"It's a perfectly good day off!"
"He just came back from visiting his grave. Didn't he think about his parents still watching over him from heaven? Seeing him living under someone else's roof, unable to even return home, skinny and with barely any flesh on his body, how could he be happy?"
The more Song Jiaoniang spoke, the angrier she became, and the stranger Lu San's expression became.
The first half of the sentence is fine, but who is saying the second half? Skinny and skinny with not much flesh on his body? Come on! Yan Ge'er is a man who can knock him to the ground with one punch!
Lu San was speechless, and Lin Zhi next to him was also hesitant to speak. The eight clearly defined abdominal muscles appeared in his mind again, and his thoughts immediately coincided with Lu San's: Chen Yan was not a skinny person with little flesh on his body!
Lin Zhi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and quickly pulled Song Jiaoniang, who was nagging, to stop and say, "Mom, wait until you see Chen Lang and talk to him."
Song Jiaoniang agreed and reiterated her promise to Lu San. After watching Lu San leave, the mother and daughter first delivered their homemade coins to Yu Niangzi, then went home and told Lin Sen about the incident: "The doors of the Dali Temple are all closed."
Song Jiaoniang just glanced towards the Dali Temple and looked a little distressed.
Unlike the past, perhaps because today was a day off for the officials, the main gate of the Dali Temple was tightly locked, and even the side door next to it was not opened.
"Let's just go up and knock on the door and ask the yamen runner to pass on a message." Lin Sen thought back to when he was the manager of the Xi Mansion. When he was in and out of the government office, he had yamen runners to guide him and had never been stopped outside. He really didn't know how ordinary people went to the government office. "Just give some money for tea."
The last time they went to the government office to handle the opening procedures, the couple had to take care of many people and ended up paying a few dozen coins for tea.
The point is that even after giving money, I don’t know whether they did anything or not, which makes me feel helpless.
Lin Sen thought for a moment, his eyes fixed on the coins he had wrapped. "Well, since we can open a shop next door anyway, maybe the yamen runners will recognize a few of us. I can ask how many people there are and make a few bowls of coin soup to send over as a token of my appreciation. Besides, the yamen runners are really hardworking on duty during the holidays."
But when Lin Sen went over to ask, he found out that Lu San had just turned around and told him something. The old yamen runner smiled and said, "Sir, will you come in with me?"
"Hey, hey, hey, this is government-owned territory. How can we just come and go as we please?" Lin Sen waved his hands repeatedly, handed the copper coins he had prepared in advance to the old yamen runner, and said with a smile, "Please send someone to pass on a message."
The old yamen runner readily agreed.
Seeing this, Lin Sen asked about his own cooking. "I wonder how many people are on duty here? It's a big festival, so I'll cook some for everyone to share. It'll warm you up and you can have a good time."
The old yamen runner hesitated for a moment before waving his hand and saying, "I know you mean well, but we can't eat outside food while we're on duty. I'll come to your shop later when I have time to try it."
Lin Sen was stunned for a moment, then recovered and felt a surge of regret. He had been so focused on building good relationships that he had forgotten that the Dali Temple was a key imperial seat, and the number of patrol officers was a confidential matter. How could he casually disclose it to outsiders, let alone accept food from them?
The old yamen runner laughed heartily and returned the copper coin that Lin Sen had just given him to Lin Sen: "But it doesn't matter to us two."
He blinked and said, "Just think of this money as asking Shopkeeper Lin to buy two coins to warm us up."
Lin Sen was speechless, but he bowed his hands in agreement. As he walked back, he was still sighing inwardly, worthy of being a native of Bianjing City. Look, even an old yamen runner can speak so well.
The patrol officers and yamen runners were not allowed to do so, but the gatekeepers could just confiscate the bribes and buy a few bowls of dimes with their own money.
He turned around and told the mother and daughter what had happened, and sure enough, he received a series of exclamations from them as well.
Unexpectedly, the old yamen runner looked at the young yamen runner unhappily and said, "Look at you, do you know how to be steady? Be steady!"
"That was Linzhiji just now!" The young yamen runner was not at all steady and was very excited.
His monthly income was less than two strings of coins, and he could give a portion to his family. The remaining money was enough to occasionally enjoy a meal costing nine or sixteen coins, not to mention other meals. Therefore, when he heard Lin Sen talking about coins, he felt itchy.
In fact, the word "yamen runner" contains the word "yi". A few decades ago, it was still a rotation service, which was one of the duties that men from ordinary families had to perform. Not only did they have to provide their own food, but their income was also very meager and almost zero.
It was not until the system was changed to recruitment that the income of yamen runners changed significantly. New ordinary yamen runners, such as young yamen runners, had low incomes. As their service increased and their positions rose, their highest annual income could be around 30 guan. Combined with some other gray income, it was possible to double their income.
In addition, the job of a yamen runner is guaranteed to bring in a stable income, and there is almost no risk of leaving the job. Therefore, even though the income is not high, the number of applicants increases every year.
"Linzhiji's dimes~Linzhiji's dimes~" The young yamen runner almost laughed out loud just thinking about it. "Linzhiji... Linzhiji doesn't sell dimes on weekdays, right?"
Halfway through his happiness, the young yamen runner suddenly came to his senses, with confusion written in his eyes.
"I guess today is the beginning of winter, so you made it for yourself?" The old yamen runner answered casually, but he was thinking about something else. Everyone said that Linzhi Ji had no connections or backing, so the owner of Xie Da Lamb Restaurant dared to step on it like this.
But looking at the friendly attitude of Lu's men just now, and seeing that they were not delivering food but inviting Mr. Shen to have dinner in the shop, it can be seen that the two parties are familiar with each other...even close.
The old yamen runner shook his head. Sure enough, the old saying was right. They still had to be cautious. He ignored the young yamen runner who was still mumbling and went to report the matter to Mr. Shen.
At the same time, Linzhi in the shop was taking out the cooked dumplings, draining the water, and then pouring them into a plate, adding a dish of dipping sauce, and putting them into the food box.
"Dad, take it."
"What kind of game do you play?"
"I don't know either..." The Linzhi family had nothing to do just now, so they kneaded the dough and let it rise to make bread dumplings in one go. They used up all the remaining ingredients at home and made a bunch of dumplings with various fillings. The problem was that they planned to eat them at home, so they didn't make any distinctions. "I chose the dumplings I made myself. I picked them from all over, so I should have put some of each flavor in them?"
It is relatively easy to distinguish the coins made by Linzhi, Linsen and Song Jiaoniang. For example, the coins made by Linsen are larger in size, so they were just picked out by Linzhi and prepared to be made into fried dumplings.
Song Jiaoniang was more greedy and stuffed a lot of stuffing into the noodles, so every noodle she made was bulging, and then when they were put into the pot and cooked, they turned into noodle soup.
As for the ones made in Linzhi, they are clearly visible among the many coins, as they all look exactly the same.
Even if you randomly pick two and put them together and inspect them 360 degrees, they are exactly the same, with no difference.
This is where the problem lies. After mixing them together, even she herself couldn't tell which one tasted what. It became a complete guessing game.
Lin Zhi handed the lunch box to Lin Sen: "Here."
Lin Sen took the food box and carried it to the entrance of the Dali Temple. Just then, the old yamen runner returned from reporting. Seeing Lin Sen, he smiled and said, "Mr. Shen said he'd pack up and be right here."
"Please send someone."
"It's okay, it's okay." The old yamen runner glanced at the young yamen runner and reached out to take the food box.
As soon as Lin Sen left, the young yamen runner came up to him and happily opened the food box: "Hey, I'm going to tell them tomorrow and make them really envious - ah!"
The old yamen runner slapped him and said, "You idiot! Don't tell anyone."
The young yamen runner was embarrassed, but when he came to his senses, he realized where he had gone wrong. He quickly changed the subject and exclaimed, "That's a lot."
When the lid was opened, a sour and fragrant smell hit us in the face. Apart from the dipping sauce that made both of them salivate, we saw white and plump dumplings squeezed on the silver plate. The jade-white dough exuded a lustrous luster, making people want to take a bite.
The young yamen runner picked up one and put it into his mouth without dipping it in vinegar. With a slight force of his teeth, the chewy dough made way between his lips and teeth, and the delicious soup and fillings instantly poured into his mouth.
"Hmm? Hmm!" The young yamen runner's eyes widened in surprise and confusion: "So delicious? What's that smell?"
The old yamen runner also picked up one, dipped it in the vinegar, and put it into his mouth. He bit through the thin, tough skin, and the scalding meat exploded on his tongue. He opened his mouth in surprise, and gulped twice before he noticed what the young yamen runner said. Confused, he asked, "What are you talking about? This is clearly scallion and mutton stuffing."
The mutton was chopped finely and densely, mixed with the spicy aroma of scallions. I don’t know how the chef mixed it, but he removed the mutton’s strong smell while retaining its mellow flavor.
When you chew the scallion, a spicy taste comes up, and with the addition of the dipping sauce, the flavor of the mutton becomes more layered and intense.
While the old yamen runner was enjoying it, the young yamen runner kept shaking his head: "No, no, this is not mutton at all."
He tried hard to taste the flavor in his mouth. At first, he tasted the bold leeks, followed by the burnt aroma of eggs, the fresh aroma of mushrooms, and the aroma of beans?
The oil blended the ingredients he couldn't quite describe to the perfect degree, making it neither bland nor greasy, and so sweet that he wanted to swallow his tongue.
The rich taste is completely different from meat filling, how could this be mutton!
The old and young yamen runners chewed in confusion at the same time, and even began to suspect that the boy/old man in front of them was a fool, because this was clearly mutton/vegetable stuffing!
The two exchanged glances, then fumbled around and picked up the next one. When they put it in their mouths, they finally came to their senses: "...Ah!"
"You just had pork with fennel, didn't you?"
"You just had cabbage and pork, right?"
As soon as the two of them finished speaking, they fell silent. It was then they realized that they were eating a hodgepodge of dim sum.
Just as the two of them were enjoying their meal, Chen Yan finished packing up and came out. He glanced at the two people who were eating happily, laughed in silence, and simply left without disturbing them.
When the two yamen runners were half full and thought of Chen Yan, Chen Yan was already sitting in the bed, accepting Song Jiaoniang's "love thoughts".
He was helpless and looked for help, but when he glanced over, he saw the father and daughter covering their mouths and laughing: "..."
Seeing this, Lin Zhi and Lin Sen quickly put on a serious face, but within three breaths they started laughing again.
Inkstone: (pieces)
Nyingchi: 6-6
Song Jiaoniang became more and more excited as she spoke, and later began to suspect the Tao family. Chen Yan hurriedly spoke to stop her and explained for the Tao family.
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