Chapter 47, Inn No. 47: Chicken Soup with Termitomyces Mushrooms
Yunyin turned to look at their baskets, and sure enough, they were filled with neatly prepared termite mushrooms. She couldn't help but swallow and asked, "You really brought them for me? How much are these mushrooms?"
Seeing that Yunyin was truly willing to buy the mushrooms, Chen Silang finally felt relieved. After hesitating for a moment, he asked, "How about the price we paid when we delivered them to Jiangbei County?"
Upon hearing that it cost thirty coins per catty, Yunyin immediately bought all the termite mushrooms they had brought. Of course, she also bought the other mushrooms at the purchase price. She smiled and said to Chen Silang, "If you have any more of these mushrooms in the future, please send them to me again. No matter how many, I will buy them all."
Chen Silang replied, "I understand, Lady Yun. However, this kind of mushroom is hard to find, so there probably won't be many left. This year, the neighboring county refused to buy our mushrooms, which is why these are the ones left."
"It's alright, send as many as you can." Yunyin didn't mind that it wasn't enough. If they didn't harvest more mushrooms now, they wouldn't be able to eat them until next year.
She had long since finished the bottle of chicken mushroom oil that Grandma Su had given her, and even used the dried chicken mushrooms she bought later to make soup. Although straw mushrooms tasted good, how could they compare to real mountain delicacies?
Yunyin transferred the basket of termite mushrooms to another basket, and remembering his mention that the neighboring county wouldn't buy their mushrooms, she couldn't help but ask curiously, "Why don't they buy them anymore?"
Chen Silang stuffed the money into his pocket without looking up and said, "It's all because of that bandit incident. Everyone says those bandits have nothing to do with us, but the people of Beijiang County won't listen to our explanation. They say it's because of us that they've been living in fear for so long, and they won't accept the mushrooms and other vegetables we send."
"Who knows where those bandits came from? We've suffered heavy losses, and the county hasn't even offered any compensation," Chen Silang complained. "Sigh, life is hard whether there are bandits or not. I heard the county is going to send people to military service again, and this time it's my turn. I don't know what it will be like when I get back."
Zhang Lin listened with a heavy heart, deeply worried about his own situation.
Yunyin was powerless to help with the military service. She herself had to pay two strings of cash, and there was nothing else she could do to help. However, she accepted the mountain delicacies they had gathered. She said, "If you have any other good things, I'll take them all."
Chen Silang, who was about to leave, turned back upon hearing this and asked, "Anything is fine? Wild fruit too?"
Yunyin was surprised to find something new. She raised her eyebrows and asked, "What kind of wild fruit is it?"
Chen Silang: "It's a wild fruit that grows in the mountains. I heard from knowledgeable people in the village that it's called a bayberry, but because it's too sour, nobody likes to eat it." He smiled sheepishly, "So I wanted to ask if you buy it here? If you need it, I can bring it to you tomorrow."
So it's bayberry. Yunyin likes to eat it. I just don't know what wild bayberries taste like. Anyway, it's fine to get some to make wine. Thinking of this, she said, "Then send me a basket tomorrow. If the fruit is good, I will buy more later."
Chen Silang never expected that the fruit that nobody wanted in the mountains could be sold. He said gratefully, "Don't worry, Lady Yun, I will definitely send you the best ones."
After seeing Chen Silang off, Yunyin smiled broadly and said, "You're in for a treat today. Let's have chicken soup for lunch."
Unlike Yun Yin, Zhang Lin became increasingly anxious after Chen Silang left: "Yun Niangzi, are you really not worried about your military service? And I am still..."
Yunyin interrupted him before he could finish speaking, saying, "What are you afraid of? Let's wait until they really arrest people. I'll pay the money first. I really can't save a single penny. The two strings of cash I just got are gone again."
Fu Wang frowned and said, "Du Peng, the magistrate of Long'an County, is a graduate of the Mingjing degree. This is his seventh year in Long'an County. If he cannot be promoted next year, his chances of promotion in the future will be even fewer."
“The imperial court conducts a major examination every four years. If he wants to be promoted next year, he must have good political achievements. He may be trying to gain some political achievements by building water conservancy projects.”
Yunyin raised an eyebrow and said, "You know quite a lot."
Fu Wang: "There's no other way. We travel around all year round, so we need to know more about the local officials, what kind of officials they are and what kind of character they are. This will make it easier for us to travel smoothly. Otherwise, if we encounter a county magistrate who is difficult to talk to, and he confiscates our goods, we will have nowhere to complain."
Yunyin thought about what he said and it made a lot of sense. Unlike her time, when you could send things anywhere, transportation was inconvenient and the journey was dangerous. If people wanted to carry things, they would either go through the post station or the escort agency. And many caravans didn't have that many followers, so they would also choose to use the escort agency to deliver goods.
If Fu Wang doesn't know much, he's likely to run into problems. He's traveled all over the country for so many years, he must be quite adept at these things, so she doesn't need to worry about him. She should think more about herself.
She said, "But he probably can't get promoted just by building water conservancy projects."
Fu Wang nodded and said, "This is just one of them. I heard that he plans to register the refugees and increase the population as soon as possible. That way, he might get a top grade in his evaluation."
Yunyin wasn't interested in whether the magistrate would be promoted or not; she just felt that the magistrate's plan might fall through. She said, "If the magistrate doesn't exempt taxes, what's the use of settling down without collecting money if you can't get land? There still won't be many people willing to settle down."
Fu Wang said, "That's right, but Lady Yun, don't worry. There's still the governor here. The governor of Mianzhou is a very capable person, and the things Zhang Lin is worried about won't happen. He's a registered resident now, so he doesn't have to pay taxes or serve in the military for six years. You don't need to worry."
Hearing this, Zhang Lin felt much more at ease. Yun Yin remembered that Sun Lizheng had mentioned before that Zhang Lin should get a formal household registration as soon as possible, but he hadn't mentioned that he wouldn't have to serve in the military. However, he definitely couldn't get a formal household registration now, because if he did, Zhang Lin would have to serve in the military. He had run away because he didn't want to work on the water conservancy project.
Regardless, life goes on. Yunyin plans to use the chicken soup made with the matsutake mushrooms she just bought to soothe everyone's mood. The sea bass that Sister Qian gave her can also be steamed. It's good to eat some light food in the summer.
Yunyin told Zhang Lin to boil water and Zheng Guilan to clean the matsutake mushrooms. She then went to the chicken coop next to the cowshed to catch two hens and kill them. These hens were bought from the villagers of Letao Village and were already old hens that no longer laid eggs.
She caught the chickens very quickly. Before the chickens could react, she had already carried the two hens away. Black Bean wagged its tail and followed her for a few steps, but because of its collar, it could not continue to follow and could only look at Yunyin pitifully.
Yunyin patted its head and said, "I'll take you for a run this afternoon, don't rush."
When she returned to the restaurant, the hot water had already been boiled. Yunyin and Zhang Lin each had a chicken. They killed the chicken, bled it, and plucked its feathers. The chicken was still warm from being killed. Yunyin took the chicken fat and rendered it into oil. She put the chopped chicken pieces into the pot and stir-fried them. She added scallions and ginger, and poured half of the chicken into a large pot to make soup.
Continue to stir-fry the other half, add soybean paste and other seasonings, and simmer. In a little while, I'll make a straw mushroom and chicken stew.
Start cooking the chicken broth and simmering the chicken stew. There's no need to rush to steam the sea bass, as the fish cooks very easily; you can make this dish last.
She could rest for the rest of the time, waiting for the people who wanted lunch to come and order, and then she would cook it fresh.
Lunchtime is suitable for quick and easy dishes. Yunyin will prepare one main dish in advance each day, and the rest are stir-fries or steamed dishes. She will tell the diners what dishes are available today, and they can order what they want to eat. As long as it is not troublesome, Yunyin can make it. Of course, if the diners do not mind the trouble and can wait, Yunyin can also make it.
If they really don't know what to eat, Yunyin also provides a menu, and they can order from the menu. With more choices for diners, Yunyin can also make different dishes, instead of being limited to making the same dishes every day.
Since the food stall changed its menu, it has become even more popular than before. Previously, many customers were unwilling to make the trip due to the hot weather, but now they are willing to come.
Passing merchants, seeing the large number of people eating here, were willing to stop for a meal and inquire about some news. Yunyin was very busy every day for lunch and dinner, and it was clear that even with Zhang Lin and Zheng Guilan's help, they were struggling to keep up.
Fu Wang also rolled up his sleeves to help serve the dishes, saying, "Miss Yun, you should hire someone. You're working too hard like this."
Yunyin wiped the sweat from her forehead and said, "Once things are settled with Madam Luo, I will sign a contract with Luo Tian and the others."
Fu Wang said, "Two of them want to go to the military camp, and I have already agreed. They also said they would give all of their first year's money to Madam Luo in the hope of making up for it."
Yunyin: "Yes, I'll take Luotian to see Madam Luo tomorrow afternoon. She should have gathered enough evidence. Next, we'll negotiate with them."
Fu Wang: "You're so busy, I'll take him there. It'll be a good opportunity to refine him a bit more."
Yunyin thought that Fu Wang could go, since he had been through what happened before, and it wasn't necessary for her to go.
After a busy period, they finally had some free time. Yunyin brought out the chicken soup that had been cooked from the kitchen, quickly steamed the sea bass, stir-fried a few dishes, and the group sat down together for lunch.
The aroma of fresh termite mushrooms is very strong, and you can often smell this fragrance from afar. Yunyin took a sip of the chicken soup mixed with mushrooms, and it was so delicious. Every time she ate it, she marveled at how amazing nature is, that it can give birth to such wonderful ingredients.
She drank the chicken soup sip by sip, and so did everyone else at the table. Even Fu Wang, who always preferred fish, felt that this soup tasted better to him today.
Yunyin gulped down the soup, a look of pure bliss on her face. She was going to make chicken mushroom oil with the remaining mushrooms that afternoon, and if she wanted to drink soup again tomorrow, there wouldn't be enough chicken mushrooms. She turned to Fu Wang, who was happily eating, and said, "Young Master Fu, let's go mushroom picking together first thing tomorrow morning."
Fu Wang put down his chopsticks and looked back at her: "I'm fine with it, but will I be able to pick them?"
Yunyin said confidently, "Absolutely no problem. As long as we are careful, we can still find it."
Zheng Guilan, who was standing next to her, picked up a piece of chicken for her daughter and said, "It's not certain that we can find them. I remember that in previous years, people would pick these mushrooms and sell them in the county town. The price wasn't cheap. But in recent years, fewer and fewer people have been picking them, and we've lost a way to make money."
Yunyin: "Since Jiuxi Village has them, and your village has them too, I'm sure there are some in the mountains behind me. Young Master Fu, come with me tomorrow, and I guarantee we'll be able to pick some mushrooms."
Looking at the energetic Yunyin, Fu Wang smiled and said, "Well, then I'll leave it to Lady Yun."
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