Chapter 56 Stir-fried Radish Vegetables
By the time Jiang Zhi brought out the meat and vegetable dishes, Pei Ye had already transplanted the radish greens into the soil and watered them.
Jiang Zhi also ran out to take a look and told him not to fertilize yet. The transplanted soil was already fertile enough because it was the natural toilet of rhubarb, and fertilizing it would easily burn the roots.
Then she pulled Pei Ye to the well, drew a basin of water, and carefully washed her hands.
At this moment, the two were in a rather ambiguous position. Jiang Zhi held Pei Ye's hands with both of hers, pressing him behind her back. Pei Ye quietly let her manipulate those beautiful hands, his head resting slightly on the shoulder of the girl who was a head shorter than him, his eyes glazed over.
However, Jiang Zhi's expression clearly overshadowed the ambiguity of the entire posture. She looked serious and carefully cleaned Pei Ye's slender, white hands from top to bottom and side to side.
After washing their hands, the two sat down at the dining table.
Pei Ye was in charge of serving the rice, while Jiang Zhi poured a large spoonful of broth over each of their bowls. The thick, dark brown broth instantly seeped into the gaps between the translucent white rice grains, soaking the entire bowl of rice in no time.
Served with braised pork ribs and stir-fried radish greens on the table, it was truly a dish that looked good and tasted delicious.
*
Jiang Zhi took the first bite of the rib.
Jiang Zhi selected straight spare ribs, the kind with a single, straight bone in the middle and all meat on the outside. In the Song Dynasty, this wasn't considered expensive; in fact, lean meat was never as sought-after as it is in Jiang Zhi's modern era.
The reason is simple: for the vast majority of working people, the taste of oil is more appealing than the taste of meat. The simplest logic is that fatty meat is filling and oily, while lean meat only tastes good. Therefore, for the vast majority of working people in ancient times who couldn't pursue a luxurious lifestyle and had to consider practicality, fatty meat was truly the most popular.
Of course, this does not mean that lean meat was cheap. People in ancient times still preferred to eat some meat to whet their appetites, rather than vegetables.
For all these reasons, the straight ribs were actually relatively inexpensive compared to Jiang Zhi's expectations.
Before Jiang Zhi even tasted the rib, T had already started to wander aimlessly to this point, all for the sake of settling accounts.
So when she came to her senses and saw Pei Ye eating meat with gusto, she immediately stuffed the first bite she had just taken into her mouth.
The ribs, after being stewed for a while, were already very tender. The broth coating them was crystal clear with a hint of amber, and it just kept falling into your mouth.
As the broth dripped down, you could vaguely see that the surface of the ribs had been slightly browned from frying. When you ate them, you could taste the tenderness that comes from long stewing, combined with the slightly charred skin from frying.
The aroma wafted into my nose all at once. First came the unique soy sauce fragrance, mixed with the aroma of rice wine made from glutinous rice. Then, upon closer inspection, came the rich, fatty aroma of the ribs fried in oil. All these aromas combined to make my mouth water.
A piece of pork rib is cut into small pieces, which can be swallowed in a few bites, but even those few bites make people feel an extraordinary sense of joy.
*
After eating a few pieces of pork ribs with rice, completely satisfying her craving for meat, Jiang Zhi picked up a wooden spoon placed to the side and scooped two large spoonfuls of radish greens into the bowl of radish greens, filling the gap left by the rice.
The radish greens are crisp and refreshing, and paired with the salty broth, they make for an exceptionally delicious meal.
Jiang Zhi herself was extremely satisfied with the meal!
*
After they finished eating, the two began to chat aimlessly.
Pei Ye told Jiang Zhi about the current political situation, while Jiang Zhi stared at him blankly, but was carefully analyzing it in her ears.
What benefits can these things bring her?
As she listened, Jiang Zhi, thinking about how Big Yellow had gone out to find a wife again and worrying about potential policy changes after the reign of Emperor Taizong, felt a little tired and closed her eyes.
Soon, having finished discussing the topic, Pei Ye glanced over and saw that the boss's eyelids were drooping, his eyelashes as dark as ink, gently pressed down, clearly indicating that he was somewhat tired.
He seemed to be muttering something, but Pei Ye couldn't make out what he was saying.
He didn't intend to hear clearly. He simply stood up quietly and stared at Jiang Zhi for a long time, so long that any outsider would probably think he was going to give her a kiss.
In the end, he only glanced at the sky outside, gently picked up Jiang Zhi, tenderly placed her on the bed inside the room, then quietly closed the door and left.
Unbeknownst to him, Jiang Zhi inside the room had already regained her senses and opened her eyes with a complex expression. She looked in the direction he had left, staring for a long time, her eyes filled with conflicting emotions.
In the end, I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
*
When she woke up, Jiang Zhi was too lazy to care about the innocent young man's feelings. Although she was quite moved by the young master's rare consideration in ancient times, it did not mean that Jiang Zhi had any intention of walking down the aisle.
Although she says she's not a staunch advocate of being single, in this day and age, she still wants to be a woman focused solely on making money.
The reason is simple: this era offered her no sense of belonging. Lacking a sense of belonging, she could only numb herself by frantically making money.
She's not the protagonist of this world; she doesn't have any special abilities to help her return to the modern era. So all she can do is strive to make each day as good as possible in this time.
Given this, she couldn't afford to hold back someone who was so understanding of her.
Jiang Zhi blinked slightly, and the thought unconsciously crossed her mind.
But she had no intention of arguing, so she simply rummaged through her drawers and took out some Xuan paper, intending to get the afternoon's work done first.
That's right, Jiang Zhi didn't plan to do anything else in the afternoon. She just wanted to list out the dishes for the unique banquet that Miss Zhang wanted, so that the guests could choose first and avoid finding fault later.
Excluding the ones she had made before, Jiang Zhi counted them one by one on her fingers, and in no time, the sheet of Xuan paper was filled with her signature dishes.
"Boiled Cabbage in Clear Broth: Ingredients needed: chicken carcass, ham stored for over six months, and a whole head of cabbage..."
"Crispy-bottomed dumplings: Ingredients needed: corn, minced meat, dough, diced bamboo shoots..."
"Cumin Lamb Chops: Cumin seeds, lamb chops, potatoes, corn..."
"Hot braised pig's trotters: pig's hind leg, soybean paste, dried tofu..."
...
Jiang Zhi then wrote down her signature dish on three or four sheets of Xuan paper.
Then they were placed one by one on the table, laid out to be thoroughly cleaned, and when it was time to set up the stall, they were tossed to the servants so they could take them back and decide what to do with them.
So what should we do next?
Jiang Zhi couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
Ultimately, she decided to make afternoon tea. As for what to make?
Hmm... it's that crispy-bottomed dumpling from earlier!
This name was something Jiang Zhi came up with on the spot; actually, her real name should be...
—The famous "pan-fried buns"!
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Author's Note: I'll post the 4k chapters tomorrow afternoon. I had some trouble ending the chapter today.
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