Chapter 33 Bamboo Rice and Fried Dough Twists (from the previous meal)
Lu Qiong had been observing all night, afraid of angering Lu Xuan again, but in the end, nothing happened. Yang Jie'er was also relieved, as being caught in the middle was not a pleasant experience.
As the hour of Hai (9-11 PM) approached, fewer and fewer customers arrived at the restaurant; it seemed that only the entertainment districts and theaters would be busier.
Fortunately, they now have a good grasp of portion sizes, and today they only had some cold rice balls, jujube paste and yam cake, and a portion of leftover plum blossom soup dumplings left, so they divided them into several portions and took one portion each back.
Seeing that there were only a few pieces of jujube and yam cake, Lu Qiong pinched one into her palm, held it to her chin, and put it in her mouth. It crumbled into a crispy texture after one bite.
This was made with a newly made mold. It looks like a plum blossom. It's not only sweet, but also has a firm texture. It has two layers of yam puree sandwiched with a layer of jujube puree filling. Even after being sieved through a cotton cloth, it's still very smooth and doesn't feel powdery.
It was too sweet. After she finished eating, she wanted to pour herself a cup of tea to cleanse her palate, but then she saw Lu Xuan circling the table and didn't want to get too close, so she gave up the idea.
Sister Yang also packed her share into a food box. She said goodbye only after seeing that the shop floor had been wiped, the stove washed, and the bowls cleaned.
"Young lady, it's getting dark, I'll head back now."
Lu Qiong, with yam paste still in her mouth, simply nodded: "Be careful on the road."
After Sister Yang left, an oil lamp remained in the shop, burning slowly.
Lu Xuan, who was usually very talkative, became silent. Lu Qiong tried to speak several times, but then stopped herself. The two did not exchange a word until the store closed.
From Lu Ji to Tongji Fang, you can still see many pedestrians enjoying the painted boats and the night view of Zhou Bridge, and the stalls in the night market are also doing brisk business.
Lu Qiong walked alongside Lu Xuan, and looking down, she saw that the moonlight made their shadows appear taller and shorter. Suddenly, her nose twitched, and she smelled the aroma of fried food. It was the same family that used to sell fried dough twists, and now they also sold sesame cakes.
The stall owner had two pots in front of him, one for frying fried dough twists and the other for making flatbread. There was a long line of people. A five or six-year-old child, not very tall, was being led by the hand by his older sister and stood on tiptoe to look at the fried dough twists in the pot.
"Xuan'er, would you like some fried dough twists? It's from the place we ate at last time."
Lu Qiong recalled how they made a lot of money when they first opened their business. On their way back, the two of them couldn't wait to buy a serving of fried dough twists. The wind was still a bit chilly that night, but the twists were very crispy, and they were very happy.
At the time, it was said that there were only two stoves, both of which were used to cook soup dumplings, leaving no room to make fried dough twists. Now that a new stove has been added, they have forgotten what they said that day.
The vendor selling fried dough twists also noticed them. He stretched the twists into long strips and put them into the oil pan, then flipped the flatbread over with his bare hands without leaving any gaps, revealing the golden side. The steam rising from the edge of the pan obscured his smile.
He set up a stall at the state bridge and often saw them returning home, rain or shine. Sometimes they were both very tired and didn't say a word on the way. Another time they were both very excited and talked non-stop on the way. Yet another time, only the young woman returned home, looking very lonely, which even he found unusual.
Lu Xuan met the stall owner's gaze, paused for a moment, and then walked past the fried dough twist stall.
Seeing her like this, Lu Qiong could only smile apologetically and, fearing that she might be in danger alone, quickly chased after her.
Unlike the Zhouqiao Night Market, the neighborhood is very quiet at night. Only when they returned to the courtyard would Xue'er, who was lying down, rush up to them and bark excitedly.
Lu Xuan stepped forward and covered his mouth with her hand: "Xue'er, keep your voice down, some people have already gone to bed."
He then calmed down, wagging his tail and showing his back to Lu Xuan for her to pet.
A slight breeze stirred, and the clothes on the clothesline fluttered gently. Lu Qiong grabbed the hem and touched it; it was dry, still retaining the pungent smell of soapberry, but the smell would soon dissipate.
The neighbor's jujube tree has grown much thicker, with longer branches and leaves. Some of the branches have already started to bear fruit, which are pale green and small. Who knows, they might be bigger by the time I notice them next time.
Lu Qiong sighed inwardly at how quickly time had passed, and before she could forget to put the clothes away, she heard voices coming from the courtyard.
"Sister Qiong!" Jinniang, carrying a bamboo basket, called Lu Xuan over when she couldn't find Lu Qiong.
She lifted the floral cloth covering the bamboo basket, revealing the glutinous rice inside, short and round, each grain distinct: "This is sticky rice. I bought it to make zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival, and I never thought we'd be eating it until now. Shuang-jie keeps asking me to make it for her, and yesterday she even ate so much that her stomach hurt. I had to cook some hawthorn to feel better."
"This is enough for one or two meals. We can't let Sister Shuang see it and give it to you. We can also use it to make a zongzi."
Lu Xuan had no choice but to accept it. Seeing that Jin Niang was talking more and more, she was a little overwhelmed by her enthusiasm, and her face flushed.
Fortunately, even when Lu Qiong appeared, she told her to go in first: "Xuan'er, take it to the kitchen first and put it on the table."
Jinniang had already talked enough with Lu Xuan, but when she saw Lu Qiong, she was like a wolf seeing a sheep, her eyes shining, and she started chattering away.
"Sister Shuang is so greedy. She finished the Qiaoguo (a type of pastry) from last time in just two days, and even bought new ones for the Qixi Festival, spending tens of coins more than she should have. If I had known, I wouldn't have bought them in advance; the little price difference I saved wouldn't have been enough to cover the cost of the new ones..."
She swallowed hard, and added at the end, "You have no idea, the Pei family had a fight tonight."
The topic seems to be jumping around a bit too fast?
However, Lu Qiong still cooperated and asked, "Did Pei Yu and Yang San Niang have a fight?"
Jin Niang raised her eyebrows, as if to say that she was a prophet, rolled up her sleeves, and said mysteriously, "Yang San Niang has found a marriage for the Pei family's young master."
Seeing Lu Qiong's gossipy look, he continued with satisfaction, "It's with Shi San Niang."
Pei Yu?
And Shi San Niang?
These two people are completely unrelated.
Lu Qiong was somewhat skeptical: "Did Jin Niang misunderstand? Shi San Niang is several years older than Pei Yu."
Pei Yu seemed to be under twenty, but in the Song Dynasty, men could marry at sixteen and women at fourteen. However, according to what she had seen, it was rare for people to get married in their teens; most people didn't start talking about marriage until they were close to twenty.
After Jinniang finished explaining, she realized that this was just Yang Sanniang's wishful thinking. The two of them were not even close to getting together. She had only become greedy because she saw that Shi Sanniang was rich and had a large house in Bianjing. When the clouds and mist obscured the moonlight and the courtyard darkened, Jinniang realized that it was late at night. Coincidentally, Lu Xuan also took out the empty bamboo basket, so she reluctantly said goodbye: "Then I'll go back first. We'll talk again next time."
"Jinniang, wait a minute," Lu Qiong said as she went inside and brought out a lantern. "It's dark on the road, take this with you."
The firelight shone on their clothes, and Jinniang waved her hand, saying, "I'll bring them back tomorrow."
After saying that, she picked up the lantern and walked away. Jinniang paused, then turned around and lowered her voice: "Do you have enough money? If you need money for the shop, I have quite a bit here. I can probably lend you two taels. I also have some jewelry. You can pawn it to raise a string of cash."
Lu Qiong thought she had something to say, but she didn't expect to hear about her "family fortune" and even covet the money her husband had hidden away.
She leaned against the door, feeling both amused and exasperated: "It's enough, Jinniang doesn't need to worry."
"Really not going to?"
Seeing that she didn't believe him, Lu Qiong explained several times before Jin Niang finally believed him, but she still looked back every few steps when she left.
She watched Jinniang leave, her slender figure walking down the alley until she could no longer be seen.
In fact, Lu Qiong had only known Jin Niang for a few months, but she didn't expect Jin Niang to be willing to give up all her "assets" to help her. Although she couldn't really help, she still felt very grateful.
Seeing the clouds and mist dissipate, revealing the full moon, tomorrow will surely be a sunny day.
When Lu Qiong woke up, the sun had already risen. She hurriedly put on her shoes, slipped on her orange-red short-sleeved shirt, and grabbed the pottery urn from the wooden cabinet.
As soon as she ran out of sugar at home, she would take the empty jars to Lu Ji's shop. After all, there was plenty of space in the shop to store the sugar, and the back door of the shop was an open space with a large wooden frame, which was just right for storing things.
But why does it feel a bit heavy?
She glanced down, not noticing anything amiss, and asked with a puzzled look, "Are you hungry because you haven't eaten?"
However, I didn't think too much about it, since time was tight. It wasn't until I arrived at Lu's shop that I found out that Lu Xuan had put the glutinous rice that Jin Niang had given me inside.
Yang Jie'er had intended to use it to store lard, but when she opened the jar, she saw it was full of rice and was somewhat at a loss: "Young lady, why is this all glutinous rice?"
Lu Qiong sat in front of the long cabinet, using a bamboo knife to cut the straw rope binding the oil paper. Upon hearing the words "glutinous rice," she saw the overflowing glutinous rice through the low wall.
Lu Xuan also arrived and patted her head: "I put the glutinous rice in the earthenware jar last night, but I forgot to mention it."
It wasn't a big deal, so Lu Qiong told Yang Jie'er to wash all the rice and soak it in water.
I still have the bamboo tubes I used to sell at Longjin Bridge. I don't know when I got them to Lu Ji's shop. Now I can make some bamboo tube rice.
Lu Xuan was still angry with her older sister, but she wouldn't let food bother her. She took the initiative to take the bamboo tube to the back door, soaked it in salt water, rinsed it, drained it, and dried it.
The burly-browed customer who often ate soup noodles arrived early and greeted Lu Qiong: "Manager Lu, a bowl of shredded chicken noodles, please. The noodles need to be slapped a few more times to make them chewy."
Lu Qiong smiled and said "eh," then continued cutting carrot shreds.
This customer had previously helped move the long display case, and last time when the water tank leaked, he also helped move the flour outside. He's a big guy with a fierce-looking face, but he has a very kind heart.
At first, everyone was afraid of him, but as time went on, they were able to talk to him.
The burly-browed diner ordered a pot of wine, uncorked it, and the aroma of the wine wafted into his nose. It wasn't strong; it was a sweet rice wine. After drinking half a pot, the shredded chicken noodles were served.
The evenly sized noodles were arranged in a bowl, topped with shredded chicken. The broth was light yellow and glistening, exuding a rich chicken flavor. Thick Eyebrows aligned his chopsticks with the rim of the bowl, picked up a long strip, and finished it in no time; it simply wasn't enough.
The washed bamboo tubes had been dried, and Lu Xuan put them all into a bamboo basket and carried them back into the house.
A sharp-eyed diner noticed this and his two caterpillar-like brows furrowed: "What are these bamboo tubes used for?"
"To make bamboo tube rice," Lu Qiong said, slicing the cured pork into pieces. Soon, the aroma of salty rice filled the air. "Curned pork, glutinous rice, and beans are fried together in a pan until fragrant, then put into bamboo tubes and roast over a fire. It's salty, fragrant, and has the flavor of bamboo, and it's not greasy at all."
Thick-browed man swallowed hard, staring longingly at the cured meat in her hands. He was already hungry again after eating chicken noodles: "How long will this take?"
"It will take another hour for the glutinous rice to soak!"
He looked somewhat dejected: "Then save two portions for me, I'll come back to pick them up at noon."
Lu Qiong chuckled and teased him, "Who's the other one for?"
Thick Eyebrows, unusually coy, scratched his head: "It's just that I can't eat much; one bowl wasn't enough to fill me up..."
Lu Qiong chuckled. This was a rare sight for him. After laughing, he picked out four pastries from the steamer, took out the oil paper from under the earthenware jar, folded them up, wrapped them up, and tied them with straw rope.
"Take these and eat them. I'll definitely add more noodles for you next time."
"No way, these have to be included with the bamboo rice, otherwise I don't want them." Thick eyebrows were no longer ashamed, and when they got anxious, they became a bit fierce.
Lu Qiong knew his temperament, so she went along with him and said, "Okay, as you wish, include them all."
Thick Eyebrows' real name was Meng Sheng. The original intention was for him to enter officialdom and rise through the ranks. However, he got dizzy when reading, had a headache when listening to a story, and didn't like writing.
At the age of sixteen, he joined the defense force, guarding and patrolling the fire tower, and sometimes even putting out fires. Later, he injured his leg and could no longer run fast, so he switched to carrying goods at the dock.
Everyone usually calls him Thick Eyebrows, or Meng Thick Eyebrows, and rarely calls him by his real name. Even he himself prefers to be called Thick Eyebrows, always feeling that the name Meng Sheng doesn't suit him at all; it sounds too literary, and he's not a scholar, so it's strange to have that name.
The glutinous rice and beans are soaked in water and then wrapped in gauze to drain, resulting in plump grains that are easy to shape even when wet.
A clay pot of glutinous rice, along with half a jar of red beans and cured meat, were mixed together and placed in a basin; it looked like quite a lot. Since no bamboo leaves could be found for the time being, clean gauze was used to seal the opening, which could hold just enough for ten bamboo tubes. If it sold well, more bamboo tubes could be obtained in the future.
Lu Qiong originally wanted to use a stove to roast the bamboo tubes, but unfortunately there wasn't enough charcoal, so she could only steam them in a pot. She could only steam six tubes at a time, and the other pots were used to cook soup dumplings. The remaining bamboo tube rice would have to wait until the next round.
The firewood crackled and popped as it burned, soon releasing a fragrant aroma. Lu Xuan couldn't wait any longer, so she moved a low stool and sat by the stove, resting her chin on her hands: "How much longer until it's ready?"
Yang Jie'er was nearby. She lifted the lid of the pot and saw that the water had boiled away. She added a few more spoonfuls, and the boiling water in the pot calmed down. She casually poked the opening of the tube with her chopsticks. The gauze sank in, and she could feel that the glutinous rice was a bit hard.
"Perhaps there is still a quarter of an hour left."
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