Chapter 4 That scholar, Ninth Brother, you're finally back! Look, I...
"Ninth Brother, you're finally back! Look what I bought!"
Yan Shu climbed onto the round stool like a treasure offering, and suddenly lifted the lid of the earthenware jar. The hot steam carrying the rich aroma of meat immediately swept through the entire room. The soup inside the earthenware jar was rich but not thick, and the soup dumplings were neatly arranged in a circle in the bright red soup.
Xie Qi was also startled by the fragrance and asked, "It smells so good, where is it coming from?"
During their time away from home, Xie Qi and Yan Shu, master and servant who couldn't even start a fire, mostly ate flatbread and fried millet, except when they stayed at inns. As a result, they hadn't had hot soup or hot bread for several days.
"I bought these from the lady next door who lives at No. 6, Yizi." Yan Shu had already prepared the bowls and chopsticks. She stood on a round stool and divided two bowls of soup noodles into the earthenware jar. She also thoughtfully picked out all the meat from the meat sauce and gave it to Xie Qi. Then she climbed off the stool and pulled Xie Qi, "Ninth Brother, come and eat."
Xie Qiyuan had little appetite. He and Yanshu had traveled far to search for ancient books for their father. His ancestors were from the renowned Chenjun Xie clan of the Jin Dynasty. Although they were from a collateral branch, they were still descendants of a prominent family known as one of the "Five Surnames and Seven Noble Families." Although the Wang and Xie families had now fallen into obscurity, the Xie family still pursued official careers through the literary pursuits of generations, though none of them had achieved great success.
The government expanded the Imperial Academy and established the Biyong Academy to suppress the resurgence of the aristocratic families and to select more officials from among the common people. His father, for example, was disliked by the government because of his aristocratic background. Despite his outstanding literary talent, he worked hard for half his life and remained a lowly proofreader in the Secretariat, a minor official of the eighth rank.
Last month, my father returned home from court with a worried look on his face. He said that the emperor wanted to find the long-lost "Jijiuzhang" (a type of ancient Chinese medical text). He had heard that a merchant had obtained several Han Dynasty bamboo slips in Xiaofangpan City, Dunhuang, which recorded a fragment of the "Jijiuzhang". However, the merchant disappeared after arriving in Nanjing.
No matter how outrageous the emperor's demands, the officials below him had to comply. As a result, many officials in Bianjing were sent on missions these days. One group risked their lives to go to Dunhuang and dig along the banks of the Shule River, hoping to find more Han Dynasty bamboo slips. The other group went to Jinling to investigate the whereabouts of the merchants.
In the Song Dynasty, due to the prevalence of lavish dowries, men and women married later than in previous dynasties. Although Xie Qi was young, his family had arranged a marriage for him since childhood. With the wedding date approaching and half of the six rites already completed, his father, who wanted to curry favor with the emperor, also sent him out: "Ninth Brother, you should first go to Jinling to find this document. If there is no news, it doesn't matter. Go to Chenzhou to settle the engagement on the way."
He was betrothed to his aunt's eldest daughter since childhood, but due to the distance between their families and the strict separation of men and women, Xie Qi had only met her three or four times in total. The most recent time he saw her was three years ago when his father brought the whole family to Chenzhou to present the betrothal gift. The only impression Xie Qi had of his cousin was the blurry figure standing silently behind the screen.
As expected, searching for someone in Jinling was like looking for a needle in a haystack, a wasted effort. Xie Qi stayed for quite a while and found a few other rare books, paintings, and ancient texts. Although they were not as precious as "Jijiuzhang", they were still a small gain, which should be enough for his father to use to curry favor.
After writing to his father, he set off for Chenzhou. His family had already sent the betrothal gifts and dowry to his cousin to Chenzhou, but for some reason, his aunt's family had not replied. The closer he got to Chenzhou, the more Xie Qi felt his right eyelid twitching, and he felt uneasy.
Xie Qi, due to his family's scholarly tradition, believed that traveling ten thousand miles was better than reading ten thousand books. He often accompanied his uncles on their study trips and was used to the hardships of travel, so he didn't find it tiring. Moreover, this trip was quite smooth. In previous years, when he went out, he would always encounter robbers and thieves first, and his boat or carriage would capsize. Even with such hardships, he never felt uneasy. But now, he even lost his appetite.
That's really strange.
Is he about to have another stroke of bad luck?
Yan Shu brought over the bowl, his mouth watering, and urged, "Ninth Brother, don't think too much about it, eat it while it's hot."
Xie Qi glanced at it and, somewhat critically, poked at the tender, stewed meat with his chopsticks: "Is this pork? Where did it come from? Pork has a strong, unpleasant smell; it's a waste of this bowl of soup noodles... You can have it all; I'll just eat the flatbread."
He then put down his chopsticks.
Pork always had a strange and strong gamey smell, which made the people of the Song Dynasty, like those of the Tang Dynasty, value mutton.
This is especially true among literati, who use words like "膳" (shàn), "馐" (shǒu), "羹" (gēng), and "馔" (zhuān) to describe delicious food, all of which are related to sheep and have nothing to do with pigs.
The Book of Rites also states that "a gentleman does not eat fatty meat." Therefore, in the Song Dynasty, from high-ranking officials to ordinary people, no one liked to eat pork. Some people even believed that pork was a lowly food for servants.
Yan Shu was originally the son of a wealthy farmer. Several years ago, his family was destroyed by a locust plague, and he was bought by the Xie family to work as a servant. He was illiterate and had never read the Book of Rites, but he had seen the tragic scene of starving people everywhere. Therefore, he had no prejudice against pork and had no idea that there were such people among the gentry who refused to eat pork in order to be gentlemen.
While his master was in a daze, Yan Shu, ignoring the heat, buried his head and ate more than half a bowl. Upon hearing this, he hurriedly shook his head like a rattle drum: "Ninth Brother, you'll know once you try it. I think even the best chef in our Xie family can't compare. This lady's skills are so good that she could probably be the head chef at Fanlou! Ninth Brother, smell it, there's no gamey smell at all. This soup dumpling, the soup is fresh and delicious, there's nothing wrong with it. I've never eaten such delicious soup dumplings in my life, I almost swallowed my tongue."
Seeing that Yan Shu was burying his whole face in the bowl, Xie Qi was also infected by his slurping of noodles. The aroma lingering around his nose was even more tempting, so he picked up his chopsticks and spoon again and tasted a small sip of soup.
The worrying fishy and gamey smell did not appear.
As the rich aroma of meat, the fresh fragrance of mushrooms, and the rich aroma of soup exploded on his tongue, Xie Qi hadn't even had time to react before his chopsticks instinctively reached for a soup dumpling and put it in his mouth.
Yan Shu watched as Xie Qi, unlike his usual self who would burn incense and bathe before eating, devoured a whole bowl of soup dumplings in no time, not even leaving behind the shredded radish, cucumber, and white cabbage at the bottom of the soup.
He was stunned. Who was it that had just been picking and choosing not to eat?
"This soup noodles..." Xie Qi was sweating profusely from eating it. He sat down to savor it, wiped his forehead with a silk handkerchief, and then tasted the corners of his mouth before letting out a very satisfied sigh. "It's a perfect match with this sauce! After finishing a bowl, I feel completely refreshed. Wonderful!"
After saying that, he patted his stomach and said, "It's been a long time since I've eaten something so delicious, and I still feel like I can't get enough."
Yan Shu couldn't help but laugh, and presented two mushroom buns: "Madam said that Ninth Brother is at the age where he's growing taller, so he should eat more! Madam even made two more buns, so let Ninth Brother eat them all!"
Xie Qi only took one. The Xie family was well-off, and he was not someone who had never eaten good food before. At this moment, he slowly calmed down from his initial amazement, smiled, and raised his hand to rub Yan Shu's head: "The delicious food you found should naturally be shared with you."
Yan Shu's face lit up with joy: "Thank you, Ninth Brother!"
The two then started eating steamed buns again. Xie Qi took a bite, and the dough was fluffy and soft, a thin layer. He bit into the meat filling inside, and he didn't know what else was added to the filling. It not only tasted delicious with mushroom and meat sauce, but it was also fragrant and crispy.
Xie Qi's lingering enjoyment of the delicious sauce returned to his mouth once more. After a few bites, he shook his head and sighed, "This sauce is really well made. It's a pity we have to leave tomorrow when we reach Chenzhou Wharf. Otherwise, we could ask that woman to make another jar or two to take home and offer to our elders. My great-grandmother's teeth are loose and she can't eat hard food, so she would probably love to have this sauce with her porridge."
Yes, who knows when we'll be able to eat something so delicious again after this meal! Thinking of this, Yan Shu was reluctant to finish the mushroom bun, eating it in small bites. Suddenly, an idea struck her, and she said, "Ninth Brother, that lady is also from Bianjing. Why don't I ask her where she lives in Bianjing when I return the pottery urn? We can buy some from her when we get back to Bianjing, what do you think?"
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