Chapter 58: Buying a Shop and Eating Spicy Crayfish
"Crunch... crunch..."
Chen Chuan pushed the wheelchair with his hands, a small winnowing basket containing eggs on his lap, and slowly stopped in front of the mud stove on the front porch.
It was still early, and a plump sparrow was sleeping under the eaves with its neck tucked in. The clear light streamed in through the window behind it. It wasn't hot yet, and the pale blue sunlight that belonged to the early morning gradually filled the courtyard.
Beside the clay stove was a large, rough earthenware bowl and a pair of chopsticks. He gently cracked the four eggs he had collected that day into the bowl, stirred them with the chopsticks until the egg mixture was evenly yellow and white, then pushed his wheelchair, added a small ladle of warm water, and slowly poured it into the egg mixture. He stirred it with the chopsticks for a while, sprinkled some fine salt, added a little lard, and then covered it with a clean gauze cloth from the steamer.
Light the stove and wait for the water in the pot to boil before carefully placing the bowl on it to steam.
Shen's older sister once taught him that steaming the eggs for about 15 minutes would make a tender steamed egg custard. Then, sprinkle some chopped green onions and pour in a spoonful of soy sauce. It would taste smooth and tender, like jade.
He then pushed the wheelchair into the kitchen, took some large steamed buns, and put them in the steamer to heat up.
After making several trips back and forth to prepare breakfast for the whole family, he pushed his wheelchair to wash up. On the east-facing windowsill of the house, there were four bamboo tubes with names written on them, each containing a wooden-handled toothbrush, and a can of tooth powder in the corner.
His bamboo tube was inscribed with "汌" (chuān), Xiang Jie'er's with "湘" (xiāng), and naturally the other two with "济" (jì) and "渺" (miǎo). Chen Chuan already knew dozens of characters, the first of which was "沈" (chěn), as well as the names of his family members.
If you look at these children individually, he really does seem to belong to this family, as their names all contain the water element. He, Xiangjie, and Jige are all names of great rivers and lakes.
Chen Chuan brushed his teeth, trying his best to imitate the vertical, vibrating brushing motion that his elder sister from the Shen family had taught him. But for some reason, he still couldn't grasp the essence of it. When he brushed, he always looked like an old woman who trembled three times with every step she took, his whole body shaking too vigorously.
After he washed his face, Xiangjie came out with her hair down and yawning. Then Shen's older sister and Ji'er also got up. The three siblings, with their hair all messy and frizzy from sleep, stood in a row brushing their teeth, their eyelids drooping and eyes still sleepy.
Ever since Sister Shen returned from her trip to the Xie family, she seemed to have a great weight lifted off her shoulders, and she's been sleeping soundly every day, not getting up until 9 AM these past few days. Except when she's selling steamed buns, Sister Xiang rarely gets up early, while Brother Ji rarely gets to sleep in at home; I heard he has to be at the academy for early morning study at 5 AM.
You must read for half an hour before you can have breakfast.
So for the past two days, Chen Chuan has been helping to prepare breakfast at home. Having traveled with the slave traders from south to north for so long, he has gotten used to getting up early and doesn't find it tiring.
After combing Xiangjie's hair and tying her own hair up, Shenmiao came over and lifted the lid of the steamer. Then, she used chopsticks to lift the gauze covering the steamed egg custard. The egg custard inside had solidified into a delicate pale yellow color, with no air holes on the surface. It had been steamed very successfully.
She was pleasantly surprised and turned around to praise Chen Chuan: "Little Chuan is very capable. Maybe you have a talent for cooking! Look, your older sister only taught you once, and you can steam it so well."
She wasn't exaggerating. Steamed egg custard may seem simple, but making it look beautiful requires a lot of care. Many people's steamed eggs turn out overcooked, full of honeycomb holes. Some people don't mix the egg whites well, resulting in patches of yellow and white, which are not tasty at all.
Chen Chuan's lips curled slightly at the praise, revealing a shy smile.
Shen Miao brought out the steamed egg custard, giving each person a large piece. She then scooped out some crisp bamboo shoots from the pickled vegetable jar to accompany the large white steamed buns, and washed a few small peaches as fruit. That was her breakfast.
In the sweltering summer heat, the Shen family ate even simpler meals.
As June arrived, the peaches in the orchards around Bianjing ripened, and the number of vendors selling peaches on the streets increased. Shen Miao then discussed with Mei San Niang the idea of seizing the opportunity to sell "peach iced tea" while peaches were ripe and cheap.
Wash the peaches, peel and pit them, then cut them into small pieces. Put the peach pieces into a pot, add enough water to cover them and a small amount of rock sugar. Simmer over low heat until the peaches are soft and the rock sugar has completely dissolved. At this point, the sweet flavor of the peaches will fully infuse into the water, making it thick and forming peach jam.
Take another earthenware pot, put in the crushed tea leaves, and brew with boiling water. After obtaining a fragrant tea aroma, filter out the tea leaves using a tea strainer. Pour the cooked peach jam into the tea and stir well.
Finally, seal it in a ceramic urn, hang it in the well to steep for a while, and a refreshing peach iced tea is ready.
This tea has a fruity aroma and a refreshing sweetness. After steeping, it becomes even more refreshing and thirst-quenching, and you can even taste the peach flesh. Having a cup on a hot day is like drinking a belly full of ice and snow, making you extremely refreshed.
After listening to her advice, Mei San Niang's business has indeed boomed in the past few days. She is very grateful to Chen for giving her the idea. In the past two days, she has not only supplied her shop with "Peach Fragrance Iced Drink" at half price, but also sent her a lot of fresh peaches to thank her. As a result, the vitamin supplements in her house have all turned into green and red fuzzy peaches in the past few days.
Peaches spoil quickly, so Shen Miao pickled a small basin of sweet plum peaches with salt water, plums, and licorice. Pickled peaches like this are also very delicious; they are cool and refreshing, and taste crisp and sweet and sour.
Xiangjie treats pickled peaches as snacks. She grabs one as she enters the house and nibbles on it, then grabs another as she leaves. She lays down on a mat under the eaves, swinging her chubby little legs, enjoying the summer breeze that occasionally rushes in, and eating them with a satisfying crunch.
Even with this consumption, there was still a small half-basket left in the kitchen. Today, Chen Miao planned to make them all into dried peaches to prevent them from rotting and going to waste. Dried peaches are easy to make. Just cut the peaches into evenly thick slices, boil some sugar water, brush the peach slices with a layer of caramelized sugar syrup, and bake them in the oven until dry.
Shen Miao finished making several jars in no time and was filling them when Gu Dalang arrived with a net bag on his shoulder and his twins in tow. He asked the Shen family children if they wanted to go to the riverbank outside the city to catch crayfish.
"It rained yesterday, and crayfish always come out to forage after the rain, so they're easier to catch than at night," Gu Dalang said confidently. "Today we're sure to have a bumper harvest!"
The Bian River flows through Bianjing, and at this time, it had a wealth of tributaries. In the shallow, silted-up river bends, the water was shallow, allowing sunlight to reach the bottom where aquatic plants flourished, resulting in an abundance of shrimp. Outside Bianjing, some small riverbeds were even artificially dug specifically for shrimp farming.
The Bianjing River is commonly inhabited by small river shrimp, green shrimp, and crayfish that look very much like crayfish. The crayfish are also dark blue or dark red, with large heads and small bodies, and two large pincers. Shen Miao had previously seen Sister Xiang catch a few, and at the time thought the crayfish had also traveled through time. Later, she learned that crayfish are very common and are a genuine native species.
Ji Ge'er regretfully couldn't go; his short break passed in the blink of an eye, and he would have to return to the academy soon.
Xiangjie'er, with a steamed bun still stuffed in her mouth, raised her hand high and said she definitely wanted to go. Chen Chuan didn't say anything. He turned to look at Chen Miao, who naturally urged him to go, saying gently, "You should go and play too, even if you just watch from the water. Don't stay cooped up at home all the time."
Besides, Shen Miao had an appointment with a middleman to discuss the shop next door, so he wasn't home.
So she couldn't wait to entrust both children to Gu Dalang. She watched with a smile as Gu Dalang carried Abao on his shoulder and held Adi in his arms. Xiangjie excitedly pushed Chen Chuan, and the group rushed into the blazing summer sun.
A few days ago, she took Chen Chuan to the old doctor for a dressing change and follow-up visit. The old doctor pinched his leg, which had already subsided in swelling and was not very painful, and had him do some simple flexion and extension. He nodded with satisfaction and said that it was basically healed.
No more medicine was prescribed. Although the board can't be removed yet, it can be wiped clean and used for bathing. It's fine even if it gets wet.
He can't exert himself yet, so he still has to sit in a wheelchair.
His leg is probably ruined from catching shrimp, but it's good for him to go outside for some fresh air. This child is quiet and doesn't like to go out. He stays in Shen Miao's small courtyard like a snail, as if that's where he feels safe.
But she still hopes he can gradually get out of this situation, get some sunshine, and move around more, just to get some calcium.
The two younger ones went off to play. Shen Miao tidied herself up, changed her clothes, slung her bag over her shoulder, and went out with Ji Ge'er.
She saw Ji-ge'er off to his carriage, slipped a string of coins into the inner pocket of his coat, and told him, "If you run out of money or need anything, just send someone back to let me know, and I'll bring it to you."
Shen Ji, carrying his book box, nodded and quietly reminded Shen Miao to be careful on the way back, to avoid being in the sun, and to walk in the shade as much as possible.
As he watched his older sister turn and walk out of the horse stable, he tightened his grip on the rattan straps and tried to hoist the book box higher on his back.
The box was heavy, but it wasn't filled with books. Inside were two jars of freshly roasted dried peaches, and in those jars, the stingy Xiang girl had stuffed in two pieces of candied loquat—yes, only two pieces.
His older sister still doted on him. Afterwards, she packed him ten instant soup dumplings, two sausages, a box of cricket cakes, ten salted duck eggs, half a bag of wheat flour, and a rolling pin.
The rolling pin was so long that one end even protruded outside the book box.
Ever since she heard that the food at the academy was terrible, Shen Miao prepared a lot of easy-to-store and edible things for him to take with him. She even wanted him to bring a wok, a stove and a steamer, so that instead of handing over the rice and grain to the academy's kitchen, he could cook it himself in the dormitory.
Shen Miao was like this when she was in college. She hid rice cookers and electric kettles in her dormitory and spent her days outwitting the dormitory supervisor.
Shen Ji carefully considered the suggestion. With his culinary skills, he was afraid it was a bit risky. Perhaps he should try making steamed buns first? Besides, there was a stove available at the academy, so he didn't need to bring it. Otherwise, if he entered the school with a stove in his left hand and a pot in his right, he would definitely look like a refugee and attract attention.
However, despite refusing the stove and pot, he still carried a full box on his back. When he got on the bus, he was almost thrown backward by the weight of the box. Fortunately, a big man behind him was also startled and hurriedly reached out to support him.
The long carriage swayed and rattled as it drove out of the inner city. Shen Ji leaned against the window and looked back. His elder sister's slender figure was walking into the shade.
There was no wind today. The tall trees were lush and green, and the light and shadows dappled the branches and leaves, draping my sister like silver scales.
Although she hadn't actually left home, but had only gone out of the city to study, Shen Ji could still recall many poems about homesickness just by looking at her older sister's back.
Shen Ji counted on his fingers, thinking that he still had ten days of school to go. It seemed that the next time he went home, it would be the last day of the Lotus Viewing Festival. He breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he could make it home in time to celebrate the festival with his sister. That would be a good thing.
So I felt relieved again.
***
Shen Miao soon arrived at the place where he was to meet the middleman.
It was a small teahouse next to a state bridge, and the other party had generously booked a private room on the second floor overlooking the water. The middleman was a Uyghur man wearing a Uyghur hat and a long robe with a round collar and narrow sleeves. He was lean and wiry, and his surname was Yaoluoge.
His light-colored pupils gleamed with a sharp light. When he saw Shen Miao enter, he greeted her warmly and repeatedly ordered the tea server to bring tea.
There weren't many non-Han people in Bianjing (Kaifeng), since the Western Regions were inaccessible and relations with Tibet weren't good. The Song Dynasty mainly relied on the Maritime Silk Road.
However, the Uyghurs were one of the few non-Han tribes that had frequent contact with them. They lived near the Ili River Valley in northern Mongolia and were very good at business. They often rode camels across the desert, carrying treasures, erhu (a two-stringed bowed instrument), spices, blankets and other goods from the Western Regions, and camel bells to Bianjing to exchange them for gold and silver.
But after arriving in Bianjing, Yao Luoge stayed and married a Han Chinese woman, settling down in Bianjing and gradually becoming a well-known "golden real estate agent" in the city. His story is truly inspiring.
Sitting next to him was an old man with a worried face, the owner of the shop next door. It was said that he had a disobedient and spendthrift son who spent his days in the gambling dens, accumulating huge debts before abandoning the family. Now, the father, in his old age, was so burdened that he had to pawn his home to pay off the debts.
Shen Miao came here to discuss the price further, but in front of this old man with a face full of sorrow and misery, she found herself unable to speak.
Then she thought about it and realized that she was no better off. She was now in debt to the Xie family. After the shop was taken over, she would have to renovate it, and all her savings would be gone. If she didn't negotiate the price, all the money she had earned since coming to Bianjing would be lost.
So they gritted their teeth and continued negotiating as before.
Yao Luoge naturally favored the old man, since the higher the house price, the more interest he could extract. Therefore, the two of them kept putting on a show and complaining to Shen Miao about how miserable the old shop owner was, how he almost jumped into the river a while ago, how dire his family was, how his wife was so angry that she was bedridden, and how his grandson and daughter-in-law were left without a home.
Shen Miao listened silently until Yao Luoge and the old man finished their conversation. Then she smiled and said, "If we're talking about having a tragic past, I'm afraid I'm even worse off than you, shopkeeper. I lost my parents and was divorced by my husband's family. I also have three younger siblings to feed. If you think about it, isn't my situation even more difficult? Nobody has an easy life, don't you think? I sympathize with your difficulties, but sympathy is one thing, but this shop still needs to be dealt with fairly."
When Chen Miao was bringing in investment for the Xie family, she had already investigated the condition of the shop. The front shop was not very big, and the backyard was even smaller. It had been vacant for two or three years without any repairs, and many of the roof tiles were rotten. She heard that the inside was also very messy and had not been cleaned for several years.
Ever since the soap-making merchant went bankrupt and gave up his lease, the shop has remained unrented. It's said that the old shop owner was greedy and raised the rent significantly each year. He would even charge extra for minor damage to the walls or floor if the tenants were not careful. As a result, his reputation worsened, and rumors even started circulating that the shop was badly located and anyone who rented it would go bankrupt.
Shen Miao suddenly exposed the entire shop, leaving Yao Luoge with no choice but to look helplessly at the old man. Originally, the two of them had arrived first and discussed raising the price, since this Madam Shen was a young woman running her own household alone and had only recently arrived in Bianjing City, so it was normal that she didn't know the market prices. However, they didn't expect that she had come prepared and was not willing to be fooled at all.
"Furthermore, I've already said something, and I hope you won't be angry. I've inquired about your shop; it's been listed with the brokerage firm for almost a year without any takers. To be honest, if your shop weren't right next to mine, I wouldn't even consider it. The only reason I'm sitting here haggling with you is because I want to combine our shops for convenience. If you insist on raising the price, and I can't afford it, I can just rent a bigger shop elsewhere. I don't need to stick with yours, do you think?"
These words made the old man somewhat uneasy. Indeed, as Shen Miao said, he was in a hurry to sell, and the reason he was acting coy now was simply to get more money so that he could save more money to make a living when he returned to his hometown.
But they were not easily fooled, so he had to give up.
Finally, another heated debate ensued, with Shen Miao using all her strength to haggle. It wasn't that she was heartless, but this shop was equivalent to buying a 15 million yuan old house in the second ring road of the capital in modern times. Even a small discount would save a significant amount. This wasn't like adopting Chen Chuan, where adding another pair of chopsticks or another person to the family was a matter of 100 guan versus 200 guan.
So what if she's a little selfish? Besides, it wasn't her fault that the old man's spendthrift son gambled away all their wealth.
Danone is meant to help the world, but she is poor, so she must first take care of herself.
The argument lasted a full hour and a half, with both sides arguing their own interests and talking until their saliva was dry, and even the tea was refilled three times. In the end, Shen Miao reduced the price from 1,500 guan to only 1,250 guan, and demanded that the formalities be completed and the payment made at the yamen within the next few days.
Fortunately, she was in a hurry, but the old shopkeeper was even more anxious. He naturally agreed to go to the government office to transfer the account as soon as possible so that he could get the money sooner.
Shen Miao borrowed 1,000 guan from the Xie family, and added the 500 guan she had saved herself, so she would have about 250 guan left over. Hmm... that's good, that number is quite auspicious.
However, she has to pay a deed tax to get the deed stamped at the government office, and Yaoluoge has to collect a commission. After that, she also has to chisel walls, repair tiles, lay bricks, and buy tables and chairs, so there will probably be quite a few expenses.
In the end, I estimate that I might not even be able to keep two hundred strings of cash.
After reaching an agreement, Yao Luoge first had Shen Miao and the old man sign the "official contract," in quadruplicate. The contract already contained the house's exact location, area, structure, reason for sale, price, and the original owner's expected departure date, among other details. Shen Miao read it carefully, and Yao Luoge read it aloud to the old man word by word. Afterward, the two of them each found two lawyers as guarantors and witnesses. Shen Miao naturally chose Lawyer Deng, as having a lawyer she knew well would make it less likely for her to be deceived.
Of course, hiring lawyer Deng would cost money.
Fortunately, there was no tampering with the contract. In the end, everyone just had to sign their names. Since the old man couldn't write, Yao Luoge and his lawyer wrote it on his behalf and then he signed it.
They agreed on a time to go to the government office to get their seals stamped the next day, and Shen Miao gave a slight bow to bid them farewell.
She clutched the contract tightly as she walked out of the teahouse. It was already late, and a cool breeze made her realize that her back was damp with sweat from nervousness.
She really bought a house! And it was in Bianjing, a thousand years ago! From then on, the small noodle shop could become a "medium-sized noodle shop"!
That's incredible.
When she got home, Yu and Aunt Gu had already arrived. Aunt Gu had prepared side dishes for the grilled fish and set out a table full of ceramic pots, ready to welcome the diners from the night market.
Shen Miao hurriedly rolled up her sleeves to fry the fish. Just then, the back door rang again, and Xiang Jie, looking like a mud-covered monkey, rushed in shouting, "Sister! We caught two buckets! Two whole big buckets!"
She was extremely excited and huffed and puffed as she dragged in a huge bucket full of crayfish. The crayfish were still alive, and every now and then one would jump out, so Xiangjie hurriedly ran around catching them.
Shen Miao, wearing an apron, peeked out.
The child was so happy that he forgot all about Chen Chuan outside the door. Chen Chuan, with a large net bag stuck in his wheelchair and a large green lotus leaf on his head, struggled to turn his wheels and come in.
Shen Miao looked at Xiang Jie'er, then at him. He wasn't in much better shape either; the wheels of his wheelchair were covered in mud, and his face was also covered in mud. Although he looked disheveled, his usually quiet eyes seemed to have been lit up.
These are two unearthed cultural relics?
"How did even Xiao Chuan get like this?" Shen Miao went over and took off the green lotus leaf hat from his head, and asked in surprise, "Did you go into the water too? It's okay if your legs get a little wet, but you can't soak in muddy water!"
The muddy water is unclean, and I'm afraid it will get infected if it stays in there for too long.
But when Shen Miao touched his pants, they were dry, which made him look puzzled.
Chen Chuan said calmly, "Crawfish love to burrow in the mud. There happened to be a small stone opening there. Sister Xiang was afraid that the crawfish would run away, so she pushed me to that opening and had me use the wheel to block the stone opening to guard it. That way, the crawfish couldn't escape."
Shen Miao looked at Xiang Jie'er, who was scooping water to wash her face, in shock. She stuck out her tongue guiltily and said, "Sister, the water is shallow, it only comes up to my calves! It's okay, it won't drown Chen Chuan, otherwise it would be so boring for him to just watch. Besides, I was worried that he would be stuck there in the sun, so I specially picked a lotus leaf for him to shade himself from the sun."
As he spoke, he suddenly became less guilty, puffed out his chest, and seemed to think he was really great.
Chen Chuan nodded in agreement, his eyes sparkling under the lantern: "It's alright, the water isn't rushing, and I caught a few with a net."
Since his leg injury, he has rarely had such joyful days. Back when he was still at home, he often went fishing in the river with his father. Sometimes he would tie himself to a passing fishing boat with a rope and drift far away with the waves.
Today, he smelled the familiar, slightly fishy scent of the river again, and felt inexplicably happy.
Shen Miao was both amused and exasperated. She pretended to scold Xiang Jie a couple of times, then told her to get herself ready. She then pushed Chen Chuan to the Gu family's house and asked Gu Erge to help him change his clothes, wash his face, and clean his body.
Xiang-jie quickly washed her face, then hurriedly went back to her room to change into clean clothes before pushing Chen Chuan over. She pushed the wheelchair very fast, making Chen Chuan feel like he was on a roller coaster, but he had a smile in his eyes.
Xiang Jie even once secretly had Lei Ting pull Chen Chuan across from Shen Miao. Luckily, nothing went wrong; that kid is quite reckless.
However, Chen Chuan seemed to enjoy this very much. He was much closer to Xiang Jie than to others, seemingly because ever since Xiang Jie brought him into her home, she had never treated him as an outsider or someone who needed special care.
That carefree attitude actually made him feel much more at ease.
Shen Miao shook her head and hurried back to work. When she was almost closing up late at night, she looked at the bucket of live crayfish that were still jumping around. She picked up one or two and looked at them. They were about the same size as crayfish in later generations, and they looked similar too.
She swallowed hard. She wondered if the imperial court was holding some grand ceremony or some other important event today, because the local troops had closed the streets, resulting in fewer diners.
She finished work quite early today, how about I treat myself to a late-night snack?
She poured out the crayfish to wash them, and there were still quite a few snails at the bottom of the bucket, so she stir-fried them together.
Spicy crayfish and stir-fried snails, plus a pot of ale from Aunt Gu—wouldn't that be blissful beyond compare? At this time, the ale had a proper name: "Li." After fermentation, it was cloudy and tasted slightly bitter, like flat beer. But stirring it with well water made it very refreshing, perfect for a summer night.
Shen Miao got right to work, grabbed a long-handled brush and started scrubbing the crayfish. She soaked the snails in salted water and then threw in a rusty iron spoon to help them expel sand faster.
Xiangjie and Chen Chuan also came to help clean the crayfish. Nowadays, the days are long and the nights are short, so the two of them don't want to go to bed early anymore. Especially after their midday nap, the two kids can stay up longer than eagles. If they are not forced to go inside and turn off the lights to sleep, they can stay up like wind-up toys until the middle of the night, still full of energy.
Cleaning crayfish is a skill in itself. These guys in the basin have quite a temper; they all raise their big pincers as if to pinch you. Xiang Jie'er was indeed pinched twice. Later, she got so angry that she slammed the crayfish heads against the edge of the basin to knock them unconscious before cleaning them. That was one way to do it.
Chen Chuan seemed to be very skilled at dealing with these aquatic creatures. He pinched the shrimp and swished them quickly, not only avoiding getting pinched, but also displaying great skill.
After cleaning the crayfish, Chen Miao soaked them in salt water for a while, then took them out and rinsed them again.
Next, prepare the leftover ingredients and seasonings from making the grilled fish: Sichuan peppercorns, ginger, garlic, star anise, cinnamon, and other spices. Heat the oil in a wok and stir-fry these spices over high heat until fragrant. Instantly, the aroma of Sichuan peppercorns and garlic fills the air, then add the crayfish and snails. Stir-fry until the shrimp turn red and the snail meat shrinks and changes color. Then, drizzle in cooking wine, add soy sauce, salt, sugar, and a little water. Turn to medium heat and simmer to allow the shrimp and snail meat to absorb the flavors.
After the sauce has reduced, sprinkle with scallions and coriander leaves, then remove from the pan and serve. The stir-fried spicy crayfish are a bright red, and the snails are brown and glossy. The intense spicy aroma makes Xiang Jie'er's mouth water again.
Shen Miao had just served two plates of crayfish when Xiang Jie eagerly picked one up, but it was too hot, so she had to hold the crayfish by its whiskers and blow on it.
Before they could even take a bite, suddenly, someone knocked on the courtyard gate.
It's late at night, who could it be?
Shen Miao put down her chopsticks, went back inside to get a kitchen knife, tucked it into her waistband, and without removing the door bolt, asked through the crack in the door, "Who goes there?"
"Hello, Madam Shen, I am Cen Zhi. I joined the guild and stored fish at the shop a few days ago." As he spoke, he slipped a familiar VIP card through the crack in the door.
Shen Miao then opened the door a crack, smiling as she politely declined, "We're closed today. Please come back tomorrow."
Cen Zhi took out several dozen coins, pleading and swallowing hard, "Madam Chen, what kind of dish is this? It smells so fresh and spicy, I can smell it even through the wall... I'm from Sichuan, and I love this kind of food. Could you sell me a portion? I'm leaving the capital tomorrow, and I really want to taste this delicious flavor before I travel far away."
Shen Miao's eyes darted around, and an idea popped into her mind. She went inside and served him a bowl, so he could sit on the platform by the back door to eat.
Cen Zhi really wasn't particular; he sat down and started eating, holding his bowl.
He bit open the shrimp shell, and the shrimp meat inside seemed to spring out impatiently. He sucked it into his mouth, and it was firm and chewy. Then the numbing flavor of Sichuan peppercorns hit him first, making his lips and tongue tremble slightly. Soon, the flavor of the spicy sauce made from pickled ginger and dogwood followed, like flames leaping in his mouth, creating a burning sensation, but it did not mask the fresh sweetness of the shrimp meat itself. It was truly irresistible.
This is the taste!
He ate until his lips and face were flushed, but he nodded repeatedly in enjoyment.
It tastes just like his hometown of Sichuan!
It's so delicious!
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