Chapter 88 Who wouldn't crave this pork floss toast after just one bite? ...
"Ooh ooh ooh—"
As soon as it was light, the Li family's rooster flew to the wall and crowed.
In the small house on the east side, a coarse cloth curtain sewn from scraps of cloth hung on the window. Li Gou'er didn't even open his eyes. He stretched his arm out from under the covers and groped around on the kang (a heated brick bed) for a while before finally finding a small pebble that he had specially picked up from the ground the day before.
He held it in his hand, used his elbow to push open the window, and threw it against the wall without even looking at it.
A pebble hit the wall with a thud, startling a black-feathered rooster, which clucked and flew down, stretching its neck and pacing around the yard, clucking every now and then.
If left unattended, his chickens would crow incessantly until Aunt Li rushed out and hit them with a spoon. Li Gou'er flopped back onto the kang (heated brick bed), grabbed the thick red quilt Aunt Li had sewn for him, covered it with large peony flowers, and pulled it over his head, preparing to go back to sleep. Just as he was drifting off to sleep again, the familiar commotion erupted outside in the yard:
"Liu Douhua! You little rascal, did you steal my silk flowers again?"
"I don't!"
"If you say you don't have any, look at what's on your lips! That's clearly my rouge! You little rascal, don't you dare run away! I'll tear your mouth apart! I've told you a hundred times already, you're not allowed to rummage through my things when I'm not home, especially my rouge and face powder. Are your ears stuffed with donkey hair, or is your brain filled with water? Why can't you understand?"
With a crash, it seemed as if the winnowing basket in the Liu family's yard had been knocked over.
"Waaah, Mother! Mother, help me! My sister is going to beat me to death! Father! Father—"
"Even if you summon the Jade Emperor, it won't do you any good!"
Li Gou'er, with his messy hair and lifeless eyes, sat up, clutching the floral-patterned quilt. He turned his head blankly to look out the window, listening to Liu Douhua's screams as her older sister chased her, and the helpless attempts by Liu's uncle and aunt to mediate. He rubbed his eyes and yawned widely.
Unable to sleep at all, he got up and dressed, looking exhausted.
After tidying up, he pushed open the door to go to the yard to fetch water to wash up. With a toothbrush in his mouth, he went to the kitchen to start a fire, so that the water stove connected to the boiler could boil enough hot water for the day.
His parents went on a long trip and entrusted him to the care of Shen's elder sister.
Shen's older sister invited him to stay at the Shen family's house, to squeeze in with Chen Chuan so it would be easier to take care of him. But he still wanted to stay at home, so he didn't go. There were still so many chickens, ducks, and geese to feed at home. Before she left, her mother's most frequent instructions, besides how to boil water and heat the kang (a heated brick bed), were about how to feed the chickens and ducks.
Once the water in the stove was hot, he mixed it with warm water to wash his face. After washing his face, he finally felt refreshed, so he used the water sparingly to mix bran and wheat bran, then chopped some vegetable leaves, added some unhulled millet, and fed it to the chickens and ducks.
His mother said that the chickens and ducks would only lay eggs if they were fed millet every few days.
As soon as Li Gou'er entered the yard with a basin in his hand, chickens and ducks surrounded him, clucking and pecking at his shoes. He shooed them away while bending down to pour chicken and duck feed into the bamboo trough.
She changed the ducks' water and got everything ready. Just then, Xiangjie's voice rang out from the alley: "Doggy! Come eat!"
"Coming!" Li Gou'er shouted back, then quickly scooped up some water to wash his hands, opened the courtyard gate, and prepared to go to the Shen family for dinner.
He had just stepped out the door when he heard a loud "bang" from diagonally opposite. The Liu family's courtyard gate was suddenly pulled open and slammed against the wall. Liu Douhua darted out like a mouse that had been hit by a firecracker and was squeaking wildly. Behind her was a phoenix-eyed girl with wide, angry eyes: "You little rascal, if you've got the guts, don't come back!"
Li Gou'er was so frightened that he walked close to the wall. As he passed the angry girl, he almost bowed and scraped: "Good morning, Sister Doukou. It's been a long time. You've returned from Tongbao County?"
"Oh, it's Gou'er. Hmm, he's back." Liu Doukou glanced at him and gave a curt reply. "Are you going to the Shen family for dinner? Go ahead."
"Then I'm leaving." Li Gou'er said with an awkward smile, and hurriedly slipped into the Shen family's house.
The Shen family courtyard was already teeming with life.
Steaming smoke rose from the rooftops, as if the clouds in the sky were all puffing out from the kitchens of every household. Thunder and Wind gathered around to sniff his trousers, and he bent down, smiling, and hugged Thunder's thick, shiny neck, rubbing its head left and right: "Thunder is such a good boy."
Turning his head, Li Gou'er saw Zhui Feng looking up at him expectantly, wagging his tail. He paused for a moment, hesitated, then pulled up his sleeves, hid his hands in the cuffs, and quickly patted Zhui Feng's head, saying, "Zhui Feng is good."
Having paid the price of being patted on the head to pass, Li Gou'er successfully passed through the Shen family's double-dog gate. Looking inside, he saw that Yu Du had arrived earlier than him. They had just unloaded their carrying poles, and the Shen family's several large water vats were already full, shimmering in the morning light.
She was sitting up contentedly, about to wipe her sweat, when Qilin, like a tightrope walker, nimbly leaped along the narrow window sill to the edge of the water vat, which was no more than two fingers wide. Then, in full view of everyone, it lowered its head and began to drink the water from the vat.
This really worried Youyu, who pointed at the cat and cried out in alarm.
"Don't drink this water, it's for cooking. Cat hair falling in could cause serious problems." Ji Ge'er quickly came over, picked up the cat, and carried it away, reasoning with it as they went, "Don't you have a cup? Ninth Brother has given you so many good cups, why are you drinking water from the water tank again?"
The Qilin meowed unhappily in the crook of Ji Ge'er's arm.
A person and a cat passed by the corridor. Xiangjie was brushing her teeth and rinsing her mouth with her head tilted back. She rinsed her mouth several times but her face was still scrunched up. She shivered and quickly peeked out to see how much bitter ginseng-flavored tooth powder was left. When she saw that there was only half a jar left, she cried out in frustration and sorrow, "Sister, this tooth powder is too bitter. When will it ever be finished?"
"The dentist at the dental clinic said it would prevent cavities, but who knew it would be so bitter?" Shen Miao came out of the kitchen carrying warmed milk, just in time to hear Xiang Jie'er's wailing. She couldn't help but burst out laughing. Ever since they bought this bitter ginseng tooth powder, the whole family has been grimacing and looking miserable while brushing their teeth. Anyone who didn't know better would think the Shen family's toothbrushes would sting. "Fine, tomorrow we'll get a menthol mint flavor!"
"Never mind then, I'll buy another one after I finish this one. This one isn't cheap." Xiangjie reluctantly put the tooth powder can back in its place, smacked her lips, and said bravely, "It's okay, I'll rinse my mouth a few more times and it won't taste like much... Hey, Gou'er, you're here."
Li Gou'er smiled and nodded, then strode forward. Noticing that Xiang Jie'er's hair was still wet, he asked, "You got up so early? Did you just finish practicing your staff techniques?"
Xiangjie responded, casually wiping the sweat-dampened stray hairs from her forehead with a handkerchief, and said, "It was Ninth Brother who came to call me. Now that the weather is warmer, it gets light early, and Chen Chuan and I have been running around the city with Ninth Brother."
The difference was that Chen Chuan went straight to Xingguo Temple to find Lawyer Deng after his run. He now ate breakfast with Lawyer Deng and spent less time at home. He was reciting his lessons as soon as he entered the house and as soon as he left. He was very diligent. Xiang Jie understood that he was looking forward to growing up quickly and learning more about the law, not only to find his parents, but also because he was determined to send those scoundrels to the gallows at the execution ground.
Xiangjie ran back around the city to practice her skills. She had been practicing standing meditation, breathing exercises, and running for two months. When she got home, she continued practicing the staff techniques and had already learned the third move.
"You're going to run without eating breakfast?" Li Gou'er asked in surprise.
"Yes." Xiangjie also felt tired at first, and her stomach was growling with hunger. But Ninth Brother seemed to have figured out her stamina. At first, he only let her run two streets, and then gradually increased the distance. Recently, he even increased it to half a lap. Now she has gotten used to it and wakes up on her own every day at the same time without anyone urging her.
Seeing the dog's admiring look, Sister Xiang puffed out her chest and said proudly, "That's how it is. Ninth Brother said that running is to train your physique, endurance, and breathing. You should wash your face in the morning, drink a cup of sugar and salt water, and then go out for a run. Running after eating a full meal can easily cause stomach aches."
Li Gou'er seemed to understand, but deep down he felt that Xiang Jie'er had changed a lot after practicing martial arts. She had grown taller, her face was no longer so chubby, and her round face had become an oval face. Her skin was brighter and more tender, and her whole body was fair and rosy, looking full of vitality.
The weather isn't very warm yet, and Li Gou'er is still sleeping on a heated kang and wearing a cotton-padded jacket, while Xiang Jie'er is only wearing a short cotton-padded jacket with just a single shirt underneath, and she says she's very hot.
After the weather warmed up, the table was set up again in the Shen family's courtyard. Shen Miao put the milk and cups on the table, turned around to check if the bread in the earthen kiln was ready, and said, "Gou'er, Xiang'er, you two sit down and drink the milk first. Gou'er still has to go to the private school later, so don't be late."
Li Gou'er sat down next to Xiang Jie'er, his eyes fixed on the steaming milk, swallowing hard. He had only been able to drink milk after coming to the Shen family.
"Here, this is Luo Su's cup." Xiang Jie poured him a cup.
Li Gou'er curiously held the large ceramic cup from the Shen family, which was filled with hot milk and felt warm to the touch. The cups from the Shen family were deep and large, with a single handle, and the outside was carefully decorated with powder to resemble various fruits and vegetables, such as white cabbage cups, tamarind cups, crabapple cups, and cherry cups—these were all for guests.
Li Gou'er was holding a purple tassel cup with a round belly, and the handle on the lid was even made into an eggplant stem with leaves, which looked quite realistic.
Xiangjie'er used a different cup. She took a sip of milk from the cup, and seeing Li Gou'er staring at her cup, she smiled and shook the cup in her hand: "Isn't it fun? This was all my sister's idea. When my sister asked the potter to make the meal plates for the group meals, she had to order the clay first. She ordered five or six bundles, and after making the plates, there was still half a bundle of clay left. So she asked the potter to carve a set of cups based on the drawing Jiuge'er made. Can you tell who my cup is carved with?"
Li Gou'er had already noticed that her ceramic cup was also made of white clay, with a big black dog's head with its tongue sticking out and a silly grin carved on it. He blurted out, "Isn't this Lei Ting?"
"Yes, yes, yes! These were all drawn by Ninth Brother, and then the pottery masters at the kiln carved them stroke by stroke, and finally painted them. The cups of the rest of our family are the same, with different animals carved on them. My elder sister and Ninth Brother both have Qilin, one is a sleeping Qilin, and the other is a Qilin chasing butterflies. Ji Ge'er's is a donkey's head wearing a hat, You Yu's is a little white rooster, A Tao's is a cow, and Tang Er and Fu Xing's are a spotted hen and a yellow-feathered hen... Poor Chen Chuan, when the pottery kiln delivered the cups, he was still at Lawyer Deng's place. By the time he came back, everyone had already chosen their cups, and only Zhui Feng, with his mouth wide open, was left."
Upon hearing this, Li Gou'er couldn't help but laugh out loud, wondering how Chen Chuan could possibly drink water from such a cup. Wouldn't he always find the water taste strange?
Xiang Jie recalled the scene on the day they were dividing the cups and couldn't help but gesture to Li Gou'er, saying, "He even wanted to discuss exchanging with You Yu, saying that as long as she was willing to exchange, he would even give her a box of candy that he had saved up. You Yu was so clever; she picked up the cup and backed away saying 'No, no, no, no,' which made me laugh so hard."
Shen Miao squatted in front of the earthen kiln in the courtyard, listening to the two men laugh at Chen Chuan, and shook her head with a smile. After waiting a while, she put on thick cotton gloves, opened the kiln door, and used iron tongs to pull out the iron baking tray inside. Instantly, four rows of fluffy, golden-brown baked buns emitted a rich aroma of wheat, garlic, and a hint of scallion, wafting straight into people's noses.
Today's breakfast is non-kneaded toast with milk.
Milk toast is one of the simplest breads. Simply add sugar, starter, eggs, butter, and milk to finely sifted wheat flour, mix it all together, and then form it into a ball. Let it ferment for about 15 minutes, and the dough is almost ready.
Since Shen Miao has a large family, she made a lot at once and divided it into four large balls. After rolling them out, she could sprinkle on whatever she liked, such as red beans, crushed peanuts, raisins, matcha powder, or pork floss, depending on what she wanted to eat that day.
Sprinkle the filling and roll it up again. Then repeat the rolling and rolling process about twice more. Let it ferment in place for another 15 minutes before putting it into the earthen kiln for baking.
It doesn't require kneading into a gluten membrane, nor does it involve any other complicated steps.
This time, Shen Miao made savory toast: two with butter and garlic flavor, and two with scallion and pork floss flavor. Ever since she had Twelve Sister, who could render butter and had milk, Shen Miao no longer had to be timid when making bread! Sometimes when she got tired of Chinese breakfast, she would bake some bread to change things up.
Xiang Jie'er and Ji Ge'er both raved about the "roasted big steamed buns". Chen Chuan brought one for Lawyer Deng to try last time. After eating it, Lawyer Deng came to Shen's shop that very night, left some money, and asked Shen Miao to roast two more for him the next day, saying he wanted to take them home for his children to eat together.
Garlic-flavored toast also requires a separate garlic butter sauce, which is simple: butter, minced garlic, a little salt, and finally sprinkle with some chopped perilla. Although parsley was not available in the Song Dynasty, perilla has a similar unique fragrance, so adding a little bit as a substitute will make the toast very fragrant.
The pork floss and scallion flavor is even simpler; just roll the pork floss and scallions in when rolling out the dough, no extra steps are needed.
After they are done, put them in a preheated earthen oven and bake for 15 minutes, then they will be ready to come out of the oven.
The toast, baked to a golden-brown crust with butter, reveals layers of stretchy, stringy cheese inside. Made with milk and butter, it's incredibly soft, filled with minced garlic, pork floss, and scallions. Taking a bite while it's still hot is pure bliss.
She also fried an egg, cut the toast open, wrapped the egg inside, and ate it as a sandwich.
While Shen Miao was cutting the toast, Li Gou'er was already drooling with envy.
In the few days he'd been at the Shen family's house, he'd realized that meals could be so delicious. Aunt Li was used to being frugal and rarely took him out to restaurants, always cooking for them at home. Although Aunt Li's cooking wasn't bad, and she had a few signature dishes, compared to the cooking of the Shen family's older sister… Li Gou'er didn't dare say it aloud, but in his heart, he couldn't stand on his own mother's side.
Aside from eating at home, he spent the rest of his time studying in a private school, eating the meals provided by his teacher, and rarely had the opportunity to eat out.
He had eaten the grilled fish that Shen's older sister had sent him before because he had helped her out. He still couldn't forget how delicious it was. Later, his mother raised ducks for Shen's older sister, and they often sent her roasted ducks. Those roasted ducks were truly the best he had ever eaten in his life.
So he knew that Sister Shen was a good cook, but he didn't expect that every meal would be this delicious. Moreover, Sister Shen didn't sell everything she made in her shop. For example, these fancy baked buns were not available in her shop, and you could never find them anywhere else.
No wonder Sister Shen's business is so booming; with such culinary skills, who wouldn't crave it?
"What flavor does the dog want to eat?" Shen Miao asked.
"Thank you, Sister Shen. I want the pork floss." Li Gou'er's eyes lit up at the mention of pork floss; he loved it so much.
Shen Miao then cut him two slices of pork floss toast, added a poached egg, wrapped it in parchment paper, and handed it to him, saying, "It's still a little hot, be careful."
Li Gou'er thanked him again and took the bag.
The toast was warm and soft; when he squeezed it, his fingers left an indentation. He blew on it, opened his mouth wide, and took a big bite.
As your teeth cut into the toast, it's soft and fluffy, like biting into cotton. Then, the soft dough, wrapped around savory pork floss and rich scallion flavor, bursts in your mouth all at once.
Li Gou'er's cheeks were bulging as he ate, like he had stuffed two glutinous rice balls in them. He mumbled between chews, "So delicious. This is so fragrant. Baked buns are more fragrant than steamed ones." He swallowed a bite, then quickly took another, his mouth covered in meat floss crumbs and his hands glistening with oil.
In just a few bites, half a slice of toast was gone from his stomach.
Xiangjie cleverly ordered a double portion: one slice of garlic, one slice of scallion, and an egg in the middle. She held it in her hands and ate it with her eyes narrowed into slits, her face full of satisfaction.
The whole yard smelled of wheat, and even the Qilin couldn't resist jumping onto the table, eager to reach out its claws to the remaining toast.
Shen Miao didn't see it; she specially cut two thick slices for Youyu. Youyu was standing by the water vat, her eyes already sparkling as she waited. Shen Miao handed her the bread, and she took it and grinned foolishly at Shen Miao. Compared to when she first came to the Shen family, she looked much more relaxed and cheerful, with no trace of fear in her eyes.
She had few worries and always smiled at everyone she met. When there were few guests, Shen Miao would see her squatting obediently in the yard, watching a line of ants carrying food on the ground, and she would feel completely healed and unconsciously smile.
"Eat up, and drink a glass of milk too. You've been working hard, you need to replenish your energy." Shen Miao poured her another glass of milk. "Drink it all. Tomorrow your older sister will make you your favorite mutton pancakes."
When Youyu heard about mutton flatbread, she nodded her head vigorously; she loved meat so much. Before the Lunar New Year, when Jige came back from his spring break, he stopped at Nanxunmen on the way and bought a lot of mutton flatbread for everyone to eat. Youyu still remembers the taste to this day.
After washing up, Ji Ge'er saw Qilin trying to steal some food, so he picked Qilin up from the table and shook it by its paws, saying, "Didn't you just finish eating, Qilin? Why do you want to eat again? You big-faced glutton!"
"Meow!" The Qilin was not happy. It slapped Ji Ge'er with its front paw that had not extended its claws, jumped down angrily, and walked away, wagging its big fat tail.
"Could it understand what I'm saying?" Ji Ge'er sat down, shook his head in confusion, and said to Shen Miao, who was cutting bread with a knife, "Sister, I want some pork floss too."
As he spoke, he subtly swallowed.
"Okay, then I'll bake two more meat flosses later, you can take them to the academy to eat." Shen Miao quickly cut them for him, then asked, "Are you sure you don't need Tang Er to take you?"
Ji Ge'er ate heartily, so engrossed in the delicious food that he couldn't even swallow. He nodded repeatedly and said, "Meng Honghe said that I can ride with him. His family just got a new big mule, which can easily carry the luggage of two people. His parents will come over in the afternoon to give me a ride."
The family's donkeys and oxen were used to help his elder sister deliver meals. Ji-ge didn't want to trouble his elder sister, so Meng Honghe, who was in the same dormitory as him, came to Shen Ji's restaurant yesterday to eat soup dumplings and warmly invited him to ride in the car together. Shen Ji then made an appointment with him to go to the academy to register.
He remembered Meng Honghe asking him how many articles he had written, and felt a surge of relief—luckily, his ninth brother was at home. He had finished all the articles he needed to write yesterday, and today he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"Alright, then we should thank them properly. Roast one more so you can share it with your classmates in the dorm." Shen Miao said, then prepared to go back to the kitchen to knead some more dough. She also called out to Fuxing, who was busy roasting the duck, Tang Er, who was preparing the dishes, and Atao, who was greeting the guests, so that they could have something to eat before continuing their work.
Lately, Tang Er's sweet porridge and radish pancakes have become increasingly delicious. Perhaps it's because he's become more skilled at making them, but people start coming to eat them early in the morning. The radish pancakes are especially popular with children. You can often see little kids with their hair tied in a topknot, lingering at the edge of the food cart, tiptoeing, handing over coins, and shouting that they want to buy a pancake.
"Ji-ge'er, after you finish eating, go to the west alley to see if Ninth Brother and Yan-shu are alright. Tell them to come for breakfast." This morning, after Ninth Brother and Yan-shu escorted Xiang-jie'er back, they went back to their own house to take a bath and haven't come over yet.
After giving her instructions in a gentle and soft voice, Shen Miao lifted her skirt and quickly went into the kitchen to knead the dough.
Li Gou'er stared at the tall, slender back of Shen's older sister and lowered his voice to talk about how Liu Douhua had been beaten by her older sister: "I didn't expect that Sister Doukou would come back. Now Liu Douhua's comfortable days are finally over."
Xiangjie had never met Liu Doukou before. She took a bite of milk and a bite of toast and asked curiously, "Liu Douhua actually has an older sister? How come I didn't know? I've never seen Douhua mention her before, and I've never met her either."
"You've forgotten, haven't you? But I've only met Sister Doukou a few times. She's lived with Granny Liu in the countryside since she was little." Li Gou'er had a mother who knew everything, so he knew quite a lot. He whispered mysteriously, "You mustn't tell anyone else. My mother says that Granny Liu is a formidable character. No one can tell from the surface, but she's always tormenting her daughter-in-law. She deliberately kept Sister Doukou by her side to let her daughter-in-law experience the pain of separation from her own flesh and blood, so she can control her."
Xiangjie was so shocked that she opened her mouth wide: "Ah? That Douhua's sister is so pitiful."
"Yes, that's why Aunt Liu dotes on Sister Doukou. She rarely comes back, but the Liu family still keeps her room. Whenever she comes back and stays for a few days, she gets all the good things in the house. Douhua has to take a backseat. You only came back last April, so you don't know these things. Sister Doukou has probably only come back after the New Year to stay for a while and then left in the last two years."
Xiang Jie'er was on the better side than Liu Douhua, and naturally favored Douhua more: "So the commotion outside this morning was caused by Douhua being beaten and making a scene... Luckily, my older sister has a good temper and doesn't hit people."
“And my mother said that the Liu family used all the money they had saved this year to buy a shop for Brother Liu in the outer city, so Sister Doukou’s dowry is nowhere to be found again. Although she is already engaged, at this rate, she probably won’t be able to get married until she is over twenty.” Li Gou’er finished eating and let out a burp. “No wonder she was in such a bad mood when she came back this time.”
Xiang Jie'er didn't quite understand these intricacies, and just looked at Li Gou'er with admiration: "Gou'er, how do you know everything?"
"My mother said so," Li Gou'er said, scratching his head somewhat embarrassedly.
Shen Miao went out to fetch water and overheard two little children huddled together, earnestly chatting about everyday matters. She found it inexplicably amusing.
It seems that the essence of humanity is gossip.
Just as she was about to step into the kitchen, Atao rushed over and shouted, "Wife, that Mr. Tang is here again!"
Upon hearing this, Shen Miao hurried over and, sure enough, found Cui Wanniang. She was standing in the shop, looking up at the paintings on the wall, but didn't sit down. Shen Miao invited her in to sit down and have something to eat, but she turned back with a slight smile and said, "No, I have to set off now. Here, Madam Shen, please take this."
She took a cloth bag from her sleeve, and when Shen Miao approached, she whispered in her ear, "This contains a 600-guan note, the dividend from last year's soup noodle workshop. Take it safe. Don't flaunt your wealth. Open it when you get back inside."
Upon hearing this, Shen Miao nodded quickly and swiftly tucked the item into his robes.
Seeing how quickly she hid the money, Cui Wanniang couldn't help but laugh out loud, now completely relieved. Leading her horse, she bid farewell to Shen Miao: "Then I'll be going. If anything happens at the workshop in the future, I'll have someone send a message back. Madam Shen, I wish you a prosperous new year... Goodbye."
Cui Wanniang stood with her back to the light, her figure looking strangely lonely. Shen Miao felt a pang of sadness for some reason, and went up to hug her: "Cui Niangzi, please take care of yourself on your journey."
When Cui Wanniang was embraced by her warm arms, her heart softened. She was stunned for a moment before raising her hand to gently pat Chen Miao's back: "Thank you, I'm leaving."
After saying that, she turned and left the shop, nimbly mounted her horse, and rode away in a cloud of dust.
Shen Miao escorted her to the shop entrance and stood there watching her ride away on horseback until she crossed the bridge and disappeared from sight. Only then did she turn around and get a fright.
Xie Qi stood on the door connecting the back hall and the front shop. His hair was only half dry and not fully tied up. The wet hair fell on his cheeks and shoulders. He was leaning against the door frame, smiling at Shen Miao. He had been silently watching for who knows how long, with his arms crossed.
"You startled me, why didn't you say anything?" Shen Miao glanced at him sideways.
Xie Qi shrugged innocently: "It was Brother Ji who called me here."
Shen Miao didn't want to banter with him. She had six hundred guan hidden in her bosom, and now she just wanted to hurry back to her room to secretly open the paper money and see what it looked like, and then see which bank to go to to exchange it.
"Go eat, it'll get cold later." Shen Miao stepped forward, pressed his arm, turned him over, and pushed him into the yard, casually nagging, "Why didn't you dry your hair first? Go dry your hair on the kang later, don't come out in the wind."
Xie Qi, such a tall and imposing man, didn't resist being pushed around by Shen Miao. Instead, he smiled with his eyes crinkling like a spring breeze and obediently replied, "Okay."
"That's great," he thought.
Having been brutally washed away by pain, she has finally risen again, and Sister Cui seems to be doing quite well now. That is enough.
He pretended not to recognize him.
Well, he shouldn't have known Tang Langjun.
Shen Miao pressed Jiu Ge'er down on the bench, stuffed two slices of toast with an egg into his hand, and asked Tang Er to pour him a bowl of soup—she remembered that Jiu Ge'er didn't drink pure milk.
Xie Qi sat under the tree, holding warm and fragrant food in his hands. Before him was the busy and lively Chen Niangzi. The wind blew gently, and the eaves bells tinkled.
He lowered his eyes happily and took a bite of the scallion-flavored baked bun.
Mmm, delicious.
Inside the Imperial Palace, in the Funing Palace, Zhao Boyun held a roast duck wrapped in a pancake in his hand, bending down to examine Xie Qi's scroll.
Xie Qi's scroll was two feet seven inches long and lay flat on his imperial desk.
Regardless of the quality of the article, the characters on the scroll alone impressed Zhao Boyun—the scroll was so long, with over a thousand characters, yet there were no grid lines, and every character was written in neat and powerful small regular script, without a single correction.
Even if it's engraved, it could be used as a movable type printing plate.
Although Meng Qingyuan ranked second in the first-class examination, his calligraphy was already far inferior to Xie Qi's. His calligraphy was clearly practiced for the imperial examination; it was neat and clear, but rigid and lacked spirit.
Xie Qi's rarity lies in the fact that his calligraphy is beautiful enough; even when he writes small regular script, his brushstrokes are full of spirit and character.
Reading his article again, Zhao Boyun's mouth was already dry.
Xie Qi's essay, at first glance, lacks ornate language and exquisite allusions; it seems to narrate events in a straightforward manner. Yet, it flows like a mighty river, fluent and expansive. He doesn't force arguments throughout, but it's enough to convey the reader's meaning, like a dagger unexpectedly piercing the darkness and letting in a ray of light.
Zhao Boyun looked at it several times.
The provincial examination was only the first step in the imperial examination, so the questions were very simple. The final exam only used the phrase "The superior man learns in order to attain the Way" from the Analects.
But he wrote the answer Zhao Boyun wanted: learning should be beneficial and effective, not done blindly. Once you have gained something from your studies, you should put it into practice, with the ambition of "traveling to all corners of the world, day after day, year after year".
This is a poem by Han Yu.
Learn and apply what you learn, do not indulge in empty dreams or pursue empty fame, keep the truth in mind, and never give up.
"Damn it, it's so well written." Zhao Boyun cursed inwardly as he chewed on the roast duck. He had to admit that selecting him as the top student in the first class was well-deserved.
The difference between aristocratic families and those from humble backgrounds lies entirely in these examination papers, and also in their vastly different perspectives and mindsets. Zhao Boyun sat on his throne, gazing at the table full of papers, and sighed deeply.
He established the Yong Academy so that the children of minor officials and respectable families could receive the same education as those from official and aristocratic families. He increased the number of examinations to provide them with more opportunities for advancement. He confiscated property to first eliminate those deeply entrenched and disobedient powerful families.
But ultimately, it couldn't be accomplished overnight.
Zhao Boyun's face was dark and his fat face was tense. He sat there for a moment, then suddenly stood up, determined to turn his grief and anger into his appetite and go into the side hall to eat duck—these things can't be rushed, they still need time.
Fortunately, he is still young and can wait. One day, there will surely be many humble scholars in his court who can surpass the noble families. Their talents and abilities are second to none and they can help him serve the country.
Just as he took a step, Liang Qian rushed forward from outside the hall with a sealed scroll in his sleeve: "Your Majesty, an imperial censor has impeached Marquis Lejiang for several illegal acts in a secret memorial."
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