Chapter 105 Chapter 105 I have become a wage earner. I want some pickled cabbage...
"You don't know, that fat white mushroom rushed towards me holding an abacus."
"It actually called an ugly toad Xiao Pingguo!"
"Believe me, Yuan Shenji also saw it."
Yuan Shenji left the oil mill and went directly to the government office, and only Duan Zhiwei came back. She yelled in the restaurant to anyone who would listen, but no one believed her.
After all, it sounds too outrageous that a fat white mushroom is the culprit for selling low-quality oils and ointments.
After the Beginning of Winter, it was the Light Snow. As the saying goes, "Light Snow is for pickling vegetables, Heavy Snow is for pickling meat." There was a pile of cabbage and snow lettuce waiting to be pickled in the backyard. Duan Zhiwei had to put the matter of the white mushrooms aside and concentrate on working with everyone.
There were a pile of red jars in the backyard, and Duan Zhiwei accidentally found a jar of unopened sauerkraut, which was pickled last winter. He selected cabbages with big and hard stalks, covered them with layers of salt, and then finished them with a layer of pepper water.
At that time, Duan Zhiwei vowed to use the sauerkraut to make dumplings, but he ended up piling them up in the backyard and forgetting about them for a whole year.
This is a pleasant surprise. As soon as Duan Zhiwei opened the jar, a strong sour smell with a fermented aroma overflowed.
She picked up the chopsticks and took a bite. She heard a "crunch" sound. The pickled cabbage was crispy and tender, with enough sourness and a strong sour and fragrant aroma. It was very successfully cooked.
It is great for making sauerkraut dumplings and stewing sauerkraut and pork. There happened to be some ribs hanging under the beam for drying, so Duan Zhiwei decided to make this sauerkraut stewed ribs tonight.
As it happened, Chen Guifang brought in a box of spicy pork tripe that she had pickled herself. She put the food on the table, leaned against the stove, and her face looked much more haggard.
"What happened?" Duan Zhiwei asked curiously.
"Don't mention it." Chen Guifang's voice was not as sharp and loud as before. She said in a weak voice, "I bought unclean oil to save money. The fried lotus root was really delicious, but it was a pity that I had diarrhea all night and almost fainted."
She barely raised her head and looked at Duan Zhiwei: "Madam Duan, do you have corn porridge?"
Duan Zhiwei used a small clay pot to cook her a bowl of sticky corn porridge. She ate it in a few mouthfuls, regained some strength, and put down her chopsticks heavily: "If I catch that damn oil seller, I will skin him alive."
A peeled white mushroom appeared in Duan Zhiwei's mind, and she quickly shook her head to shake the mushroom out of her mind.
Chen Guifang patted her shoulder and said, "I collected a lot of tung nuts in the fall. I'll squeeze some oil and send you some later. But don't buy oil of unknown origin again."
Duan Zhiwei thought to herself that I didn't buy it either. She smiled and said, "In that case, thank you very much, Madam Chen. It's windy outside, so why don't you just stay here this afternoon? We can stew pork ribs tonight."
Chen Guifang didn't bother to be polite with her and nodded generously: "Okay, I'll help you chop the ribs!"
Several people were working by the stove, some were chopping ribs and some were cutting vegetables. Chen Guifang is a generous and humorous person, and everyone in the restaurant likes her very much.
She told everyone about the current business situation of her food stall. Business is very good. The crispy Gulouzi she makes is very fragrant. Some diners even go all the way to Tongyifang to buy it.
The problem was that she couldn't hire anyone to help, so she couldn't do much every day. She sold out and closed the stall before the afternoon. She sighed while chopping the ribs hard.
Everyone in the restaurant comforted her and the afternoon passed quickly.
For today's sauerkraut stewed pork ribs, Duan Zhiwei first uses lard, adds onions, ginger and garlic to sauté the aroma, then slowly stews the pork ribs, so the lard aroma is very strong. The sauerkraut was washed several times in the afternoon to remove the excess sour taste, and a big pot of sauerkraut pork ribs was served with bubbling.
In this cold winter, nothing can soothe the heart more than a pot of steaming hot sauerkraut stewed with pork ribs.
For diners who are freezing cold in the wind outside, it is a great enjoyment to sit in the warm restaurant, order a pot of stewed pork ribs with sauerkraut and preferably a glass of wine.
Yuan Shenji didn't come back until it was almost curfew, and he looked quite depressed.
During the day, Yuan Shenji told his superior, the general of the Jinwu Guard, about the matter of the mushroom shopkeeper. The general looked at him with surprise, as if he was a lunatic.
This great general was usually more serious than Yuan Shenji, and it was rare for him to show such a brilliant expression. Even Wu Hou, who was guarding the room, found it strange.
Fortunately, Yuan Shenji was usually an extremely reliable person. The general only used gentle words to tell him not to overwork himself and generously gave him three days off.
It was as if Yuan Shenji had eaten some poisonous mushrooms and became unconscious.
Duan Zhiwei served him a large bowl of rice and comforted him, "Don't worry, everyone will soon know that you are telling the truth."
Yuan Shenji picked up a piece of pork ribs. The ribs were cooked just right. The meat was soaked in the sauerkraut soup and became very tender. The taste was sour, mellow and very delicious.
He scooped some soup and mixed it with the rice. The rice absorbed the essence of the soup and was full of the deliciousness of the pork ribs and sauerkraut. It became soft, sticky and very palatable and tasted exceptionally delicious.
He quickly finished the whole pot of ribs, and his body warmed up, and the depression he had felt in the afternoon was swept away.
When curfew was about to begin, everyone packed up and prepared to go back to their rooms to sleep. The two of them sat by the fireplace, cracking melon seeds, while Duan Zhiwei brewed a pot of strong tea to keep them awake.
Chen Guifang found the couple interesting. She did not go back to her room to sleep, but sat by the stove eating melon seeds. She asked, "What are you two doing here?"
Duan Zhiwei stuffed a handful of melon seeds into her palm and said, "I'll go settle the score with the guy who sold the inferior oil right away."
Upon hearing this, Chen Guifang slammed the table and said, "Take me with you. That guy made me vomit and have diarrhea all night. I have to go and settle the score with him."
Yuan Shenji saw that the time was almost up, so he drank a bowl of strong tea and said, "Let's go."
The three of them came to the edge of the locust tree again, and Duan Zhiwei gave her a heads-up in advance: "Don't be surprised when you see the oil seller soon, he is a monster."
Chen Guifang continued, "I've seen birds with their heads cut off, so what else could be so surprising?"
Duan Zhiwei thought of the locust wood head rolling around at his feet.
When the first watch gong sounded, the locust tree suddenly seemed to come alive. It stretched itself, then jumped to the side, revealing a hole in the wall. The sound of hooves could be heard from the dark night.
The oil seller wearing a tattered felt hat came out again, leading his donkey. On the donkey's back were two large, full oil barrels swaying in the moonlight.
Duan Zhiwei held Yuan Shenji's arm and whispered, "Shall we go over now?"
Chen Guifang recognized him at a glance. It was the oil seller who sold her a pot of oil for ten cents at night. She shouted, "It's you!" and rushed over.
The two of them couldn't stop her.
Chen Guifang went up and pushed the oil seller to the ground. The man cried out, and his head fell to the ground with a thud and rolled three times. Chen Guifang was so scared that she screamed.
The oil seller shouted even louder than she did: "My newly carved head! It's made of yellowwood!"
The donkey was also frightened and began to run around, but it did not bray as loudly and loudly as ordinary donkeys.
It croaked loudly for a while and then hit the south wall. Stars suddenly appeared in its eyes, and then it fell down dizzy and turned into an ugly big toad again.
Seeing Chen Guifang still screaming in fear, Duan Zhiwei interrupted and said, "Don't panic, that's not a human, it's a monster."
Only then did Chen Guifang react.
"Okay, you dare to play tricks on me?" She pounced over and sat on the headless man, fighting with it.
The headless man wailed for mercy under her: "Stop hitting me, stop hitting me. You're going to squash my mushroom cap."
Its tattered robe was not strong to begin with, and it completely fell apart under Chen Guifang's fist, revealing the plump white mushroom stem inside.
Yuan Shenji had specially brought a good knife with him, but it seemed that he had no chance to unsheathe it. He stood there awkwardly for a while and could only go and tie the fainted toad to the tree.
"I'm going to stew you into a pot of pheasant mushroom soup." Chen Guifang threatened.
"No!" The White Mushroom Shopkeeper was dizzy from her shaking, and vomited many spores from his mouth: "Please spare me, I will squeeze oil for you for free for a year."
"No one wants that stuff!" several people said in unison.
The White Mushroom Shopkeeper sat down under a locust tree, his mushroom cap still trembling with fear, and next to him was a fainted toad tied to the tree.
It rubbed its head and said, "Yes, the oil was indeed spit out by the toad, but the oil is very fragrant. The monsters all said it was good after eating it. That's why I want to expand the market and sell it to the people of Chang'an to try."
"I didn't know you were so fragile that you got diarrhea after eating one bite." The White Mushroom Shopkeeper seemed to be admitting his mistake sincerely.
Yuan Shenji was in a dilemma. How should he deal with these two slightly funny monsters? If he reported the case truthfully, how should he write the case file?
He didn't want to see the general's surprised and slightly sympathetic look again.
"Please forgive us." said the White Mushroom Shopkeeper.
The fat white mushroom looked quite cute. Duan Zhiwei thought for a moment and said, "You can no longer sell this oil and that ointment."
The fat white mushroom nodded quickly.
She hesitated for a moment and said, "Many people got stomach upset after eating your oil, and they had to go to the doctor to see a doctor and get medicine, which cost a lot of money. I think you should return the money for the medical treatment as compensation."
The White Mushroom Shopkeeper hesitated for a moment and said, "The copper coins we monsters use are not the same as yours. I haven't earned much money from the people of Chang'an, so I can't afford to pay it back."
Chen Guifang was waiting for this: "Then you two can come to work for me and I will pay you."
Duan Zhiwei: “Ah?”
A few days later, Yuan Shenji came home from court and happened to meet Dugu, who was strolling leisurely at the palace gate. He told him about this.
Yuan Shenji felt a little embarrassed, thinking that his Jinwu Guard had taken away the job of the Monster Catching Division.
Dugu looked at him with amusement: "Do you think our Monster Catching Department is idle? What's the point of sending this little monster to the Monster Catching Department? Mushroom stewed chicken?"
Dugu turned around and was about to leave, but then he reminded her: "Please tell Madam Yuan to roast two chickens and send them to the Monster Catching Bureau. They will be of great use to me."
Then he walked away in style.
Duan Zhiwei did not roast chicken in the restaurant. Instead, she took Xiaolang and Pu Tao to her hometown in Tongyifang early in the morning and could smell the rich aroma of soy milk from afar.
Chen Guifang was wearing a plain linen dress and a bun on her head and was roasting the ancient building. There was a queue of people at the door.
Seeing the three of them coming, he immediately smiled and invited them to sit down: "I'll go get you some soy milk."
Duan Zhi smiled and said, "Why did you add soy milk?"
Sitting next to her for breakfast, Aunt Yelu was an old neighbor of Duan Zhiwei. She was very happy to see Duan Zhiwei and started chatting with her: "Mrs. Chen bought a donkey. It's amazing. It's very good at grinding the millstone, but it likes to croak. If it wasn't winter, I would have thought it was a toad croaking!"
Chen Guifang quickly brought them a few newly-made ancient buildings. Duan Zhiwei looked around and asked in a low voice, "Where is your newly hired moon worker?"
Chen Guifang said, "I don't know where he went to be lazy, but he helped me with the morning meeting, so let it go."
The Gulouzi was roasted to a crispy texture, and the mutton inside was bright red in color, making people salivate at the sight. In every bite, you could taste the delicious blend of crispy bread and mutton fat.
Little Wolf and Pu Tao were eating like crazy. Aunt Yelu hadn't seen Duan Zhiwei for a long time, so she pulled her aside to talk: "I don't know why you suddenly had diarrhea a few days ago. I saw a doctor and spent a lot of money. Guess what happened?"
Duan Zhiwei shook his head and asked curiously, "What happened?"
Madam Yelu clapped her hands and said, "A few days later, I went out to burn incense and when I came back I saw a basket of mushrooms hanging on my door. There was some money in it. It was the twenty copper coins I paid to the doctor. Don't you think it's strange?"
Duan Zhi smiled and said, "I guess someone caused you to eat something unclean, so come and compensate me."
She sat for a while, helped Chen Guifang with some work, then stood up and said goodbye, taking Pu Tao and Xiao Lang back to Xuanyangfang.
The weather is fine today. The snow that fell a few days ago has almost melted, and is softly spread on the tiled roof.
Pu Tao went to see the icicles hanging from the eaves. Under the sunlight, the icicles were as transparent as the sugar shells on candied haws.
She stared for a while, then turned to look at Duan Zhiwei, who was seriously driving the donkey cart.
"My wife."
"Um?"
"My brain seems to be not working properly."
Duan Zhiwei looked at her hurriedly. Pu Tao had been eating a lot of meat and fish for several days. Not only had she gained weight, but her face was also rosy and she looked very healthy.
"What's wrong with you?" Duan Zhiwei touched her forehead and it wasn't hot at all.
"I just saw a huge white mushroom squatting on the edge of the eaves, holding up a leaf and snapping away."
"Oh, that's normal."
"Normal...?"
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