Chapter 106 Chapter 106 The Troublemaker I am so big...
"Green ants and new wine, red clay stove." It snowed intermittently in Chang'an again. Hotpot is popular again. After all, in such snowy weather, sitting around the stove with a few people, drinking and eating hotpot is one of the greatest pleasures in life.
Duan Zhiwei has been distracted a lot recently. Now that the weather is cold, her mind is full of beef oil and chili hotpot.
In my imagination, I stretched out my chopsticks and dipped them into the bubbling red oil soup base. The bubbles burst and the aroma of chili peppers burst out, and then penetrated into my nose.
After the tripe is boiled for seven or eight times, it will be taken out and covered with red oil, which looks tempting. Take a bite and you will find it crispy, delicious, spicy and tasty.
"Madam, madam?"
A burst of urging voices sounded in her ears. Ah Pan was so busy that he raised his hand and patted Duan Zhiwei's shoulder: "Another group of guests came, and they specifically asked for vegetable soup and fermented tofu."
"That's nothing."
Duan Zhiwei felt a little disappointed as his dream of eating beef oil and chili hotpot was shattered.
The weather has been sunny these past two days, and the sky is as blue as freshly washed silk. People in Chang'an, who are getting bored at home, have all gone to Qujiang to see the wintersweet blossoms.
The restaurant business is also very good. Most of the diners come here to eat hot pot. The sesame sauce cooked by Duan Zhiwei is fragrant, silky and thick, which is a major feature of Duan’s Restaurant.
The customer who specifically requested the vegetable soup was dressed differently from the people of Chang'an and spoke with a thick Sichuan accent: "Boss, do you have any spicy food? These are too bland and taste bland."
"Yes, I'll get it for you." Duan Zhiwei responded and took a spoonful of mustard sauce from the jar. It was pickled with mustard rhizomes cut into strips and pickled with spicy foods such as ginger and dogwood.
This kimchi is so spicy that it is choking. People in Chang'an don't like it very much. Only Duan Zhiwei eats some of it as a side dish when eating hot pot, pretending that it is spicy hot pot.
The diner got the spicy pickled vegetables, threw them all into the hot pot, ate them happily, and then sighed, "Finally, I can taste something spicy."
Duan Zhiwei asked curiously, "From the accent of this gentleman, he is not from Chang'an."
The young man said: "I am from Yizhou and came to Chang'an to do some business. Alas, the food in Chang'an is too salty and they don't want to make it spicy. It doesn't suit my taste."
Oh, from Chengdu. Duan Zhiwei thought. There are many Shu merchants in Chang'an City recently.
The imperial concubine in the palace has recently fallen in love with round fans made of Shu embroidery, and the entire city of Chang'an has become fond of Shu embroidery. Upon hearing the news, merchants from Yizhou rushed all the way from Wu Gorge to Chang'an by boat, presenting the most gorgeous Shu embroidery to the dignitaries in Chang'an.
Seeing that Duan's restaurant was doing good business, the owner of the butcher shop came to deliver some meat. Duan Zhiwei went to the kitchen to chop the meat and make some coriander meatballs.
The Jinhua cat rubbed against her feet for a while, and said rather resentfully, "Where are the crab meatballs you promised me?"
The last time we ate fish stewed in an iron pot, the Jinhua cat's craving for fish was aroused, and it would roll around on the eaves from time to time, asking for fish.
Sometimes, when the young couple in the house are getting ready to be affectionate and sweet, without even having time to take off their clothes, it will run to the eaves and roll around, with broken tiles falling down and disturbing their good mood. There was no choice but Duan Zhiwei agreed to prepare another meal of fish for it.
Duan Zhiwei was chopping meat. When he heard what it said, he slapped his thigh and said, "Yes, I asked the old fisherman for a basket of black fish. Why didn't he come today?"
Chang'an is backed by the Qinling Mountains and surrounded by eight rivers, so there is no shortage of fish in winter. Duan Zhiwei wiped his hands on his knees and asked Aunt Duan who was leaning against the counter, "Aunt, has the old fisherman come here today?"
Doctor Zhao, who was drinking and eating hot pot, interrupted and said, "Don't wait for him. He got frightened at the Weishui River and is lying at home."
Duan Zhiwei was surprised and asked, "What happened?"
The Weishui River has been frozen thickly recently. If you want to catch fish, you have to swing your arms and use an ice pick to dig a hole in the ice on the river surface. It sounds dangerous. I wonder if the old fisherman has sprained his waist.
Mr. Zhao chuckled, "He is an experienced man. Digging a hole in the ice is nothing. But he encountered a drunk madman who jumped into the center of the lake, grabbed the old fisherman by the back of the neck and carried him to the shore like a sack. The old fisherman was so scared that he drank calming soup for a week."
The old fisherman was kind and his prices were fair, so restaurants around him bought fish from him. Duan Zhiwei couldn't help but feel a little angry when he heard this: "The old fisherman is old, and this madman is too wicked."
She looked at the gloomy Jinhua Cat with some regret: "There is nothing I can do today. I will find another fish shop tomorrow and buy you some fish."
The Jinhua cat was so angry that it rolled around under the stove with its claws and teeth bared.
After noon, the diners had all left. Everyone in the restaurant cleaned up the main hall and prepared to go back to their rooms to rest. Pu Tao came over and pulled Duan Zhiwei's sleeve: "Madam, I want to go to the flower market with Zhu Niang and Xiao Lang to see the lanterns."
There are still two months to go before the Lantern Festival. The flower market has already piled up a row of bamboo racks and hung various lanterns. Duan Zhiwei thought for a while and said, "You guys go ahead and be careful."
Looking at the two children's happy backs, she felt a little worried and shouted from behind: "Come back early, don't miss curfew."
When it was almost dusk, Duan Zhiwei and A Pan put together two dining tables, threw the dough that had been proofed onto the tables, and placed a large bowl of fragrant sauerkraut stuffing on the tables. They prepared to make some sauerkraut dumplings. It was cold, so they froze the dumplings in the backyard and could steam them whenever they wanted to eat them, so they could eat them until the New Year.
The stove was crackling with new firewood, and a pot of water on top was boiling. Aunt Duan came in through the curtains and asked, "Where are those two monkeys?"
"I went to the flower market to see the lanterns."
Aunt Duan muttered: "Even if you want to watch the lanterns, you have to eat evening food."
Diners came to the restaurant one after another. Su Xun ordered a bone soup hotpot, sat cross-legged, and did not move his chopsticks, just looking at a piece of paper.
Duan Zhiwei handed him a plate of meatballs and a dish of cabbage, and reminded him, "Eat it while it's hot. What kind of errand is so delicate that you even brought it to a restaurant?"
Su Xun sighed, "Yesterday, the people of Chongrenfang heard a loud noise. When they went out to take a look, they found that a row of ceramic pipes in the drainage canal had collapsed. Although the pipes are indeed in disrepair, it would cost a lot to repair them. I am thinking about how to ask the Ministry of Works for the money."
Why did the ceramic pipe suddenly collapse? Was it caused by the heavy snow the day before?
Su Yu was a little angry: "If it was really caused by heavy snow, it would be fine, but I heard from the children playing nearby that it was done by a madman wearing a bamboo hat."
This sounds familiar, Duan Zhiwei thought.
But where have I heard it before?
Before she had time to think about it, Yuan Shenji came back with two children.
Duan Zhi greeted him with a smile: "Why did you come back together?" Her smile froze on her face.
Yuan Shenji was covered in cigarette ash, his face was blackened, and his hair stood up like a sea urchin. He smelled so strong that he felt like a walking smoked ham.
Duan Zhiwei hurried over to touch his face and said, "What's wrong? Is there a fire?"
Yuan Shenji pulled her hand and said, "Don't worry, it's okay."
For some unknown reason, a row of lamp stands in the flower market suddenly collapsed, and several rabbit lanterns fell to the ground and rolled into a large fireball. Yuan Shenji happened to be passing by the flower market, and hurriedly took the leather bag and splash gun to put out the fire, and was covered in smoke.
Duan Zhiwei filled a basin with hot water, asked him to wipe his face, and then took him back to the room to change clothes.
"How did it suddenly catch fire?" She took out a new black robe from the cupboard and handed it to him.
With the sound of friction of thick fabrics, Yuan Shenji took off his original clothes that were horribly damaged by the flames, revealing his firm chest.
Duan Zhiwei coughed lightly and stuffed the clothes into his arms: "Hurry up and change, then come out for dinner."
As the milky white soup in the hot pot bubbled, Pu Tao recounted what she had seen at the flower market: "I saw it for real. A very sturdy man wearing a bamboo hat suddenly knocked the lamp stand down."
Then the countless rabbit lanterns hanging above rolled to the ground and turned into a big fireball. The man in the bamboo hat fell into the fire and rolled several times, like a burnt sesame dumpling.
Yuan Shenji wanted to catch him, but he was short of manpower. To protect the safety of the people, he could only put out the fire first. By the time the fire was completely out, the culprit had already slipped away.
Su Xun was still thinking about how to ask the Ministry of Works for the money. He was so angry that he drank a large bowl of green ant wine: "Tomorrow I will go to the Dali Temple and make this troublemaker who is causing chaos in Chang'an pay the price."
After curfew, Duan Zhiwei returned to his room and stripped him of his clothes. Yuan Shenji laughed and said, "Why? Didn't you see enough before dinner?"
"Don't talk nonsense," she replied, carefully checking his body for any injuries caused by the fire.
Fortunately, there were only the old knife wounds and no new ones. She felt a little relieved and touched the original knife wound, and her mood became heavy again.
Yuan Shenji added two more pieces of charcoal to the brazier. Seeing that she looked unhappy, he smiled and hugged her, then suddenly curled his face into a ball: "Ouch."
She quickly asked, "What's wrong? Are you really hurt?"
The latter pretended to fall on the bed and cried "ouch" a few times, and when she came closer, he pulled her into his arms, holding her waist tightly with his strong arms, and pecked her on the cheek: "I was pretending."
Duan Zhiwei was speechless for a while, then hit him with his head.
A low, joyful laugh echoed from the room.
The north wind was howling outside, and a pair of black ears slowly rose from the courtyard wall, like two cute furry glutinous rice balls. A fat figure wearing a bamboo hat quietly stepped in with a pickled vegetable jar.
The pickle jar could not bear its weight, and its meat pad slipped, causing a crisp sound to come from the jar.
The hostess in the room immediately pushed the man away and asked: "What's that noise outside?"
It sat completely in the bamboo basket in the corner, with its round buttocks sunk deep into the basket, unable to be pulled out for a while. Seeing the hostess was about to come out to check, it quickly meowed.
The hostess's angry voice came out: "This Jinhua didn't get any fish today, and now he's here to cause trouble. I'll beat him up tomorrow."
The man tried to comfort her and said something else, then the lights in the room went out.
It breathed a sigh of relief, looked around the backyard, its nose moved, and finally its eyes fixed on the bamboo basket beside the well, which was full of buns with thin skin and large fillings.
It raised its paw to take one.
I thought it was delicious, so I took another one.
Very delicious, got another one.
The last basket of buns disappeared into its stomach. It retracted its claws embarrassedly, returned the same way, climbed up the pickle jar with difficulty, and disappeared from the yard.
Early the next morning, Duan Zhiwei stood at the door of the restaurant and set up a large iron pot. The firewood at the bottom of the pot crackled, and she slowly stirred the soy milk in the pot with a long-handled spoon.
The white mist mixed with the rich aroma of beans drifted far away, and the diners passing by lined up to smell the aroma: "Good morning, Madam Duan, didn't you say yesterday that we have fresh breakfast for sale today? What is it?"
Duan Zhiwei thought of the thin-skinned and large-filled pickled cabbage buns, and couldn't stop smiling: "I guarantee you'll like it."
Ah Pan hurriedly opened the curtain and came out, his usually calm face showing a rare look of panic.
"What's wrong?" Duan Zhiwei asked.
"Baozi, all the buns are gone!" A Pan said anxiously.
"What?" Duan Zhiwei hurriedly threw down the spoon in his hand and looked towards the backyard, just in time when the waiter from the restaurant came to deliver the dishes.
Yesterday she ordered a truckload of winter bamboo shoots, wanting to make bamboo shoots stewed with ham and braised with oil. The waiter arrived just in time.
But she had no mood to entertain the waiter. She just said sorry and went to the backyard.
Who would have thought that the waiter at the vegetable shop looked even more sad than she was: "Who the hell is this thief? My whole cart of bamboo shoots is all gone!"
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