Chapter 119 Chapter 119 Happy Restaurant Daily Going to Qing...
The Qianqiu Festival is approaching, and this year's celebration includes a three-day night lantern festival. The people of Chang'an are already in a state of extreme excitement, waiting for the drum to break the twilight at the hour of Xu tomorrow, when more than 300 lanterns will be lit in the east and west markets. At that time, the city's ladies and silks will be as numerous as clouds, and fish and dragons will dance under the starlight all night.
While the people were busy and excited in Chang'an City, three thousand bright lights had been lit in the Daming Palace and by the Taiye Lake, and the palace maids were walking around the lake in an orderly manner, holding silver pots.
The Qin magician raised the moon on the stage, the red-dressed dancer spread out her colorful clothes, the music hall's drum beats deafeningly, and a pair of auspicious lions soared several feet into the air in front of the red steps, dancing to the music.
The sage has not yet arrived, but the envoys have already started toasting each other, and the aroma of red grape wine is wafting in the air.
The Turkish envoy stared at the snow-skinned dancer with a golden bell on her waist on the stage, but his expression was very tense. He whispered to the woman sitting next to him: "Is everything ready?"
The woman smiled charmingly: "Of course it's foolproof."
The officials of the Ministry of Rites took their positions and sang loudly: "The envoys present auspiciousness!"
The whole piece of amethyst presented by Persia, the exquisite felt from Tibet, and the treasures presented by various countries all sparkled brightly... In comparison, the dozen or so wind lanterns of the Turks looked so ordinary, especially when thousands of lanterns floated out from behind the water pavilion, and the white wind lanterns were even more indistinguishable among the interlaced shadows of the lights.
The woman stared at the lantern and said with a confident smile, "I'm afraid the Yinshan Bone Demon will awaken soon."
Seeing that the messenger did not believe her, she calmly hid her arm behind the food table, and then gently shook the golden bell in her hand.
The wind lantern did not respond.
The woman panicked a little, but she didn't give up and shook her wrist a few more times.
The lantern remained silent.
Her confident smile froze on her face.
On the other side, the restaurant was packed with diners inside and out, and everyone was busy as hell.
It was already March, and more and more people in Chang'an were going to Qujiang, Leyouyuan and various temples for an outing. Duan Zhiwei took the opportunity to launch the Chang'an Happy Tour Package.
The first to come to mind are mugwort cakes and qingtuan. The aroma of mugwort mixed with red bean paste, salted egg yolk and pork floss is very tempting. The mugwort threads on the qingtuan skin are rich in fragrance. When the qingtuan skin cracks, the oily salted egg yolk mixed with the fresh and fragrant pork floss comes out. It is really a first-class delicacy.
However, only Duan Zhiwei knows how to make such a fluffy and delicious delicacy as meat floss, and the green rice dumpling stuffed with salted egg yolk and meat floss is the only one in the city, so diners have to make reservations in advance, otherwise they will miss out if they arrive late.
Many of Yuan Shenji's colleagues specifically asked him to ask Mrs. Yuan to keep two extra copies.
At this moment, the rich and sticky aroma of mugwort wafted out of the kitchen. Duan Zhiwei opened the steamer, and a half-foot high white-hot mist rose up from it. A dozen jade-colored mugwort balls lay in the steamer.
The little bone demon stood on tiptoe above the little wolf's head and followed behind Duan Zhiwei to help, or rather to cause trouble.
"Remember to tear the meat floss into strips first, then roll it back and forth with a rolling pin, and finally tap it gently for a while to make it fluffy." Duan Zhiwei taught the two for a while, then handed the kitchen over to them and went to the backyard to wash the mugwort.
The little bone monster jumped down from the little wolf's head, and the two of them worked together pushing a rolling pin. The little bone monster suddenly became playful and stood on the rolling pin to perform acrobatics, which made the little wolf laugh.
Duan Zhiwei came back from work, with a big bowl of meat floss still in the shape of meat cubes. Little Wolf lowered his head in shame: "Don't blame A Gu...it's me..."
"Forget it, forget it. We can still deal with these when we come back." Duan Zhiwei squatted down to help him tidy up his hair. The little wolf's hair had grown a little bit again, and because it was short and curly, it now looked like an exploding cloud across his head, and he would be stared at whenever he went out.
I can only wear a hat to cover up my ugliness.
Seeing that Little Wolf had put on his hat, Duan Zhiwei pulled him and Little Bone Demon out of the house: "The carriage is waiting outside, let's set off now and go for an outing."
It was a bright and sunny March. The steps of Qinglong Temple were dyed with fresh green. The cherry trees in the forest looked like they were splashed with rich rouge. The pink and white petals fell to the ground, and the release pond was also full of broken cherry blossoms.
There were many tourists, and fortunately Yuan Shenji got up early to reserve a seat, so everyone could spread out the felt tent under a cherry tree and enjoy the beautiful spring scenery.
Duan Zhiwei prepared various candied fruits, green rice balls, and mugwort cakes and spread them all over the floor. He also spent a lot of money to buy a pot of Sanlejiang from a Persian merchant.
Jinhua Cat and Little Bone Demon were both drunk. They stood at the food table, holding a wine glass in one hand and swinging the other, and danced the Hu Xuan dance to the sound of the pipa played by a musician in the distance.
Especially the little bone demon. Today, it was dressed in a madder-colored silk skirt by Pu Tao, and its head was full of cherry blossoms. Its twisting and staggering posture was particularly funny.
"When life is good, you should enjoy it to the fullest. I'll pay for the whole thing today."
"I was born to be useful, roast lamb leg with good wine!"
Everyone was laughing so hard that they couldn't stop, clapping and cheering. Pu Tao and Little Wolf picked up the broken cherry blossoms on the ground and sprinkled them on their heads, adding color to this interesting Hu Xuan.
The little wolf drank too much buttermilk and wanted to go to the toilet. He stood up and took the little bone monster who was still drinking away.
Aunt Duan smiled and said, "Little Wolf actually likes this little monster."
"That's right." Duan Zhiwei took a sip of Sanle juice and said, "I secretly sewed a pocket in my shirt and put a lot of almond cakes in it and shared them with the two of us in our room."
Here, the little wolf finished going to the toilet and turned back with the little bone monster, but it suddenly started raining in Chang'an.
It was not a heavy rain, but the kind of comfortable drizzle of spring. However, the little wolf still stuffed the little bone monster into his green cloth shirt and hid under the corridor to watch the water in the release pond slowly rise.
The little bone demon looked at the rain, then looked up at him: "The rain is not heavy, let's go back."
It also wants to drink Sanle juice.
The little wolf said nervously, "...it's raining, will you get rusty?"
It was made of jade bones, not iron. The little bone demon stood on his hat and stomped his feet gently, then said, "Stupid little wolf, you can't even tell the difference between iron and jade. I am the finest mutton-fat jade..."
Its voice suddenly stopped, and it said vigilantly: "Someone is there."
Soon a stray dog ran over.
The little bone demon was ready to pick up the ribs as weapons, but when he saw it was a dog, he relaxed.
"I must be overthinking it." it thought.
Seeing that the rain had stopped, the little wolf hurried back with the little bone monster.
In the rockery behind the release pond, several men in black robes stared at his departing figure stealthily:
"Is it him? Those eyes are so similar."
"Based on the confession of the slave owner in the East Market, it's probably close to the truth."
"Then you continue to watch, I will go back to the Honglu Temple to report to the Prime Minister."
When the two rushed back to the cherry blossom forest, everyone had already packed up the leftovers. Duan Zhiwei saw them running back from afar and said with a smile, "You're finally back. I thought you were lost. Go back early after the rain stops. The Qianqiu Lantern Festival will be here soon. Let's rent a stall and set up a stall at the Lantern Festival tomorrow night."
The little wolf ran over quickly, holding the little bone monster in his arms, and got on the carriage with everyone else. The little bone monster took one last look at the Qinglong Temple, where a ray of dying light was flickering on the glazed tiles.
After returning to the restaurant, everyone took a short wash and rest, and then sat together to discuss the stalls to be set up at the Lantern Festival tomorrow night.
"I want the candied haws stall!" Pu Tao was the first to bring it up. Her favorite was candied haws. The sugar coating was crystal clear, and when you took a bite, the sour taste of hawthorn and the sweet taste of sugar were intertwined, which was very delicious.
"Good idea." Duan Zhiwei nodded: "But hawthorns are not available in spring, so this suggestion will not be adopted."
Little Wolf stuttered, "Then...the grilled camel hump skewer?"
"Grilled camel hump skewers, what are those?" everyone asked in surprise.
Seeing that everyone was looking at him, the little wolf blushed and stammered to explain: "On the way to Chang'an, a kind-hearted Hu merchant gave me a piece of roasted camel hump..."
Duan Zhiwei seemed to have seen it at the market as well. It was a food similar to chest fat, with a lot of grease baked on the baking tray. It had a strong mutton smell, and people in Chang'an probably wouldn't like it, so he didn't want to eat it.
"Glutinous rice dumplings? Freshly baked Hu pancakes?"
After some discussion, Duan Zhiwei finally decided to set up a sugar painting stall. She would draw some simple butterflies, goldfish and cats.
The stall business was settled, everyone had a division of labor, and then they all went their separate ways to do their own things.
Duan Zhiwei went to the kitchen to cook sugar cubes. Yuan Shenji came in through the curtains and asked, "Do you need my help?"
The latter immediately stuffed the spoon into his hand: “It’s up to you.”
Boiling sugar is a very hard job. Yuan Shenji is strong, so stirring the sugar liquid is not very troublesome for him.
Duan Zhiwei leaned on his shoulder and asked, "Are you going to be on duty at the Qianqiu Lantern Festival?"
He shook his head and helped her tidy up the messy hair around her ears: "I want to spend more time with you during the Lantern Festival. Do you remember last year's Lantern Festival?"
Duan Zhi smiled, and then patted his shoulder generously: "Of course I remember, you confessed to me on the Lantern Festival last year."
Yuan Shenji also laughed. He hopes to enjoy the Lantern Festival with his wife every year.
The little bone demon was in the backyard with the little wolf and the Jinhua cat preparing the candied fruits. After the four of them prepared seriously for a while, they started playing around again.
A Pan, who was in the room, hurried out to stop them. The four men stood in a row, with fruit fragments all over their heads and faces, and accepted the scolding. "You four can't work together anymore. Don't blow the roof off the restaurant." A Pan taught them with his hands on his hips.
"Let them be. It's normal for children to fight and quarrel." Aunt Duan was very open-minded today. She only reminded him, "Just a little bit. Don't waste food anymore. Look at your hair full of preserved fruit."
She took a wet towel and wiped the faces of several people.
After the adults left, a few people squatted there and watched the ants carrying the preserved fruit crumbs. First, a scout ant discovered a large amount of preserved fruit crumbs mixed with honey, and hurriedly turned around to notify the main group.
Jinhua suggested: "Move the preserved fruit away so that it will lose the trust of the army."
The little bone demon patted its shoulder and said, "How can you be more cruel than me?"
It was standing on the little wolf's shoulder and watching happily, but suddenly it felt a surge of resentment in its body rushing out, and the little bone monster quickly covered its chest.
A few people noticed something was wrong and looked at it worriedly: "Agu, are you okay? Do you want to go take a rest?"
The little bone demon looked at everyone's worried faces and shook his head: "I'm fine."
It felt that the malicious and fierce resentment in its body was gradually dissipating, leaving only something warm, bright, and sweet like osmanthus honey.
On the other side, the Turkic witch chanted a spell in the room for half a day, and suddenly opened her eyes: "Oh no, I feel that the resentment of the Yinshan Bone Demon is dissipating."
"We must find it immediately."
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