Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Beginning of Summer: Cherries, Plum Candy and Green Rice^^…
The Beginning of Summer is the opening dance of summer. From this day on, the sun in Chang'an begins to become warmer, covering the earth with a golden glow.
On the day of the Beginning of Summer, officials of the dynasty had a day off. Yuan Shenji had already finished practicing with a set of guns in his own garden. He was only wearing a pair of shorts, his strong chest heaving violently, and a few strands of hair were soaked with sweat and stuck to his forehead.
He recalled his previous moves, casually draped the towel over his shoulders, then went to the wellhead, drew a bucket of cold water and poured it over himself.
There was a sudden noise at the garden gate. Yuan Shenji picked up the spear and looked towards the entrance of the garden vigilantly.
A girl in pink came in with a food box. The girl had plump cheeks, a bun in her hair, a brocade shirt with painted mandarin ducks on it, and a red gauze skirt with green silk and precious flowers on it. It was obvious that she was a lady brought up in a scholar's family.
She smiled and bowed, saying, "Today is the beginning of summer. Thinking that my cousin won't be able to go to the government kitchen canteen for breakfast today, I asked the cook to make some and bring it over." As she spoke, she took out a plate of rice porridge and a huge slave from the food box.
Yuan Shenji put on his clothes and frowned, "Second Mother, you don't have to send food to me anymore."
The lady's face stiffened for a moment and she said, "These are all made by the cooks at home. They are cleaner than those in restaurants outside. The other day, I heard my father complain that the cold noodles from the Imperial College gave him a stomachache."
Yuan Shenji put his hands behind his back and looked at her with lowered eyebrows. He had a pair of eyes as beautiful as cold stars, but there was no smile in them at this moment: "Although you and I are cousins, we still have to be careful about the relationship between men and women. I heard from my aunt that I will arrange a marriage for you soon. It's not good for you to come here all the time."
This was a clear rejection, and the girl who was called Er Niang said desperately: "Cousin, have you never said anything to me..."
Yuan Shenji interrupted sternly: "Never, we are not destined to be together, there is no need to mention this matter again."
Er Niang wiped her tears and said, "Cousin is so hard-hearted, could it be that he has really been bewitched by that vixen from Liangzhou?"
Yuan Shenji's face darkened. This was touching his reverse scale. Er Niang was frightened and turned around and ran away.
What Liangzhou fox spirit? She’s just an ordinary woman, Yuan Shenji thought. One day, after drinking with a literary friend, he told this story. Unexpectedly, his friend changed the whole story and wrote it into a Bianwen.
Perhaps it has caused trouble to the lady, and I am afraid she will not show up again.
Yuan Shenji only remembered that day when he was dragged out of the bushes by a petite figure in a daze. He only heard the woman panting and muttering something: "The soldiers are half dead in the army, and it snows in August in the Hu sky. I respect you as a man, so I will save you."
It overlapped with the day when the wife of the Duan family loudly praised him as "the model of the martial arts world". It was the first time someone praised him like this.
Yuan Shenji inadvertently looked down at the overturned plate of giant fried dough sticks, which were fried until golden yellow and covered with a layer of amber honey. They were the favorite snack of the royal family. But the sun was scorching and the air was steaming hot, so eating this was not very refreshing.
Yuan Shenji suddenly missed the sweet mung bean porridge and locust flower cake.
Duan Zhiwei learned that officials would have a day off on the Beginning of Summer Day and that the number of customers would decrease, so he specially reduced the supply of breakfast. Aunt Duan placed cherries, fragrant plums and millet on the food table for the gods to enjoy, which is called "seeing three new things at the beginning of summer."
A large pot of beans was already cooking on the stove in front of the restaurant. Yesterday, Duan Zhiwei had placed an order for green rice and sugar from the ladies who often bought peach blossom cheese here. It was said that eating these today would prevent summer heat stroke. There is even a special song for the beginning of summer:
The plums are crisp and the cherries are ripe, the millet and wheat are sweet and fragrant, and the broad beans are fresh.
Duck is seasoned with salt and carved into red jade, and sea snails are added to the dishes and counted as green coins.
When Duan Zhiwei was a child, he often bought black rice cakes for breakfast when he went to school. He never expected that this food also existed in ancient times. Even Du Fu once said, "Eat my green rice, it makes me look good."
The day before, Duan Zhiwei carefully selected some fresh black rice leaves from a stall in the West Market, washed them, put them into a winnowing basket and crushed them vigorously until they turned into a blue-green juice. He then soaked the best japonica rice in the juice, stirring it constantly so that every grain of rice could absorb the juice, and soaked it overnight.
Today, Duan Zhiwei opened the jar and was satisfied to find that the japonica rice had turned from white to indigo color. Cover the steamer with clean gauze, spread the dyed japonica rice evenly, cover it with a lid, and steam it over high heat. White steam and the fresh aroma of rice filled the air.
While waiting for the rice to cook, Duan Zhiwei prepared some sugar. Since it was the beginning of summer, he prepared some mint candy and black plum candy. Not only would they be refreshing to eat, but they would also be refreshing just by listening to them.
It's actually simple to do. At this time, there was no crystal clear rock sugar, but there was a similar light yellow ancient brown sugar. It was said that experts were invited from India when it was developed. This sugar was good for making osmanthus candy, but it was not in season yet...
The light green mint syrup and clear red plum syrup that have been soaked overnight are now ready. Just boil the sugar cubes slowly into thick syrup, then add the mint syrup and plum syrup separately and continue boiling until they are stringy.
After pouring the syrup into the wooden grid to remove it from the mold, Duan Zhiwei specially found a woodblock printing master to carve the word "Duan" and print it on the sugar.
Aunt Duan came over and took a look. The mint candy was as clear as jade, and the pink plum candy actually contained half a plum, which was cute and exquisite. She picked up a mint candy and threw it into her mouth, and the cool mint smell spread in her mouth.
Aunt Duan was so happy that she didn't know what to do. She just thought that this candy would be popular in Chang'an. Duan Zhiwei mixed the steamed green rice and used a palm leaf fan to cool it down. "This candy is not difficult to make. I just want to eat it for fun. Other families will be able to make it in a couple of days."
Except for the few reserved restaurants that Duan Zhiwei hired idlers to deliver, the rest were taken to Da Ci'en Temple by donkey cart to set up stalls. On the day of the Beginning of Summer, even more people went to Da Ci'en Temple to worship. The ladies in Chang'an are all visual animals. When they saw the fresh, interesting, exquisite and cute black plum and mint candies, they immediately bought them out.
It was just a slight miscalculation. He didn't expect the temple to distribute Qingjing rice for free on that day. As a result, the rice was sold out until almost dusk. There was only half a jar of Qingjing rice left. Seeing that curfew would come if he didn't return, Duan Zhiwei had to drag the donkey cart back.
As soon as she arrived at the entrance of the neighborhood, she felt something was wrong. She heard light footsteps from behind. Duan Zhiwei turned around immediately, only to see that it was the two scoundrels who harassed Ye Na last time. She immediately slapped the donkey's butt, but unfortunately, in order to save money, she rented an older donkey, which could not walk fast at all, and was caught up by the scoundrels in no time.
Duan Zhiwei's back was soaked with sweat and his breathing became rapid. He thought to himself that it was not good. He did not carry dogwood water with him at all times. Those two scoundrels were smart for once. They found a secluded alley and took a knife in their hands to prepare for revenge.
Duan Zhiwei gritted his teeth, hesitated for two seconds, abandoned the donkey cart and started running. The two people behind him began to chase him relentlessly. Duan Zhiwei made several turns and finally had no choice but to hide under an abandoned ox cart.
When the two scoundrels chased here, their shadows were stretched distorted and elongated by the setting sun. Duan Zhiwei covered his mouth and prayed that they would not discover him. The two men were getting closer and closer...
Suddenly, a bell sound came from far away, and Duan Zhiwei suddenly smelled a familiar, silky fragrance. A graceful figure in a chest-length dress and a white gauze veil hat walked towards them.
Although her face was covered by a wide white veil, her snow-white skin, graceful figure, the crisp sound of bells on her ankles and the unique fragrance on her body made people want to peek at the beauty's true appearance under the white veil.
As expected, the two scoundrels walked over with evil smiles and said, "My beautiful lady, would you like to have a glass of malt wine with me?"
The lady stood there gracefully without saying a word. Seeing that she didn't answer after he asked her several questions, the scoundrel said harshly, "You don't know what's good for you," and impatiently went up to lift up her white veil.
The scoundrel's evil smile froze on his face, his lips trembling slightly, he wanted to make a sound but couldn't, beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead. After a while, the scoundrel reacted, turned around and ran, shouting as he ran: "Monster!"
Duan Zhiwei suddenly realized where this familiar fragrance came from, and she hugged her head and shrank into the wall.
After a long time, just when she thought that the headless monster had finally left, a sad voice came to her ears: "I finally found you..."
Yuan Shenji had a day off today and had originally planned to ride to the Duan family restaurant on horseback. However, before he could leave the house, he was stopped by a servant from the Du residence and handed an invitation, saying that today was the beginning of summer and Captain Yuan was invited to come to the residence for a night banquet.
Du Wentao was a third-rank Zhongshu Shilang. His wife, Liu, was Yuan Shenji's aunt. Yuan Shenji's biological mother passed away early, so he was extra close to his maternal relatives.
The house of Minister Du is located in Yongxingfang and is quite grand. There are pavilions and ponds in the house, where you can go boating or take a leisurely stroll. Mrs. Du was waiting for Yuan Shenji in the courtyard on the lake.
"Da Lang is here." Mrs. Du warmly invited him over, and Yuan Shenji bowed and sat down.
Mrs. Du waved her fan and picked up a piece of gold and silver for him: "Come and taste this... the saint gave it to him this morning..."
She hesitated for a moment and asked, "Second Mother went out happily this morning, but came back with red eyes. I sent away the skylark beside her... saying that..."
Yuan Shenji was silent for a moment, then stood up, bowed and said, "Men and women are not allowed to meet, so please don't come to my house again in the future, cousin."
This was a blatant rejection. Mrs. Du sighed and nodded. This nephew was tall and strong, and had military achievements in Liangzhou. He was promoted to the fourth rank at a young age. However, his mother passed away early and there was no one to make the decision. The official matchmaker went back to the Du Mansion, but unexpectedly, Yuan Shenji had a stubborn temper and said that he was busy fighting on the battlefield and had no time to get married.
On the Shangsi Festival on March 3rd, Yuan Shenji passed by Bashang on horseback. Many ladies from Chang'an broke willow branches to give to him as gifts, but he just walked past them without even looking at them. No one could do anything to him.
Mrs. Du asked tentatively, "Recently... have you found someone you like?"
"No," Yuan Shenji habitually denied.
Du Jiasanlang just turned five this year. He hugged Yuan Shenji's legs with a kite and handed him a piece of candy.
Mrs. Du smiled and said, "It was sent by Lu Qijulang's wife. She was thoughtful and said that this candy is novel and interesting. Today is the beginning of summer, so I gave it to Sanlang to try."
Yuan Shenji opened the paper package and found a pink candy block with half a black plum inlaid in it and the word "Duan" printed in the middle. He was quite surprised, and then smiled knowingly. Only that person could think of such an innovative candy block.
His big hands were covered with calluses from years of practice, and at this moment he was rubbing a small piece of sugar in his hands. In his mind, Duan Zhiwei seemed to be kneading dough with his head down, looking up at him with surprise and smiling, "Captain Yuan is here."
It’s a pity that it’s curfew and she will probably go to bed soon. I’ll go tomorrow morning, Yuan Shenji thought.
Minister Du returned from playing chess with his friends until late at night. He saw his nephew bending down to rub a piece of candy and whispering to Madam Du: "It is true that the mind of a warrior is hard to guess."
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