Chapter 40 Chapter 40 The Rose Flower Demon from the Arab Empire The Flower Demon Ru...
The whole of Chang'an had fallen into the quiet night of curfew, but the Duan family restaurant was forced to turn on the lights again, and everyone was forced to sit in the front hall, yawning.
Ah Pan refilled the brazier with charcoal. While Aunt Duan was telling Duan Zhiwei the concept of "there's no such thing as a free lunch" in her heart, she was also shouting that she would go to the shop that made the peach charms to return the money tomorrow.
It was as if she was not the one who had argued during the day that the flowers were a good deal.
Duan Zhiwei also felt quite embarrassed, so he had to make a bowl of strong tea for everyone, and they drank it with relish. Only then did everyone's faces regain some spirit.
The mysterious and beautiful Arab girl knelt behind the table and cried, "I am Haidiye. I followed the caravan through mountains and rivers to Chang'an to find someone, but I didn't expect to be robbed by that villain."
The blue rose from the Arab world was mysterious and beautiful, and would definitely be the object of mad scramble among the children of the noble families. Every night, Haidiye would cry secretly. The noble family that had spent a lot of money to buy it thought it was haunted, and would return it to the owner of Hua Sisi the next day.
The strange story of the blue rose crying in the middle of the night has been circulated among the dignitaries. It seems that this flower is going to be a waste of money. Hua Sisi felt that he had made a huge loss in the deal and complained that these dignitaries were exaggerating and believing in rumors.
As a result, at midnight the next day, while Master Hua Sisi was still fumigating out-of-season flowers in the cellar, he heard a faint crying sound from above his head, like resentment, longing, sobbing, and complaining...
The owner of Hua Sisi decided to find a scapegoat to give the flowers away.
Duan Zhiwei thought he was a good businessman, but now he was caught by a playboy. He was so angry that he slammed the table and said, "Tomorrow I will go to the Chang'an County Office to find the county lieutenant and file a complaint against him!"
Isn't this harming people!
The rose demon Haidiye was still crying. Duan Zhiwei didn't know what to do. This flower demon didn't seem to have harmed anyone before, so he had to ask her, "What are you going to do in the future?"
Upon hearing this, the flower demon Haidiye wiped away her tears and said, "I want to find someone, no matter what."
Duan Zhiwei's mouth was dry from the new coals in the brazier. He picked up the coarse porcelain bowl and drank water while asking, "Who do you want to find, tell us. Maybe we know him."
The words sounded so comforting, but Duan Zhiwei thought, in the magnificent Chang'an, with its 108 districts, people of all colors and from all over the world gathered here, so it's not easy to find someone.
Haidiye thought for a moment and said, "He is a handsome, cold-faced man, about nine feet tall, wearing a scarlet robe and carrying a cold sword." She added, "The pouch hanging around his waist is embroidered with a lion... I have only seen this man once, and I really don't know where to find him."
Duan Zhiwei choked on the water she had just drunk, and Pu Tao hurried over to pat her back.
She actually knew this person. Not only did she know him, but everyone in the restaurant also knew him. Young Pu Tao was the first to widen his eyes and asked, "Isn't this young man she's talking about Captain Yuan?"
Aunt Duan said with a sigh, "I have lived for so many years and I know that men in this world can never escape the word 'romantic'."
As expected of Yuan Shenji, not only did the ladies of Chang'an like her, but even the rose fairy from the Arab Empire could not forget her. Duan Zhiwei felt a little unhappy for some reason. Seeing that everyone was staring at her, she realized that keeping a flower fairy was not a wise move.
She had no choice but to clear her throat and said, "I know the man you mentioned. If you really want to meet him, I will take you to visit him tomorrow."
The flower demon finally stopped crying after hearing this, and rushed over to hold Duan Zhiwei's hand and said, "It must be Allah's blessing that I met you."
She was very close to Duan Zhiwei, and the rich fragrance on her body filled Duan Zhiwei's nose. She had a pair of green eyes like cat's eyes. If she was not a flower demon, it would be no surprise that such a beauty entered the Daming Palace.
Yuan Shenji is really lucky. Duan Zhiwei sneered and decided not to give this fourth-rank official any preferential benefits or queue-jumping benefits. Just let him queue outside the restaurant!
The next day, as soon as the market opened, Duan Zhiwei was busy heating up soy milk and selling hot noodles stuffed with pork and shepherd's purse.
On a cold winter morning in Chang'an, pedestrians walking on the road could exhale clouds of white mist with every breath. Suddenly turning their heads, they saw a restaurant selling steaming hot soy milk with a rich soy aroma. The steamer was opened to emit a lot of hot air, and inside were neatly arranged jade-point noodles with meat and vegetables. Pedestrians unknowingly stood outside the restaurant to queue up.
Moreover, the yujian noodles are packed in advance, so you don’t have to wait in the cold wind for a long time and you can get them in a short time. Therefore, the breakfast takeaway from Duan’s Restaurant has always sold well.
Other restaurants also wanted to follow suit, but they just didn't have the technique to wrap the jade-pointed noodles. Duan Zhiwei was quite proud of it. What a joke! She had spent a long time learning how to make the folds of the buns beautifully from the chef in the breakfast shop.
In addition to take-out breakfast, you can also eat in the main hall, but it is different every day. For example, a few days ago the blacksmith delivered half a leg of lamb, so we had lamb soup and steamed dumplings for breakfast. After drinking a bowl of it, my whole body felt warm.
Recently, due to the frost on the banks of the Jing River, duck farmers were in a hurry to get rid of their ducks. Duan Zhiwei picked out a few fat ducks at a very reasonable price and prepared to make a bowl of duck soup wontons.
So today's soup base is duck bones and winter bamboo shoots simmered over low heat for an hour. In order to reduce the greasiness, some pickled sour radish is also added to the soup.
However, the breakfast business that needs to be eaten in the hall has never been as good as the take-out business. But today was an exception. The entire restaurant was full of people, and some people were waiting in the wind.
Although Duan Zhiwei knew that his cooking skills were indeed very good, he also knew that the diners in the main hall today were not here for the bowl of duck soup wontons, but for...
Duan Zhiwei turned her head and saw the flower fairy named Haidiye, wearing a gorgeous blue robe inlaid with pearls, sitting on the small Hu bed at the door, looking at her eagerly, waiting for Duan Zhiwei to take her into Yuan Mansion.
This species of flower fairies is truly beautiful, with deep facial features and lustrous skin. Eyes as bright as gemstones. Not to mention ordinary diners, even the owner of the Hu Bing restaurant across the street, who had always been quite hostile to Duan's Restaurant, shamelessly came over to queue up.
Duan Zhiwei sighed. It was not that he intentionally delayed, but he was always busy in the morning, and no one else could make the jade-pointed noodles except him, so he couldn't leave his family. Besides, Yuan Shenji must have gone to court so early in the morning, so there would be no way he would meet him.
It was a real mistake today. We didn't prepare enough wontons, so we had to let Aunt Duan watch the steamer while Pu Tao, A Pan and I made them.
The recipe for wontons also has its own requirements. One pound of white flour must be strictly matched with three grams of salt, and the wontons must be pinched thin on all sides. Duan Zhiwei will also sprinkle some mung bean powder on the wonton slices so that they will not stick together and the dough will be chewy when eaten.
The beautiful lady in blue came over hesitantly and whispered that she wanted to help, but the wonton skin she rolled was crooked and twisted. Wontons of this quality could not be sold to customers. Duan Zhiwei asked Pu Tao to take the failed product with the fillings exposed everywhere to the backyard.
It was a waste to throw it away, so he had to eat it as a dinner at night. As a result, before Pu Tao even walked through the hall, the plate of failed wontons in his hand was strongly demanded by diners.
Duan Zhiwei: “…” Is this the power of a stunning beauty?
There was a sudden commotion in the queue. Duan Zhiwei was still busy making wontons. Hearing the noise, he wiped his floury hands on his knees and walked over to check what was going on.
It turned out that the owner of the Hu Bing Shop came to queue up, but for some reason he was discovered by his wife, and the two of them started quarreling in the queue.
Aunt Duan ran over to Duan Zhiwei with a gloating look on her face and took credit for it: "I have been annoyed with this Hu Bing seller for a long time, so I went to his wife to gossip about him."
Duan Zhiwei: “…” Fortunately, nothing happened as a result of this farce. The other diners queuing around seemed to be watching a puppet show, just to pass the time. Not only did they have no objection, they were quite happy about it, and some even made a few sarcastic remarks to fan the flames.
The final result was that the owner of the Hu pancake shop was grabbed by the ear by his wife and dragged back to her own pancake shop.
It was a real commotion this morning.
Duan Zhiwei decided that she couldn't go on like this, so she quickly finished wrapping the wontons in her hands, handed over the restaurant business to Ah Pan and the others, and went to pull the donkey cart. She said to Haidiye who was looking at her expectantly, "Come on, come on, I'll take you to Yuan's house right away."
Haidiye happily ran onto the cart. Perhaps he was not used to riding a donkey cart, so he leaned behind Duan Zhiwei and hugged her waist, which aroused the envy of many diners.
The car drove all the way from Xuanyangfang to Xinchangfang. Yuan Shenji was not at home as expected, but the old housekeeper was quite enthusiastic and insisted on welcoming Duan Zhiwei into the front hall, and then served them a portion of jade dew dumplings and sour cheese.
After a busy period, the old butler asked Duan Zhiwei to wait for a moment and he would go to the office to call the captain back. Duan Zhiwei wanted to stop him, but the old butler, although old, was very skilled and trotted away.
Duan Zhiwei had no choice but to ask Haidiye to sit down, and then started to eat the white and crispy jade dew dumpling with carved patterns. It was indeed delicious, worthy of being a snack from an official's family, with a slightly sweet taste, soft, sticky and smooth, and a hint of glutinous rice fragrance in the mouth.
She was enjoying her meal and was about to invite Haidiye to eat with her, but just as she looked up, she saw Haidiye walking leisurely towards the backyard, with only a corner of her blue veil fluttering in the wind.
It was too rude to run to the host's back garden without waiting for an invitation. What would Yuan Shenji think if he saw it?
Duan Zhiwei hurried to the backyard to find her. The flower demon moved very quickly and passed through the winding corridors to the garden in one go. Duan Zhiwei had no choice but to bite the bullet and run to Yuan's garden.
I saw a dozen stunning beauties gathered in Yuan Mansion's garden. The whole place was filled with fragrance. These beauties were either sitting at the food table, drinking and playing drinking games, or leaning against the waterside pavilion and looking down at the koi in the pond. It was really lively.
Duan Zhiwei was stunned and annoyed, thinking: "You are so good, Yuan Shenji. I thought you were a rare gentleman, but you are so lucky to have more than ten beauties in your backyard. I should have let you lie outside Liangzhou City without saving you."
Thinking of this, she turned around to leave, and happened to bump into Yuan Shenji who was hurrying back home. She was very angry, she just bowed slightly, did not answer him, and walked around him with a cold face and left.
Yuan Shenji grabbed her arm and asked, "What's wrong? Did I do something to make Madam Duan angry?"
Duan Zhiwei sneered and said, "Captain Yuan is so lucky. There are more than ten beauties in the courtyard, and there is even a beauty from the Kingdom of Daqin who admires you. I am here to send someone over. I have completed my mission and will go back now."
She struggled to leave, but was immediately surrounded by a red pillar by Yuan Shenji. He was tall and didn't care about her rudeness. He even looked at her with a smile: "There are only three of us in this mansion, Yuan, the housekeeper, and the old servant. How can there be more than ten stunning beauties? Could it be that Madam Duan drank a few more glasses of wine and started talking nonsense?"
If this really happened, he would probably be overwhelmed by the impeachment memorials from the Censorate.
Duan Zhiwei saw that this man didn't cry until he saw the coffin, so he raised his hand and pointed to the backyard: "Then go and see it yourself."
She was about to leave again, but was stopped by Yuan Shenji: "Madam, please come with me."
Duan Zhiwei was forced to be dragged away by him. While walking, she tried to pull her arm out of his hand, but this general was really capable and held her arm tightly.
The two men arrived at the backyard, where the dozen or so beauties were still drinking and having fun. Duan Zhiwei glanced at him to see if he had anything else to say.
But Yuan Shenji's face darkened, and then he roared: "Who are you?"
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