Chapter 81 Chapter 81 Magic Mirror and Sophora japonica Rice Punishment is to lose...
The bronze mirror was obviously silent for a while, and then said: "Of course it is you, Madam Duan, you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in the whole Chang'an City."
Duan Zhiwei: “…”
Bronze mirror: "......"
A strange awkwardness and silence suddenly filled the hall. It was so quiet that only the faint chirping of cicadas in the old locust tree outside the restaurant could be heard.
Its voice was obviously flattering and ingratiating, but the tone sounded insincere.
Duan Zhiwei subconsciously tidied up his hair which was very messy due to tossing and turning on the bed.
The rose fairy of the Arab world was extremely beautiful. When the fairy cried, a crystal teardrop hung on her eyelashes, like a dewdrop swaying on a leaf. She looked kind, and one felt that she must have suffered some inhuman torture, which made people feel pity for her for no reason.
But this is a bronze mirror, a monster with no visible brain, ordinary appearance, who loves to lie, and the lies he tells are so outrageous.
So Duan Zhiwei hardened his heart, turned around and quietly asked Pu Tao: "Is there any sealed box in the restaurant? Let's seal this mirror and hand it over to the Monster Catching Department tomorrow."
Pu Tao continued, "There are only four large wooden boxes in the restaurant, and they are all filled with various bottles and jars of crab sashimi, garlic melons, etc. There is really no room for them."
Pu Tao thought about it carefully and said, "There is another box." Then he whispered, "The one with sour bamboo shoots..."
Duan Zhiwei was reminded by her and also remembered it.
The rice noodles she had made before were very successful, so she turned her attention to the snail noodles she had missed for a long time. The unique and strong aroma made Duan Zhiwei obsessed with it.
Chang'an does not have the kind of bamboo shoots unique to Liuzhou, nor does it have clear mountain spring water for natural fermentation. But Duan Zhiwei gritted his teeth, cut the spring bamboo shoots from the foot of Mount Zhongnan into thin strips, soaked them in well water, added some coarse salt and marinated them for two weeks, praying for a miracle to happen.
Facts have proved that the miracle did not happen. As the saying goes, "The local water and soil nurture the local bamboo shoots." After the bamboo shoots in Chang'an had fermented for two weeks, Duan Zhiwei opened the sealed jar in the expectation of everyone. A terrible stench filled the entire backyard, driving away everyone in the backyard.
Of course, it may not be Chang'an's bamboo shoots' fault, but her pickling method is wrong.
All in all, that jar of sour bamboo shoots that smelled so bad and was no different from sewer pipes could neither be thrown away nor eaten. He could only find a sturdy camphorwood box to seal it up first, and when Yuan Shenji went to Mount Zhongnan for autumn hunting, he would take it away, and then he would secretly find a deserted place on the mountain to dig a hole and bury it.
Duan Zhiwei picked up the bronze mirror and quietly entered the warehouse with Pu Tao.
Both had a clean cloth over their noses. When Duan Zhiwei opened the tightly sealed camphorwood box, the sour bamboo shoots in the coarse porcelain bottle gave off an even stronger sour smell than before due to the long fermentation time.
The sour smell mixed with the cool and slightly spicy camphor aroma of camphor wood makes the taste even more "indescribable".
Apparently the cloth covering his nose was useless. Pu Tao was young and he vomited on the spot.
Duan Zhiwei acted quickly and put the bronze mirror, which suddenly began to struggle and twist, into the box quickly, then sealed the lid.
The bronze mirror fluttered inside: "What are you doing! What kind of inhuman punishment is this! I praised you as the most beautiful girl in Chang'an, how can you repay kindness with hatred, ugh..."
Duan Zhiwei ignored it and pulled Pu Tao out. Tongjing raised his voice again: "Even the mummification punishment of the Qin Dynasty is not as cruel as yours! Ugh..."
"I'm going to the Dali Temple to sue you, ugh..."
Pu Tao was young and felt a little reluctant: "Why don't we put it out and take the other jars out of the box to make room for the mirror?"
The noise made by the mirror was getting louder and louder, and Duan Zhiwei was worried that it would wake everyone else up.
Especially Aunt Duan, as she gets older, she becomes particularly grumpy when she wakes up. If she is woken up, she will probably run over angrily and smash the mirror.
Duan Zhiwei had no choice but to take out a jar of pickled crab from a box, and then took out the mirror.
Bronze Mirror took a deep breath and then said, "Thank you."
Pu Tao seemed to have developed a liking for the mirror that showed its gratitude. It blinked and looked at the bronze mirror: "Mirror, mirror, now we put you in this odorless box and let you out tomorrow, okay?"
The mirror said, "Okay, leave some light for me, it's too dark in there."
Pu Tao picked up a piece of cloth and put it on the box to leave some space, then left the warehouse with Duan Zhiwei.
The stars are bright tonight, Duan Zhiwei sighed deeply, wishing he would not have bought that mirror for the sake of cheapness.
Early the next morning, the first ray of morning light tore through the black night sky, the sun slowly rose, and the city of Chang'an was painted with a dim warm hue by the light mist and the rising sun.
It was late spring in May. The big locust tree at the gate was covered with morning mist, and clusters of white locust flowers were in full bloom, clustered together like a hanging pearl curtain.
Duan Zhiwei spread a thick layer of felt under the locust tree, preparing to knock down some locust flowers. She had originally prepared a bamboo pole, and wanted to stand under the locust tree and use the bamboo pole to knock down the petals, just like she did last year.
The little wolf following behind her suddenly jumped onto the highest branch and deftly pinched the soft flower stems, and large locust flowers fell like snowflakes.
It saved her a lot of effort.
Aunt Duan came out with a bucket of water. When she saw him standing on the tree, she quickly dropped the bucket and ran over to him, saying repeatedly, "This is terrible. Hurry up and get down! If you fall, you'll at least break your bones."
Duan Zhiwei consoled him, "The branch is thick, and he looks quite sensible."
She looked up and said loudly to the little wolf: "The locust flowers are delicate. If they are away from the tree, they will not only turn yellow but also become bitter. You are already on the tree, so take a bite of the flower and taste it. It will definitely taste sweet."
Duan Zhiwei also climbed locust trees in the countryside when he was a child, so he knew the trick of eating locust flowers. Apparently the little wolf understood. He gently pulled a branch of locust flowers in front of him, opened his mouth and bit off one, then started chewing it.
The Jinhua cat was lying on the eaves basking in the sun, but when it heard her say that, it quickly jumped onto the tree and used its claws to pick up some locust flowers and tried to put them into its mouth.
This made everyone in the audience burst into laughter.
Everyone worked together to collect all the locust flowers under the tree and piled them up like white snow. These flowers are very useful: pickled locust flower honey, locust flower egg dumplings, locust flower wheat, and locust flower steamed buns are all excellent.
After a busy morning, A Pan took out today's breakfast from the fire room.
Today she made oil tea fried dough twists. Oil tea is an uncommon food. Usually, the Hu people push a small cart and sell it in the streets. Ah Pan happened to see it when he went out the day before yesterday, so he bought a pot of it and brought back.
The long felt was still laid under the locust tree and had not been moved, so everyone simply sat down and ate breakfast while enjoying the flowers.
The oil tea is as dense as golden quicksand. Soak the crispy fried dough twist in the oil tea, sprinkle with roasted sesame seeds, almonds, raisins, soybeans and other dried fruits, wait until it becomes soft, then add a spoonful of sugar. It tastes dense and thick, and full of fragrance.
It is very suitable for people who work early in the morning to restore their strength.
Seeing diners coming in one after another, Aunt Duan greeted them in the front, A Pan and Xiao Lang were busy in the fire room, and Duan Zhiwei took Pu Tao into the backyard. She had to hurry to prepare today's staple food - locust flower and wheat rice.
Duan Zhiwei sat on a small Huchuang, picking the Sophora japonica flowers, drying them and washing them clean. Pu Tao, who was sitting opposite her, was also carefully drying the flowers, but obviously looked careless.
Duan Zhiwei saw through what she was thinking and just coughed lightly: "Are you still thinking about the mirror?"
Pu Tao scratched his head in embarrassment: "We were so happy when we picked locust flowers together and had breakfast under the locust tree. When I think of the bronze mirror staying alone in the storehouse, I feel so sorry for it."
Duan Zhiwei couldn't bear to hurt the innocence and interest of a young girl, so he said, "Please take out the mirror."
Pu Tao cheered and ran to the warehouse.
Duan Zhiwei looked up at the Jinhua cat who was still lying down and taking a nap and said, "Go over and take a look. Don't let anything get into danger."
The Jinhua cat swept its tail lazily and meowed at Duan Zhiwei.
Duan Zhiwei: "Two small dried fish."
The Jinhua cat instantly stood up and ran to the warehouse.
Duan Zhiwei shook her head. It was no wonder that she was so defensive. After all, a certain Western fantasy novel said, "If you can't see where the brain of a living, talking object is, then it is very dangerous."
After washing the locust flowers, Duan Zhiwei sprinkled a thin layer of flour on the flowers. This step looks simple, but it is still very difficult to coat each flower with a thin layer of flour, with each grain clearly separated and not sticking together.
Pu Tao came back with the mirror. The bronze mirror looked much more wilted than yesterday.
Duan Zhiwei asked: "Bronze Mirror, Bronze Mirror, who is the most beautiful lady in Chang'an City right now?"
Bronze Mirror: “I don’t know.”
She then asked, "Which is the best restaurant in Chang'an?"
Bronze Mirror: “I don’t know.”
Even Pu Tao couldn't stand it anymore and interrupted, "How come you don't know anything? Didn't you say you know everything in the world?"
The bronze mirror looked so angry that its face turned red. "I have traveled with my master from the East to the West. I have sneaked through Yumen Pass, been beaten by sandstorms in the Gaochang Desert, sat on countless merchant ships, and ridden countless camels and horses. I have a lot of experience. Let me ask you, have you seen the Anavada Pond surrounded by snow-capped mountains?"
Pu Tao answered: "No."
The bronze mirror continued, "Let me ask you again. Influenced by the local customs of Quzhi, children's heads are bound with wooden boards since birth, which causes the heads of the people there to be long and thin like wooden pieces. Have you seen this?"
Duan Zhiwei also felt ashamed: "No."
The bronze mirror was angry: "Then I said I know everything in the world, am I wrong?"
The two looked at each other and it seemed that they were right.
Today, Duan Zhiwei put up a sign at the entrance of the restaurant, which read "Sophora japonica wheat rice is only available for this season."
As a result, every diner ordered a serving of locust flower and wheat rice.
The flour used to wrap the food has been fried in advance and has a strong wheat aroma. After being wrapped with locust flowers, the taste becomes full and solid. The locust flowers inside are soft and sweet. Served with mashed garlic, vinegar or dogwood sauce, one bite of it will fill your mouth with the flavor of spring.
Today's Sophora japonica wheat rice is also very popular.
After lunch, everyone in the restaurant started to eat, also with locust flower and wheat rice. Duan Zhiwei took a piece of sausage from the beam, roasted it over the fire, and cut a plate as a side dish.
No one had any interest in lunch anymore. This bronze mirror was indeed experienced, and the stories it told were vivid and interesting, and everyone was very happy to listen to it.
At this moment, the bronze mirror was sitting on the dining table enjoying everyone's admiration.
"To the west of Suiye City there is a place called Qianquan. To the south there are snow-capped mountains, fertile soil, and in the late spring month, the flowers are as beautiful as brocade. There are many ferocious dragons there. Travelers passing by there cannot wear reddish-brown clothes, nor can they shout while holding a gourd. If they disobey, a violent storm will immediately arise, with flying sand and rocks that will kill people."
Tongjing cleared his throat: "Ah, it's late spring in May, Chang'an is really hot..."
Pu Tao quickly took the fan and wanted to fan him.
The bronze mirror continued, "In the east of Quzhi, there is a large dragon pond. The dragons in the pond transformed themselves and mated with female horses, giving birth to dragon foals. However, these dragon foals were not obedient and did all kinds of evil. Later, there was a king named Jinhua..."
Everyone was listening intently when they suddenly heard a series of horse hoof sounds outside the door. Duan Zhiwei suspected it was Yuan Shenji's chestnut horse, so he went out to take a look.
It really is him.
"Why did you come back so late today? Have you had lunch? I made locust flower and wheat rice today..." Duan Zhiwei helped him take the whip.
He looked a little tired: "Nothing, I ate at the government office."
Yuan Shenji had been guarding Zhuque Street all night, and now he just wanted to go back to his room and lie down. When he stepped into the main hall, he saw everyone huddled together around a food table, and couldn't help asking, "What are you doing?"
Duan Zhiwei was about to reply, but he waved his hand and said, "Let's talk later. I'm going to take a rest first."
He was so tired that he started to walk to the backyard, but then stopped and said to everyone, "There's something strange going on in Chang'an recently. Everyone, please be careful. If there's anything unusual in the restaurant, ask Zhiwei to call me from the backyard."
"What's the matter?" Duan Zhiwei asked.
He was unwilling to say more, only saying, "An evil spirit has appeared in the world. According to the Imperial Observatory, it is said to be related to the bronze mirror."
The people crowded in front of the food table dispersed with a "swish" and hid behind Yuan Shenji.
He was puzzled: "What's wrong?"
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