Chapter 87 Chapter 87 Qixi Qiqiao Cake and Little Fox Rainy Day...
As the sun got higher, a wisteria trellis in the corner was half-dead from the sun, with its head drooping. Seeing that lunch time was approaching, everyone looked around the restaurant but couldn't find the chicken, so they had to give up.
Aunt Duan beat her chest and stamped her feet: "Those chickens are not cheap. I will go to Chang'an County to report to the authorities now."
Chang'an County would not pay any attention to her, so no one in the restaurant paid any attention to her.
Duan Zhiwei wiped the beads of sweat running down his face and glanced at the Jinhua cat hiding behind the pottery jar to cool off.
Most of the rainwater had accumulated in the jar, and it looked cool. The Jinhua cats were well-fed in the restaurant, with shiny fur and were licking their paws contentedly.
On top of that, there was a hint of dark debris in its beard.
Duan Zhiwei narrowed his eyes: "But you stole it?"
The Jinhua cat was furious: "I am a cat, not a weasel."
"What's that hanging in your beard?"
The Jinhua cat felt guilty and raised its paw to wipe it guiltily: "It's a rose petal."
Duan Zhiwei smelled a fishy odor, and she looked down the corridor and saw that a piece of wind fish was indeed missing. The Jinhua cat jumped onto the wall awkwardly and then ran away.
The thief who wanted to steal the chicken was not it.
Pu Tao looked around curiously: "Where is Ali?"
Only then did everyone realize that Ah Li was missing too.
Maybe he was taken away by his mother. As diners came in one after another, Duan Zhiwei had no time to investigate, so he had to quickly remove the lotus leaf chicken from the wooden sign and replace it with stir-fried lotus leaf chicken slices.
Ali carried a big bag of lotus leaf chicken and ran out without looking back. Her bare feet stepped on the hot yellow earth, which was covered with grass and mud. She ran all the way to a deserted yard in Yongningfang.
The door of the deserted courtyard creaked shut. He took off his hat and outer robe and impatiently tore open the lotus leaf chicken wrapped in soil. The aroma of fat and meat wafted into his nose.
He sat cross-legged on the ground and began to concentrate on the golden, oily chicken in his hand.
His canine teeth left a complete spiral pattern on the chicken leg. Ali shook her ears in satisfaction and wagged her tail.
After eating all the lotus leaf chicken in the package, his stomach was already bloated. Ali wiped her hands contentedly and took out a small notebook made of jute paper.
It records the various delicacies he ate and drank for free: mutton cakes, crab roe biluo, golden minced meat and jade sashimi...
He wrote: "In the Duan's restaurant in Xuanyangfang, the chicken in lotus leaves is wrapped in mud and roasted. The bones are crispy and the meat is tender, fresh and fragrant, three times better than Wangji in Xishi." Then he put away the notebook, carried his empty bag, and prepared to go to the next house to cheat.
Stir-fried chicken slices with lotus leaves is also suitable for summer. This dish is sweet and fresh, with an extremely smooth texture and a color as white as lotus. The side dishes include refreshing pea sprouts, diced ham and black fungus. The colors are refreshing and bright, and it looks appetizing. It is best served with chestnut rice. The diners were very satisfied.
However, the novelty and deliciousness of this dish were not as good as those of the lotus leaf chicken, which made Duan Zhiwei feel a little disappointed.
After returning to his room to rest for a while in the afternoon, Duan Zhiwei took Pu Tao to the West Market.
As the Chinese Valentine's Day was approaching, she had to buy a set of molds to make Qiqiao cakes.
Pu Tao asked, "I heard that on the Qixi Festival, when the night is quiet, if you walk to the ancient well, or hide under the grape trellis and hold your breath and listen, you can faintly hear the conversation between the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, or their crying. Is this true?"
Of course this can't be true. Duan Zhiwei found it quite funny, but did not refute her: "Perhaps on the night of Qixi Festival, you can quietly hide under the grape trellis, so that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl cannot see you. They will think that there are only the two of them there, and they will feel at ease to talk. Then you can listen to what they have to say."
Pu Tao covered her mouth: "Then I will definitely not let them see it."
The Chinese Valentine's Day is approaching and the streets are already filled with the aroma of cakes. Duan Zhiwei ordered a set of bronze models of the Magpie Bridge Fairy and many small bamboo boxes.
She thought about it, then went to the rice shop to buy some more noodles and various fruits, and then returned to the restaurant satisfied.
The fire in the kitchen was crackling and steam was rising in the air. Duan Zhiwei was busy sifting glutinous rice flour. The fine white powder fell to the ground from the bamboo sieve. If the sweet cake is to be soft, the glutinous rice flour must be sifted finely.
Pour the prepared rice paste into the mold, embed pine nuts and walnuts into the cake, and sprinkle some diced oranges in it. This is passion cake. Beat sesame crumbs and sugar into a cake, then cut into squares. This is snow cake.
Wrap some freshly made lily and mung bean paste in the pancake skin to make a crispy and crumbly Hehuan pancake.
The steamer is lined with fresh lotus leaves, which give it a fragrant aroma. Duan Zhiwei stacked the finished cakes in order and steamed them over high heat. The sweet fragrance instantly filled the window lattice.
Pu Tao likes sweets the most. He would come in from time to time to open the steamer to take a look. Duan Zhiwei grabbed his collar and dragged him out: "Don't worry, we have to wait until the patterns carved on the magpie bridge mold are transparent. Go out quickly, it's too hot here."
She gave Pu Tao and Little Wolf another task, which was to fold a thousand paper cranes out of flowery paper and hang them next to the bamboo basket where the sweet cakes were placed.
Just like last year, each piece of flower note was filled with many poems suitable for the Chinese Valentine's Day.
Originally, a few days ago, Duan Zhiwei lay on Yuan Shenji's shoulder and forced him to write it.
After all, the ready-made cattle and horses would be useless if used. Although a military general may look rough, he still needs to have some knowledge. Otherwise, if he cannot understand "The Art of War", how can he lead the troops to fight?
Duan Zhiwei is good at calculating. Yuan Shenji was indeed a military general with some real talents and was well-versed in "The Art of War". After some negotiations with Duan Zhiwei, Duan Zhiwei was forced to agree to many unreasonable conditions and was conquered by this wise general. He was finally willing to pick up his pen and help write some poems for the Chinese Valentine's Day.
I completed all the promised conditions without missing a single one. My waist was quite sore and a lot of ink wasted. Duan Zhiwei picked up the words "The night sky is as cool as water" written by him with shaking legs, and found that although the person's handwriting was beautiful, it was too bold. It was very suitable for writing "An old man still reminisces about his youthful passion", but it did not fit the romantic Qixi Festival at all.
This is called losing both the wife and the army.
Duan Zhiwei had no choice but to treat Su Xun and Zhen Hui to a feast of good wine and delicious food. The two clear-headed and simple ninth-rank officials immediately wrote several poems about "The meeting of golden wind and jade dew" in a clear and beautiful manner.
Summer in Chang'an is changeable. It may be sunny one moment and gloomy the next.
"It's going to rain." A Pan hurried to the yard to collect the dried radishes that were drying in the sun, and everyone worked together to transport the dried goods into the warehouse. A drop of rain immediately hit the bluestone slabs in the yard, splashing large water drops.
A Pan stayed in the warehouse to sort things out. Duan Zhiwei brought a small square table to the eaves. This was a windy place, and the cool breeze carrying water vapor was particularly comfortable.
She called Little Wolf and Putao to sit over and taught them how to fold paper cranes.
The rain curtain covered the entire market, and the rain flowed down the eaves. Everyone sat together, chatting and laughing while folding paper cranes. Aunt Duan sat at the counter and chatted with the lady from the tavern next door.
I'm afraid there won't be many guests coming tonight. Duan Zhiwei glanced at the roses knocked down by the rain, then leaned back in his chair and took a sip of black plum and jasmine drink, feeling that life was extremely comfortable.
Ah Pan came out after tidying up the storeroom, holding a string of copper coins hanging on a red string in his hand and said, "Strange, who threw the copper coins into the storeroom?"
Duan Zhiwei glanced at the object in her hand. The copper coin was glowing dully in the gloomy sky. She didn't care much: "Maybe it was left behind by that young man named A Li last night? Keep it for him, maybe he will come back to get it."
The four of them continued to sit and fold paper cranes. Aunt Duan said goodbye to her friends who came to chat, dragged a small Hu bed under the eaves to cool off, and then said, "Do you know what I just heard from the lady in the wine shop?"
What else can we talk about besides Chang'an's fashionable clothing materials, jewelry and perfumes?
Aunt Duan didn't get the enthusiastic response from the crowd, so she said with a dissatisfied "tsk". Then she said: "The old couple who sells Gulouzi on Nanchang Street kindly took in a lost child one night. As a result, the next day, the child cried and made a fuss at the door of the store, saying that the lamb leg in his bag was missing. He cried so sadly. The old couple had no choice but to give him a bag of Gulouzi as compensation."
This story sounds familiar.
Pu Tao suddenly realized: "That young man named A Li got free food and drinks in this way!"
Little Wolf was even more indignant: "Chicken... that... chicken."
"It's just a few lotus leaf chickens, forget it." Duan Zhiwei said.
Then she angrily threw the paper cranes onto the table.
Those lotus leaf chickens are a pain to make, you little bastard, don’t let me catch you!
As dusk approached, the rain showed no sign of stopping. Instead, it got heavier. The water on the street was almost ankle-deep. I guess there would be no more customers today.
It was a rare day when he didn't have to cook, so Duan Zhiwei enjoyed his free time. She was not even willing to cook for everyone in the restaurant. She just took out the instant noodle cakes that had been fried and sealed, and prepared a bowl of instant noodles for everyone.
Everyone was enjoying the meal when Yuan Shenji came back in the heavy rain. His clothes were soaked and stuck to his body. Duan Zhiwei hurriedly took a hemp towel to wipe him.
"It suddenly started raining on the way back." Yuan Shenji bent down to let her wipe the rain off his head.
His facial features were rough and three-dimensional, and Duan Zhiwei was embarrassed to look at him under the dim light.
Yuan Shenji did not notice his wife's shyness. He picked up the Qixi poem written by Su Xun on the table and took a look at it. He felt a little jealous.
His wife didn't want his handwriting and instead chose the handwriting of her subordinate, which made him feel frustrated. Is this handwriting really that beautiful? Soft and weak.
He didn't dare to show his dissatisfaction in front of Duan Zhiwei, so he could only say something in a gloomy tone: "When the golden wind and jade dew meet, it is better than countless things in the world~~"
Duan Zhiwei raised his foot and kicked him.
He went to take a shower, and everyone tactfully finished their evening meal, packed up and went back to their rooms. Duan Zhiwei took out the small copper stove that he had used to cook hot pot and entered the room.
The room was filled with the fragrance of bath beans.
After Yuan Shenji finished his bath, he looked at her busying around curiously: "What is this?"
Duan Zhiwei set up a small copper pot and first put in a powdered seasoning mixed with dried garlic, star anise and five-spice powder. When the water in the pot boiled, he scooped a spoonful of thick braised beef sauce from a coarse porcelain jar. Large chunks of beef could be clearly seen in it.
The sauce melts in water, and the clear soup immediately turns into a dark, attractive, thick braised beef soup. The bedroom is immediately filled with a rich meaty aroma.
Even Yuan Shenji, who was usually not particular about food, sniffed hard. It was because the food smelled really good.
Although this sauce can also be cooked with pork belly, Duan Zhiwei is quite particular about eating it. She searched for several days in the West Market and finally found a vendor selling old dead cows.
But the cow obviously did not die of old age, and the meat felt fresh to the touch. She exchanged glances with the vendor, confirmed their expressions, and quickly threw down two strings of money, picked up a cow leg and walked away quickly. This is how this jar of delicious beef sauce came to be.
When the soup was almost cooked, Duan Zhiwei put in the fried dough and cracked two eggs.
She had never had time to research dehydrated vegetables, but apparently she didn't need to now, so she simply opened an umbrella and plucked a handful of rapeseed and a few cilantro from the backyard and threw them in.
Knowing that Yuan Shenji loved meat, she thought for a moment, then took out a piece of leftover sausage from the kitchen, cut it into pieces and threw it in.
A bowl of instant noodles with good color, aroma and taste is ready.
Duan Zhiwei put out the fire, took out two large coarse porcelain bowls to fill with noodles, and poked a poached egg with chopsticks, and the runny yolk flowed out.
There was a violent storm outside that seemed to be about to knock down the trees. Yuan Shenji was riding his horse in the rain and felt a little uncomfortable. As soon as I got home, I was greeted by Duan Zhi's smiling face.
Now that he could sit in the room and eat this bowl of hot noodles again, Duan Zhiwei looked at him expectantly: "What am I looking at? Eat."
He picked up a piece of instant noodles with chopsticks. The noodles were filled with rich soup and runny egg yolk, and tasted very chewy. The sweetness of vegetables is intertwined with the meaty aroma of large chunks of beef and sausages.
He felt that all his fatigue was gone.
"Is it delicious?" Duan Zhiwei asked with a smile, holding his chin with both hands.
Yuan Shenji swallowed the last mouthful of noodles, and the hot soup warmed his lungs. There was heavy rain outside the window, washing the locust trees with emerald green, creating a vibrant scene. But he remembered the cold, hard dry food he swallowed when the sky was covered with sand and dust in Liangzhou.
He felt a little sad for some reason.
He said: "I didn't understand it before, but now I know that the best taste in the world is not the delicacies, but the bowl of noodles you cooked for me in the rain."
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