Chapter 95 Broth
The cauldron Zhou Wulang brought was quite large. It was originally kept at home for boiling water for bathing.
The other one for making soup is smaller.
Zhou Wulang lit a fire, knowing that it would take a long time to cook the bones, but it was still early and there was still a long time before dinner, so he was not in a hurry.
So as soon as the fire started, he asked Lao Liu to watch the fire while he went across to find firewood.
Making soup consumes a lot of firewood, and if they find too much, they can keep some here for tomorrow, or take it home directly. Anyway, it’s never too much.
Manbao was curious about this and that, and because of Koko's urging, he followed Zhou Wulang to the woods and dug up a lot of unfamiliar plants and gave them to Koko, regardless of whether they had already been included in the system.
Boil the water, roll the bones, and slowly boil out the oil and water inside.
Zhou Wulang cut the pound of fat with a little lean meat into thin slices and threw them into the pot until the fragrance came out and the faint aroma of meat floated in the air. Then he threw in the chopped radish, covered the lid and continued to simmer.
The laborers who had slowly cleared the way out smelled the meat wafting over, their stomachs growling, their hands and feet feeling weak, and they couldn't think straight.
The officer cracked his whip and shouted, "Hurry up and get to work! There's still a long time before dinner. Hurry!"
In fact, it is not long. Everyone only eats two meals a day, but the service is very heavy, so there are three time periods every day for eating.
Breakfast basically depends on the dry food brought from home. Lunch and dinner are provided by the government office, but the portions are very small, so most people still have to eat the dry food brought from home.
Some people cannot carry so much at one time. Every ten days, the government office will give people half a day off to let them go home and get dry food. The county government does not want the working people to die on the road.
The decline in local population will also affect the performance evaluation of the county magistrate.
The workers tried their best and finally, the person delivering the food arrived. The official was also hungry, so he rang the gong and asked people to bring their own bowls and chopsticks to receive the steamed buns.
Everyone dispersed, running a little faster than usual.
After receiving the steamed buns, everyone walked back and headed towards Zhou Wulang's stove. Regardless of whether to buy or not, at least the smell and taste of the cold steamed buns were delicious.
Zhou Sanlang also wanted to leave, but he ran a little slowly. When it was his turn to get the steamed bun, his fellow workers had already run ahead.
After receiving a steamed bun, he ran over there.
The official stood by with a stern face, supervising everyone as they received the steamed buns. After each person received one, he would tick the name of that person. Only in this way would there be no mixing up of the steamed buns, and the remaining steamed buns would be theirs.
The messenger who came to deliver the food also smelled the meat in the air and asked, "Where does this come from?"
The officer said, "A family member of Lao Ding was worried about his hardship, so they made this for him."
The official scoffed, "You have too much money and nowhere to spend it? You might as well pay for the service instead."
"Five taels of silver? Who can afford that unless they are rich?" The official said in a rare tone, "That family is also poor, but the family members are more compassionate."
The officer who had been questioning them stopped asking questions and simply warned, "Keep a close eye on them and don't let anything cause any trouble. Last year, there was a rumor that some laborers in the neighboring county couldn't stand the hardship and tried to escape. Humph, they were all named and recorded in the book. If they could escape the monks, they'd probably run away with the temple too! And they ended up injuring two yamen runners. Don't let your men rebel too."
"Don't worry, no, they are all very honest."
After the official finished giving his instructions, he watched the person who delivered the meal leave. Then he took the remaining cold steamed bun and touched his own bowl.
Even though they were clerks, they actually ate the same food as the laborers. The only difference was that the laborers had to bring dry food from their homes to barely fill their stomachs, but they didn't have to, and basically lived on the steamed buns sent by the yamen.
Same cold steamed bun and cold water.
Only the two groups of officials assigned to the county town and the town were treated better, and some colleagues from wealthier families would bring their own meat buns.
Manbao had been waiting there for a long time. As soon as the gong sounded, she asked Zhou Wulang to make a bowl of the thickest soup with several slices of meat and radish in it.
Then she took it and put it aside, intending to save it for her favorite third brother.
As soon as she put the bowl on the donkey cart, Lao Ding came over very quickly, but when they arrived at the stove, they just stretched their necks to look and did not buy anything.
Zhou Wulang had sold things in the county town after all, so he greeted them shamelessly, "Brothers, do you want to buy a bowl to try?"
One of the laudins shouted, "Is it real meat, or is it fake? Don't tell us you're trying to trick us."
But his nose inhaled the strong smell of meat in the air and he couldn't help swallowing.
One of them even squeezed forward, wanting to see the meat in the pot with his own eyes. His movements were so rough that Zhou Liulang, who was standing next to him, staggered and almost fell to the ground.
Manbao looked at this scene and suddenly felt a little scared for some reason.
Koko also made a clang sound in her mind and warned: "Host, you need to calm people down."
The group of hungry laborers behind the man saw him knock the man down and his hand was about to touch the spoon, so they couldn't help but take two steps forward and squeeze forward.
Zhou Wulang's face changed slightly. He didn't bother to help his brother. He grabbed the big spoon held by Lao Ding and stopped him from doing anything.
Manbao had already rushed past the donkey cart like a calf. After only a few steps, she rushed to Laoding's legs and looked up at him. "Brother Lu, do you want some meat soup? Two cents a bowl, hot."
Bai Shanbao, who had just learned how to make a fire and was squatting in front of the cauldron, suddenly stood at Zhou Wulang's feet. He raised his cat-like face and looked at Lao Ding, revealing a row of small teeth. "Brother Lu, this broth is made by us ourselves. It's so delicious. You've definitely never tasted anything so good before. When you return home from your military service, you can bring a bowl back for your son."
Manbao said: "And your father and your mother."
The two children happened to have interviewed him, and they both had good memories, so they remembered his name and his family situation.
Lu Da lowered his head to look at the two children. Their eyes were pure and bright, and he suddenly felt a sense of panic. He subconsciously reached into his pocket and took out two coins. He said, "Well, I'll buy a bowl to try."
Yes, he originally came to buy soup. It would be great to have a sip of hot soup in such a cold day, and two cents is not expensive.
Manbao took the money, raised his head and smiled sweetly at him, then asked his fifth brother to serve him some soup.
Zhou Wulang's palms were sweating a little, but he took Lu Da's bowl with a smile on his face, stirred the soup, and poured him a bowl.
As soon as everyone saw someone had bought something, they stopped pushing forward. Of course, they were not in a hurry to buy, but instead looked at Lu Da eagerly, wanting to hear his opinion.
Although two cents is not a lot of money and everyone can afford it, it still has to be worth it.
Lu Xiao took a sip carefully, his eyes slightly brightened, and he smiled and said, "It tastes quite good."
Those who were familiar with him crowded around him to watch, and when they saw the oil and a piece of meat in the soup, their eyes suddenly lit up and they all crowded over to fight.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
