The clouds cleared away the night rain, cocks crowed in the morning breeze, fragments of light floated in the air, and the ground was filled with coolness.
With a creaking sound, the corner gate of the bookstore's backyard was pushed open. A man and a horse emerged from behind the gate, whispered a goodbye to the person inside, and then, in the dim morning light, walked out of the alley and headed towards the gate.
At the gate, a patrolman in a straw raincoat was yawning and waiting for someone to come to relieve him. He saw someone coming out of the morning mist from afar and thought it was the patrolman who was taking over. He was about to scold the person for being late, but when he saw the person's face clearly, he almost stopped talking.
He bowed to Lou Yunchun and said, "Good morning, sir."
"Yes." Lou Yunchun returned the greeting with a bow, then said gently, "Thank you for your hard work on the night watch."
The patrolman chuckled and said a few polite words. After letting the man go, he stared at his receding figure and murmured, "You're in a good mood."
After seeing Lou Yunchun off, Xu Jiang also became busy.
The book banquet was scheduled for the hour of Si, so she had to heat up the dim sum before the guests arrived and also prepare the remaining snacks.
First, the locust leaves are cold.
There is a poem that goes: "Green leaves of tall locust trees, picked and sent to the kitchen." Grain Rain is also known as the day of eating locust trees. At this time, locust flowers are in full bloom and locust leaves are fresh and tender. All of them can be eaten. Among them, the most elegant one is the cold locust leaves, whose delicious taste has attracted countless talented poets to praise it.
Extract the juice from the leaves of Sophora japonica, mix it with the flour, and knead it. Divide the noodles into small pieces, roll them into thin strips, and blanch them in boiling water until they float. Finally, rinse them in cold water (the cold water Xu Jiang had boiled the night before is gentle on the stomach). Once the noodles have completely cooled, remove them, toss them with cooking oil, and place them in a jar, chill them in water, and serve. Serve on plates, top with the dressing, and mix well.
Its bright green color and refreshing flavor make it a great appetizer in spring and summer. Some scholars, who love its rich and elegant fragrance, wrote poems calling it "a fragrance rivaling orchids and fungi," which shows how popular it is.
Xu Jiang carefully placed the cold noodles into the water tank, and then went to make the ingredients.
The topping is also known as a gravy, usually featuring river fish like mandarin fish, sea bass, and shrimp. Today, Xu Jiang is making a vegetarian topping, using reed shoots picked yesterday as the topping. They've been blanched to remove the fishy astringency, leaving only the sweetness.
She picked out the tenderest buds, chopped them up, mixed them with onions, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar and pepper, and finally added hot oil to blend out the fresh and fragrant taste.
"This vegetable sauce will be delicious when mixed with rice." Although I had already eaten breakfast, the smell of this delicious food made me feel so hungry that I could eat more.
She licked her lips, put down the sauce, and sliced the remaining reed shoots and mixed them together.
After these two dishes were ready, Xu Jiang put the steamer on the water to steam the cakes and apricot curd. The cakes had been steamed yesterday, and after leaving the cloud, they were ready after a cup of tea. The apricot curd was steamed at a similar temperature, and by the time the cakes were done, it was also set.
Finally, there are fried peony cakes, mixed mulberry leaf tofu, mixed lotus stems and mixed toon.
"Eating spring" is another custom of Grain Rain. "Spring" means "toon". The preparation method of mixed toon is the same as that of mixed reed sprouts. After blanching and chopping, mix with sauce.
There was a surplus of Chinese toon, and the flour and oil had not been collected yet, so Xu Jiang fried some Chinese toon fish. At this point, all the dishes were ready.
The other bamboo shoots and magnolia slices are all bought from the West Market, so there is no need to worry about it.
Xu Jiang tidied up the kitchen, then took out the utensils she had ordered from the potter in the East Market, counted the number of people, and divided the dishes into sets. As she was dividing them, Liang Mo arrived, and with his help, the dishes were packed in less than half an hour.
Sophora japonica steamed buns, Sophora japonica leaf cold pottery, Peony flower cakes, Mugwort fruit, Mulberry leaf tofu, Mixed reed sprouts, Mixed lotus root, Second dish of Chinese toon, Magnolia slices, Candied lotus root, Apricot curd, Preserved bamboo shoots, a total of twelve spring flavors.
There are three other teas: mulberry tea, Ziyang tea, and Kuizhou Xiangyu tea.
Three kinds of wine: peach wine, rice wine, and pear wine.
This way nothing will be left out.
After the food and wine were ready, Xu Jiang called Liang Mo, and the two of them worked together to lift the Liangyi couch down from the wall. After placing it properly, they put a wooden frame behind it and laid bamboo branches on it. The empty couch was instantly transformed into a small shed.
Xu Jiang tightened the buckle and shook the wooden frame, thankfully it was stable. She was still terrified of the shed collapsing; if she was careless and buried the gentlemen, it would be a grave sin.
"It will be more comfortable to use this couch to take a nap in the summer nights to enjoy the cool air than lying in the house." Liang Mo's eyes were full of love. He walked around the couch several times, touching and looking at it.
Xu Jiang smiled and said, "If you like, you can ask Uncle Cao to make one for your family. But please hurry up. I'm afraid he'll be busy later and won't be able to take care of it."
"I'll go back and discuss it with my family and ask them to make the decision."
"good."
This time Xu Jiang invited Lou Jing, Du Hui, Yuan Zuzhi, Li Tongxue, Ji Shan, Deng Yuechuan, as well as Zhong Lu who came along, plus Zeng Zhui and herself. Obviously, one empty couch was not enough.
Xu Jiang then moved the two low tables and a low table from the shop into the yard, finally completing the set.
Uncle Cao is still rushing to make the low table and armrest table that go with the Liangyi couch, so today we will use these old items.
After the sitting and lying utensils were arranged, Xu Jiang found several long-necked thin bottles and placed bamboo branches, locust flowers, peonies, and orchids on each. Incense burners, inkstones, pen holders, wood carvings, seals and other items were placed on each table. Two or three ornaments formed a group, which was called pure offerings.
Liang Mo had cleaned the donkey shed, the firewood pile, and the goose coop yesterday, using aged mugwort and cork to remove any odors. Even the stubborn donkey, whom Lou Yunchun had fetched water and scrubbed this morning, now looked sleek and shiny.
Then she used the flowers and plants she had bought that day in Dongshan to decorate every corner of the courtyard, creating a vibrant and tranquil scene. Finally, she and Liang Mo stood at the corner gate and the small door, each taking a look. Seeing that there was nothing wrong, they felt relieved.
At a book-appreciation banquet, the most important thing is naturally the book, and the rest are just accompaniment.
At today's banquet, in addition to "Tracing the Origins of Cultural Context", there are also "Laozi", "Zhuangzi", "Book of Songs", "Chu Ci", "Analects of Confucius", "Mencius" and "Lotus Sutra" annotated by the master. There are two large boxes of other books, covering all categories, but these sets are selected as the most suitable today.
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