They couldn't afford iced drinks, but they could afford cold tea and sweet drinks that cost a few cents a bowl. When tea vendors walked through the streets shouting with tea buckets on their shoulders, cries of joy could be heard from every house.
Breakfast vendors have recently started selling cold tea and sweet drinks. If they don't have ice, they cool them in well water before selling them. Or they collect ground frost and mix it with water to cool their tea, which also makes it refreshing. However, tea and drinks made with ground frost are two cents more expensive than regular cold tea and sweet drinks.
Everyone was happy to enjoy this cool feeling.
Today the hawker was selling sugarcane juice and licorice soup. When he rushed into Huailiu Lane, Xu Jiang and a few others had just finished cleaning the bookstore and were sweating profusely.
Xu Jiang called him over and said with a smile, "You've arrived just in time." Then she called into the house, "Liang Mo and the others, get some bowls. Let's get some drinks."
Liang Mo responded, and soon he and Yin Yin came out with bowls in their hands.
Shopkeeper Wang had just returned from delivering grain. Hearing the noise, he came over with his son and holding bowls.
The two of them rushed to pay the bill, and in the end Xu Jiang won.
Shopkeeper Wang said, "I'll treat you next time."
Xu Jiang nodded, "Then I won't snatch it from you next time."
The vendor jokingly said as he poured himself a drink, "Then I'll just leave my carrying pole at your door tomorrow. I won't leave unless you pay me."
Shopkeeper Wang smiled brightly, "Afraid of you? I can still afford a few drinks."
The adults were chatting and laughing, and Xiao Wang took the drinks back to his mother and sister. Yin Yin and Liang Mo also took two bowls each and left.
Xu Jiang said to Shopkeeper Wang, "Brother, come over and relax when you have some free time this afternoon."
Knowing she was preparing a feast, Shopkeeper Wang smiled and said, "I've been waiting for it." Then he asked curiously, "What delicious food have you prepared?"
Xu Jiang kept it a secret, "You'll know when you come." Then she asked, "Can my sister-in-law and the children come?"
"The children need a nap. It's hot outside and there are a lot of mosquitoes. I'm afraid they can't stand it. Your sister-in-law has to stay at home to watch over them."
"Then I'll send another one over later so they can eat at home."
"You're so thoughtful."
Xu Jiang took the licorice soup from the vendor, tasted it, and squinted his eyes and said, "As I should."
The peddler packed up his pole and hawked his wares as he headed off into another alley. Xu Jiang and Shopkeeper Wang returned to their respective shops. After a quick rest after drinking their first drink, Xu Jiang assigned Liang Mo a job: her master's books were running low, and she needed to reprint more.
After completing it, you can inform the bookstore you mentioned earlier to rent the plates and then print them yourself.
They have sent people to ask several times.
Now that Wanjuanlou has been closed, bookstores have become active again, rushing to publish new books before the end of the summer vacation. Xu Yuan's books are among the most sought-after titles. The Imperial College has recently been printing extra copies of "Wenmai Suyuan" (The Tracing of the Source of Literature), which will be distributed to various academies after the summer vacation. The bookstore owners are no fools; they understand what this means. Since they can't get their hands on "Wenmai Suyuan," they have to get a hold of Xu Yuan's other books, no matter what.
After school resumes, there will inevitably be a craze for books, and you can take the opportunity to make some money.
After arranging the work, the people from the ice shop arrived with two buckets of ice. Xu Jiang asked two guards to help carry the ice into the bookstore. This made it convenient to use and also dispelled the stuffiness in the room, allowing Liang Mo to work in a cooler mood.
As for the ice bucket, just return it to the ice shop after use.
When the ice arrived, Xu Jiang found a chisel to cut some of it, put it in a ceramic jar and added well water. She then cut the dove leaf tofu she had made that morning into pieces with a bamboo knife and put them into the ice water. When it was time to eat, she took it out, cut it into small pieces, and poured the sauce on it before eating.
Dove Leaf Tofu is made by collecting turtledove leaves, boiling them in water, and then pounding them into a juice. After draining the residue, the juice is then repeatedly coagulated with water made from cypress ash. The tofu is a brilliant green in color and has a refreshing, cool, and smooth taste. Because it can only be eaten cold, away from the heat of fire, it's also known as "God of Tofu."
This snack is of southwestern flavor and is rarely found in the capital. Xu Jiang bought these dove leaves from the tofu lady when she went to the West Market.
After her skillful words, this magical tofu seemed to help people ascend to heaven after eating it, making the alchemists in the mountains feel ashamed.
In addition to the Jiuye tofu, Xu Jiang also prepared rice flour dumplings made with rice lees water powder. Water powder is made by soaking glutinous rice, grinding it into rice paste, draining the water, and then drying the fine powder in the sun. Since it was hot, Xu Jiang didn't bother grinding the rice and bought some ready-made from shopkeeper Wang.
Knead the gouache and water into a ball, pinch it into a thumb-sized ball, and put it into boiling water to float. Remove it and put it into cold water. Then add the lees, water and brown sugar to make a syrup, let it cool and chill it for later use.
When eating, add a spoonful of sugar water, a spoonful of watercolor dumplings, and sprinkle some chopped dried fruits. It is so delicious.
In addition to these two cold dishes, Xu Jiang also fried white cloud slices and small miscellaneous fish, made lotus leaf cold noodles, ginger juice cakes, honey noodles, and prepared some preserved fruits, cakes and Hu cakes.
Fresh fruits and vegetables are also indispensable, such as cucumbers, new pears, and peaches. Wash them and soak them in cold water.
Xu Jiang was greedy and couldn't help but picked up a cucumber while washing it. He broke it in half and shared half with Yin Yin, and they sat under the eaves and started to eat them.
Seeing this, the stubborn donkey started to cry out with its lips stretched out. Xu Jiang finished chewing half of the stick, walked over and stuffed the remaining half into its mouth, and only then did it get some peace.
"You really know what you're talking about." Xu Jiang flicked its ears. "I've spoiled you. If there's nothing to eat in the future, just dig a hole and put yourself in there. Let you starve to death."
The stubborn donkey nudged her hand with its nose, as if begging for food.
"Gone!" Xu Jiang flicked its nose, making it snort loudly, and then it opened its mouth to bite her sleeve.
"Hey, you're rebelling!" Xu Jiang slapped it on the head, and both the man and the donkey felt relieved.
When Liang Mo came to the backyard, he saw Xu Jiang bullying the donkey and was speechless for a moment.
"Boss, a guest has arrived."
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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