Chapter 85 (Fried Noodles)
If you're talking about a lack of salt, that's actually an easy problem to solve.
Yan Qiushu had fried a lot of pepper and salt before, and sprinkled it directly on the food. It is also cooked salt and can be eaten directly, and it also has a salty taste.
Even after sprinkling salt on it, the taste is still good. The lotus root slices are spicy and crispy, the beef balls are spicy and salty, and the cooked cucumber is slightly soft. It has this spicy taste, which is also quite good.
But Yan Qiushu couldn't eat it!
She had just finished lunch and came back to the yard to rest, but she had just seen Xiao Waiting, received such a novel gift, and had just talked about engagement, which made her uneasy and she subconsciously ran to the kitchen to cook.
There is nothing else she can do except cooking, which is the skill that allows her to survive in this world and her sense of security also comes from here.
When she is restless, eating or doing something, that is when she relaxes.
Yan Qiushu was now relaxed and had come back to her senses. Her stomach, already full to begin with, could not eat any more after just two bites. She looked at her portion of food and covered her face with shame.
"Madam Xu, I can't eat anymore."
Madam Xu almost laughed out loud, but knowing that the girl was shy, she held back and said softly, "It's okay. If you can't eat, don't eat. It just so happens that I only ate a little at noon, and Shui Yu didn't seem to eat much either, right?"
Shui Yu quickly responded, "Yes, I didn't eat it either. I can eat yours, too."
Yan Qiushu quickly smiled, handed the things to them, and ran out.
When she returned to the house, she stamped her feet in annoyance, her face so hot that it seemed to be smoking.
Oh, I wonder if Shui Yan and Aunt Xu are hiding in the kitchen and laughing at her now?
Yan Qiushu lay on the couch, hugging the pillow and staring at the beams above her head in a daze. As she was thinking, she remembered what Xiao Huaiting had just said...
She lay there comfortably, and Shui Yan and Aunt Xu, who were outside, gritted their teeth and ate the food.
hiss!
It's too spicy.
It tasted good, but it was really spicy, much hotter than the Sichuan pepper and cornus officinalis that Yan Qiushu usually used. After eating this, both of them had runny noses and tears in a short while.
Shui Xi ate with tears in her eyes.
Yan Qiushu was amused and rested for a while. Originally, Mrs. Xiao asked her to stay for dinner before going back, but after she had resolved her worries, they reached a consensus on this matter. She felt uncomfortable staying any longer, so she went back early.
After saying goodbye to the adults from the Xiao family, Yan Qiushu got on the carriage.
Before going up, she looked back and sighed, it was really too much!
The last time I left was for my engagement, and I left in a hurry, but I still took a lot of things with me.
It is still the same now, even more so, with some gifts brought back by Xiao Waiting, including peppers and Wucheng specialties.
In contrast, she came here with nothing in her hands, and a small bag was all she needed. But now she has so many things, and she feels satisfied but also a little scared. In this strange world, her life is unexpectedly good.
"Sister Shu!" Before the carriage left, a child's clear cry made the driver stop, "My lord, the young master and young lady are here."
Yan Qiushu popped her head out from behind the curtain again and saw Dongdong and Wan'er, followed by Xiao Pingsong. The three children hurriedly ran out of the door, and the maids behind them were so anxious that they were afraid they would fall.
After noon, Dongdong went to be intimate with his mother, and Wan'er followed him, causing the two children's afternoon nap to be delayed for a long time. They just woke up and heard Yan Qiushu was leaving, so they ran out quickly.
One is seven years old and the other is five years old. The two children ran cutely, but because there were steps, the adults were worried that they would fall.
But now Wan'er has started to learn martial arts under the instruction of Xiao Huaiqi. Her movements are very stable and she can step down the stage very skillfully.
The two children ran down and clung to the carriage. Dongdong climbed up, shouting, "Sister Shu, I want to go with you! You left secretly last time, and I couldn't find you when I got home from school. Take me with you!"
Yan Qiushu felt guilty. When she left last time, Dongdong had just finished his vacation, so she didn't know about it and there was no movement. She left quietly, but she didn't expect that the child liked her so much that he wanted to go with her.
Wan'er burst into tears: "Sister Shu, I don't want you to leave!"
Xiao Pingsong was also a little reluctant, but he was older and more sensible. Facing his brother and sister-in-law's unreasonable behavior, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Don't cry, Aunt Yan is not leaving, she is going back to get married. After a while, she will really marry my uncle and marry into our family. She won't have to leave again."
Yan Qiushu: “…”
She was just about to comfort the two children when she blushed at these words.
Pingsong, even if you think so, you can't just say it out loud!
Xiao Pingsong noticed her resentful look and scratched his head blankly: "Aunt Yan, are you embarrassed?"
Yan Qiushu: "...No, don't say anything."
She forced a smile, rubbed one child's head with one hand, looked at the two children she had been with the longest, and said with a smile: "I'm not really leaving, I'm just going to live in a manor in the suburbs. You can come over often."
Dongdong is the most dependent on her now. His mother is unreliable and never stays at home all day. He doesn't have a father. His grandmother is old and can't stand her torture. He is afraid of his uncle and aunt. Only with Yan Qiushu can he play as he pleases.
So after hearing this, he pouted unhappily, tears streaming down his face: "No, no, I want to go with you, wuwuwu..."
Yan Qiushu wiped his tears and said, "Dongdong, be good. You still have to go to school. Come over when you have a holiday. You can also bring your classmates with you. Sister Shu has a lot of delicious food here~"
Yes, I still have to go to school.
Dongdong sniffed, and his fair face turned red, especially his nose and mouth. His big eyes were bright and he said aggrievedly, "Okay, then I'll go to your place during the holidays."
Yan Qiushu looked at Wan'er again. Wan'er also pouted, as if she was about to cry: "Wan'er is the best, right? If you want to find me, just tell your mother and ask her to bring you here."
Wan'er's mouth clenched, tears welled up in her eyes, but she still nodded obediently: "Okay!"
Yan Qiushu also felt sad watching this. It was obviously not a permanent separation, but she was still quite sad at the moment.
After finally coaxing the two children into submission, she quickly hid in the carriage and secretly wiped her tears.
On the farm
Because Yan Qiushu gave a lot of money, Manager Gu managed this place very well. Even the courtyard where she lived was not much different from that in the Xiao family.
The comfort level is very good.
When she came back a few days ago, Manager Gu replaced all the things with new ones, and everything was very convenient. However, she did not rest either. As soon as she came back, she took her precious peppers to find a place to transplant them.
chili!
Yan Qiushu almost laughed out loud just thinking about it, and she didn’t think it was a big deal if she got covered in mud.
At night, she fell asleep almost immediately after hitting the bed, but before going to sleep, Yan Qiushu still said to Shui Yu: "Wake me up early tomorrow. I want to go to the next door to see Sister Zhao."
But when Yan Qiushu woke up on the first day, it was already noon. She vaguely smelled the fragrance of food, and her hungry stomach began to rebel, so she opened her eyes.
Hearing the noise, Shui Yu came out immediately and said with a smile, "Young lady, you are awake. The sister Zhao you mentioned yesterday has arrived. Manager Yao sent her over. I just made some food for this guest. Young lady, hurry up and eat with her."
When Yan Qiushu heard that Zhao Shuhong was coming, she was so frightened that she suddenly lost her sleepiness. She quickly got up and changed her clothes, saying, "Why didn't you wake me up?"
Shui Yu said, "Miss Zhao told you to sleep a little longer, and she is not in a hurry, so she didn't let me call you because of me."
Yan Qiushu rubbed her face. Shui Yu handed her a handkerchief. She wiped it twice casually, looked in the mirror, and wiped it clean. She put on some facial cream and sat in front of the dressing table: "Hurry up and give me a quick hairstyle."
"Okay." Shui Yu also sped up.
A simple bun was enough to fix her hair. After Yan Qiushu confirmed that there was nothing wrong with her clothes, she picked up her skirt and ran out. When she walked into the living room, the fragrance became stronger, and she also saw the woman sitting at the round table eating breakfast.
She was still as bright as in my first memory, wearing a light red dress with her cuffs pulled up, looking quite unrestrained like a girl of the underworld. Her long hair was not tied up completely, but some of it hung down behind her head and was braided into a pigtail.
Zhao Shuhong was eating breakfast. She heard last night that Yan Qiushu would stay at the farm here in the afternoon.
She just thought it would be bad to disturb them at this time, so she endured it. But like Yan Qiushu, she had no other acquaintances in Kyoto, so she woke up early, asked for directions, and came directly here to wait.
When the footsteps sounded, she was still sighing in her heart that Yan Qiushu was so lucky to be able to eat such delicious food every day.
Today's breakfast is fried noodles and fried dough sticks.
The fried dough sticks are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and they are not very big in size, only the size of a palm. You can eat them in two or three bites. The slightly salty taste is accompanied by the fragrant aroma of scallion oil. Every bite is a pleasure!
Not to mention fried noodles.
The taste is richer, but perhaps considering her taste, it is mainly salty. The strong noodles are added with a lot of seasonings, making them an appetizing brown color. There are also some vegetables in the noodles. She picked up a piece of noodles and put it directly into her mouth. After chewing it twice, she wanted to swallow it.
So delicious!
There are some fried egg crumbs on top, and the vegetables sandwiched inside are crispy and have a slight sweetness.
When she heard the footsteps and looked over, she was so surprised that she hesitated to put down her chopsticks. Fortunately, her reason prevailed. Zhao Shuhong wiped her mouth happily and stood up to greet her: "Ah Shu, you are here!"
"Sister Zhao." Yan Qiushu also trotted over, smiling: "I just woke up. I was planning to bring breakfast to see you this morning, but I didn't expect you to come. I should have asked someone to wake me up."
When Zhao Shuhong heard this, her smile widened and the uneasiness in her heart disappeared. She left that unpleasant place on impulse, but she was still afraid that Yan Qiushu would not welcome her.
She was heard to be the future young lady of the Xiao family. As someone who was kidnapped together with her by the robbers, she was afraid that the other party would think that her appearance was a reminder of those bad things and make her annoyed.
But compared to living in Wucheng, the worst that could happen to her is that she can make a living in Kyoto by relying on her cooking skills.
It's better than staying there.
She smiled and said, "I'm not in a hurry. You just came here yesterday to settle down. You should have a good rest. I will stay in Kyoto from now on. There is a lot of time to come."
Yan Qiushu was quite puzzled. When they separated, Zhao Shuhong said that her family had some wealth, so why did she come here alone now? But she was afraid of making her unhappy, so she didn't dare to ask. She smiled and said, "That's great. Let's eat first and talk slowly after dinner."
"Okay, okay." Zhao Shuhong nodded repeatedly, sat back down, looked at the half-eaten food in her bowl, and smiled shyly: "Your maid is really good at cooking, her cooking skills are much better than mine. I wanted to wait a while, but when I smelled the fragrance, I couldn't help it."
Yan Qiushu picked up the chopsticks and said proudly, "That's right, Shuiyan is really good now. I added the seasoning powder I made, so it's good."
They both smiled and continued eating.
The fried noodles are clearly separated, and when eaten with vegetables, the sweetness of the vegetables can balance out the slightly dryness of the noodles. You can also taste some meat and mushroom pieces inside.
This is the mushroom sauce made by Yan Qiushu.
Yan Qiushu made a lot of this stuff. In fact, Gu Guanshi and others in the farm also made it themselves, but the taste of hers was different from others because of the golden finger. Now that it was used to stir-fry noodles, the taste was much better and naturally more delicious.
After eating two mouthfuls of fried noodles, Yan Qiushu drank a sip of soy milk and took a bite of the crispy fried dough sticks. She was very satisfied with the taste.
If she wasn't afraid of getting fat, she would have wanted to eat all the time.
Then she dipped the dough sticks into the soy milk. The dough sticks soaked in soy milk immediately lost a lot of their crispness, but when you take a bite, they are not dry at all and are full of juice. The slight sweetness and the salty taste of the dough sticks complement each other surprisingly.
Seeing her eating like this, Zhao Shuhong also dipped some in soy milk and ate with a thumbs up.
Finally, both of them finished the fried rice and two fried dough sticks in front of them, and finally, holding half a cup of soy milk, they came to the soft place inside, lay down on the couch, and started chatting.
"Sister Zhao, what are you going to do next?" Yan Qiushu asked.
Zhao Shuhong was so satisfied that she almost fell asleep with her eyes squinted. After hearing this, she perked up again and said in a rather sad tone, "What? I'm planning to start a small business. I'm an expert at making pancakes, especially shrimp pancakes. Everyone who tastes them has to praise me!"
There is a lot of fresh river food in Wucheng, and cooking and eating fresh river food is almost an innate ability for the people there.
Yan Qiushu's eyes lit up. Although there were no shrimps raised on this farm, Manager Yao next door already had some. There were many ways to cook shrimps, and she loved them all as long as they tasted good. Zhao Shuhong's cooking skills were great, and they could be cooperated with. She said excitedly, "Then I have to try it. Sister Zhao, why don't you move here? I have space here, and if you want to do business, you can do it here directly."
"Are you serious? Don't you dislike your sister?" Zhao Shuhong sat up straight and looked at her, still a little uneasy.
Yan Qiushu said seriously: "Of course, Sister Zhao has been kind to me. I had no experience at the time and was almost scared to death. If you hadn't been comforting me, I would have offended those bandits a long time ago. How could I be in this situation today? Besides, this manor is so big, I can feel more at ease if you accompany me."
After Zhao Shuhong heard what she said, her eyes turned red. She quickly wiped them hard, but the more she wiped, the redder they became. She said aggrievedly: "I didn't expect that a girl I met by chance would be the best to me. What's going on..."
Yan Qiushu was stunned, and quickly took a handkerchief to wipe her tears, and said softly: "Don't cry, tell me what's wrong. Although I don't have much ability, I can still be a listener."
Zhao Shuhong took it with sobs, wiped her tears, and whispered: "Sister was kicked out of home this time..."