Chapter 79 Plum Ribs: A Delicious Sweet and Sour Taste
When Lin Yao took Lin Song to school this morning, she didn't see Xu Zhiheng, so she asked, "Where is Young Master Xu?"
Jin Yu was busy shooing the little boy who was running around in the yard to the training ground. While shooing him away, she replied, "He's in the backyard. Xiaomi ate some glutinous rice chicken last night and got indigestion. The young master is with him. That child is very stubborn and refuses to take his medicine no matter what. If Miss Lin has some free time, could you lend a hand? We are a few rough men and we're afraid we won't be able to take good care of him."
Upon hearing that the illness was caused by eating her family's glutinous rice chicken, Lin Yao could no longer sit still. She sent Lin Song to the training ground and then went to the backyard: "Sister, go and take a look. You stay here and practice well with your master."
As soon as she reached the backyard, she heard a child crying. Lin Yao quickened her pace and saw a door open. Lu Dazhi was holding a squirming little girl, while Xu Zhiheng was bent over with a bowl of medicine in his hand, the spoon in his hand poised to be fed the medicine.
"No!" Lin Yao quickly stopped her, "This could easily cause the child to choke." The little girl seemed to have some strength, and forcing her to take medicine was really inappropriate.
The three turned around at the sound and their eyes were filled with eager anticipation when they saw Lin Yao.
The little girl had dark circles and some swelling under her eyes, clearly caused by indigestion. Lu Dazhi put her back on the bed, and the child became more obedient, just sitting there sobbing.
Xu Zhiheng put down the medicine bowl and said helplessly, "Didn't you say yesterday that each person could only eat one sticky rice chicken? This child sneaked into the kitchen and ate two more. He cried in pain in the middle of the night. When the doctor came to see him, it turned out to be indigestion."
Lin Yao looked at the pitiful little girl on the bed who kept glancing at her, and then at Xu Zhiheng and Lü Dazhi's helpless expressions. She walked over to the bed and sat down: "Xiao Mi, does your stomach hurt badly?"
Song Mi nodded, tears rolling down her cheeks with her movements. Lin Yao picked her up, wiped away her tears, and gently patted her back: "Your stomach hurts so much that you need to take medicine. Be a good girl, and after you take your medicine I'll give you a plum candy, just for you."
Smelling the faint scent of osmanthus on her, Song Mi's emotions gradually calmed down: "Can I have two? I want to save one for my older sister."
Lin Yao was amused: "Of course you can, but you have to drink your medicine properly." She looked up and gestured for Xu Zhiheng to hand her the medicine. This time, Song Mi cooperated. Although she frowned and complained that the medicine was bitter, she still drank it down sip by sip.
After Song Mi finished taking her medicine, Lin Yao put her back on the bed. The medicine contained a sedative, and the child fell asleep quickly. She took two preserved plum candies from her purse, placed them beside Song Mi's pillow, and casually asked, "Is Xiaomi's older sister also practicing martial arts here?"
"That's all," Lu Dazhi said in a low voice.
Lin Yao was taken aback upon hearing this.
Xu Zhiheng poured her a glass of warm water: "Xiao Mi's older sister and parents were all killed by bandits."
Lin Yao gazed at the sleeping child on the bed, then, remembering the group of new children who had recently joined the martial arts school, she looked at Xu Zhiheng: "What about the other children..."
"Yes." Xu Zhiheng nodded. "They're all orphans."
As Lin Yao left the martial arts school, she felt that the weather was unusually cold that day.
Although I had a premonition, I still couldn't help feeling sad.
Just now, as she passed the training ground, the group of little ones surrounded her, thanking her and chattering about how delicious the sticky rice chicken was yesterday. Looking at their innocent little faces, Lin Yao felt a pang of heartache. Perhaps some of the children, like Song Mi, didn't even know their family members were gone.
She knew all too well what these children would face in the future; children without anyone to shelter them from the storm always had a much harder time than others. Fortunately, they met Xu Zhiheng, a good man.
Lin Yao didn't go straight back to the restaurant. With Laba Festival approaching, she needed to prepare the ingredients for Laba porridge, and she also wanted to make some eight-treasure duck, so she bought a whole bunch of ingredients.
Looking at the pile of things on the ground, carrying them by hand was out of the question. Lin Yao bought a basket, but as soon as she put it on, she stumbled under the weight.
Not far away, Bai Yi had just finished eating a candied hawthorn. He had some rare free time today and wanted to satisfy his craving at the Lin family's restaurant. As soon as he entered Qingquan Town, he saw a familiar figure struggling to carry a basket on her back outside the grain shop. Seeing that Lin Yao seemed unable to bear the weight of the basket, he ran over in three steps and helped her with the basket: "Miss Lin, let me help you."
Startled by the sudden weight on her back, Lin Yao turned around and saw Bai Yi. She wanted to say a few polite words, but the basket was too heavy, so she could only say, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Young Master Bai. I ended up buying too much, and I didn't expect it to be so heavy."
This weight was negligible to Bai Yi, and he casually asked, "What's in here?"
With Bai Yi sharing the burden, Lin Yao felt much more relaxed: "These are the ingredients for making Laba porridge and Eight Treasure Duck."
Bai Yi had never heard of Eight Treasure Duck before, and he immediately became interested, pulling her aside to ask her questions. It was better to have something to talk about than to remain silent the whole time, so Lin Yao was happy to answer, getting more and more excited as she talked. One of them was preoccupied with how to convince her father to let her go out and try this new thing tomorrow, while the other was glad she didn't have to force conversation; they each got what they wanted.
As the two passed by the martial arts school, Jin Yu happened to be going out to pick up the calligraphy copybook and the "Hundred Family Surnames" she had ordered. She saw Lin Yao and Bai Yi walking by, chatting happily, and went back to gossip, saying, "Young Lady Lin is really having a lucky streak lately. I heard a few days ago that the Li family sent a matchmaker to propose marriage, and today she was laughing and talking with Young Master Bai. But the two of them standing together really are a perfect match..."
"Watch your words!" Xu Zhiheng reprimanded in a stern voice.
This unusually serious tone startled Jin Yu, and he immediately fell silent.
Xu Zhiheng realized that his reaction was a bit too much and explained, "Manager Lin is an unmarried young lady, and her reputation is very important. If you say something like that casually, someone with ulterior motives might hear it and start making fun of her."
Jin Yu then realized that she had done something wrong and dared not say anything more.
Seeing his frustrated expression, Xu Zhiheng knew it was an unintentional mistake and said nothing more. He lowered his head to continue reading the letter in his hand, but couldn't concentrate on it. He simply put the letter away, stretched, and asked casually, "How did you know someone went to arrange a marriage for her?"
Jin Yu said, "It was Song'er who said it."
"Did Manager Lin agree?" Xu Zhiheng asked.
Jin Yu shook her head: "Of course not. Song'er said his brother kicked the matchmaker out. Why does my lord ask this?"
Xu Zhiheng looked away: "Just asking. She still takes 30% of the profits from the workshop. If she gets engaged, this will become her dowry. The contract will probably need to be revised to be more detailed to prevent her husband's family from taking advantage of her."
"Hmm?" Jin Yu scratched his head, something sounded a bit strange.
Xu Zhiheng added, "To prevent her from giving the formula to her husband's family. The current contract only states that it cannot be sold to a second family, but it doesn't mention marriage..."
Jin Yu understood immediately; it was indeed her husband's style. The awkwardness from before dissipated: "My husband is indeed very thoughtful, but I believe that Miss Lin is not a treacherous person."
If Lin Yao heard this, she would probably take back all the Laba porridge and eight-treasure duck she was going to send, and give Xu Zhiheng a good scolding.
Back at the restaurant, Bai Yi helped carry the ingredients to the backyard. As soon as he entered, he saw Wang Xiaoyu moving sausages into the sunlight. He leaned over and asked curiously, "Miss Wang, what's this?"
Wang Xiaoyu kept working with her hands: "These are sausages made by my master."
After Lin Yao finished tidying up her things, she saw Bai Yi staring at the sausages and said, "If Young Master Bai likes them, I'll have someone deliver them to your residence once they're ready."
Bai Yi quickly waved his hand: "How can I take Miss Lin's things for free? I'll buy them from you."
Lin Yao smiled: "We don't make many of these cured pork and sausages, so we don't sell them. They're gifts for friends during the holidays. If you consider me a friend, Mr. Bai, please accept them."
Become friends with the chef? Bai Yi's eyes lit up; he couldn't be happier. "Since we're friends, I won't stand on ceremony."
To thank Bai Yi for carrying her basket all the way, Lin Yao decided to make plum-flavored spare ribs as a token of her gratitude. Thinking that the restaurant hadn't offered any new dishes for a while, she called Wang Xiaoyu over.
Lin Yao placed the ribs on the cutting board and chopped them into three-finger-wide pieces along the bone seams with a cleaver. "These ribs have to be from the spare ribs; the meat is tender and the bones are soft, so they taste good." As she spoke, she poured the ribs into a ceramic basin and soaked them in water to remove the blood. She would stir them from time to time, and soon a layer of light red foam would float to the surface of the basin.
Wan Chunlai was squatting by the stove adding firewood when he watched her pour out a few dark brown preserved plums from the earthenware pot. The plump, round fruits were covered with a thin layer of white frost.
"Can this sour fruit be used in cooking?" Her eyes were full of curiosity.
"You'll see in a bit." Lin Yao smiled as she put the preserved plums into a small bowl and poured in warm water to soak them. "They'll be easier to remove the pits once they're soft, and the sweet and sour flavor will infuse into the soup." She turned around and scooped half a pot of water into the iron pot, then put the soaked pork ribs into the cold water, along with a few slices of ginger and half a handful of scallions. "Blanch them first to remove the blood and foam."
When the water boils, a layer of white foam rises to the surface of the ribs. Lin Yao uses a slotted spoon to scoop out the ribs and rinses them thoroughly with warm water. "This step is to remove the fishy smell."
She cleaned the iron pot, put it back on the fire, poured in a little rapeseed oil, and after the oil was hot, she threw in a few rock sugar pieces. She stirred it slowly over low heat until the rock sugar melted into an amber-colored syrup and fine bubbles appeared.
Lin Yao quickly poured the ribs into the pot and stir-fried them rapidly. The ribs were soon coated with caramel coloring, and the glossy reddish-brown color shone brightly in the firelight.
She picked up the soaked preserved plums, removed the pits, and poured them into the pot along with the broth. She added half a spoonful of soy sauce, stir-fried for a few seconds, and then added hot water, just enough to cover the ribs.
"This dish needs to be simmered over low heat to bring out the umami flavor from the bones." Lin Yao put the lid on the pot, and steam quickly escaped from the gaps in the lid, carrying the sweet and sour taste of preserved plums and the aroma of pork ribs.
After simmering for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Lin Yao lifted the lid of the pot. The broth had thickened considerably. She scooped up a spoonful with a spatula and could see the clear broth clinging to the ribs.
"Finally, thicken the sauce a bit to make the flavor coat the meat better." She sprinkled some chopped green onions on top, the bright green color adding a touch of color to the glossy red ribs, making it look incredibly appetizing.
Lin Yao placed the ribs into a white porcelain plate and handed it to Bai Yi: "Try it, this is a thank you gift for helping me carry the basket today."
Bai Yi picked up his chopsticks and took a piece. The sweet and sour taste of the preserved plum balanced the greasiness of the ribs. The meat was tender yet still held its shape. He exclaimed indistinctly, "Delicious! Even better than the ribs my cook makes!"
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Author's Note: Jin Yu: [Question mark]
Xu Zhiheng: (Chao Jue unintentionally)
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