55 Fresh Meat Patties
◎When you were little, I held you in my arms◎
Seeing Song Jinyi's expression suddenly turn ugly, the attendant thought she was scared. He crossed his arms, raised his neck proudly and asked, "Can we go now?"
But Song Jinyi laughed: "I only know that the wife of the Song family is surnamed Yun, and I have never heard of a wife surnamed Chen. You said you are from the Song family, then my surname is Song, can I also say that I am from the Song family?
If you leave now, I won't say anything. But if you continue to cheat, I will report you to the police."
The young master pointed at Song Jinyi angrily and said, "What do you mean? You actually said I'm a liar? You, you..." He said "you" many times in a row but didn't utter a complete sentence.
Shen Lang was so anxious that he wanted to move the Song Mansion to him as proof. He covered his chest and swayed his body from side to side. Unexpectedly, he suddenly found a woman whom he had seen before in the backyard of the Song Mansion.
He pointed at the woman rudely and said, "I've seen you before. Are you...Mrs. Bao from the Song family's backyard?"
The woman nodded noncommittally.
"Then you come and prove that I am Mr. Song's brother-in-law, and let them see if I am a member of the Song family?"
Song Jinyi interrupted at the right time, "The Song family is a wealthy and powerful family. Master Song is known for his generosity and charity. How could he have such a relative? You should be able to see clearly. Don't let such a person bring shame to the Song family."
Aunt Bao spoke slowly, "I, an old woman, have worked in the Song Mansion for more than ten years. I am old, blind, and have tinnitus. I really don't know much about the people in the Song Mansion."
This woman was quite clever, and her words were flawless. She didn't say she didn't know him, but only that she was blind and deaf and couldn't recognize people.
Unexpectedly, Shen Lang was kicked in the head by a donkey. He yelled at the woman in public: "You blind man, my sister Shen Lingyu is in charge of the Song family's housekeeper power. If you don't give me face like this, be careful that you won't be able to stay in the Song family!"
Aunt Bao originally entered the Song Mansion as Yun's maidservant during her dowry.
Ever since Madam Yun passed away, she had been displeased with Madam Shen's behavior, and since she was older, she had asked to leave. However, her husband was still in charge of purchasing affairs in the Song family's front yard, and she occasionally helped out.
She had come to the fair simply to buy winter clothes and some new toys for the children as the New Year was drawing to a close. When she saw many people heading in that direction, she decided to join in the fun.
She heard people inside talking about the Song family again. Out of curiosity, she squeezed to the front to see what was going on and heard everything.
When she heard Shen Lang asking her to testify halfway, she didn't want to get involved in the Shen family's affairs, so she said those words ambiguously.
That Shen Lang was an ungrateful fellow who actually spoke rudely, calling her a blind woman and asking Shen Lingyu to discipline her properly.
Aunt Bao's face darkened and she stared at Shen Lang with a frown. Who the hell was she, Shen Lingyu? A shameless little bitch!
Shen Lang was such a despicable guy, so she wanted to give him a good slap in the face.
She said in a cold tone, "I don't know anything else. I only know that the wife of the Song family is Yun. As for which sister of yours is from the Song family? Forgive my poor eyesight, I've never seen her before."
The crowd standing around was chattering, "Is this young master from the Song family?"
"Why do you care? His last name isn't Song. He's probably just using the Song family's name to cause trouble."
"It turns out to be a paper tiger that is just bullying others!"
"Damn it! I'm only able to be angry but not speak out because of Mr. Song's face. If he comes to my stall again and talks nonsense and makes trouble, I will enforce justice on his behalf."
…
These sounds were like real slaps hitting Shen Lang's face, making his face flushed and hideous, and he exhaled heavily through his nose, like a mad bull.
He leaned his head forward with an aggressive look, looked left and right, and finally locked his eyes on Song Jinyi. It was all because of this guy that he lost all his face.
He rushed over and waved his fists, trying to hit Song Jinyi.
Song Jinyi was considered to have quick reactions. She noticed that there were people all around and it was difficult to hide, so she could only look for something handy to use as a gesture. However, she was too late to find Shen Lang, as he appeared before her in the blink of an eye.
Song Jinyi's heartbeat suddenly accelerated, her pupils shrank, and she stared at Shen Lang, thinking about how she would pounce on him and bite him hard if his fist dared to fall, to let him know that she was not a pushover either.
Shen Lang's fist smashed down with anger. Someone stood in front of Song Jinyi and took the punch, pushing the person back a few steps.
Song Jinyi turned her head and looked over—it was Xie Wuyang!
She watched the scene in amazement. How could Xie Wuyang, who was not yet twenty, withstand the force of a punch from a grown man with a rather chubby body? And how could he push the man away effortlessly?
Before she could think about it, she saw Peng Ziyue and the other two rushing over after collecting the herbs. One of them gestured twice with a wooden stick, and the other shouted at Shen Lang, telling him to step back.
Xu Ruolan and Li Heze hurried over to help Song Jinyi hide behind.
Shen Lang watched as four or five people from Song Jinyi's group came out to help. His servants were busy doing something behind the scenes. He lost his composure and yelled at them, "Are you here to eat for nothing? Hurry up and help me, Young Master. I'd rather raise a piece of barbecued pork than you!"
A group of followers rushed up as if they had just woken up from a dream and surrounded Song Jinyi and the others.
The scene seemed to be evenly matched in numbers, but in reality they were outnumbered.
The merchants, who were already dissatisfied with the behavior of Young Master Shen Lang, took advantage of the chaos to kick and punch him a few times, and then attacked him from the dark, which eventually escalated into a beating in public.
Seeing that the situation was getting out of hand, a group of people rushed into the chaos, separated the people fighting, and shouted "Stop!" Peng Ziyue in the crowd also responded: "Everyone, stop it quickly, or someone will die."
Only then did everyone stop.
Shen Lang and his men were all beaten with bruises on their faces, looking miserable.
No one knew whether this group of people were sent by Shen Lingyu or the elders of the Shen family. After they said a few words to Shen Lang, the arrogant young master lowered his head, looked listless, and followed them silently.
Song Jinyi, however, couldn't let it go. Just now, Shen Lang knocked over her bucket of tea. She said calmly, "Shouldn't we settle the bill before we leave? It was your young master who smashed the tea."
The visitor didn't ask any questions and just dropped a small bag of silver.
Seeing this, Shen Lang stretched out his hand, wanting to stop her. Why should he give money to this dead girl? But he glanced at the expression of the man next to him. Without saying anything, he curled his lips and stared at Song Jinyi hatefully.
Before leaving, he didn't forget to swear, "With a business attitude like yours, who will buy your business in the future? Just expect to not be able to sell anything today, tomorrow, and every day thereafter."
Aunt Bao, who was standing nearby, immediately placed a whole silver ingot on Song Jinyi's table. "Who said her products can't be sold? You've ruined this tea today, and I'm not having the pleasure of tasting it. So I'll reserve a bucket for tomorrow."
Song Jinyi looked at Aunt Bao with some surprise.
Aunt Bao smiled and said, "When you were little, I held you in my arms."
As for the young lady born to the Yun family, she had the impression that she was thin and weak, with a cowardly and timid personality, and she looked nothing like the lady. So much so that after not seeing her for so many years, she didn't recognize her at first glance.
She looked about 60% like the lady, but her temperament and personality were about 80% similar. The tone and expression in her voice just now made her sure that she was not mistaken.
Her husband worked for the Song family, so naturally he had heard about the bet between the young lady and the master.
Now it’s just a small token of her appreciation.
Song Jinyi also roughly understood what she meant. She did not refuse and silently accepted the money. "Okay, I'll take the deposit first and send it to you tomorrow."
She collected the money and looked at Shen Lang with a provocative smile on her face. She waved her hand and said, "Goodbye, I won't see you off."
******
In the blink of an eye, the trade fair was over.
Peng Ziyue and the other man also wanted to rush back to Huizhou, so Song Jinyi discussed with them and bought enough medicinal materials for three months.
On the day before leaving, Song Jinyi asked the two of them to come to her place for breakfast.
Early in the morning, Song Jinyi, Xu Ruolan, and Xie Wuyang were all in the kitchen, each doing their own thing. As for Li He? Song Jinyi specifically told them not to call her.
Song Jinyi put the washed pork on the chopping board, held the knife handle with both hands, and smiled: "I don't believe she can stay in bed for a while." Then she started playing music.
The crescent-shaped kitchen knife danced rhythmically on the pork, again and again, like the sound of a mallet hitting a drum.
After a burst of "music", Li He covered his ears and got up in compromise.
Xu Ruolan, who was fetching water in the courtyard, saw that she had woken up and placed her cold hands on Li He's little face: "Didn't you ask for fresh meat patties earlier? Your sister is making them right now."
After the fresh meat is minced, add rice wine to remove the fishy smell, then add layers of seasonings, pepper powder, MSG, salt, sugar, pepper powder... and pile them on top to form a small hill.
Then pour boiling hot oil on the seasoning. When the hot oil comes into contact with the spices, a small mountain of spices is instantly ignited and boils, becoming a volcano. The hot oil mixed with the spices rolls down into the pot smoothly.
Song Jinyi then used chopsticks to stir it evenly to ensure that every piece of meat was mixed with this aroma.
If Li He was still 70% sleepy after being cooled by Xu Ruolan just now, he was completely awake when he smelled the fragrance.
She was responsible for dividing the fermented dough into dozens of portions, slightly flattening the bottom upwards, and waiting for Song Jinyi to spread a layer of pepper powder on it, then put in the meat filling, and finally add the soul-stirring chopped green onions.
The three of them are wrapped up and pressed into a pancake shape, and then fried in oil to turn from white to an attractive golden yellow. The darker parts are a little bit burnt, making them more crispy when bitten.
As soon as you take a bite, the filling bursts with juice, invading your taste buds, and the aroma of chopped green onions in the pancake goes straight into your nose.
After the fresh meat patties were ready, Xu Ruolan's mushroom and shrimp porridge was also ready and they were served on the table together.
Peng Ziyue tasted one and said, "I only knew that Madam Song was an expert at making desserts, but I didn't expect her home-cooked dishes were just as good. If Madam Song opened a shop and was willing to make this, I would come here from Huizhou every day to eat."
Song Jinyi smiled and said, "I run a sweet soup shop. If I make this every day, it would be weird. If you like it, just take a few more. When you come back next year, I will make it specially for you."
After exchanging some pleasantries, the two of them ate and drank their fill and set off for the pier to catch a boat.
******
As winter deepens, the cold weather becomes increasingly unbearable.
Song Jinyi paid a craftsman to renovate the small house at the back, pasted all the torn window papers, and bought a warm quilt for Xie Wuyang.
I bought a large stove and placed it in the front hall. I arranged the chairs that were originally arranged in several rows in a circle, with the stove as the center, expanding outward.
She put her hands behind her back and walked around the stove contentedly. It was great, it could keep her warm and boil water at the same time.
Xie Wuyang's old quilt was washed and dried and then hung at the door to block the cold wind when the door was opened and to prevent the heat in the room from escaping.
She had to thank Mr. Shen Lang for spending the money to repair the shop this time. If he hadn't caused such a fuss, how could she have stood out among all the peddlers?
From that day on, people talked about this incident while chatting on the way to the market, and the speed of its spread was comparable to that of a TV commercial, making Song Jinyi's fame no longer limited to Shuchengfang, but even to the entire South City and other neighborhoods.
Lady Zanhua hadn't been here for a long time. This time she opened the curtain and came in from outside. It was warm inside as if it was spring.
The layout of the house has changed a lot, but the bustle remains the same.
The table was decorated with uniquely shaped plates and snacks, and the guests were either talking loudly or whispering to each other. The lively atmosphere attracted passers-by.
The hairpin lady came this time and specially gave Song Jinyi a pot of Schefflera arboricola, also known as the money tree, which symbolizes prosperity. She accepted it very happily, placed the pot of flowers next to the counter, and took care of it personally.
After welcoming the last guest away, Song Jinyi started to count the accounts.
【Author’s words】
Ask for a collection (selling cuteness (ω)), and by the way, take a look at the child’s pre-collection "I Wish to Be a Couple"
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