2 Scallion Pork Buns
◎Xie Shizi is so handsome!◎
Houchao Gate is close to the imperial palace and the Lin'an government office. Fearing that it would disturb the nobles' sweet dreams, although there are many merchants and pedestrians in the city, very few of them shout loudly.
It was different outside the Houchao Gate. There were more people, and with the Qiantang River tide surging and the oarsmen rowing and shouting, it was bustling everywhere.
In the distance, some large ships were still sailing on the river, and more cargo ships had already docked. Servants were moving back and forth along the planks of the ships, transporting food and goods to the shore.
Nearby was the mercenary market. Some people stood behind the mercenaries, looking relaxed, as if they had found work. Some were catching up on sleep, leaning against the wall and dozing off. Some people gathered in groups of three or five, playing the gambling game of "Guan Pu"[1].
Oh, it looks a lot like the modern gig market, with people dozing off, playing cards, and all sorts of things.
After leading Tuantuan around for a few times, Jiang Qinglan figured it out. Although the Song Dynasty had a prosperous economy, compared to men, the odd jobs women could do in this mercenary market were still limited.
The best option was to be a labor broker. Employers would hand over the job of hiring to familiar labor brokers, who would rush in early to recruit workers—for example, wet nurses and prostitutes, who were difficult for men to hire.
As for how much money the employer pays, how much the prostitute pays the employee, and how much difference she can make, it is all decided by herself.
This is the most profitable, but it requires connections and time, which Jiang Qinglan cannot do.
Secondly, there were the needlework women. When a prominent family was about to have a wedding, they rushed to sew wedding quilts and handkerchiefs. Since their own embroiderers couldn't keep up, they would hire a group of needlework women here, providing them with food and drink and a daily wage of 100 wen.
But this also has its requirements. Needless to say, one must have good needlework skills, and one must also have delicate skin and tender flesh. One cannot do rough work, because rough hands can easily roughen the precious silk.
Jiang Qinglan looked at his hands. They were indeed delicate and tender, but he only typed on the keyboard to write papers and had never picked up a needle and thread.
At this time, a woman in her twenties held up a wooden sign that read "70 wen a day" and walked around shouting, "Jianlong Temple Fair, a three-day banquet, hiring five cooks. Food and lodging provided, only lunch."
Several girls swarmed over, and Jiang Qinglan and Tuantuan also hurried over to listen to them talking about themselves:
"My lady, I also did the banquet held at Jianlong Temple during the Lantern Festival."
"Before, I worked odd jobs at Song Wusao's fish soup shop."
"I also worked at Granny Li's mixed vegetable soup shop."
Jiang Qinglan: "I..."
Everyone knows that you need to hire experienced people and write about work experience when writing a resume.
But Jiang Qinglan didn't seem to have much to offer right now. A PhD in literature? That was useless. A food blogger? That didn't make sense to him either.
The female trader wrote down the names of the people just now and was about to leave. Jiang Qinglan finally managed to say, "My wife, I... my cooking is really delicious!"
The ladies following the female trader all giggled when they heard this.
Jiang Qinglan blushed slightly. Yes, right now, he was acting like a pure and foolish workplace rookie.
The maid was quite experienced. She looked Jiang Qinglan up and down, then looked at the little girl she was holding, and said, "Your hands are so white and tender, you don't look like you've worked in the kitchen."
These women were very good at judging people. This person, with fair skin, beautiful features, red lips and a healthy body, could only be raised in a wealthy family. She was probably a young lady from some mansion, who had sneaked out with her younger sister to play.
If I really invite her and her family comes looking for me, I will be in big trouble.
"Madam, please stay," Jiang Qinglan said anxiously. "To tell you the truth, my family has fallen on hard times, my parents are dead, and only my younger sister and I are left. We have no other way to make a living, so we came here to look for work. I beg you to have mercy on us."
The little girl Tuantuan was smart. She sniffed, pouted, and immediately her eyes were filled with tears. She stared at the female trader with her big eyes pitifully.
Seeing that she was still hesitant, Jiang Qinglan added, "I'm not bragging. Madam, please let me try. I won't pay you on the first day. If you're satisfied, you can pay me on the second day."
The female trader finally nodded and let her take Tuan Tuan and stand behind him. Jiang Qinglan finally breathed a sigh of relief - at least he had a place to stay for the next three days.
Jianlong Temple was at the foot of Phoenix Mountain to the west, some distance away. The moneylender Wang Huiniang had recruited a large number of people and was heading that way.
It was still early, and the girls had prepared some food for the journey, which they took out from their bags and ate.
Some of them brought dry food, such as yellow rice flour date cakes, fruit-filled longevity cakes, etc. Two of them brought spring rolls filled with shredded meat and fine vegetables.
The trader's surname was Wang, and her name was Hui Niang. She brought the same meat buns as Jiang Qinglan. The difference was that she ate three, while Jiang Qinglan and the others each ate one.
Tuantuan is a little greedy cat. Everything he eats tastes delicious, and his cheeks are bulging with food.
The meat filling in the buns is fried in advance with a secret sauce and a little bean paste. It is fragrant, oily, salty and delicious, but without any greasy fat.
The first bite is the soft, fluffy skin, followed by the plump meat. Finally, the teeth touch the shredded scallions, which are fragrant and add a refreshing vegetable flavor. The slight sweetness is endless aftertaste. There is a bit of crunch in the mouth, which may be due to the water chestnuts.
There is also the golden soup with floating oil rings, which is full of the aroma of meat and green onions. It is still hot and the fragrance makes you breathe in.
Jiang Qinglan also tasted a few bites. The dough was soft and white, and it was really delicious. Looking at the little girl beside her, worried that she wouldn't eat enough, she ate very slowly, just grabbing the dough and eating.
Just as he was holding up a bun, about to give it to Tuantuan, a group of people on horseback galloped past him like a whirlwind. Someone pulled Jiang Qinglan's right arm, and he almost fell, and the bun in his hand rolled to the ground.
Jiang Qinglan looked up: about seven or eight young men were singing and laughing, galloping on horseback. They were all wearing black clothes with narrow sleeves and black net-shaped headbands with red roses in them.
The man in the lead was a little different. He didn't wear a jade headdress or a flower in his hair. Instead, he wore a golden crown and a red headband on his forehead, letting his black hair and red scarf flutter in the wind.
Jiang Qinglan picked up the bun and dusted it off. Although he looked calm on the outside, he was very angry on the inside.
In modern times, there are lightning-fast motorcyclists, now there are arrogant horsemen, and ghost-fire boys are everywhere!
Wang Huiniang had just helped her, and now she reminded her, "I see you don't have much experience in the marketplace, so I'm telling you, if you see these Cuju men in the inner city, stay away from them."
In reality, they had already reached the entrance to the Jiahui. The road was wide enough that they wouldn't bump into anyone if they were walking by normally. It was these ghost-fire boys who were deliberately trying to get in among the crowd, trying to show off!
Wait. "Cuju?"
Wang Hui Niang nodded: "That's right, there is a Cuju field outside Jiahui Gate, and the sons of the princes and nobles often ride horses there to play Cuju."
During the Song Dynasty, the sport of Cuju flourished, beloved by everyone from the emperor to the common people. Because the ball was hollow and inflated, it was called "kicking a balloon." In "Water Margin," Gao Qiu's exceptional Cuju skills earned him the admiration of Prince Duan.
However, even if he became a superstar, Jiang Qinglan still looked down on these people in his heart.
In her previous life, she had been a top-scoring student, skipping grades in middle school and earning a doctorate at the age of twenty-two. She'd worked through countless late nights to publish a few C-level papers. But the national scholarship that year went to someone else because he was the son of another college dean.
So what if he can play football? He is still the son of an official and a ghost-fire boy. He relies on his parents' power and looks down on others. He is very annoying.
But the other ladies didn't seem to agree, especially the two unmarried ones, who were whispering among themselves. The lady surnamed Qian blushed, her voice trembling, "The one in the front...Xie Shizi, she's so handsome!"
【Author’s words】
[1] Guanpu, a gambling game that was extremely popular during the Song Dynasty. Similar to flipping a coin, the winner is the one with the inscription facing up. Sometimes, it also refers to betting on football or cockfighting.
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