People who cook frequently know that it’s okay to suddenly add a pair of chopsticks, and adding two pairs of chopsticks is also OK.
But if you add five pairs of chopsticks, you basically have to re-cook two dishes, which is bound to be a lot of trouble.
Now, for the Western kitchen, it is not a matter of adding five pairs of chopsticks.
Instead, the number of people eating increased directly from three or four hundred to one thousand five hundred.
There are one thousand people in the Baochao Division and five hundred guards at the Lingtai Gate.
Plus the three or four hundred that I originally spent on eating here.
No, there are also fifty palace servants from the old warehouse who came again today, and eighty from my own west kitchen.
This adds up to a lot more.
Su Wan did a mental calculation and found that there were more than two thousand people. In order to cope with the changes, she had to prepare meals for at least two thousand one hundred people.
Who knows what could go wrong.
From three or four hundred to two thousand one.
This number is huge no matter how you look at it.
The noble lady in the inner palace is really good at handling things.
Su Wan's expression did not look relaxed from the time she was woken up to the west kitchen, but it was much better than that of the senior palace maid who woke her up.
Yu Shu and others behind were even more at a loss. Even they felt the difficulty of this task.
Not to mention that we suddenly have to prepare meals for so many people, just the eighty people in the western kitchen have to prepare dinner for more than two thousand people?
It goes without saying who this is making things difficult for.
It must be that the food in the western kitchen was known over there.
But the nobles in power kept silent and waited until today to launch a surprise attack.
Moreover, they were deliberately not given too much time to prepare. Even when Su Wan arrived at the west kitchen, the people in charge, including Deputy Prime Minister Xi who had been punished, were still there.
When Deputy Prime Minister Xi saw Su Wan, he touched her hair lovingly and said, "It's hard for you."
I originally thought that if such little palace maids were placed in remote places, they would at least not be blamed, but the West Kitchen's poor performance still put them in trouble.
It is now the early afternoon, almost three o'clock in the afternoon, and in about an hour it will be time for dinner.
According to the original plan of the western kitchen, today's dinner was noodles with soybean paste. They prepared sauce for 500 people and dough for 500 people in advance, which should be more than enough.
I'm not afraid even if there are forty or fifty more people occasionally.
But who knew that the number would increase to more than a thousand, almost twenty or thirty times.
Anyone who hears this gap will frown.
But what can we do?
If I directly refuse to cook for so many people, that person will have something to say. People from Baochaosi are supposed to eat in the west kitchen, and it is their legitimate right to come here now.
Why, why don't you prepare meals for others?
Was it a dereliction of duty? Was it a joke?
The gate guard?
You should prepare meals for fifteen hundred people, but now there are only five hundred more people, so you can't do it?
Who said that your western kitchen has been improved?
This happened just in time for distributing the standard portions of food in the middle of the month.
If this matter cannot be accomplished, the monthly allowance will definitely be reduced, there is no need to even think about it.
Once the allowance was reduced, the huge Baochaosi was required to eat in the western kitchen every day.
Not enough ingredients and not enough manpower.
The collapse of the West Kitchen was imminent.
If we agree to prepare meals for the extra 1,500 people.
If you do it well, it's fine. But if you don't do it well and make them eat poorly, then the people in power will still have something to say.
It can only be described as dereliction of duty.
This one sentence put the West Kitchen in a dilemma.
Even if they have to barely prepare meals for one or two thousand people, if the food is not tasty, wouldn't the Western Kitchen be back to square one?
No matter how you go around in circles, you can't get around this point.
That person didn't want the western kitchen to prepare in advance, so he summoned all the executives to a meeting at noon. He suddenly announced the matter in the afternoon without even giving them time to prepare.
I guess he must have made up his mind to accuse everyone in the west kitchen of dereliction of duty.
He took the opportunity to take over the Western Kitchen.
It looks like a meeting, but it is actually a layout.
Even the female officials of the Imperial Food Department were caught off guard.
What a cruel person.
At this time, the western kitchen was in a state of panic. The reason was simple. Everyone was working in the kitchen and naturally understood what it meant to have so many more people eating suddenly.
Those who are a little smarter can also sense different meanings, and this approach is really too much.
The left and right masters frowned, and the right master said, "We originally planned to have noodles with soybean paste, but there were only 500 servings. Now it's definitely not going to work."
Deputy Prime Minister Xi nodded slightly: "It's indeed impossible. The steps for making the sauce are not simple. It is definitely impossible to make it in such a short time."
The sauce must first be made into sweet noodle sauce, and then mixed with pork and bean paste. The two steps together take a lot of time.
Mainly because the quantity is too large.
Zuo Zhizhang frowned and said, "Why don't we make some porridge and make pancakes with it?"
You don’t need to make the dough to make pancakes.
Even though it might be late if we act now, at least we can still eat.
But doing so suddenly would be a bit shabby and might give people a handle against you.
Deputy Prime Minister Xi thought for a moment and said, "Let's make noodles with soybean paste. I'll go ask the North and South Kitchen for help."
Although it was also time for the meal in those two kitchens, she would definitely give them face if she went there.
Let both sides do it at the same time. Time is tight, but it can be done. It will definitely be much faster if we use the existing materials.
And since the menu doesn't change, you can't go wrong.
If we change the menu, we either have to change to something better, or we can't understand why. If we suddenly change to simple food, that will definitely not work.
So what Deputy Prime Minister Xi meant was to make the noodles according to the original recipe.
Unexpectedly, Su Wan shook her head slightly: "But it's already the afternoon, and there's only half an hour left before dinner. It's too late to fry now."
"It would be fine if you were familiar with the fried sauce, but you have to learn it first, then make it, and then send it over."
"If I remember correctly, it would take at least half an hour to get here from the north and south kitchens."
"It is impossible to allocate all the staff in the north and south kitchens. Both places are busy with meals. We can only allocate people to fry the sauce and knead the dough. Both have to be done at the same time."
“It takes too long from making to delivering.”
At the end, Su Wan affirmed: "They won't give us that much time. Even if we use the existing fried sauce in the western kitchen, it will probably take some time."
What he meant now was that they had too little time left. Dinner would be served in half an hour, and there were two thousand people waiting to eat, but only five hundred portions were available.
Even if the meals can be cooked and delivered at the same time, the north and south kitchens can still cook together, and even if more than 400 people of their own can come to eat last.
But there is a problem. The palace servants of Baochaosi and the guards of Lingtaimen will not wait patiently. They will definitely line up neatly and quickly to get their meals.
These people must have received orders, and as soon as the west kitchen opened, they would come in to get their meals.
If I delay time with someone, people will definitely make a fuss.
When something goes wrong in the west kitchen, I'll shout, "That's how the west kitchen is? How come the food isn't ready?"
“Why is the food not served on time?”
The west kitchen will definitely be in chaos.
This is a situation that the person would be happy to see.
Furthermore, even if the North and South Kitchens could quickly prepare the sauce, there was still a problem.
The time is too tight and any slight mistake, for example, dozens of kilograms of prepared sauce might be spilled on the way.
For example, being stopped by guards on the road and searched.
For example, when a distinguished person is traveling, they should be allowed to stay away for half an hour.
Too many surprises.
It would take at least half an hour to walk from the north and south kitchens near the Shangshenjian to the west kitchen.
This half-hour journey is enough for the above accidents to happen many times.
Su Wan thought for a moment and said seriously, "Why not change the food today?"
"Today's menu has been changed to beef noodle soup."
Beef noodle soup?!
Beef noodle soup?!
In terms of preciousness, the beef noodle soup that Su Wan mentioned is naturally a hundred times better than the fried noodles with soybean paste.
But how to get a cow? How to make soup?
Deputy Prime Minister Xi just came back and didn’t quite understand, but Zuo Zhizhang’s eyes lit up: “The one who is the chief guard of the Shangbao Palace?”
Su Wan nodded: "If we don't have enough time to make noodles with soybean paste, then we can make noodles with soybean paste. However, the beef taste will be much lighter, and there won't be much beef."
"Beef is great, who would choose this?"
I have talked about the preciousness of beef before. It’s so precious that even drinking a bowl of soup from it would make people excited.
But these are not important to Su Wan. The most important thing to him is that the noodle soup is easy to make.
Frying the sauce requires oil, frying it several times, and many other steps.
But it is not needed for soup noodles or kneading noodles.
As for the lack of broth, it was not a difficult problem for her. Isn’t it just adding water to the broth, or adding some chicken bones and shrimp powder to enhance the flavor of the soup? She could do it.
Su Wan couldn't help but hold her forehead with her hand, wondering how she became a "swindler".
But after thinking it over, from the time I was woken up until now, this is the only feasible method.
First of all, there is definitely not enough time to fry the sauce. I didn’t prepare enough in advance, and it’s not enough time to fry it now.
Frying the sauce and kneading the dough have to be done at the same time, because there is not enough of both, which is even more of a burden for the already tight staff of the Western kitchen.
You can imagine that when it was time for dinner, the western kitchen had to fry the sauce and knead the dough, while someone else had to cook the noodles and serve the rice, and also be ready to deal with the unreasonable demands from the Baochaosi at any time.
There are only eighty people in the west kitchen, including the dishwashers. Excluding those who work only in the kitchen, there are only about forty people.
How can we have enough manpower?
But if you change it to soup noodles, it will be different.
First of all, there is no need to work on frying the sauce, and everyone just needs to knead the dough.
The rest of the people boil water to cook noodles and vegetables, then divide the noodles and vegetables into portions, pour the broth on the cooked noodles and vegetables, sprinkle with chopped green onions, leeks, garlic sprouts and coriander, and symbolically put a little bit of thin beef offal on the top.
That's it.
In the final analysis, it is just replacing the difficult-to-make fried sauce with soup stock.
Even though there is definitely not enough broth on hand now, it doesn’t matter. Divide the broth into several portions, add water, shrimp powder and freshly picked chicken frames to all of them, and the flavor will come out immediately.
If the seasoning is well adjusted, any soup cooked with plain water will taste good.
What’s more, beef broth was already precious in ancient times?
Moreover, the soup only needs to be simmered over low heat, and it doesn’t need to be as complicated as fried sauce.
It is easy to make and more precious than noodles with soybean paste.
Nothing is more suitable for this situation than beef noodle soup.
Beef noodle soup sounds more respectable.
This is meat soup that was hard to find in ancient times.
The most important thing is that by doing this, it will not cause any trouble to the people in the north and south kitchens.
Without help from others, their western kitchen can still handle this crisis.
Then the matter would be extremely respectable.
If they are decent on this side, the other side will be dishonorable.
Isn't it just about finding ways to dig holes?
Sorry, this is for you to dig yourself.
After Su Wan finished speaking her mind, Deputy Prime Minister Xi looked at her dumbfoundedly and couldn't help but say, "No wonder the lady-in-waiting asked me to ask you first, no wonder."
Su Wan smiled: "But the soup is from the chief guard of the Shangbao Palace. Does it take some effort to get it?"
"That's not difficult. He will definitely agree." Deputy Prime Minister Xi promised directly.
Seeing that Su Wan had found a way to solve the problem, Deputy Prime Minister Xi immediately ordered the left and right deputy prime ministers to take people to knead the dough. There was nothing to do now, just knead the dough to make noodles, and then chop green onions and leeks.
These tasks are not difficult, and if twenty or thirty people work together, it will not be a problem for them at all.
As for the Deputy Prime Minister of the West, he went to the Shangbao Palace to ask for the soup stock, which must have been just a matter of a word.
Unexpectedly, before she set off, several people came to the door of the west kitchen, including those from the old warehouse, the Imperial Household Department, and the Shangbao Department.
The meaning is similar. The old supervisor said that fifty of them were having lunch at the Armory today.
The Imperial Household Department and the Imperial Treasure Department said that their general manager was treating them to a meal, so they didn't come either.
Wow, more than 400 people are missing all of a sudden?
This isn't a treat, it's not going to be a meal somewhere else, it's clearly to relieve their pressure!
Before Su Wan and Deputy Prime Minister Xi could be moved for too long, they saw a few palace maids wearing clothes from the Imperial Kitchen coming up the palace road.
The leader waved his hand when he saw the West Deputy Prime Minister: "The South and North Kitchen Deputy Prime Minister asked us to help, do you have any instructions?"
"Why is it the North and South Kitchens? It's as if our Zaliku is not part of the Imperial Food Department."
Seeing the dozen or so palace maids coming, holding kitchen tools and a lot of useful ingredients in their hands, it was obvious that they were ready to come and help.
This is, are you all here to help?
Su Wan looked over curiously. This feeling seemed a bit good?
But you are late!
We've found a solution!
In fact, it would not work to replace it with ordinary soup noodles. First, the ingredients have to be made again, and second, it is not as delicious and precious as fried noodles with soybean paste.
But there is no such concern at all for beef noodle soup.
Needless to say, the taste of the beef noodle soup itself is delicious, and this is made with bone broth that has been simmered from morning to afternoon. How can it not be delicious?
When Su Wan left the small kitchen, the bone soup had already turned a thick white color and smelled very fragrant.
Moreover, beef bone soup is precious and is a delicacy that ordinary people may never have eaten in their entire lives.
Due to several reasons, beef noodle soup is only more precious and delicious than noodles with soybean paste.
The beef noodles that were praised by later generations were not praised for nothing.
There is always a reason why the delicacies can spread to every street and alley.
Besides, Su Wan originally planned to cook beef noodles for a few stewards in the evening, but now it has changed from cooking for a few people to cooking for two thousand people.
There is a difference, of course, but it's not that big.
At least that’s how it is for Su Wan!
It’s just that the original ramen has to be replaced with hand-rolled noodles, so I can only compensate the stewards later.
When Deputy Prime Minister Xi came back, the pot of beef bone soup, and even the beef offal in it, all went to the western kitchen.
As for the Imperial Household Department, the Imperial Treasure Department, and the Old Treasury, who did not want to cause trouble, Su Wan also told them to come for dinner when they were supposed to, because today's dinner was beef noodle soup!
It’s a cow!
Pork bone soup, mutton bone soup and chicken bone soup are quite common on weekdays.
But ingredients like beef are only available to the nobility. Just look at how much a calf costs to get the idea.
Who doesn’t want to taste beef soup?
The palace maids from the North and South Kitchens and the Miscellaneous Storehouse who wanted to help were also persuaded to go back.
Just like Su Wan said, wouldn't it cause trouble if we rely on the help of sister departments?
Now it seems that their western kitchen can handle it on their own.
Deputy Prime Minister Xi was able to become the biggest manager of a kitchen, so naturally she had a temper, and she felt more confident in being in charge.
The other palace maids in the kitchen looked at each other and had to go back home.
Su Wan is already asking everyone to dismantle the chicken racks for tomorrow.
I'm going to make Kung Pao Chicken tomorrow. I'll remove the chicken bones in advance and cook them together with the beef bones.
Another advantage of chicken bones is that the aroma will come out after stewing for half an hour. On the contrary, beef bones need to be stewed for at least two hours before the aroma of the soup can be released.
But the 20-pound pot of beef bone and liver soup in front of Su Wan has been simmering since morning, and it will only be more delicious now.
But now you have to add water to make it delicious.
While adding water, more than ten kinds of spices should also be added. At the same time, the prepared shrimp powder and mushroom powder can be added in to make the soup more delicious.
Su Wan calculated in her mind how much broth was needed, and simmered it on the stove over low heat according to the sufficient amount.
To be honest, this is an extremely tricky method, but it is also the practice of many noodle soup restaurants in later generations.
Modern noodle soup restaurants can sell hundreds of bowls of noodles in an hour during meal times, thanks to this method.
Boil the noodles in water in a pot, pour the seasoning on them when cooked and scoop a spoonful of broth from another large pot.
A bowl of noodles can be prepared in less than thirty seconds.
Several bowls of noodles can be cooked in a large pot of water at the same time.
The speed of serving food is definitely beyond everyone's imagination.
If we change it to stir-fried sauce, I'm afraid the sauce alone will make everyone dizzy.
It’s much easier to make soup instead.
Among the forty-four people in the kitchen, only seven or eight people are needed to watch over the eight pots of broth.
The rest of the people were kneading the dough and rolling the noodles.
According to Su Wan's request, the noodles should be rolled thinner so that they are easier to cook and save more time.
The entire western kitchen was bustling with activity.
But after Su Wan arranged these things, she subconsciously said, "It's over, I forgot to change the menu."
Dinner is about to start in a quarter of an hour, but the menu for tonight still lists noodles with soybean paste.
When she changed the name of the beef noodle soup, people who passed by and inquired about it opened their eyes wide.
This beef noodle soup?
What does this mean?
When the news reached the Baochao Department, the chief steward of the Baochao Department sneered, "It would be strange if we could prepare food for an additional 1,500 people."
"What is beef noodle soup? Is it just noodles in a watery soup?"
"Just wait and see. The West Kitchen won't last long."
Many people think so.
Everyone would complain if the good fried noodles were replaced with soup noodles.
With the intentional connivance of the chief steward of the Baochao Department, the news spread quickly throughout the Baochao Department and the guards at the Lingtai Gate.
Most people were complaining because they knew the quality of the noodle soup made in the western kitchen was terrible.
Now they are forced to eat in the western kitchen and eat noodle soup?
Isn't their noodle soup delicious? Why does it change when they go there to eat?
There were only a few people who didn't speak, and they were those who had tasted the food in the Western kitchen.
Although I had my doubts in my heart, I still trusted him.
And beef noodle soup, beef soup?
The chief steward of the Baochao Department asked his men to take a thousand people from the Baochao Department to line up at the door of the west kitchen in advance, and also asked someone to call the guards of the Lingtai Gate to go together.
As soon as the western kitchen opened, they rushed in to eat.
If it's a little later, then people will start to make a fuss.
A look of disdain flashed across the face of the chief steward of the Baochao Department. He just wanted to see whether they could prepare the meal well and whether everyone could eat it smoothly.
But the eunuch beside him whispered, "Grandpa Chief Steward, the Zhang and Wang families are here to ask for an audience again, and it's about the same thing again."
If all the palace servants in the Baochaosi were suddenly ordered to eat in the west kitchen, then the Anqingfang outside would certainly be empty, as there would be more waiters in the Zhang and Wang shops than diners.
Even the guards from the Lingtai Division were taken away.
The Zhang and Wang families must be extremely anxious.
The chief steward of the Treasury Department sneered, "Go and tell him that this is only a temporary problem, and things will definitely return to normal in the next two days."
In the future, people from the Baochaosi will definitely go to Anqingfang to eat, otherwise his extra income will be gone.
Now it’s just a matter of squeezing out the western kitchen.
The young eunuch who had received the money from Zhang and Wang immediately said, "Grandpa, you are really amazing. You have them in your hands."
The chief steward of the Treasury Department thought of the one in the inner palace, but still pretended to nod: "How else can I be the chief steward? You should all learn from him."
The Zhang and Wang families in Anqingfang were indeed anxious, but after being comforted by the chief manager of the Baochaosi, they could only sigh at the deserted store.
All right, just drive the people from the west kitchen out first.
But why is the Li family’s pig’s trotter business still so good?
Are these people from other places coming here to eat?
This store will drive him away sooner or later. What's the point of making such delicious food? It will only steal the business of both of them.
Less than a quarter of an hour later, the palace servants from the Baochaosi were already queuing up at the door of the west kitchen.
A thousand people standing here always feel like a huge dark mass.
In the past, the total number of people who ate three meals in the western kitchen was only this many.
The palace servants from the Shangbaojian and Yuyongjian who were passing by took a few glances and probably understood in their hearts that this was a deliberate attempt to cause trouble for the West Kitchen.
Aren’t there guards from Lingtai Gate? Why aren’t they coming over?
It’s okay if you don’t come, so as not to cause trouble to the west kitchen.
I have been eating in the West Kitchen for a while. The Imperial Household Department, the Imperial Treasure Department, and my own old warehouse all have a good impression of the West Kitchen.
It’s not that we don’t want to improve, we just have to take things slow.
And now things are going pretty well. It's not that people from the Baochaosi can't come, but they are obviously looking for trouble. Are they here to have a meal?
The other palace servants in the West Outer Palace have gradually begun to lean towards the West Kitchen.
The food in the western kitchen is really good.
This time they received orders to go there a little later so as not to put so much pressure on the western kitchen.
But the palace servants from the Baochaosi were standing in an orderly line, waiting to enter directly.
In the west kitchen, Su Wan looked around and saw eight pots of stewed broth and eight pots of water.
One pot of water can cook ten servings of noodles, which is managed by two people at the same time. One person scoops out the cooked noodles, while another stands by and puts seasonings and broth into the bowls.
Chopped green onions, coriander, chives and chili oil are placed in front. If anyone wants them, just queue up to get them. If not, you can just eat the noodle soup.
There is only one strong and fierce palace maid standing in each small material area to ensure that there will be no trouble.
This saves manpower in the western kitchen.
Seeing that the time was up, Deputy Prime Minister Xi nodded slightly. She stood in the yard to maintain order. Those who came to eat had to line up. If they didn't line up, she would call the guards to throw them out.
The Deputy Prime Minister of the West was a female official herself, so most people did not dare to disobey her.
When the door of the western kitchen courtyard was opened, the deputy prime minister of the west said in a loud voice: "Please line up to enter. If you don't line up, please leave my western kitchen."
When these people from the Baochaosi Palace arrived, they felt intimidated by this and subconsciously became much quieter.
When they wanted to cause trouble again, they saw two lines drawn from the west kitchen yard to the door. Only two people could enter at the same time, which directly restricted the situation of a crowd rushing in.
Is this ok?
Su Wan, who was still in the kitchen, smiled.
There are so many modern ways to deal with this situation.
The passage at the entrance of the scenic spot is like this. It is limited to two people, and the rest have to queue. If you don’t queue, you can see very clearly.
This can also prevent people from trampling and crowding, and can also delay time.
Even in the cafeteria, they still walked in the middle of the line, which completely regulated their movements. After they got their dinner, they were allowed to find a place to sit down.
The process was orderly and entirely under the control of the western kitchen.
The palace official from the Baochaosi who was leading the riot suddenly fell silent.
The two of them were at the front of the team and should have been causing trouble, but their disturbance was seen too clearly and they would definitely be picked out directly.
If he were caught at this moment.
Not to mention the Western Kitchen, the Imperial Food Department will not spare them, and even the Treasury Department will abandon them directly.
The original plan should have been to blend in with the crowd and start making a noise.
At that time, no one knew who shouted. Everyone was in a mess and it was impossible to find the culprit.
Moreover, every few steps there were palace servants from the west kitchen staring at them covetously, which was so scary.
The two leading officials from the Baochaosi Palace had no choice but to bite the bullet and walk along the line, directly to the place where they received their meals.
At this time, the palace servants directly put the cooked white noodles into the bowl in front of him. Seeing this, the eunuch of the Treasury Department immediately asked, "You are giving us white noodles? Is this how you treat people?"
The palace servant who was cooking rolled her eyes, put some cooked vegetables on it, and then poured the seasoning in the small bowl directly onto the noodles.
"Just mix it and eat it like this? That's too confusing!"
The palace maid still ignored him, and another palace maid directly poured a spoonful of fragrant beef bone soup on it.
Wait, it seems a bit similar?
Is this bone broth?
It can’t really be beef bones, right?
The palace servant inside rolled his eyes and pointed to the side: "Add whatever condiments you want to eat yourself."
There were several large bowls filled with chopped green onions, leeks, coriander, and chili peppers.
The palace servant holding the bowl of noodles licked her lips.
Such a fragrant noodle soup with so many rich ingredients.
You don’t even have to eat it, it must be delicious!
There are eight such meal delivery windows in total.
These eight windows can cook noodles, add vegetables, seasonings, and pour broth almost non-stop.
No matter who is in line, you can almost immediately get your hot beef bone soup noodles and add some side dishes. As long as the side dishes are not excessive, you can have them. You can eat whatever you want or not.
It actually completely suits their own taste.
The palace people from the Baochaosi who originally wanted to cause trouble were first frightened by Deputy Prime Minister Xi, and then their routes were determined by the intercepted lines.
Then I was overwhelmed by the aroma of the beef noodle soup!
It smells so good!
Wait, is there some beef offal on this noodles?
Although it has been cut so thin that you can hardly see it, it is still there!
If they were in modern times, they would know who Su Wan learned this trick from.
You can eat beef noodle soup. The ingredients in it are good, but who can resist such fragrant noodles and soup?
Sometimes, even if you don’t finish the noodles, you have to drink up the soup!
This is the charm of beef bone soup!
If you like to eat chives, leeks and coriander, you can pour chili on them at the end.
Not to mention the noodles, just a bowl of soup like this would be enough!
Su Wan smiled as she kneaded the last bit of dough, then stuck her head out to take a look. She heard the sound of people slurping noodles all over the cafeteria.
Having said that, no one can resist a bowl of hot, freshly cooked beef noodles!
Even those who come to cause trouble are not allowed!
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