Chapter 8 Tea Eggs + Kelp and Mung Bean Soup
The next day, after taking Xiaoyu to school, Tang Yiyi went to the vegetable market.
I bought several rows of eggs, since the restaurant had run out of eggs. I also bought a can of tea and a few pounds of dried chili peppers to make tea eggs.
She also bought some lean pork, eggplant, and green beans, among other things.
Back at the restaurant, after putting down the ingredients, she first filled a basin with water to wash the eggs, and then boiled them using the method she had used yesterday.
Then Tang Yiyi started cleaning. Just then, a woman came in and peeked around.
It was Wang Juan. She remembered the tea eggs she had with Xiao Bao yesterday, and her stomach started craving them.
Before dropping Xiaobao off at school, I made a special trip to the restaurant to check it out, only to find it closed. After dropping Xiaobao off, I waited nearby.
She rushed over as soon as she saw the door open.
"Boss, do you still have yesterday's tea eggs?" Wang Juan asked. Please, God, you must have tea eggs!
"Yes, but you'll have to wait a bit."
“Sure, I can wait,” Wang Juan said. She works the afternoon shift today and only needs to be at the company by 11 a.m.
Wang Juan found a seat and was once again amazed at how clean and hygienic the restaurant was, with spotless tables.
Tang Yiyi put the mung beans that had been soaked overnight, along with kelp, into a pressure cooker, turned on the heat, and cooked them. She then added rock sugar.
Wang Juan sipped her soy milk, which she bought from a nearby breakfast shop for two yuan a cup, and frowned as she drank it.
It was watery and tasted very bland, with almost no bean flavor. It wasn't sweet or delicate at all. It was such a waste of her money!
After taking a couple of sips, Wang Juan put down her soy milk and began to look forward to the tea eggs.
She's going to order three tea eggs later to treat herself—no, four tea eggs, that doesn't seem enough, she should order more…
After a while, Tang Yiyi opened the rice cooker and found that the tea eggs inside were cooked.
At this moment, Wang Juan said, "Boss, are the tea eggs ready? I want seven tea eggs." She gave the remaining three tea eggs to Xiao Bao.
"Alright!" Since some customers still ordered so many tea eggs at once, Tang Yiyi asked, "Do you need them packed separately?"
"Yes, four in one bag, and three in another bag."
The tea eggs looked dark and unappetizing, but Wang Juan, who had tasted them before, knew how delicious they were. She easily peeled off the shell, bent down, and took a bite of the tea egg.
It's this smell that haunted her dreams last night!
The tea eggs are covered in an amber color. When you bite into them, you first taste the slightly salty sauce, then the soft and delicate egg white, while the yolk is fluffy and delicious.
Before she knew it, Wang Juan had already eaten a tea egg...
Her husband suddenly sent her a message. She opened it and saw: [What did you have for breakfast this morning?]
Seeing this, Wang Juan, biting into a tea egg, replied, "Tea eggs, oh, they're so delicious! I could eat several and never get tired of them."
How delicious can tea eggs be? Her husband was puzzled. "So you ate tea eggs for breakfast?"
My wife must have never eaten anything delicious before, which is why she found the ordinary tea eggs so tasty.
Wang Juan: [Besides tea eggs, there was also a cup of soy milk, but the soy milk was too watery. The owner wasn't being honest; it felt like drinking water. I only took a sip or two and didn't want to drink any more.]
The husband, somewhat speechless, asked again, "What about Xiaobao?"
[Xiao Bao also eats tea eggs.]
At this point, Wang Juan ended the conversation and sped up her eating, as Xiao Bao was still waiting for her at school to deliver the tea eggs.
Fortunately, tea eggs aren't dry, so they're not too easy to choke on.
In the next class, Liu Xiaobao rushed from the teaching building to the school gate.
Looking across the street, his eyes held a hint of anticipation.
Wang Juan smiled broadly when she saw her little baby and slipped three tea eggs through the iron gate.
Old Wang had seen this before and was no longer surprised. Every morning, parents would come over to feed their children, secretly slipping them small snacks or something.
But he thought he smelled a strong aroma just now, and for some reason thought of the restaurant across the street, where he was going to have lunch!
With three tea eggs tucked in his pocket, Liu Xiaobao rushed back to the classroom, eager to eat them.
He sat down in his seat, took out a fragrant tea egg, carefully peeled off the brown shell, and the aroma of soy sauce wafted into his nose. He opened his mouth to suck up the sauce that was about to drip from the tea egg, and then bit into the egg white. It was so flavorful and delicious.
Even the egg yolk, which he usually disliked, was soft and delicious. In the end, Liu Xiaobao even licked his fingers.
"Liu Xiaobao, where did you buy these eggs?" His deskmate turned around and asked, staring intently at the tea eggs in his hand.
It seems the school store doesn't sell these kinds of eggs.
"My mom bought it!" Liu Xiaobao said, tilting his chin up with a hint of pride.
"It's in the shop near the school gate."
So that's how it is. My deskmate isn't good at hiding his emotions; he was drooling as he looked at the tea egg in Liu Xiaobao's hand.
After school, he asked his parents to buy it for him because he really wanted to eat it!
Despite the envious stares of his classmates, Liu Xiaobao calmly finished a tea egg, chewing and enjoying the taste.
Class has started, and there's still an indescribable aroma of braised food in the classroom.
The teacher, who hadn't eaten much breakfast, walked in and was speechless. Had she smelled something wrong? Who was poisoning the classroom this morning?
Most of the students glanced at Liu Xiaobao, seemingly casually. That wretched Liu Xiaobao, why was he eating a tea egg in front of them? So infuriating!
After saying "Class begins," the students stood up, said "Hello, teacher," and sat down. The teacher's first question was, "Which student was eating in the classroom?"
Unlike spicy snacks, which have a strong, stimulating flavor, this one has a subtle tea aroma that's hard to ignore.
A few seconds later, Liu Xiaobao said, "It's me, teacher. I just ate a tea egg."
After he finished speaking, the students started talking, and the classroom became lively.
Children this age can't keep things to themselves; they say whatever they want.
"Slurp, it's a tea egg! I want some!"
"Where did you buy these tea eggs? I just ate two meat buns this morning!"
"Liu Xiaobao, how much is a tea egg? I'll give you the money, can you share one with me?"
Almost the entire class was looking at Liu Xiaobao, specifically at the tea eggs in his desk.
The teacher realized that if they continued talking, the class would be canceled. "Quiet down, students, let's start class."
She wants to order some tea eggs to try after class.
The weather was still great today, with bright sunshine. After 10 a.m., the temperature started to rise.
Residents near the school complained about the weather, saying they had no energy to do anything because of the heat.
Just then, the kelp and mung bean soup was ready, and Tang Yiyi brought a pot of soup to the front desk.
Ms. Yu is a teacher at Xingguang Elementary School. She rents a place near the school, and the rent is relatively cheap. She has classes in the afternoon and has only just left home. She is planning to buy breakfast to take to school. As for lunch, she will order takeout.
At this somewhat awkward time, what should she eat? She didn't really want to eat steamed buns; red bean buns were too sweet and would give her a toothache if she ate too many, and the meat buns, which cost three yuan each, had fillings that were barely bigger than her fingernail.
Just as I was worrying, a faint aroma, like the smell of porridge, wafted over.
Teacher Yu sniffed and subconsciously started looking for this. This is what I ate for breakfast!
She finally found the restaurant, but when she went inside, she realized, "Hey, I've eaten here before."
Well, the taste is just average, no different from home-cooked meals. The price is cheap, so it's good value for money.
She ate there several times a year ago, so why has the owner changed?
The aroma was so tempting that Teacher Yu decided to eat at this restaurant. "Boss, do you sell porridge?"
"Only seaweed and mung bean soup is available."
Teacher Yu noticed the names and prices of the dishes on the blackboard. Oh, there are also tea eggs, three yuan each, not cheap.
"Give me two tea eggs and a bowl of seaweed and mung bean soup, to go."
A breakfast cost her more than ten yuan, which made Ms. Yu feel the pinch. Even after working for two years, her monthly salary was still only four thousand yuan. She wanted to save money, but after two years, she still didn't have five figures in savings.
Teacher Yu stood and waited, her back straight. She watched as the owner took two tea eggs out of the rice cooker, put them in a plastic bag, scooped out the soup inside with a large ladle, put them in a bowl, and packed them up.
Tang Yiyi jogged over and handed the guests their tea eggs and seaweed and mung bean soup.
"Thank you," Teacher Yu said, feeling that both flavors should be quite good.
Take care.
Back in the teachers' office, Ms. Yu put down the food she was holding, took out a tea egg, tapped it on the corner of the table, and easily peeled off the shell. What appeared before her was a dark, marinated egg, which smelled particularly good, probably because it had been marinated and cooked thoroughly.
After blowing on it to cool it down, Teacher Yu couldn't wait to start eating. The gravy was so rich and flavorful, leaving a lingering aroma in your mouth. The egg whites were bouncy and delicate, and the yolks were smooth and creamy, all very flavorful.
Once they took a bite, they couldn't stop. After class, the teachers all went back to their offices to rest.
A mixed aroma of food wafted over, and the teachers instinctively looked around and found Teacher Yu eating a braised egg at her desk in the corner.
A note from the author:
----------------------
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com