Chapter 31 Shadow Moon Festival Plum Wine and Crab Stew
Arthur Berlin's hands were shaking as he held the rose, but Kiara accepted it graciously. "Oh, thank you. I love it. Desert roses are also a specialty of my hometown in the North."
She stroked the flower as if lost in memory: "That flower..."
Berlin looked at her expectantly:
"The flowers are very juicy. I often pick a bunch to feed my sheep."
Berlin:"......"
Big iron block: "......"
This person is really not romantic at all. Ye Wan seemed to hear the sound of Berlin's heartbreaking.
Except for Kiara, everyone else felt the awkward atmosphere, so Ye Wan and Youan quickly stood up to say goodbye to them and said that the tavern would be open for business soon. Kiara was reluctant to wave goodbye to them and said that she would go to the Old Oak Tavern for a drink after she got better.
As a result, it took the two of them a long time to leave the hospital because a child secretly ate a candy that had a lot of expanders added to it, and the child swelled up like a huge balloon, blocking the door.
Several security guards outside were desperately pushing him inside, two doctors were pulling his arms inside, a child was crying loudly, the scene was extremely chaotic.
Finally, the child was pushed into the room with great difficulty and floated to the ceiling like a balloon. The doctors hurriedly went to get a ladder.
Seeing Ye Wan's stunned expression, a considerate elf nurse kindly patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, the Shadowmoon Festival will be here soon. Things like this happen every year around this time. But be wary of the candy people hand you during this time. You never know what strange potions might be mixed in there."
Ye Wan and You An took two more public carriages to go home and met Dorothy at the door. She was signing for the items she had ordered with a rosy face. It was a box of colorful potions, shaking happily in a glass bottle.
As the courier helped her carry the box in, Dorothy warned, "Be careful! Even if that expander comes into contact with your skin, it can inflate you like a balloon and send you flying into the air. You don't want to see that."
"I've seen it before." Ye Wan looked at the bottle of blue expander in horror.
"Oh, it's you." Dorothy turned around and saw Ye Wan and You An: "The Shadow Moon Festival will be here soon. I made some candies to distribute to the neighbors. Come and get them when you have time." After saying that, she walked into her candy shop with light and cheerful steps.
"I won't eat this candy, not even a single bite." Ye Wan said firmly.
There happened to be frozen blue crabs for sale at the market, so Ye Wan bought a basket and cut them with a knife. The crab meat inside was still very plump, and the orange crab roe looked oily and tempting.
First put ginger slices, garlic cloves, etc. into the pot and stir-fry them. Ye Wan then scooped a spoonful of secret chili sauce and used the spoon to spread the chili sauce in the oil pan. Dense bubbles appeared as the sauce mixed with the hot oil.
Add the crab pieces, dip them in a thin layer of starch paste, and then stir-fry quickly so that the crab meat is coated with the thick sauce.
Ye Wan’s secret is to add a whole cup of beer to the crab pot. The moment he pours it in, there is a “hiss” sound and violent steam rises from the pot.
After pouring in the beer, the broth will become more mellow and fragrant. At this time, add the diced potatoes. The soft and glutinous potatoes will make the soup thicker. There are also white and plump rice cake strips and fried tiger skin chicken feet.
Finally, cover the pot and let it stew on its own.
The green plum wine that had been pickled on the shelf for almost a month was ready to be opened. Ye Wan opened the wine, and the rich aroma of green plums filled his nose. Adding a little ice cubes, it tasted sour, sweet and cold, and was very delicious.
In the evening, small lights twinkled in the streets and alleys of Honey Lane, and diners began to arrive one after another.
Green plum wine and crab pot are today's main set menus, and you can get a 20% discount if you order one.
So many diners ordered it. The moment they opened the lid of the pot, the long-accumulated heat and rich aroma spread over the surface. The soup was thick and glossy, and various tempting side dishes were faintly visible.
Diners can't wait to pick up a piece of crab meat and take a bite. The sweet soup bursts out first, followed by the firmness and freshness of the crab meat. The rice cake inside absorbs the soup and becomes soft and glutinous. The potatoes are sweet and the tiger skin chicken feet are covered with seasonings and melt in the mouth. It goes well with plum wine or iced draft beer.
Youan served himself a bowl of rice. Ye Wan discovered that this man's eating posture was as elegant as that of a nobleman, and others would be involuntarily attracted by his demeanor.
But an important fact is overlooked.
That means this person has a huge appetite!
For example, at this moment, he elegantly scooped a spoonful of thick soup and poured it on the rice; then he elegantly stirred it with a spoon, allowing every grain of rice to absorb the essence of the soup; then he elegantly put the rice into his mouth, and the richness of crab roe and fat, the salty and fragrant soup and the full taste of rice blended perfectly.
Youan finished a pot of crab stew and three bowls of rice by himself so elegantly.
Under Ye Wan's shocked gaze, he wiped his mouth gracefully with a handkerchief, then looked at her: "Look, I won't make your cooking any better."
"I didn't expect you to have such a big appetite. Have you considered participating in a competitive eating contest? I think you can win first place." Ye Wan said dryly.
A blush immediately appeared on the latter's pale face, and then he stood up, holding the plate and silently fled into the kitchen.
Ye Wan burst into laughter.
Emma finished her evening shift and came to the tavern as usual: "Hey, Ye Wan, what activities are you planning to hold at the Shadow Moon Festival?"
Ye Wan had heard about the Shadow Moon Festival for the third time today: "What on earth is this festival?"
The Shadow Moon Festival is an annual celebration on August 31st, when two moons overlap. Legend has it that on such days, the dead have the right to return to the human world for one night, hence the festival's nickname, "Carnival of the Dead."
On this day, everyone will prepare various candies and use the sweetness to dissolve the resentment of the dead. Because in the dark story, a passerby refused to provide candies to the dead, causing the dead to follow the passerby back home full of resentment, and built a coffin made of candies for him after he fell asleep.
Various carnival activities will be prepared on this day. Knights will ride on horses and parade floats from the cemetery to the city center to welcome the dead home.
"It sounds like Halloween." Ye Wan said.
"What is Halloween? Is it a festival where you live?" Emma asked.
But apparently she had no interest in Halloween, because the next second, Emma took out a bag of candies from her pocket. The candies were pink and as cute as pink crystals.
"My mom bought this from the Strange Shop today. These candies all have different flavors. I ate a strawberry flavored one today, and there's even a garlic flavored one. I heard the Strange Shop has created a new candy called 'snail noodle' flavor. They learned it from another world. My dad ate it and said it tasted like... a sewer explosion."
Ye Wan looked at the candies warily and said hesitantly, "I think... uh, I'd better forget it."
She thought again of the little boy who had floated like a balloon in the hospital.
Emma shrugged and glanced at the muffin sitting on the counter, its back to them, puffed up and rolled into a sticky rice ball.
From Ye Wan's perspective, he could see its round buttocks rising and falling. "I didn't take it to the rehabilitation center, and it's been sulking all day."
Emma pointed at the candy and said, "Come and have some candy, Muffin. There should be some nuts you like here."
Muffin didn't look back, but just moved his two big ears.
Emma continued, "It has a very fresh and rich macadamia flavor, and the texture is just as smooth as macadamia."
Muffin wiped his saliva and finally turned around. He sniffed around the pile of candies for a long time, carefully picked out a piece that looked darker in color, and took a bite.
Then a golden light spread from its butt to its entire body, wrapping it up like a cocoon.
After a while, the light cocoon turned into thousands of tiny light points and floated down, and a pair of pink wings spread out from behind the muffin.
Ye Wan was stunned.
Emma continued to drink plum wine calmly: "Oh, it's a flying spell, don't worry, it will disappear after a while."
Pancake flapped its wings twice, feeling good about itself. It stared at the beautiful pink wings with bright eyes, then stuck out its butt and jumped off the edge of the table resolutely.
Obviously, it wanted to test its flying ability, but it was too fat, and the whole mouse fell down quickly like a lead ball. When its bulging belly was about to hit the ground, Ye Wan quickly squatted down and caught it with his hands. Due to inertia, its head was hit hard by the leg of the oak table.
"Ouch!" she howled like a werewolf, then rubbed her head. "I'm going to put up a notice outside. No one is allowed to bring in any magical candy."
She said firmly.
The bump on his head had some bruises because she rubbed it twice, so Youan went to the attic to get a cotton swab and iodine.
You An looked at the big bump on her forehead and suddenly laughed out loud: "This bump is almost as swollen as a pancake's belly."
Ye Wan's forehead twitched, and she was about to stand up from the chair, but the latter suddenly leaned over and pressed his arms on both sides of the chair: "Why are you running? If you fall and become stupid, no one will take over your tavern."
He used his slender fingers to hold cotton, dipped it in some iodine, and pressed it on her head.
"pain."
"It hurts? Of course it hurts." He said this, but his hands moved much more gently.
Ye Wan pouted and frowned. You An lowered his eyes to look at her, then bent down to blow on her head.
It was around 11 o'clock in the evening. All the guests had left, and they were the only two left in the pub. The warm summer breeze blew in through the window lattice, and a dim lamp cast some warm light, casting their shadows on the wall.
From Ye Wan's perspective, the shadow looked like a gentle kiss from His Royal Highness the Prince.
Ye Wan's face suddenly turned red.
When he lowered his head, his beautiful smoky crystal eyes seemed to be filled with tiny stars, and the shadows cast by his eyelashes were also very soft.
Outside Honey Alley, the noisy chirping of cicadas suddenly became silent in the midsummer. Ye Wan heard his heart transform into a small copper bell, and the pink-winged pancake took a hammer and hit the bell, making it buzz.
He must have drunk too much plum wine last night, Ye Wan thought.
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