Chapter 45: The So-called Fear of Flying: Cream Chestnut Powder and Candied Haws...
The Old Oak Tavern was filled with the smell of shacha sauce and baked pies. Lily followed the coach dejectedly, holding an ordinary cleaning broom in her hand.
The coach was an old man who looked very gentle. He wore a purple robe and had a very cute little wing brooch on his chest with the words "Floating Team" written on it in sparkling letters.
"It's okay, Grandpa. My fireplace isn't damaged at all, so I don't need to pay for it." Ye Wan turned around and reached for the wine dispenser on the wall. "Would you like some beer? We have passion fruit beer, berry Dahongpao..."
The other party politely refused her: "Oh, that's not possible. I came here on a broomstick. As everyone knows, because of the royal ban on alcohol..."
You An was leaning against the side reading a newspaper. Upon hearing this, he glanced over coldly. Ye Wan didn't know who had offended this big Buddha again, so he had to chase him out: "You ate a pot of noodles, go out and walk to digest it."
Youan was forced to be dragged out the door by her.
"Perhaps we pushed Lily too hard. There's nothing we can do about it. This is the first time our Floating Island has made it into the top ten since the tournament began. The islanders have high expectations of us, and that's probably putting a lot of pressure on Lily."
He nodded towards the wine dispenser on the wall, then took out a small purse from his waist and pushed it to Ye Wan.
Ye Wan: “?”
"I think we're putting too much pressure on Lily. Perhaps a few days away from the team would be beneficial." He looked at Ye Wan with sincere eyes. "Can we let her work in the tavern for a few days? I think it could relieve the pressure of the tournament."
Ye Wan thought about it and thought it was feasible. It just so happened that she was short of people. However, she did not accept the bag of silver coins handed to her by the coach because Lily had said before that the prices in the capital were too high. In order to raise the cost of coming here, every islander on the floating island donated some money. Now the floating team was crowded in a small hotel and trained in the park every day.
"But the champion gets 1,000 gold coins. Oh my god, I can't believe how glittering 1,000 gold coins are." Lily's face was filled with longing, but soon her expression darkened. "But I'll be a drag on the team. Our team might not win the championship because of me."
Ye Wan felt that the coach's decision was wise. If he allowed Lily to continue to be alone in the small hotel and feel sad about the passing of time, she would become Lin Daiyu, lamenting the falling flowers in the sky.
So Ye Wan stuffed the basket into her arms and said, "Let's go to the market."
The golden autumn sunshine was like melted honey, illuminating the market with warmth. Perhaps to keep in line with the season, the canvas tents of the stalls were all changed from blue to the pumpkin orange of harvest. When they fluttered in the wind, Ye Wan felt that he could smell the rich aroma of pumpkin.
It is a harvest season. Many farms drive large pickup trucks to transport bright yellow wheat to the capital to sell. I heard that there is a new product this year, and even the wheat has a faint aroma of bread.
Lily walked excitedly among them, holding a basket of vegetables. She seemed to be in a much better mood. "Oh, it really deserves to be the capital. Our floating island only has one small shop on the entire island. Sometimes we ride brooms to the cliffs to collect glowing berries, and then we sell them in the small shop or exchange them for cookies, cream cakes, etc."
She stopped in front of a huge wheel. An orc was grilling skewers of mountain goat and mountain beef. The skewers were bright red from being soaked in spicy sauce, and fat was constantly dripping onto the ground. The aroma filled the streets.
Ye Wan quickly pulled her away: "That's not meat for sale to humans. Rock beef is too tough." It's only suitable for the orcs who have great bite force.
She found the vegetable stall she often went to. The stall owner was a very kind old lady who wrapped her silver hair with clean floral cloth every day. She smiled kindly at everyone and was very generous. If Ye Wan bought a pound of apples, she would also give him two pears.
Today she brought a basket of chestnuts and a basket of lovely red hawthorn fruits to sell. The fruits were very plump and heavy, emitting a waxy luster in the sun.
The old lady stuffed a bunch of food into Ye Wan's hands and took two apples and put them into Lily's basket. "Looks like we've hired a new clerk. What a lovely clerk."
Ye Wan said, "These are the players from the broomball tournament."
The old lady smiled kindly: "That's amazing, keep it up."
Ye Wan carried the basket and walked back with Lily. Lily tried hard to cut the apple into several pieces, one piece for Ye Wan and one piece for Pancake, who had been squatting in the basket and staring at it eagerly for a long time. After the apple was cut, a strong aroma filled the air:
"That grandma is so kind! She reminds me of my own grandma. A few days before we left the floating island, she stayed up for several nights to help me embroider the moon and stars on my team uniform. The moon and stars are the totems of our island."
Lily worked very diligently and quickly helped Ye Wan wash the plump and round hawthorn fruits. She then strung the fruits together with bamboo sticks and stacked them into a gourd shape.
Ye Wan placed the brass pot on the support and let the sugar particles slowly melt into amber-colored liquid sugar in the water. She tried to pick up a little with chopsticks, and the thick sugar threads fell like golden threads. That was the time.
She demonstrated to Lily, holding the hawthorn skewer in her left hand, quickly wrapping it around the hot icing, and then setting it aside to cool.
The sugar coating quickly solidified into a crispy and translucent shell, reflecting a beautiful glow in the sunlight. Ye Wan handed one to Lily, who looked expectant.
She happily took it and took a bite. With a "crack", the sweet sugar shell broke apart, revealing the hawthorn flesh inside, which was sweet and sour, with a dense and rich fruity aroma.
Ye Wan gave a few more hawthorn berries to Pancake, who sat aside and happily ate the sweet hawthorn berries.
Next, Ye Wan cast his gaze on the fresh cream simmering on the stove. Dense foam had already appeared on the surface of the cream, and a rich frankincense aroma filled the entire kitchen.
Ye Wan took out the steamed chestnuts from the steamer. The chestnuts became soft and dense, and could be mashed and ground into powder very smoothly with a spoon.
She first spread a layer of chestnut puree on the bottom of the bowl, then poured in the cooled cream to form a smooth batter.
Ye Wan added some vanilla seeds to the cream, used a spatula to spread beautiful patterns on the cream, and sprinkled chestnut powder and a pinch of powdered sugar on the top layer.
A creamy chestnut powder with an autumnal aroma was now ready. Facing the expectant gazes of the man and the mouse, Ye Wan placed the dessert in the refrigerator. "No, no, this needs to be frozen until it sets before you can eat it."
Lily and Muffin both sighed in disappointment.
At night, the tavern became lively again. As expected, the topic of discussion among everyone was still broomsticks, especially those from the Guards, especially Justin, who had been wearing the Flying Shadows uniform for several days in a row. He was drinking beer and loudly discussing the results of the game.
Surrounded by a group of people who echoed him, Ye Wan felt as if he was in the World Cup.
Ye Wan originally thought that Youan was a hermit who didn't want to be tainted by the world. However, when Justin raised his glass and asked him who he supported, he actually replied seriously:
"I think the Thunder has a high chance of winning." Then a louder discussion broke out over there, everyone was arguing for the team they supported, and they wanted to overturn Ye Wan's tavern.
But after listening to everyone around, Ye Wan found that no one supported the Floating Team. Lily was sitting in the corner of the tavern and looked unhappy.
After the diners in the tavern had dispersed, Ye Wan quietly pulled You An upstairs. You An was forced to walk forward by her collar, frowning as he said, "I always feel like I'm being pulled by you like a three-headed dog from hell."
"The three-headed dog of hell? What is that?" Ye Wan asked.
"They are the legendary dogs that guard hell. Their duty is to prevent the living from entering hell and the undead from escaping hell. As far as I know, there are two ends of the treasury and the bank." Youan explained.
"Guarding Hell? No wonder the undead can't reply." Ye Wan chatted with him for a while, and then thought of the main topic: "No, I didn't come to you to talk about this. I came to you to... uh, maybe you can casually mention the Floating Team in front of the diners tomorrow..."
Her voice became smaller and smaller, because Youan's meaningful look was really unbearable.
Ye Wan simply gave up and said, "Just consider it as encouragement to Lily. Also, don't let me go to the monastery to worship the Virgin Mary again. Don't think I don't know that you are trying to mock me as the Virgin Mary."
Those beautiful smoky crystal eyes stared at her intently, and then he raised his hand and ruffled her long chestnut hair. "This kind of encouragement is completely useless, and it sounds contrived and artificial."
Ye Wan was a little discouraged: "Oh, actually I think so too, but I can't think of any other way."
Unexpectedly, Youan's saintly nature suddenly erupted. He seemed to be in a good mood, and then took Ye Wan, Pancake and Lily around the back street of Honey Alley, and walked two blocks to an empty abandoned underground track.
There was no one here, only the dim mining lamp hanging on the stone wall and the furry velvet grass growing on both sides.
"Originally, the train station in the royal capital had an underground tunnel built here, but it was never used," he explained.
Youan stuffed the broom he had picked up into Lily's arms and said, "You must put aside all distractions. Don't think about the team, glory, or victory. Just think about how to control the broom."
Lily sat on the broom, her feet on the ground and her hands on the broom handle.
Youan folded his arms at his side: "Throw away the fear instead of letting it control you."
Lily nodded, held her breath for a moment, and then closed her eyes. The broom flew out like a sky-high monkey firecracker, just like yesterday.
She held on to the broom tightly, rolled a few times in the low air and came back, blushing and whispering: "I can't do it..."
Originally, Lily was one of the best broom operators on the floating island. However, one rainy day, she was startled by lightning while riding her broom. She broke a rib when she fell and has been afraid of brooms ever since.
Ye Wan's dark eyes reflected Lily's pale face. She took out the frozen cream chestnut powder from her bag and stuffed it into Lily's hand: "Try again, okay? We will always be with you."
The refrigerated cream chestnut powder has a hint of coolness. When you scoop it out with a small spoon, the dense cream mousse melts in your mouth. Honey is added to the chestnut paste, which is sweet and mellow.
Lily was eating cream chestnut powder, and she thought of the autumn in her hometown. She rode a broom among the sea of clouds, and saw the sunset glow hanging from the horizon like a colorful light strip. The islanders rode brooms among the sea of clouds to watch the sunset and chase flying birds.
She clenched her fists secretly: "I will try my best."
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