Chapter 52: The Silent Guest Winter delicacy is oden...
Ye Wan deeply realized that the consequences of defaulting on payments to relevant departments were extremely serious. A yakitori restaurant at the front row of Honey Lane was fined for occupying the road.
The shop owner was a weird and stubborn old man who refused to pay the fine. After 180 days, a group of ugly goblins came to his door carrying harps, guitars and accordions.
Their pointed ears were covered with colorful rags, and everyone looked unhappy.
The gongs, drums, and harps were struck vigorously, and the goblins formed a circle around the yakitori shop and began to sing:
"Gold coins glitter, copper coins jingle, but the master is in debt, how can he sleep peacefully?"
The citizens of the royal capital loved to join in the fun. After all, it was winter and there was not much work to do. They came from all directions to watch this ridiculous farce. The shop owner opened the door with a grim face and threw a purse at the goblins.
The goblins took the money, carried their musical instruments, and lined up and walked away with gloomy faces.
The spectators around burst into laughter.
Ye Wan felt like he was about to faint.
It can be clearly seen that not paying back debts does not cause much physical harm but extremely great mental harm.
"I really should go cut off the ears of the Golems." Her face was pale as she cut a piece of beef with a knife, pretending to be cutting the ears of some magical creature.
Youan looked at her weak appearance and leaned aside in some confusion, wondering whether he should tell her that he had brought back some money.
But the next second, her face turned rosy again: "Forget it, there's still the singing contest. What if I can win the gold medal?"
Youan didn't know where her inexplicable confidence came from. At least this morning, when he was still sleeping by the fireplace in the attic, he heard extremely strange and breathless singing from the garden.
He thought it was a banshee or a group of trolls that had suddenly attacked the tavern, so he immediately drew his sword and opened the window. He saw Ye Wan standing alone in the garden, singing:
“He sang to me in my sleep, he came to me in my dreams…The Phantom of the Opera is there, lurking in my heart…”①
After she finished singing this, she looked up and saw Youan looking down at her from the attic window. His handsome and calm face was rarely pale and frightened.
Ye Wan's voice sounded relaxed and light: "Oh, it's Youan, were you awakened by my singing? I just happened to be looking for you, are you willing to 'compose a strange duet' with me?"
"I really don't want to. Besides, I wasn't woken up by your singing, I was woken up by the noise!" After saying that, he once again pulled the window door shut.
Ye Wan was not happy: "Who has offended him again?" She quickly put on a smile and said to the battered pancakes in the cart: "Forget about him, let's sing another song!"
Pancake's face showed a trace of fear: "Squeak!"
She seemed to think that winning the singing competition gold medal was a sure thing and she wouldn't have to worry about paying back the money, so she worked even harder.
When the market was almost open, she took the muffins and walked through the busy streets and alleys to the quiet Goose Girl Street, where Kiara's rented blacksmith shop was.
It was a very cold day and the north wind made Ye Wan's face hurt, but Kiara was only wearing a dark green vest, revealing two muscular arms.
She was concentrating on making a big machete on the red-hot iron rack. When she saw Ye Wan, she greeted Ye Wan enthusiastically and dragged a bench for her to sit down.
Big Iron was wearing a floral apron and came over to pour her a cup of warm coffee.
"This floral apron is so beautiful and suits you very well." Ye Wan took the coffee and took a sip. Da Tiekuai was a good cook and the coffee was rich and delicious.
The big iron block said cheerfully, "This is what the librarian recommended to me. It's naturally roasted beans at volcanic temperatures. It's very fragrant. You can take some home and try it."
Ye Wan: "...Oh, he tried to sell it to me, but I didn't want it."
Kiara took out the knife that had already taken shape with pliers, hammered it into shape, and then immersed it in cold water again.
With a "hiss", a puff of white smoke emerged from the quenching basin.
"It seems you've mastered the art of blacksmithing, Kiara."
The latter looked very proud. "Of course. Perhaps it's because I was a mercenary before, I can always design the most suitable weapons for my customers. What kind do you want? I think a thin long sword would suit you. A broadsword is too heavy for you to carry."
Ye Wan scratched his head awkwardly: "No, I'm not here to forge weapons."
She had drawn the pattern of the copper hot pot on parchment in advance and handed it to Kiara.
Kiara patted the dust off her hands and took it to look at it: "You want to order an iron pot?"
Ye Wan quickly explained to her what a hot pot is. There needs to be a fire burning in the bottom part, and the furnace must be bright enough so that the fire will not be suddenly extinguished.
She had already visited several blacksmith shops, but they all turned her down, saying they had "never done it" or "it was too complicated." Ye Wan thought of her good friend Kiara.
Although Kiara was already a craftsman specializing in weapons, as the "lioness" of the royal capital, Kiara was obviously willing to accept all challenges. She quickly patted her chest and assured Ye Wan that she would take care of this matter.
Ye Wan gave the deposit without hesitation and promised to give Kiara a 20% discount when the hot pot was launched. She even did not forget to invite Kiara to eat oden tonight.
"That hot one is delicious. I will order your favorite white wine. You must come!" Ye Wan waved goodbye to her and left with the pancake.
Before going home, she went to Madame Pellowa's brewery again. Ye Wan was very excited. It snowed, and she finally had her favorite butter beer.
After searching among hundreds of oak barrels for a long time, Ye Wan still couldn't find Mrs. Pellowa. Finally, a weak voice came from the second floor: "I'm here."
Madame Pellois, wrapped in a thick woolen blanket, with three stoves at hand, seemed to be very afraid of the cold.
Ye Wan looked at her for a while and said, "It's rare that you didn't bring a book full of muscular handsome men today."
The latter responded weakly: "Cold weather makes people lose their desire. If you are willing to let the handsome guy in your tavern buy drinks, I think I will be more energetic. You know, my life depends on handsome guys."
But Youan had already told Ye Wan very firmly that he would rather go to the dungeon to fight the trolls than come here and face Mrs. Pellowa's passionate eyes like X-rays.
Ye Wan had no choice but to put on a smile and said, "I'll order some white wine and butter beer."
Mrs. Pellois huddled down under the blanket. "I'll have the servant bring you some liquor later. We're out of butterbeer."
Ye Wan couldn't believe his ears.
Butterbeer is a drink that combines warm liquor with dense cream. Citizens of the royal capital don't like to go out in winter. Their favorite thing to do is drink a glass of butterbeer and eat butter cookies by the fireplace.
So it's common for these winter bestsellers to sell out immediately after the snow.
Madame Pellois gave her a sympathetic look: "Please come earlier next time."
Ye Wan left disappointed.
When she got home, Youan had already left the oden broth hanging there, and she said "thank you" weakly.
The latter immediately asked her what happened.
So Ye Wan leaned over the counter and told him that the butter beer was sold out.
"It's just a drink," said Youan.
"That is the light of my life and the direction I am moving forward. I won't tell you anymore. It won't make sense to you." She went to prepare the ingredients for oden.
Ye Wan followed the example of Japanese ramen restaurants and planned to install a small open kitchen inside the counter in the lobby so that she could chat with the guests in the tavern while working inside.
However, due to lack of funds, this idea has never been realized.
Ye Wan went to get the broth that Youan had prepared. The moment she opened the lid of the pot, white hot steam and rich aroma came out, and kelp and bonito flakes were rolling inside. Ye Wan put shiitake mushrooms, bamboo rolls, fish cakes, fish roe lucky bags, fried tofu, and white radish in all at once.
This soup base is simple, relying entirely on the freshness of kelp for seasoning. Ye Wan thought about it and added a spoonful of chili pepper to enhance the flavor of the soup base.
Soon, the porters brought in two barrels of liquor from outside the house, and Ye Wan paid them their wages.
She threw a few more sweet potatoes sent by Annie into the fireplace. Muffin jumped onto her shoulder and looked at the fireplace expectantly.
It likes roasted sweet potatoes very much, especially the delicious sweet potatoes with the sweet aroma of honey that Annie sent. If Ye Wan hadn't stopped it, it would have eaten 10 of them.
When the time was almost up, Ye Wan took out three roasted sweet potatoes.
Youan came over consciously.
When Ye Wan first started roasting the sweet potato, he was dismissive, thinking it was very ungraceful to peel the sweet potato with bare hands and then chew it.
But after taking a bite of the sweet potato flesh, Youan was able to consciously sit in front of the fireplace with Ye Wan and peel the sweet potato.
Peel off the wrinkled, burnt shell baked by fire to reveal the soft, sweet and fragrant sweet potato flesh. The sweet potato flesh has an attractive, honey-like color, and the syrup is as thick and sweet as honey. When you bite into it, the fibrous flesh melts immediately on your tongue, with a burnt aroma and rich sweetness.
The two men and the rat were immersed in the delicious food when someone hurried into the tavern with a broom.
The first guest was Lily. The postponement of the arena competition turned out to be a blessing in disguise as she had more time to practice, and now she has become a qualified player.
But Lily was not used to the weather in the capital, because the floating island was like spring all year round and it was never cold enough to shiver.
She put her broom in the corner and hurried over to warm herself by the fire: "Good day, Ye Wan, is there anything warm to eat?"
Ye Wan ran to get the oden that was almost cooked, picked up one of each and put it into a wooden bowl, and placed it in front of Lily: "You are not old enough to drink yet, would you like a bowl of rice with it?"
Lily looked at the hot stew in front of her and nodded hurriedly: "Okay, another bowl of rice."
The fried tofu soaks up the delicious broth, and the boiling hot liquid seeps out and seeps into the rice. The soft-boiled egg, simmered to a faint amber hue, opens, and the semi-solidified yolk flows out like lava...
Soon the pub was packed with guests who were getting off work. Everyone was rubbing their hands and complaining about the cold weather when they came in, but after eating the piping hot oden and drinking a glass of warm white wine, everyone's face was filled with happy smiles.
Ye Wan walked around, greeting every diner and loudly announcing that he was about to participate in the Winter Diva Contest, taking the opportunity to ask them to vote for him.
Kiara urged her to perform a song.
You An was sitting at the counter eating his big pot of oden. He stood up immediately after hearing this. It was obvious that he wanted to stop the confident Ye Wan from doing this in front of a group of customers.
Just as he was considering whether to kidnap the man and take him to the kitchen or knock him out, the Virgin Mary must have heard his prayers and a very special girl walked into the tavern. Her face was covered with bright blue scales.
Ye Wan looked at her curiously for a while, and then asked, "Welcome, is there anything you would like to eat?" Ye Wan handed her the menu.
The other person's beautiful blue eyes blinked twice at Ye Wan, and then showed her a series of complex gestures, as if he was making some kind of seal.
Ye Wan was confused: "What?"
The other person pointed to his throat and shook his head.
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