Chapter 73: Welcome New Members: Smoked Mackerel and Shacha Curry Beef...
Ye Wan had already begun to imagine that when they stepped over the high stone steps of the shrine, an exquisite and extraordinary world would appear before their eyes.
However, Youan raised his hand and stroked the faded shimenawa rope on the tree: "This shrine was built by the Japanese. It has been here for a hundred years. No one has maintained it, so it has fallen into disrepair."
Ye Wan: “…Oh”
The fantasy was shattered, but as the saying goes, since they were already here, Ye Wan still pulled You An up the high stone steps and into the main hall.
"Yuan, do you think there are really gods in this place?"
Next to the main hall is a statue of the fox messenger of Inari God. It is said that the fox is regarded as the messenger of Inari God. The statue wears a faded red scarf around its neck and holds a rice ear in its mouth.
It symbolizes hope for a good harvest in the coming year.
"Forget it, since we are here, we should worship the gods." Ye Wan took out two star copper coins from his pocket, thought for a while, put them back and exchanged them for moon silver coins, and stuffed one into You An's pocket.
Youan took it reluctantly.
The silver coin flew through the air, glittering, and fell into the dusty cash box with a dull "thump".
Ye Wan clasped her hands together and closed her eyes, her eyelashes fluttering slightly in the sunlight. She tilted her head to hint to You An, "Why are you just standing there? Make a wish."
Youan looked at her serious profile, hesitated for a moment, and silently clasped his hands together.
"Dear God, please bless my tavern to run smoothly."
The wind suddenly grew stronger, and the worn amulet swayed slightly, as if responding to something.
"What did you wish for?"
"It won't work if you say it out loud." You An turned his head away and turned back to look at her flushed face.
"It has something to do with you anyway," he thought.
There were still some licorice candies left in the bag, and Ye Wan left them for the cute raccoon cat statue, which Muffin looked at with drooling eyes.
"Alright, Pancake. I'll buy you a basket of licorice candies when we get back to the capital."
In the distance, wild birds flew over the low-lying treetops, startling the light spots on the ground and causing them to jump rapidly before quickly returning to calm.
It was already late when they returned to the royal capital. Ye Wan felt sticky all over and couldn't wait to run upstairs to take a shower. Pancake followed her and squeezed into the bathroom like a cannonball.
Under the dim light, Ye Wan took a small basin of warm water and put the pancakes in it.
Pancake had a small towel on his head and was soaking in the hot water comfortably.
Ye Wan was lying in the bathtub, rubbing the bubbles, when he accidentally glanced out through the blinds. There seemed to be a fat and short figure standing outside the tavern.
"It must be an illusion. Who would come here at this time?" Ye Wan thought so, and rubbed a bunch of foam with his hands and smeared it on Pancake's face.
"Squeak!" It shook off some of the foam on its face, leaving only a little on its chin, making it look very much like Santa Claus.
“Hahahahahahahahahaha.”
Arrogant laughter came from upstairs. Youan sat on the sofa and shook his head helplessly.
He suddenly felt something was wrong. There was a small sensor light on outside the tavern. There was obviously no passerby passing by, but it suddenly stayed on, as if someone was standing outside.
Youan stood up vigilantly, took the silver sword from the wall, and then opened the door suddenly.
There was no one outside the door.
He wondered if he was having some illusion. Just as he breathed a sigh of relief and was about to close the door, a noise came from under his nose.
He lowered his head.
The sword fell down.
Ye Wan took a comfortable bath, changed into pure cotton pajamas, and wiped the muffin clean. It looked like a swollen fur ball.
She went downstairs while wiping her hair with a towel: "I'm done with the shower, You An..."
She paused.
Youan propped up his head, looking distressed.
Opposite the sofa sat a civet cat, wearing a conical hat, with two big dark circles under its eyes, and holding a wine jug in its hand.
The towel in Ye Wan's hand fell to the ground.
"Tanuki...tanuki?"
The raccoon cat quickly took the tavern menu and a ballpoint pen and wrote on the paper:
"I'm an abandoned puppy, please take me in."
Ye Wan: "...you don't look like a puppy no matter how you look at it."
It suddenly began to rain outside, tiny drops of rain falling softly on the glass, while moist, earthy air quietly squeezed in through the half-open window.
Seeing Ye Wan's silence, the civet cat climbed down from the sofa, opened the door and went out, then huddled in the only clean corner under the eaves, pretending to be a sculpture, looking very pitiful.
Dorothy, who was dancing next door, just came back and shouted at Ye Wan, "Don't abandon animals. If you do, you will be arrested and tried by the guards."
Ye Wan had no way to argue and had to let the civet cat back in. It was quite polite and wiped its feet on the carpet at the door before coming in.
She sighed, and thinking about how late it was, she hurriedly found a clean cardboard box and laid a soft floral cushion on it. The raccoon cat lay down in the cardboard box and yawned.
"Forget it, let's go to sleep first." Ye Wan thought.
Pancake lay on the cupboard curiously staring at the civet cat, which was lying on the soft cushion with its legs spread out, sleeping, and then the big snot bubble on its nose burst with a "pop".
Frightened by Pancake, it quickly turned around and went upstairs and back to its hanging basket.
The next morning, Ye Wan went downstairs yawning and found that the raccoon cat was already waiting by the table wearing an apron. When she saw Ye Wan coming downstairs, she bowed to her seriously.
"No, no, no." Ye Wan quickly reached out and gave it a slight support.
There was a large plate of triangular rice balls on the table, which looked steaming hot and delicious.
You An also came down the stairs and joked, "It's rare that you get up to make breakfast today."
Ye Wan looked at him dimly: "It wasn't me who did it."
The raccoon cat silently raised its paw.
"This looks delicious." Ye Wan reached out and picked up one, pinching it into a plump triangular rice ball, and then coated the outside with a layer of roasted, thick, shiny and rich sauce. Because it was roasted, it tasted crispy and the sauce had a sticky texture. The rice was wrapped very firmly and had a very chewy texture when bitten.
The civet cat was wearing a floral apron and carrying a copper kettle to pour her a cup of tea. Ye Wan felt a little embarrassed and quickly said, "You sit down too, you sit down too."
"This rice ball is really delicious. Your cooking skills are amazing." Ye Wan praised.
The raccoon blushed, scratched his head embarrassedly, and then demonstrated it to her with his hands and feet.
It stretched out its paw and gestured: First, divide the cooked rice into several equal portions and pinch the rice into plump triangles.
It then took out a bowl and a brush and simulated the action of painting the rice balls with a brush: it prepared delicious teriyaki sauce in the bowl and evenly painted it on the rice balls.
It pointed to the frying pan: Put the rice balls coated with sauce on the frying pan and fry them on low heat.
Ye Wan applauded it: "Great."
The raccoon scratched his head embarrassedly.
Muffin stomped his feet.
"Muffin is great too." Ye Wan touched Muffin's head: "You are also very useful, for example, for example..."
Songbing looked at Ye Wan expectantly. She stood up guiltily and took the basket hanging on the wall: "I'm going to buy some vegetables."
Ye Wan hurried out, carrying the basket.
Ye Wan took a few steps and found that the civet cat was following him quietly.
"Do you want to go too?" Ye Wan asked.
The raccoon cat nodded.
"Then let's go together."
The raccoon cat looked very happy.
Ye Wan's boots stepped on the stone road, and the civet cat, still wearing its tattered hat, followed her to the market.
Ye Wan walked to a faded tent on the west side of the market with ease. The proprietress's broad hands were gathering the flour on the chopping board into a small hill.
"Wide noodles or thin noodles?" she asked.
Ye Wan hesitated for a moment, and the raccoon cat next to him squatted there, looking at the buckwheat noodles spread out on the plastic sheet to dry.
"That buckwheat noodles is cheap, only five copper coins." said the proprietress.
"Do you want this?" Ye Wan asked the civet cat.
It nodded.
"Then I'll take this." Ye Wan took out his wallet. The proprietress wiped her hands on her apron and took the money. "People in the capital don't buy buckwheat very often. You're the only one who comes here so often."
"That's because they don't know how to cook. Soba noodles are delicious when cooked."
The fish stall next door was having a big sale on mackerel. The stall owner, an orange cat, held up a fat mackerel with his paws. The fish's tail was strong and powerful, gleaming with rainbow light in the sun.
"It's freshly caught, so fresh, the gills are still covered with fat, why don't you take one?"
Ye Wan was a little embarrassed: "It looks good, but I have never processed mackerel..." The civet cat pulled the hem of her skirt.
Ye Wan lowered his head: "You can do this too?"
The raccoon cat nodded again.
“That’s amazing.”
When they returned home, it was almost noon. The civet cat put on her apron again, put on gloves, and skillfully began to process the mackerel with a knife, leaving the fattiest part of the belly and marinating it with salt.
This fish has a thick layer of fat, so no oil is needed when frying it. Just put it in the pan. When the fish skin becomes golden and crispy, sprinkle sea salt and black pepper on both sides, and squeeze some lemon juice.
The civet cat scooped up a small piece on a white plate and handed it to Ye Wan, then handed her a pair of chopsticks.
Ye Wan picked up the chopsticks and poked the fish skin. The skin was really crispy and slightly charred. He tore open the fish skin to reveal the snow-white and tender fish meat inside.
Ye Wan took a bite. The mackerel was perfectly crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The lemon juice helped alleviate the greasiness, making it very delicious and refreshing.
"You are a great chef, so awesome." Ye Wan praised happily, and the raccoon cat waved his hand modestly.
Ye Wan stewed beef ribs and brisket in a pot. The beef tendons had to be completely cooked before being considered done. Then he put them into the pot and stir-fried them with onions and garlic until they were slightly charred.
The raccoon cat handed her curry cubes and shacha sauce.
"Thank you, Tanuki... Do you have a name, Tanuki-san?"
It still ran to the counter to get a ballpoint pen and paper, and wrote on it:
"My last name is Lushan."
"So that's how it is, Mr. Lushan. Could you help me cut the radish into pieces?"
Pancake's face was as red as a bun, and he leaned over the counter to look inside. Youan held a coffee cup in one hand and a newspaper in the other to comfort him: "Forget it, forget it."
Muffin was still very angry: "Squeak!"
When the first portion of spicy and fragrant shacha curry beef came out of the pot, the tavern welcomed its first customer of the day.
The person who came was Mr. Hans, whom I hadn’t seen for a long time. He no longer needed to cover his face with a black veil, and the scars on his face were exposed.
He looked a little worried today. "Please give me one of today's set meals and pack one for me."
"You don't look happy. What's wrong, Mr. Hans?" Ye Wan served the steaming beef rice. The thick curry sauce wrapped every grain of rice, and large pieces of beef were spread on the curry, which looked very delicious.
Hans picked up the spoon: "Leo's health is not very good, but to be honest, he is over 80 years old..."
He took a bite of rice. The beef was very tender, and the gravy flowed out as he chewed. The curry satay had a unique mellow aroma, and the stewed radish was soft, sweet, and sweet. He scooped a spoonful of rice covered with curry satay sauce, and could clearly feel the stimulation of the dry chili peppers, which made him sweat slightly after eating it.
Hans took a sip of his cold beer and said, "This is delicious."
Ye Wan wanted to ask him about Leo's health, but the wind chimes on the door started to ring again.
She turned to greet the new guest and soon discovered that it wasn't just the wind chimes on the door that were tinkling.
The person who came was wearing a white undergarment and a scarlet hakama as bright as fire. There were white hemp ropes sewn on the front and back of her body, and she was holding a Kagura bell in her hand.
Perhaps this Kagura bell is also one of the sources of the tinkling sound.
"Who are you?" Ye Wan asked
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