In the evening, Su Yan wrapped zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) in the yard. She also had ten pounds of fatty and lean pork belly simmering in the pot, which she would just heat up the next morning.
Because she hadn't seen Weiwu for so long, in addition to fifty zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) and ten jin (5 kg) of pork belly, she also made twenty mooncakes with double yolk lotus seed paste filling and twenty mooncakes with five-nut filling.
Mid-Autumn Festival is just over a week away. She might not be able to return to the village by then, so she might as well prepare to take the gifts up the mountain to celebrate the festival with Weiwu in advance.
"Sis, I want to eat too."
Su Lei and Hu Zi squatted to the side watching Su Yan make mooncakes, the aroma of baking making their mouths water.
Since we don't have an oven at home, we grill the tobacco by fire and pan-fry it by pan-frying.
Both methods require careful attention to the heat; otherwise, the food will burn or fall apart.
"Are you worried about not having enough to eat?" Su Yan laughed. "I didn't bring it all up the mountain."
Su Lei pouted, "You won't let me eat the pork belly in the pot."
"I'm taking those to the mountain to worship the mountain god. I'll make you some sponge cake when I get back, okay?"
"Okay!" Su Lei readily agreed.
The steamed egg cakes sold outside are sweet and fragrant, but his sister's are definitely better than the ones sold outside.
Su Lei is a guy who likes sweet things, so every time I make sweet and spicy braised dishes, I have to save a whole set for him.
Su Yan stopped talking to them; her attention was focused on the mooncakes.
About half an hour later, the aroma of baking wafted out of the yard, and the neighbors who had closed their windows and were preparing to go to sleep were tempted by the smell.
"Squeak—!"
"What are you doing at your house? It smells so good I can't sleep."
The sound suddenly fell from above.
Su Yan came out of the kitchen in the yard and looked in the direction of the sound. She saw that the window of the second-floor room of the house on the left was open, and a middle-aged woman was peeking out and looking at them curiously.
Su Yan was silent for a few seconds before asking in confusion, "I remember no one lives next door."
She's lived here for so long, and the houses on both sides have always been empty; she's never seen anyone come out.
The woman explained, "Most of my family's business is in Lanshi, so we moved there. We don't come back often. I just got back tonight, so I probably didn't make much noise and you didn't hear me. I remember there used to be a family of three living in this apartment, but they moved away too?"
"Yes." Su Yan didn't go into too much detail. "I've been living here for about half a month."
The woman didn't dwell on it too much. She glanced curiously into the kitchen and asked, "Are you making bread? I can smell the aroma of baking bread."
"No, I was making mooncakes. I don't have an oven at home, so it was my first time baking them over a fire. I didn't expect the smell to affect you. I'm really sorry," Su Yan said apologetically.
She spends most of her time walking around during the day, and only has time to cook at night.
"It doesn't matter, it just smells so good. What kind of filling did you make? Can I buy two to try? None of the mooncakes I've had before smell as good as yours."
Su Yan: "Forget about selling it. I'll have my brother deliver it to your door tomorrow. Consider it a neighborly gift. I hope you won't mind."
The woman was overjoyed to hear this. "Thank you so much! I certainly won't mind. Oh, by the way, my name is Wei Xiaoyu. You can just call me Aunt Wei."
Su Yan nodded. "Hello, Aunt Wei. My name is Su Yan."
"Okay, then I won't bother you anymore. You guys should get some rest." Wei Xiaoyu said and closed the window.
Su Lei leaned closer and whispered, "Sis, why did Aunt Wei actually accept our mooncakes? Shouldn't she have been embarrassed and said no?"
Su Yan raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but laugh, "Maybe she's just a bit too outgoing? It's okay, it's good to build a good relationship with the neighbors by making mooncakes. Anyway, they're homemade. You pack six for her tomorrow morning, three of each flavor, understand?"
"become."
Forty mooncakes, only eight can be baked at a time. Su Yan finished baking them all and it was past 1 a.m. When she was packing up her things for tomorrow and getting ready to go back to her room to sleep, there was a sudden knock on the door.
"Knock knock!"
Su Yan walked to the door and asked warily, "Who is it?"
"It's me." The voice sounded a little tired.
Su Yan knew who it was as soon as she heard it, and immediately opened the door, only to be stunned when she saw the person outside.
Jiang Jingxing's handsome face was full of fatigue, his beard was unshaven, his hair was a bit messy, and he was still wearing the green uniform he wore to Beijing. He looked extremely disheveled.
"You...aren't you in Beijing?" Su Yan was a little confused.
Jiang Jingxing stepped forward, raised his hand to support her shoulder, took a deep breath, and said, "I need to trouble you with something. Do you have anything to eat? I'm starving."
He drove fast the whole way back, otherwise he wouldn't have arrived in Anping Town until tomorrow morning.
Seeing that he looked travel-worn, Su Yan didn't ask anything, but said directly, "Come in and sit down, I'll get you something to eat."
After she finished speaking, she turned around and went to the kitchen to get something.
There was a dining table in the courtyard, and Jiang Jingxing sat there after locking the door.
A few minutes later, Su Yan brought out the food and placed it in front of him. "There's only braised pork and zongzi. Drink some water to soothe your stomach before you eat."
After drinking the water, Jiang Jingxing ate heartily, clearly starving.
Although he ate very quickly and hurriedly, he didn't make a fool of himself at all.
Su Yan sat down next to him and waited for him to finish eating before speaking.
Jiang Jingxing finished his food in a few bites, wiped his mouth clean, and before she could ask, he took the initiative to say, "My grandfather was poisoned by a mixture of four kinds of herbs: datura, oleander, crown of thorns, and water hemlock. There is no antidote. The traditional Chinese medicine practitioners want to develop an antidote, but they lack the herbs, specifically these kinds. Take a look."
He took a note out of his pocket and gave it to her.
Su Yan glanced at them, her brows immediately furrowing. After a few seconds of deliberation, she slowly spoke: "These are not particularly precious medicinal herbs. They may not be common on the market, but they can still be bought, especially in a place like Beijing."
Jiang Jingxing narrowed his eyes instantly. "You mean someone is interfering?"
"I don't know. I don't understand the circles of you big shots." Su Yan blinked innocently, her meaning couldn't be clearer.
After thinking for a moment, she added, "However, it's not easy to find all six medicinal herbs at once. I can go up the mountain to help you find them, but I'll charge you. I don't do free work."
Her direct and frank manner pleased him, and he smiled and said, "I'll find a way to get the money. Also, your foot hasn't fully recovered yet, so I'll accompany you up the mountain so we can take care of each other if anything happens."
Su Yan certainly wouldn't refuse; what could be better than having someone do the hard work for free? It would save her so much trouble going up the mountain tomorrow.
Most importantly, Jiang Jingxing knew of Wei Wu's existence; if it were anyone else who wanted to go up the mountain with her, she wouldn't agree.
"I'm going up the mountain tomorrow anyway. I'll get up at five in the morning, so don't stay up too late to avoid attracting attention. You should take a shower and go to bed first."
Jiang Jingxing had a gentle demeanor, and talking to her made me feel much less tired.
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