Chapter 106: Reminiscing about the past, the Taoist robe he was wearing turned black...
Song Jin secretly bought Chunyun without telling his father. From then on, Chunyun had a guarantee, at least her father could not marry her off for money.
But Song Jin was worried about herself. She didn't want to pin everything on her father's conscience. What if one day he was bewitched by others and felt that he could make money, became more confident, and started to care about face, and asked his daughter to do her duty? She would be miserable.
She didn't want to fall out with Lao Lu unless it was absolutely necessary.
In this world, the father is the leader of the son. She can't win anywhere, and she doesn't want to take the risk.
Song Jin was panicking. For several days in a row, she asked the servant who came to pick up milk tea when Master Ji would be back, but he always said next month, so she had to give up.
Who would have thought that Ji Shubai didn't come back, but another person, Wen Xin, came first.
When Wen Xin arrived, Song Jin was still in the kitchen helping to cook boiled peanuts and edamame to be sold tonight. Meng Qi suddenly came in and said that the former Master Wen had arrived and asked about her.
After hearing this, Song Jin washed his hands, wiped them on his apron twice, and went out.
Wen Xin was still the same, with a round face and narrow eyes, looking silly. He was wearing a brand new sky-blue Taoist robe. He was sitting at the table with his legs crossed. He picked up a fried peanut and threw it into his mouth. Before he started chewing, he saw Song Jin come out and immediately chuckled.
"Shopkeeper Lu, I haven't seen you for a long time. It turns out you are making a fortune here."
Song Jin didn't have a good impression of him. Seeing that he was teasing without changing his expression, he walked closer and said, "Just now the waiter said that a distinguished guest had arrived. I didn't expect it to be Master Wen."
Wen Xin didn't buy her tricks and laughed at her: "I'm not considered a distinguished guest here, it's good enough that I'm not annoying."
Song Jin did not object, but just asked: "Mr. Wen, what would you like to eat? Today we have steamed sea bass, golden pumpkin..."
"I'm not here to eat." Before Song Jin finished speaking, Wen Xin interrupted him and said, "I'm here to reminisce about the past with you."
Song Jin snorted and laughed: "What old stories can we have?"
"Yes, of course." Wen Xin stood up, spread out the mud-gold fan, and said slowly: "To be honest, we almost became husband and wife. When you left your country, I didn't make things difficult for you. You should thank me. Otherwise, with this engagement, there would be no days for you to flirt with that Master Ji."
Song Jin was so angry that he wanted to laugh: "Really? Speaking of this engagement, I want to ask, have we exchanged marriage certificates, or have you ever brought a matchmaker to propose?"
Wen Xin's face froze for a moment, and Song Jin continued, "If I remember correctly, there is none of them, right? If there is none, how can there be an engagement? What reason do you have to embarrass me?"
After hearing this, Wen Xin's face became even uglier, but he was unwilling to stop.
"Don't forget, you signed a loan agreement for two thousand taels."
"Go ahead and make a scene. It would be best if you could make a scene until Bai Yuanhuai finds out that Grandma has taken two thousand taels of silver out. Then we'll see how Grandma will punish you. Besides, this money is the debt you guaranteed. If you really make a scene, you won't get any advantage."
Wen Xin sneered: "I was afraid before, but now I am not afraid anymore."
Song Jin was stunned for a moment and asked why.
"Bai Yuanhuai is not a fool. He discovered this deal soon and took back the money openly or secretly. Aunt is in the wrong, so it's hard for me to say anything. Now I am also a free man."
Song Jin understood. He was barefoot and no longer afraid of those wearing shoes. However, the silver had already been returned. Could he ask her to pay it back again?
"You want to threaten me with the loan deed of my great grandmother?"
"No, no, no, it's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding." Wen Xin once again showed that flattering smile, covered his lips with a fan, and asked quietly: "How far have you and Master Ji progressed now?"
It turned out that he was coming for Ji Shubai. Song Jin turned his face away, unwilling to answer him.
"This is a chance to make a fortune. You should take me with you. You always have good vision, don't you?"
Song Jin understood that this person was here to follow Ji Shubai's path. She had not forgotten what Wen Xin's original plan was for her.
She was placed in his room as a concubine, who cooked all day long.
Fuck his dad!
"If I had the chance, why wouldn't I make a fortune myself? Can't you see I'm still running this little shop?"
After Song Jin finished speaking, he was too lazy to care about anything else and turned around to walk into the inner room. Unexpectedly, Wen Xin followed him without knowing what was good for him.
"Don't go. There are some things you can't do, but I can do it, right?"
Song Jin still ignored him. Wen Xin felt bored and glanced around the courtyard. He seemed to have discovered something and said, "I think your courtyard is not bad. Is the money you took with you when you left enough to buy such a big courtyard and hire so many people?"
"Master Ji didn't take you in this time, did he? Then why did he let you cook for him? You don't know how to be kind--"
Before Wen Xin could finish his words, Song Jin slapped him in the face: "Keep your mouth shut!"
When had Wen Xin ever suffered such a loss from a woman? He got angry on the spot: "Great, you are capable and have climbed up the social ladder. No wonder my aunt has to give you some leeway, and you are still pretending to be so--"
This time, Song Jin didn't use his hands, but a fire poker.
He grabbed a stick as thick as his wrist, with the front end burnt black, and raised his hand to hit Wen Xin in the face and body, making Wen Xin run around. The Taoist robe made of Husha black in patches. After jumping around in the yard for a while, he finally jumped out of the Lu's restaurant, leaving only a sentence "Wait for me" before running away.
Song Jin beat someone up, vented her anger, and had a great time, but her guys and her mother were worried.
"Boss, isn't it bad to offend people like this?"
"That's right. He is the son of the Wen family after all. We should be friendly with him from now on."
"But it shouldn't be a problem with Master Ji backing us up."
......
After beating the man, Song Jin calmed down and all he could think about was Ji Shubai's instructions before he left.
If she has any problems, she can go find Lu Junnian, or else she can find Chai Heng. At that time, she laughed at Ji Shubai for treating her as a troublemaker, but now it seems that Ji Shubai knows her better than she knows herself.
"I'll be more restrained next time." Song Jin felt a little weak and thought it would be better to control his temper in the future.
Ji Shubai was like a big signboard, which she used to bully others, and was also coveted by others. Wen Xin's arrival made Song Jin feel that Ji Shubai became more and more important, so much so that during the Mid-Autumn Festival of that year, she took the initiative to worship the moon for the first time, and the person she prayed for safety was Ji Shubai.
Song Jin wanted to be restrained, but he still had to make money. After August, there would be fewer days left to sell mosquito coils in September. Just when everyone was worried that they could not sell for longer and had to save some money for the winter, Song Jin came up with two more ideas.
One is chestnut and the other is preserved egg.
As soon as September arrives, chestnuts are on the market. People sell them everywhere in the market and on the streets. The price is cheap, only two cents per pound, and it will be even cheaper in the future.
Song Jin thought, what if it is winter? Wouldn't it be easy to sell it to rich families at a price double or triple, or even four or five times higher?
When she does business, she doesn't want to make money from the poor because there is no money to be taken from the poor.
The advantage of this business is that it requires little capital and effort. The disadvantage is that no matter how many times she earns, she won't make much. At most, she can earn a cotton-padded jacket.
But fly legs are also meat.
Song Jin learned how to preserve chestnuts at home when he was a child.
A large jar, with a layer of wood ash at the bottom and a layer of chestnuts on top, stacked up layer by layer. Sprinkle a little water on the top layer to wet the wood ash. It does not need to be sealed tightly, just cover it with a lid and it can be preserved until winter.
It is also easy to eat. Just take it out, wash off the wood ash, and eat it directly. The taste is the same as the fresh ones that have been left on the table for two or three days. It is crispy and sweet, which is very rare in winter.
At that time, a room full of people will gather around the fire with a few chestnuts thrown in it, eating a pot of chestnut roast chicken. The aroma will definitely be enough to resist the strong winds and snowstorms in the cold winter.
Song Jin started drooling just thinking about it. She was determined to keep these chestnuts. Maybe they would become her signature dish in winter.
Another one is preserved egg.
Eating salted duck eggs was common in the Ming Dynasty, but preserved eggs had not been invented, or even if they had been invented, they had not been introduced to Suzhou. Song Jin then thought about starting a preserved egg business.
It’s not made in the summer because the weather is too hot and the preserved eggs will go bad. It’s the perfect time to make them once the weather cools down.
Song Jin even thought of the menu: shrimp and preserved egg porridge in autumn and winter, preserved egg, tofu soup with bean sprouts in spring, and cold preserved eggs in summer. By then, it will be a unique dish, and she can also sell the preserved eggs. Just thinking about it makes her face beam with smiles.
It was unlikely for her to become rich and powerful, but she had achieved enough food and clothing.
Song Jin doesn't want to be rich and powerful. She may not have that destiny in this life, and very few people have that destiny.
In the Ming Dynasty there was Shen Wansan and in the Qing Dynasty there was Hu Xueyan. Both of them were closely watched and would lose their heads if they were not careful.
When business gets to that point, you are no longer just a businessman, you have close ties with court officials. Song Jin doesn't want to get involved in the court of the Ming Dynasty. She is annoyed by many officials and that stuff.
She was disgusted.
But fame and fortune, fame and fortune, only if you are famous can you have profit, and if you have profit you must be famous, the two are inseparable.
If you want to be famous, you have to have social status, or you have to climb up, which means you have to hang out with officials. She is just getting close to Ji Shubai, but she has already been targeted by Wen Xin. If she climbs up further, Song Jin thinks she will be the gender-reversed version of Ximen Qing.
But Ximen Qing could only spend some money to curry favor with him, what could she do to curry favor with him? She felt sick to her stomach when she thought of Wen Xin's words.
In the eyes of some men, women can't get anything done without taking off their pants.
Some things will not be determined by how you do them. If you can't stop someone from speaking your mind, it will only hurt yourself. It's better to make a little money to live, at least you can live in peace.
Song Jin did it as soon as he thought of it.
She first asked two of her assistants to buy two large jars, and then ordered several dozen kilograms of chestnuts from a farmer who sold chestnuts. She also asked him to send a few bundles of dry straw, which she would need.
Song Jin thought that her store's business was gradually stabilizing. Once the weather got cooler, she could add more dishes and change up the menu every day.
Today it’s chestnut roasted chicken, tomorrow it’s chestnut braised pork, and the day after tomorrow it’s chestnut stewed pig’s trotters. For rice, you can also try pork ribs and chestnut braised rice. She will enjoy it to her heart’s content first.
She cooked a pot that night.
There weren't many side dishes. The mushrooms were sliced thinly. Since there was no bacon, she used fresh meat instead. The fat was sliced, and after the oil was released from the pan, the mushrooms were added and fried together. After the mushrooms were fried soft, the chestnuts were added and stir-fried evenly. Finally, some soy sauce was added for coloring.
Song Jin likes to add more water at this step, so that the water will be soaked with the taste of oil and seasonings, and then put it into the rice pot as cooking water. This way, the rice will be evenly coated with oil and taste more fragrant.
The chestnuts are picked out separately and cooked with the rice, while the stir-fried meat and fried mushrooms are added when the rice is simmering.
When the rice is cooked, lift the lid of the pot, and the aroma of chestnuts mixed with the aroma of oil will rise up, and everyone will stretch their necks to inhale it.
With this pot of rice, there is no need to cook. Everyone took a bowl and started eating. However, Song Jin was a step slower. After everyone's bowls were full, she started to shovel out the rice crust.
Ever since she stopped cooking with firewood, she had difficulty eating rice crusts. Now that she had come to Ming Dynasty, she was satisfied, but the rice crusts today were a little different.
The aroma of burnt, salty and meaty flavors, and the sound of a crunchy sound when taken in one bite, Song Jin didn't even want the bowl, she grabbed the rice crust in her hand, folded it and put it into her mouth, and Mrs. Chen laughed at her when she saw this.
"You are so old, but you just start eating it right beside the stove as if you have never eaten rice crust before."
Song Jin smiled and shoveled while saying, "When the weather gets cooler, we can make some bacon and cook it with carrots. It will taste better than today's."
Chunyun, who was not far away, heard this and ran to the stove, put down her bowl and chopsticks, and started to eat the rice crusts, saying it was delicious.
"This is delicious, better than the previous rice crust, I want one too."
Chunyun pried a big piece of rice crust into her hand, picked out some mushrooms and fat from the bowl and spread it on it, then folded it in half, like a rice crust with vegetables, and stuffed a big bite into her mouth, humming "hmmmm" in enjoyment while listening to the crunching sound coming out of her mouth.
Everyone was very satisfied with the meal.
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