Chapter 108 Inviting Lin Lang to dinner: The Best Dish in the World
Three days after Yao Xiaoyu returned from her free clinic, Lin Lang took Shulan to Maria Hospital. Shulan seemed quite uneasy, but relaxed slightly when she saw Yao Xiaoyu.
"Eat first, and I'll tell you what to do after you're done."
Hearing Shulan's stomach rumbling, Yao Xiaoyu shoved a meat bun she'd bought on the way into her hand. The vendor had done something strange; most of the bun's skin was soaked in oil, making it look incredibly tempting.
Who are these two?
Seeing Lin Lang's gaze also fall upon her, Yao Xiaoyu stuffed a steamed bun into her hand as well. Then, while settling the bill for the donkey cart, she asked, "Isn't my memory pretty good? But these two people in front of me look somewhat familiar, and I can't remember their names."
"Her husband and mother-in-law offered to see her off, and she ate homemade pancakes along the way."
Lin Lang's words weren't quite direct, but Yao Xiaoyu knew that the two were worried that their daughter-in-law/daughter-in-law had been tricked into coming here to do something dirty, and they needed to see it with their own eyes to put their minds at ease.
A large farming family might only save a few silver dollars a year, but Yao Xiaoyu gave them twenty dollars at once, so it's understandable that they would have such concerns.
"OK."
Whatever the reason, Yao Xiaoyu was happy that Shu Rou lived in such a family. She had three meat buns left in her hand, so she handed one to each of them and gave the last one to the old man driving the donkey cart.
The old man swallowed hard as he looked at the steamed buns, but in the end, he took out a few leaves, wrapped the buns up, and put them in his pocket. He then slowly drove away in his donkey cart. After the four of them finished eating, Yao Xiaoyu led them to the hospital. They happened to see Maria passing by. Yao Xiaoyu exchanged a few pleasantries with the doctor and then turned around to see that Shulan's husband and mother-in-law had relaxed considerably.
"Here...yes, sit down, lie down like this...okay, except for your hands and feet, you can't move your body."
Seeing Shulan assume a standard recovery posture with the help of a pillow, Yao Xiaoyu nodded in satisfaction. Maria was very interested in the recovery data of uterine prolapse from natural bed rest and offered to waive hospital fees and provide recovery guidance as long as Shulan was admitted. Yao Xiaoyu had already planned to place Shulan at Maria Hospital anyway, so she readily agreed upon hearing this.
"Her job is to lie here and do some handicrafts according to what the master said."
Yao Xiaoyu repeated the whole set of things about the Eight Characters. Shulan's husband and mother-in-law didn't quite understand, but they believed that with Dr. Maria watching over them, their family members wouldn't be sold.
“Alan is living a good life.”
The mother-in-law sighed and said, "If it were other things, I could try to help out, but this is something you're born with. Yao Xiaoyu looks like a generous person. With food and lodging provided, how could life be bad in the future?"
Having confirmed Shulan's safety, the two didn't linger. Yao Xiaoyu didn't bother with any elaborate scheme of calling a car to take her back; she simply said someone would come to take care of Shulan later and that Shulan should follow Dr. Maria's instructions. Then, she sent a friendly signal to Lin Lang:
"Want to come to dinner?"
Yao Xiaoyu swore she wasn't a sucker for good looks, but she really couldn't resist this kind of handsome older woman, especially since Lin Lang had run into a hairdresser on the street and, thinking about how long hair was inconvenient when he was out and about, had sold his braids for money and now had a wolf tail...
"Walk."
Lin Lang counted the reward in her hand and readily agreed. She quite liked Yao Xiaoyu, this young girl, who had a free spirit about her.
The three hired a rickshaw to go to the restaurant, booked a private room and ordered a table. Since they didn't really want to drink tea, they ordered sweet wine as a side dish. The waiter said it was produced in Xiaolingwei. Yao Xiaoyu didn't know if it was true or not, but it tasted pretty good.
Because she could afford the price and had mentioned in advance that she had a large appetite, the variety and quantity of the dishes were very satisfactory. Yao Xiaoyu used serving chopsticks to lightly dab at each dish, and finally focused on attacking the "Number One Dish in the World".
"The Number One Dish Under Heaven" isn't a title; it's just the name of the dish. The waiter said it was a dish invented by Chen Guolao. Tomatoes and shrimp are stir-fried in a specially made thin iron pot, then thickened with chicken broth, and finally poured over fried rice crusts. It looks festive and tastes sweet. It's called that because the ingredients include aquatic and terrestrial animals, as well as red and yellow plants.
Yao Xiaoyu wasn't particularly interested in the stories behind the dishes, but the crispy rice chicken soup with shrimp and tomatoes was indeed delicious. The group ate until their plates were a mess and their bellies were round, and they all left slightly drunk.
Fortunately, there was a hotel nearby. They helped each other inside, and Yao Xiaoyu took out silver dollars to pay the bill. They helped each other upstairs, feeling a little dizzy. As soon as Yao Xiaoyu fell asleep on the bed, she fell asleep. There was nothing to worry about. With Tao Xiaoxiao and Lin Lang there, the real danger would be to those with wicked intentions. After all, when they were sober, they could control their strength, but when they were not sober...
When Yao Xiaoyu woke up, she had a slight headache. The light of dusk shone through the glass window. She got up and moved her neck, which made a cracking sound. After she felt a little more comfortable, Yao Xiaoyu realized that there was only Tao Xiaoxiao on the bed.
Did the wolf escape?
Yao Xiaoyu was a little surprised, but not so surprised. When she first saw Lin Lang, she felt that he was like a gust of wind. Compared to the noisy honesty, he was more like a daughter of nature. The bright lights and bustling prosperity of Shanghai could not hold her back.
But I'm still a little disappointed.
Yao Xiaoyu sighed, turned around but bumped into a wire, and heard a small bell ringing beside her. After a while, there was a knock on the door. Tao Xiaoxiao sat up abruptly, and Yao Xiaoyu heard someone outside asking the guests what services they needed.
Is there a light?
Her memories after drinking were a bit hazy, but that didn't stop Yao Xiaoyu from recalling the key questions of who she was, where she was, and what she was doing. Thinking of the gleaming silver dollars she had thrown away, and the exceptionally high-end bedding that still looked so luxurious even in the dim sunlight, Yao Xiaoyu subconsciously began to speak.
"Crack".
"Clatter".
"Is there anything else you need?"
The staff member came in from the door, turned on the light, and asked with a smile, but Yao Xiaoyu just stared at the light bulb above her head, until her eyes hurt and tears came out, before she reluctantly looked away.
Lamp!
It's an electric light!
Before coming here, someone told Yao Xiaoyu that she would tear up in the presence of electric lights, and Yao Xiaoyu would roll her eyes at that person, thinking they might have some mental issues. But now…
"I'm a little hungry. Do you have anything to eat here?"
After confirming that the room was charged by the day and that their stay ended at noon, Yao Xiaoyu decisively decided to stay there for the night—since the money couldn't be refunded, she had to enjoy it at least once.
The staff offered two options for meals: hotel supply or delivery. In this era, restaurant waiters who delivered meals were called "food deliverymen," and errand runners were called "idlers." Some older people called them "asks," and if you wanted to eat something, you just had to hand over the money and delivery fee to them, and they would deliver it along with the tableware.
Yao Xiaoyu first asked the staff to inform the Yao family that they wouldn't be going back tonight. Then she ordered two bowls of hangover soup and a bowl of chicken and honey porridge. The former was a regular item at the hotel and was served shortly. The latter would have to wait for someone to buy it from the restaurant. Yao Xiaoyu drank the hangover soup in one gulp, her face scrunched up like a chrysanthemum from the sourness. Fortunately, her head did not hurt as much.
"Where did this ginseng come from?"
While waiting for her porridge, Yao Xiaoyu, who had no books or newspapers on the table and couldn't sit still, looked around and touched things. She then noticed an oil paper package on the bedside table. When she opened it, she found a dried ginseng root and was immediately shocked.
Shanghai is a commercial center, and pharmacies are not particularly short of ginseng. The price is never low, with one tael costing twelve silver dollars. The price of a well-preserved dried ginseng would be even higher. No matter how rich a hotel is, it would not just casually display ginseng in its rooms, let alone just wrap it in oil paper.
"Could it be..."
Little Fish, don't be so generous next time, it'll attract bad people.
Yao Xiaoyu initially thought the itching sensation left on her cheek by the wolf tail and the touch of the fingers on her forehead were all a dream, but the dried ginseng proved them to be real.
Tao Xiaoxiao looked at Yao Xiaoyu with some confusion, wondering why Yao Xiaoyu suddenly blushed.
...
Making chicken congee is not difficult, but it takes a lot of time. You have to put the plump, tender chicken into the freshly boiled congee and cook it for two hours. Then, take it out and shred it into thin strips along with a pre-prepared roasted chicken. Put it back into the congee pot, add a variety of ingredients, and pour it into a bowl, which will show a very rich color.
Yao Xiaoyu took a sip and began to count the flavors on her tongue: fried dough sticks, crispy shrimp chips, cilantro, and the ginger must have been marinated in soy sauce...
After finishing a bowl of porridge, her empty stomach felt better, so Yao Xiaoyu went to wash up and go to bed. Only then did she realize that the room was a suite with two beds, one inside and one outside. When she was drunk, all she wanted to do was sleep and didn't want to walk a single step more.
As darkness fell and drowsiness overcame them, the two quickly drifted off to sleep. The ginseng was wrapped back in the oiled paper as before. Yao Xiaoyu didn't know how to store ginseng, and Lin Lang hadn't left any information on it either. She planned to ask at the clinic the next day.
The hotel bed was very large. Yao Xiaoyu slept in late, and when she got up, it was already broad daylight. She felt weak all over and didn't want to go out, so Tao Xiaoxiao went out by herself and returned with all kinds of breakfast in a short while. She also bought a few newspapers that Yao Xiaoyu often read.
Yao Xiaoyu ate a fried dough stick and two meat buns, then drank a bowl of soy milk to fill the gaps, and felt full. She sat down at the table to watch the breakfast. After Tao Xiaoxiao confirmed that Yao Xiaoyu was not going to eat, she finished off the rest of the breakfast and started counting money again.
Great, still the same amount. No thieves yesterday!
After reading the newspapers in her hands, Yao Xiaoyu glanced at the sun that was almost overhead and, too lazy to wait until the last minute, took Tao Xiaoxiao downstairs, returned the deposit and the extra money, and headed straight for the clinic with the oil paper package.
"...A little too much and it will spoil, a little too little and it will damage the medicinal properties. This is a natural-born processing material!"
The old doctor, whose beard was thicker than his hair, marveled at the sight. If Yao Xiaoyu hadn't been so unwilling, he would have exchanged his own prepared ginseng for this one. He was quite careful in preserving it, and he was still not satisfied even after Yao Xiaoyu paid the preservation fee.
"girl……"
Hearing the faint cries behind her, Yao Xiaoyu ran even faster, clutching the porcelain jar. The two randomly picked a rickshaw and got in. Yao Xiaoyu gave the address where Tao Jingu worked. By the time the old doctor's apprentice hurriedly chased after them to the door, the rickshaw had already vanished without a trace.
More than a month later, the impact of Xiao Huangying and Xiao Bainiao's story had gradually subsided. Tao Jingu looked at his subordinates who were reporting to him, but what he was thinking about was Yao Xiaoyu, who had only sent someone to greet her before going out to provide free medical services. Half a month had long passed, and she should have returned by now...
"Kanagu—"
Yao Xiaoyu gave a token knock on the door, then happily ran into the room, flashing Tao Jingu a bright smile, unaware of the shock in Tao Jingu's eyes.
Speak of Xiaoyu, and Xiaoyu arrives?!
-----------------------
Author's Note: Tao Jingu: Does one's word become law?
————
————
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
