Chapter 20: Tea Party List Monkey-like Miss Wei appears again...
The shimmering dessert before her resembled a simple hangover ice cream, but the flavor was completely different. Lü Lantang rarely drank, and certainly never got drunk. The simple hangover ice cream typically had shredded orange and ground ginger added to it. While beautiful in appearance, she didn't usually enjoy it.
"What a small spoon."
She held the small bamboo spoon between her fingers. "Is it specially made for this dish?"
She chuckled, "You're very thoughtful."
The vegetarian hangover ice was poured with mulberry juice. If you pinched it directly with your hands like the pastries from the first two days, it would definitely get sticky. Even if you prepared some bamboo sticks, most people would just do it directly.
After all, it is a daily routine for people in Pingjiang Prefecture to have two or three pieces of cakes and order a pot of tea to drink for an entire afternoon.
Without the pungent ginger taste, the sobering ice is mixed with mulberry and jasmine. It has a rich sweetness that slowly melts on the tip of the tongue, mixed with a slight sourness, and is more refreshing than orange juice.
It is not as sophisticated as the ones in the wine shop, but it is like chewing freshly picked mulberries with cold water, which slides down the throat coolly and is really refreshing.
"Some of it whetted my appetite."
Lu Lantang ordered another jasmine cake and another mint cake, and said with satisfaction, "This is suitable as a cold dish before a banquet, or as a snack after a full stomach."
"As long as my sister likes it."
Wei Fuling sat aside, observing her as the first customer to taste the vegetarian hangover ice cream today. She took in every expression in her eyes and only breathed a sigh of relief after praising her. "Sister Qi and I like it too."
Compared to pastries, the vegetarian hangover ice cream was more like a snack, sliding down your throat after just a few chews. It felt like nothing you'd eaten, yet you still wanted another. Wei Jinyun had the sisters swallow the remaining ice cream after filling the mold with milk and mulberries.
As the weather grew hotter, Lu Lantang could have gone into the government school to enjoy the cool air, but he stayed leaning against the camphor tree behind Wei Jinyun.
They didn't make a lot of vegetarian hangover ice, and the few they did sell were mostly bought by passers-by for their children. Wei Jinyun sold cakes for a while and then caught a glimpse of Lu Lantang, still leisurely sipping tea under the camphor trees, and his eyes fell on her.
A moment passed.
She was looking at her.
Half an hour passed.
She was still looking at her.
She always looks at what she does!
Wei Jinyun was talkative except when she was bargaining for something, but most of the time she wasn't very friendly. She felt more comfortable chatting with Madam Qian than with Lu Lantang.
However, her two younger sisters were not afraid of strangers. Wei Fuqiu even asked them for help on the problems she encountered while reading.
"Have Miss Wei's two younger sisters ever attended elementary school?"
Lu Lantang sat on the small stool that Wei Fuqiu specially gave her and spoke.
"No... My father and mother taught me some things when they had nothing to do."
Wei Jinyun poured her some tea and said, "When I save up some money in the future, I'll find out about any good private schools in Pingjiang Prefecture and send them there."
"He's so smart and talented without even having attended elementary school."
Lu Lantang coughed lightly and said thoughtfully, "I do know a good private school. Miss Wei might be interested..."
"Interested, interested!"
Wei Jinyun slid over to Lu Lantang with a whoosh, smiling brightly, "Look at what a fuss this has caused... I haven't even asked which private school this is from."
Lu Lantang laughed so hard that his stomach hurt.
"There are very few private schools these days. The principals of private schools are originally hired by the masters to teach their children, but the masters' children see each other so often that they get bored, so they recruit students from outside."
"It can't be Su Yuxuan..."
Wei Jinyun hesitated for a moment and said, "I've asked around there, and it's very difficult to get in."
She had inquired about it early in the morning and learned that it was a school run by the Zhou family of Pingjiang Prefecture. The Zhou family had produced civil servants and military generals, and the students they accepted were all from noble families, making it extremely difficult to get in.
"Fuling Fuqiu is so smart, are you afraid you can't get in?"
Lu Lantang still smiled, "Besides, I have a tea party in two days and invited her granddaughter..."
She looked up at Wei Jinyun and saw the expectation in her eyes.
"Miss Wei's snacks are delicious."
"Um!"
"We need some snacks for the tea party."
"Uh-huh!"
"If my tea party is better than Zhou Zhuqing's, she'll get angry, and when she gets angry, I'll be happy."
"Hmmmm?"
Lu Lantang held his chin and stared at Wei Jinyun, "Help me make some snacks, and I'll introduce Fuling and Fuqiu. As for whether they can get in, it still depends on them."
"She's angry... can we still introduce her?"
"It's okay, just coax her."
Lu Lantang pinched Wei Fuling's face and said, "Let's talk about it when the master gets angry."
After all, she and Zhou Zhuqing had been competing with each other since they were young in terms of clothes, jewelry, books, knowledge, and even strength, and they kept competing until they grew up.
But still good friends.
"Miss Lu trusts me so much?"
Suddenly, her sister's schooling problems improved. Wei Jinyun felt a little embarrassed. "You've only eaten three of my snacks."
"I grew up in Pingjiang Prefecture, so I know whether dim sum is delicious or not."
Lu Lantang wrote, "Delicious food is one thing, the idea is another... I think Miss Wei is a person with ideas, and I am looking forward to the future of 'Yun Lai Xiang'. As for the money to hire Miss Wei, is six strings of cash enough?"
Most cooks in Bianliang who hired chefs to come to their homes to cook banquets paid about the same price. She wouldn't let her make less.
Lu Lantang's calligraphy was also free and easy, with powerful strokes, but the content was - June goal, which made Zhou Zhuqing faint.
She squinted her eyes and put it next to a piece of paper, then tilted her head to take a closer look.
A snack that can make Lu Lan jump up and down.
I think it will be useful to Zhou Zhuqing too.
Good.
Wei Jinyun understood that the dim sum had to be delicious, but Lu Lantang also appreciated her innovation. She wanted a tea party that would make her look good and make her best friend faint.
She looked at her chattering sisters.
"enough!"
As soon as the bell in the provincial school rang twice, some students rushed out as if running a race.
"Brother Wu, are you born in the Year of the Rabbit?"
The student panted, opened his folding fan, and fanned himself vigorously. "I didn't realize when you became a martial artist?"
"I'm hungry and want to eat my mother's egg pancake."
When Wu Sheng arrived at the stall, he became more leisurely and smoothed his hair.
"Oh."
The student sipped his tea and said, "I almost believed it."
Despite the fast pace, they were all very polite and there wasn't a crowd. The remaining vegetarian hangover ice was snapped up by the first few in line, so much so that those in the back kept asking, "What flavor is it?"
Wei Fuling stood aside and answered very considerately, "Sweet and sour, sweet and sour, sweet and sour."
When Wei Jinyun was packing up his stall and pushing his cart, in addition to the money for today's cakes, he also found a piece of change from Lu Lantang in his bag.
"Tangtang, what does that smell like?"
Master Lu was dragged along by Lu Lantang, and he never forgot to look back at Wei Jinyun's cart.
When the three sisters returned home, they found that the door of Li Ji Delicatessen was already open.
Zhang Dazui was holding a cup of tea, craning his neck to look around. He then turned back to Zhao Xiangping and said, "Don't worry, sister-in-law. In your case, your husband has run away with you after gambling. Just write a divorce letter and submit it. It will definitely be approved! The other day, I helped the Chen family's daughter-in-law in Shantang Street, and they got it approved in just three or five days. Now that you have two taels of silver to bribe, are you still worried that the divorce won't go through?"
Wei Jinyun grasped the handlebars and slowly pushed the bike into the shop. She raised her head slowly and asked, "The daughter-in-law of the Chen family, is she the one from the Chen family who sells tofu?"
Zhang Dazui rolled up his sleeves and said, "Exactly!"
"oh......"
Wei Jinyun dragged out her words, thought for a moment, and continued, "Then why did I hear from others that her husband was arrested and thrown into jail by the government because he owed money to a gambling house and had a fight with her? The government directly granted him a divorce without even asking her to file any paperwork."
Zhang Dazui's face suddenly froze, and he put his hands into his arms, "Then, then I remembered it wrongly. It's Li, the daughter-in-law of the Li family."
"Li, Li family?"
Zhang Renbai, who was watching the fun from the side, choked on his tea and said, "Didn't her husband die last month?"
Several passersby who were enjoying the cool air nearby also came over to join in the conversation, "Yes, I went to the Li family's house last month to eat tofu vegetarian food, and the coffin was parked in the front hall."
Zhang Dazui's forehead was covered with sweat, but his voice became even louder. "Maybe I remembered it wrong again. You, you know nothing. The government has many tricks!"
“There are many ways to do this.”
Wei Jinyun stared at him and pushed the cart completely inside. "A divorce document must clearly state the names of three generations of both parties, and it must be signed by two guarantors. You didn't even ask for the full name of Aunt Zhao's husband, so how can you say it's a divorce document? You just settled the bill with Aunt Zhao, and in addition to the paperwork fee, you also handed over two taels of silver. So, tell me, which official in the household department did you give this to? Our Pingjiang Prefecture's prefect, um... I remember, he's famously honest."
Zhang Dazui kept muttering "I remember it", but sweat was dripping down his face.
How come a woman who looks like she is only seventeen or eighteen years old knows more about the law than he does?
Wei Jinyun suddenly grabbed Zhang Dazui's sleeve and shouted, "Master Zhang, keep an eye on him! This man took Aunt Zhao's money, but he's doing something shady. He's a liar!"
"I'm not I don't have it!"
After hearing this shout, Zhang Dazui was immediately in a panic. Zhang Renbai was already in front of him. He shook off Wei Jinyun's hand and turned back, only to see several red figures coming towards him from the arch bridge.
"Sir, that grandson seems to be there! Good boy, he's really good at hiding!"
Lu Lan looked in the direction his subordinate pointed.
This group of fake lawyers worked together to defraud unsophisticated women and children of their money. They had already apprehended most of them, with only the cunning Zhang Dazui left.
Unexpectedly, he only hid for two days and came out again to cheat people out of money.
Zhang Dazui was caught in a dilemma, with no other options. He gritted his teeth, steeled his resolve, and with a thud, he jumped into the river beside him.
Zhang Renbai only felt that the monkey-like Miss Wei appeared again.
When Lu Lan arrived, he saw a familiar slim figure and then jumped down.
The author has something to say:
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Famous cooks in the Northern Song Dynasty made a lot of money.
Lord Lu: Jumped into the river. [Fear]
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