Chapter 165: Suzhou Style Noodle Soup
In the afternoon, Su Ruojin went home after making ginseng soup. When she got home, Yang Siniang was waiting for her and asked her to go shopping.
"Not tomorrow, maybe in two days."
Yang Si Niang agreed and arranged the time with her, "Don't fool me."
Su Ruojin laughed: "When have I ever fooled you?"
"Anyway, every time I ask you out, you're either checking the shop or busy with this or that. You're never there to play with me."
Su Ruojin thought to herself, I'm not a real child. I have a lot of things to do at home and outside. How can I play with a real child like you all day long? I'll be left starving.
After agreeing on a time, Yang Si Niang was in no hurry to go back. She went to the small room with Su Ruojin, where there were two baby cradles. One was for the fifth sister of the Su family, and the other was for Shu Tongshu's eldest son Xu Niansong, nicknamed Asong.
Shu Tong, whose surname is Xu and whose given name is Yan, asked to change his name after working as Su Yanli's servant. Su Yanli felt that hired servants did not need to change their names, but Shu Tong insisted on changing it, saying that he wanted to forget the past and start a new life. Su Yanli advised him to think twice, but Shu Tong insisted on changing his name. The relatives in the inn improvised and gave him the name Shu Tong (Shu Tong), and he was called Shu Tong from then on.
People can forget the past, but the origin of their surname cannot be severed. Now that they had a son and needed to register the child, Su Ruojin finally found out that Shu Tongshu's surname was Xu, and she named her son Niansong in memory of a pine tree behind his old home.
It also means remembering your hometown and your home.
The two young ladies stood beside the cradle and teased the child until Su Yanli came off duty. Only then did Yang Si Niang reluctantly go home.
The first thing Su Yanli did when he got home was to wash his hands and face. Then he took his youngest daughter out of the cradle and babbled with her for a long time.
After Shu Tong put the mule cart away, he washed his hands and face like the adults, then picked up his son and brought him to his mouth and started to eat him.
The two older young men standing in the corridor to coax the children have become a scenic spot in the Su family.
Su Ruojin smiled as he watched, and told his father and Uncle Shutong about tomorrow's schedule, "Dad, I'm going to Wenshan Street tomorrow. Do you want me to bring any writing brushes, inkstones, or paper?"
"Bring a few sheets of large-size rice paper, and a cut of regular white paper."
"good."
Shu Tong asked: "When do we leave tomorrow?" He had to buy some supplementary ingredients for the shop, and he was afraid that he would be out of town and wouldn't be able to make it back in time. If he didn't have a son, it wouldn't matter if he lived outside, but now that he had a son, he was used to running back home every day.
"I know you're busy, so I asked Uncle Hua Ping to be my driver."
When he heard that someone was going out for him, Shu Tong was very happy, "Next time I see Hua Xiaodi, I will treat him to a meal."
The sun set and fell below the horizon. The last ray of light in the sky was drowned by the dusk. Hua Ping brought a large casserole of ginseng duck soup to the yard. When Lao Du saw it, he took it to the stove to heat it up. After half a quarter of an hour, the aroma of the ginseng soup wafted out through the small holes in the casserole lid and spread everywhere.
Mr. Shen took a deep sip and said, "In addition to ginseng, there are also wolfberries, red dates, Chinese yam, and tangerine peel. They are all sweet and mild, mild and nourishing. It is indeed a good soup."
Hua Ping ate what he wanted to eat, but he never studied what Chinese medicinal materials were put in it like Mr. Shen did. Anyway, it was nutritious, so he quickly asked Lao Du to share the soup, "so that the little prince would take it all every time."
Not only did he urge Old Du to hurry up, he also stood up, opened the lunch box drawer, took out the steamed dumplings that Dong's mother had just made that afternoon and the egg-filled pancakes that she had fried especially for him, and quickly lowered his head to eat them, so as not to let the young prince get away with it.
What you fear will come true.
Mr. Shen was really thinking that maybe pot cakes and ginseng duck soup would be a better match, but then the door of the small hall was pushed open, and the dusty young Prince Zhao appeared in the sight of the three.
Mr. Shen: ... Guokui can’t be paired with ginseng duck soup.
Hua Ping: ... He subconsciously lowered his head and took a big sip of the soup. This was specially made for him by the young lady. If he can't eat it, wouldn't it be a waste of his favor?
As a secret base of the Investigation Department, Lao Du was both a minor official who interrogated prisoners and the cook of the small base. When the young master came, everyone could secretly eat his share except him.
Old Du stood up and gave the portion that should have belonged to him, which he had not touched, to the young prince. He also pointed out the origin of the soup with a smile: "Madam Su Er specially made it for Hua Ping. Please try it and see if it suits your taste."
Shuang Rui couldn't help but smile when he heard this, "As long as it's the Su family's food, the young prince will eat it even if he can't taste it."
Chen and Hua: ...It seems to be true.
Su Ruojin didn't know that although Zhao Lan didn't come to the Su family for free meals, every now and then, the soup or dishes he cooked for Hua Ping would be brought to the courtyard by Hua Ping to share with the poor Mr. Shen. As a result, Zhao Lan's nose was like a dog's, and every time Hua Ping brought something, he would arrive right after.
After finishing his meal, Zhao Lan looked over the official documents that Mr. Shen was waiting for him to review, and then he left.
Looking at the back, Hua Ping couldn't help but suspect, "Someone must be watching my every move, and as soon as I brought the food box over, the little prince followed me."
Mr. Shen smiled and said, “Who do you think this secret agent is?”
Hua Ping frowned, and doubted again, "Could it be Old Man Huang?"
"Why do you suspect it's him?"
"One is that Old Man Huang is the shopkeeper at Su Ji. Two, don't forget what Old Man Huang's nickname is?"
Mr. Shen smiled and nodded, “Very likely.”
"It's not very likely, it must be this old guy." Hua Ping decided to try to bypass Huang Shun next time to see if the young prince would follow him as soon as he came.
Mr. Shen was interested in another thing. "Brother Hua, have you noticed that the young prince no longer goes to Dr. Su's house for meals?"
Hua Ping was stunned and looked up at Mr. Shen, "It seems so, why?"
"You are in contact with the Su family every day, and I want to ask you why?"
Hua Ping: ... Could it be that the young prince is dissatisfied with Dr. Su? If he is dissatisfied, why would he take matters into his own hands when he heard about the Su family?
Chen and Hua really didn't understand why Zhao Xiaojun didn't go to the Su family for meals.
The next morning, Hua Ping went to Su's house early and taught the children kung fu first. After breakfast, the group set out for Wenshan Street.
It is February again, the season when the spring breeze is like a pair of scissors, cutting out light yellow and new green, and the mountains are bright and beautiful.
It was almost noon when we arrived at Wenshan Street.
Although it is a breakfast shop, the lobby is still full of people when it is almost noon. Almost everyone has a bowl of noodles, and it is the exquisite Suzhou-style noodle soup.
When a bowl of Suzhou-style noodles is served to the diners, the first thing that comes to mind is a visual enjoyment. The clear, green soup and white noodles are like a small freehand painting, revealing the elegance of a literati.
The second thing is the taste. Not only does the soup need to be clear and not greasy, it also needs to be fresh and leave your mouth with a full mouthful of aftertaste. It is paired with a variety of toppings to go with the noodles, turning the breakfast shop into a Chinese restaurant.
This really surprised Su Ruojin.
Ye Huaizhen came out from behind the counter, "Young Master——"
"Was this your idea?"
Ye Huaizhen nodded, "I made a bowl of soup when you came last time. It looked like a bland soup, but it was actually fragrant and had the right amount of saltiness. I liked it, too. I tried making it and selling it this morning, and it worked very well."
As expected, the shopkeeper has a business mind. Su Ruojin was very happy and told her the characteristics of Suzhou-style noodle soup that she knew, such as "wide soup", "tight soup", "heavy green soup", "no green soup", etc., to cultivate the diners' sense of sophistication.
(End of this chapter)
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