Chapter 287: Meeting with Chopped Pepper Fish
Zhao Lan originally planned to take the young lady on a nice autumn outing, but wherever they went, there were constant followers, and he had no mood to continue the outing.
As the owner of Dongsheng Restaurant and a member of the royal family, no matter how much Zhao Lan disliked Zhao Lin, the grandson of the King of Chu who had just come to Beijing, he had to show some respect. So at lunch time, he invited the Prince of Yingnan to have a meal at Dongsheng Restaurant, which was considered to be a good show for the royal family.
Chili peppers are on the market, and chili-related dishes are everywhere. Dongsheng Restaurant recently launched a signature dish - chopped pepper fish head.
This is a very famous Hunan dish, loved by people for its fresh and spicy taste and rich nutritional value.
When making chopped pepper fish, some people like to use silver carp, some places use carp, but in fact the best is bighead carp (fathead fish). After cleaning it, split it in half from the middle, marinate it with cooking wine and salt for a quarter of an hour, and then season it with garlic, ginger, chopped pepper sauce and other condiments.
Place scallions and ginger on a plate, put in the fish head, and steam it for five to eight minutes. Take it out and pour out the excess juice on the plate. Add soy sauce, spread with chopped pepper sauce, and sprinkle with a layer of minced garlic. Put it back into the steamer and steam it for a few minutes.
Finally, sprinkle with chopped green onions after serving and pour a spoonful of boiling hot oil on it to bring out the aroma of chopped pepper and fish.
Although Bianjing City is close to the north, the surrounding water system is quite developed, with many fish, such as silver carp, bighead carp, carp, etc., but mainly carp. Su Ruojin doesn't like to cook with carp, but following Zhao Lan, the prince, not to mention silver carp and bighead carp, even bighead carp can be obtained.
So even if there were annoying people sitting at the same table, she would not be affected and would just roll up her sleeves and get to work.
Zhao Lin: …
Xie Qingyu almost had disdain written on his forehead.
Su Ruojin doesn't care. If you don't like me, then don't follow me. It's really annoying.
Zhao Lan didn't care how vulgar Zhao Lin and Xie Qingyu thought it was, and gave the most delicious part of the fish face to the young lady, "Be careful, it's hot."
The other two people eating at the table: …
Could it be that all the servants had died, and that a young prince had to serve the young lady himself?
Shuangrui, Maoya and others who were scolded: ... They secretly rolled their eyes and couldn't stand it. You guys can also show off your love!
There are many sons of the royal family, but almost none of them are capable and of the same age as Zhao Lin. As soon as he entered Beijing, he set his sights on Zhao Lan. He originally wanted to make friends with the other party, but he didn't have the chance to meet him in Beijing. Xie Wuniang said she came to Dongshan to see the chrysanthemums and maple leaves, but he didn't expect to meet him.
But he, a member of the imperial family in the capital, seemed to have no interest in his fellow member of the imperial family in his fiefdom. However, as soon as he entered the capital, he was conferred the fifth rank by the emperor. Didn’t he have a sense of crisis?
Seeing the two of them eating happily, I stretched out my chopsticks towards the fish head covered with red. The chopsticks were almost touching the fish head, but it was covered with something called chili peppers. It smelled pungent, like dogwood. Was it delicious?
He carefully picked up a small piece of fish meat and put it into his mouth. His tongue suddenly touched the chili pepper and immediately retracted because of the spiciness. "Hiss... so spicy..."
But Zhao Lan and Su Ruojin ignored him and continued to eat. Soon, the whole plate of chopped pepper fish head was about to go into the couple's stomachs.
Zhao Lin narrowed his eyes, then suddenly relaxed them, and put the unfinished piece of fish on the chopsticks into his mouth. After enduring the spicy taste, he felt that the spicier it was, the more he wanted to eat. So he picked up another piece. It was still spicy, but his taste buds were like opening the door to a new world, constantly urging him to eat the second piece... the third piece...
In the dry autumn weather, I eat until I sweat and suddenly feel refreshed.
"It's really good." He ate the chopped pepper fish head and kept eating because of the spiciness. Before he knew it, he had eaten two small bowls of rice, which was absolutely impossible before.
It was of course good that Zhao Lan had a good look on his face when others recognized his favorite food.
From beginning to end, Xie Qingyu didn't touch the chopped pepper fish head. Apart from drinking two sips of soup and eating a small Hu pancake, she hardly touched the other dishes on the table. There were four people at the table, three of them were eating happily, and she was the only one eating like the others. She didn't feel embarrassed.
Su Ruojin thought to herself, if you don't feel embarrassed, then she who eats with big mouthfuls will feel even less so, as long as you can just sit there and do it.
After dinner, Zhao Lan said, "We will return to Beijing tomorrow morning. Will Brother Zichu go back too?"
"Oh, I'm not in such a hurry. I plan to stay here for a few days, play chess with Master Su, and enjoy the scenery in the mountains."
Zhao Lan's eyebrows moved and he smiled slightly, "Then I wish Brother Zichu to have fun."
Zhao Lin bowed and said, "Thank you, Brother Zijin." He was born in the same year as Zhao Lan, but was born older than Zhao Lan.
Finally, she was no longer stuck to him, and Su Ruojin was secretly happy, but she felt that the resentful gaze was following her like a shadow, making her feel uncomfortable all over.
After returning to the room to rest, Su Ruojin asked Zhao Lan, "Brother Jin, I don't think I have offended Miss Xie Wu, so why is she looking at me like a snake, cold and creepy?"
Zhao Lan's eyes tightened. "The Xie family prospered after the emperor ascended the throne and became a Duke's mansion, one of the most powerful families in the capital. It's normal for them to be a little arrogant."
"Arrogant?" Su Ruojin didn't think so. "I heard that she likes you. Does she think that I stole her husband?"
Zhao Lan then sneered, "There are so many young ladies in the capital who like me. Did you steal their husbands?"
Su Ruojin: ...
Looking at Zhao Lan's beautiful face, she is the dream husband of all the young ladies in Beijing.
"But she feels that she is different from all the young ladies in the capital. They may only think about it in their dreams, but she feels that her status and position are completely worthy of you."
"There's nothing else in the capital, but there are a lot of young ladies with status and position. Don't let your imagination run wild." Zhao Lan quickly comforted the young lady, telling her not to let her have wild thoughts. "If I were to marry a wife based on my status and position, I would have been married a long time ago, and maybe my child would even be able to walk."
Su Ruojin: ...
She had to wait for four years. Suddenly, she felt embarrassed. "Brother Jin, will you blame me for insisting on getting married at the age of eighteen?"
"How could that be?" Zhao Lan held her in his arms. As long as he could marry her, he would be willing to wait ten years, not to mention four years. But just as he finished saying this, he felt something flowing down his nose.
Reach out and block it quickly.
Su Ruojin noticed something strange and looked up, "Hey, Brother Jin, you have a nosebleed!" She was so scared that she quickly found some ice and applied it to him to shrink his pores.
After applying the ice pack, I quickly made some chrysanthemum tea to reduce internal heat. "The weather is dry in autumn, so we should eat less spicy food."
"I've been eating it before and it's fine."
Su Ruojin refused, "You used to have poor sleep and poor diet, and you always had a strong taste for spicy food. After these few years of conditioning, your spleen can no longer withstand such spicy food. You should focus on lighter food in the future."
"I will listen to Ah Jin."
Zhao Lan sat at the table, watching the young lady busying herself for him. Her figure was the only thing in his sight, and a happy smile was on his face.
Su Ruojin felt embarrassed by his affectionate gaze and deliberately said fiercely, "I am your fiancée now. If you don't listen to me, who will you listen to?"
Outside the door, Xie Qingyu, who was standing in the corridor enjoying the breeze, heard the sweet whispers coming from the other side of the room. His face was so gloomy that water could drip. Why... why... If there was something at hand, it would have probably fallen onto the street.
Zhao Lin changed his clothes and came out. He saw his fiancée standing in the corridor. He saw her expression and glanced at the closed room next door. His eyes were slightly cold and he curled his lips. "Are you cold, Madam Yu?"
Standing here in the wind?
Xie Qingyu's face became unnatural when he asked her back, and she quickly forced a smile, "The weather is high and the scenery is beautiful in autumn. Brother Zichu, what are you doing..."
"I'm going to Dongshan Academy to look for Mr. Su." He didn't invite Xie Qingyu to go with him. He walked a few steps, and when he was about to reach the stairs, he turned around and said, "If you're bored, buy some storybooks to read."
Xie Qingyu: ...You really treat her as a young lady in the boudoir.
She snorted inwardly. Don't think she didn't know why he came to Dongshan Academy. Apart from the Imperial College, Dongshan Academy was the best gathering place for scholars in Bianjing City. She knew exactly what he was planning.
He raised his chin slightly, smiled coldly, then turned and went back to his room.
What’s the point of men liking each other? No matter how loving and affectionate they are, it will always be worn out in time.
Mr. Su, just wait and see. She doesn’t believe that in five years, ten years... can Zhao Lan still treat you like a treasure?
Su Ruojin didn't care what Mr. Xie thought. In the evening, she asked the restaurant to prepare a light dinner, and she and Zhao Lan had dinner in the room.
"It would save us from running into those two again. It's very annoying."
Zhao Lan smiled slightly, "I won't run into him."
"(⊙ o ⊙)?"
"Zhao Lin went to Dongshan Academy and will probably be back after dinner."
"You're not going to accompany Miss Xie Wu anymore?"
"Don't gossip." Zhao Lan disdains to mention the surname Xie.
Su Ruojin sensed that Zhao Lan particularly disliked people with the surname Xie, so she chuckled and said, "I'll listen to Brother Jin."
Because they had to go back tomorrow, Zhao Lan and Su Ruojin went to bed early tonight and didn't know when Zhao Lin would return to the restaurant from Dongshan Academy.
Early the next morning, Zhao Lan and Su Ruojin wanted to leave quietly, but Zhao Lin got up early and stood at the door to see them off.
"This guy is quite polite."
How could he be rude? He came to the capital alone from his fiefdom. So what if he was a member of the royal family? He still needed to build interpersonal relationships to gain a foothold in the capital.
After returning to the capital, Zhao Lan went on duty.
Su Ruojin and Hua Ping went to the small courtyard that Zhao Lan had given them. It was not big, but it had all the functions and was very exquisite.
"Uncle Hua, I want such a beautiful little yard."
Hua Ping said, "Let the young master give you a set."
Su Ruojin shook her head and said she didn’t want it.
Qiuyue reminded, "Jinniang, there is a small house in the engagement gift list."
"Is there?" Su Ruojin didn't even look closely at the betrothal gift given by Zhao Lan.
Qiuyue affirmed, "Yes, do you want to go and have a look?"
Su Ruojin shook her head. She just sighed and said, "No, let's decorate the new courtyard for Uncle Hua first."
After everything was arranged, she had to go back to Weizhou and check out the vegetable fields and the farmhouses. After everything was ready, she prepared to spend the winter there.
As long as you have money in your pocket, even if the courtyard only has walls, you can build an exquisite house for yourself. Not to mention, this courtyard has everything except furniture.
The group ran around here and there and within a few days they had decorated the small courtyard in Huaping into a newlyweds' room.
"If we hadn't agreed to get married during the Chinese New Year, I would really like to get married right now." Hua Ping looked at the bridal chamber and couldn't wait any longer.
After decorating Uncle Hua's house, he went to see his brother in Su's shop and the Imperial College. All the things in Beijing were done. Su Ruojin was ready to return to Weizhou County. Fan Yanjia came to his house and saw that he looked worried and asked, "Brother Yanjia, is there anything wrong?"
Fan Yanjia seemed to want to say something but stopped himself.
Is there something secret?
Su Ruojin asked Mao Ya and others to leave the reception room.
"Brother Yanjia, they are all out, what do you want?"
Fan Yanjia sighed before speaking, looking like someone who just experienced love but was heartbroken, "Ajin, why is life so difficult?"
Su Ruojin: “…”
Is it difficult for him? How about the beggars on the street, those who work so hard to make a living that they don’t even have time to cry?
She sat patiently, waiting for the young man to talk.
After sighing a few more times, Fan Yanjia asked shyly, "Ajin, why don't you ask me why?"
"Ah, Brother Yanjia, why is life so difficult?"
Fan Yanjia: ...
Why is the young lady like this? Can't she see it?
Su Ruojin stared at him again, and her eyes seemed to say, Brother Yanjia, if you have something to say, just tell me, I'm listening.
Fan Yanjia slapped his face and said, "Her family is looking for a husband for her."
"Whose family? Do I know him?" Su Ruojin was shocked and thought, although she was familiar with him, she was not familiar enough to talk about this. Shouldn't she talk about this with a brother like Zhao Lan?
Fan Yanjia, however, looked as if he knew what was going on.
Su Ruojin: ...What did she know?
While she was complaining, her brain was working rapidly. It seemed that the young lady he was talking about was someone she knew, but she didn't really know many of the officials' families in the capital, and even fewer of them were connected with the Fan and Su families.
who……
Wait, Su Ruojin suddenly thought of farm stay.
"Brother Yan Jia, could it be..."
Fan Yanjia nodded, "Yeah."
"Ah, you knew it before I even told you. Aren't you afraid that I might be wrong?"
Fan Yanjia glanced at her unhappily, "We only have a few circles of connections, I don't believe you would guess wrong."
Su Ruojin took a deep breath, "Is it really Ningning?"
Fan Yanjia's face suddenly turned red. The innocent look of the shy boy is really enviable. Youth is really good.
He sighed again, "Ajin, what should I do? I don't even have the heart to study anymore."
Su Ruojin was puzzled, "If you like Miss Ning, then let Madam Fan go to the Ning family to propose marriage."
Fan Yanjia shook his head, "The Ning family thinks my family is too high-class."
Su Ruojin: ...
People are always trying to climb up, and I have never heard anyone complain about having good conditions.
"A low-class family marries a daughter-in-law, and a high-class family marries a daughter." She smacked her lips, "The Shangshu Mansion is not as high-class as the Duke's Mansion, so you are marrying a high-class mansion. No wonder it is not in line with the secular world."
"Ajin..." Fan Yanjia sighed, "What do you think I should do?"
"Duke Ning's Mansion has already explicitly refused?"
"That's not the case." Fan Yanjia said, "The matchmaker at the Ningguo Mansion spread the word that the Ning family only looks for sons of officials below the fifth rank."
As soon as Su Ruojin heard this, she understood what the Ningguo Mansion meant. As a general who had the merit of following the emperor and held real power in the army, the Ningguo Duke had already reached the pinnacle of power. What would the emperor think if he were to marry the Minister of Personnel who held real power?
This is not an era for free love.
At this moment, Su Ruojin could only listen and could not help in any way.
"Ajin, why don't you say anything?"
What are you talking about?
Su Ruojin spread her hands, "Then wait until next year when you pass the imperial examination and are granted an official position. Even if you win the first place in the imperial examination, you will have to start from the seventh rank of Hanlin, away from your father's status. Then you will be just a small official in Beijing."
To be honest, in this era, there are almost no people like Su Yanli who can break away from their family. Even in the countryside, people pay attention to family. Fan Yanjia can't leave the Shangshu Mansion no matter what.
but……
Fan Yanjia suddenly had an epiphany, and was so happy that he almost jumped up, "Oh my God, Ah Jin, how come you are so smart? Why didn't I think of this?"
Is this considered comforting and helpful?
Fan Yanjia came with a cloud of worry and left with great joy.
Su Ruojin: ...
Okay, if you think you have helped, then you have helped. She should pack up and go back to Weizhou County.
After leaving the Su family, Fan Yanjia excitedly wrote a letter and had someone deliver it to Ningning.
The Zhong and Ning families were in chaos because of Zhong Wanhui's incident. The young lady was forcibly brought back from Weizhou County by Mrs. Zhong, but she no longer took the initiative to eat, and it took a lot of effort to feed her a little soup every day.
The young lady became thinner and shriveled at a speed visible to the naked eye. In the blink of an eye, it seemed as if this lively young lady could die at any time and anywhere.
Ningning was invited to the mansion by her sister, who asked her to coax the young lady to eat.
But no matter how she coaxed her, the girl was like a piece of wood and refused to eat or drink.
Mrs. Zhong almost cried until she went blind. "Aning, what should I do...what should I do...my poor Hui'er, she was a beautiful and lovely child when she was born, how could a high fever burn her brain, how could she..."
I cried my heart out.
Ningning, who used to be lively and cute with a smile on her face all the time, now feels very depressed and looks worried.
The doctor felt her pulse and said, "Madam Zhong, if the young lady refuses to eat, her internal organs will starve to death. There is really no way to save her."
Mrs. Zhong: ...
Ning Ning couldn't help but cover her mouth. She ran out and stood in a deserted place crying loudly, "How could this happen? Didn't you say you were stupid and didn't know anything? Why did you let Hui suffer this emotional pain? Why..."
The girl waited until she had cried enough before reminding her, "Miss, there is a letter."
"Whose?"
Ningning still couldn't help crying.
The girl said, "I don't know."
Ningning reached out to take it, opened the envelope, and it said: See you at Su’s Shop.
"The Su family asked her out?" She felt strange. "Could it be that Shangguan has something to tell the Su family?" She wiped away her tears, and quickly asked the maid to tell her sister, and she went home first.
Fan Yanjia waited anxiously at Su Ji. Would Aning come? What if she didn't come? Did he know that he liked her?
Maybe she doesn’t know that she likes him, then… then when she comes, what should he say?
Fan Yanjia, who was new to love, thought about all sorts of things for a moment and didn't know what to do.
Xiang Gui saw Young Master Fan walking back and forth in front of the shop, so she came over and asked quietly, "Master Fan, are you waiting for our Second Lady?"
(End of this chapter)
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