"Oh, this pig's trotter is so delicious. How about we serve this when the pickled fish is no longer sold?" Lin Yan was still not satisfied.
Upon hearing this, Li Yuemei approached Lin Yan with great interest: "Okay, then I'll teach you how to make it, and we'll eat it again in a few days."
"I just read it over and I almost got it, but..."
Lin Yan and Li Yuemei were discussing their experience in making stewed pig's trotters with soybeans. Zhao Shiyun called him twice but got no response, so he could only go to the kitchen to make some drink.
He learned the trick by osmosis. He started by making the sour plum soup. After the water boiled, he added some firewood and simmered the sour plum soup over low heat. Then he went to the tofu shop to make the perilla drink.
After the two finally finished their conversation, Zhao Shiyun was ready to start making mung bean soup, but he was not very skilled in making it. Seeing this, Lin Yan asked him to fetch a bucket of water, and he took over and started making the mung bean soup.
If Li Yuemei was at home, she would soak the mung beans at noon every day, so she could start cooking them after a meal, and they would be basically cooked before going to bed.
Lin Yan was tossing and turning in bed tonight, unable to sleep because he was thinking about something. Zhao Shiyun was originally drowsy, but he woke him up.
"What's wrong? Can't sleep?"
"I was thinking about my second uncle." Lin Yan sighed.
"Okay, things will work out when the time comes. There's no point in overthinking. Once we figure out what's going on, we'll just have to be more cautious." Zhao Shiyun hugged Lin Yan in his arms, patted his back, and coaxed him like a child. "Go to sleep quickly, or you'll be tired tomorrow."
"Yeah." Lin Yan closed his eyes and forced himself to sleep. He thought he still couldn't fall asleep, but not long after, he fell asleep.
＊
Lin Yan sat in front of the counter, writing and drawing on paper with a brush. After opening the shop, he started to keep accounts. Although he only knew simple arithmetic and not many words, he used pictures instead of what he couldn't write. He bought the cheapest ink and paper from the bookstore, as long as it could be used.
He was currently thinking about the new mixed noodles that were about to be served. Summer was here, and the noodle soup was too hot, and he had no appetite for food. Besides drinks, mixed noodles were the most appetizing. He'd made noodles with egg sauce and scallion oil at home before, and Lin Yan was planning to add noodles with chili peppers and fried tomatoes and eggs. These two dishes could be used as rice bowls or mixed with noodles, killing two birds with one stone.
What else could he think of? Lin Yan supported his chin and thought, but he couldn't think of anything for a moment. He simply put down his pen and went to the kitchen to take a look.
Widow Liu was already cooking and was chopping peppers. Lin Yan smelled the chopped peppers and suddenly felt like eating them.
"I'll make some noodles tomorrow and try mixing some chopped peppers," he thought to himself, filling a bowl with rice and dipping a spoonful of scrambled eggs with tomatoes into his meal. He was particularly hungry at this time, so in the morning he'd occasionally snack on a steamed bun or rice cake.
He now eats small, frequent meals to avoid overeating. "Auntie, your cooking skills are getting better and better." Lin Yan praised after finishing a bowl of rice.
Widow Liu smiled and said, "Really? As long as you like it."
There was still one dish of fried bean curd sheets and pork left to cook. Lin Yan told her to eat first and he would cook the rest. Widow Liu ordered two portions of rice and invited Yue Ge'er to eat in the backyard. She told him to eat quickly so she could get back to work.
Today, Yu Ge'er was helping sell drinks at the counter, so Lin Yan was free. Unless the others were very busy, they would not let him help. Lin Yan was helpless. Did they treat him as a precious item? What could be tiring to do a little work?
But he also knew that his family, including Aunt Liu, were doing this for his own good.
Zhao Shiyun went out to find someone to ask about something, and he should be back soon.
These runners were originally people with nothing to do in the town, wandering around every day. Later, some people saw that they were idle, so they paid them to run errands and inquire about information, so later on, there came into being special runners.
Runners usually hang around the streets and alleys. They have sharp ears and eyes, and if they see someone who looks like they need an errand, they will go up and ask. Zhao Shiyun had just walked out of the shop and looked around. Before he could recognize who the runner was, a middle-aged man came up to him and asked, "Sir, do you need any errands?"
Zhao Shiyun glanced at him. He was about thirty years old, dressed in linen, with a mole on his chin. He didn't look very smart. Zhao Shiyun hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Fearing that his second uncle was nearby, he asked him to go to a tea stall farther away to sit down and have tea.
"I would like to ask you to help me find someone." Zhao Shiyun went straight to the point.
"Oh? Just tell me who you want to know."
"There's a tea shop in this town called Lingyaju. It was originally located in Zhuye Lane. I've noticed it's been closed these past few days, so I'd like to ask if anything has happened to the shop."
"May I ask what the name of this shop is?"
Zhao Shiyun told Paoxian the simple situation, then took out a stack of money and handed it to him as a deposit.
Paoxian took the money, and the two exchanged names, agreed on the time and place for the next meeting, and then went back.
When Zhao Shiyun came back, Lin Yan had already cooked the dishes. He told Zhao Shiyun to eat first, otherwise he would be busy once the customers arrived. Lin Yan ordered two meals and put them on the counter, asking the two brothers to eat quickly.
While eating, Yu Ge'er asked quietly, "Brother, what did you find out?"
Zhao Shiyun ate his food and mumbled, "I asked a scoundrel about it, but I have to wait for his reply."
"Oh..." Yu Ge'er nodded.
＊
When he returned home in the afternoon, Zhao Shiyun also explained to his family members, asking them not to worry and that he would tell them as soon as there was any news.
Lin Yan had been nervous all day, so he could only calm down. There was no point in being anxious, and it would only waste his energy.
He remembered that he wanted to make noodles today, so he went to the kitchen to knead some dough so that he could eat noodles tonight.
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