Chapter 43 Laba Congee The person Su Zhihan sought out was none other than Zhen…
The person Su Zhihan sought out was none other than Pearl.
She carried her things to the outside of Chang Ge'er's courtyard and asked a familiar maid to call Pearl out.
Several maids recognized her and, without even asking for money, hurried inside. A short while later, Pearl rushed out, her face still showing worry, constantly glancing behind Su Zhihan: "Han-jie... perhaps Yinghong has done something?"
"Yinghong is doing well."
"Her knife skills have improved a lot recently. She slices the radish so thinly and translucently that even Chef Lin praised her for slicing the fish well." Su Zhihan, who had accepted the gift from Pearl, was also generous with her guidance. In addition, the butcher and Cao Mama also helped out. Recently, Yinghong, Cao Daya, Sulan and Qiuyue's cooking skills have all improved significantly.
“Ah…I’ve heard people mention it.” Upon hearing this, Pearl immediately recalled the complaints of the maids, saying that recently the servants in the main kitchen had been eating radishes all the time—from radish chunks at the beginning to thin radish slices now, and they even ate radish pancakes for breakfast, and they even started making pickled vegetables.
As for Pearl's family, there were also a lot more shredded radishes. They had been eating shredded radishes for quite some time, all of which Yinghong showed off by cutting them when she got home.
Although it was only a slight improvement in her knife skills, it put Pearl and her parents at ease, and they hoped that Yinghong could learn more so that she could have a skill in the future.
Pearl snapped out of her thoughts, then became curious again: "If it's not about Yinghong, why is Han-jie looking for me?"
Su Zhihan looked helpless: "Actually, it's..."
She told Pearl about buying a pavilion stall outside, but Su Zhihan did not mention that it was all her own idea. She only said, "I originally wanted to save money so that I could hire someone to go to the frontier in the spring to search for my brother's whereabouts."
"Have you ever thought..."
"As you know, this happened to the third branch of the family." Su Zhihan frowned, her face full of worry. "The third wife has devoted herself to the third son, and I didn't want to disturb her, so I kept putting it off until today."
"But the deposit has already been paid, and it can't be delayed for too long."
"I had no other choice but to come to you, Sister Pearl, to see if you have any ideas."
Upon hearing this, Pearl smiled and said, "I thought it was something serious, but it's just a small matter. Did you bring the contract?"
Su Zhihan was taken aback and took out the contract from her bag.
Pearl opened it, glanced at it, and frowned: "Why is it just a pavilion stall? How can you make money with a shop like that? Why don't I give you some money so you can buy a bigger shop?"
“No, no need, the pavilion is enough for me.” Su Zhihan’s words stammered, completely unprepared for Pearl’s reaction.
Pearl assumed Su Zhihan was just being shy, so she let it go, told her to wait outside for a while, and then hurriedly went inside.
But a moment later, she came out again.
Pearl handed the contract to Su Zhihan: "Nao, take it."
Su Zhihan glanced down and her eyes widened. The document already bore Chang Ge'er's signature and a seal, perfectly meeting the government's requirements.
"This, this, this... Thank you so much, Sister Pearl."
"No need to thank me, it's nothing." Pearl waved her hand, not taking it seriously.
Perhaps in the eyes of ordinary wealthy families or newly purchased maids and servants, acquiring private property is a huge deal, but in the eyes of house servants like Pearl, it is a trivial matter.
Her family also owns properties outside the family.
Pearl didn't take it to heart, nor did she think about it in detail. She assumed that Third Madam knew about this matter, but it just so happened that the Third Branch couldn't care less about Su Zhihan's family affairs. She never expected that Su Zhihan would have the idea of leaving the mansion and secretly set up a stall outside.
Su Zhihan watched Pearl's retreating figure, then looked at the contract in her hand, her feelings quite complicated. She had been tossing and turning in bed for days, already preparing to use her missing brother as an excuse, but she hadn't expected it to be done so easily.
However… Su Zhihan stared at the line of elegant calligraphy and recalled the news she had heard from Su Lan—Pearl was a concubine prepared by Chang Ge’er.
The image of the white silk ribbon fluttering in the wind suddenly flashed into her mind, and her heart grew heavy. If Pearl had already become Chang Ge'er's concubine when the incident occurred, she probably wouldn't have been able to escape being implicated.
At that time...
Su Zhihan was suddenly overwhelmed with mixed feelings. Her fingers involuntarily clenched the contract in her hand. Her eyes flickered with emotion for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure.
Su Zhihan let out a long breath and gave a self-deprecating smile: she didn't even have the ability to protect herself and her mother, so how could she care about others?
Su Zhihan calmed down, folded the contract, put it in her bag, and went out. When she arrived at the government office, she was greeted by the same official as before. He looked at Su Zhihan several times, recalling her from his memory: "Is she... the young lady from the Marquis of Zhongyong's mansion?"
Upon hearing the words "Loyal and Brave Marquis's Residence," many officials nearby turned their gazes towards Su Zhihan, who wore a thick blue cotton-padded jacket on top and an old silk skirt on the bottom, but then withdrew their eyes with little interest.
The girl in front of me is probably someone sent to run errands.
Only the official in charge of the matter, Dai, took the contract and glanced at it. He immediately showed a look of surprise. It turned out that the signature and seal on it were not someone else’s, but Lu Changfeng, the heir of the Marquis of Zhongyong.
He glanced at the simply dressed Su Zhihan in surprise, secretly marveling at her. He knew that the heir of the Marquis of Zhongyong had been famous since childhood, with a reputation for talent that spread far and wide. People said that he was proficient in both literature and martial arts and had the ability to govern the world.
However, Lord Dai had also heard some rumors. It was said that he did not intend to follow his father into the army, but instead wanted to use his talents to take the imperial examination, just like his third uncle.
With a lot on his mind and his hands moving non-stop, Dai Guanren quickly got the job done.
He stamped several seals on the contract submitted by Su Zhihan, then tucked it into the corresponding register. He then took out another contract and handed it to Su Zhihan with both hands: "Hey, Su-jie, right? This is your contract, keep it safe."
"Thank you, sir." Su Zhihan accepted the contract with both hands, barely suppressing her joy. She put the contract into her bag, and only when she left the yamen did she finally smile, eager to tell Grandma Chen and Xiao Hong the good news.
Grandma Chen and Xiao Hong were overjoyed. After experiencing the snow disaster last time, which prevented them from setting up their stall for nearly half a month, everyone's expectations for the pavilion stall were at their peak.
With the sheltered pavilion, people not only had a fixed location to sell their wares, but also had extended selling hours.
Su Zhihan was happy, and Grandma Chen and Xiao Hong, who received commissions, were also delighted. The group walked around the pavilion stall, then turned back to discuss in detail what food they would make next.
Besides the steadily selling braised tofu and the increasingly popular stinky tofu, Su Zhihan also plans to put back the tiger-skin eggs that were previously difficult to sell due to the inability to keep them warm, and maybe add a tea egg too, to see which one sells better.
You can also use a griddle to make grilled dishes like grilled tofu, starch sausage, and gluten and chives.
Su Zhihan considered the location and planned to bring in a variety of night market snacks, taking turns to promote the area.
Despite her thoughts, before opening her business, she had to spend another sum of money at various shops to order signs, teppanyaki grills, and all sorts of cooking utensils for her stall.
Once everything listed on the note was ready, Su Zhihan felt as cold as ice. She had no time to worry about how the stall was doing; she hurried back to her residence to go to work.
The kitchen was unusually lively today, which is understandable, since Laba Festival is just two days away, and the kitchen staff need to start preparing Laba porridge in advance.
In ordinary households, neighbors and relatives exchange homemade Laba porridge during the Laba Festival to share the joy of the festival and to teach neighbors and relatives to be united and harmonious.
However, in wealthy families like the Marquis of Zhongyong's household, the custom of sending Laba porridge had completely changed. Besides comparing who received the most Laba porridge bestowed by the emperor, people also talked about whose porridge tasted best, whose was more expensive, and whose was worse than in previous years…
In short, if a bad or incorrect gift is sent, the entire household will lose face.
Cook Xu has been in charge of the main kitchen for several years and has made countless Laba porridges, but she has never had such a headache.
As soon as Su Zhihan entered, she saw Chef Xu pressing her temples and glancing sideways at the maid in front of her: "Second Madam said—she wants to change the recipe for Laba porridge?"
The unfortunate maid who was caught was Yinghong. With a bitter face, she replied, "Reporting to Chef Xu, that's what the Second Mistress said."
With a cold face, Chef Xu looked down at the recipe, circled it a few times, wrote a few words next to it, and then told Yinghong to take it back and present it to the Second Mistress.
Seeing that Chef Xu looked unwell, Su Zhihan, not wanting to run into trouble, tiptoed over to Mama Cao and Cao Daya, and saw Mama Cao leading Cao Daya and the others in peeling walnuts and pine nuts.
Judging from the two large basins of food next to it, it's clear that quite a bit of time has been spent peeling them. As one of the ingredients for Laba porridge, walnuts and pine nuts need to have their shells removed, and the thin skin on the walnut kernels and pine nuts needs to be completely removed. The latter is relatively easy, but the former is a meticulous and tedious task.
Laba porridge is also known as Seven Treasures and Five Flavors porridge. The seven treasures refer to walnuts, pine nuts, mushrooms, persimmons, millet, chestnuts, and beans. After cooking, these ingredients contain five flavors, hence the name Seven Treasures and Five Flavors porridge. [1]
However, the Laba porridge prepared in the Marquis's residence contained more than just these ingredients. For example, the rice included regular rice, millet, water caltrop, glutinous rice, and sorghum rice, while the beans included red beans, mung beans, and kidney beans. In addition, there were lily bulbs, lotus seeds, longan, sesame seeds, chestnuts, taro, and more...
This is the sweet version; there's also a savory version, which requires pre-made cured pork, cured pork ribs, sausage, ham, braised meat, dried shrimp, minced chicken, green peas, mushrooms, and other ingredients, making the preparation process even more complicated.
Su Zhihan pouted: "That's over there..."
Madam Cao glanced at Cook Xu first, then lowered her voice and said, "Our household has a tradition of making Laba porridge, so Cook Xu will make it as usual."
"Who knew that Second Madam had just sent someone to ask for the ingredient list."
"That unlucky girl Yinghong was chased to the second room by Chef Xu as soon as she came back from buying red beans." Mama Cao shook her head, feeling sorry for Yinghong for a moment. The girl went there happily, thinking she would get some reward money, but she didn't expect to get any reward money and instead get a scolding.
“Poor Yinghong…” Su Zhihan glanced at Yinghong, who was leaving with the prescription in her hand. “Why did you suddenly have this idea, Second Madam? You want to change the prescription at this time. You should know that the day after tomorrow is the Laba Festival.”
Sweet Laba porridge is fine, but for savory Laba porridge, most of the ingredients are prepared in advance. If you want to change them at the last minute, how can you do it?
Madam Cao shrugged: "This is the first time Second Madam has taken on this matter this year, how would she know these things?"
Upon hearing this, Su Zhihan suddenly realized that the second wife, Li Shi, was of a lower social standing than the first wife, and her husband was not as successful as the third husband. She had suffered a lot of humiliation in the mansion over the years.
Now that her circumstances have improved, she is finally able to hold her head high and is determined to make a name for herself so that she can show off to her relatives, friends and neighbors and gain some face.
The Laba Festival is now her perfect opportunity.
Upon hearing this, Su Zhihan thought for a moment and said, "According to what you're saying, I'm afraid it will take at least three to five rounds before Second Madam will make a decision."
"No way..." Cao's mother looked at the ingredients laid out all over the room and muttered, "No matter how you change the ingredients for Laba porridge, you can't make it any different, can you?"
Madam Cao thought this way, but Second Madam did not.
After learning that the order for Laba porridge in the mansion was finalized by Third Sister, she felt that if she made it according to her recipe, rumors would probably spread that she was taking credit for her work.
The second daughter was intrigued, so she sent someone to instruct the cook, Xu, to change the ingredients for the Laba porridge. She claimed that she had heard people complaining for the past two years that their family's Laba porridge was the same every year without any new ideas.
Whether anyone says this or not doesn't matter.
Most importantly, after the second mistress gave these instructions, even if the cook was unwilling and felt that time was tight, she had no choice but to change it.
When Yinghong returned from her third trip, she dared not look at Cook Xu's face. Head bowed, face contorted in pain, eyes fixed on her feet, she stammered, "Second Mistress, Second Mistress said..."
"This recipe needs to be modified."
"...What is it this time that you're not satisfied with?" Chef Xu could no longer hide her emotions, and she tightened her grip on the recipe slightly.
Yinghong thought for a moment and said, "It's not refined enough."
Cook Xu was seething with anger, but unfortunately, it was Yinghong in front of her, not the one who was offering advice. Besides, it was Second Madam who was offering advice, the mistress of the mansion, so she couldn't reprimand her. She could only suppress her anger and continue staring blankly at the recipe.
The cook, who usually makes soups and stews but was assisting with preparing Laba porridge today, glanced at the time and stepped forward, saying, "Madam Xu, why don't we prepare the lowest grade of Laba porridge first?"
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The author says: [1]: When Zhou Mi recalled the prosperity of Lin'an (now Hangzhou) in the Southern Song Dynasty in "Old Tales of Wulin", he said: "On the eighth day, temples and households would make porridge with walnuts, pine nuts, mushrooms, persimmons, chestnuts (plus millet and beans), etc., which was called 'Laba porridge'."
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