Butcher Fulang’s Noodle Shop - Chapter 38
Song Shi’an walked into the pavilion under the guidance of the maid. His movements were graceful, and his clear, beautiful face surprised all the students who knew his life experience.
The entanglement between Song Shijin and his father in front of their Restaurant had already quietly spread in Hongwen Academy.
To save face, Song Shijin kept his expression calm, pretended helplessness, and conversed with his close colleagues.
He spoke negatively about Song Shi’an, openly and secretly, claiming he disliked studying since childhood. His father sent him to elementary school, but he refused to study, betraying his father’s hard work in cultivating him.
He insinuated that he and Butcher Xu had an affair first, and his father, almost angry to death, wanted to arrange another marriage. After all, Butcher Xu was an outsider of unknown origin, and Song Shijin questioned his true identity, unaware if he had a criminal past.
Except for colleagues with a strong relationship with Song Shijin, others listened, outwardly agreeing but inwardly dissenting.
Everyone recognized Father Song treated his eldest child poorly. Still, Song Shijin’s claimed that Song Shi’an was illiterate and vulgar.
Meeting Song Shi’an, students who hadn’t dined at his restaurant realized the restaurant owner had a better temperament than Song Shijin, without any vulgarity—something subtly noticeable.
Zhang Nanming tasted the soup, finding it extremely sweet. Song Shi’an explained, “This soup uses fresh lotus leaves for fragrance, lotus-shaped noodles with bamboo shoot tips, lotus root slices, cherry and hawthorn to relieve greasiness and promote digestion. The clear soup base includes wild duck and game meat, providing a fresh fragrance. As the Book of Songs says, ‘In the river, there are doves, and on the river island, fair ladies abound.’ This soup is aptly named the ‘Good at Eating Soup.'”
After pondering for a moment, he was amazed and said, “You are so young, but you can combine poetry and food so skillfully. You really deserve to be the royal chef in the palace!”
Song Shi’an shook his head hurriedly and said, “I just have a few clever ideas, don’t deserve his ambitious goal. I will definitely be scared to death when His Majesty stares at me.”
A student laughed and said, “The Holy Emperor has inherited the throne not long ago and is still young.”
Song Shi’an said “Oh” and just smiled naively. It didn’t matter to him whether the emperor was a hundred years old or eighteen.
Thinking of Xu Zhongyue, who was busy just now, with his tall and straight body slumped in the kitchen just a short distance away, he smiled fondly: “I just want to open more restaurants so that I can live a good life with my husband. Each dishes have its own chefs. Everyone had done this before, but I just learned a little bit and showed off my little skills in front of everyone!”
He was really not humble. There was a local TV station in Jiangcheng at that time. They found local famous chefs and combined the classics and famous popular novel culture to create books with various delicacies described in it.
The dishes he served just now, “Twenty-Four Bridges on a Moonlit Night,” “Listening to Falling Plum Blossoms on the Jade Flute,” “Good at Eating Soup,” and etc., were all recorded in Jin Yong’s martial arts novels.
The steamed duck with fermented wine, rouge goose breast, dried duck letter, crab roe buns, etc. served in the middle were all recreated from Dream of Red Mansions.
He had won several chef awards, so he was invited to participate. The celebrity chefs sat down and had a lively discussion, then rolled up their sleeves and started working.
During the experiment, they improved the formula, removed some elements that were not easy to operate, and focused on enhancing the taste. Not only did the final dish have an elegant name, but every dish was so delicious that even the well-informed host could not bear to eat it. If you couldn’t stop, just shut up and ate like crazy.
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The meal was a joyful one, and everyone praised it. Everyone generously donated money from their pockets to reward Song Shi’an.
Some found that there was no silver in their wallets. These students were all from rich families. They had never bothered to care about how much money they had. They only paid attention to whether they acted smartly and neatly when giving rewards to others.
Even if they contained expensive rings or silver locks, they still looked at it.
Song Shijin pretended to be fat, and the last time he acted as host, he spent a lot of money on the family, but the result was not good.
Now he saw Song Shi’an surrounded by stars and the moon. He was just a humblest cook, but he had been rewarded with so many good things.
If only Song Shi’an would be more filial and give his father some money, his parents would not quarrel every day, and his mother would not fight for money…
His nostrils flared with anger, but he remained silent after all.
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Lin Zhihang gained a lot of face by being a host this time. Song Shi’an received a generous reward, and he was also very proud, as happy as if he had received the reward himself.
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Two maids from the Jiang family helped Song Shi’an pack away the generous rewards. Just as Song Shi’an was about to leave and continue preparing for another meal in the evening, two students came in carrying several pots of crabapple flowers.
The leader was Jiang Pingyun. He placed the flowerpot on the table in front of Zhang Nanming like a treasure and said, “This is the famous crabapple raised by my uncle, Pear Blossom Snow. Sir, it is rare that you are willing to enjoy it with the students today. Why don’t you ask Sir to make a decision? Let’s wrote a poem about it and decided who wrote the best poem?”
Every time the students got together, they would recite poems and write some elegant works.
They all knew that although Zhang Nanming had been demoted, his brother was still an official in the court. He must still have intricate connections in the capital, so naturally, they would not dare to neglect this teacher.
But just now the teacher almost forced them to death by forcing them to write essays. Lin Zhihang secretly complained and hurriedly discussed countermeasures with Jiang Pingyun.
Jiang Pingyun’s move was actually to divert Zhang Nanming’s attention. After all, the teacher was good at writing beautiful articles, but rarely wrote poems and songs, saying that these were just leisure arts.
After Zhang Nanming nodded in agreement, everyone simply beat the drums and passed the flowers around. Whoever got the flowers had to write an impromptu poem.
Seeing them shaking their heads, Song Shi’an felt bored in his heart. He was thinking about Xu Zhongyue, who was still busy in the kitchen.
He was about to go out quietly, but unexpectedly, the red silk flower that was being passed around by beating the drum was thrown to his chest impartially. He picked it up casually, and the sound of the drum stopped.
The drummer was none other than Song Shijin. He had just become anxious and recited a poem that didn’t fit the rhyme. Everyone laughed and couldn’t make any sense, which made him extremely embarrassed.
He kept his eyes closed as per the rules while playing the drums, but he quietly opened his eyes a crack, just in time to see the flowers falling into Song Shi’an’s hands, and he stopped the drumming hurriedly.
Seeing that Song Shi’an was stunned, Lin Zhihang hurriedly helped him out: “The eife of the Xu family is not good at poetry. This time does not count. Let’s start over.”
In the corner, a student who was close to Song Shijin sneered sharply: “The dishes just now were all accompanied by poems. Now I don’t know how to write poems. Could it be that someone else actually named this large table of dishes?”
His words were so weird that Song Shi’an was also annoyed.
He said: “I dare not rob the beauty. As I said just now, the late master and a few friends were the ones who really named and created this big dishes. But if you ask me to recite the poem, then I have to bless you with one.”
He had a very good memory. In order to restore the dishes in Dream of Red Mansions, he read the entire book twice, and he remembered the poem about White Begonia particularly clearly.
“The windoe curtain is half rolled up and the door is half closed, and the ice is ground into earth jade for the basin. The stolen pistils are three-thirds white, and a wisp of the plum blossom’s soul is borrowed. The immortal in the Moon Cave sews her gauze, and the resentful girl in autumn wipes away the traces of her cry. She is shy and silently complains, I am tired of leaning against the west wind and am already fainting at night.”
The students were immediately fascinated by the uniqueness and connotation of this poem. Even Zhang Nanming followed Song Shi’an’s recitation and memorized each sentence silently.
“I have read thousands of ancient poetry anthologies, but I have never seen this poem! Xu Fulang, please don’t be humble. You couldn’t have written this yourself, right?”
Song Shi’an waved his hands repeatedly, “I said, I’m just robbing the treasure. That’s all, this was written by a senior named Cao.”
As soon as this poem came out, the room was completely silent. No one continued to write crooked poems. Everyone was mesmerized, reviewing and commenting on this poem.
Song Shi’an repeatedly clarified that he did not write the poem himself, but many students were dubious. There was a lot of discussion after the party, and they all suspected that as a married wife, he did not want to be famous, so he answered dubiosly.
They compared Song Shi’an with Song Shijin in the academy, and it was like heaven and earth.
“Father Song is really confused. His eldest child is so outstanding, but he spends money training his second son in vain.”
“Song Shijin always said that his eldest brother was vulgar and ridiculous. I think he is the most ridiculous.”
These were all afterthoughts.
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While the others were appreciating the poems, only Lin Zhihang was thinking about what to eat for dinner. Song Shi’an did not hesitate to say, “Roast venison!”
Naturally, this deer was brought down with the wild goat from the last hunting trip. But the sheep were alive and well, while the injured deer was gradually wilting.
This deer, Xu Zhongyue, said that he did not want to sell it for money but wanted to keep the antler and deer blood for Song Shi’an to replenish his health. He had cooked the deer the day before.
The meat was cut into evenly thick slices. The charcoal stove and iron skewers for barbecue were made by a blacksmith in advance. Seasonal vegetables, onions, coriander, sauces, sesame seeds, and peanuts were all prepared. Put it in a large square box with the lid open.
Xu Zhongyue carried the things over and lit a fire. A boy from Master Jiang’s family came in carrying some ice cubes, causing a sudden chill in the room.
In front of everyone, Xu Zhongyue washed his hands again and put the venison on the stick after beating it and marinating it for an afternoon.
The job was not difficult, just hard, so he would do it himself and not let Song Shi’an interfere.
When the charcoal fire was hot, he used a small brush to apply grease on both sides and placed the iron skewer on the charcoal stove. Everyone could only hear the sizzling sound. The braised meat had rolled up and changed color, and a strong and alluring aroma spread domineeringly.
Some people were full at noon, and just now, they were saying that they would not have an empty stomach in the evening and not eat anything. Now they all had an empty stomach, and they were looking at the venison eagerly.
Xu Zhongyue put the roasted venison on the plate, Song Shi’an brushed it with sauce, sprinkled it with sesame seeds and peanuts, and added finely chopped coriander and a bit of spicy pepper.
One student eagerly took the meat and stuffed it into his mouth.
The meat juice splashed in their mouths. The meat was tender and chewy, making a crackling sound after two bites, and the fat overflowed from the corners of their lips. They couldn’t stop eating!
The first three rounds were completely robbed, and everyone was half full after eating, showing great interest in grilling the meat themselves.
A group of people made a fuss until the moon was high and drank a lot of wine. Jiang Pingyun ordered the servants to send them to the guest room to rest.
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Lin Zhihang was also very drunk, shouting: “My fair lady, the gentleman wants to eat!” He was also stuffed into the guest room and put to sleep.
He asked Song Shi’an and Xu Zhongyue if they wanted to rest one night at his uncle’s house and go back tomorrow. Xu Zhongyue refused, so Jiang Pingyun ordered his servant to help them pack the various rewards after the two meals into suitcases and arrange for a carriage to deliver them home.
After a busy day, Song Shi’an was tired but extremely energetic. He couldn’t wait to go home and count today’s goods while soaking his feet!
Halfway through, Song Shi’an suddenly wanted to relieve himself. The boy was carrying a heavy suitcase in his hand, and Xu Zhongyue was also carrying a basket and two pieces of silk cloth that Jiang Pingyun had rewarded them with. It was not convenient to lead the way, and the toilet room was not far away. Just turn left into the cloister and walk to the end.
During this half of the night, the surroundings were silent except for the chirping of insects and the croaking of frogs. Only the light of rows of lanterns shone on the ground, glowing with a flickering light.
Xu Zhongyue thought that if Song Shi’an was in danger, his wife could shout and he would come right away, so he did not follow him.
Song Shi’an didn’t expect that he would make a mistake. After relieving himself and going out, the path he came in was covered by thick shade. He turned around and went out towards the corridor on the other side.
After going around twice, he also found that he was lost, so he screamed inwardly. Suddenly, he saw a strange and bright red light ahead.
He went over and took a look. Through the half-open window, he saw a newly decorated house adorned in red, with hibiscus lights, dragons, and phoenix candles. There was someone wearing a bright pink headscarf, whimpering like shouting for help.