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Chapter 7
Lin Dan is a taciturn person, but very serious in doing things. No matter how dirty or tiring the old woman's daughter-in-law assigns to her, she can do it silently without cutting corners. As time passed, the daughter-in-law was relieved and stopped staring at her all the time. The old woman took advantage of the time when the daughter-in-law ran out to be lazy and slippery and taught her how to order the most tender and refreshing tofu, and how to make the most delicious and delicious tofu. ball.
After March, Lin Dan learned this dish, resigned from the reluctant old woman, and left the town with the Qi family. From then on, she went to various places to learn art from teachers. Others did not want to teach. She worked in this person's shop or at home, impressing the other person with sincerity. If the other party was still unwilling, she would not complain, just leave silently.
She has eaten all over the great Chu country cuisine, met all kinds of people, and experienced different life experiences. This has been ten years.
Ten years later, in the early spring time, a train team came along a mountain trail, with strong guards guarding the front and back. It seemed that a large family was migrating. When the convoy came to a fork in the road, the convoy came to a halt slowly. A middle-aged man with a big belly jumped out of the most luxurious car and ran to the last carriage with small steps. He whispered: "Treasurer Lin , Is your illness better?"
"Ahem..." A hoarse voice came from the carriage: "It's much better, thanks to Boss Shen's care along the way, I look forward to seeing each other in the future."
"It's fine, I still have some medicine for replenishing the body, you can take it." Boss Shen quickly asked the young man to give the gift box that had been prepared for a long time, and finally said with a face: See, if you opened a shop in the capital, I would visit you all the way. With your illness, I don’t have any taste for anything."
Listening to the voice, the shopkeeper Lin in the carriage should be a woman, and Boss Shen's last remark seemed to be molested, but the people inside and outside the carriage were not aware of the problem and even laughed in unison. .
Seeing this scene, a brawny man guarding the motorcade showed a mocking expression, and hit his companion's waist with his elbow, and said silently: Look, you can hook up with a car halfway, but women don’t. It's time to come out and show your face.
His companion nodded silently, teased, and looked at the leader again, only to find that he was still sitting on the horse, and the narrow and long phoenix eyes were staring at each fork in the road with extreme alertness, without any slack. The two of them felt stunned before they stopped.
Shopkeeper Lin seemed to be worried that he would be angry with others. He only opened a gap in the car curtain and stretched out his hands to pick up the gift box. Finally he said: "Xiao Zhu, give the gift I prepared to Boss Shen. These days Thanks to Boss Shen's care, otherwise we won't be able to get to the capital."
A fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy immediately jumped out of a carriage in front, holding a wine jar in his arms. Seeing the wine jar, Boss Shen’s already ruddy face seemed to shine. Although his mouth was humbling, his hands stretched out eagerly, his thin eyes almost disappeared, "Oh, shopkeeper Lin is really polite, and so am I. It's just a matter of effort!" He said, sniffing the mouth of the altar, revealing an expression of intoxication.
"It's a matter of effort for you, but it is a great kindness for us. It is not early, Mr. Shen, please leave, we will say goodbye to you, and I will meet you in Beijing in the future, I will definitely invite you to dinner." Shopkeeper Lin said sincerely .
Boss Shen smiled more and more, and repeatedly reiterated: "Treasurer Lin, to prevent your nobles from forgetting things, I will record this meal on the account book first, and I will definitely come to Beijing to collect debts in the future."
"I can't forget, goodbye." Shopkeeper Lin laughed.
After the two said goodbye, the long convoy was also divided into two. The ten carriages in the front went to Jiaozhou along the fork, and the five in the back went straight ahead to the capital. The guards guarding the team were also divided into two groups. One of them continued to follow Boss Shen all the way. Three other strong men fell behind Lin's shopkeeper's team and fought.
Shopkeeper Lin seemed to see the three through the curtain of the car, and sent a small servant to say hello.
The young man was a little timid, but he still plucked up the courage to ask: "Three big brothers, are you going to the capital?"
One of them smiled nonchalantly, "So what?"
"If yes, our shopkeeper wants to hire you to hold darts. As long as we can safely send us into the capital, the shopkeeper will give you ten taels of silver each, and also provide food and drinks along the way. Is that good?
"Not good." The strong man laughed haha, but his words could choke people to death. His companion snorted softly, seemingly indifferent to the ten taels.
The young man blushed with anger, but he still insisted patiently: "The three big brothers will consider it again. We have food and drink. Our food and drink are really good. I can't lose you."
"I don't like ten taels of silver, can I still look at your food? Go ahead, don't delay our journey!" The strong man became a little impatient, as if he was pulling a whip around his waist.
The leading man is the tallest and the most shocking. He has dark skin and handsome appearance, and a knife scar almost wiped his forehead and sank into his temples, which made him even more hostile. It seemed that he suspected that his subordinates were too public. He glanced at him coldly. The two strong men immediately constricted their faces and explained: "We are in a hurry. We will take a shortcut back to Beijing and cannot walk with you."
You have to take a short cut to go up the mountain. The mountain road is rugged, narrow and cramped. Only horses can pass, but vehicles can't pass. Hearing this, little servant hurriedly bowed his hand to bid farewell. Before leaving, he quickly glanced at the man who was leading the head, and his heart jumped again. saw the man riding on a tall horse with a pair of long, narrow phoenix eyes, cold and sharp, and a vigorous figure wrapped in a dark suit. At first glance, he looked like a trainer.
This man is so hostile, is it a bandit? Thinking of this, Xiao Si ran faster.
Shopkeeper Lin's carriage was very close to a few people. Hearing these words, he stopped asking more questions. The group of people hurried quietly, seeing that it was midday, they rested in an open place with water. The two little girls carried clay pots to fetch water in the river, and the three servants brought in the stone base stove and prepared to make a fire and cook here.
Both sides of the mountain road are full of pink wild roses, and the fragrance of the flowers is drenched by the drizzle, which looks very pleasant. Shopkeeper Lin lifted the driving curtain to admire the beautiful scenery. He drank another bowl of tangerine peel and ginger water. Then he slowly climbed out of the car and said: "I have been in the car for a long time. I’ll cook your lunch, and you guys will bring down my kitchenware."
"Ah, great, Sister Lin is cooking today!" The two little girls yelled happily, and several servants also showed overjoyed expressions.
The three brawny men followed the team all the way, and the shopkeeper Lin became ill all the way. Today was the first time they met, and he couldn't help but look around. saw the other party in his early twenties, wearing a woman's bun, tall and beautiful, but his skin was not fair, but a pale wheat color, which was completely inconsistent with the current aesthetics. But there was a heroic air between her eyebrows, which made her look very comfortable.
It turns out that this is the treasurer of Lin, where Boss Shen Chengri is dedicated, completely different from the stunner or beauty in the imagination. The two strong men were very disappointed, but their leader stared at each other for a long time.
Shopkeeper Lin, that is, Lin Dan, immediately noticed the man's strange gaze, and turned his head to look at him. The two of them met with each other's eyes, one of them was stunned and the other was puzzled.
"Excuse me, this eldest brother, have we met before?" Lin Dan handed in inquiries and was generous.
The man hesitated for a moment and then said in a deep voice: "Never."
Lin Dan looked at him carefully and made sure that he had never seen him before, so he stopped paying attention. The other party is so handsome and terrifying, if she has seen it once, she will definitely not forget it.
When Lin Dan walked away, one of the strong men lowered his voice and asked, "Boss, do you know this treasurer Lin?"
The man did not answer, but silently took out the dry food and water sacs, and swallowed with difficulty. Another brawny man tore off a hard-dried bun and stuffed it into his companion's mouth, and scolded, "Eat yours, don't ask questions."
The brawny man spit out hard buns, pucked again, and complained: "Mother, this bun has been left for a few days? It is even harder than a rock! I eat these things every day, and the birds are fading out of my mouth!"
"Be patient and bear it again. At the next intersection, we will take a small road and rush back to the capital. Then we will have a big drink and meat, and then go home and sleep well." The companion showed a look of longing.
"How far is the next intersection?"
"Not far, maybe I will be there tomorrow morning."
"Mother, won't you be far away until tomorrow morning? I can't wait to fly back with my wings!"
The two talked while gnawing on the buns, but the leading man never said a word, but from time to time he raised his eyes to look at the treasurer Lin, as if he cared a little about her.
Lin Dan was busy preparing lunch, unaware of the man's attention. She took out a few pieces of uniformly fat and thin bacon and roasted them on the fire. When the skin was greasy, the pig hair that had not been shaved was also licked off by the flame, and then rinsed in the river water, and then scraped off the black stains with a knife.
The two little girls got her instructions and ran into the woods to dig up a few handfuls of wild onions and some bamboo shoots for later use. Several other servants set up a fire to cook.
Lin Dan cuts the cleaned bacon into slices, puts them in the pot and stirs them. When enough fat is obtained, he throws in a few light red dumplings made of unknown ingredients and gently stirs them with a spatula. broken. An unspeakable sourness mixed with the aroma of bacon filled the air, causing the three men to crane their necks to watch.
"Mother, what's this smell? It's a bit sour and a bit smelly." Although the brawny man was disgusted with his mouth, his saliva was already three feet.
"I don't know, I've never seen it before." His companion stood on tiptoe and stared straight at the cauldron that Lin Dan was constantly stirring.
A few light red dumplings have been completely crushed by Lin Dan, turned into fine powder and mixed with slices of bacon. The color of the dishes is really not good, but the aroma is extremely strong, a little bit irritating, but somehow, they are People are salivating. The so-called smell mixed with strange fragrance, about that.
The Junwei man who had not said a word finally spoke: "It's pickled bean dregs, a specialty of Anqing Mansion. When the weather is clear, crush the bean curd dregs, put them in a jar, and store them with some salt and pepper. If the taste is not strong enough, you can also boil pork bones into a thick bone soup, add the bean dregs and seal with lotus leaves, and wait for it to slowly ferment. After the fermentation is complete, knead it into a dough and dry it, and it becomes a convenient pickling Okara is sour, spicy, salty, and rich in flavor. The aroma of the meat is mixed with the aroma of beans, and the taste is very unique."