Ancient Foodie Survival Guide Chapter 26
Translated by Serena Love
Edited by Azure
Chapter 26: Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup
Xie Xun had been ostracized recently.
Thinking that he had lived for twenty years, the most important thing was to surround himself with friends. But nowadays, there was no one opposite him during lunch, and even the surrounding tables were empty.
But Xie Xun was not depressed at all. Every day at lunchtime, he sat there and opened the lid, and the room would be full of enticing scents. If he was a colleague who could only eat East Palace's dishes all day, he also wouldn't want to sit next to him.
Lin Cheng was far away from him, and saw Xie Xun eating his lunch box with a graceful attitude, and was about to break his bone chopsticks with his teeth out of jealousy.
No, he couldn't bear it. When he finished work in the afternoon, he had to go to Duke Xie's mansion and sit down with Xie Xun.
The two families were close, and Lin Cheng ran to Duke Xie's mansion often before Xie Xun got married. It had been a long time since he visited his mansion.
Lin Cheng wanted to go to Xie Xun's mansion this time. There were two main things: One is to see what sort of holy land the cooks at Xie Xun's mansion came from. Not to mention that they came up with a lunch box that could cook without fire, but the daily dishes are also fresh and full of novelty.
The cooks at his own house were hired at a considerable price. He heard that their ancestors had been cooks of Emperor Taizu. They were the first batch of people who learned to cook, but they were still inferior to Xie Xun's cooks.
The second mission was to see Xie Xun's life after getting married. He was curious about how hard Xie Xun's life was after he got married. Since he was uncomfortable with his whole heart and soul, he wanted to go and take a look.
Hearing Lin Cheng said that he wanted to go to his home, Xie Xun subconsciously nodded and agreed. After a few steps, he realized. No, he was married, so he should pay more attention.
He said to Lin Cheng, "Why are you going to my house?"
Lin Cheng said cheeky, "Can't I just come and sit without having anything particular in mind?"
In the past, Lin Cheng went with him all the time. The two of them would paint and write articles together or go to the pavilion to drink and compare poetry, but now...
Xie Xun looked up at the sky and said to Lin Cheng, "Don't stay for dinner."
Lin Cheng was stabbed by his words and coughed, "I haven't seen your elder brother, second brother, and aunt for a long time. I don't know if your old man is in good health, and whether the two little nephews have studied hard— "
Xie Xun looked at him coldly, and Lin Cheng knew that he couldn't fool Xie Xun with nonsense and shut his mouth obediently.
Xie Xun strode forward, with a rather helpless tone, he said, "I have said that my wife makes my daily lunch. Even if you go, we can only eat meals made in the main kitchen."
Lin Cheng saw that his tone was open-minded, not like a lie, and he started to hesitate but said, "It's okay, I didn't want to eat."
When they arrived at Duke Xie's mansion, the two entered the Bamboo courtyard one after another and stayed in the study room. After a while, Xie Xun ordered the food to be prepared.
Lin Cheng sat down at the table and watched the servants arrange the meal. He felt a little nervous.
Lin Cheng's heart was broken when he saw that the dinner on the table was not different from the dinner in his own house.
No. Did Xie Boyuan tell the chef that he would not be allowed to cook tonight? Or was it that Xie mansion's dinner was simple and that the chef made only lunch?
Lin Cheng's brain was blown, but Xie Xun pretended not to see the disappointment on his face. He picked up the chopsticks and said, "Eat."
Since Jiang Shuyao did not need to please Xie Xun anymore, so she did not deliberately make dinner for him. Only when Xie Xun came home early and hurried back to the house on time for dinner, would Jiang Shuyao invite him to have a meal together.
Today, he returned home and led Lin Cheng directly to the study. He didn't go to Jiang Shuyao's courtyard to show his presence, so the dinner made by Jiang Shuyao was definitely not available.
Today's shift ended early. Xie Xun was initially able to catch up with dinner, but was abruptly disturbed by Lin Cheng.
When Lin Cheng was still thinking about what went wrong, a young man came in from outside and suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
"Lord, the madam sent a maid to come and ask you if you want to have a meal with her."
Xie Xun was stunned. Jiang Shuyao suddenly thought of him, and he was surprisingly happy.
He hadn't answered yet, but Bai Zhi, who was following the young man, saw Lin Cheng and hurriedly saluted, "Madam didn’t know that master has a guest, this slave maid will go back to report."
Xie Xun hurriedly stopped her, "Wait!"
Bai Zhi turned around and saluted Xie Xun again, waiting for instructions.
"Ah." Xie Xun realized that he was too anxious when he suddenly yelled just now and quickly slowed down, "Did she make a lot of dinner today?"
"In response to the master, Madam made quite a lot today."
Yesterday, Jiang Shuyao stewed the duck, leaving a pile of duck gizzards, duck heart, duck liver, duck intestines, and a large pot of duck blood. She was afraid that it would go bad after being left for a long time, so to dispose of it, she made a large pot of duck blood vermicelli soup.
She definitely couldn't finish it herself. When looking at a large pot of duck blood vermicelli soup, she suddenly thought of Xie Xun, who had a big appetite next door.
Xie Xun's face was still as calm and calm as usual, but his eyes lit up a bit. "Tell her that I have a guest in the house right now, and I can't go to her to have dinner. Ask her to let someone bring some food."
Bai Zhi answered, saluted, and retired from the room.
Lin Cheng was surprised when Xie Xun was so polite. Wasn't he uncomfortable with that Jiang-shi who forced him to marry her?
The more he thought about it, the more confused he became. His mind was numb, but he suddenly smelled an incredibly delicious smell. When he looked up, the little maid was walking towards them with the dinner tray.
There were two giant bowls on the tray, and the top of the bowl was steaming. When the maid approached, the fragrance became more intense.
Lin Cheng watched the maid preparing the meal, his eyes widened slightly, and curiously looked at the duck blood vermicelli soup in the bowl.
The soup base was clear, with a light golden yellow oil floating on the surface. The vermicelli was crystal clear. The bowl was filled with red duck blood, and there were small pieces of duck liver, duck gizzard, duck intestine, etc., sprinkled with emerald-color green onion. It was attractive in color and rich in ingredients.
The maid remembered Jiang Shuyao's instructions and introduced the food, "This is duck blood vermicelli soup. The side dish on the noodles is duck blood and duck offal. The lady prepares spicy oil for the master. If you want spicy, you can add a spoonful. The lady said that the clear soup and spicy flavor are both delicious, and you can eat half of it, then add spicy oil."
Before Jiang Shuyao's personal introduction, Xie Xun felt that the duck blood vermicelli soup did not look that delicious.
Lin Cheng put his ears up and listened, opening his mouth in amazement. It turns out that Jiang-shi was really a superb cook... Wait, duck blood?
He looked down at the scarlet blood tofu and stammered, "Blood? Blood that the duck bleeds?"
The maid didn't know how to answer, so Xie Xun waved at her to leave. He was a little uncomfortable about Lin Cheng getting the meal that Jiang Shuyao personally cooked, and his voice said coldly, "Just forget it."
After speaking, he realized that he was petty. When he was a greedy young boy, he would share sugar candies with his playmates. How could he grow up and become more stingy?
Without thinking about it, he sniffed the savory scent deeply, picked up his chopsticks, and began to eat.
Lin Cheng didn't hesitate anymore. First, he tentatively took some vermicelli and put it in his mouth. The vermicelli absorbed the old duck soup, which brought the mellow and delicious soup base. It was soft and elastic, slender and smooth. After inhaling it into his mouth, the fresh scent spread in the mouth, and it made people hate that they have to chew and swallow.
After another sip of the duck soup with duck fat floating on it, his stomach warmed up instantly.
Lin Cheng was a little less particular about eating, and he sucked the vermicelli and even slurped the bowl of soup directly. Xie Xun's eyebrows jumped as he watched him gorging.
Xie Xun was not surprised, but he didn't have to be so impatient. After all, he could taste Jiang Shuyao's delicacies every day.
For some reason, she recently started to think about cooking with ingredients that ordinary people hatde, such as this medium-sized bowl of duck offal. Xie Xun could guess what kind of innards it was.
He picked up a piece of duck blood—the red blood tofu rippling slightly between his chopsticks. In the mouth, the duck blood was soft and delicate, more elastic than tofu, delicious and peculiar in taste, even a little addictive.
Lin Cheng, across from him, had almost eaten up all the vermicelli in such a big bowl. He no longer minds the duck offal left behind. He tentatively picked up a few pieces of duck offal and put it in his mouth.
Duck gizzard was meaty; duck liver was fragrant and waxy; duck heart was thick and chewy. Each part was deliciously cooked. It was salty and delicious. The more he chewed, the more fragrant it became. The unique mellow meaty fragrance of duck offal was full of stamina. He couldn’t bear to swallow it after chewing
Eating the yellow duck intestines was even more delicious. The duck intestines were slightly rolled, and some delightful soup was trapped in it, and were very tender as soon as they were eaten.
The taste of duck intestines is exceptional. It was actually crispy and light in the mouth when chewing, but also very chewy. The crisp and delicious taste is very addictive.
While chewing, he drank a sip of the clear and fragrant old duck soup and let the fragrant but not greasy duck oil slip from the tip of the tongue. The taste was excellent.
He quickly ate the rest of the duck intestines, and then stared at the duck intestines in Xie Xun's bowl.
Xie Xun ate quietly, not knowing that his ducks were targeted. Two tips of chopsticks suddenly appeared in his sight, moving slowly and slowly towards him, accompanied by Lin Cheng's flattering voice, "Bo Yuan, give me one, just one."
It's been a long time since Xie Xun endured the sound of him eating. Now that he saw his chopsticks, and he was about to put his chopsticks into his bowl, he couldn't bear it, "Lin Cheng!"
Lin Cheng was startled, and retracted his chopsticks aggrievedly, and negotiated with him, "Can you let the maid get me another spoonful of these things? I haven't enjoyed it enough."
Xie Xun's tone was a little cold, "How can you be like this? It's not enough to eat my wife's meals at my house, and you still want to eat more?"
"Just add a spoonful, it's not very expensive..." Lin Cheng always said what he thought in front of Xie Xun, and didn't care about the rules. But as soon as he said it, he noticed that Xie Xun's face suddenly turned cold.
A person who could read the room was a brilliant man. He shut up immediately and ate the rest of his bowl honestly, not even making a sound when he drank a mouthful of soup.
After eating, Lin Cheng leaned back, propping up his upper body, and sighed. The meal was too comfortable to eat. The back of his armpit was sweaty, and his body was relaxed, and even his joints were warm.
After eating, his brain finally cleared up a bit, and then realized that Xie Xun was unhappy just now. He didn't seem to hate him for overeating, but because he didn't want him to eat too many meals made by Jiang-shi?
Oh my God, he found some incredible secret. Was this jealously or...
He burped and quickly covered his mouth, for fear that he would break the secret by talking to himself and then be killed by Xie Xun.
Watching Xie Xun slowly finish eating such a large bowl of duck blood vermicelli soup, Lin Cheng's terrible conjecture gradually became firmer.
Did Xie Xun take the initiative to marry a wife not because he wanted to avoid the Queen's marriage edict so he could find a chance to separate in the future, but because Jiang-shi was good at cooking?!
It couldn’t be. This was Xie Boyuan, who was beautiful like a light wind under the moon. He was not Lin Cheng. Would he really sacrifice his body for a bite?
So terrible. He needs to come for dinner often to suppress his shock.
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