Ancient Foodie Survival Guide Chapter 45
Translated by Serena Love
Edited by Azure
Chapter 45: Dragon Boat Race
When everyone from Duke Xie's Mansion arrived at the river bank during the Dragon Boat Festival, the crowd was already stacked into three layers on the road and filled the ground on the shore.
Jiang Shuyao went in Xu-shi's carriage to the restaurant. Just a few steps into the restaurant, she was stopped by someone. When she looked up, it was Xie Xun.
Xie Xun was going to participate in the race today, so he had come early to prepare. He did not go with Jiang Shuyao and the others.
At this time, he suddenly appeared in the restaurant, which is a little far from the race's starting point. Jiang Shuyao thought there was something important and hurriedly asked, "What's the matter?"
Xie Xun looked different from usual. He was very refreshed today. His clothes were colorful and bright, and his face was like white jade. He was full of vigor and vitality. Even his usual cold and distant face was dyed with energy. He looked like a young man who loves martial arts instead of someone who loves poetry and books.
"I will participate in the race soon."
Jiang Shuyao nodded, waiting to hear what he had to say.
Who knows that Xie Xun ran so far, just to say, "Remember the color of my suit."
Time was running out. So after he said this sentence, he turned around and disappeared into the crowd.
"Huh?" Jiang Shuyao was confused and hurriedly stopped him, but Xie Xun disappeared in a blink of an eye like a fish went into the water. She could only see his bright and dazzling figure getting further and further away in the crowd.
Jiang Shuyao helplessly muttered, "You came just to say these two sentences?"
Xu-shi's figure resounded from the stairs on the second floor, "Third sister-in-law, what's the matter?" When she walked to the second floor and turned around, she found that Jiang Shuyao had disappeared.
"It's okay." Jiang Shuyao quickly caught up with her while lifting the corner of her skirt.
As soon as she went upstairs, someone at the corner called her, "Mrs. Xie."
She looked back and saw Ge Qingshu looking at herself in surprise.
"You are here too." She walked over and greeted Xu-shi to show courtesy, and then grabbed Jiang Shuyao's wrist, "What a coincidence." She seemed to have a lot to say to her.
Upon seeing this, Xu-shi said, "You two chat slowly. I will go in first."
After she left, Ge Qingshu couldn't wait to say, "The Lin family's restaurant opened a few days ago. I asked my people to check it. They reported that the restaurant is crowded with people, and business is booming. You can smell the fragrance from far away."
Jiang Shuyao smiled and said, "Did you ask your people to join in?"
Ge Qingshu said frankly, "I am gluttonous, so I deliberately ask someone to buy me some food." Her tone was very calm but had a trace of resentment, "But the restaurant does not sell hamburgers."
Jiang Shuyao explained, "I thought that hamburgers were not suitable, so I changed it and sold them, but hamburgers will be sold in the future. Of course, it still depends on how my mother arranges it. I don't understand business matters."
Ge Qingshu sighed regretfully and agitatedly, "I don't know when you can open a shop in the capital? The Roujiamo I bought last time was completely cold when they took it back to my house."
Jiang Shuyao saw that Ge Qingshu complained like she hadn't eaten anything good with that otherworldly face and couldn't help laughing. She said to her, "I brought some Zongzi today. Do you want to eat some?"
Although she didn't know this "zongzi" that Jiang Shuyao mentioned, Ge Qingshu nodded without hesitation.
Jiang Shuyao stretched out her hand, and Bai Zhi immediately handed over the food box.
Today, they would be out the whole day, so Jiang Shuyao thought about bringing a few rice dumplings and letting the restaurant staff reheat them for a meal. After all, a Dragon Boat Festival lunch without zongzi is incomplete.
Ge Qingshu's maid happened to be carrying a box of pastries, so Jiang Shuyao directly put a few zongzi in it, "This one tastes salty, and that one is sweet. You can eat it directly after steaming."
Ge Qingshu thanked her and then remembered to invite Jiang Shuyao into the room to talk. After all, it is inappropriate for them to stand outside.
Ge Qingshu is beautiful and loves food. Jiang Shuyao likes to chat with her and was about to nod her head in agreement. However, there was a violent drumbeat from afar.
Jiang Shuyao was startled, with doubts on her face. Ge Qingshu explained to her, "The dragon boat race is about to start."
As soon as she finished speaking, Jiang Shuyao hurriedly said, "Sorry, I will come to you later. I have to go see the race." After finishing speaking, she hurried away.
Standing in place, Ge Qingshu sighed and said indifferently, "What's so interesting about the dragon boat race? It's so noisy."
"Miss, Mrs. Xie's husband is competing in the dragon boat race. She probably hurried to see it."
Ge Qingshu sighed bitterly, "Fine, whatever."
When Jiang Shuyao hurried back to the room, Xie Pei was already standing in front of the window and yelling. She rushed over and saw that the dragon boats were already neatly lined up at the starting point. In the blink of an eye, they slid out quickly on the surface of the river.
Because of the painful experience last time, Lin Cheng had a headache every time he saw dark-colored clothes. So this time, the team uniforms were extremely bright. It looked red and dazzling, especially on the surface of the river.
At a glance, Jiang Shuyao recognized Xie Xun's dragon boat, which had beaten others and rushed far ahead.
"Third brother and their team seem to be in the top spot!" Xie Pei said excitedly.
"Is there a prize for winning?" Jiang Shuyao asked.
"Of course, the emperor will personally reward them, and sometimes the empress and imperial concubines will also give rewards." She said with joy and then realized that she was talking to Jiang Shuyao. Her voice stopped, and she turned her head awkwardly.
Jiang Shuyao didn't care about her and watched the game intensively. Xie Xun's team shone on the stage.
It was the first time Lin Cheng won the dragon boat race. When he stepped onto the stage, he held his hands and feet nervously and looked at the people next to him. Most people were similar to him, except Xie Xun.
Seeing Xie Xun keep turning his head and looking into the distance, he wondered, "What are you looking at?"
Xie Xun let out a "hmm" without answering.
His gaze fell on Jiang Shuyao, who was in the restaurant window. The corners of his lips were lifted, and he was wondering if she saw him.
As the emperor grew older, he loved seeing vigorous young men the most. Seeing them come up, he was not stingy with rewards.
Lin Cheng was terribly excited, but Xie Xun didn't feel much, and he was so composed among the crowd.
Concubine Lin's gaze fell on him, and she suddenly said, "This concubine is really happy today. Although the emperor has already rewarded you, this concubine also wants to give rewards. The emperor rewarded you, then this concubine will reward your family members." She waved, and a eunuch hurried forward to deliver the reward.
The reward of the imperial concubine would not be too expensive. It was just to join in the fun. Xie Xun took the reward and said thank you alongside everyone.
After getting off the platform, everyone couldn’t wait to see the rewards. Everyone's rewards were different, but Xie Xun's share was particularly eye-catching.
The gorgeously crafted double lotus hairpin lay in a jewelry box, shining brightly. Everyone remembered that Xie Xun married Concubine Lin's niece, so when they saw the double lotus on the hairpin, they all made strange exclamations.
Xie Xun covered the box blankly, and a flush crept up from the roots of his ears.
Originally, he wanted to give the reward to Jiang Shuyao, but now when he looked at the double lotus hairpin, how could he give it away?
Everyone saw that Xie Xun had no reaction and thought that it was boring. Everyone dispersed around, leaving only Lin Cheng standing next to him.
He coughed, pretending to mention it accidentally, "Since your family are here today, I might as well visit the old madam."
Last time, he went to the Lin family's restaurant and had a great time, but he ran into many colleagues and Xie Xun. He couldn't come back no matter how thick-skinned he was, so he only went there once and didn't go again.
Now Jiang Shuyao was nearby. First, he needed to get close to this sister-in-law and ask if she intended to open a store in the capital or make a good relationship so that he could go to the Duke Xie's mansion next time to have a meal; second, he thought that Jiang-shi is a person who loved eating. Today, she wouldn’t go to the streets to buy pastries and snacks like most people. Maybe she had something new to eat.
Thinking about it this way, he felt that he was rowing a dragon boat desperately earlier and had spent a lot of energy. Now his lower abdomen was hollow and hungry.
Xie Xun didn't think much and led Lin Cheng to the restaurant where the Xie family was sitting.
After Jiang Shuyao gave Ge Qingshu some, not many zongzi were left, so she asked the people to borrow the restaurant's kitchen to reheat it and bring them up with lunch.
As soon as the waiter left, Xie Xun came back, followed by Lin Cheng.
After he came in, he respectfully saluted the old madam while staring straight at the table.
He is used to making old people happy, so the old madam was delighted to see him.
Lin Cheng answered the old lady's words while screening the food on the table plate by plate. This is not, this is not... Then his gaze was on the rice dumplings.
This looks novel.
Xie Xun's eyes were sharp, and he quickly noticed Lin Cheng's absent-minded perfunctory appearance and followed his eyes, which were looking at the zongzi.
Wow.
He thought that Lin Cheng was worried about his mother, so instead of going back to eat in a hurry, he came here to accompany him.
He walked over and asked Jiang Shuyao, "Is this for me?"
"Yeah." Jiang Shuyao replied, "Leave one for me, and the other four are yours. There were a lot before, but I gave Miss Ge a few, and only these are left."
Jiang Shuyao brought the rice dumplings. People from Duke Xie's Mansion were too embarrassed to take them even if they were curious and greedy. There were five steaming rice dumplings on a white porcelain plate, and it looked interesting and sweet.
Xie Xun nodded, holding four hot zongzi and pulling Lin Cheng out of the room.
Lin Cheng's eyes were glowing, and he stared at the zongzi as soon as he left the room and said, "What does it taste like? Is it delicious?"
Xie Xun said, "I don't know, I'll try it." The rice dumplings were opened neatly, and the sweet and fragrant heat instantly overflowed.
The glutinous rice was squeezed into horns, golden and white, and reddish-brown red-brown bean paste faintly came out of the glutinous rice. The leaves were fragrant, and the bean paste was thick and sweet. Lin Cheng was greedy and drooling.
Xie Xun took a bite calmly, and the soft and glutinous rice made a few sticky sweet threads, which had a light sticky noise when chewed.
"Well, sweet and delicious."
After he finished eating one, a waiter took the dumpling leaves away, and Xie Xun began to peel off another one.
"This one is salty. The egg yolk is salty and fragrant. The red oil was soaked in the rice, and the meat was tender and smooth. It is delicious."
Then another one.
Lin Cheng was anxious and was thinking about how to suggest to Xie Xun to give him one. Xie Xun suddenly said, "Unfortunately, there is not enough food for you. I could have given it to you, but you also heard it. My wife gave it to me."
In Lin Cheng's mind, the picture of himself chewing glutinous rice dumplings was instantly cracked. He felt very heartbroken. Xie Xun's serious appearance completely fooled him. He didn't expect Xie Xun to have four rice dumplings in his hand but not even give one to himself, who didn't have any.
He stared at Xie Xun, who was eating rice dumplings eagerly, and suddenly smelled a delicate fragrance on the tip of his nose. As he turned around, a waiter walked by with a plate of rice dumplings and knocked on a door not far away.
"My dumplings." Lin Cheng whispered heartily.
Ge Qingshu, who had just visited her grandmother and was returning to her room, just passed. She happened to hear this sentence. She looked at the rice dumplings on the waiter's hand in the distance and then looked at Lin Cheng. She cherished every word like gold, but she suddenly said to him, "It's mine."
Lin Cheng didn't expect a person to be standing next to him and was startled.
He blinked and looked at Ge Qingshu. Ge Qingshu's eyes were full of coldness while she squinted at him with a cold tone. "It's my zongzi."
Then without even moving her skirt, she walked away gracefully.
Lin Cheng was inexplicably intimidated.
He was too wronged.
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