Ancient Foodie Survival Guide Chapter 52
Tled by Serena Love
Unedited
Chapter 52: Wonton Noodles
In the middle of the night, Jiang Shuyao was lying on the bed tossing and turning, unable to sleep. Although she knew that she would not be in danger inside Duke Xie's mansion, she still felt uneasy about closing her eyes and sleep.
She lifted her thin quilt and went out after wearing her shoes.
Bai Zhi slept very deeply. Her even and long breathing made her mind gradually settle down.
Seeing Bai Zhi sleeping soundly, Jiang Shuyao didn't want to wake her up and ask her to come to the inner room to accompany her, so she quietly retreated and returned to her room.
As soon as she entered the room, she suddenly heard a slight noise from the carved window. When she looked up, she saw a dark shadow faintly swaying outside.
She was startled. She staggered back two steps and hit the table, causing the porcelain vase on the table to jingle.
The black figure leaned towards the carved window for a few minutes, then paused hesitantly, as if he was lowering his head and thinking.
Jiang Shuyao was completely awake. She walked to the carved window, opened the lock, and pushed it open abruptly.
The cool breeze made a rustling sound, and the man outside the window almost knocked his head.
"What are you doing here?" Jiang Shuyao looked at Xie Xun, feeling a little bit astonished.
It seems absurd and nasty to come in front of someone's boudoir in the middle of the night.
Xie Xun's face burned in shame, and he quickly explained, "I'm here to see you."
Jiang Shuyao was puzzled.
Xie Xun was a little uncomfortable and said, "My sister, Ah Pei, has set up a circle of guards, and there is a close maid to sleep next to her at night. I thought you might be as scared as her, so I didn't feel relieved unless I had a look."
Jiang Shuyao did not speak.
Xie Xun realized how stupid he sounds after speaking. He blamed the night for made him slow in the brain.
"Did I scare you?" he asked quickly.
"Scared." Jiang Shuyao answered bluntly.
He felt even more regretful when he heard this. He raised his head to look at Jiang Shuyao, and words suddenly got stuck in his throat before he could speak.
At this moment, her hair was rolled into a simple bun, and she only wear a thin outer layer. Her black hair was like satin, and her figure was slender and graceful. Under the moonlight, her beautiful face was dyed with a hazy halo, softer than a dream.
Xie Xun felt like his eyes were scalded, and he abruptly looked away.
Jiang Shuyao was only telling the truth, but she realized that it seemed inappropriate after she spoke. Just as she was trying to make up for it, Xie Xun took the lead.
He didn't look at her again out of courtesy and said while averting his eyes, "Sorry, it's because I didn't think well. How about your maids? Can you sleep with them?"
Jiang Shuyao stopped struggling inwardly and replied, "Well, I wanted her to come with me, but after I thought about it, she already fell asleep in the outer room."
Xie Xun was silent for a few seconds before suddenly saying, "What about me?"
"Huh?" Jiang Shuyao was stunned for a moment.
"If I guarded you, would you still be afraid?"
Obviously, it was just an ordinary question, but it made her heart tremble, feeling soft and numb.
She pressed down her throbbing heart and thought about the moment when he embraced her in his arms yesterday. Before her eyes was his majestic and upright official uniform, and her ears were hearing his powerful heartbeat. No matter how much panic and fear she felt, it was dissipated in his warm embrace.
Her voice became soft, "No."
"Then I will watch you sleep."
"Hm?"
"May I come in?"
Jiang Shuyao didn't expect that he would do this and replied after a long time, "Yes."
She stepped back and was about to turn around to open the door to him, but Xie Xun suddenly jumped inside from the window sill.
Jiang Shuyao was dumbfounded.
Xie Xun is tall, and she feels oppressed when he approaches her, especially when he is dressed loosely and thinly, and his handsome and cold temperament felt heavier than usual.
He said, "Go to sleep. I'm here to guard you. You can see me when you open your eyes."
Jiang Shuyao's heartbeat speeded up inexplicably. She nodded in a daze and hurriedly turned back to the bed.
When she walked to the bedside, she crawled onto the bed and lowered down the curtain. The throbbing in her heart was barely suppressed.
Across the bed curtain, Xie Xun's figure was a little fuzzy.
Jiang Shuyao saw him sat down on the soft bench and looked at her. After making sure that she could see him, he turned his head and sat quietly with his eyes closed.
Jiang Shuyao indeed felt relieved. She laid down on one side, watching him sit upright with his eyes closed and his back straightened. The corners of her mouth were lifted.
She stared at him for a while and gradually became fascinated. She couldn't help raising her hand to outline his hazy outline on the curtain with her fingertips.
...Wait, something is wrong.
Jiang Shuyao asked, "Are you going to sit there all night?"
Xie Xun planned to be.
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"Aren't you working tomorrow?"
"Just staying up all night. It's fine." He replied.
Jiang Shuyao naturally wouldn't let him sit like this all night. She got up and took out a thin quilt from the closet and gave it to Xie Xun, "Lie down under the quilt for a while."
Xie Xun nodded and took the thin quilt.
Jiang Shuyao returned to the bed and watched Xie Xun unfold the quilt and lay down slowly.
He had tall and long legs, which awkwardly slumped when he slept on the bench, looking a bit wronged.
Across the curtain, Jiang Shuyao stared at his vague outline, feeling extremely peaceful, and whispered, "Xie Boyuan, thank you."
Xie Xun let out an "um," and the room fell silent again.
Jiang Shuyao didn't speak anymore. Her sleepiness slowly hit, and she gradually fell asleep.
She slept sweetly this time, and the sun already high in the sky when she woke up again.
She stretched her waist and sat up. Xie Xun had disappeared long ago, and not even the thin quilt was left on the bench.
She just woke up and was a little fuzzy. She couldn't tell if she had a dream last night.
Bai Zhi heard the noise and came over to wait for her. She assisted her in waking up and change clothes, and her expression was a bit weird. She couldn't hold back while combing Jiang Shuyao's hair and asked, "Miss, when did Master come in last night?"
Jiang Shuyao said, "I can't remember the time."
Bai Zhi hesitated to say, "Why did Master fall asleep last night?" He was already here. Why just fell asleep!
Jiang Shuyao didn't understand what she meant and replied politely, "He was worried that I was afraid, so he came to accompany me."
After a full sleep, Jiang Shuyao regained her energy. The sun was just right, the sunlight was warm, and her mood improved a lot.
"How is the second sister-in-law?" she asked Bai Zhi.
Bai Zhi had followed Jiang Shuyao's instructions to pay attention to the second branch. She said carefully, "The second lady was making another trouble. She didn't want to lie down on the bed and was too depressed. Finally, the old madam went there to hold her down." She paused for a while and said in a low voice, "Moreover, the second lady seems to be awkward with the second master, so the second master is not allowed to see her."
"Anything else?"
Bai Zhi said, "Also, the second lady has a grumpy temper. Only a few maids dared to enter the house and serve her. Is the lady going to visit her?"
Jiang Shuyao glanced at the sun, to estimate the time, "I will go, but I can't go empty-handed."
"There are some rare medicinal materials in the miss' dowry."
"Pick some up." Jiang Shuyao ordered, then turned and walked into the small kitchen.
She plans to cook lunch for Zhou-shi.
It's still early, so after rushing, she managed to catch up with lunch. Just sending medicinal materials and verbal thanks to Zhou-shi can't show her gratitude. Cooking is different. At least for Jiang Shuyao, this is the most sincere way she can think of.
Because Zhou-shi was injured, she wanted to cook some light and delicious meals. After thinking about it, she picked wonton noodles.
A good wonton noodles emphasizes the fusion of wonton, fresh soup, and fine noodles. It tastes delicious and rich in flavor.
Fresh soup is where its charm lies. The soup base was boiled on low fire, from fish, shrimp roe, pork bones, etc. The soup is fragrant, and the soup has a clear taste.
The noodles used are not traditional noodles. Instead of kneaded and rolled out, they are pressed with bamboo sticks. You can't add water to the noodles and only use eggs. The bamboo noodles are rich in fragrance, and the texture is tougher.
The wonton filling was made of lean and fat pork and fresh shrimp. The meatballs were wrapped around a shrimp. The key is to use egg yolk to seal the wonton to keep the meat flavor. She uses enough ingredients to keep the wonton round.
Cooking a small bowl of wonton noodles takes a lot of energy. Jiang Shuyao's handy maids were all called for help. When the wonton noodles were out of the pot, it was just in time for the meal.
The maid accompanied her to the second branch to carry her trays. When she arrived at the Zhou-shi's wing, the maidservants were all terrified when they saw Jiang Shuyao. No one dared to go in and report.
Because of Zhou-shi's life-saving kindness, she unilaterally became more friendly with Zhou-shi. Seeing no one notified her, she went straight into the house.
Zhou-shi heard the footsteps and shouted from the inside, "I said, don't bother me!" After that, she added, "I don't want to eat rice."
When she finished roaring, she noticed that the footsteps kept going, and she looked irritably at the door, only to see that the person coming was not a maid but Jiang Shuyao.
She looked a little awkward.
Jiang Shuyao took the dinner tray from Bai Zhi, told her to go out first, and then walked over with the wooden tray, "Why don't you want to eat rice?"
Zhou-shi did not answer and asked, "Why are you here?" Her tone was extremely aggressive and impatient.
"To see you."
Zhou-shi didn't overdo it and said, "Okay, after you finished, you can go."
Jiang Shuyao put down the dinner tray and said, "No, I haven't finished. I have to watch you eat your meal before it is finished."
Zhou-shi didn't expect her to be so cheeky, so she smiled at her ingeniously, hummed, but said nothing.
Jiang Shuyao sat down by the bed, "Second sister-in-law, this is the wonton noodles I made myself. Can you try it?"
Zhou-shi turned her head and frowned, "You did it yourself?"
"This is a bit troublesome to do, so the maid also helped."
This is not the point. Zhou-shi asked again, "Did you cook it?"
"Yes."
She was silent and no longer being aggressive. Her eyes turned into a slight resentment, "You really..." She has been in the kitchen since she got married, and it seems that she never cared about others' eyes. Compared to herself, it was two extremes.
Jiang Shuyao knew Zhou-shi's twisting temperament and didn't care about her attitude. She smiled and said, "What about me?"
Zhou-shi did not expect that she would be so patient and felt a little surprised. After so many years, she has long been accustomed to being mean and stubborn. Her mouth is not forgiving, and she could not change it, so she feels a little guilty for Jiang Shuyao, who she was angry with for no reason.
She scratched her palms uncomfortably and muttered, "You were too much."
Jiang Shuyao pushed the tray to her, "Eat first."
A strong fragrance penetrated into her nasal cavity, and Zhou-shi looked at the wonton. The round belly-skinned wonton floats in the clear soup, the pink meat is looming, the goose-yellow bamboo noodles are as thin as silver silk, trembling like a thread, and a thin layer of light golden oil floats on the soup. The green onion was sprinkled on it, adding a touch of green color.
Judging the appearance, Zhou-shi somewhat understood why she said it was troublesome to do.
Her heart felt sour and messy. She lifted her quilt and got up, "Go to the table and eat."
She put on her outer shirt, jumped with one foot to the table without being helped, and sat down.
Jiang Shuyao felt that this side of Zhou-shi was very cute. She put the tray on the table and looked at her expectantly.
Zhou-shi's mood is complicated. Because she was angry at her for no reason, she wanted to give Jiang Shuyao a bit of face. But now, she sat down opposite her and looked at her with an expectant look. She was suddenly embarrassed to move her chopsticks.
If it is unpalatable, she is not the kind of person who will continue to eat and praise the deliciousness.
She picked up the chopsticks and stirred up a tuft of goose yellow bamboo noodles.
At this moment, the noodle soup shook, and the sweet and luscious aroma became even heavier.
Smelling this smell, she was suddenly hungry even though she had no appetite for a whole day.
The noodles are wrapped in delicious hot soup. On the first bite, the noodles are smooth and thin as silver silk. Because of the exquisite preparation method, the noodles were extremely crisp and elastic. It was full of toughness. It has the sweetness of the soup and the mellow aroma of eggs.
She was shocked by just one mouthful. Her apricot eyes stared slightly, and she looked at Jiang Shuyao in surprise.
She didn't understand when she heard that Jiang Shuyao loves to cook food all day long in the kitchen. She felt that Jiang Shuyao was not as good as she was at the beginning of her marriage. Now that she has eaten the food she cooked, she suddenly realized that Jiang Shuyao's cooking skills are so superb. If she didn't insist on cooking, no one should.
She ate a few mouthfuls of bamboo noodles and picked up the green vegetables. It was crisp and refreshing. The sweetness of the soup made the ordinary green vegetables more delicious.
She didn't even need a spoon and used chopsticks to pick up the fat and round wonton. She blew on it and put it in her mouth eagerly.
The wonton stuffing contains shrimp, pork, and chive. The yolk seal retained the meaty flavor inside and made it has a strong fragrance.
The wonton skin is very slippery, and the meat filling is delicate. The most wonderful thing is its texture. It is smooth and elastic, and it is very crispy. It has a meaty crispness after biting.
The meat is rich in flavor and mellow when mixed together. There is a flavor similar to roasted meat. When she slowly chewed the crispy and delicate shrimp inside, the rich and umami taste lasts forever in her mouth.
She wanted to chew it carefully, but it was so good that she couldn't wait to swallow her tongue. She hadn't experienced this fresh delicacy for a long time.
If it weren't for Jiang Shuyao's presence, she would definitely drink the soup by holding the bowl, but now she can only use a spoon to scoop the soup slowly.
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The soup base is light and clear. She left aside the green onions, scooping up a spoonful of soup. There is still a little bit of oil accumulated on the soup. At first, it was piping hot, and the heat spreads all the way into her stomach. The soup is extremely rich, but it is not greasy at all. The pepper on the noodles makes a little bit more heat. After she ate the bowl of wonton noodles, she felt that there is nothing wrong with her whole body anymore. She stretched her body and felt refreshed.
She devoted herself to eating, and for a while, she forgot that she ate noodles too clean. Not even a drop of soup was left.
Jiang Shuyao was very satisfied, "It seems that it still fits second sister-in-law's taste."
When the mouth is soft, the hand is short. Zhou-shi can't say anything bad no matter how harshly he is.
[T/N: When the mouth is soft, the hand is short, which means when you eat someone's food, you can't do anything against them.]
Facing Jiang Shuyao, Zhou-shi was very uncomfortable. She targeted her before, but she didn't care about it. Later, she saw her embarrassment in the uproar of Shouning Hall, but that's all. What made Zhou-shi most annoyed was that she watched Jiang Shuyao being taken away. It was a shame for her to fail to stop it.
She thought wildly and said stiffly, "Well, it's okay... Well, it suits my taste."
After speaking, she moved awkwardly, gritting her teeth because of the pain in her leg.
While still suffering, Jiang Shuyao's voice suddenly came to her ears, "If the second sister-in-law thinks it suits your taste, how about I make something for you in the future? I am also good at cooking."
She looked up and saw Jiang Shuyao's picturesque eyebrows, smile brightly and vigorously, and uttered a firm word in a ghostly manner, "Okay."
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