Ancient Foodie Survival Guide Chapter 88
Translated by Serena Love
Edited by Azure
Chapter 88: Rice Porridge with Meat
After lunch, everyone continued on their way.
At night, they arrived at the inn and everyone stopped for a rest.
Xie Xun loved cleanliness. As soon as he arrived at the station, he asked someone to bring some hot water to take a bath. He just stepped into the tub and was ready to wash, but suddenly he noticed something was wrong. How come he vaguely felt that someone was sneaking around outside his room?
This place was not like in the Xie mansion, where a young servant usually guarded the door when he was washing. Now they were outside, and there was no one to guard his door. Anyone could come in.
Although this kind of thinking is very strange, Xie Xun still felt that he should be more careful and not let a woman, other than Jiang Shuyao, to look at his body.
He settled down and listened carefully to the movement outside the door.
"Knock.." The people outside just knocked on the door lightly and paused. They should have heard a slight splash of water inside the room.
With this action, he could guess who was outside the door.
Xie Xun stood up and stretched out his hand to grab his clothes. But at this moment, there was movement outside the room.
"Ah!" A loud female scream cut through the sky.
Outside the room, the young lady turned around and almost ran into Lin Cheng, who was silently standing behind her.
The candlelight at the station was already dim, and half of Lin Cheng's face was hidden in the shaking shadow, which looked terrifying.
The young lady held her heart and was so scared that her face turned pale, "This lord, what's the matter with you?"
Lin Cheng had a good temper, but it was not an unconditional good temper.
He frowned and looked at the young lady standing near Xie Xun's room. His expression is not very good, "What are you doing standing here?"
He looked at Xie Xun's door and then at her. He seemed to have guessed her intentions and had a look of disgust on his face, "Miss, please respect yourself."
The young lady accidentally heard her elders in Jingli talk about Jiang Shuyao and Xie Xun's marriage, and she knew the background story. In her opinion, Xie Xun was a jade-faced man with a good temperament and a good family background. He had a promising future and was the best noble son in the capital. As long as she showed herself, who knows, maybe she could win a good marriage.
Her face was sullen, and she said with a stern face, "This lord, please be careful. It's not gentlemanly to slander people for no reason."
After she finished speaking confidently, she felt that she would not be able to do anything with Xie Xun tonight, so she turned around to go back to her room. Who knows, when she turned around, there was a large group of people standing behind her.
They were standing in a dark corner and looked at her together.
"Ah!" She screamed again. She could barely recognize these people as the officials she saw during the day.
But why are their eyes so terrifying? They were like evil wolves that came out late at night in folklore, with a faint green light in their eyes.
She was so frightened that she took a few steps backward and almost ran into Lin Cheng.
She calmed down. She didn't have any confidence anymore. She didn't dare to walk in front of this group of people, so she planned to detour from Lin Cheng and return to her room.
"Ah!" As soon as she turned her head, a few more people were in the corridor where Lin Cheng was standing before. A group of people surrounded her in the blink of an eye.
Usually, they were handsome and polite noble sons. But now, as if something had happened, the look in their eyes had changed.
She swallowed and whispered, "Excuse me...can you make way for me?"
Guan Ying glanced at her. Everyone here were noble sons who grew up instilled with a gentleman's demeanor.
But at this time, he spoke.
Anyway, this was in the dead of night. There were only them here, so who cares about being a gentleman and not a gentleman. What's more, during the day, they had awakened. No matter what, they had to be worthy of Miss Jiang and protect her interest.
"Master Xie already has a wife. Why did you come here late at night?"
"We let you join us to Chang’an to do good deeds, but we can leave you behind at any time."
"Understand? Master Xie is not someone you can think of. If you want to pester him, you must pass us first."
The young lady was flushed because of their words, and she couldn't believe her ears, "You, you?" What happened to them? Were they Xie Xun's mother-in-law?
Lin Cheng gave way impatiently, "Go away."
The young lady was shy and angry. She wanted to refute but was afraid of these people. After all, they are all used to be polite and talk in a gentleman's style. Now that they have torn their faces, she has no support.
She cried out with a "waaaa--" and stumbled away.
After seeing her return to the room, the East Palace group almost fell to the ground.
They looked at each other and greeted each other tacitly, "Can't sleep?"
"Yes, I come out and walk around."
"The moonlight is very good tonight."
"What a coincidence."
Everyone knew exactly why they were here.
They stood at Xie Xun's door for a while, and Xie Xun's door finally opened.
His temples were slightly wet, and it was clear that he had just finished bathing.
Everyone was immediately alert. Fortunately, they came out to search for food tonight. Otherwise, Xie Boyuan would lose his innocence. How would they explain that to Jiang Shuyao?
Xie Xun knew why they came here as soon as he saw their dodging eyes, but today they did a meritorious service, so Xie Xun didn’t want to care about their greediness, and said, "Come in, I'll get some bacon. Let's heat it up."
Xie Xun and the group went into the kitchen. The kitchen happened to have rice. Xie Xun thought about the cooking method mentioned in Jiang Shuyao's letter and said, "For supper, let's eat something that nourishes the stomach. Can we make some meat porridge?"
How could the cooks let them do it themselves? They put on their clothes and came to the kitchen when they heard the movement. When they heard Xie Xun's words, they quickly grabbed the cooking chores.
Xie Xun did not refuse and told them Jiang Shuyao's cooking methods.
Although they felt that it seemed too simple, the cooks nodded and still did it according to Jiang Shuyao's way.
The rice was washed and boiled in the pot. After the sweet and pure rice aroma overflowed, they added the diced bacon and let it continue to boil. The salty taste of bacon gradually merged with the mellow rice scent. Fatty oil penetrated into the rice, and the surface of the porridge was lightly greased. The lean meat was boiled and hidden in the white and thick rice porridge.
The inn was not big, the rooms were reserved for the nobles, and the soldiers squeezed casually in the lobby. The wind was peaceful and gentle at night, and the fresh scent from the kitchen gradually drifted into the lobby. The soldiers who had just laid their mattresses smelled the scent, stopped their movements, and kept inhaling the scent. Their abdomens screamed like drums.
The room where Lian Liu lived was close to the young lady. As soon as she entered the room, she began to cry and howled his sleepiness away.
He got up and dressed, ready to go out and wander around to avoid the plague god. But as soon as he opened the door, a fresh and soft aroma instantly penetrated into his nose.
"Grumble grumble." His stomach screamed. He sniffed and followed the aroma and found the kitchen.
Because the lobby was where soldiers slept, it was really unkind if they went to the lobby to eat supper, so everyone planned to eat in the kitchen. Anyway, they weren't delicate people.
After the cooks finished preparing the porridge, they returned to their rooms to rest. Xie Xun took the initiative to serve the porridge. Though it no longer steamed with heat, the rice had been boiled to a soft, tender consistency. The gelatin from the fatty meat had likely melted into the porridge, giving it a rich, tangy, and sticky texture. The porridge was studded with dark pink diced meat and glistened with a faint, soft sheen from the oil.
A sprinkle of emerald green scallions adorned the surface, adding a fresh and vibrant contrast to the thick, white rice porridge. At first glance, it appeared to be a simple, plain bowl of porridge, but everyone knew just how delicious it must taste.
Lian Liu arrived at the kitchen, and when he saw so many people crowding in the kitchen, he remembered the meat fried by Xie Xun this afternoon. Suddenly he understood where the smell came from.
He was about to turn around and leave, but he saw the crown prince yawning from a distance.
The crown prince seemed to have not woken up yet, but instinctively walked and followed the smell. When he reached Lian Liu, he was about to salute, but he looked up and smelled around with his chin up. His shoulder rubbed Lian Liu's shoulder directly.
In the silence of the night, Lian Liu seemed to hear the rustling sound of the prince sniffing.
Not all East Palace members were present tonight, and those who were here tacitly did not go to call others. After all, the fewer the people present, the larger share they would receive.
Xie Xun sorted the porridge and was about to scrape the thickest porridge at the bottom of the pot and put it in his bowl. However, the crown prince arrived.
The prince looked at everyone in confusion. He was stunned, came to the table, and took a deep breath. The steaming heat wrapped in the delicious smell and penetrated into his nose, and the crown prince finally woke up from his half-asleep state.
"Is this a midnight snack?"
Xie Xun had no choice but to say nothing to the prince. He took another bowl and poured some porridge for him, "Yes."
The crown prince held the bowl in both hands, and the warmth reached his palms. He spoke a lot slower than usual, "It's good. Boyuan, you are so good."
Xie Xun silently stayed away from the prince and drank porridge aside.
Everyone was drinking the porridge, and the crown prince suddenly remembered, "Hey, when I just came in, I think I saw someone standing at the door."
Everyone was stunned, and the person who was near the door went out and took a look, and everyone heard his voice sounding outside the door, "General Lian."
After a few polite words, Lian Liu came in behind him.
Seeing everyone's eyes, he lowered his face, a little embarrassed.
Lin Cheng was holding the bowl, and seeing him coming, he casually mentioned, "By the way, about that lady, let's not go with her tomorrow. We have been delayed on the road for too long these days. We need to hurry up in the next few days."
Lian Liu thought about the cry that he had just heard and seemed to understand something, "Master Lin, even if she offended you, she is a weak woman, so don't take it to your heart." Lian Liu was not a bad person, but he stayed in the barracks most of his life and had never seen a sinister heart.
Lin Cheng glanced at him, did not speak, and sipped his porridge slowly. He gently rubbed it with his tongue so that the plump rice melted in his mouth. The mellow and sweet rice fragrance lingered on the tip of his tongue and warmed his stomach. He felt very comfortable.
"Alas." He sighed, "It's so fragrant."
Lian Liu's adam's apple rolled, and his face was pulled down.
No one here paid any attention to him. Lian Liu couldn't stand awkwardly and was about to leave. Xie Xun stopped him, "General Lian, there is more than half a bowl here. Do you want it?"
Lian Liu hesitated for a moment but reached out and took the porridge bowl.
The moment he took the bowl, he suddenly thought of Xie Xun. The young lady had been pestering him a few days ago. Thinking of what he said just now, he was a little red-faced. After thanking him, he held the bowl and walked into his room sullenly. He was ashamed to stay in the kitchen.
Master Xie is so gentle and polite. He must have been offended to the extreme so he could think about driving a lady away.
The aroma of the porridge wafted into his nasal cavity, irresistible and enticing. He couldn’t hold back any longer and stood around the corner, taking a cautious sip of the porridge. After days of eating nothing but dry buns, he was utterly stunned by the first mouthful of the fragrant, rich rice porridge.
Jiang Shuyao’s bacon hadn’t lasted very long. It was more like braised pork than traditional bacon, and on its own, it wasn’t overly salty—especially when cooked into the porridge. The rice had absorbed the oil, becoming soft and glutinous, with the savory flavors infused into every grain. The mellow rice aroma balanced the richness of the fat and lean meat, leaving a silky, fragrant taste on the palate. There was also a subtle sweetness and refreshing depth to it, making the porridge truly delicious.
He sighed comfortably, carefully holding the bowl, and prepared to go back to his room to taste it slowly.
As he passed by the young lady's room, the young lady rushed out after hearing a sound, with tears still hanging on her face, and hit him with her head.
The half a bowl of rice porridge flew away from his hand, and fell to the ground with a "plop."
The young lady was shocked, clutching her chest and looking at him grievously, "General Lian..." Among the group of people, Lian Liu was the most decent person. Although he looked rough, he really has a soft heart. Not to mention that she often heard people say that the men who came out of the barracks are the most pitiful...
Thinking of this, she felt a little proud, and the expression on her face became more aggrieved. Teardrops were hanging on her eyelashes, making her look pitiful.
She was about to start crying. Lian Liu kept the posture of holding the no-longer-existent bowl, stiffly watching the scattered porridge on the ground without moving.
He turned to look at the lady.
The young lady was happy. Hurry up, ask me why I am crying. Then she would file a complaint. This general was the only one who couldn't deal with the group of civil servants. He would be fair to her—
Then she heard Lian Liu's roar, "You dropped it! You dropped it!"
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