Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 413: One egg costs several coins, aren't you losing out?

After working for the whole morning, everyone was a little tired. They dragged their feet and lined up for food under the calls of Liushun and 7-Up.

Hearing that man's shout, they immediately perked up, stretched their necks to look forward, their faces full of anticipation.

Shen Yu and three other people worked together to serve rice and dishes. Soon, everyone received a large bowl of shredded radish rice.

Golden millet and milky white rice, mixed with thinly chopped, steamed, and somewhat transparent snow-white radish shreds.

In addition to a peeled, white, tender and smooth hard-boiled egg, the rice also had a handful of green, salty and fragrant pickled mustard greens.

These brightly colored ingredients are paired together, steaming and exuding a fresh fragrance, which will whet your appetite.

When Liu Shun saw that everyone had received their meals, he struck the gong again and said loudly, "There is still rice soup in the room. Those who like steamed rice can come and get some soup after they finish their meals. Those who like to eat rice soaked in soup can come and get more soup now."

A few people who loved to eat rice with soup were overjoyed and followed Liu Shun to get some rice soup. Then they carefully carried the large bowls to the straw shed to have lunch with everyone.

After Shen Yu finished distributing the food, he was about to invite Liu Shun and the others to go into the house to eat.

A yamen runner in charge of transporting materials came over and said, "Brother Liushun, we are going back now. We can still catch up with lunch when we get back to the yamen. Do you want to go with us?"

Liu Shun originally planned to have lunch here and help Shen Yu wash the dishes before leaving.

He was thinking of refusing, but Shen Yu said, "Liushun, you can go back with the convoy of the yamen runners. It's a good opportunity to send Aunt Jiang back to the restaurant. The food in the yamen is better than here."

Qi Xi also said, "The restaurant is busiest during lunch time, so Aunt Jiang should go back to the restaurant earlier. You don't have to worry about washing the dishes. There is hot water in the soup pot. It will be easy to wash the dishes with hot water."

Liu Shun then agreed to the order of the yamen runner, who then hurried away.

Jiang was used to being busy in the restaurant every day. Although she seemed to be idle here, she was actually concerned about the restaurant and worried that Li and the others might not be able to handle it.

Seeing Shen Yu urging him, he hurriedly gave him a few instructions, such as making sure to dress well when he came out of the house in the evening, so as not to catch a cold.

He quickly put on the long coat he wore and followed Liu Shun to the open space where the mule cart was parked.

Shen Yu did not return to the guardhouse until Liu Shun drove the mule cart carrying Jiang and the convoy had gone far away.

Qixi had already served the food, so the two of them quickly started to eat their lunch. After they cleaned up the dishes and took a short break, they could start preparing the snack which would be in an hour and a half.

Shen Yu had only eaten shredded radish rice once when he was on a business trip in a restaurant that specializes in farm stays.

At that time, the bowl of shredded radish rice was just the last staple food served.

Each person had a small bowl, and it came with four or five kinds of dipping sauces for seasoning, including sesame paste, mashed garlic and sesame oil, chili oil, etc. It was much more luxurious than the shredded radish rice at that time.

Shen Yu remembered that he immediately fell in love with the refreshing taste, which was even more delicious when paired with the dipping sauce.

So I specifically asked the store owner how to make this shredded radish rice.

Because this is the food that local people eat on a daily basis, every household knows how to cook it, and the store owner does not hide any secrets and tells the recipe in detail.

Shen Yu carefully wrote down the recipe in a notebook. Later, because he was busy with work, he never had the chance to make it again. Unexpectedly, it came in handy when he was making a big pot meal.

Qixi praised the food highly: "Steaming it this way is not only convenient, but also tastes good."

"When I go back to Beijing to see my father, I will cook every dish that my daughter teaches me to cook for my father to try, so that he can also broaden his horizons."

After being praised by Qixi, Shen Yu explained how this vegetable rice can be eaten with not only pickles but also various dipping sauces.

Qi Xi nodded frequently after hearing this, and couldn't help but drop the half-eaten meal and go make a garlic and sesame oil dip.

He mixed some into the rice and tasted it. He ate it with a smile on his face and asked Shen Yu to mix some in as well.

Shen Yu felt that the garlic paste had an unpleasant smell after eating it. There was neither tea leaves to chew nor green salt to rinse the mouth with, so he quickly refused with a smile.

7-Up didn’t force it, just smiled and started eating.

Just as the two of them finished their meal, someone else finished his meal and came over with an empty bowl to get some rice soup.

After adding a little salt to the thin rice soup for seasoning, it becomes slightly hot and has a light salty fragrance, and tastes more soothing to the stomach than plain water.

Shen Yu saw that not many people came to get the soup, so he let them drink it in the house without taking it out.

Everyone thanked him and did not sit at the table. Instead, they squatted at the entrance and slowly drank their soup.

Someone was drinking soup, hesitated for a moment and asked: "Miss Shen, why are you willing to give us eggs? One egg costs several coins, you are losing money."

Shen Yu smiled and said, "The firewood you cut today will be sold in the county town."

"I've calculated that if you can chop wood every day, we can eat better."

"Not only can I eat eggs every day, but maybe every now and then I can even have a meal with meat."

The man who was asking the question got so wide-eyed when he heard this that he asked in disbelief, "Really? Miss Shen, please don't make fun of us farmers."

Shen Yu put away his smile, straightened his face, and said seriously: "Of course it's true. There is no benefit in lying to you."

After hearing that, the man nudged the person squatting next to him. The few of them exchanged glances and drank the rice soup in the large bowl in just a few gulps.

He put the bowl on the table next to him and said to Shen Yu happily, "I'll tell them right away. Girl, just wait for the firewood we cut tomorrow."

Having said that, he ran away like a gust of wind.

The others next to them were similar. They drank the rice soup in one gulp, wiped their mouths, put their bowls on the table, said, "Thank you, Miss Shen," and turned around and ran away.

Shen Yu and Qi Xi were stunned by the actions of these people.

After a long while, Shen Yu shook his head and started to clean up the dishes with Qi Xi. After a while, the servants' dishes were also brought over, so they washed them together with some hot water.

The afternoon meal was eaten early because it was cold in winter and the laborers would work after lunch until the sun went down and it was no longer clear.

The government, out of sympathy for the people, specially added an afternoon meal during the winter construction work.

This meal was just some steamed buns and pancakes, with some pickles and hot water, so that everyone could eat a little and take a break so that they could work hard until dark.

Shen Yu rarely uses 7-Up when steaming noodles.

What they made today was steamed bread made from mixed flour and boiled water. Shen Yu made the dough, while Qixi cut and mixed it with some pickles.

When the steamed cornbread was cooked and placed in the rice basket, it was time for the snack, so a gong was struck to invite everyone to come and get it.