Records of the Cattle and Horses of Chang'an

Chapter 265 Auspicious Day

There are five more dishes on the main table in the main hall: sea cucumber is made directly into scallion-fried sea cucumber, shrimp is made into fried shrimp, tiger grouper is baked with garlic,

Two swimming crabs are cut into pieces to make lotus crabs, and the remaining one is also cut into pieces and chopped into a paste together with large whitebait, chicken breast, frogs, and shrimps. It is mixed with chicken and duck egg whites, added with pepper powder, salt, and white wine, and made into balls and steamed to make a sea and land delicacy.

The last dessert was watermelon paste.

This dessert is quite interesting. Although Jiang Shangxian has created many new dishes in Lexianlou, he has also learned many dishes. This is one of them. At first, she thought it was just a dessert made with watermelon juice, but she didn't expect that the ancients were so elegant.

Take the juice of peach blossoms in May and a little watermelon juice, sprinkle them thoroughly, and simmer over low heat until 70% to 80% of the juice has been absorbed. Then stir in sugar and refine it. The peach paste is like bright red amber, and the watermelon paste is like golden sugar.

As the last fruit, its appearance, color, and raw materials are all very suitable for today.

After hearing this, Li Meng sweated, but his hands moved twice as fast without saying a word.

Even those who heard Zhou Ying say so much could only mutter: Master, do you want to starve them to death?

Then he didn't even have time to accept Jiang Shangxian's cold stare and started working non-stop.

Too many, too many!

When the day comes, we should celebrate the auspicious occasion.

On the third day of May in the twelfth year of Zhenguan, the fragrance of locust flowers still lingered.

At the Jiang family's home in Jiahuifang, the vermilion door was wiped back and forth five times by the diligent Jiang Wangri, and now the door was wide open.

The two wild geese had red silk tied around their necks. They squatted in a clean cage and looked out with curious eyes.

Xiongba, a sturdy, rounded figure with a small face and a big belly, short legs and plump hips, swung his silky ponytail, his warm eyes occasionally looking up from the table in the yard—no one had fed him sweet fruit or candy today...

In the yard, Old Lady Xia was standing at the door of the main hall, chatting intermittently with Jiang Shangxian, who had taken off his coat and headscarf. She would look at Jiang Shangxian to see if there was anything he needed to tidy up, and then she would stare at Jiang's mother, who was standing by the gate and greeting the neighbors passing by.

Although Jiang's mother was standing on tiptoe with the door sill and socializing with the neighbors passing by with a smile on her face, her neck was stretched out and her attention was obviously not on socializing.

Old Fan even took a broom and pretended to sweep the air outside the gate. Today, all the people carrying things were acquaintances. He was actually quite conflicted. As the old saying goes, you have to think for the family you serve. He was quite happy to eat the Jiang family's meals these days, but how many years had he been eating the Cui family's meals?

Now he is a little confused and doesn't know which side he is on.

Jiang Wangri, the little spinning top who works wherever there is work, has been sent out to check the situation. He must come back to report as quickly as possible as soon as he sees the Cui family.

The meal was almost ready, and Zhou Ying and Li Meng could take care of the rest. The aroma of food filled the room, tempting the two ladies who had finished their work and were waiting to eat to swallow their saliva from time to time and muttered to themselves what dishes to pick up when the meal was served.

Although it cannot be served on the table, this dish today has already opened their eyes - they have never eaten such a delicious meal during the Chinese New Year!

Now I just hope that when the work is done, if there are any leftovers, I can let them take a bowl home to share with the children at home.

Suddenly, Lao Fan stopped sweeping the air with his broom. He tilted his head and pricked up his ears to listen carefully for a few breaths, then immediately made a gesture towards the inside.

Receiving the signal, Jiang's mother paused, then, without paying any attention to the neighbor she was talking to, she walked in with her skirt lifted. Her voice was sharp and excited after trying hard to suppress it: "I'm coming, mother! I'm coming!"

Old Madam Xia tightened her grip on Jiang Shangxian, then quickly checked the three people's attire and whispered to Xia Zhenying, who was changing clothes in the room, "Hurry up! They're coming!"

"Hey!" Xia Zhenying responded, quickly packed herself up, closed the door and ran over.

At the same time, Jiang Wangri also ran in: "Grandma, mother, here we are!"

"Hurry up and stand up straight. Take your breath and don't let anyone see you!" Old Madam Xia wiped the sweat off his forehead with a handkerchief. "Remember what your grandmother told you? When you talk to others later, don't raise or lower your voice too high or too low. You must keep your voice steady! Today you are not only the face of our family, but also your sister's!"

Although Jiang Wangri is not an adult yet, he is his brother-in-law and will be the head of the Jiang family in the future. At this time, the girl is married, and whether his brother is successful or not also represents whether the girl's family can support her.

If you are unlucky enough to marry a rubbish husband, it is a different matter if you have the support of your natal family or not.

Although he cannot support his sister now, it is not certain in the future. Now he just needs to be neither humble nor arrogant, neither proud nor impatient. His conversation does not need to be elegant, but it must be decent and not timid.

"Yes, don't worry, grandma!" Jiang Wangri took deep breaths and gradually calmed down, his little face full of seriousness.

Madam Xia patted his shoulder with satisfaction and said, "Go ahead, go to the door with Old Fan and welcome the guests in."

"Yes!"

The noise of children jumping and shouting, accompanied by the sharp sound of suona, was getting closer and closer, which meant that the people from the Cui family were almost at the door.

Old Madam Xia looked at Xia Zhenying and said, "Have you prepared all the sesame candies? When everyone comes in, have Old Fan take some and give them to the children outside."

"Yes, grandma, don't worry, everything is ready." Xia Zhenying nodded and lifted the cloth covering the bamboo basket in her hand. Inside was a basket full of sesame candies. "Look, everything is ready."

Old Madam Xia nodded in satisfaction, but sighed a little: "We in Chuzhou all have malt sugar. Zhenying used to like it the most. It is indeed not as prosperous as Chang'an."

To judge whether a place is rich or not, we should not only look at the people at the top of the pyramid, but also the ordinary people. In Chuzhou, even if ordinary people share malt sugar, each child would only get two pieces. Xia Zhenying originally liked this activity the most. Whenever she knew that someone's family was accepting betrothal or getting married, she would go there early to reserve a spot and get malt sugar.

After I brought him home, he was not like other children who couldn't wait to put it in their mouths. Instead, he was very sensible and smashed it with the back of a knife and put it away. He put it in the water when he boiled water every day, and the whole family drank it together.

It's nothing like Chang'an. It would have been fine if he just shared sesame candies, but Jiang Shangxian directly said he would prepare a whole basket full of them, six pieces for each child, just for the hope of good luck.

She just likes the number six. When playing dice, if she rolls five sixes, she will shout out twenty sixes even if it is a 1v1 match.

Don’t ask, the answer is thirsty.