The woman moved very quickly and finished the meal without waiting too long. The five of them sat around the simple wooden table to eat. Of course, it was a bit crowded, but Xun Yuantuo greatly appreciated the meal.
When he was in the Xun Mansion, the master of the mansion was very particular about never getting tired of fine food and never getting tired of fine meats. It doesn't mean that only the skill of knife and carving can be called exquisite, but he highly praised the exquisite vegetarian snacks.
In the words of Xun Ji, if a person eats too much fish and meat, his brain will be full of fat and his mind will be confused. He will be confused all day long and find it difficult to study knowledge intensively. He may even miss important things. Therefore, fasting is the most appropriate habit. Since then, vegetarianism has been promoted throughout the country, and the chefs invited also focus on vegetarianism.
Xun Yuantuo also believed that, so he also liked to eat vegetarian food. The picnic rice cooked by the woman was quite suitable to Mr. Xun's appetite.
But what puzzled the young master was that the two girls ate with little interest and seemed to hate the food. Mr. Xun raised his eyebrows slightly and murmured in his heart.
No wonder the master said that there is no harm in traveling to study. In just half a day, he had two or three doubts in his mind. This was indeed a rare thing for Mr. Xun who was well versed in studying books and knowledge.
After eating, the master and apprentice went out for a walk under the moonlight. Although the weather was a bit hot, the sun was hidden behind the Western Mountains at night and there was a slight breeze, so the heat was not unbearable.
Zhou Kefa was in front and Xun Yuantuo was behind, always one step behind his master. When the two of them walked outside the door of the inn, Mr. Zhou slowed down and said without looking back, "Yuan Tuo, I just remembered something important. This trip seems to be a bit urgent."
Xun Yuantuo was in a trance because he was thinking about the two or three questions. After hearing what the master said, he thought that the master had not left a message at home. He was afraid that the housekeeper and servants at home would worry about his whereabouts, so he asked tentatively, "Sir, have you never left a message at home?"
"No, no." Zhou Kefa shook his head. The tall and thin man looked particularly bright in the faint blue moonlight.
"I once heard that there is a shop in Qingchai. The shop owner is very good at making dim sum. He is especially famous for making iced honey porridge. Every summer I take your wife to eat there two or three times. As I get older, my memory It’s no better than when I was younger, I really forgot about it this time.”
Fortunately, Xun Yuantuo became increasingly familiar with his husband, and anyone else would probably have been speechless. As a teacher, you think about the verbal and physical worship all the time. After all, it is not something everyone does.
Mr. Xun smiled and said, "Master must have been overworked recently and forgotten about it. The shopkeeper has already been invited to Xun's Mansion by the housekeeper to make snacks. I also know that he is very skilled in making iced honey porridge. If Master is unwilling to break the appointment, we will It’s not too late to turn around and go back, treat Mistress to some porridge before leaving.”
Others don't know, how can Xun Yuantuo, who has lived in Qingchai for a long time, not know. This ice-honey porridge is made from sweet wine and osmanthus honey, surrounded by crushed ice. This ice is specially taken from the ice well in the county. You need to ask the official Jing who is in charge of the ice well before you can open the well to get the ice.
The ice taken out is square and lumpy, so it cannot be eaten directly. There is no way to eat the whole ice, and it is extremely harmful to the stomach. In summer, ice is very easy to melt into water. If the ice is left to melt, the taste of sweet wine and nectar will be diluted by water, and there will be no flavor at all.
Therefore, it needs to be scraped into crushed ice with a sharp knife before it can be used as the main ingredient of ice porridge. This is the case with the shopkeeper of Qing Chai Dim Sum Shop. He is very good at knife skills and is very agile, so the ice porridge he makes will not melt. When you put this ice porridge in your mouth, it is cool and refreshing without hurting the spleen and stomach. It is an excellent way to relieve the heat. Eat.
Zhou Kefa shook his head and then asked in a deep voice: "How many consecutive days has Yuan Tuo eaten ice porridge?"
"Three days." Mr. Xun was very puzzled.
"I had more than ten solar eclipses in a row. On the first eclipse, I looked like a fairy. On the third eclipse, I praised it as an excellent product in the palace on earth. By the seventh day, I felt that even a woman with skillful hands could do it. Made.”
Mr. Zhou sighed, "Although iced honey porridge is good, if you eat it for a long time, it will not be very good. In the same way, no matter how good the fast food is, you will still feel that it tastes good after eating three meals a day, but if you eat it for a month, it will still taste good." So what if we don’t have anything else? Think about it again, if you eat this wild vegetable rice all year round, let alone a noble man like you who comes from a family with great food, even the poor people will feel that it tastes like chewing wax and has no taste at all. "
"So it's not that this family likes to eat wild vegetables and rice, but they have to eat it. Rich families are tired of eating fatty fish and tender meat, and they feel the unique taste when they eat whole grains by chance. But poor people are not willing to eat meat. , but it's hard to afford it." Zhou Kefa turned around, not looking at Xun Yuantuo, but at the dilapidated inn not far away.
"This extremely simple truth can actually be understood by you, who is talented and intelligent, with a little thought. It's just that you have never put your own interests on the side of the poor people."
"As for the other two questions, think about it slowly. We will definitely be able to figure it out if we stay here for two days." Seeing the student frowning and thinking, Zhou Kefa patted the young master on the shoulder and returned to the inn alone.
Xun Yuantuo stood there, suddenly feeling that he had never seen through his master's thoughts.
"As for money, just give it to others. Give more or less, and you can weigh it yourself. There is a large bag of silver ingots stuffed at the bottom of the carriage. Don't pretend I didn't see it. I have a very good eye."
The moonlight is rich, walking through the forest and leaves, and the light penetrates into the entire station.
The guest room that was supposed to have a bed was empty, with not even a single appliance. The woman put the two girls to sleep, then she went upstairs with a bundle of bamboo mats, and spread the bamboo mats in the empty guest room. She felt a little regretful, and said to the two waiting people: "If you don't mind, I'll give it to you. Just stay here for one night. Although the weather is getting hotter, after all, the house is in the shade and the ground is still ice-covered. If my two girls sleep here all night, I'm afraid they will catch a cold in the morning. I can only treat them badly. It's your place." When speaking, the woman turned towards Zhou Kefa and deliberately avoided Mr. Xun. The latter immediately understood. It was clear that he had not forgotten the previous quarrel, and he was still a little conflicted at this moment.
Mr. Xun was speechless, sent the girl away, and slept with her clothes on.
As soon as Fang lay down, Xun Yuantuo felt that what the woman said was true. It was indeed freezing cold on the bamboo mat at night. Judging from Mr. Xun's body and bones, I am afraid that if he slept for one night, the cold would invade his waist and legs the next day, causing pain for several hours.
On the other hand, Zhou Kefa didn't notice anything unusual at all. He fell asleep shortly after lying down, which made the young master secretly speechless.
Look, the master is the master. He seems to be countless steps ahead of him in every aspect. It's hard to compare.
Xun Yuantuo went downstairs, walked two steps before slowing down, walked out of the door quietly, walked straight into the carriage, and took out a book.
The mat was so cold and hard that he didn't feel sleepy at all. Instead of tossing and turning, he might as well read the chess scores under the moonlight and wait until tomorrow morning when the weather warmed up before resting.
