Chapter 24 Foodies

Tingjing Pavillion in Anping County.

Shopkeeper Chen has been feeling happy and distressed recently. The boss had rushed back after receiving his letter. He was satisfied with the flow of customers but when he followed shopkeeper Chen into the storage cellar, his brows wrinkled up like shopkeeper Chen’s.

The Boss is very young, he looks like he is in his early twenties, he wears a brocade robe and looks like a handsome rich young man. However, at this moment he grabbed a cucumber and gnawed on it hastily.

He couldn’t bring himself to stop, he now understood why the business in Tingjing Pavilion increased rapidly in just a few days, Because of the taste of the dishes, the customers were willing to come back.

The crisis had been resolved temporarily, but now there is a more important issue, at stake, and that’s the issue of subsequent food supply, otherwise, their restaurant’s business will fall back to what it was before.

“Shopkeeper Chen can you tell me what happened on that day again.”

The Boss took the lead and walked out of the cellar. Shopkeeper Chen followed and recounted the situation that day in detail, including his doubts at the time and his speculation about the visitor’s identity.

When he came down, the boss pressed his fingers between his eyebrows. From the description, it could be seen that the person who delivered the food had no intention of leaving any relevant information to them, Where could they go and find him?

“Young master, Shopkeeper Chen said again “In the end, I could only find out that the Fulang had rented an ox cart from Benji’s house in West Market, but no one knows where he came from. In the past two days, Minglanju has also been secretly inquiring about where the man went and where he got the batch of vegetables from.”

Because the taste of the dishes at the Tingjing pavilion had greatly improved, and they hadn’t hired any new chef. Minglanju of course soon figured out that it was the batch of fresh vegetables in the Tingjing pavilion that exceeded the Chef’s special dishes.

Shopkeeper Chen saw that the food was being consumed too quickly and he couldn’t find anyone to supply it for a while, so he had to think of a way to a limited amount of food every day, to delay for a while and send more people to find the ger and the master behind him and try to keep the supply of goods in the hands of Tingjing Pavillion.

“It seems like that man deliberately prevented us from finding his whereabouts. Lao Chen, you have done a good job in this matter. Let us make it through this period first, the spring vegetables will come out soon, and we will find him again. You stay here, If you find anything, send a message to me in time I’ll go to the surrounding area to have a look.”

The boss thought that the person was not too far from Anping County, but Shopkeeper Chen said that when the vegetables were delivered it was as if they had just been harvested from the farm. So it must not have been delayed too long on the way.

The young boss then decided to wander around the surroundings, Maybe he could encounter him again, and this time he must find a way to get the supply of food Even if he can’t monopolize it he can find a way to at least get a share.

“Okay, young master, I will also pay attention if that Fulang shows up again, I will immediately send someone to call you back.” Shopkeeper Chen responded.

Tang Chunmingn didn’t know what happened to the vegetables he sold, not only did Tingjing keep an eye on him, but also Minglanju was secretly inquiring about him.

But even shopkeeper Chen couldn’t have guessed that he was a farmer, a  widowed ger that did not have a big boss behind him. Of course, even if Tang Chunming knew, he could only be secretly proud.

At this moment he was watering the vegetable field, in his previous life he had figured out how much spring water should be diluted so that the growth of the vegetables would not be too noticeable.

Therefore, the spring water flowed along his fingers, into the bucket, After pouring down the water, the young leaves in the ground seemed to be greener.

Tang Chunming had asked Zhang Xiu and his husband Dashan to carve out an area to raise chickens in the front yard.

Otherwise, the chickens will run around making the house dirty, of course, this is only temporary. It’s okay now but when the weather gets hotter in summer the stronger the smell will be, attracting mosquitoes and flies.

He plans on buying the barren lands behind so that he can raise chickens and sheep in the future, fortunately, there is enough space.

Originally this kind of work was not heavy, and Dashan could do it in half a day. Who would have thought that after Yu Mu found out he would bring Li Feng over to help?

Tang Chunming wanted to refuse saying that it was a small job and it would only be a bother for too many people to help.

But after watering the vegetable field, he returned to the front yard and found three big men vigorously helping him build the chicken coop.

Zhang Xiu was helping to hand out things, Seeing Tang Chunming coming over, he patted the dust off his clothes and entered the house with him. He couldn’t stop smiling and said: “ Do you know how Yu Mu heard about your house? It seems that it was caused by Da Mao and Er Mao. Those two couldn’t keep their mouths shut and said that the food you cook is delicious. The two men upon hearing this have been thinking about it.”

Tang Chunming suddenly had a frown on his face: “How could they come is it so good?”

“ Come on, come on I’ll cook extra dishes for lunch, You and Dashan should also stay.”

“Well, I’ll help you.” Zhang Xiu didn’t refuse he wouldn’t have stayed here if Dashan had not been here to help, The two had a good relationship and Dashan was helping with some work.

But the situation is different when there are two men outside, if a widowed ger entertains two men alone it will invite gossip.

The two washed their hands, Tang Chunming planned on making braised pork and stir-fried leeks and eggs.

There was some braised pork liver left and it could be done in one meal, after buying meat before Tang Chunming didn’t dare eat it. He made a meal of dumplings before and gave away half as gifts.

He would occasionally cut some shredded pork and stir-fried some vegetables. Today’s meat was the one that Wang Bo brought back from town yesterday. It was to be prepared as Dashan was coming to help.

The leeks and vegetables had just grown on the farm and the eggs were bought by Zhang Xiu from home.

Zhang Xiu lit the fire while Tang Chunming heated oil in a pot to boil sugar. When the diced meat was placed into the pot it sizzled, the aroma wafting out. The three children who were writing in the room couldn’t sit still and all ran to the kitchen.

“Brother Ming, what delicious food are you making?” Er Mao’s voice could be heard before the person came in.

“ I’ll go home and ask Dashan to talk to this troublemaker.”

Er Mao made a face at his mother who was scolding him. Behind him, Da Mao came in with Ah-Lin.

Ah-Lin was also looking at the pot on the stove with bright eyes. Okay, Tang Chunming laughed, “I’ll make you braised pork today, I’m sure you’ll still want to eat it.”

Er Mao and Ah-Lin shouted happily while Da Mao smiled embarrassedly his eyes showed he was looking forward to it.

The meat in the pot looked particularly delicious with its sugary color just after it was cooked. Tang Chunming added other condiments to the pot, making the aroma stronger.

Even the three men working in the yard couldn’t help but twitch their noses. Yu Mu smiled and said loudly: “ Da Mao and Er Mao were indeed right, Ah- Lin’s mother is indeed good at cooking. Look, it’s good I called you over, right?”

He looked at Li Feng proudly.

“Do your work, you are not embarrassed to still eat and drink with this little work.” Li Feng glanced in the direction of the kitchen and found Yu Mu’s proud eyes annoying. Although he gave himself an excuse to run over to help, he didn’t want to add a burden on Brother Ming.

“How about this?” Yu Mu’s mind started running wildly to have a good meal, and his brain thought of a brilliant plan, “Don’t bother Ming Still have a few acres of land? How about the two of us taking care of work in the fields and letting Brother Ming cook some delicious food for us?”

Li Dashan couldn’t help laughing out loud. He was also an honest man, his two boys received much care from brother Ming. He wanted to help him do some work, but he didn’t expect that the other two would be attracted by just one meal.

“Brother Dashan, what do you think of what I just said? Anyway, Brother Ming is pregnant and can’t do heavy work in the fields I guess he would ask for help and pay wages, Boss and I only need some food.”

Yu Mu immediately pulled over Li Dashan to speak for him.

Li Dashan said happily: “ I think you guys should marry a ger as soon as possible, if nothing  else at least there will be a cook at home.”

 Li Dashan fully understood how bad life for single men was, Just like him when he worked in town they could eat lunch together, now when he came back home he could drink hot soup that his ger had warmed. Warming the heart no matter how hard it gets it’s worth it.

“Hey, it’s the boss who doesn’t want to…”

Before he finished speaking a puddle of mud was thrown on Yu Mu’s head. Yu Mu immediately shut up his tongue not running before his wit.

Li Dashan saw something was wrong and curiously asked: “ Li Feng, you have been outside for many years you still haven’t found anyone you like? Why don’t you ask Shen Fulang to help you look for one here?”

The current in the village has changed these days. Although Li Feng only renovated the house instead of building a new one, the things he had brought back from the county town were worth a lot of money. The villagers can’t help but think that Li Feng must have made a lot of money in the past few years.

Otherwise, how could he afford to buy so many things? In addition, there are several acres of land so some people will inevitably get some ideas.

It doesn’t matter that Li Feng looks scary the important thing is to live a good life, Marrying such a person is better than marrying a lazy and poor man Some people asked Shen Fulang to pass the message but he rejected them directly without even asking Li Feng. What kind of ger’s are these people talking about in his opinion, they are not worthy of Li Feng at all.

Naturally, the situation in the village cannot be hidden from Zhang Xiu and he told Dashan, so now Li Dashan knows the situation and can’t say which ger is suitable for Li Feng and it solely depends on Feng Xiaozi’s vision.

Yu Mu lowered his head grinning and winked at his boss. Li Feng glared back angrily then turned his head and slowly said to Dashan: “No hurry, let’s live life first after getting back”

Li Dashan could only shake his head, knowing that Feng Xiaozi’s words were just excuses, For his age how could a man not be in a hurry?

However, he also knew that Boy Feng was a person with his own opinions and that he could not change his mind with a few words of persuasion from others, so he continued to work dully. Both he and Li Feng were quiet people but it was Yu Mu who occasionally said a few words until the aroma wafting from the kitchen made their stomachs growl.

Zhang Xiu came out and called the three of them: “Hurry up and wash your hands, Lunch is ready, eat while it’s hot.”

“Okay, Brother, thank you and Brother Ming for your hard work.”

Yu Mu was waiting for this sentence, he put down the tools in his hand without saying a word, strode toward the bucket beside him, scooped up water to wash his hands, and then followed Zhang Xiu with a silly smile on his face.

There are not many rules to be followed in the village. Five adults and three children sat around the table to eat together. Although there are not many dishes each dishes each portion is quite filling. The pot of braised pork in the middle is full of large chunks of meat in thick soup which makes people salivate just by looking at it.

Everyone was satisfied with the meal and Tang Chunming also got to eat lots of meat as he wished. There’s no such thing as tasteless pork or lean meat in this era. For pure farm pigs, the taste should be authentic.

So delicious you can be moved to tears. Yu Mu stuffed meat in his mouth and praised its deliciousness, The two men Li Feng and Dashan talked even less, and the three children burped at the end of the meal.

“Uncle Yu, I was right Brother Ming’s cooking is the best” Er Mao was still licking the aftertaste in his mouth.

“It’s delicious, better than what the chef makes.” Although it’s just home-cooked food and nothing fancy the taste is amazing. Can Tang Chunming tell them that it’s because of the ingredients and the addition of space water? Of course not.

The vegetables and pancakes prepared by Tang Chunming were all swept away by Yu Mu. The brain circuits of foodies are alike, and Tang Chunming was happy to find a crony so he waved his hands triumphantly and said;

“If you like it you can come and eat more often.”

As soon as he finished speaking he was pinched around the waist by Zhang Xiu. When Tang Chuming was still puzzled, Yu Mu had already agreed:

“Great, it turns out that Brother Ming is so generous, You just leave those acres of land to me and my brother, just prepare more food for us like today.”

“That’s not good,” Tang Chunming hesitated for a moment after coming back to his senses, “These meals are not worth anything and it will cost a lot of money to get people to farm the five acres of  land.”

“No one else can cook so deliciously, Brother Ming you are no worse than those chefs. Don’t worry Brother Ming leave it to me and Brother. It’s settled, Brother, Brother Dashan let’s quickly finish the rest of the work.”

Yu Mu was afraid that Brother Ming would go back on his word, so he hurriedly dragged the other two to work.

After they had left Tang Chunming realized the situation was wrong. He scratched his chin and said with a dry smile: “Never mind….I had to ask someone to clean it up eventually.”

He would probably be exhausted plowing the five acres of land by himself and he was also pregnant, so he had originally planned to ask a few people to help and pay them wages after they were done with their spring plowing so as not to delay the crops in their fields.

“Forget it, I was afraid that the villagers would start to gossip again, Since you don’t care about it, I also won’t mind I will ask Dashan to also help with the work.”

Yu Mu looked at his reaction and remembered how Brother Ming had mocked Li Conggen that day, It had already spread in the village and the villagers also knew Li Conggen had been beaten by Feng Xiaozi.

“You go out for a walk I’ll tidy up here” Zhang Xiu figured it out and drove Ming Geer and the three children out. Tang Chunming was also happy and relaxed and was not at all embarrassed. He left with the children and started strolling in the yard the three little ones showing their bellies.

Tang Chunming also went to have a look at his land, it was empty after the harvest before winter last year. The weather is now getting warmer, and the fields are greener. The place is not too far away. It is located on the hillside in the middle of the village. The five mu of land are surrounded by unreclaimed land. 

Those who are strong and are willing to work these days would clean it up. If You cultivate in the wastelands, you will be exempted from paying taxes for the first three years, after a year you’ll pay taxes and submit the documents and it will become your land. But the yield is always low in these wastelands.

Tang Chunming felt that it was a pity that there was no paddy field, which meant there was no rice produced, The villagers would usually use the wasteland to grow some grains such as soybeans and sorghum, but Tang Chunming wanted to use half of the land to grow wheat, as for the low harvest he won’t have to worry about it in his own hands. He will plant some soybeans, sorghum, and peanuts on the rest.

After returning home Tan Chunming told Zhang Xiu his plan. Zhang Xiu didn’t even think of persuading him to change his mind. He will have to find other ways to provide food at home, in the second half of the year he will be giving birth to a baby. The vegetables in his garden had grown well, and the leeks they ate at noon tasted very delicious.

In an instant the village became busy and every household had to clean up their fields. Shen Fulang didn’t know Tang Chunming’s plan so he came over to inquire and found out that he had left the work in the fields for Yu Mu and Li Feng.  After learning that Li Feng was going to help.

He went to Li Feng’s house and lent them the big mule to help in plowing, Within two days the two men had already finished plowing  Li Feng’s four acres of land.

After knowing this, Tang Chunming was grateful in his heart to Li Zheng’s family, for taking care of him and Ah-Lin.

Otherwise, there must have been so many people waiting to borrow his family’s mule, and there were also many people in Li Zheng’s family but he lent it to someone who doesn’t have the surname of Li, he must have withstood a lot of pressure in private.

Tang Chunming carried a jug of water and a basket with food on his back,  holding Ah-Lin’s hand and walking into the fields. Because of its location, he inevitably met other people in the village on the way.

Some were delivering food to the fields like him, others were walking on the road carrying tools and greeting him when they met.

Everyone knew that Tang Chunming’s lands were in the mountains, As busy as they were they still couldn’t help but think of the rumors they heard a while ago, was it true Otherwise why did Li Feng reject the people who came to see him?

Although Brother Ming had a child and was pregnant with a second one, in terms of appearance all those geers are far inferior to him.

Moreover, Brother Ming is also literate and fluent, the two boys from Dashan’s family are being taught by him. Dahu was lucky enough to marry such a ger back then, otherwise such a ger would have married into a rich family.

“Brother Ming, are you bringing food to Li Feng again?” The ger who was more gossipy came to greet him to say a few cliches to Brother Ming

“Brother Li Feng? No way aren’t there several people working on my land? It was Brother Xiu who saw that I was a widowed mother and couldn’t take care of these acres of land so he asked his family’s Dashan to help me. It just so happens that Brothae Feng’s land was close to Dashan’s. After borrowing Li Zheng’s family’s mule, the three families simply cleared it together. You also know that Brother Xiu is always busy. I’m the only one at home so I took over the task of cooking and delivering meals, Even Da Mao has gone to work in the fields with adults. I can’t just do nothing, right?”

Tang Chunming explained to people with a smile on his face, that it’s tiresome talking so much but Zhang Xiu suggested explaining that the three families are in a partnership. There are many relatives in the village who work together and so others helping Tang Chunming clean his land is not so unique.

“That’s right, that’s right,” the geer kept laughing until his face became stiff, “Who can stay at home during the busy farming season, No one can, or else he’ll be scolded. Your eldest brother is always lucky but this year he can’t be lazy anymore.”

“Brother?” Tang Chunming was stunned for a moment before he realized that this person was talking about Wang Chunhua. Indeed Zhang Dahu and Zhang Daniu used to work together in the fields while all the work at home fell on Brother Ming.

Whenever it was the busy farming season, Wang Chunhua was either hurt or felt uncomfortable. Anyway, He always found an excuse to be lazy, but even after knowing it Old Zhao didn’t say anything and turned a blind eye to it.

He could always order Brother Ming around not letting him rest. 

Every time the busy farming season ends Brother Ming always loses weight, while Wang Chunhua gains weight, Old Zhao also saved food neglecting Brother Ming and Ah-Lin.