novelraw Chapter 1029 - 563: What the Hell?
Chapter 1029 - 563: What the Hell?
The landlady came over with a rag whose original color could no longer be discerned, hastily wiped the table twice as if going through the motions, and then turned back to leave. Ning Xiaoxian clearly saw a thick layer of grease still on the table.
She smiled wryly; this place was indeed quite "down to earth." Jiu Mo had never stooped to sit at such a small stall in his entire life, and now he sat extremely upright, fearful of getting his hands greasy.
The whistle took advantage of the time the boss spent cooking to order two bottles of wine.
Ning Xiaoxian wouldn’t drink the inferior wine from this small stall, so she reached into her storage bag and took out her homemade Spiritual Wine brewed this year, then brought out the red mud stove, using silver charcoal to slowly warm it over a small fire.
The wine was green and transparent, and under the heat of the charcoal, a fine layer of green foam quickly appeared on the surface, making it seem exceptionally clear. The whistle, fond of this as well, stared tightly at the Spiritual Wine and whispered, "What kind of wine is this?"
"It’s my homemade wine, called Qingbi."
The whistle nodded; the wine was clear green, making the name quite appropriate.
While speaking, the landlady had already thumped three earthen jars onto the table. Each jar was about the size of an infant’s head, and as soon as they hit the table, a rich aroma of meat mixed with medicinal herbs wafted up to everyone’s nose. They looked up to see that each jar was full of soup, with a layer of oil floating on top, and several large pieces of ribs bobbing in the light brown liquid.
"Smells good. What is it?" She scooped some into her mouth, and the first taste on her tongue was surprisingly sweet, followed by a rich, savory meat flavor, and then a strong medicinal taste. After the medicinal taste faded, the aroma of the ribs came back, leaving an endless aftertaste.
As soon as it entered her mouth, she applied her mental method to her tongue, and the secrets of the soup were clearly laid bare in her mind: To thicken the broth, the stall owner had added fried garlic, along with angelica, goji berries, Solomons’ seal, codonopsis, cinnamon, cyathula, 熟地, licorice, chuanxiong, star anise, fennel, cassia, cloves, and pepper, all wrapped in cheesecloth, which is why the soup was clear and free of impurities. The soup had been simmered over a small fire for at least one and a half hours, forcing the fragrant oil from the ribs into the soup without making the meat lose its essence, so the soft bones still had a bit of chewiness at the moment.
"The owner of this place calls it ’Bone and Flesh Separation.’
"..." What kind of terrible name is that? However, with the ribs simmered almost to mush, the meat would fall off the bone with just a gentle tug, so ’Bone and Flesh Separation’ it was. It’s not even the depths of winter yet, but in the Central Capital, it often snows at night. A hot soup like this on the table quickly warms a person from head to toe.
Hmm, this method is so similar to the meat bone tea she had tasted once on the Southeast Coast of Huaxia.
Ning Xiaoxian took a sip, smiled, and suddenly poured a few drops of the warmed Spiritual Wine from the small stove into the jar. Instantly, a strange aroma was forced out, several times stronger than the aroma of the meat. Among the ancient bone cooking methods she knew, there was a recipe that included medicinal wine, and Spiritual Wine was more fragrant than any medicinal wine, so this aroma quickly drifted far and wide.
"Wow, it smells so good, so good!" The oilcloth on the adjacent stall suddenly lifted, and a big face popped in. This was a burly man, with a round head, big eyes, and a full face of stubble.
He didn’t even glance at the three people at the table but immediately saw the Spiritual Wine on the small stove. His eyes wouldn’t budge, and he sniffed his nose, saying, "Good wine, good wine. Whose fine wine is this?"
Jiu Mo glowered at him, looking displeased. Ning Xiaoxian had seen Tantai Yi act greedy for wine and knew how tempting good wine was to a wine lover. At that moment, she found the man interesting and took out another small jar of Qingbi Wine from the storage bag, stuffing it into his hand, saying, "Just take it. Why ask so many questions?"
The man immediately beamed, looked at her two times firmly, and without saying a word of thanks, retreated back into his blanket, then loudly called for the shopkeeper to bring a stove. It seemed he intended to imitate her, warming the wine to drink.
The three of them paid no further attention to him, and the whistle, with the fine wine, started to quietly recount the events since their last meeting.
Just a few sentences in, Ning Xiaoxian couldn’t help but exclaim, "What, you and Sister Tan already had a son, and it’s a pair of twins?!"
She couldn’t help but be shocked. These two moved fast! Although two years had passed, it was known that the whistle often traveled on business, and they spent more time apart than together. Tsk tsk tsk, no matter how much in love they were, this success rate was really something!