When it was almost noon, Xie Ying instructed the kitchen to prepare dishes and bring the sorghum wine that he brewed at home.
He said to Cui Xie, "This is the wine recipe you gave me back then in Tongzhou, my wise brother. I asked someone to brew it on Zhuangzi for more than half a year before I got it. I asked someone to bury it in the ground for over a year and drink it. It's much more mellow than when I sent it to you. I don't want this sorghum to cook and eat, but it tastes better than the rice shochu from the south and the wheat shochu from Jingli. It's sweet and mellow. I don't know who came up with it. the square."
That's a recipe from the late Qing Dynasty, of course it's better than the early Ming Dynasty...
Cui Xie replied with a dry smile: "It's not our Daming recipe anyway, it's from outside. Don't they all say that there are gods at sea, it's naturally better than ordinary restaurants."
Xie Ying nodded, took a small jar of wine, opened the mud seal, poured out a small jug of wine, and pushed it in front of Cui Xie: "Today, please invite Brother Cui Xian to drink immortal wine and eat immortal meat."
A young servant brought a box of eight kinds of fresh plums, tender cherries, sugar-steamed eggplants, seedling melons, Tianmu bamboo shoots, fish with frozen ginger and vinegar, stuffed stomachs, and dried chicken in water to serve them drinks.
After a while, the main dishes came up gradually. The first is a pig's head that was steamed like mud. The ingredients inside were cleaned up. I saw a strip of skin with a sauce-red luster, and the fat was steamed to a transparent strip of meat. Then there are fairy meat steamed with wine and autumn oil, Sichuan fried chicken fried with chestnuts and bamboo shoots, homemade crucian carp fried on both sides, eight treasures tofu simmered with chicken crumbs and ham crumbs, a raw fried turtle…
Except for the jasper Guanyan simmered in winter melon, which is more precious, they are all home-cooked dishes, and there is nothing extravagant or rare.
Xie Ying put a stick of pork chops on the plate for him: "Try this Sichuan pig's head, the smell of numbness is very strong. When my father was in Sichuan, the cook at home also learned from there, using more sand. Ren Zanjiao has a special aroma compared to the braised pork in Jingli.”
Cui Xie suddenly learned that his father had passed away, and he felt a little pantothenic acid in his heart, feeling that Xie Qianhu shared the same illness as himself. But in his current status, he really can't pat Xie Ying and say, "Actually, I'm an orphan," as he does in modern times. It's not…”
He was about to punish himself for a cup, but Xie Ying said: "I brought it up myself, what are you guilty of? How many of us warriors can end their lives in peace, not to mention that my late father died for the Pingmiao chaos. Heroes and martyrs, it is also an honor to be mentioned by future generations, so why do you need to be sad..."
His voice slowly dropped, he poured himself a glass of wine and sighed, "Good wine. This soju that is steamed with glutinous rice is indeed more fragrant, better than the one steamed with thin mash."
Cui Xie also silently accompanied him for a cup, and followed his words and talked about steaming wine: "Actually, the steamer that uses the brewed liquor to steam shochu is also useful. Pour the brewed shochu in there and steam it several times. The wine is so strong that you cannot drink it, but using it to clean the wound can prevent the wound from sprouting and heal quickly."
Xie Ying said: "Actually, this shochu is already very strong. I have seen people who use it to wash wounds, and it is really fast. Do you want to steam it even stronger? Why can't you drink it, have you steamed it yourself? ?"
Cui Xie said vaguely: "I drink this soju, and after a sip, my throat feels hot and my eyes are dizzy. If I drink the one that has been steamed more times and is stronger, won't I burn my tongue? You can't drink it. But since spirits are good for wound healing, it must be that the stronger the alcohol, the stronger the medicinal properties, and it will be good for the body to hold back the pain for a while."
Xie Ying smiled slightly and said, "That's the truth. I'll ask someone to get a steamer to try it later." As he spoke, he reached out to cover his wine glass, took it directly to the table, and looked back and ordered the servant: "Bring Cui Gongzicheng some freshly brewed Taoyuan wine."
The newly brewed wine, before putting the second shot of Qumai, is just like sweet rice wine juice, and you are not afraid of getting drunk.
Cui Xie suddenly fell from sorghum wine to alcoholic beverages, and he became more heroic. Xie Ying picked a ripe plum for him, cut it open with a small silver knife, picked the core, put it on his plate, and told him to have a drink.
Cui Xie picked up the plums and ate it, looked at the dishes on the table, and returned a stick of fish jelly to Xie Ying on the plate.
He was wearing new clothes, and he was always afraid of getting oily when picking vegetables. He closed his sleeves at one time and the hem of his clothes at the same time. Xie Ying couldn't help but smile and said, "The clothes are also old, if I hadn't only worn them at home for a while, I would have I'm embarrassed to give it to you. Clothes like this are dirty when they get dirty. What are you doing with them? Just sit down and eat with peace of mind."
Such good clothes are still brand new, how can you throw them away? Cui Xie touched the drooping sleeves and said, "It's just that the fabric hanging down here doesn't fall off. I'll make you those kind of tightly wrapped sleeves, with leather wristbands on the outside, and wear them very neatly. If it gets oily, don't worry. Toss it directly, smear it on the oil with extremely well-steamed shochu, rub it a little, and it's easy to wash off."
Alcohol is really a useful thing, and he has to steam a few bottles and store them at home for later use.
Xie Ying's family is a hereditary family of thousands, and it is quite a family. Even after his father passed away, his income was low for a while, and it was not difficult to grow this kind of life wisdom. Hearing these little life tips from him, I only felt that he had a poor life before, so he said warmly: "When I steamed spirits at my house, I asked someone to send you a few jars. You don't have any wine at home, and you don't have a steamer, so you make it yourself. It's always inconvenient."
At this moment, Cui Xie was thinking about how to make clothes, but he didn't pay attention to his expression, and replied with a smile, "How embarrassing. I also have some wine at home, and I originally wanted to use a steamer to steam the flower dew. If you want to change the steamed wine, it's just a few different accessories to change the clothes."
Steamed flower dew
Xie Ying asked in surprise: "You can steam flower dew? On the gift list you gave me, did you steam the bottles of flower dew yourself?"
Cui Xie replied: "That's not true, but I read in which book, someone steamed flower dew in the Southern Song Dynasty. Yesterday, the next shopkeeper said that the rose dew from the Western Regions actually cost a dozen taels of silver per bottle. , I'm scared! In fact, it is steamed with rose flowers. You can also steam the flower water with roses or fragrant flowers such as jasmine and mugwort. If we do it ourselves, it is not so expensive. Get a big bottle."
Listening to a bottle of more than ten taels of silver is frightening, why do you still take so many bottles as gifts
Xie Ying didn't know what to say about him for a while, so he shook his head and said, "Then don't ask someone to beat him. I'll ask my family to find the person who made the wine steamer for me and make a copper steamer for you."
Cui Xie was about to stand up: "Then how can it be, how can it cost you money!"
Xie Ying smiled and said: "Why can't I spend money? Didn't you tell me to thank you brother? What's the point of making a steamer for your brother as an elder brother. Besides, why don't you give me a few bottles of flower dew? use?"
However, this is not a one-shot deal, and it will have to be a long-term exchange in the future. Cui Xie put his butt back on the seat again, touched the tip of his reddish nose and said, "Then I will try it slowly, Brother Xie, don't worry. If you can really do it, you can use it to wash your face and shower."
Xie Ying naturally won't put any flower dew on her body, but just encourage a few words and support young people to start their own businesses.
He also asked someone to prepare a few dishes for Cui Xie, and he slowly drank wine with cherries. Speaking of buying and selling, he remembered Cui Qi and Ji Du who he saw in the flower hall, and asked, "Those two have returned to Beijing with you? Will you open a bookstore in Beijing in the future?"
Cui Xie didn't think about it yet. He put his chin in one hand and said, "There are three stores in the family, and none of them make a lot of money. I want to switch to a bookstore. The two of them are about to find my account for my hometown study. I want to come first. I asked Brother Xie and brought them together."
Xie Ying said: "Beijing is always better. Qian'an is too far away, and it takes a few days for a printed book to be shipped to Beijing. You are slow to sell, and you are eager to read books. Now you have a family and a business in Beijing. With so many people, it is very easy to open a new shop. Besides, you are someone whom the emperor has seen and has specially ordered to be put into the Imperial College. Even if you have no official or job title, no one will dare to bully you.”
Can the emperor of Chenghua know that he is the son of a five-rank official who lives in the countryside? Xie Qianhu must be behind this!
Cui Xie's heart surged with enthusiasm, poured himself a glass of soju, and stood up to toast: "I can make it this far, thanks to the support of my brother, I can only wish this glass of wine to express my heart."
He slowly drank the wine, turned the bottom of the glass upside down, his eyes were burning brightly, and sincerity came through from the bottom of his eyes. Xie Ying also picked up the wine and drank it, nodding slightly: "This is enough, if you drink more, you will be drunk."
Cui Xie also nodded along with him, sat back in the chair, and said honestly, "Actually, I'm already a little drunk, I always forget that I am sixteen now, and I don't drink like men in their twenties. "
Xie Ying couldn't help laughing, and whispered to the servant: "Remove Cui Gongzi's wine and replace him with ginger sand soup to relieve his hangover."
The Xie family's hangover soup didn't work very well. Cui Xie was still a little stunned when he left his house. He even forgot to change his clothes, so he brought back several sets of Xie Ying's old clothes.
The shopkeeper Xiaoji was sitting in the car, looking at his scattered eyes, not clear, and asked worriedly: "Xianggong, how much alcohol did you drink, can you still pay the bill? I have taken it all over, if Xianggong can't read it, take it back first, Xiaoxiao and Cui Qi will stay at the inn for two days, and then go back after you have read the account?"
Cui Xie felt that he still understood in his heart, and after looking at the wall of the car for a while, he replied, "No, bring the money, I will count and wake up."
Ji Du pulled out the silver hidden under the car board and let him hold it a few times. Occasionally, the light that came in from outside the curtains hit the silver, and it flashed white before his eyes. His mind gradually turned, and suddenly he pushed the silver, grabbed Cui Qi and said, "You really can't go. I drew a new picture. , Shopkeeper Xiao Ji, you help me bring it back to Qian'an, and by the way, tell Shopkeeper Ji and Cui Yuan to come to Beijing to see me; hold the inkstone... Now that the master is gone, the Cui family is in charge of me, and holding the inkstone will stay and learn painting with me , learn to do business at your home shop, right?"