Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 69

Yuan Xing listened to Yuan Xi's words, pondered for a while, clapped her hands and said, "I see, you want to make sugar cakes."

"Put sugar in the middle of the dough and steam it, it must be delicious."

After Yuan Xi heard this, he smiled and said: "My sister does know how to cook, but there is a slight difference, instead of steaming, it is fried with sesame oil."

Yuan Xing was taken aback: "Cooking fried? What is this?"

Sesame oil is pressed from flax. At that time, the names of flax were confusing. One was the flax brought back from the Western Regions by Zhang Qian, and the other was the sesame that was said to have been introduced from India.

The former is mostly planted in the difficult places in the north, while the latter is suitable for both the north and the south, but most of the occasions are not used for cooking, but for lighting.

At that time, food was scarce, and a lot of oil was used to fry food, so the cooking method of frying was not yet popular.

Yuan Xi briefly explained the frying method to Yuan Xing, and finally said: "This kind of food is called fried cake, also called sugar cake."

Yuan Xing heard this, and said with a smile: "Second brother said so, I'm quite interested, let's do it and see."

She asked the maid to bring white noodles with sesame oil, and Yuan Xi saw that there was a stove in the corner of the yard, so she wanted to go over and light a fire, Wu Zhao hurriedly said, "You can make sugar cakes, I'll light the fire."

She swiftly stuffed the straw and branches into the stove, lit the fire with a flint, and saw the flames slowly bursting up.

She looked up and saw Yuan Xi carrying a bucket of water over, and said in a daze, "Didn't you want to fry it?"

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Boil the water first."

The flames in the stove made a whirring sound, and the water bubbled more and more in the iron pot, and began to gradually boil.

In this era, even drinking boiled water is a luxury.

Don't look at the woods everywhere, but the firewood that is actually used to make a fire needs to be dead branches, which are rare in the woods, and it often takes a young and strong laborer to work for a long time to collect a bundle.

Taking these firewood home, a lot of it will be used for cooking, and there are also supplies for heating, so in the end, there will not be much firewood for boiling water.

Farmhouses with good conditions just boil a pot of water with the remaining fire left in the stove after cooking.

During Yuan Xi's three years in Beixincheng, he tried his best to get the people to drink more boiled water, but most people still didn't have the energy to do this if they didn't have enough to eat.

However, the effect is very good. In the past three years, there has been no major epidemic in Beixin City, which is not unrelated to the fact that a considerable number of people drink boiled water.

If the whole world can develop this habit, maybe the life expectancy of the people will increase significantly, right?

Seeing that the water in the pot was boiling, Yuan Xi took a wooden spoon, scooped out some of the boiling water, poured it into a wooden basin with white flour, and kneaded it with his hands.

He poured in sesame oil while kneading. After kneading, a delicate, soft and elastic dough gradually formed, and soon the aroma diffused.

The white and tender dough was constantly changing shape under the raging of five fingers. Yuan Xing and Wu Zhao couldn't help but look at each other. This was very similar to the subtle experience of a 20-year-old leftover woman in the dead of night, and they both felt a little red on their faces.

Yuan Xing coughed dryly, concealing the embarrassing atmosphere, and said, "I've never heard of the second brother doing this, who did I learn from?"

Yuan Xi didn't notice the embarrassment of the two women, and raised his head and said, "I was just thinking about it myself, but there must be many people who like it."

"If my sister is married to Ruyi Langjun, she can make it for him to eat, and it will enhance the relationship between the two."

Yuan Xing said angrily, "Are you making fun of me for being old?"

"Now that our family is in such a situation, where can we find the right family?"

"I can't be high or low right now."

She looked around and whispered, "I heard that my father's good friend Cao Mengde wants to marry the eldest son Cao Ang, but my father still seems to be hesitating."

Yuan Xi was shocked when he heard this, and blurted out: "This is impossible!"

Yuan Xing wondered, "Why? Then Cao Ang's character is very bad?"

Yuan Xi was at a loss for words, he couldn't say, Cao Ang might die in a few years, right?
Even if history has changed and Cao Ang survived, the Yuan and Cao families will have a battle sooner or later, and they will never end. Even if Yuan Xing and Cao Ang get married, there will be no good ending.

He faltered: "After Cao Cao is eunuch, will father agree?"

Yuan Xing said distressedly: "But I am already old. I was going to get married in Luoyang, but my father turned against Dong Zhuo and came to Jizhou. This will delay me."

"There are quite a few gentry in Jizhou who want to marry, but my father thinks it's not suitable."

Yuan Xi heard this, and sighed: "That's true. I have a new general under Gongsun Zan, Changshan Zhao Zilong. His character and appearance are all top choices, but his family background is not good enough."

Yuan Xing also nodded and said: "You also know that we can only marry nobles, and military generals are not welcome. Even if you let me marry Sitingzhu, I am afraid that my father will feel that it will hurt the lintel."

At this time, Yuan Xi had kneaded the dough into shape. He took out a few pieces of sugar, crushed them with the bottom of the bowl, and then poured them into the bowl of white flour and stirred them. The filling was ready.

He said, "It's not that my father looks down on generals, but that generals don't have titles."

"If you become a Marquis general, you should be worthy of my sister."

After hearing this, Yuan Xing joked, "You seem to appreciate that Zhao Zilong quite a bit?"

Yuan Xi took small pieces of dough from the dough, pressed them into round cakes, then wrapped them in sugar filling, sealed them, and pressed them into round cakes.

Wu Zhao understood it, and quickly imitated it to help.

Yuan Xiteng raised his hand, and then said: "I think he is very accurate, he will definitely be famous in history."

Yuan Xing was skeptical, and sighed: "Even so, I don't know how many years later it will be until he wants to be named Marquis. At that time, I don't talk about getting married, I'm afraid there will be a bunch of children."

Yuan Xi's heart may not be, after more than a year, there will be an excellent opportunity.

In order to tie Zhao Yun to death, he could only betray the seller's sister cruelly.

Besides, Zhao Yun was so lucky that he was very likely to die well, which is extremely rare in this troubled world.

It was inconvenient for him to go into details, and he said with a smile: "If he becomes a Marquis and my sister is not married yet, can I help him propose marriage to his father?"

Yuan Xing heard this, and smiled and slapped Yuan Xi on the shoulder, "Your brother has no conscience, is this a curse that I can't get married?"

Wu Zhao watched the two siblings talking and laughing, and felt a long-lost family warmth. She was so happy when she was with her father, but she never had it again.

Seeing that the pot was almost burning, Yuan Xi slowly poured sesame oil into the pot. At this moment, the servant girl rushed over and said to Yuan Xing, "Madam Zhen Rong, please see the young lady."

Yuan Xing was taken aback, and asked in confusion, "Why is she here at this time?"

She explained to Yuan Xi: "Zhen Rong is the fourth daughter of the Zhen family. She only got married last year, and she has always been acquainted with me."

Yuan Xing suddenly realized, and said with a smile: "I said, she came for my sister!"

"The news of your return, I'm afraid it has already spread all over Yecheng. She probably came to find out about you."

With an ambiguous smile on her face, "She's in such a hurry, did you do something outside?"

Seeing that the sesame oil started to bubble, Yuan Xi clamped the noodle cake with wooden chopsticks and carefully put it into the oil. There was a crackling sound in the pot.

He touched his head: "Maybe it's because I brought back dozens of women?"

When Yuan Xing heard this, she nodded fiercely on Yuan Xi's forehead: "What have you been doing outside all these years?"

"It doesn't matter, I'll go and welcome Zhen Rong in first!"

"After sending her away, let me ask you about those women!"

Covering her face, Zhen Mi pretended to be a maid and followed Yuan Xing Zhenrong in.

As soon as she entered the yard, she saw a man not far away staring at the frying pan intently.

He was so focused that he didn't look up at all.

(End of this chapter)