Brother Rong of Red Mansion

Chapter 7 Dinner
  Under the south window of the outer hall of the West House is a kang, which is covered with red felt strips. On the east wall are a lock brocade backrest and a half-used pillow. There is a large green satin mattress with a gold heart and a carved lacquer spit box next to it.

Two second-class girls brought a Kang table and placed it on the Kang.

There were two second-class girls who took out the hot dinner from the heart-saving box, passed it to the two girls, and placed it neatly on the kang table.

Chuntao took out an amber cup and white jade bowl, and paired them with a set of gold-headed, silver-horned and ink bamboo chopsticks.

The plum fragrance is used to warm the wine and make tea.

Grandma Sun served Jia Rong, took off her shoes, and sat upright on the kang.

In the small hall, the girls prepared rice and made tea in an orderly and well-organized manner, with skillful movements and elegant classical beauty, allowing Jia Rong to enjoy the top-notch service experience of ancient nobles.

Jia Rong sat on the Kang, looking at the delicacies on the table, she couldn't help but move her fingers.

After practicing archery all afternoon, Jia Rong was indeed a little hungry.

The six second-class girls slowly left after finishing their meal.

Although they have a higher status than the third-class servant girls, they are qualified to enter the master's house. But they can't stay too long, let alone serve Jia Rong personally. That's the responsibility of Mei Xiang and Chuntao.

"Mom, let's get on the kang and eat together."

Jia Rong is the master, and there are twelve dishes for dinner. There are all kinds of chicken, duck, fish and meat on the table. It is so rich that he alone cannot finish it.

So Jia Rong invited Grandma Sun, Mei Xiang, and Chuntao to eat on the kang together.

When eating, it tastes better when there is an atmosphere.

"it is good."

Not long after, Jia Rong sat under the east wall, and Grandma Sun sat next to him in the southeast seat. Mei Xiang and Chuntao, one sitting on the south side and the other sitting on the west side, all four got on the kang. Chuntao brought tea to everyone to rinse their mouths, and then started eating.

"Yeah, it's delicious." Jia Rong held the gold-headed, silver-horned and ink bamboo chopsticks tightly, tore off a piece of chicken wing from the roasted chicken, put it in his mouth and chewed it.

In later generations, roasted chicken was usually marinated and roasted raw, but this roasted chicken in Ningguofu is a roasted chicken made using the secondary heating method.

Before roasting, the chicken should be boiled first, and then the sauce should be poured on it. During the roasting process, the sauce should be poured on it continuously. All these techniques are to make the roasted chicken crispy on the outside and flavorful on the meat.

Jia Rong ate very quickly. He swallowed a chicken wing in the blink of an eye, spit out all the chicken bones, and placed them in front of a white jade bowl.

Then, Jia Rong took a sip of warm wine.

"Yes, Not Bad."

The wine is Wannian wine, one of the medicinal wines collected in Jia Rong's house.

Before the winter solstice, pick ten thousand-year-old branches (Gardenia) and put them in wine, boil them in a vat until the flavor is clear, or pound the juice to make wine, decoct the juice to make wine, or pestle the pieces to make wine.

"Compendium of Materia Medica" says: Mainly tonic, calming the five internal organs, nourishing the spirit, eliminating all kinds of diseases, taking it for a long time, it will make you fat, healthy and light, and you will not grow old.

"Master, let me toast you." Grandma Sun picked up the wine glass, with a blush on her pink and white cheeks, and gave Jia Rong a wink.

"Okay." Jia Rong and Grandma Sun clinked their glasses together, raised their heads and drank the whole drink in one gulp.

Mei Xiang and Chuntao also toasted, and Jia Rong drank it all in one gulp. After a while, Jia Rong got drunk and became much more courageous. In front of Mei Xiang and Chuntao, he held Nanny Sun in his arms and started to move and laugh wantonly.

"Master, it's getting late, let's take a rest early." Mei Xiang saw Jia Rong becoming more and more unrestrained due to the wine, and quickly handed over a bowl of sour bamboo shoots and chicken skin soup.

This Sour Bamboo Shoots and Chicken Skin Soup starts with chicken soup, and then goes with chicken webs, chicken skin, ham, and sour bamboo shoots. The tea soup is clear and refreshing in taste. It is a common soup in Ningguo Mansion. It is also the eighth chapter of the original work. Jia Baoyu visits Xue Baochai, and Aunt Xue gives him sobering soup.

"Hmm..." Jia Rong took a sip from the porcelain bowl and frowned.

"It's too boring, please give me a cup of tea." Chicken skin is a rare and precious ingredient in ancient times. Because it is difficult to collect, it is not affordable for ordinary people. To make just one soup, five or six chickens have to be slaughtered.

Jia Rong ate a lot of chicken, duck, and fish today, and drank sour bamboo shoots and chicken skin soup to relieve her hangover. Of course, she would feel greasy.

Mei Xiang quickly changed him to a cup of Longjing. This is freshly brewed green tea, a regular tea on the dining table. No matter morning or noon, I will make a pot of it. Its function is not only for drinking, but also an essential drink for making chazuke rice.

After drinking three cups of tea in a row, Jia Rong's mouth was relieved of the greasiness, his alcoholism was dissipated a lot, and he felt much more awake in an instant.

"Are you full?"

Jia Rong asked Mei Xiang and Chuntao.

The two girls only ate less than half a bowl of tea-soaked rice, five-spice dried tofu, kohlrabi and a few other seasonal summer vegetables. There were several kinds of chicken, duck and fish, and only a few chopsticks were used.

"We are already full. You think we are pot-bellied like you." Mei Xiang and Chuntao covered their mouths and snickered, but they made fun of Jia Rong.

Jia Rong is very hungry today, and her appetite is much larger than usual. Although he didn't gobble it up, his eating appearance was not very elegant. Mei Xiang and Chuntao secretly winked and snickered several times.

"Where's mom?" Jia Rong smiled brightly, and instead of getting angry with the girls, she looked at Grandma Sun.

"You're full, you're full." Grandma Sun snuggled into his arms, using her gentle and skillful hands to secretly exert some skill. His eyes were watery, his mouth was smiling, and his cheeks were flushed, revealing a hint of charm.

"Okay then, just withdraw!"

Jia Rong pulled out a fair and skillful hand that had been inserted into her chest and ordered Chuntao to move the dining table away.

Chuntao shouted, and the six second-class girls waiting in the main room immediately entered the room.

Mei Xiang went to the ground and walked to the edge of the kang, waiting for Jia Rong to put on her shoes.

"Huamei, please take out the plum and spring peach dishes later and enjoy them in the front yard. Let's add some dishes to the mothers and girls in the front yard."

Seeing Huamei and the other six girls, Jia Rong suddenly remembered that these maids had not eaten yet, so he took it upon himself to reward Mei Xiang and Chuntao with special dishes.

"it is good."

A girl in green shirt with an almond-shaped face and a slim waist nodded with a smile.

The Jia Mansion implements a supply system. All aspects of life, such as clothes changed according to seasons, daily meals, and even everyone's jewelry, have corresponding "official" expenditures in all aspects of life.

For a master like Jia Rong, the dinner consists of twelve individual dishes, including chicken, duck, and fish, which is extremely luxurious.

But a first-class girl like Mei Xiang only has three special dishes;

There are only two second-class girls like Chuntao and Huamei;
  There is only one third-class escort girl in the front yard.

Masters and slaves have completely different living standards in the Jia family.

Of course, the system is a system, and the specific implementation is the specific implementation. If the masters can't finish the portions of the dishes, they will give them to the maids as a sign of "favor". For example, on Jia Rong's table, there is still a lot of rich chicken, duck, and fish meat, which will be shared by the second-class girls in the middle courtyard. If they can't eat it, they will give it to the front yard and divide it layer by layer.

That's why the girls in the Jia family are raised like ladies. She lived a life of fine clothing and fine food, even more noble and decent than that of a lady from a wealthy family.

Mei Xiang served Jia Rong and accompanied Grandma Sun back to the east room.

Chuntao stayed and ordered Huamei and others to clear the dining table, and carefully sweep the bed and floor to make sure the room was clean. Then she kicked them out and closed and locked the ceremonial door to the third courtyard.

After doing all this, she turned around and returned to the main room.

But as soon as he entered the house, he heard a coquettish cry coming from the inner hall.

(End of this chapter)