Border Cook

Chapter 46 Zongzi
"I have an appointment with Mr. Zhang and the others to write the document tomorrow afternoon, so sister-in-law, please buy some for me." Xia Mingyue thought for a moment and said, "Buy more garlic, and single-headed garlic would be best."

"Leave it to me." Mrs. Lu readily agreed. "My sister-in-law is busy with her business, so I'm afraid she won't have time to make sachets. I'll make a few more for you and Zhuguo to wear."

Lu was still very confident in her needlework.

"Then I'll trouble you, Sister Lu." Jiang Zhuguo didn't expect that Mrs. Lu still cared about her. She was flattered and thanked her repeatedly.

Boil red beans, make red bean paste, wash glutinous rice, soak in cold water, remove the pits from candied dates, and boil zongzi leaves...

Early the next morning, Xia Mingyue wrapped the rice dumplings and put them all in the pot.

After they are cooked, they are not taken out, but left to soak in the pot until the afternoon when they return from closing the stall, and then they are taken out.

At this point, the rice dumplings have been soaked for a long enough time that they are soft and sticky, and their sweet aroma is even stronger.

The bean paste is ground very finely and contains enough sugar. It tastes sweet and sticky, and has a strong bean flavor.

The candied dates in the rice dumplings are cut into very small pieces and fully mixed with the glutinous rice, so that the sweet taste is evenly distributed to every part of the rice dumpling. Every bite is full of date fragrance, and it does not have the sticky defect of whole candied dates.

The rice dumplings had been sitting for most of the day and were getting a little cold. Eating a few of them on such a hot day was both delicious and refreshing.

The rice dumplings made by Xia Mingyue were unanimously praised by Jiang Zhuguo and others.

Zhao Dahu and Zhao Erhu even drank half of the water used to cook the rice dumplings.

The zongzi leaves are carefully washed and boiled before wrapping the zongzi. The boiled zongzi water has the sweetness of candied dates and red bean paste, the mellow fragrance of glutinous rice, and the unique fragrance of zongzi leaves. It is also kept cool enough, so it tastes delicious and thirst-quenching.

If they hadn't remembered that the remaining rice dumplings would only taste good if they were soaked in rice dumpling water, the two of them would really like to drink the remaining half pot of rice dumpling water.

The lunch meal is replaced by rice dumplings.

Even Wu Jin got two rice dumplings.

Although the rice dumplings were delicious, they were not very friendly to dogs and were somewhat sticky to the teeth and mouth. After Wu Jin swallowed two rice dumplings, he spent a long time licking his mouth and between his teeth frantically.

He licked his teeth until they were all white and gleaming brightly under the sun.

In the afternoon, Xia Mingyue went to the county school as agreed with Zhang Mingyi and Fan Pingyang. When leaving, she asked Jiang Zhuguo and Lu to receive the bamboo delivered in the afternoon, and also took some rice dumplings with her.

When we arrived at the county school, the time was just right and Zhang Mingyi and Fan Pingyang were already waiting at the gatehouse.

The two of them had already prepared paper and pen and ink, one for each, and wrote together. This way, they would have two copies when they were finished, saving time.

Seeing this, Xia Mingyue avoided some unnecessary greetings and went straight to the point.

In modern society, Xia Mingyue had come into contact with many standardized formal contracts, so drafting such a simple agreement was a piece of cake for her. She only had to state the clauses one by one in order.

Zhang Mingyi and Fan Pingyang wrote one line at a time.

After about a meal's time, the two of them finished writing at the same time. They blew away the ink stains on the paper, and then read it again to Xia Mingyue for verification.

Xia Mingyue listened carefully, and after confirming that what they wrote was exactly what she had just said, she nodded in approval, "It's exactly the same."

The two of them breathed a sigh of relief, but they also looked at each other with some doubt in their eyes. Zhang Mingyi boldly asked tentatively, "Mrs. Xia really hasn't read many books, and doesn't know many words?"

"That's right." Xia Mingyue responded.

She didn't have many memories from the original owner. Apart from the impression of who was in the family, her other memories were mostly vague, and as for book knowledge, there was very little.

As for Xia Mingyue herself, she had indeed never read the books here, and she did not recognize many of these complex ancient characters, so this answer should not be considered a lie.

Xia Mingyue comforted herself in this way.

"Is there something wrong?" Xia Mingyue asked.

Fan Pingyang laughed, "Forgive me, Madam Xia. We have written such documents for others before, but most of the time we summarized and wrote after others had given their opinions. Madam Xia is the first person who has never read a book to be able to express all these without missing a single word, and her sentences and words are quite smooth and do not need to be polished. So we are a little curious, and we have no other intentions."

They had originally prepared a lot of paper in case they needed to add sentences or make changes and rewrite it, but now except for this piece of paper, the others were of no use.

"My family used to run a small business, and my father often signed various documents with people. Although I don't know many words, I often heard my father mention it, and I know a lot from what I have seen and heard."

Xia Mingyue made up an excuse, "There was a private school near my home when I was young. I often played nearby and listened to the teachers and students reading. I benefited a lot from it."

"So that's how it is." Zhang Mingyi and Fan Pingyang suddenly realized.

In other words, Xia Mingyue is the kind of person who can speak and listen, but has limited knowledge of writing.

But even so, it is already very remarkable.

At least it shows that she is a smart person.

But then again, if he wasn't a smart person, how could he cook such delicious food and be such a good business man?
The two smiled again.

After writing the document, Xia Mingyue took out the money bag and said, "I don't know what the market is like outside, but these are just a small token of my appreciation. Please don't despise them."

Pens, ink and paper were quite expensive at that time. Xia Mingyue was not stingy and prepared fifty or sixty copper coins in her purse.

"Madam Xia, you are too polite." Zhang Mingyi and Fan Pingyang declined repeatedly and insisted on not accepting it. "It's just a small favor. Madam Xia has always taken care of us. Now we finally have the opportunity to help Madam Xia. We are more than happy to do so."

"Don't mention the money anymore, or we will be laughed at by the people in the county school." Zhang Mingyi emphasized, "Madam Xia, please be considerate of us two."

Xia Mingyue did give a lot of extra bean paste cakes on weekdays.

Seeing that the two refused to accept the money, Xia Mingyue handed over the rice dumplings she had prepared, "Then I'll count it as a favor to you two. These are the rice dumplings I made today. There's nothing special about them, but they're still edible. I hope you don't mind."

"Madam Xia, you are joking. The food that Madam Xia makes must be extremely delicious. How can you say that you dislike it?"

It's just what I wanted.

Fan Pingyang also nodded, "Yes, we will not be polite for Madam Xia's kindness."

As he spoke, and looking at the fragrant rice dumplings, Fan Pingyang immediately had the urge to peel off the rice dumpling leaves and eat one directly.

　Thanks to book friends 20190426020122036, Junyue Qianji, Estrella Zhaixingxing, Hongqiangweilumudan, book friend 20100625184901957, Jingzi for the monthly tickets, thanks to "Kusakabe Maru" for the reward, thanks to the little cuties for their support
　　
　
(End of this chapter)