I'm not a genius in the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 34 Aunt Gao's Dark Cuisine
Uncle Gao's house is at the east end of the village. It is a free-standing cave dwelling just built a few years ago.This kind of cave dwelling does not need to rely on mountains and cliffs. It is similar to the small courtyards on the ground in later generations. There are arched houses that cover the soil. The single floor, although crude, is very clean.

Uncle Gao helped unload Wang Zi'an's things into his yard first, and then Wang Zi'an smiled and settled the wages with the old man driving the ox cart.Uncle Gao enthusiastically wanted to keep the old man for dinner, but the old man refused with a smile. Twenty miles is not too far away, so work harder, and you can go home before dark without delaying tomorrow's work.

"Two years ago, after Xing'er got married, her house has been empty. Before your cave is finished, you will live with me temporarily. I will let the child's mother tidy up the room for you. Xing'er married I seldom come back to live after going out, it’s a little messy, don’t dislike it.”

Uncle Gao put down the packages and tools in his hands, and introduced them to Wang Zi'an.

"Then trouble Uncle Gao."

While the two were talking in the main room, they heard the voice of a middle-aged woman from outside the yard.

"The master is back?"

Wang Zi'an followed the voice and saw a middle-aged woman walking outside with a dustpan. She was not beautiful, but she was thick and strong, very neat, and she was very clean.It should be that he rushed back after seeing the man from another family go home.

"Have you ever settled the wages and come back? The matchmaker said that if you can come up with a gift of [-] yuan, you can have a wedding between the autumn harvest this year..."

Before he finished speaking, he saw Wang Zi'an who had already stood up, so he quickly shut up.

"This is the little brother I brought back. His name is Wang Zi'an. He will settle down in our village from now on. Before his house is built, he will live with us for the time being. You can clean up Xing'er's original room later. He lived there first."

After Uncle Gao finished speaking, he turned his head and introduced to Wang Zi'an: "This is your aunt, you don't need to see outsiders, just tell her if you have anything to say."

Wang Zian stood up and said hello.The Gao family's aunt quickly put down the dustpan in her hand and returned a gift.

"Little brother, you can live here with peace of mind and don't need to see outsiders. You talk first, and I will prepare food for you."

Aunt Gao wiped her hands on her apron and turned around to cook. Wang Zi'an quickly stopped her and took out a few catties of mutton from the luggage outside.

"Auntie, I bought a few catties of mutton, please clean it up later."

"You kid..."

Aunt Gao scolded, looking at herself in charge with some embarrassment.

"Forget it, I bought everything, you can take it and clean it up. I will have a drink with Zi'an in the evening, so it can be regarded as a welcome for Zi'an."

Aunt Gao went to the kitchen with the mutton, and Uncle Gao and Wang Zi'an were talking at home.Only then did Wang Zi'an know that Uncle Gao's family consisted of five members, one daughter and two sons. The daughter married to the nearby Wangjiatun two years ago, and the eldest son was 17 years old and had already been granted the land.Some time ago, someone told me about a marriage at the beginning of the year, and we were in the period of discussing marriage.

Wang Zi'an remembered what Aunt Gao said when she entered the house, and looked at the house. Although it was very clean, she didn't look like there was going to be a wedding at all. Not easy to interrupt.Uncle Gao just said it casually, and didn't mean to say more.

While the two were talking, a kid like a mud monkey ran in outside the door, holding a frog in his hand, and shouted excitedly from afar.

"Mother, mother, I caught a frog——"

When he saw Uncle Gao in the room, he cheered and jumped into the room.

"father--"

Then he raised the frog in his hand as if offering a treasure, Uncle Gao stretched out his big hand to stroke his head, and cursed with a smile.

"You kid, you went crazy again. Hurry up and put your things away. I met your brother Zi'an. Your brother Zi'an bought mutton, and there is mutton to eat tonight."

The little guy looked at Wang Zi'an curiously, but his curiosity about strangers could not resist the temptation of mutton. The little guy made a face at Wang Zi'an, and without calling anyone, he cheered directly, held up his frog, and jumped Jumping to the kitchen to find Aunt Gao.

"This kid's name is Yunye. He's used to being crazy. He runs around with the children in the village every day. I don't have time to take care of him. He doesn't even know how to say hello when he sees guests."

Uncle Gao smiled at Wang Zi'an with some embarrassment, and Wang Zi'an also smiled.

"That's not bad. I was more skinny when I was young, and I was chased and beaten by the teacher every day-it will be fine when I get older."

When it was time to eat, Uncle Gao’s eldest son, Gao Yunzhong—whose name was said to be given by the help of Uncle Qi, the most knowledgeable man in the village—also came back from working in the fields.He is a solid and honest young man. Although he is only 17 years old, he is probably related to working in the fields all day. He looks dark and strong, much older than his actual age.He didn't talk much, after greeting Wang Zi'an, he put down his tools, washed his hands, and prepared to eat.

Dinner is mutton soup and steamed cakes.In the Tang Dynasty, basically as long as the batter was fermented and then steamed, all nine noodles were called steamed cakes, such as steamed buns, steamed buns, etc., of course, including the black steamed cakes that Wang Zi'an is holding in his hand now. .Wang Zi'an took a sip, feeling a bit dry and a little bit of lard aroma.It should be that coarse grains such as sorghum soybeans and pig fat (that is, lard) were added to the wheat noodles. Wang Zi'an tasted it for the first time and felt pretty good.

It's just that this mutton soup - even Wang Zi'an, who is not picky about food, can't stand it.It was steaming hot and full of a large porcelain bowl. It could be seen that Aunt Gao took extra care of Wang Zi'an when serving the meal. Most of the bowl in it was full of mutton. The mutton soup is completely non-sticky. It looks like the mutton is cut open, boiled in water, and then served with some salt and chopped green onion.

It smells like green onion and mutton, and it tastes like it's hard to describe.But watching Uncle Gao's family eat deliciously, especially Uncle Gao's youngest son, Gao Yunye, was so excited that he picked it up with his hands, grinning so much that he couldn't even care about it.Wang Zi'an silently swallowed the piece of mutton in his mouth, and then very neatly allocated all the mutton to this little guy.

"Come on, eat more if you like!"

Aunt Gao hurriedly stood up and insisted on giving Wang Zi'an another bowl, but Wang Zi'an quickly stopped her.I only said that I ate too much when I was shopping this afternoon and I was not hungry, so I sat down a little embarrassedly.Uncle Gao glared at his youngest son, and when he saw that the child was already lying on the bowl and started eating, he cursed embarrassingly.

"Thank you, brother Zi'an!"

"Thank you brother Zi'an—"

Whoever has meat is brother!
(End of this chapter)