First smoked mind

Chapter 3 Boiling Balls

A few more days passed.

Just after noon, Qiao Chuxun cooked a large pot of sweet-scented osmanthus honey tea, put hawthorn slices and dried small chrysanthemums in it, and sent a large bowl to each of the dozen or so people. Comfortable.It happened that someone knocked on the door outside the door, Xiaolu put the empty bowl into Xiaoni's arms next to her, and jumped over to open the door.

Standing outside the door was a thirteen or fourteen-year-old little girl with round eyes and a small cherry mouth. She glanced in timidly and asked in a soft voice: "Is there any maid in the house?"

Xiaolu's appearance is quite heroic, and at first glance, there is a gangster look between her brows.In fact, not only Xiaolu, but also the rest of the dozen or so people.Seeing that the little girl was extremely cowardly, Xiaolu grinned with a smile that she thought she was friendly, and responded in a loud voice: "Yes! Recruiting!"

The little girl trembled in fright, her eyelashes trembled, she bit her lip and wanted to run away.Qiao Chuxun hurriedly stepped forward and smiled at her: "Don't be afraid, girl, the work in the house is not heavy. It's just working in the back kitchen, washing vegetables and serving meals. Two renminbi a month, paid at the beginning of the month , can you?"

Qiao Chuxun's facial features are extremely detailed, her brows and eyes are warm, her temperament is modest, and she has a three-point smile on her lips before talking to others.The little girl nodded hesitantly, twisted her small hands in front of her body, and replied in a low voice: "It's ok. I, I can do a lot of work, cooking and washing are fine. I beg you to give me a meal..."

Qiao Chuxun smiled slightly, stepped forward and took the little girl's sleeve, and pulled her in: "I'm not a lady, but I'm in charge of cooking in the back kitchen. You can just call me Chuxun."

The little girl opened her eyes in surprise, isn't she Miss?She once saw Miss Rong's family from a distance in the street, her appearance and temperament were not half as good as the one in front of her!Suddenly realizing that it was rude to stare at people like this, the little girl hurriedly lowered her head, and replied obediently: "Hello, sister Chuxun. My name is Li Tao, and everyone in my family calls me Xiao Taoer."

Qiao Chuxun patted her head, with a smile on her lips: "Don't be afraid, Xiao Taoer, there is only one master in the house. Remember to address you as the young master. The people at the door just now are all the young master's guards. You can call him brother when you see her." .”

While talking, the two had already reached the back kitchen. Qiao Chuxun gave her a general introduction, then took out the purse from his waist, and counted the taels inside.Xiao Tao'er blinked and looked at Qiao Chuxun, waiting for her to order things to be done.

Qiao Chuxun put away her purse, and smiled at her again: "It's still early. Let's go shopping with me." The two of them turned back to the door, Xiaolu volunteered to follow, and the three of them left the house two in front and one behind.

Qiao Chuxun has always been on the streets these two days, and he probably knows the direction of the city.The east of the city is a busy market, where all kinds of shops, grain stores, cloth shops, and grocery stores are mostly concentrated there.There is a market in the west of the city in the morning and evening. If you want to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, chicken, duck and fish, most people know to go to the market to buy.Most of the restaurants and restaurants are concentrated in the south of the city, while in the north of the city are government offices and the mansions of some wealthy families.

The three of them left the mansion and headed east all the way, and just two steps away, they heard someone beating a gong not far away, and the crowd on the street was also faintly commotioned.Qiao Chuxun was not a person who liked to join in the fun, so he pulled Xiao Tao'er's sleeve to quickly bypass the crowd.After walking two steps, I heard the sound of someone reading the announcement loudly.

Qiao Chuxun frowned and glanced at the center of the crowd. Sure enough, he saw a group of people surrounding the notice board. Two arresters stood beside the wooden frame, and a man dressed as a scholar was reciting the content for everyone.The three of them stood there and listened for a while. It turned out that the government issued an announcement, reminding the people in the city to keep their doors and windows closed at night, especially women. It is best not to go out after sunset.

Qiao Chuxun originally wanted to get closer and have a better look, but there was a dense circle of people in front of him.He turned his face to the side and wanted to call Xiaolu to go first, but he saw that the other side looked serious, as if he was thinking about something.Qiao Chuxun yelled twice before he came back to his senses, and followed the two of them forward, but seemed to be preoccupied.

Qiao Chuxun glanced back, stopped, and looked at him with a smile on his lips: "Let's go together."

Xiaolu seemed taken aback, and shook her head again and again: "No."

Qiao Chuxun was a little puzzled, Xiaolu bit the bullet and hesitated to explain: "Master has ordered... to respect Ms. Qiao and not to be presumptuous." In fact, Gao Ling's original words were to treat Ms. Qiao as a master and not to be neglected.Although Xiaolu is a little careless on weekdays, she is not a brainless person. Without thinking about it, she knows that she can't say this in front of Qiao Chuxun.

Qiao Chuxun looked at him, and suddenly burst into a mischievous smile: "I wanted to ask two days ago, why your names are so strange. Your name is Xiaolu, and I remember there are a few others named Xiaoyi, Xiaoni, and Xiaowan." No matter how they sound, they don't match these people, and they feel a bit feminine...

Xiaolu's face changed, and she smiled a little forcedly: "Is Miss Qiao literate?"

Qiao Chuxun nodded, knowing it naturally.

Xiaolu showed a tragic expression of seeing death as home: "Young master, when he was young, he read a Tang poem..."

Qiao Chuxun was already smart, so she turned around and connected the names of the people she remembered, and couldn't help laughing out loud.Xiao Taoer next to her held her sleeve curiously: "Sister Chuxun, what's wrong?"

Qiao Chuxun laughed as she walked, no wonder she always thought these names were a bit weird before.It turned out that the [-]-character Tang poems were taken apart and used separately, and a small character was added in front of each person's name.

Xiaolu gritted her teeth and followed behind the two with a dark face, what a humiliation!The biggest humiliation in the lives of the brothers is this sissy name given to you by the young master!
"Green Ant's new fermented wine, red clay small stove. It's like snow in the evening, so I can drink a cup." Qiao Chuxun slowly recited this five-character quatrain, and then smiled and turned her head to look at Xiaolu: "Why only Thirteen people, what about the remaining seven?"

Xiaolu's complexion darkened, and she immediately stopped cursing.After a while, he looked up at Qiao Chuxun: "There are four more on the way. The other three... have passed."

Xiao Tao'er let out an "ah", then quickly reached out to cover her mouth, her round eyes blinked at Xiaolu, she was so pitiful!

Qiao Chuxun frowned slightly, and said "Sorry" softly, thinking about the Tang poem, and thinking about it again.

The three of them went to the grocery store to buy some daily necessities. When they passed by an embroidery workshop, Xiao Taoer suddenly pulled Qiao Chuxun's sleeve lightly: "Sister Chuxun, your purse is a bit old." Xiao Taoer's cheeks were pink , said timidly: "If you don't think Xiao Taoer's workmanship is rough, I, I will sew you a new one, okay? Just buy some colored silk threads and a small piece of fabric."

Qiao Chuxun was stunned for a moment, subconsciously touched the purse on her waist, and looked at her with a smile: "Okay." After entering the embroidery workshop, a young woman in pink clothes quickly came up to her, her eyes were red. , but forced a smile: "What do you want to buy, girl?"

Qiao Chuxun knew nothing about acupuncture, so he looked sideways at Xiao Tao'er.Xiao Tao'er walked to the container, looked carefully for a while, and then whispered a few words to the woman from before.Soon the woman took out some wrapped colored embroidery threads, wrapped them in paper, and smiled at the two of them: "The thread in our family is very tough and not easy to fade. If you use it well, you will come here often in the future! "

Qiao Chuxun nodded, watched the woman turn her back to wipe her tears, pursed her lips, but said nothing in the end.He dragged Xiao Tao'er out of the shop.

The three of them went to the market in the west of the city to buy some fruits and vegetables, a whole lamb chop, two fresh fish, and a small bag of fresh walnuts before returning home.

With more people, it is indeed much more convenient to do work.Qiao Chuxun asked Xiao Taoer to wash and choose vegetables, and Xiaolu helped clean up the fish. Both of them were quick in their hands and feet, and they did their work meticulously. , very satisfied.

The fish is for big guys to eat. Qiao Chuxun found that these people like sweet food, so he planned to make a sweet and sour carp.Xiao Taoer next to him helped chop the mutton stuffing. Despite her young age, the little girl had a lot of strength, and Qiao Chuxun was startled at first.Xin Dao sure enough, the children of the poor are already in charge of the family, and the little girl's small arms are as thin as firewood sticks, but she is quite energetic!

Qiao Chuxun was rubbing shredded radish on the side, and after the seasoning and other preparations were ready, Xiao Taoer's side was almost ready.Qiao Chuxun put all the mutton stuffing into a small basin, sprinkled some fine salt, five-spice powder, rice wine, finely chopped shallots and coriander into it, and started stirring with chopsticks.

After a while, the water in the cauldron was boiling. Qiao Chuxun washed his hands, stretched out his hand and squeezed some mutton, made them into balls and threw them into the pot. Xiao Taoer looked at him and was stunned: "Sister Chuxun, how can this be done?" Could it be too loose?" Seeing that Qiao Chuxun didn't exert much force in her hands, she was afraid that the mutton balls would fall apart as soon as they were put into the pot.

Qiao Chuxun kept moving his hands, and explained with a smile: "No. It's not good to use too much strength. The meatballs that come out of the boil are easy to die, and they don't taste fresh enough."

Xiao Taoer nodded half-understanding, then looked at the shredded radish on the chopping board: "Can I put the radish in?"

"Let's put it." Qiao Chuxun replied while putting the mutton balls in the pot.

Soon, the fish in the steamer was almost ready.Qiao Chuxun stirred the soup with a spoon and asked Xiao Taoer to bring out the fish.

On one side, boiled meatballs were being cooked, on the other side Qiao Chuxun thickened the sauce nimbly, made a sweet and sour sauce, poured half of it into each of the two plates, and then told Xiao Taoer: "Take out the fish first. The rice can also be served. "

Then I went to find a soup basin to hold mutton balls.When Xiaotaoer and Xiaoyi came to help in the kitchen, Qiao Chuxun turned over the pot and cooked, while tilting his head to indicate to the two of them to serve soup: "Two pots of soup, one pot on each table. If you want to drink soup, there is still in the pot. You guys Just eat first, the last dish will be ready soon."

The two each brought a bowl of mutton meatballs to the table.The weather was slightly cold, everyone served a bowl of boiled meatballs, and they ate hot while drinking soup.The meatballs are tender and smooth, delicious and delicious, without the slightest smell of mutton, the shredded radish is smooth, and the soup is fragrant and thick.The meatballs were divided into small bowls for each person, and some people still felt that it was not enough, so they took a bowl to the back kitchen to fill some soup and shared it with everyone.

When I came back, I found that half of the carp had gone, and I couldn't help shouting "bullying people!" Everyone laughed, but they kept chopsticks in their hands.Xiao Tao'er quickly lowered her head to cook the rice. Gao Ling sat at the same table with her. Seeing this scene, she couldn't help being a little amused: "Eat more vegetables. Miss Qiao's fried dishes are delicious."

Xiao Taoer tried hard to swallow the food in her mouth, and patted her small chest with one hand and whispered: "Thank you Brother Gao, I know. It's just that sister Chuxun has been busy in the back kitchen, I want to finish eating quickly and help her."

The fourteen people were sitting at two tables, and they were having a great time eating. When they heard this, their chopsticks were slightly eaten.Gao Ling frowned, and glanced at everyone at the table.Xiao Wan drank half a bowl of soup and nodded again and again: "That's right, these days at noon and night, Ms. Qiao is busy cooking for us..."

"And every time I wait for the young master to eat before returning to the back kitchen." Xiaojiu added beside him.

After realizing it, Xiaolu let out an "ah" and looked at the crowd with some guilt: "We eat all the food every time, so what does Ms. Qiao eat for every meal..."

Gao Ling frowned and stared at the food on the table. Luckily, he kept assuring the young master that he would not neglect Ms. Qiao...

Taking advantage of this time, Xiao Tao'er had already finished two bowls of rice, wiped her mouth with her hand, and then gave a blessing to everyone: "I'm going first, brothers take your time."

For the next half of the meal, everyone ate in silence.Xiaowan poured all the sweet and sour sauce from the plate into her own bowl, and while eating, she felt vaguely emotional: "What should I do, it's delicious... I wanted to save a mouthful for Miss Qiao..."

One sentence immediately attracted everyone's stares, you barely keep that bite, can you still eat it!

But after Qiao Chuxun fried two dishes and asked Xiaolu to help bring them over, he started busying Jingyi's dinner again.As usual, it was a small cup of porridge and two light side dishes.

A small pot of mutton bone soup was simmering on the stove all the time, and it was boiled after returning from the market.At this moment, a light milky white has been boiled, and wolfberry, astragalus and a small amount of ginseng are added to it.Take the mutton bone soup and mix it into a small cup. The japonica rice porridge has been cooked before, and now it only needs to be stirred a little and simmered for a while.

Taking advantage of this time, Qiao Chuxun began to blanch the vegetables.Cut the tofu clothes bought from the market in the evening into palm-sized pieces, put some blanched vegetables, mung bean sprouts, shredded bamboo shoots, diced mushrooms, etc. on each piece of tofu clothes, and roll them into small rolls. I picked seven of them and placed them on a plate, with a bright white radish flower in the middle with a blade.

There is also some yam paste steamed in the pot, and now I take it out, use the mold I bought to cut out the shape of a flower, and sprinkle a little osmanthus honey that I prepared on it.

Without a cup of tea, Jing Yi's dinner is ready.Qiao Chuxun raised her wrist to wipe her forehead, and walked to the son's bedroom with the tray.

(End of this chapter)