Chapter 1383 Blooming
On New Year’s Eve, Pingyang City was bustling with activity, and firecrackers sounded from time to time.
Tonight, the city gates are open and the neighbors are not closed. There are people drinking with friends in hotels and restaurants, and there are also families sitting around to celebrate New Year''s Eve. There are also some young boys in the suburbs lighting bonfires and throwing firecrackers one by one in the middle. Everyone seems to be happy.
Only inside the academy, deep in the small courtyard, was a lone lamp and two figures.
During the day, the Cai Mansion was preparing to celebrate New Year''s Eve. The maids and old women were busy cooking New Year''s Eve dinner. People came and went, but they didn''t think much of it. But when it came to the actual New Year''s Eve dinner at night, an indescribable feeling The loneliness still surged up...
Maid and mother-in-law are not qualified to sit at the same table as Cai Yan. The only ones who can serve him personally are those who can barely sit for a while with a book. But even so, the family dinner for two people was extremely deserted.
The deciduous trees in a foreign country are like people who are alone at night under the cold lamp.
Feng Shu brought a bowl of white fungus soup to Cai Yan and said, "My dear, I have been cooking this for a whole afternoon... If you don''t eat it, it will get cold..."
?? Normally, Feng Shu would not go out of his way to disturb Cai Yan, but after all, it was different tonight. In order to ease Cai Yan''s mood, Feng Shu almost tried every means, even at the risk of being scolded by Cai Yan.
Cai Yan smiled slightly, but the smile disappeared briefly. He took the small bowl in Feng Shu''s hand, fiddled with it twice with the spoon, and watched a few pieces of white fungus floating in the clear soup without eating it. Instead, he started to stay again.
Looking at Feng Shu, I couldn''t help but feel a little worried and a little pity in my heart. She has been with Cai Yan since she was a child. After getting along for a long time, she naturally knows Cai Yan''s temperament. Cai Yan''s smiles like now are all put on to appease others. She must not know how painful she is in her heart.
Cai Yan would only keep many things in his heart and rarely talk about them, let alone argue about them. It was like hearing some students in the academy argue about issues that were obviously wrong, but Cai Yan basically Like some people, he is not eager to pour out all the ink in his stomach for others to see. Most of the time, he just smiles lightly and does not make any comments.
The same is true for knowledge, and the same is true for emotions. Feng Shu stayed with Cai Yan every day. Only after staying for a long time could he detect some clues in Cai Yan''s behavior. Otherwise, looking at Cai Yan talking and laughing freely on weekdays, he would never have thought of how much Cai Yan missed him at the moment. father.
Cai Yan just looked at it, held it, but didn''t eat it. He wanted to persuade him, but he opened his mouth but didn''t know what to say better. He had no choice but to sit aside and stretched out his hand to wrap the fur coat around Cai Yan''s body. . Seeing that the dishes are getting colder and colder, it seems that my heart is getting colder along with it, and I can''t get any more heat.
“Mother, how about I take it off and heat it up...” Feng Shu touched the edge of the plate and said.
?The dishes were placed for a long time, but neither of us had much appetite. Although the dishes on the table include fish and meat, they are more of a formality than real interest in eating them.
"Ah? Oh, no need..." Cai Yan picked up the bowl, put some into his mouth casually, and then said, "Eat some more and then take it away..." Even though there was a lot of discomfort in his heart, Cai Yan still We know that it is useless to complain. Although some food is tasteless, we always have to eat some.
You must eat it; your body won’t be able to bear it if you don’t eat it.
“My dear…” Feng Shu looked at Cai Yan with some water in his eyes.
"It''s okay, eat it. If you don''t eat it, it will be really cold." Although Cai Yan looks weak on the outside, he is extremely strong in his heart. He still smiles lightly, and then picks up the spoon and gives it to the small bowl of the book as if taking care of his sister. There were some dishes inside, "This is venison, cut into shreds and stir-fried... Stir-fried, warm and tonic, eat more..." When the word "stir-fried" was mentioned, Cai Yan paused slightly and seemed to be touched by Qiu Yi. As if his bristles were pricked, he paused for a moment before continuing.
At this moment, some noisy sounds suddenly came from outside the courtyard, which was particularly obvious in the quiet night of the small courtyard.
Not long after, a maid trotted in excitedly and reported: "...it''s...General Zhengxi is here, and he is setting up a tent outside the courtyard..."
“Outside the hospital?” Cai Yan was stunned. My heart fell together, and I didn''t know what it felt like.
There is a flat land outside the courtyard, but why don’t you want to come in?
Could it be...
The old woman on duty in the front yard also ran over with a smile on her wrinkled face, "Miss Cai, General Zhengxi has invited you..."
Cai Yan was silent for a moment, lowered his head and said, "As a letter, please take my imperial robes and the crown of virtuous scholars..." Cai Yan''s official identity is now that he is a doctor of the Academy, and naturally he also has the seals and seals of his imperial robes.
"Huh? My dear..." Feng Shu hesitated.
“Go, don’t let General Zhengxi wait for a long time.” Cai Yan said, his eyes flashing under the light of the candles in the hall.
……………
Fei Qian did not wear a crown, and tied his hair with a scarf. He sat in the curtain, lying slightly downward, adding some charcoal to the copper hot pot in front of him, then picked up the small fan on the side, trying to fan out the fire. Heat the edges of the newly added charcoal until red.
Winter is cold and humid, and charcoal itself is the easiest to absorb water. Therefore, although Fei Qian uses carefully selected silver charcoal, if you are not careful, you may still absorb water vapor, resulting in some thick smoke when burning.
Although it is said that the servants are responsible for lighting the fire, when it was brought here, it was freezing cold and the charcoal fire was consumed very quickly. In addition, Fei Qian did not let anyone else wait on him. Besides, to eat hot pot, you have to do it yourself, and no one else can do anything. If you do it, what''s the point?
Fei Qian almost lay on the mat and fanned himself with a small fan, not too fast, otherwise it would take away more heat and prevent him from burning.
So when Cai Yan walked into the curtain wearing a formal suit and carrying the Erliang Jinxian crown representing the doctor, what he saw was this scene...
When they met each other, both of them were in a daze.
?Fei Qian didn’t expect Cai Yan to dress so formally, while Cai Yan didn’t expect Fei Qian to dress so casually.
Fei Qian reacted immediately, pointed to the peach forest beside him and said: "This is Master''s favorite place before... I just think it''s bigger to burn fireworks, and secondly, it''s like being with Master here." Together...there really is no other meaning..." ? ? ? Cai Yong has passed away for a long time. Although it is still a bit sad to talk about it now, the so-called filial piety is true filial piety during life. After death, no matter how beautiful the funeral is, it is just for others. Just for viewing.
No taboo, no avoidance, and living well is the greatest respect for the deceased.
After hearing Fei Qian''s explanation, Cai Yan''s face turned slightly red, feeling ashamed and ashamed, and he wanted to turn around and leave.
"Ah, senior sister..." Fei Qian saw Cai Yan was about to leave and shouted quickly, but when he saw Cai Yan''s footsteps, he shouted in a hurry, "Cai Zhaoji!"
?Cai Yan paused and stood still.
"Uh... That''s it, no need to change... It''s good this way... I haven''t seen you dressed so formally before, you look pretty good..." Fei Qian motioned Cai Yan to sit down and said, "It''s okay, it''s okay... Come here. Take a look at this pot and these ingredients. Is there anything you like or dislike..."
??Hot pot has been around as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, but at that time it was not called hot pot, but called antique soup. It got its name because the pot was always boiling and making a gurgling sound.
??Moreover, the shapes of early antique soup and hot pot vessels are completely different from those of later generations. There is even a carving of a small bronze beast lying on the ground, heating its belly, opening the lid on its back, and cooking food in its belly. Later, it was simplified into a three-layer structure. The top is a small round tripod, with a tray in the middle to hold charcoal. A foot is added under the tray to place it on the ground.
??But the one brought by Fei Qian was indeed made according to the impression of Fei Qian''s later generations, and the material was made of red copper, not the commonly used bronze. The reason is naturally very simple.
People in the Han Dynasty liked brass and bronze. Few people would use pure red copper. However, for cooking utensils, red copper is indeed the most suitable.
?The water in the hot pot has boiled, and the hot steam is popping out against the lid.
Fei Qian completely ignored Cai Yan, who was staring at him angrily. He handed a pair of long wooden chopsticks on the table to Cai Yan, took a plate of sliced ??mutton, and then opened the lid. Putting it into the hot pot, he didn''t forget to say: "Don''t be stunned. Put whatever you want to eat... Oh, let me tell you, I drank mostly this night. I really didn''t eat anything. If I hadn''t let people in the water I mixed some wine with it, I’m afraid I can’t even walk now…”
??Cai Yan subconsciously took the chopsticks, then realized what he was doing and couldn''t help but chuckle, "Was the water mixed with wine?"
"Yes, there are some flavors that you can''t handle even if you just drink cold water..." Fei Qian rinsed the mutton a few times. When he saw that the color had changed, he thought it was done, so he took it out, put it on a small plate, and then He handed it to Cai Yan, "Here, here, dip some of those condiments and eat...otherwise there are so many people drinking it, how can you stand it...it''s just that if you drink too much water, it''s like you have a water bag in your stomach, and you can''t even walk." The sound of sloshing water makes me hold my stomach every time I talk to others..."
?? Cai Yan ate the mutton in small bites. He wanted to laugh again, but there was food in his mouth and he couldn''t laugh. He had to turn his head away, feeling a little uncomfortable holding it in.
Fei Qian laughed a few times, and cooked some mutton for himself. He ate it with a sigh of relief, and then he breathed a sigh of relief. He continued to pour the mutton into the pot and said, "Don''t look at the dishes I prepared. The name is nice, the appearance is nice, etc., but only this hot pot is the best delicacy in winter. It is cooked and eaten right away, which warms the belly and is delicious... Come on, I will give you some more, this one is also delicious …”
Perhaps China has created countless ways of eating or eating for thousands of years, but hot pot must have a place among them. From south to north, from east to west, it has endless creativity and vitality.
Fei Qian snored while eating, and the sound even drowned out the gurgling sound of water, but Cai Yan didn''t find it unpleasant, and was even inspired by Fei Qian to have some appetite, so he also ate some. Perhaps it was because the ingredients in the hot pot were at a suitable temperature, and the originally cold hands and feet gradually warmed up. Cai Yan''s face also gradually became flushed, which was bright and moving against the charcoal fire of the hot pot and the angry wind lantern on the side.
“…Last time…” Cai Yan put down the small plate, hesitated, and said, “Why don’t you use my method?”
"I was too impatient before and didn''t think carefully..." Fei Qian picked up a plate of frozen tofu and put the pieces into the hot pot. "I''ve thought about it again in the past two days and found that I was indeed too hasty. The preparatory work has not been done yet…”
"What job?" Cai Yan couldn''t understand.
"The matter of sentence reading may seem small, but it has a great impact..." Fei Qian picked up the spoon and pushed it in the pot to prevent it from sticking to the pot, and said, "Confucian classics in the Han Dynasty were passed down orally from the beginning. , then the book will not be passed down; if it is passed down, there will be no hidden meaning, and its meaning will not be clear... Therefore, the importance of sentence reading is determined at the beginning... We make changes in sentence reading, even if it is a small change, it is also for this Such a big shake in the foundation will naturally not be accepted by these old Confucian scholars..."
“Then what do you mean...” Cai Yan frowned slightly.
"Governing a big country is like cooking small dishes..." Fei Qian looked at the hot pot and the ingredients rolling in the soup and said, "We can''t turn the heat too high at the beginning. Just like this pot, cook it slowly. , heat it slowly, and when it boils, you don’t need to expend much effort. You can make any soup, add any meat or vegetables, it will be delicious... Ah, the tofu should be ready, but it will rot if you cook it... The same thing is true, It just needs to be just right. Since it takes a lot of effort, there is no need to push it forcefully. There are thousands of roads, all of which lead to...well, to Luoyang..."
??Cai Yan looked at Fei Qian: "Do you have an idea?"
?Fei Qian nodded slightly, then took some ingredients and put them on Cai Yan''s plate and said, "You eat first..."
??Cai Yan lowered his eyelids slightly, and his long eyelashes trembled a few times, "Say first..."
"Then I''ll talk and you eat at the same time..." Fei Qian didn''t take it seriously, "This tofu is pretty good... Actually it should be deep-fried and soaked in soybean oil. I didn''t have time to do it. Maybe next time..."
??Cai Yan was holding the small plate and was not satisfied with Fei Qian''s interruption, so he put it down again.
“No, if you put it down, I won’t say anything…hiss…”
Fei Qian said as he took a bite of the frozen tofu. The frozen tofu was completely filled with soup, and the aroma of the beans and meat was mixed together, all bursting out. It had a unique taste, but was a bit hot...
??Cai Yan rolled his eyes at Fei Qian, then showed his teeth as thin as white jade, and bit into a piece of tofu. He thought it tasted really good, nodded and said, "Well, your tofu is quite delicious..."
"Pfft..." Fei Qian waved his hand quickly, "It''s okay, it''s okay, I choked... Ahem, let''s get down to business. Senior sister, did you know of a plan called Flowers on the Tree?"
(End of this chapter)