TTTQF Chapter 113

Essential for a Late-Night Snack

Jiang Miao naturally has to consider the dishes when inviting guests to dinner. Last time, he prepared early, so there was no risk of being impolite. This time, however, it is rather sudden, and there aren't many ingredients left at home. He certainly can’t serve leftovers to his guests, right?

After sending the two children to school, Jiang Miao goes to the large dining hall. The chefs have already retired for the day, leaving only a few helpers cleaning up in the kitchen.

Jiang Miao calls out to one of the helpers, a man surnamed Li. This is the person who usually provides them with ingredients, and after several interactions, they have become fairly acquainted.

"Brother Jiang, is there something you need from me?" Helper Li asks, a bit puzzled.

"Brother Li, I was wondering if you could spare any extra ingredients? I have guests to entertain tonight, and what I brought home earlier is almost gone," Jiang Miao says.

Helper Li hesitates for a moment, then whispers, "We do have some left, but... we can't just give it out freely."

Jiang Miao is delighted. "No problem, I'm not asking for it for free. Just name a price, I'm willing to pay. Even if it's a bit expensive, that's fine."

Helper Li glances at someone nearby, then lowers his voice even further. "Brother Jiang, you misunderstand. What I mean is, the ingredients are managed by Chef Hu. How they’re handled is up to him."

Jiang Miao understands. "Where is Chef Hu now? I'll go talk to him and see if he can spare some for me." Jiang Miao has a deep impression of this Chef Hu because of his large head and thick neck, which perfectly matches the comical description from a sketch comedy he once saw.

Helper Li gives him directions, telling him that Chef Hu’s quarters are the first room on the left. Jiang Miao thanks him and heads in that direction.

Before he even reaches the door, he is met with thunderous snores from inside, a clear sign of just how deeply Chef Hu is sleeping. Strangely, Jiang Miao feels a bit relieved—thank goodness Pei Che doesn't snore. Otherwise, it would be unbearable to share a bed every night.

The courtyard they live in actually has three rooms. Jiang Miao initially thinks one room per person would be perfect, but Pei Che points out that with three scholars in the house and no study room, it would be quite inconvenient. In the end, they convert one of the main rooms into a study, so he and Pei Che continue to share a room as they did before.

The snores continue from inside, and after some thought, Jiang Miao decides against knocking. Chef Hu is sleeping so soundly, and waking him up would surely make him grumpy. Forget about asking for the extra ingredients.

Or why not try his luck at Jingcui Garden? Jiang Miao considers its booming business but shakes his head. A place like that would never sell their ingredients to someone else.

Jiang Miao turns and leaves the large dining hall, following the stone-paved path down the mountain. As he passes the mountain gate, the gatekeeper, Brother Fang, sees him and asks, "Master Jiang, where are you headed?"

"I'm thinking of going down to take a look. Aren’t there farms and vegetable plots at the foot of the mountain? I’ll see if I can buy some vegetables," Jiang Miao replies.

"Buying vegetables?" Brother Fang says. "There are some down there, but they’re all common varieties. I’m afraid they won’t suit your taste."

Jiang Miao can't help laughing when he hears him say that. In Brother Fang's eyes, rich people must eat delicacies like abalone and shark fin every day. In fact, before meeting Pei Che, Jiang Miao had thought the same—that wealthy people were very particular about their food. But after getting to know Pei Che and the others better, he realizes that they aren’t that picky. As long as the food tastes good, they will eat anything with relish.

There are only a little more than 200 steps down the mountain, and since Jiang Miao is used to physical labor, he strolls down easily. Once at the base of the mountain, he heads toward the low houses hidden behind the trees.

The first few homes he passes are all locked up. Jiang Miao guesses the occupants are probably working up the hill at this time. It isn’t until he reaches the fifth house that he sees an elderly woman sitting under the eaves, squinting as she mends clothes.

"Excuse me, Granma," Jiang Miao calls out from a distance, not wanting to startle her by approaching too suddenly.

Though the old woman’s eyesight is poor, her hearing is still sharp. She looks up in the direction of his voice and asks, "Young man, who are you looking for?"

Jiang Miao takes a few steps closer and says, "I’m not looking for anyone in particular. I just wanted to ask if you have a vegetable garden. I’d like to buy some vegetables."

"A vegetable garden? Yes, yes, we have one. What kind of vegetables do you want to buy?" The old woman immediately becomes enthusiastic. From her tone, it seems she isn’t a stranger to people coming here to buy vegetables.

"What do you have in your garden?" Jiang Miao asks.

Without hesitation, the old woman replies, "I have cucumbers, eggplants, and cowpeas."

"I’ll take a bit of everything." Jiang Miao is pleased. Aside from the cucumbers, which he already has from the morning, the other two aren’t typically delivered.

"Alright then." The old woman quickly gets up, grabs a scale from inside, and then leads Jiang Miao to the vegetable garden.

Her vegetable garden is just a hundred or two hundred meters from the house. The rows of vegetables are lush and vibrant, full of life. There are upright cucumbers, deep purple eggplants, and cowpeas, all heavily laden with produce, showing how well the owner has taken care of the garden.

Jiang Miao picks some vegetables, and after the old woman weighs them, she puts them into a basket. The large basket of vegetables costs only a little over twenty copper coins, much cheaper than what the large dining hall provides. Jiang Miao thinks it might be better to just order meat from the hall in the future and come down to buy vegetables. Not only are they fresher and cheaper, but climbing the mountain can also count as exercise.

Now that he has the vegetables, there is still a piece of meat at home. But it doesn’t feel quite right to serve only a big plate of meat for his guests. Jiang Miao asks, "Do you raise chickens? Could you sell me one?"

The old woman shakes her head. "The chickens are for laying eggs; I can’t sell them. But if you want, you can buy a duck. Old Man Zhang's family has a flock in the paddy fields over there. They're just right for eating now."

Well, ducks and chickens are about the same. Jiang Miao follows the old woman to the paddy fields ahead. Sure enough, there are plenty of ducks, each looking to weigh about two or three jin, perfect for a meal. Just as Jiang Miao is deciding which one to pick, an old man walks over from the edge of the field.

The old woman tells Old Man Zhang about Jiang Miao's request, and Old Man Zhang, in his usual gruff voice, asks, "Which one do you want?"

Jiang Miao looks carefully for a moment and points to a duck stretching its neck, foraging for food. "That one."

Old man Zhang walks over, startling the ducks into flapping and scattering. Jiang Miao isn’t sure how exactly Old Man Zhang catches it, but by the time he blinks, the old man has already caught the duck, with a snail still in its mouth.

Unfortunately, snails need to be soaked in water to spit out the mud before cooking; otherwise, Jiang Miao would have rolled up his pants and waded right in. He regretfully glances at the paddy field, but his gaze suddenly freezes.

"Crayfish?!" Jiang Miao exclaims. The black creature waving its large claws in the field is exactly the kind of must-have summer snack at night markets.

Old Man Zhang and the old woman follow his gaze. "Those crawfish?" they say, confused as to why Jiang Miao looks at the creature as if it were a treasure.

"Yes, don't you eat it?"

"This thing has a hard shell and there's no meat inside. We just bring them home, chop them up, and feed them to the chickens and ducks," the old woman says disdainfully.

Jiang Miao understands that reasoning, but eating crawfish is all about the flavor! He sets the tied-up duck down on the ground, takes off his shoes and socks, and wades into the field.

The two elderly folks are baffled. They stare at the crawfish for a long time, unable to understand why Jiang Miao would bother going into the field to catch it.

Half an hour later, Jiang Miao returns humming a tune, fully satisfied with his haul. After preparing the other ingredients, he begins cleaning the crawfish he has caught from the field. These things are delicious no matter how they are cooked. It is just a pity that in ancient times, there is no ice-cold beer to go with them. That would have been perfect.

Once the crawfish are cleaned, Jiang Miao heats a small pot of oil. When the oil is hot, he tosses in the crawfish, and in just a few seconds, they turn bright red. He scoops them out and sets them aside, ready to showcase his cooking skills later that evening.

…

That evening, Han Qin and a few others follow Pei Che over to join the dinner. Before they even enter the house, they are hit with an unfamiliar yet enticing aroma. It is a scent they have never smelled before. Everyone is excited and full of expectations.

Inside the main room, they see that the table is already set with several dishes: braised duck, minced meat eggplant, smashed cucumbers, stir-fried yardlong beans, and more. Every dish looks delicious, but their attention is still drawn to the unknown dish cooking in the kitchen.

Unlike Han Qin and the others, who are dying of curiosity but have no way to find out, Pei Che takes a more direct approach. He walks into the kitchen and peers over Jiang Miao’s shoulder into the pot. There, he sees the bright red crawfish sizzling in a bed of white garlic, with the fragrance wafting up from the pan.

Jiang Miao notices him and, while stirring with a large ladle, says, "You guys can go ahead and start eating. There’s wine outside, and the rice is already served."

"How can the host not come to the table and let the guests eat first?"

"Fine, it’s almost done anyway. Pass me that basin," Jiang Miao says.

"A basin?" Pei Che is puzzled. Who serves food in a basin?

"Yeah, there’s so much, no plate can hold it all. Hurry up, just put it on that side table," Jiang Miao urged.

With no choice but to comply, Pei Che fetches the basin and hands it to Jiang Miao. Jiang Miao takes the basin and ladles the crawfish into it, filling it to the brim before finally emptying the pot.

When Pei Che carries the large basin out, his friends and the two children are all stunned. That much crawfish would take forever to finish! Besides, they don’t even know how to start. Normally, when they eat sea shrimp, they go straight for the peeled shrimp meat. But now, faced with these hard-shelled crawfish, how are they supposed to eat it?

Jiang Miao picks up a crawfish and places it in his bowl. Then, using his hands, he quickly peels off the shell in just a few moves, revealing the shrimp meat soaked in sauce. As soon as the long-forgotten taste hits his throat, Jiang Miao sighs in satisfaction. Indeed, a summer without crawfish is incomplete!

The others are stunned. Eating with your hands like that? Isn’t that a bit improper?

Noticing their gazes, Jiang Miao feels a little embarrassed. "If you’re not used to eating this, feel free to try the other dishes. They’re all delicious too."

The others know the other dishes are good, but the irresistible aroma of the crawfish is teasing their senses. How could they be satisfied eating just the other dishes?

Seeing Jiang Miao happily devouring one after another, and even peeling a few for Xiao Shitou and Pei Mu, Pei Che and the others—who have no one helping them—finally set aside their reservations and reach for the bright red crawfish in front of them.

After much effort, they manage to peel one, only to find the meat inside is barely the size of a pinky finger. But it is bursting with flavor, savory and soaked in sauce. One bite isn’t enough—they have to peel another! And another! Before long, piles of crawfish shells are sitting in front of everyone. Judging by their swift, efficient peeling, the idea of being "improper" has long been thrown to the sky.

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