Great Imperial Merchant

This year's New Year, the entire Yang family is quite happy.

They have been busy for a year, and they bought a new tea plantation and branch near the end of the new year. When the branch opens next year, there will be a baby in the family. Thinking about it, they feel hopeful.

Taking advantage of his own convenience, Yang Zhongyuan also personally prepared a lot of dishes for the New Year's Eve dinner.

According to the old practice, the lotus root that was eaten during the New Year in previous years must be made.Yang Zhongyuan himself likes this taste very much, so seeing that he wants to cook it himself, the chef at home is the same as Changqing, and it is more careful, not only to watch to prevent him from bumping into it, but also Yang Zhongyuan can no longer do many cooking tasks. .

But the lotus root is not difficult. The selected pork is three parts fat and seven parts lean, chopped into meat fillings, chopped green onion and ginger, and then add salt, soy sauce, and sesame oil and stir well to make the filling.Although Yang Zhongyuan is now a month old and has trouble moving in the past, he still has strength after working all year round, so he chopped all the insides out by himself, and he was sweating after working like this for half an hour.

Although tired, but in the end still happy.After Yang Zhongyuan finished making the meat stuffing, he washed and peeled off the skin of the lotus root, which is a special product of Muze Lake, cut it into pieces with blades to form a shape, and then sandwiched the meat stuffing finely.

The last step is to wrap the batter and fry it slowly over medium heat. After a while, the lotus root will be considered cooked when it floats up.

The freshly fried lotus root is fragrant and crispy, and the seasoning inside the meat filling is just right, full of salty fragrance. It is also paired with sweet and crispy lotus root. It is delicious after one bite.

Because it is the Chinese New Year's food, he fried a lot of it. During the Chinese New Year, there are always some leftovers to eat back and forth. Mostly people expect to have more than enough in the coming year, so even eating the leftovers that have been prepared long ago is not difficult.

Today is New Year's Eve, so the Yang family released the servants and servants who still had relatives at home, and those who didn't want to go back could stay and work in the garden. The host is sympathetic.

How good Yang Zhongyuan's craftsmanship is can be seen from the business of Fumanlou. This year, many young servants have no family or friends, and they can enjoy the ultimate delicacy if they stay at the master's house, which also dilutes the loneliness and sorrow.

Naturally, the big kitchen was even more busy. Yang Zhongyuan had limited energy and could only cook a few dishes.Zhang Shao and Changqing at home were busy, and even the two little apprentices in the shop followed around, trying to make the New Year's Eve dinner the best.

After the lotus root was finished, Yang Zhongyuan brought out a small pot for his family to taste.

At this moment, the whole family is gathered in the main house, Xu Xiaotian is sitting next to Zhou Quanxu and stirring the mud, while Zhou Quanxu is busy checking everyone's new clothes, and after lunch, he can take a bath and change, and he has nothing to do. The meaning of welcoming the new year.

And Han Shiqian stood beside them, writing Spring Festival couplets and blessings on pieces of red paper.At home, he and Cheng Weizhe wrote the best handwriting.Cheng Weizhe is young after all, now he is busy with business, and gradually loses his pen and ink, but Han Shiqian leads Xu Xiaotian to write big characters every day, and he is getting more and more proficient today.

Yang Zhongyuan stuffed a couplet for his father and nephew first, and then leaned over to look at the master.

I saw that Han Shiqian was holding his breath, his eyes were serious and serious, his hands were very steady, and a few lines of elegant big characters were formed when he twisted his wrists.

"Every year is happy and safe every year? Master wrote it really well." Yang Zhongyuan sighed.

Han Shiqian smiled, and filled up the horizontal comment again, then put down his pen: "You child, Wei Zhe told you not to let you into the kitchen before going out, and you are still so disobedient."

Before Yang Zhongyuan could answer, Zhou Quanxu rolled his eyes at him, and said, "Okay, okay, Xiao Yuan is in good health, and being pregnant is not a disability, so let him move more to survive. Only Wei Zhe is so careful, it's New Year's Eve Yes, I went to offer incense.”

Today is New Year's Eve, and incense is not offered in other places. Usually, it is the most sincere to grab the stick of incense on the first day of the new year.

However, the Suihan Temple in Chongling, Quzhou happened to be built on the day of New Year’s Eve, so it was changed to offering incense sticks on New Year’s Eve, which happens every four years on New Year’s Eve.

As Yang Zhongyuan's belly got bigger and bigger, Cheng Weizhe also became more and more worried, so he rode his horse to Suihan Temple in the middle of the night last night, saying that even if he couldn't get the first pillar of incense, it would be good if he was sincere.

Yang Zhongyuan couldn't stop him, so he had to let him go, although he felt sorry for him being frozen in the middle of the night, but he was happy in his heart.

If someone pays for him like this, even the grass and trees will have feelings.

Thinking that Cheng Weizhe would be home soon, Yang Zhongyuan put down his lotus and walked slowly to the kitchen.

Behind him, the two old men were arguing with each other. Yang Zhongyuan was smiling, but he felt a little uncomfortable in his heart.One of the two of them has never experienced warmth and love, while the other has given his heart and been deceived by others. After all, they are both miserable people.

Yang Zhongyuan thought of his father who often quarreled with others because of him when he was young, and his originally peaceful temper became sharp.However, the master imagined that when he was young, he was full of vigor, but when he first met, he was silent. Thinking about it, he felt that everything in the world has no definite number, and it is really impossible to say.

There are people who do many evils but go smoothly, while there are people who are obviously virtuous but have a difficult life, so people don't know what to say.

However, during these days in Quzhou, the two elders accompanied Xu Xiaotian every day, and they seemed to be more cheerful.

Daddy no longer has thorns all over his body, and the master's words are gradually becoming fluent. Yang Zhongyuan is not that unreasonable junior, as long as the elder is happy, he will not object no matter what the situation is.

Do people give up on themselves because they were unsatisfactory when they were young?He didn't, neither did Cheng Weizhe, nor did Master Daddy.They all worked hard to live their lives to be as happy as they are today.

Knowing that it is not easy to get, so I cherish it even more.

Yang Zhongyuan thought a lot along the way, and when he returned to the kitchen, he could smell a strong fragrance wafting inside.

That's the smell of braised pig's trotters. This time they bought all the front hooves. The skin is tender and the meat tastes quite chewy.

The pig's trotters have been shaved, washed, and chopped into inch pieces by the pupils, so Yang Zhongyuan can do it directly.

Blanch the blood with boiling water, then wash with cold water.Put a little oil in the pot, then pour in a tablespoon of white sugar, and start frying the sugar color on a low heat.Stir-frying sugar color is a technical task. Basically, you have to practice this when learning to cook. If the heat is too high, the sugar will burn and the dish will have a bitter taste. If the heat is too low, the color will not be enough, and the taste will not be good.

Yang Zhongyuan is naturally proficient at this time. After a while, he fried the sugar color into caramel color. When the syrup in the pot bubbled, he put the pig's trotters in and stir-fried evenly.Finally, add aniseed ingredients, ginger slices, scallions, cooking wine and two dried chilies to enhance the flavor. Stir-fry evenly and add boiling water to cover the trotters. After the fire boils, simmer for half an hour, and finally stir-fry to dry the soup Juice, out of the pot is ready to eat.

He had been bored with the pig's trotters for a long time, and when he returned to the kitchen, Yang Zhongyuan lifted the lid of the pot with a towel, and immediately the unique meaty smell of pig's trotters wafted out.

The braised pig's trotters are slightly sweet, and the addition of two small peppers is not too spicy, but it suppresses the greasy taste of the pork, making it addictive.

The color of the stewed pig’s trotters is bright red. Touch the surface of the pork skin lightly with chopsticks, and you can see the round and soft skin trembling slightly. Yang Zhongyuan’s appetite has been particularly good recently, because it was not time for dinner, so he simply picked out a small pork belly. When it came, he opened his mouth and took a bite.

The soft and greasy meat skin immediately sticks to the lips, and the sweet and fragrant meat smell makes people salivate, let alone eat it.

Because it has been stewed for some time, the skin of the meat is soft and chewy, but not hard, and the meat inside is also full of flavor. After eating, the skin of the mouth is sticky and greasy, and the skin seems to be still between the lips and teeth. Unforgettable.

The two dishes were cooked as usual, and Yang Zhongyuan was even more happy. He was about to cook the fish head again, but unexpectedly, a message came from the servant outside, saying that Cheng Weizhe had returned.

When Yang Zhongyuan heard this, he immediately threw away the water basin in his hand and walked outside.

Chang Qing hurriedly helped him up, shook his head and smiled secretly, the two masters were usually on the same level, and only occasionally showed some differences when they met each other.

He didn't know that the two of them had passed by, but now he was happy to see the two of them so happy.

Although he was a little anxious, Yang Zhongyuan still remembered that there was a little guy in his stomach, so he walked slowly back to the main house, and when he entered, he saw Cheng Weizhe had just changed his clothes.

He was still wearing the normal uniform he usually wears, but in Yang Zhongyuan's eyes, he always felt extremely chic and handsome.

Seeing him coming back, Cheng Weizhe trotted to his side to help him. Yang Zhongyuan obviously walked very steadily by himself, but he was willing to let him be so careful.

Every couple has their own way of getting along, and Cheng Weizhe and Yang Zhongyuan are no exception.Just like now, Yang Zhongyuan, who has always been strong in front of outsiders, has Cheng Weizhe by his side, and is willing to enjoy the proper care.And Cheng Weizhe, who has always been very righteous, is also willing to listen to Yang Zhongyuan's words of persuasion.

The life of two people is like this, you come and go, you retreat and I advance, as long as they don't confront each other, they can last for a long time.

Supported by him, Yang Zhongyuan turned his head to look at him carefully, and saw that he hadn't been frozen all night, and his heart finally fell into place: "How is it? Are there many people offering incense? Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something first?" Cushion?"

He asked a lot of questions in one breath, Cheng Weizhe smiled, but answered patiently one by one: "There are a lot of people, I didn't grab the incense sticks, but I still donated some incense money to pray for the safety of the family members .I bought Suihan vegetarian cakes on the mountain, and I will give you a taste at noon later. They are made of mung beans and have a very mild taste."

Yang Zhongyuan nodded and patted his hand: "It's enough to ask for it once. You are not allowed to go again next year. You don't think it's cold in the middle of the night. I don't like it."

He never hides what he says to Cheng Weizhe, love is love, love is love, their relationship is open and aboveboard, and there is nothing ashamed to express it naturally.

Cheng Weizhe knew that he felt sorry for him, so he changed the subject and kept the matter of offering incense untouched.

In fact, he didn't just go to offer incense, but he knelt down from the foot of the mountain from the beginning of the night, and he didn't go to the gate of the temple on the mountain until midnight.To this day, he has never wanted to pray for the safety of his home like this. When he was young, he didn't believe it, thinking that those illusory voices were not as real as he saw, but he watched Yang Zhongyuan toss and turn at night and couldn't sleep well. His originally slender legs It also gradually became swollen, and thinking about the hardships of having a child written in those books, I finally felt a little worried.

Thinking of this, he really went to Suihan Temple to kneel down and worship sincerely, no matter what, he did his best.

Every time he kowtowed, he said to the Buddha and Bodhisattva: "May he be safe." When he walked to the gate of the temple, he seemed to have said a thousand words, but he still felt that he had not done enough.

May the Buddha bless him, may he always be healthy and happy, and be happy forever.

Cheng Weizhe looked at Yang Zhongyuan's face full of joy for the New Year, and couldn't help but kissed him lightly on the cheek: "You will be safe and sound."