Miao Chu

Chapter 322 Acquaintance
With the protection of bodyguards and the help of neighbors, Song Ji's night was fraught with danger but ultimately safe.

But it was still a delay. After seeing everyone off, the courtyard returned to quiet. Song Miao and Cheng Erniang only dozed off for a short while before it was time to get up again.

After a flurry of activity, Zhang Si Niang, Da Bing, and the other hired women finally left the restaurant.

Seeing that everything was going smoothly, Song Miao said to Cheng Erniang, "After all the commotion last night, Erniang must be sleepy. Take this opportunity to catch up on some sleep, otherwise we'll be busy again when people come back."

Cheng Erniang said, "I've never needed much sleep, so missing an hour or two won't be a problem. Besides, I can take a nap during the midday break anyway. Why don't you go and rest first, Madam?"

"My wife is young and just the right age to sleep—when I was in my teens or twenties, I would fall asleep as soon as I lay down on the bed. If no one woke me up, the chickens outside would be crowing so loudly that they would practically fly in and flap their wings at my face!"

As she spoke, perhaps recalling the scene of her youthful days when she pounced on a chicken, she couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Song Miao found her words amusing, and when she looked up, she saw that Cheng Erniang, who was halfway through laughing, opened her mouth and lazily let out a big yawn.

As she yawned, she noticed Song Miao looking at her and hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand. But as she tried to cover it, two more yawns came in quick succession, which she couldn't stop. Finally, she finished yawning and couldn't help but laugh, saying, "This...this yawn really came at the worst possible time!"

It was still early, and the sky was only slightly bright, but with the light of an oil lamp and the morning sun outside, you could still see her smiling, a little shy yet also a little hearty.

"Second Miss is only in her teens or twenties, so young and sleepy," Song Miao said with a smile. "We don't have any noisy chickens here right now, so you can go to sleep without worry!"

As she spoke, she took a few steps forward, took Cheng Erniang's arm, and led her to the backyard, saying softly, "Go to sleep. You still need to manage the restaurant this afternoon—if I didn't have other things to do later, I would have gone to sleep too!"

Cheng Erniang, after being taken in by Song Miao and given some persuasion, was actually quite sleepy, but still forced herself to stay awake and asked, "What is it, madam? Can I go and take care of it?"

Song Miao smiled and shook her head, saying, "After I get the news from the patrol post, I still have to go to the capital prefectural government office. The rest of us can't help much—it's really hard to sleep. I might just lie down and the news will come."

As the two were talking, they heard a commotion outside the door. A moment later, someone at the door asked, "Is this Song's Restaurant in Suanzao Lane? Is there a young lady named Song here?"

In the outhouse, the bodyguards on duty, having heard the commotion, quietly stood up and observed the situation.

Song Miao let go of Cheng Erniang's hand and gestured for her to go back first. When she turned around again, she saw that the person who came was dressed as a waiter. She found it strange, so she responded and asked the person's purpose.

The shop assistant laughed and said, "I work for Mou's shop near Carp Well. We specialize in selling cow and sheep milk and all kinds of cheese. Yesterday, a young master Han made an appointment with the shop to have a bucket of good milk delivered this morning, and also asked me to pass on a message!"

As he spoke, he pulled a letter from his pocket.

Song Miao stepped forward to take it, and bent down to open it and take a look.

It's all in vernacular Chinese, and surprisingly quite long, several hundred characters.

The letter first mentioned that it was hot, and everyone here was helping out, working hard day and night. Unfortunately, he had something to do these past two days and couldn't come to help during the day, nor could he stay long in the evening, so he could only send some milk over first. He had heard her say before that mixing milk with sweet fermented rice and adding some ice made it a unique dish.

Previously, it was too cold to mix ice, but now that she has the opportunity, she knows that sweet fermented rice is always available in restaurants. She can mix it with milk and ask the staff to prepare some strong tea when she has to work the night shift. It can be eaten as a snack or a drink, and she doesn't have to worry about preparing it anymore.

He also said that the milk was newly delivered and that it was given to others to drink. He would come to replenish her usual goat milk in the evening, but he was not sure when it would arrive today. If it was too late, he would put it back in the wooden box and tell her to take it as usual.

She also said that the letter she brought yesterday had been received, and the steamed buns had been delivered to Master Cao.

The latter was overjoyed to receive the steamed buns, showering them with compliments, including saying, "Only Xiao Song is thinking of me!" He declared that he would definitely come back for a big feast once he finished his work.

Upon hearing that Song Miao had something to ask her nephew for help, Mr. Cao kept asking what had happened. He wanted to personally intervene and help, but he was currently very busy. Firstly, he was attending to the Imperial Academy's monthly private examinations, and secondly, the neighboring Law School had just recruited a new batch of officials and was preparing several test papers to assess their abilities.

Unfortunately, most of the original staff of the Law School had been transferred away due to other matters, and there were no suitable people available. So the Ministry of Rites stepped in and coordinated with the teachers of the Imperial Academy to provide assistance. At present, they were all tied up in the academy to deliberate on the examination papers and could not spare any time.

Although he cannot come out, the old master has already written a letter and asked him to help with the introduction. He said that if there is anything, Song Miao can use Cao's nephew as if he were the master.

He also said that after receiving the letter yesterday, he had already sent a formal invitation to his nephew Cao, asking when he would be available, and that he expected to receive a reply today.

Once a reply is received, if there is any urgency, Song Miao can send someone to the Chen family to deliver a message. The two places are very close, and he has already instructed that a servant will bring over all the prepared documents.

If we can wait a little while, we might as well send someone to deliver a message to her, asking when she would like to come over. He would then return early, and the two of them could go to visit her together.

Then all the arrangements were written down, specifying today, tomorrow, when and where he should be, but if he was not there when someone was sent to deliver the message, what methods could be used to find him quickly—if there was anything, no matter how big or small, you could go to him, it would be best to go to him, and so on and so forth.

The letter covered everything, from the most important to the smallest details, explaining every single thing.

The errand boy delivering the letter and milk was still standing across from her. Not wanting to linger, Song Miao quickly glanced at the letter and put it away.

Seeing that she had finished looking, the other person quickly said, "Let me move it in for you, madam! But I don't know where to put it?"

Seeing a small cart behind him with two large buckets on it, Song Miao looked back at the spot and pointed to the stove by the door, saying, "Please put it there!"

Sure enough, the shopkeeper laboriously carried both buckets in, then took out a delivery slip and asked Song Miao to check it.

After everyone left, Cheng Erniang, who had been standing there watching for a while, hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Madam, what should we do? Let me help!"

Song Miao laughed and said, "It's just a bucket of milk, I can manage!"

He urged her again, "Go to sleep! Let me see how much there is here, and I'll save some for you too!"

"What are you saying, madam! I don't need to drink this! It was originally given to the镖师 (bodyguards) by Young Master Han! Xiao Lian and I have been drinking that goat milk every day, and we're already feeling quite embarrassed!" Cheng Erniang hurriedly declined, afraid of staying too long. She indeed kept a portion for herself and left in a hurry.

As she approached the second gate, she couldn't help but turn back and look towards the stove.

There, Song Miao was disassembling and examining two wooden buckets.

Both buckets were covered and sealed with wax. When opened, they were found to be completely full: one bucket contained milk, and the other contained ice. Although it was autumn, the weather was still very hot, especially in the outhouse where the bodyguards took turns on duty. They dared not open the curtains and kept the windows tightly closed, making it particularly stuffy.

Even without seeing the letter, knowing what it said, or how Song Miao planned to arrange things, just looking at the ice bucket and all that milk, Cheng Erniang could already guess what the many bodyguards in the room were thinking.

—The other day, "Little Brother Han" was already getting older and "Little Brother Han" was getting younger...

She unconsciously glanced again at the table behind the screen in the hall.

—There, a rather plump white porcelain vase sits on the table, with several lotus flowers inserted inside.

It looks quite good on them.

One sent flowers, the other put on a vase; one was busy going home to ask their parents for help and hadn't returned yet, and the other...

Cheng Erniang quickly shook her head, banishing all her thoughts.

—Although you should be treated as the boss when you're working and as a family member when you're off work, that's precisely why you shouldn't interrupt or show bias.

She'll follow her wife's lead and decide whichever she thinks is better. Besides, there might be more than just these two, so there's no rush. There's still a lot to do and a long life ahead of us!
***
Song Miao was quite happy to receive a large bucket of milk.

She was originally thinking about what drinks to prepare during the day—hawthorn tea would be good, but it's too bland to drink all day, and the other things each have their own advantages and disadvantages, and they're all just a little bit lacking.

Since milk is available now, just as Young Master Han mentioned in his letter, we brewed strong tea to mix with it, sometimes adding sweet fermented rice, sometimes without sweet fermented rice, just using freshly steamed oatmeal and millet.

When the time comes, you can use reed stalks to suck up the various kinds of steamed wheat from below, chew and eat it. Although it won't burst with juice, the wheat aroma is stronger, it's more filling, and it has a unique flavor.

This is easy to make. Just put the ingredients on the stove, and whoever wants to add milk, steamed wheat, or sweet fermented rice can just come and get it themselves.

As for Master Cao's nephew, he received a reply first and didn't need to wait for Young Master Han; he took the manuscripts himself...

Just as she was making her plans, Chief Escort Qi returned from his patrol post with his men.

He stayed up half the night in fear and anxiety, without getting any sleep, running around and busy all night, but he was quite happy.

Upon seeing Song Miao, Chief Qi wiped the oil off his face and the sleep from his eyes, and reported the good news: "The patrolmen of the Vermilion Bird Gate told me quietly that the interrogation is going very smoothly. Both sides are implicating each other, and they have already dragged out a few more people. Since it is a serious case of arson, once the people are caught, they will report to the capital prefectural government, and the people and the case will be sent there during the day!"

He added, "Everyone in the patrol station is working very hard! I heard they woke up several constables late at night and interrogated them one by one!"

After listening to his account of the situation inside the shop, Song Miao asked a few more questions and finally had a better understanding. She quickly thanked him and called out the maid who had been hired to help serve tea and water. She then said, "You must all be hungry after being busy all night and into the morning."

She pointed to the stove beside her and said, "Breakfast is all in there. Since I didn't know what everyone liked to eat, I left some of everything. I've already made the arrangements, and I'd also like to trouble the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) to tell everyone that when we get back, we can eat to our hearts' content. Although we can't scrape together a lot of money from the restaurant, we can certainly provide enough food!"

Chief Qi grinned and said, "Hey, what are you talking about! Everyone works hard all day long just to have a good meal! Everyone's been working really fast here today, just afraid of not doing their best and letting you down with these three good meals!"

Song Miao smiled and said, "It's all thanks to you all, my business hasn't been delayed!"

As she spoke, she suddenly remembered something and hurriedly went to the side to get a basket. She opened it and said, "I saw that everyone came in a hurry this time and not many people brought towels, so I asked Second Sister to help me pick out some that we used to have. They are all clean. There is a new rope on the west side of the back. We can hang them on the rope separately."

Qi the镖头 was the one who didn't bring it.

Towels are a bit of a hassle; they get wet as soon as you use them, and it's hard to find a place to dry them.

Having a towel makes a world of difference compared to not having one. You can wipe your hands and face, and if you've worked up a sweat, rinsing yourself with well water and wiping yourself with a towel makes you feel so much more comfortable.

He couldn't help but grin, first gesturing to those around him, then reaching for a stick himself, saying, "My wife is so thoughtful! What can we roughnecks say!"

Song Miao hurriedly added, "I noticed that everyone's clothes are arranged according to the Heavenly Stems and numbers. Although I don't know what they are for, I asked someone to embroider them according to the characters—you can choose them by following the characters."

Everyone burst into laughter.

"Young Lady Song saw all of this?"

"Hey! It's the order we made up when we were arranging the formation!"

"I was going to say that I don't recognize a ton of characters, not even my own name, but I do recognize the order of the characters—Miss Song, you've put a lot of thought into this!"

As expected, the group followed the instructions, each taking their own water, fetching water from the back, washing up briefly, and then happily coming out to eat breakfast.

Besides Song Ji's various steamed buns, glutinous rice, and snow cakes, there's also a bowl of small fried dough sticks that I fry while making crispy fried noodles in the morning if I'm worried it won't be enough, and a pot of thick soy milk that I order from a familiar shop.

The group of bodyguards lined up in batches and went to the back to eat.

The small fried dough sticks are made very solidly, crispy on the outside, yet still chewy and fragrant on the inside. With each chew, your mouth is filled with the warm aroma of wheat. Because they are fried last, the hot oil has been used to fry the crispy dough and crispy soybeans, inheriting the flavors of both. It's like using old oil, which is almost unfair. The fried dough sticks are so delicious that they make you feel completely refreshed and awake.

These fried dough sticks are incredibly chewy. As you chew, your temples clench, and the veins bulge. The镖师 (bodyguards) eat one after another, initially unwilling to dip them in soy milk. But as they finish, it's as if their very souls have been pulled out of their "sleep hole," leaving them wide awake. If they were to report the number of镖 (bodyguards) and daily accounts at this point, Madam Xu could do the math much less.

After being soaked in soy milk, it becomes something else entirely, instantly reborn. The outside remains crispy, while the beautiful, fine air pockets inside are perfect containers for the soy milk. With one bite, your mouth is filled with the rich and sweet aroma of soy milk, mixed with the fragrance of wheat. It loses some of its chewiness, but it is still very satisfying to eat, and it is incredibly delicious.

A group of people were eating here, while Song Miao was tidying up in the front hall. When she was almost done, she was just about to ask which bodyguard was free to accompany her on a trip when a familiar face appeared outside the door.

"Miss Song! Inspector Liao asked me to pass on a message to you on my way!"

However, he was an official in the Kyoto government.

(End of this chapter)