The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book)- 11

 

| TBBOTOF | 11

Tang Xu smeared himself into a little black face.

It wasn't the kind where one side was black and the other was white, looking dirty and messy. Instead, he uniformly covered his entire face and neck with black ash. Not only that, but he also rubbed plenty on his hands and wrists, ensuring an even color.

When he was smearing the black ash on his face, there was an aunt nearby who saw him. Her expression was one of surprise.

But as soon as the aunt saw the basket on his back, she quickly understood what was going on. She kindly came over and pointed out the areas where his face was unevenly black and white.

"Auntie, am I too black like this?" Tang Xu grinned, not feeling shy at all.

The aunt looked at him for a while, then shook her head with a smile. "It's fine, it's fine. A little boy like you needs to get dirty when he goes out. You're quite clever." She thought to herself that if her own son ever went out by himself, she'd have him blacken his face at home beforehand to save the trouble later on. "Why did you come out by yourself? You didn't find someone to accompany you?"

Tang Xu lifted his basket and put it on his back, holding the straps with both hands as he replied, "Everyone's busy, so they let me go into town to bring some things to my brother. Once I'm done, I'll head back."

The aunt chatted with him for a while with a smile before they parted ways once they entered the town.

In Tang Xu's memory, he had been to town twice before. Yongning Town had two main streets, east and west, which were bustling during market days. Today wasn't a market day, so there weren't many people on the streets.

Tang Xu first went to buy wine for Tang Erhu, then bought salt and vinegar. Along the way, he encountered several stalls selling vegetables, all of which were wild mountain vegetables. They looked quite fresh, likely picked and brought straight to market. The prices weren't high, and there were many buyers. He glanced over and saw some fresh mushrooms for sale, but no one was selling dried mushrooms.

He went to inquire about the price of the fresh mushrooms, which came in a basket containing several kinds of mushrooms, and they were selling for fifty wen.

Tang Xu had a plan in mind. He walked along the street and stopped in front of the largest restaurant in town.

It wasn't yet lunchtime, and there were no customers in the restaurant. A waiter was busy wiping tables and noticed Tang Xu standing at the door, but he didn't enter.

Instead of displaying a bad attitude due to Tang Xu's patched clothing, the waiter greeted him with a smile.

"Sir, what would you like to eat? Our restaurant is the largest in Yongning Town. Whatever you want to eat, our head chef can make it," the waiter said warmly.

Tang Xu smiled upon hearing this and walked in, taking a seat. He looked up at the waiter and asked, "Can they really make anything?"

"Of course! Our head chef's master once served as a royal chef in the palace!" The waiter's face beamed with pride, as if he himself were the skilled chef.

Tang Xu nodded and said, "Then I'll have a serving of Snowy Mung Bean Paste."

The waiter's smile froze on his face. "What? Snowy... what?"

Tang Xu blinked. "Oh, maybe it's not called that here. It's a sweet dish made by wrapping mung bean paste in egg whites."

The waiter swallowed nervously and took a deep breath, forcing a strained smile. "Um, sir, we don't have that here."

Tang Xu exclaimed, "Well, do you accept dried mushrooms here then?"

"Huh?" The waiter was taken aback by Tang Xu's sudden change of topic. "Dried mushrooms?"

Tang Xu nodded with a smile and opened his basket to show the waiter. Inside were half a basket of dried mushrooms, some darkened, some purple-red, and some orange-yellow. "Do you accept these here?"

"Um... wait a moment, let me go ask the boss," the waiter said, turning to call the boss and mentioning both the dried mushrooms and the Snowy Mung Bean Paste.

The boss wasn't very interested in the dried mushrooms, but he was intrigued by the Snowy Mung Bean Paste.

Not only was he interested, but the head chef, who overheard their conversation, was also intrigued.

Soon, two middle-aged men sat down in front of Tang Xu. One was the boss with a goatee, while the other was the chubby head chef, indicating that the kitchen must serve good food.

"I have some newly dried mushrooms here and I'd like to know if your restaurant accepts them," Tang Xu said, placing a handful of dried mushrooms on the table. "These were all recently dried. If used to stew soup or chicken, they will definitely enhance the flavor, even more so than fresh mushrooms."

The boss, surnamed Wu, reached out and took a few mushrooms, examining them closely and sniffing. "Did you wash them? Dried mushrooms often have a lot of sand."

Tang Xu shook his head. "Washing them before drying could cause spoilage. I covered them with cloth while drying to reduce the amount of dust that fell on them."

After inspecting Tang Xu's mushrooms, which were all similarly clean, Wu considered for a moment and said, "Half a basket, two taels of silver."

Tang Xu was taken aback by the price. Was it really that expensive?

However, considering the price of fresh mushrooms outside, his half basket would likely weigh around three catties. Two taels of silver didn't seem like a bad price.

Glancing at Boss Wu, who was looking at him intently, Tang Xu nodded. "Alright, I'll bring some fresh mountain goods next time. Boss Wu, you have to accept them then."

Boss Wu burst into laughter, saying, "What you brought this time is dried goods. Fresh goods wouldn't be priced the same."

"Of course, if I didn't have good fresh goods, I wouldn't dare to bring them and delay Boss Wu's business," Tang Xu replied. Then, he glanced at Chef Liu sitting opposite him, knowing that he was probably here because of the Snowy Mung Bean Paste.

"Chef Liu, are you wondering how to make Snowy Mung Bean Paste?" he asked knowingly.

Chef Liu nodded without wasting words. "Since you brought it up, you must want to sell your craft here, right?" He could tell that the young man claiming to be Tang Xu wasn't very old, and his family conditions probably weren't great.

 He was black and skinny, maybe just bluffing casually, but Chef Liu couldn't help but be tempted. It was a new dish, one he had never seen before. How could he not be interested?

"The method is quite simple," Tang Xu actually had this plan in mind, so he didn't hide it. He stood up and said, "I'll demonstrate it for you once, and you'll know how to do it." He didn't bother with any compliments, as saying too much might provoke the other party's resentment.

Chef Liu raised an eyebrow, showing great interest on his chubby face. "Alright, as long as I'm satisfied with what you make, I'll definitely buy the recipe from you." He stood up and led the way, even gesturing to stop Boss Wu.

Boss Wu halted and sighed. "I didn't intend to learn the recipe."

"You sit and wait. I'll let you taste it once it's done," Chef Liu patted the other's shoulder and took Tang Xu to the kitchen.

The kitchen of Fuyun Restaurant was quite large, with one head chef and two apprentices managing the stove, while the rest of the work like cutting and washing was done by laborers.

Seeing Chef Liu bringing someone in, everyone in the kitchen looked curious.

Chef Liu didn't say much, just gestured towards Tang Xu, "What do you need?"

"Eggs, cooked beans, white vinegar, and sugar," Tang Xu's mother liked Snowy Mung Bean Paste, so he often made it at home. When she was hospitalized and wanted to eat it, Tang Xu made it for her every day. He could practically make Snowy Mung Bean Paste with his eyes closed.

Chef Liu raised his hand to instruct a worker to prepare the ingredients, then he chased everyone out, leaving only himself and Tang Xu in the kitchen.

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