Chapter 5 Chicken Soup Wontons
Then she went to find chicken soup wontons.
I guess I won't be too lazy to go out for food after I return to the palace, so I might as well eat something here to satisfy my craving, and then have dinner as a midnight snack when I get back.
It’s just not very healthy. Rong Qing sighed, has she entered the rhythm of health care for middle-aged women?
But it’s been a long time since I’ve had chicken soup wontons. As I recall that taste, I miss it even more.
There are many late-night snack stalls in the area south of the city, seemingly considering that there are also many civilian students nearby. The most famous ones are the three big alleys here. Lilac Lane, Wutong Lane, and Sophora Flower Lane are all filled with stalls of various sizes, many of which are more than ten years old.
Rong Qing followed her memory and found the wonton shop. When she first came to Suicheng, she often came to the alley here to have dinner. As a foreigner with no relatives to seek refuge with, it was already quite good for her to work as a handyman in the academy. This is because she has read a lot of books and is still a woman. It's just that the standard of the academy cafeteria is very average, and there are only a few things that you can eat over and over again. There is no reason why you won't get tired of eating them for a long time. Fortunately, the monthly salary from the academy is quite large, and although I can't afford to eat in restaurants, I can still come to the late-night snack stalls frequently for a variety of food.
The shop is located in a yard near the alley. The house behind is where the stall owners and their families live. There are tables and chairs in the center of the yard for customers to sit and eat.
The wonton shop is run by a middle-aged couple. The boss is responsible for cooking the wontons, and the wife is responsible for wrapping them. If the landlady goes to clear the table, the boss will help with it when he is free.
When Rong Qing walked into the courtyard, she was a little stunned. She hadn't been here for a while, and she didn't expect there were so many people here. At a glance, tables and chairs everywhere were full of people. And some of them don’t look like they are locals from Suicheng.
"Mr. Yu, please come in quickly." The landlady's sharp eyes recognized her at a glance. "You haven't been here for a while. How about a bowl of wontons with half fresh soup?"
"Yes, we will eat here as usual."
"Okay, a bowl of wontons in fresh soup." The proprietress greeted her, without stopping at all. She skillfully spread the minced meat on the wonton wrapper, and a wonton was formed in just one hand.
Here it is divided into one bowl and one and a half bowls. Even one and a half bowls only costs eight copper coins. There is really only a little bit of meat in the wontons, which is equivalent to just adding some meat flavor. Basically, you are eating the wonton skins. However, it is very delicious when paired with the chicken soup that has been simmered for a long time.
They also sell large wontons, but they are much more expensive. Rong Qing has recently been thinking about saving money to buy a house. It's not so much about being frugal in food and clothing, but she won't buy things without restraint as she did in the past. One advantage of buying a house is that you can obtain a household registration in Suicheng, which is often much more convenient. It's just that it's hard to find a good house that meets her financial level now, and Mrs. Guo will teach her until the young princess is old, so there's no need to worry too much about this matter.
As she was wandering her thoughts, she suddenly felt a little moisture fall on her face. It turned out that it was going to rain. Rong Qing slowly walked to the foot of a nearby tree.
If you stay in Suicheng for a long time, you will know that there will be a drizzle at night during this season. The rain was so thick that it took a while for my hair and coat to become damp. Most people don't care. The rain won't get heavier anyway, so it doesn't matter if it rains a little.
Rong Qing stood under the tree. The wide leaves naturally absorbed the rain, so the land under the shade was still dry. She guessed that she wouldn't be able to wait for a seat for a while, so she happened to be eating under a tree while hiding from the rain.
She didn't feel embarrassed when she ate while standing. After all, when she was a child...when she was still in that world, she grew up in her hometown in the mountains. When local people hold weddings and funerals, if there is not enough space to sit, they hold a bowl and eat standing aside, while still holding the dishes on the table. The dogs at home are very smart at this time, staying under the table and touching people's knees with their paws. If you happen to finish eating the meat, throw the remaining bones, usually with meat residue still on them, on the ground to it.
Even though the chairs were usually enough, she still remembered that her second aunt would often sit on the threshold while eating, with the white rice covered with a layer of vegetables she picked out. Just eat while watching the scenery and blowing in the wind. When it rains, I can watch the birds flapping their wings and jumping among the branches through the rain curtain.
But some people may not think so.
"Sir, I've finished eating. If you don't mind, please sit down at that table and eat." The speaker was a woman who looked about the same age as Rong Qing. The difference is that the other person's slightly thin arms are holding a little girl.
Xu was learning to speak, and the girl also said "Sir". The sound is a bit vague, but the sound is very clear.
"So fast?" Rong Qing was a little confused, "It's okay if I don't sit down."
"We, the two of us, have really eaten." The woman looked at Rong Qing and lowered her eyes a little embarrassedly, "Sir, you'd better go and sit down quickly. In case someone else comes later," she pointed. Looking in the direction, sure enough, a seat was vacant, and even the empty bowls and spoons had been put away.
"Oh, okay." Rong Qing turned around, "Thank you."
The other party had lowered his head, turned around and left. The girl hugged her mother's neck, her little face facing Rong Qing, her soft little mouth open, looking at her curiously. As the woman walked out of the door, the couple completely disappeared from her eyes.
Since the other party had good intentions, Rong Qing went over and sat down without being pretentious. There was still a faint feeling of heat on the bench, and because they were both women, Rong Qing didn't feel too disgusted.
This seat is a small single seat, which saves Rong Qing the trouble of saying hello. Not long after sitting down, the bowl Rong Qing ordered was served. The clear oil soup was evenly sprinkled with chopped green onions, and the color was bright, especially the delicious aroma carried by the rising heat. She didn't care about the heat, Rong Qing I quickly scooped up two mouthfuls.
After taking several sips of soup and suppressing the protest in her stomach, Rong Qing looked at the proprietress who was busy next to her and asked directly, "I have never seen that lady before. Did she come here recently? "
"You're talking about the one from the Gong family. She and her man came here half a year ago. They came all the way." The landlady has a habit of gossiping, so since Rong Qing started this topic, she naturally picked it up. "And she's not a lady, she's just a little lady." She said cheerfully, with contempt in her tone that she couldn't describe.
This sentence made Rong Qing a little unhappy, but it didn't show on her face. She changed the topic, "Why are you here in Suicheng? The child looks very young." Under normal circumstances, he would not bring his newborn with him. Soon the children will have to walk a long way, not to mention moving here as a family is not a trivial matter.
"It's not as noisy as the one in the north." The proprietress raised her chin and looked at the tables in the distance. The accent they spoke was not from Suicheng, and they were quite familiar with each other. "That's not true. Those who can escape have all gone south."
When the landlady said this, Rong Qing also remembered it. The north has been very uneventful since the Chinese New Year this year. I don’t know which deity I offended, but Xunzhou, Sizhou, Jingzhou, and the three northern states always suffered from natural and man-made disasters. First, there was an unprepared tsunami that flooded most of the state capital. After the flood came the plague, and recently there were even rumors of a zombie apocalypse there. In short, there are countless such rumors, and the more they spread, the more outrageous they become. But apart from the visible increase in the number of foreigners seeking refuge in Suicheng, it did not cause panic among the people of Suicheng.
The good thing about Jing Country is that it is the only country on this entire landmass. On the premise that there are no foreign invasions, the pressure to deal with disasters is also lighter.
"The young man from the Gong family is quite capable. He used to be a businessman, walking between Sizhou and Yehuzhou. Didn't something happen in Sizhou, so he found some ways, and now he is working in the state capital I have an errand to do." The landlady said and went back to the woman with the baby. "Hey, let me tell you, sir, I actually hugged that lady when she was a child. There is her family's bookstore just after crossing the bridge. You can always see her reading picture albums in front of the shop. She is already in her teens and doesn't know many words. Her father, Mr. Zhong, doesn't care about her. Otherwise, I think that little girl was very smart back then. , Tsk tsk, maybe there will be a female champion.”
The landlady was obviously joking, and Rong Qing did not interrupt her, but just listened to her continue, "Later, when she grew older, Old Man Zhong sold her to Gong Xiaolang who came to town to buy goods. Unfortunately, she didn't It’s my job to be the wife of Zhengtou. I look at her and see you dressed like this. I don’t know how envious she is.”
Rong Qing was wearing the academy's standard robe. It was made of fine material and was completely black. Only the collar and cuffs were white. She also tied a navy blue headscarf into a high ponytail. Compared with the variegated clothes of the men and women around her, , it really has the effect of standing out from the crowd.
Rong Qing recalled the woman's dress. It was nothing special, just a simple dress that had been washed and worn. The only decorations on her body were a hosta on her head and a gold ring on her hand. . Her face is also very ordinary, delicate at best, and she is just an ordinary person among the crowd. Even though the landlady said it was a pity, that woman was in a different situation from Zhong Yong. She had been ignored by everyone from the beginning, so there was nothing to feel sorry for.
Zuo was just a story of less than a hundred words in Rong Qing's ears, but when it fell on the person involved... he had never been cultivated in the first place, and there was no expectation or desire for change. It seems that being a law-abiding concubine is her destiny in life.
Rong Qing thought about the woman taking the initiative to talk to her. She thought she was quite admiring of the female gentleman. At this time, her stomach felt warm, but she felt a little uncomfortable in her heart.
For a moment, I thought of helping her, but the thought quickly disappeared. She is not a warm-hearted person, and if she rushes to help, she is afraid that she will be asking for trouble. Besides, she still has a lot of things to do of her own, so she doesn’t have that much free time.
Isn't it like this in most people's lives? Ask for more blessings.
Without asking the woman's name, Rong Qing quickly finished her wontons, paid and left.
Love forever:)
(End of this chapter)