“If that girl with the surname Wen’s father, who served as Zhongshu Lin, hadn’t run into trouble, she might have truly been a proper official’s daughter!” Liu Shi uttered a disdainful sound and, thinking about the marked egg, couldn’t help but grit her teeth and curse, “These kinds of scholars are only truly bad when they turn bad!”

On the other side, when they heard her mention the three words “Wen Xuance”, Master Sun and Master Wang were already stunned on the spot.

After hearing that the girl named Wen was from a criminal family, they knew that Wen Mingtang’s family must have committed crimes. They originally thought that her father’s family was just an ordinary criminal official, but they didn’t expect that he was actually…

When they came back to their senses, Master Sun and Master Wang looked at each other. Master Sun rubbed his chin and couldn’t help but say: “Wen. Although this surname is not a popular surname, there are many people in Chang’an City. Who knows that she is actually…”

Master Wang also nodded subconsciously and said: “I didn’t expect that she was the most famous Wen in the world back then.”

Liu Shi, who was scolding “scholars as bad guys,” didn’t take it seriously when she heard the words and snorted: “What’s the point? No matter whether her family is famous or not, she is a criminal official’s family member who has committed a crime. How can she be able to change the world?”

This sentence caused Master Wang to sneer, and he said: “Still going to heaven? It’s almost like going down to earth!”

Master Sun on the side also nodded and said: “It’s good to have a surname of Wen, it’s good to have a surname of Wen, hahahahaha!”

If they had known that this girl with the surname Wen had such a background, they wouldn’t have needed to come up with any schemes themselves!

The two of them exchanged a glance and burst into hearty laughter.

Liu Shi looked puzzled, moved her lips, and cursed, “I’m afraid everyone who comes from Dali Temple has serious problems!” and then continued to curse.

Master Wang and Master Sun were so happy that they didn’t bother to pay attention to her insults. They just laughed happily. They laughed happily until Zhao Dalang came out with three dishes and one soup worth five taels of silver and a small plate of sauerkraut. Then their laughter came to an abrupt stop.

As they gazed at the dishes placed on the table in front of them, which had not yet been tasted but were already emitting a strong fishy odor in the case of the braised crucian carp, a plate of overcooked scrambled eggs sprinkled with burnt green onions, and a plate of limp leafy greens, both of their faces turned green.

The subsequent serving of leftover cold rice, mixed with a few crispy rice bits, almost made them feel like throwing up as they ate it.

After hurriedly grabbing a few mouthfuls of the pickled cabbage and eating the overnight cold meal, the two of them couldn’t wait to run out of Zhao Ji Restaurant. After holding on to the corner and retching a few times, the turbulence in their stomachs subsided a little, and the two of them finally stopped holding the anger in their stomach.

“If we eat these dishes, I’m afraid the two of us will hit the ground first before the one surnamed Wen has!” Master Sun stamped his feet angrily.

Master Wang followed suit with a “tsk” and cursed, “This wicked woman either shouldn’t have bothered to serve a meal or should be open only for half a year more!”

To charge five taels of silver for these leftover scraps, wasn’t this same as robbery?

“Don’t say that Lin Shaoqing wanted to hit someone. I want to beat that evil woman after seeing her!” Master Sun waved his fist and said angrily, “I have never seen such an evil woman before.”

He scolded Liu Shi over and over again. After a while, it was not until Liu Shi sneezed several times that the two stopped talking and looked at each other. Master Sun said: “Well, let’s let that girl be proud for a few days. I’ll go find someone to deliver a message!”

Master Wang nodded and couldn’t help but smile: “When the time comes, there will be people to deal with her!”

…

…

Wen Mingtang, who had attracted the attention of Master Wang and Master Sun, was currently pouring half a bowl of water into the pot.

When the cold water met the hot bottom of the pot, with a “sting” sound, a white mist filled the air. Liu Yuan and others who were watching Wen Mingtang make Jiān bāo in front of the table immediately let out an exclamation.

Wen Mingtang put the lid on the pot and looked up at her supper partners from yesterday.

Yesterday, Wen Mingtang received the pork meat from Zhuangzi, and heard Liu Yuan complain a few words about how he was getting tired of the meat buns in the snack shop. After thinking about it, she made Jiān bāo for breakfast today.

When the water mist was almost evaporated, Wen Mingtang opened the lid of the pot and sprinkled a handful of chopped green onions and a handful of white sesame seeds. The small and exquisite pan-fried buns were embellished with green onions and sesame seeds, which immediately made them more beautiful.

Liu Yuan stared at the Jiān bāos in the pot which were much smaller than ordinary dumplings. He subconsciously swallowed and said, “I suddenly realized that garnishes like scallions and sesame seeds are quite useful. Sprinkle them on any dish, and it instantly adds a lot to the appearance. The ‘appearance’ in the three words ‘color, aroma, and taste’ is immediately highlighted.”

Wen Mingtang glanced at him with a smile, and scooped six fried buns onto the plate, while Tang Yuan and A Bing pointed to the vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and chili oil on the communal kitchen table, saying, “Please please make your own dipping sauces!”

Liu Yuan responded repeatedly, and before he could even lift his feet to leave, he was pulled aside by Bai Zhu behind him who said “Go and sit at the table, don’t block me from waiting for the food.”

Liu Yuan and others rolled their eyes, walked to the dipping sauces on the side, paused, and asked A Bing and Tang Yuan: “Which dipping sauces do you two choose?”

Ah Bing said: “They’re all delicious! Just eating them as they are is delicious! I only dipped them in soy sauce, but Tang Yuan said that they were tasty with vinegar, and the vinegar with chili oil that Master Wen made, is also good. It depends on your personal preference.”

Liu Yuan heard this, hesitated for a moment, and chose vinegar and sesame oil. He walked to the table and sat down. He couldn’t wait to raise his chopsticks and reach for the Jiān bāos on the plate. The Jiān bāos had a clear contrast between their snowy white tops and the rich brown bottoms, making them visually appealing.

As he picked one up with his chopsticks, he could feel the difference in texture from top to bottom of the pan-fried bun, from soft to crispy. With a single bite, the savory and juicy pork leg filling mixed with the fragrance of the wheat crust on the outside. The texture was rich and satisfying, yet not overly so. When his teeth finally reached the crispy bottom, Liu Yuan’s eyes lit up with delight.

Looking at the small Jiān bāos, the texture was gradually improving. The meat juice that had been spilled but not caught in the mouth dripped into the dipping bowl, which made Liu Yuan remember that he had not dipped it in the sauce yet!

But these Jiān bāos were so delicious without dipping in the sauce. Ah Bing was right!

Bai Zhu, who was on the side, picked up a Jiān bāo with jade-white dough and a layer of bright red spicy oil on his chopsticks. He glanced at Liu Yuan and teased him: “Didn’t you say yesterday that you would never eat meat buns again?”

“Aren’t you tired of eating it already?”

Liu Yuan, as if he hadn’t heard, once again extended his chopsticks and picked up one. He dipped it into the sauce he had made with vinegar and sesame oil. Even though the Jiān bāo was already delicious on its own, when dipped into the sauce, which combined vinegar and oil, the tanginess of the vinegar seamlessly blended with the rich and savory pork filling. It didn’t feel out of place but instead added an inexplicable freshness to the already flavorful pork.

“Add vinegar to make it fresh.” Ji Caimai was obviously more knowledgeable than Liu Yuan and others. He picked out vinegar and spicy dipping sauces and said leisurely.

Seeing that everyone was satisfied with their meal, Wen Mingtang smiled and started clearing the table with Ah Bing and Tang Yuan.

While they were packing, Ji Caimai, who was leisurely eating fried dumplings in the compartment, suddenly spoke up and asked Wen Mingtang, “Does Master Wen know how to make chāoshǒu?”

Did Ji Caimai want to specify tomorrow’s breakfast? Wen Mingtang raised her head, looked at Ji Caimai, nodded with a smile, and said, “I do”

Ji Caimai held the Jiān bāo on his chopsticks, paused, and said: “When I went to the Zhuangi yesterday, I heard them say they were going to make chāoshǒu today. They always miscalculate the amount when making chāoshǒu and end up with extra dough. I thought it would be a waste to throw it away, so I brought it back for you to make breakfast.”

As soon as these words came out, Liu Yuan, who was enjoying the Jiān bāos, couldn’t help but interject, “First, it was Master Wang’s extra glutinous rice, which Master Wen used to make rice cakes. Then, it was the vegetables and meat that Sun and Wang missed when practicing their culinary martial arts, which Master Wen used for barbecue. Now it’s chāoshǒu wrappers. Is Ji Cai Mai addicted to testing Master Wen’s creativity?”

Ji Caimai ate the Jiān bāos, squinted his eyes, and said frankly: “I haven’t eaten chāoshǒu for a long time. The ones made by those people in Zhuangzi are not to my liking!”

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T/N At last back home and pending works are done. Hope to post two for each novels each day for this week. Also I read some very interesting two books about transmigrated MLs who rise to the top through Imperial exam. Both of them are not long, so should I take up one?