In just a blink of an eye, it was almost the Dragon Boat Festival. Wen Mingtang took out the bamboo leaves she had brought from Zhuangzi two days ago and started making zongzi for the Dragon Boat Festival with Ah Bing and Tangyuan.

The filling for zongzi included glutinous rice, fresh meat, cured meat, red beans, and… salted egg yolk with fresh meat.

When Liu Yuan came over, Wen Mingtang was busy with A Bing and Tang Yuan wrapping zongzi. The emerald green bamboo leaves were woven into a dustpan shape, and the glutinous rice was soaked in the reddish-brown sauce of braised pork, turning it into a deep brown color. A bright orange salted duck egg and a piece of fatty meat, along with fresh meat, were placed in the middle.

Even though these zongzi had not been steamed yet, Liu Yuan couldn’t help but start to salivate as he looked at them. Watching the salted duck egg and fresh meat submerged in glutinous rice, covered by bamboo leaves, and finally wrapped with colorful strings twice to form an octagonal shape, they were then thrown into a wooden barrel on the side.

“Master Wen,” Liu Yuan looked at the octagonal zongzis in the barrel and asked Wen Mingtang, “This is the first time I’ve seen this salted egg yolk and fresh meat filling. Is it delicious?”

Wen Mingtang glanced at him, and Ah Bing and Tang Yuan looked at Liu Yuan with strange eyes and asked him: “Have you ever seen Master Wen’s dishes that are not delicious?”

Liu Yuan: “…” After being silent, he said: “I have never seen anything like this. So I was curious about the fillings!”

Wen Mingtang said “Oh” and did not talk nonsense to Liu Yuan. She just continued to make zongzi with her head down and said: “We will eat Zongzi for breakfast tomorrow. Just come over and eat them tomorrow!”

Liu Yuan nodded, “Hmm,” shielding the sun with a file folder held above his head. He then walked over to Ah Bing, reached out, and took a green bamboo tube hanging from his waist. After shaking the full and solid bamboo tube, he opened the lid. When he saw the reddish-brown plum drink with a few golden osmanthus flowers floating inside, Liu Yuan nodded in satisfaction. He tucked the green bamboo tube into his waist and, in response to Ah Bing’s resentful gaze, playfully patted Ah Bing’s head, saying, “We’ll be crossing mountains and hills today, sure to get very thirsty. I’ll borrow your plum drink!”

After that, he took the sour plum drink and left.

Seeing this, Ah Bing, who was wrapping zongzi, couldn’t help but say, “If I had known, I wouldn’t have gotten familiar with Liu Sicheng. People become even more impolite after becoming familiar! He says it’s borrowing, but I doubt he’ll really return it, right?”

It turned out that Liu Sicheng when he was not a frequent visitor to the public kitchen, was not so rude.

Liu Yuan, carrying the sour plum drink, left Dali Temple and headed towards Yishan Academy.

Liu Yuan headed towards the Yishan Academy, while Wei Fu made a trip to the ink and brush shops and bookstores in the city.

It was not until sunset that the two of them returned to Dali Temple after running around all day.

When he went in, he saw a bowl of Bingfen with various ingredients on his desk, and Lin Fei was slowly digging out the Bingfen to eat.

Although he did not travel as much as Liu Yuan and Wei Fu, Lin Fei was not without gains in Dali Temple.

Pushing the Bingfen aside, Lin Fei closed the file in his hand and looked at Liu Yuan.

Liu Yuan drank the last bit of sour plum drink in the bamboo tube next to him in one gulp and then handed several sheets of paper filled with writing to Lin Fei.

Lin Fei heard Liu Yuan talking while watching.

“The mountain behind Yishan Academy is not high. There are four or five families of mountain residents in it. I asked specifically, and they all said they had never seen Han Jun and his book boy.” Liu Yuanxian picked up the unimportant things and started talking, “There is a house on the mountainside. Two elderly nuns are living in the small nunnery. I also went to inquire about it, but I have never seen these two people.”

Lin Fei said “Hmm” and pointed to the different handwriting on the paper. Among the crooked handwriting, he found the two most elegant and upright names and said, “Are these the names of the two old nuns?”

Liu Yuan glanced at the handwriting pointed out by Lin Fei, nodded in agreement, and said: ” Yes, these are the two old nuns.”

Lin Fei said “Hmm”, glanced at Liu Yuan, and motioned for him to continue.

Liu Yuan briefly talked about the situation in the mountains, and then got to the important point: “That Ruan Zhan was not in the academy today.” At this point, Liu Yuan’s face became more solemn and he said, “His classmates don’t know him where he had gone. He never told them his whereabouts before leaving. They only know that he left the academy alone early in the morning before dawn.”

Liu Yuan paused and then said: “I really couldn’t find Ruan Zhan, so I informed the people at Yishan Academy that when they see him, they will ask him to wait for me. I have something to ask him.”

Lin Fei said “Hmm” and turned to Wei Fu who was aside.

Seeing this, Wei Fu handed over the file in his hand and started talking.

“I’ve visited both the ink and brush shops and the bookstores. The proprietors of these places have some impression of these two individuals, claiming they are regulars there. If there’s anything noteworthy… the owner of one of the bookstores is a charming woman in her forties.” Wei Fu said.

Due to Han Jun’s distinctive makeup and Lin Fei’s previous statement that the lip color used by women was often favored by middle-aged women in their forties, Wei Fu was particular about the age of the woman owner.

He really couldn’t tell the difference between the colors of the lipstick, but… Wei Fu said: “The lady boss has lipstick on her lips. The color looked similar to me.”

Of course, his “quite similar” was just an approximation from his perspective, and whether they were exactly the same was hard to say.

After hearing what Wei Fu said, Lin Fei hadn’t spoken yet, but Liu Yuan on the side couldn’t help but say “Huh” and said in surprise: “The owner of the bookstore is actually a beautiful woman?”

The proprietors of establishments like bookstores were generally scholars and literary individuals, but it was the first time they came across a charming woman as a bookstore owner.

Wei Fu nodded, furrowing his brows. He said, “I noticed she was wearing the fashionable robes that are currently popular in Chang’an, and… she even had a bit of a low-cut and revealing style.” Being of a certain age, he found it somewhat distasteful. After a pause, he added, “It truly feels out of place in a setting like a bookstore.”

With these words, Liu Yuan fell silent. After a pause, he said, “Now that you mention it, I also feel like she doesn’t seem like the owner of a bookstore. That bookstore indeed appears a bit unconventional.”

Before he could finish his sentence, Wei Fu continued, “I was just about to mention that! When I went there, the bookstore had four or five young scholars, all with handsome faces and tall, slender figures…”

As soon as these words came out, Liu Yuan took a breath: “Is there such a coincidence?”

Lin Fei raised his head. He lowered his chin and said to Wei Fu, “Keep talking.”

Wei Fu said “Hmm” and said, “Although they looked at each other reading, they were actually fighting with each other. One of them even knocked down a book.”

Liu Yuan: “…”

Wei Fu said again: “The beautiful woman used her identity as the owner of the bookstore to come out to stop them. Although she was stopping them, it seemed more like she was flirting with a few students.”

Liu Yuan: ” It’s really not serious.”

Wei Fu said “Hmm” and then said: “Exactly! I was curious, so I asked the charming woman how she came up with the idea of running a bookstore. She said the bookstore belonged to her late husband. He passed away last month, and she took over the bookstore.”

Liu Yuan listened, the corners of his mouth twitching. He couldn’t help but say, “Her husband passed away just last month, and now she’s dressing up with such charm, flirting with those scholarly gentlemen?”

Wei Fu glanced at him and said, “Indeed, it’s true. I find it distasteful too, but such matters don’t violate the law. What can I do about it? So, I casually asked how her husband passed away. Guess what she said?”

As he spoke, Wei Fu’s expression became solemn.

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T/N Yeah 100 at last!! This is just 1/4th, but after returning home, I have been so swamped with work that I could not deliver on my promise. It all ended today, so I will try to make up as much as possible on my paid chapters.

And here are two videos on making of zongzi from one of my favorite Chinese Youtuber Li Zi Qi. Her videos are so calming and soothing, I swear I have used them as calming and sleeping music to fall to sleep!!