After finishing the painting case, people at Dali Temple finally had a few days of rest. Liu Yuan and others had been living extremely comfortably these past few days. Reading the story books, sorting out the files of old cases, and when it was time for dinner, going to the public kitchen to eat the food cooked by Master Wen.

Because Master Wen was responsible for the morning meal, even if there was no case, Liu Yuan and others would come early every day to eat the morning meal.

“Even the group of officers who had their moments of rest, are so used to coming to Master Wen’s place for breakfast, that it is always overcrowded every day!” Ji Caimai sighed, then turned to glare at Master Sun, who was crouched in the corner. With a clang, he slammed the copper basin in his hand onto the ground by Master Sun’s feet and began to scold him loudly, pointing at his nose, “Sun Dingren, Wang Junshan isn’t here. Let’s see whom you can still push the blame onto. Did you bring the pork meat that was going to be used for morning food this morning outside?”

The weather was getting hotter and the pork would go rancid overnight if you didn’t keep it in the ice, making it inedible.

The pork meat was gone, and the vegetables and meat from Zhuangzi would not be delivered until later. Although it was not a big problem for the “skilled” Master Wen, this Sun Ding person was really…

“It’s true that no trouble comes for three days, but when it does, it’s a big one.” Ji Caimai sneered, pointing at Master Sun’s nose, and scolded, “You have no skills, just always resorting to some underhanded tricks behind everyone’s back! Do you think we are unaware of your daily visits to the Internal Affairs Office to complain about Master Wen?”

When Master Sun heard this, his face turned pale and his lips trembled, as if he wanted to say something.

Ji Caimai was too lazy to listen to his lies, so he said, “You think you are the only one here and I have no one?”

After all, as a Caimai, one had to deal with the Internal Affairs Office all year round, so it was natural to have regular interactions there.

“I mean, can’t you, Sun Dingren, as a grown man, tolerate a little girl? Instead of wasting your time and effort on such petty schemes, you should focus on improving your skills!” Ji Caimai scolded, “What? Planning to instigate someone else to deal with Master Wen again?”

Master Sun’s face turned red when he heard this, and he muttered in a low voice: “I…I didn’t…”

“Who are you lying to? Do you want me to ask Liu Sicheng and Lin Shaoqing to investigate? Check whether you have done it or not?” Ji Caimai spat, cursing, “When we gather enough evidence and witnesses, will you pack up and leave on your own?”

Master Sun’s heart jumped when he heard this. For a bastard like him who fished in troubled waters, the job of being the public cook at Dali Temple was simply a job that couldn’t be found even with a lantern. How could he, who had gone through a lot of effort to get in because of some strange combination of circumstances, to get the job of the public chef of Dali Temple, be able to leave?

So after hearing this, he didn’t care whether he disliked Wen Mingtang or not. He quickly stretched out three fingers and swore, saying: “Ji Caimai, don’t worry, I, Sun Ding, will not find anyone to deal with Master Wen…”

Before he could finish speaking, Ji Caimai gave a cold laugh.

When Master Sun heard this, he immediately laughed dryly and said: “From now on… I will never mess with anything again. If I break this oath…”

Ji Caimai looked at Master Sun with his arms folded and saw Master Sun, who stopped mid-sentence, raised his chin, and reminded him: “If you break this oath, what will you do?”

It was amusing how some people were constantly dabbling in shady practices. Take for example Jing’an from the recent “Painted Skin” case, or this Sun Dingren right in front of him. They were clearly terrified of gods, ghosts, swearing, cursing, and karmic retribution, yet they always ended up dabbling in these shady practices. Who knew what was going on in their heads?

Ji Caimai knew that Master Sun was afraid of this, so he simply asked him to finish his oath here.

Seeing that Ji Caimai was determined, Master Sun had no choice but to say dryly: “If I violate this oath, I, Sun Ding, will be struck by lightning and die badly!” 

Upon hearing this, Ji Caimai nodded and pointed at Master Sun’s nose, squinting as he said, “You said it yourself! If you break your oath, you will be struck by lightning and meet a miserable end!”

As soon as the words “you be struck by lightning and meet a miserable end” were uttered, Master Sun trembled in fear. By the time he regained his composure, he saw Ji Caimai already walking towards the public kitchen.

Although most of the pork meat was spoiled by Master Sun’s “accident” and left outside, luckily there was still a small bowl of pork meat left in the ice cellar.

“I can eat all this pork meat by myself.” Ah Bing touched his belly and looked at the small bowl of pork meat and muttered, “How can there be enough food for so many people?”

“Whether there is enough food depends on what you do.” Wen Mingtang put the specially rolled thin dough on the table and said, “Today we will make zhòushā xiǎo húntún for the morning meal.”

Liu Yuan, who had gotten up early to come to eat the morning meal, saw a slumped face from a distance, standing in the public hall. Outside the kitchen, Master Sun had a large basin of pork meat at his feet. He had walked far away before he could smell it, but when he got closer, the sour smell rushed towards him. Liu Yuan couldn’t help but roll his eyes and glanced at Master Sun: “Are you acting like a monster again?”

Master Sun: “…”

Liu Yuan was too lazy to listen to his nonsense, so he turned around and walked into the public kitchen.

Although he left home early, many colleagues left earlier than him.

When it came to eating, none of the officials in Dali Temple were willing to yield.

So as soon as he entered the public kitchen, he saw someone eating the morning meal next to the dining table. Today’s morning meal was húntúns, but they are a little different from the usual húntúns. He heard that these wontons were called zhòushā xiǎo húntún.

Liu Yuan glanced at the small zhòushā xiǎo húntúns in his colleague’s bowl and saw each one floating on the soup surface like clouds. The skin was extremely thin and full of wrinkles, which indeed corresponded to the word “zhòushā”.

Through the translucent wonton wrapper, you could faintly see the tender pork meat inside. Scallions, seaweed, shrimp skin, egg skin, and pickled diced vegetables were sprinkled on top of the soup, dotted between the cloud-like zhòushā xiǎo húntúns. The green onion, slightly black seaweed, white shrimp skin, and tender yellow egg skin, just one glance immediately evoked a person’s endless appetite.

Liu Yuan saw his colleague scoop out a small spoonful of wontons mixed with soup, green onions, seaweed, dried shrimp, and egg skins and then put the soup and húntúns together into his mouth. He swallowed it wholeheartedly. The sound of húntúns and slurping soup could be heard. The appearance of eating was not elegant, but it made people salivate.

Seeing his colleague take two spoonfuls, Liu Yuan couldn’t wait any longer and hurried to the counter. He saw Wen Mingtang folding a zhòushā xiǎo húntún with gauze-like wrappers. Though it was called “folding,” it was just dipping a chopstick into the bowl of minced pork, picking up a bit, wrapping it in the thin húntún skin, and then pinching it together.

It looked “perfunctory”, but it was done very quickly.

Wen Mingtang was responsible for making the wontons, and A Bing was responsible for placing the húntúns. Tangyuan was preparing the white porcelain bowl on the side with seaweed, egg skin, shrimp skin, and other garnishes. The three have a clear division of labor. The húntúns had thin skin and little meat. As soon as they were boiled in hot water, they could be picked up with a spatula and put into a bowl. Then pour a spoonful of soup stock and sprinkle with chopped green onion.

When Liu Yuan took the bowl of zhòushā xiǎo húntúns from Wen Mingtang’s hands, he couldn’t help but glance at the bowl of minced pork in front of him and remarked, “Master Wen, you’re really economical with the minced pork in this bowl! What’s the difference between eating these zhòushā xiǎo húntúns and just eating the wrappers? Is this trouble stirred up by that guy surnamed Sun again?”

The trouble was indeed caused by Sun Ding. Wen Mingtang didn’t have the habit of taking the blame for others. She nodded, paused, and said to Liu Yuanda, “Don’t worry, Liu Sicheng. If the wontons don’t taste good, you can come and find me!”

Bai Zhu, who swallowed the last zhòushā xiǎo húntún in the bowl at the food table not far away, nodded and said, “If they don’t taste good, just look for Master Wen!!”

No more nonsense, he was going to get the second bowl.

(End of chapter)

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I didn’t find the exact recipe, but this came close