Zhao Mengzhuo’s face froze when he heard this.

After a pause, he spread his hands helplessly and said: “Old Ji, I can’t interfere in the affairs of the Internal Affairs Office! The several managers in charge of the Internal Affairs Office are all old people from King Yu’s Mansion. If he wants to make trouble, even I can’t do anything!”

Unless… Unless something went wrong with King Yu and he was too busy to take care of himself. Thinking of this, Zhao Mengzhuo glanced at Ji Caimai and said: “Lin Fei is investigating that old case. Isn’t he helping?”

Hearing this, Ji Caimai smiled and said to Zhao Mengzhuo: “The Internal Affairs Office is really procrastinating.”

“What can we do? Only our Dali Temple wants to do public kitchen take-out. Other government offices don’t care at all whether to have a take out or not…” Before he finished speaking, Zhao Mengzhuo paused abruptly. Facing Ji Caimai’s smiling face, he came to his senses abruptly, “Old Ji, Old Ji, you really are…”

Seeing that Zhao Mengzhuo had reacted, Ji Caimai didn’t care. He just pushed the bowl of tea eggs in his bowl towards Zhao Mengzhuo and said, “If it’s not just Lord Zhao who makes the request, I think the Internal Affairs Office will be unable to bear it. In addition, Prince Yu’s affairs have become a fuss, and they are unable to take care of themselves. I’m afraid the Internal Affairs Office can’t delay our little matter.”

Zhao Mengzhuo heard this and was silent for a moment. Then he took the bowl of tea eggs in his hand and said, “Alright! I’ll take a trip to the Imperial Academy next door. The Jìjiǔ¹ named Yu over there is the pickiest eater. If he likes this, he’ll definitely be running to the Internal Affairs Office every few days. When it comes to patience and dealing with difficult people, no one can compare to someone like him, who has experience disciplining mischievous students!”

When Zhao Mengzhuo mentioned Dean Yu from next door, Ji Caimai smiled and said to Zhao Mengzhuo: “If Yu Jijiu likes Master Wen’s cooking skills, you can tell Yu Jijiu that Master Wen was originally going to work in the public kitchen of the Imperial College, but was pushed to our Dali Temple by mistake.”

Zhao Mengzhuo glanced at Ji Caimai, who was smiling like an old fox, and said meaningfully: “Old Ji, you are killing people and destroying their hearts!”

Ji Caimai smiled and said frankly: “If Yu Jijiu doesn’t help, the group of people in the Ministry of Internal Affairs will probably drag it on!”

…

The sun was getting hotter and hotter, and people were losing their appetite.

Yu Jijiu “inspected” the Imperial College and saw that all the students sat there straight and listened to the class. Whether they really listened or pretended to listen, this attitude was enough!

Hmm! They were quite obedient! Yu Jijiu nodded and returned to his room with a sweat on his body.

A basin of ice had been placed in the room in advance, but it did not reduce the dryness. Yu Jijiu picked up the bamboo tube of sour plum drink on the table, poured the last two drops into his mouth, sipped the sour and sweet taste in his mouth, walked to the soft couch beside him and sat down. He picked up a book to cover his face and began to doze off.

Listening to the cicadas outside the house, he fell asleep unconsciously. When he was half asleep and half awake, a unique aroma of sauce with the strong aroma of tea mixed with various spices rushed into his nose.

Instinctively, he took a deep breath, and his originally drowsy mind was suddenly pulled out of his sleep by the aroma.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Zhao Mengzhuo from the Dali Temple, his “neighbor”.

Seeing Zhao Mengzhuo’s old face in front of him with a treacherous smile, Yu Jijiu snorted coldly and glanced at his hand.

He was holding a food box with an open lid in his hand, and there were two bowls of food in the food box. One bowl was a burnt brown egg in the shell, and the other bowl was something he had never seen before. The bottom was semi-transparent and solidified, with raisins, small dumplings made of glutinous rice, and wine with wolfberries and various dried fruits lined up on top. The colors were fresh and bright, making people eager to eat.

Yu Jijiu sniffed his nose and made a gesture: “Mr. Zhao, what are you doing?”

Zhao Mengzhuo put the food box in his hand on the table beside him and said, “Bring some food for you to eat!”

Oh, so kind? Yu Jijiu glanced at him and wanted to resist the temptation, but the sauce aroma of the tea was so unique that he couldn’t help but want to taste it.

Zhao Mengzhuo saw that his eyes kept glancing at the food box, so he smiled and pushed the food box towards him.

Between firmly refusing and eating, Yu Jijiu chose the latter without hesitation, and couldn’t wait to take a tea egg and peel it.

When the shell was peeled off and put into his mouth, Yu Jijiu’s eyes lit up, swallowed the tender egg white and yolk into his mouth, and kept eating.

Because it was the first time he tasted such a taste, Yu Jijiu inevitably ate a little faster. Seeing that he was about to choke, Zhao Mengzhuo pushed the bowl of bīngfěn in front of Yu Jijiu and said, “What you just ate is called tea eggs, and this is called bīngfěn.”

Yu Jijiu heard it, and he didn’t hesitate, scooped up a spoonful of bīngfěn, and put it into his mouth. It was soft and cold, and the sweetness of brown sugar melted in the mouth.

As the bīngfěn entered the stomach, the indescribable sweetness and coolness suddenly surged up.

“Okay!” Yu Jijiu said “Okay”, but his hands did not stop, scooping the bīngfěn into his mouth one spoonful after another.

When another spoonful hit the porcelain bowl and scooped it out, Yu Jijiu realized that he had finished the bowl of bīngfěn without realizing it.

After touching his belly, he reached out to the tea egg. Yu Jijiu peeled the eggshell and asked Zhao Mengzhuo: “Old Zhao, where did you get these tea eggs and bīngfěn? This is the first time I’ve seen them! Is there a new restaurant in Chang’an? Where is it? I must go and try it!”

Zhao Mengzhuo shook his head and pointed to the direction of his Dali Temple with a smile, saying: “It’s not a new restaurant, it’s a new cook in my Dali Temple!”

Yu Jijiu was surprised by this: “Old Zhao, your Dali Temple public kitchen is as famous as a fire pit, and you can actually recruit a new cook?”

Zhao Mengzhuo glanced at him and said: “This is… thanks to the public chef of the Imperial College who gave up his position!”

Oh? There was such a thing? Yu Jijiu sat up straight, stretched out his hand to hold the bowl of tea eggs in his arms, and said seriously: “Old Zhao, what’s going on?”

With such culinary skills, why would Jiang Laosou and Ding Caimai actually push someone out? Did they have some kind of grudge against him?

…

…

Near dusk, Jiang Laosou was instructing several cooks in the public kitchen when he heard Ding Caimai calling him outside the door: “Master Jiang?”

Jiang Laosou looked up and frowned at him: this is the busiest time in the public kitchen, why did Old Ding come here to join in the fun when he had nothing to do?

Facing Jiang Laosou’s dissatisfied eyes, Ding Caimai pointed outside helplessly and said: “Yu Jijiu has something to ask us two!”

This Jijiu wanted to find someone, so no matter how busy he was, he had to put down his work and greet him with a smile.

(End of this chapter)

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Footnote

1. Head of the Imperial Academy, equivalent to the Dean of an University.