Darong did not want to get involved in the affairs of the Emperor of Goguryeo, but the Goguryeo people who were fighting among themselves wanted to use Darong as a knife to eliminate dissidents.

“It is their business to eliminate dissidents, but they interfered with our investigation!” Liu Yuan complained, “But we can’t do anything to them, it’s really a headache!”

The Goguryeo people didn’t tell the truth and they couldn’t pry their mouths open. For the time being, there was no other way except to continue to deal with the Goguryeo people.

The moment he walked out of Lin Fei’s office, Liu Yuan sighed, watching the shadow of the pointer on the sundial gradually overlap with the position of the hour of You, and said faintly: “How can I relieve my worries? Only the warm evening meal of our Master Wen!”

But today Liu Yuan made a mistake. Today’s evening meal was not warm, but very cold.

The translucent white cold skin was placed on the chopping board. Ah Bing cut it into long strips with a few “swish” cuts and placed them at the bottom of the porcelain bowl. On top of it were the ingredients: shredded cucumbers, blanched bean sprouts, something called gluten that looked like old tofu, and the toughest chicken breast ribs that were torn into thin strips that were easy to eat, as well as a handful of fried peanuts. All of these were placed on top.

After a bowl of cold skin with both meat and vegetables was prepared, the seasoned water, vinegar, and a spoonful of fragrant red oil were poured in turn. In the end, coriander, which you either love or hate, was added according to your personal preference.

Because the ingredients were already prepared, although the line for the evening meal was a little longer, it was very fast. Liu Yuan took the bowl of Liangpi to the dining table and sat down. Without Wen Mingtang’s reminder, he quickly mixed the Liangpi with some “experience” from eating. As the chopsticks swirled, the white and translucent Liangpi were stained with a layer of red, and the juice was shiny. Before he put it in his mouth, the sour and spicy smell that rushed into his nose had already whetted his appetite.

After mixing it well, Liu Yuan couldn’t wait to pick up a chopstick of Liangpi and put it in his mouth. The Liangpi were chewy, smooth, sour, and spicy. The spiciness was the special spiciness made by Master Wen. It looked red, but it was only slightly spicy, and the fragrance was more intense.

The cucumber shreds, bean sprouts, gluten, and chicken breast ribs were wrapped in sour, spicy, and fragrant juice, and were all stained with the sour and spicy taste. The crowd, who had lost their appetite due to the hot weather, exclaimed as soon as they ate this bowl of Liangpi: “This liangpi is perfect for summer!”

Although it was poured with chili oil, the sour taste and the presence of cucumber shreds and bean sprouts in it relieved the greasy taste.

However, it was too “refreshing” and sometimes felt “light” in the mouth. But, this Liangpi did not feel bland because of the strong aroma of red oil. In addition, the chicken breast ribs mixed in it made everything just right!

“Taking a bowl back to taste this Liangpi with my family!” Hearing the discussion of several officers not far away, Liu Yuan remembered that the Ministry of Internal Affairs allowed takeout, but he was busy looking for those Goguryeo people these two days, so he forgot about it!

Thinking of this, Liu Yuan was very annoyed, as if he had lost a large bag of silver on the road.

Looking up at the public kitchen, sure enough, in the corner, Ji Caimai’s familiar face appeared behind a square window that had been opened at some point. There was a pile of food boxes at hand. Ji Caimai was using an abacus, smiling like a “shopkeeper” as he talked to the officers who were asking him about takeout.

Liu Yuan was immediately happy to see this. After finishing the last bit of Liangpi in his bowl, he couldn’t wait to walk to the window and look at the price written on the wooden board.

The price of a serving of Liangpi was about the same as that of a serving of noodles outside. Liu Yuan was relieved: it was indeed much cheaper than Lin Shaoqing’s meal of one tael.

But you can’t just hold this takeout food in your hands! Liangpi was not like steamed buns and cakes that could be wrapped in oil paper and held in your hands.

If you wanted to take Liangpi with you, but didn’t have the right boxes, you can ask the public kitchen to buy a food box.

“The use of food boxes can be divided into two ways: renting and buying. It costs five cents each time, but you must pay a deposit. When you return it, the deposit will be returned to you!” Ji Caimai said, “You can also just buy the food box directly, put a label on it, and just remember to bring it with you, otherwise you will need to buy it again!”

Looking at Ji Caimai, who was making a sound with the abacus beads in his hand, Liu Yuan twitched his mouth and said, “You really act like a shopkeeper!”

Although Ji Caimai was not young, his hearing was still quite good. Upon hearing this, he looked up and squinted in Liu Yuan’s direction, snorted, and said, “Go and see if any shopkeeper outside has a conscience like our public kitchen?”

That’s true! After all, opening a restaurant or eatery was for making a living and earning money. Rent was a significant expense, but the Dali Temple public kitchen didn’t have to worry about that, leaving only the wages for Master Wen and others. Naturally, it was cheaper than what was sold outside.

Moreover, if Master Wen’s cooking skills were to be sold outside, the shopkeepers would probably charge a sky-high price.

The officers would not miss the opportunity to take away. Some took a portion home to try, and some who had more relatives and friends asked for two or three. The one who asked for the most even asked for seven.

The person who asked for seven was not someone else, but Yu Jijiu, who had made a “great effort” in the takeaway business.

“This is truly the first time I’ve met a chef who cooks dishes so to my liking,” Yu Jijiu clicked his lips, looked at Ji Caimai packing Liangpi, and said with emotion, “I’ll go back and share this with my family, they will love it!”

Master Wen raised his eyelids, looked at Yu Jijiu who came empty-handed, pointed at the food box behind him, and said, “Jijiu didn’t bring a food box, so… should we rent a food box or…”

“What are you renting? Just buy one! Put my note on the back and use it to pack food from the public kitchen.” Yu Jijiu said, glancing at the square food box, which he added to allow for free separation of rice and dishes, and said, “This one is good, it’s much lighter than the big one!”

With a large food box, he could put all the small food boxes in it. It happened that Ji Caimai also bought a large food box here. Four food boxes could fit one layer, a total of two layers, and could hold up to eight meals. It was just a bit heavy for one person to carry.

Looking at the Jijiu in front of him, who was carrying the food box with all his strength and had no elegance at all, Ji Caimai adjusted his abacus looked at the large amount of income contributed by Yu, and said with a smile: “Zhao You happens to be free, let him help you with the food box!”

This person probably was going to be a regular customer in the future, and he must not be neglected.

When the evening meal was over, Wen Mingtang and others sat by the food table and waited for Ji Caimai, who was smiling with his eyes narrowed into a line.

“It should have been like this long ago. The procrastination of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has caused us to lose so much money!” Ji Caimai said and walked to the front of everyone and sat down.

(End of this chapter)

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