“The people in the Dali Temple deal with vicious criminals all day long. It’s okay for Wen Xuance’s daughter, but don’t get involved with them and get into trouble. Do you understand?” Xun Zhou repeated what Wang He said before he left. He looked at Liu Yuan in front of him, but the expression on his face was excited, which was completely opposite to Wang He’s warning.

Liu Yuan hesitated: “Your teacher told you not to get into trouble, which means don’t get involved with us. In this case…”

In this case, they might have to find someone new.

But before Liu Yuan could finish his words, Xun Zhou said excitedly: “I am not causing trouble, I am doing something righteous!”

Liu Yuan: “…”

He was originally hesitant about whether to change people, but since this Xun Gongzi was so righteous, then… let’s not change him! Anyway, just don’t let Wang He know.

“When will your master come back?” Liu Yuan thought for a while and asked Xun Zhou.

Xun Zhou said: “At least half a month, at most two to three months.”

That should be enough! Liu Yuan nodded, looked at Xun Zhou in front of him, and said seriously: “Then you should go there tomorrow morning. Starting early can also solve this matter before your master comes back!”

Xun Zhou naturally would not refuse. He said “Oh”, thought about it, and asked Liu Yuan: “Can we go there to have breakfast?” He explained to Liu Yuan, “The teacher said that breakfast is the most important meal of the three meals, and it cannot be taken lightly!”

Liu Yuan: “…”

Thinking that Xun Zhou would be a “poor scholar” tomorrow if he was more particular about his breakfast than others, he would be exposed in the blink of an eye!

This won’t do! Liu Yuan thought for a moment, glanced at Xun Zhou, and said, “I’ll tell Ji Caimai and the others that you can come and have breakfast in the morning, and then hurry over after breakfast. Don’t hang around outside anymore!”

Xun Zhou nodded and agreed: “That’s fine!” Every morning when I come here, I can also visit Sister Mingtang! As for eating breakfast, that’s just a side job.

Seeing Xun Zhou still caring about his breakfast, Liu Yuan was a little worried. He once again looked up and down at Xun Zhou, who was “dressed up” properly. Seeing that he really couldn’t find any faults, he reminded him: “Xun Gongzi, remember that you are now a poor scholar selling calligraphy and paintings. You are a greedy person who forgets morality. You must remember to put away your gentlemanly manners!”

Xun Zhou nodded immediately upon hearing this and said, “Don’t worry!”

Seeing Xun Zhou’s excited expression, Liu Yuan couldn’t help but frown again: It would be strange if he could be at ease!

But… never mind. Anyway, he only needed to lure the person out, and he didn’t need to do the rest.

..…

……

The Chongyang Festival passed without much festive atmosphere!

Because she had eaten Chongyang Cake yesterday, Wen Mingtang did not make any cakes for the first breakfast after the festival, but simply cooked a pot of congee.

After late autumn, the days got brighter and brighter. When the bell rang at the hour of Chen, before it was completely bright, an unexpected face appeared at the door of the public kitchen of the Dali Temple.

“Sister Mingtang?” Xun Zhou, who was the first to come in for breakfast, went to the front of the table and greeted Wen Mingtang, then lowered his voice and said, “I’ll have breakfast and then I’ll be leaving!”

Wen Mingtang glanced at Xun Zhou, who was wearing a simple cloth robe, handed him the breakfast in his hand, and said, “Be careful!”

Xun Zhou nodded and immediately said, “Don’t worry, Sister Mingtang!”

Wen Mingtang said “hmm” and glanced at the servants who came in from the public kitchen door, also dressed in cloth robes like ordinary people: It really made people feel at ease to have them around!

After seeing Wen Mingtang and sitting down at the food table, Xun Zhou lowered his head to look at the congee in his hand.

Since they only had a large bowl of congee for breakfast, the congee was much thicker than the usual congee soup.

Although it was congee, it was different from ordinary congee made from white rice. At first glance, in addition to the rice grains that had been cooked to the point of blooming, the side dishes were also surprisingly rich.

Pink shredded pork and inky century eggs were mixed together with the thick and dense porridge base, dotted with chopped green onions.

The four colors of pink, black, white, and green were intertwined with each other, which not only made it pleasing to the eyes but also aroused an inexplicable appetite.

When an officer was serving breakfast, he curiously asked the name of the recent breakfast. Wen Mingtang handed the officer a large bowl of visibly sticky porridge and said, “Pídàn shòuròu zhōu!”

The lean meat was as the name suggested, but the inky-colored century egg was something Xun Zhou had never seen before.

While he was curious, the servants had already brought breakfast to Xun Zhou and sat down.

One of them picked up a spoon and scooped a spoonful of the Pídàn shòuròu zhōu, lightly blew on it, and then put it into his mouth. A look of deep satisfaction appeared on his face. Noticing Xun Zhou watching him, the officer quickly said, “Why are you looking at me, Xun Gongzi? Eat up!” As he spoke, he scooped another spoonful of the congee. When he saw the century egg in the spoon, he seemed to recall something and looked up at Xun Zhou, who had yet to touch his spoon. “Is it because you’ve never seen something like this ‘century egg’ before and are hesitant to try it? Don’t worry, it tastes amazing!” he said, taking another spoonful.

“That’s not the case,” Xun Zhou heard, and quickly picked up the spoon, glanced at Wen Mingtang, who was scooping porridge seriously, and said, “Sister Mingtang made it, so I’m naturally not afraid, I’m just a little curious!”

As he said that, he scooped a spoonful of congee into the bowl, blew on it slightly, and tasted the pure white congee base first: Looking at the rice grains that had been cooked to the point of blooming, one could guess the taste of the congee base. It was indeed very dense in the mouth, and the rice grains could be completely crushed with a light touch of the tongue. Although this spoonful contained only white rice grains, the unique flavor of the pork shreds and preserved eggs had been blended into the congee base because of the long-term cooking. Therefore, even a spoonful of white congee base was extremely fresh and fragrant.

The taste of the century egg was special, but surprisingly, it was not disgusting, on the contrary, it was inexplicably addictive. The brown and transparent egg skin was springy, but the egg core was soft and runny, completely different from the egg yolks he had eaten before.

The pink shredded pork was tender and delicious, and paired with the fresh flavor of the century egg, it was really irresistible.

He scooped out the first few spoonfuls quite cautiously. After thoroughly tasting the deliciousness of the pídàn shòuròu zhōu, Xun Zhou did the same as the servants, putting one spoonful after another of the blended rice grains, pork shreds, and century egg into his mouth.

Before he knew it, when the last spoonful was empty, Xun Zhou realized that he had eaten up the entire bowl of pídàn shòuròu zhōu in front of him.

Originally, he just wanted to come and have breakfast while visiting Sister Mingtang, but as he savored the tempting flavor in his mouth, Xun Zhou suddenly felt that what the teacher said was right. Eating breakfast was indeed very important, so he couldn’t help but ask the servants opposite him: “Can I still come to have breakfast tomorrow?”

(End of this chapter)

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Has English Subtitles