Seeing Wen Mingtang move the clay pot aside and wrap it with the thick cloth that she had prepared long ago. Seeing how tightly it was wrapped, Bai Zhu felt that even if it was winter, the fish head and tofu casserole would definitely be hot when it was delivered to Lin Shaoqing.
Watching Zhao You leave with the lunch box, Bai Zhu looked at the lunch in front of him that had not yet been uncovered. Casserole pots were less likely to dissipate heat than ordinary utensils, especially when they were just taken off the stove!
When they first used this casserole pot, everyone in the Dali Temple had been burned. With the lessons of being burned, naturally, there was experience. Bai Zhu picked up the thick cloth beside him, pinched the casserole lid, and opened it.
The moment the lid of the pot was opened, the steaming hot air spread out along with the aroma locked in the pot.
Tender white fish chunks and frozen tofu were neatly arranged in the casserole, dotted with green onions. The milky white soup was made with chopped peppers, and a thin layer of tempting red oil floated on the top. The moment the lid was opened, the freshness of the fish meat and the unique aroma of the chopped peppers hit you in the face.
Before you even took a bite, the unique spicy flavor was already making your mouth water. Because the casserole was keeping the heat, the half-thick soup in the pot was still bubbling. After just one look, Bai Zhu couldn’t take his eyes away.
Bai Zhu swallowed his saliva, and impatiently picked up the rice sprinkled with a few cooked black sesame seeds on the side, and picked up the fish pieces in the casserole with his chopsticks.
Because it was a fish head and tofu stew, there were naturally only a few pieces of fish near the fish head. There were almost no fine thorns in the fish meat here. A few long thorns were embedded in the texture of the fish meat so boldly that they could be picked out of the fish meat with a slight pinch.
After removing the long thorns, Bai Zhu put the piece of fish meat that had been stewed into his mouth. After a long time of stewing, the broth with the unique spicy flavor of chopped pepper had already soaked into every inch of the fish meat. The fish meat was fresh and tender, and it melted in his mouth with a light sip.
Bai Zhu had not been particularly fond of fish in the past, as the fishy smell made him avoid it. However, the piece of fish he put into his mouth not only had no fishy smell at all but after he swallowed the fish into his stomach, only the unique fresh taste of fish remained between his lips and teeth.
After eating two pieces of fish meat in a row, Bai Zhu picked up his chopsticks and picked up half of the fish head. The fish head was the favorite of those who were best at eating fish. Although the meat was embedded in the fish bones, there were only a few pieces, but each piece was extremely tender, comparable to tofu.
The fish head that was taken out of the chopped pepper soup had chopped pepper soup that connected to the fish bones. The soup was delicious and slightly spicy, but it was not just spicy because of the chopped pepper, but also had a unique spiciness, which seemed to be the seasoning called pepper sold by the Western Hu merchants.
Although it was spicy, it catered to the tastes of most people. It was only slightly spicy, which was just acceptable, and you could really feel the hot “spicy” taste.
While eating the fish, Bai Zhu looked up and saw that, as expected, the servants who had arrived earlier, after lunch, stretched their arms and legs when they stood up to leave, and said frankly that they were “sweating all over” and so on.
After eating a few pieces of fish meat and half a piece of fish head, Bai Zhu picked up the side dishes. The frozen tofu was full of holes and absorbed the soup, making it the most suitable dish for soup; the bean sprouts were crisp; the cabbage was sweet; and the mushrooms were tender.
The side dishes might seem random, but each one was extremely delicious when paired with the fresh and spicy soup, and Bai Zhu couldn’t stop eating them.
When the side dishes were almost finished, he simply poured the remaining half bowl of rice into the soup.
When Wen Mingtang and others who were chatting behind the table not far away saw this action, they couldn’t help laughing.
“Bai Sicheng really knows how to eat!” Ah Bing swallowed his saliva and subconsciously touched his still-full stomach, saying, “This soup is the most delicious when mixed with rice!”
If it weren’t for his stomach, he would have finished three bowls of rice in a row with this soup! After eating so much, he had learned how to eat without any instruction.
When Bai Zhu left the dining table, there was not a drop of rice left on the lunch plate and soup in the casserole in front of him.
A pot of duòjiāo yútóu dòufǔ bāo replenished his energy. Bai Zhu walked outside the public kitchen, burped, stood for a while, and then walked out of the Dali Temple.
He originally thought that what happened in the Chang family today had little to do with the case itself, but after thinking about it carefully, he found many suspicious points in it.
The young man of the Yang family had regular features, and his family was not very wealthy. Although the Yang family had enough food and clothing, everyone had different views on “making ends meet”.
Some people felt that they could “get by” as long as they had three meals a day, a place to live, and clothes to wear; but some people, like Yang Gongzi, may not feel that they could “get by” even if they were wealthy.
So… If you thought about it carefully, wasn’t this Yang family young master a perfect “bait” for those people? And he was afraid it was not just an ordinary bait! Some young masters might have been deceived, or they had entered a den of thieves and had no choice but to do it. Of course, whether it was necessary or not, this matter couldn’t be done.
In short, it was hard to say what the relationship was between this young man from the Yang family and the den of thieves!
If the young lady from the Chang family was targeted because of the young master from the Yang family, then the relationship between the young master from the Yang family and the criminals must be very close. He must talk to Lin Shaoqing about this matter immediately.
When he saw Lin Fei, he had just finished his lunch. The rich aroma of the duòjiāo yútóu dòufǔ bāo in the room suddenly filled his nose.
Although he had just finished lunch and had no room for anything else in his stomach, the unique spicy aroma still made Bai Zhu swallow his saliva subconsciously. His lips and tongue probably remembered the taste of the duòjiāo yútóu dòufǔ bāo better than he did.
Shaking his head to get rid of the duòjiāo yútóu dòufǔ bāo that filled his mind, Bai Zhu recounted what happened to the Yang family mother and son that morning. In the end, he said, “I didn’t realize it at first, but when I suddenly realized it, I realized that the young master of the Yang family also met all the characteristics of the bait those people were looking for.”
He had a good-looking appearance, came from an average or poor family, and was eager to make money.
“If Young Master Yang is the bait, then he must have found a great target,” Bai Zhu said. He had been thinking about this while eating the duòjiāo yútóu dòufǔ bāo. “A lady with great wealth and power is probably a big fish for Young Master Yang.”
Lin Fei nodded when he heard this, and he understood: “A selfish person like Young Master Yang would definitely not hand over such a big fish like this. After all, for Young Master Yang, the family background of this famous lady is much more valuable than selling such a rich girl!”
“If I were the young master of the Yang family, I would definitely find a way to escape from the control of those people!” Bai Zhu said, “They will definitely not let me go easily, so…” At this point, Bai Zhu’s face showed a hint of coldness, “He made a deal!”
(End of this chapter)

Leave a comment