Joy of Life: The Mei Family's Son Grows Up

Chapter 15 Beggar Chicken

"First, cucumbers are common and can be found everywhere. As the old saying goes, being too smart can lead to premature death. What does that mean? Being too smart can arouse the jealousy of heaven and cause you to die young. You are so smart that I am afraid you might get into an accident, so I gave you an ordinary name in the hope of keeping you safe. Do you understand my intention?"

"I misunderstood the young master. I deserve to die!" Xiaoju was so moved that she couldn't express it in words.

"I don't allow you to say that about yourself. There is another reason. I like cucumbers. Although cucumbers are ordinary, they have many uses. They can be eaten raw, mixed with cold dishes, or cooked. Cut into slices and applied to the face for beauty and beauty. They are the most indispensable ingredient in people's daily lives. This is exactly what I expect of you. I hope you can keep your advantages while keeping a low profile, make use of your talents whenever you can, and become a unique and indispensable existence in our hospital."

"I understand, Master. I also understand your painstaking efforts. From now on, I will be called Cucumber."

"I'm glad you understand. My efforts are not in vain. Remember, this matter must be kept secret. Do not tell them. If they knew that I thought so much about you and gave them random names, they would probably get jealous and cause trouble for their whole lives. Do you understand?"

"Yes, cucumber, I'll remember that. Don't worry, Master. I'm the most strict one."

Mei Chengan gave an unfathomable smile.

"Go!"

Looking at the four people in front of him, each of them was thoughtfully savoring their new names, especially Sweet Potato, Cucumber and Green Ant, who would occasionally reveal a shy smile while thinking, but then quickly restrain it for fear of being discovered by others.

Mei Cheng'an felt a sense of accomplishment bursting out and laughed wildly in his heart. Suppressing the protest was so simple. I am worthy of being one of the smartest ones. Hahahahahahahaha.

Just like that, the names of the four maids were changed suddenly and inexplicably.

Because there were five people to eat, they cooked two beggar's chickens. When the time was almost up, Sweet Potato used a wooden stick to pick out two large lumps of mud from the fire.

The mud on the surface had been baked into hot mud blocks. Use a hammer to knock open the yellow mud on the surface, revealing a chicken wrapped in a lotus leaf tied with thread inside.

Cut the outer thread and tear open the lotus leaves. The aroma of chicken and the fragrance of lotus leaves mixed into an extremely overbearing fragrance that continued to spread, making Mei Cheng'an swallow her saliva wildly.

The chicken skin was bright yellow and orange. Mei Cheng'an tore off a chicken leg and hurriedly put it into his mouth. The first bite he took found the chicken to be crispy, tender, fat and fragrant, with a very rich taste.

I finished a chicken leg in no time and then had a sip of iced sour plum soup.

take off.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the two chickens were completely divided among the five people.

Of course, Mei Chengan ate the most, with his mouth full of oil.

After eating, I still felt unsatisfied and didn’t forget to lick my five fingers clean.

I don’t know how far the fragrance has spread, but the little one who smelled it also ran over, followed by two maids.

"Miss, Miss, slow down!"

The little guy rushed to Mei Cheng'an's yard, sniffing everywhere, all the way to Mei Cheng'an.

"You naughty brother, you actually ate delicious food behind my back without calling me. What delicious food? It smells so good, give it to me quickly!" The little one is now 7 years old and a real foodie. He was the little one who always stayed in his brother's arms half a year ago, but now he seems to have grown up a lot, with a delicate and domineering temper.

Mei Chengan blinked and pointed at the lotus leaves on the ground: "It's all eaten."

"Impossible, I don't believe it, you must have hidden it."

Mei Changan spread his hands.

"If you don't believe me, try looking for it."

Upon hearing this, the little guy began to look around, but found nothing after searching for a while. Finally, his eyes fixed on the four maids.

Facing the young lady's burning gaze, the four maids decisively spread out their hands to indicate that they had nothing hidden.

The little boy looked through the four maids in disbelief, and when he found that there was really nothing, he ran to Mei Cheng'an and hugged his arm and shook it.

"Brother, good brother, please take it out quickly. I can smell it. Just let me have a bite. I promise to just have one bite."

"Hey, wasn't it me who just called you stinky brother?"

"It's not smelly, it's not smelly. My brother smells the best."

"Okay, since you want it so much, I'll make you another portion, but it will take a little while. Can you wait patiently?"

The little one nodded frantically: "Okay, okay, I am the most patient."

"Okay, give your brother a kiss first, then go eat lunch obediently, and then take a nap. When you wake up, the delicious food will be ready."

"really?"

"real!"

"Then let's make a pinky promise. The one who lied is the puppy!"

"it is good!"

The two of them began to make a promise that they would not change their minds for a hundred years.

I believe everyone is familiar with this phrase, but the "hanging" here does not mean hanging oneself on the beam with a rope. The hanging here refers to hanging money. A bunch of money is also called a string of money. Hanging means to string a bunch of money together and fix it with a rope, implying an agreement that cannot be changed. The hook is the action of hooking the rope.

After they made the pinky promise, the little one gave his brother a kiss on the face and followed the servant away.

"Master, will you do it for Miss now?"

"Go ahead, apply more honey, she likes sweet things." "Got it, Master."

After about an hour, the little guy arrived as promised, still in a hurry.

The beggar's chicken is ready.

Mei Cheng'an held her in his arms, and the two of them, big and small, squatted on the ground. He held her small hand with his big hand and manipulated the hammer to break the yellow mud shell into pieces one by one.

Although the vibration made her feel a little uncomfortable, it still did not prevent the little girl from finding it very interesting.

The moment the lotus leaves opened, the familiar fragrance wafted again.

Sweet potato forked the roasted chicken into a plate, brought it to a low table, and roughly cut it in half with a knife to dissipate heat, leaving the chicken legs and wings intact.

The little one was lying on the mat, leaning on the edge of the table and watching the operation on Sweet Potato.

His little nose kept sniffing the aroma of the beggar's chicken, and his saliva was about to flow out.

While waiting for the beggar's chicken to cool down, the little one would use his little finger to test the temperature of the beggar's chicken from time to time.

Even when he got burned, he didn't cry or make a fuss. He just blew on it himself, then put it to his brother's mouth and asked him to blow on it too, and he would be fine. He continued to wait and then continued to try.

Finally it’s time to eat. The little one holds a chicken leg in each hand, nibbling on it left and right, humming with delight as it tastes delicious.

The hair on her head was sticking up and down, which attracted Mei Cheng'an's attention. He looked over and found that his sister's hair was a little sparse, and the tips of her hair were yellow. He couldn't help laughing.

Yellow-haired girl, yellow-haired girl, so this is how it came about.

The little guy definitely couldn’t finish the chicken, so the rest went into Mei Chengan’s stomach.

The brother and sister sat on the steps, each holding a cup of sour plum soup and drinking it slurpfully.

"Brother, beggar's chicken is so delicious, I want to eat it every day from now on!"

"That won't work. No matter how delicious something is, you can't eat it every day. You'll get tired of it, and it won't taste good anymore. You have to eat it after a while, and then it will always taste good."

"Then I will eat it after a while. I want it to taste good all the time."

"it is good."

"Then why is it called beggar's chicken?"

"Because it was invented by a beggar, so it's called Beggar's Chicken."

Mei Cheng'an didn't know the origin of beggar's chicken, but he had heard of this speculation and used it to deal with the little one.

"Beggars are amazing!"

"Brother, am I not awesome?"

"Brother is the most powerful!"

……

The little one stayed in Mei Cheng'an's courtyard for the whole afternoon. Mei Cheng'an originally planned to teach the little one the nameless martial arts, but she couldn't bear the pain and refused to learn it, so Mei Cheng'an had to give up.

Just protect your sister in the future.

At dinner time, Mei Cheng'an took his sister to the dining hall.

The little one never stopped talking, and kept showing off how delicious the beggar's chicken he had in the afternoon was.

In the end, even Mei Zhili, who had never been interested in food, became interested in beggar's chicken.

Mei Cheng'an readily followed the advice and asked the maids to make two more the next day and added them to the table during lunch.

Soon, this delicacy was added to the menu of Meijia Canteen, which was the name of the shop opened by Mei Chengan.

Now, half a year has passed, and the business has almost spread across the country of Qing. Why do I say almost? Because there are branches in almost all major towns, leaving only some small towns that have not yet been entered, including Danzhou.

The reason for not opening a store is very simple. First, there are currently two major wine production bases, one is in Meizhuang on the outskirts of Kyoto, and the other is in Jiangnan. These two bases radiate the entire country, while some small towns including Danzhou are located in remote areas. Other things are easy to deal with, but transporting wine is really troublesome.

The second reason is that there is a real shortage of manpower. It is easy to find servants to do the work, but it is difficult to find a shopkeeper who can shoulder the heavy responsibility. The shopkeeper of Qing Yu Tang is very capable, but he cannot leave Beijing and can only rely on training, which takes time. The next batch of qualified shopkeepers are still in class.

However, Mei Cheng'an is quite optimistic about Danzhou. It is close to the sea, has a port, and has a high altitude, which is particularly suitable for growing hops. Mei Cheng'an plans to set up another wine production base here. One is to supply the surrounding major towns and Dongyi City, and the other is to open a store in Northern Qi in the future, so that water and sea transportation will be more convenient.

But don’t be in a hurry, let’s stabilize the current store business first.

Back to Kyoto, as the birthplace of Meijia Canteen, Kyoto can be said to have blossomed in all aspects today. The types of belching wine are richer, the prices of different levels of wine are also differentiated, and the audience is wider. As hop cultivation has entered a virtuous circle, the supply of wine is no longer limited, and the food menu is constantly enriched and adjusted on the original basis.

Especially now that it is summer, the iced burping wine is almost selling like hot cakes. Now in the Mei family cafeteria, everyone, from the nobles in the palace (the queen has bought a lot of it) to the common people, drinks burping wine to cool off.

Iced sour plum soup is also a big seller. Who doesn’t like this sour and sweet taste, especially children.

Drinking wine, eating barbecue, and having two rabbit heads (I forgot to mention that there are so many rabbits in the rabbit breeding base that they can finally be sold on a large scale without quantity restrictions and the price has been greatly reduced) has become the most popular night pastime for Kyoto residents.

(End of this chapter)