Kaifeng Bistro

"Hmph, smelling like blood, I'm afraid he's not an ordinary martial artist." Yi Yi took out the plate of candied fruit and put it on the table: "What are you doing here?"

Tan Zhifeng tried his best to wink at Yi Yi, but Yi Yi didn't even look at him.Fortunately, the person surnamed Jin was not angry, but just smiled and said: "Little brother, I don't see that you still have such abilities. If those officials who investigate cases can smell blood on their bodies like you, Wouldn't it be much easier to solve the case?"

"Official servants? Most of the official servants are worthless, besides, don't you know that many times, you don't need to see blood when you kill someone." Yi Yi retorted without showing any weakness, then raised the wooden plate, and put it on the burning head that was still stunned. knock.Zhuo Zhuo came back to his senses with a "Ouch", blushed and angrily wiped away half of his drool, and ran to the back with his skirt.

Zhou Yanjing and Chen Qing reported their names, and after the three of them had chatted for a while, the person surnamed Jin asked curiously: "You two are students from the Imperial Academy? Have you heard about someone jumping into the river in the Imperial Academy recently? Recently, I often pass by the Caihe River, and I can’t see it in the evening, so the hawkers on the street have closed their stalls early, is it because of this?”

Zhou Yanjing winked at Chen Qing, Chen Qing silently lowered his head to eat, Zhou Yanjing smiled and said, "Oh, that incident was quite a big deal, but we don't know why, too much homework, Everyone wants to pass the Jinshi examination and become an official. You see, I am not in my thirties, and I already have white hair. Alas, I have never jumped into the river before... Why, this story has already been spread and everyone in Kaifeng knows ?”

The surname Jin nodded after hearing this, and did not continue to ask about this matter, but raised his head and began to look at the small shop.

He looked back, and Tan Zhifeng was hard at work preparing his jade cake.

Jade extension, yam also.He just ground the dried yam into mud and made a good dough, then chopped the blanched water chestnuts, mushrooms, and winter bamboo shoots into pieces, heated the oil in the pan and used ginger to make the fragrance, and put the chopped vegetables on the chopping board into the pan Once fried, the unique aroma of fresh mushrooms and bamboo shoots wafts through the small kitchen.

Changshang pressed the dough for Tan Zhifeng, and Tan Zhifeng seasoned the fried fillings, quickly wrapped them in the dough, threw them into the pan and fried them for a while, dozens of small golden round cakes floated up.

Chang Chang began to fish for cakes with a strainer.Tan Zhifeng stopped to take a breath.At this moment, the man surnamed Jin was looking towards the back kitchen. Through the beating firelight, Tan Zhifeng met him with a somewhat searching gaze. Tan Zhifeng nodded politely to him, while the other party With a gentle smile, he looked away.

Tan Zhifeng picked up a bowl of wontons, put them on a wooden tray with Yuyan cakes, and served them out.Seeing Tan Zhifeng coming, Zhou Yanjing yelled, "Shopkeeper Tan, please have another bowl of toon root wontons, I will skip lunch."

Tan Zhifeng smiled and said, "Why don't you try a few Yuyan cakes? This stuff nourishes the middle and Qi, and is good for the spleen and stomach."

Zhou Yanjing always complained that his stomach was bloated recently, while Chen Qing laughed at him because he ate too much food from Tan Zhifeng's house.Zhou Yanjing didn't expect Tan Zhifeng to remember it, so he smiled gratefully at him, picked up a piece of Yuyan cake and tasted it.

The person surnamed Jin took a wonton and put it in his mouth, his eyes lit up immediately, and he asked, "In such a cold winter, do you still have toon sprouts here, shopkeeper?"

"No, it's made from Chinese toon roots that are used as medicine and rolled into noodles." Tan Zhifeng was about to leave, but now he stopped and replied patiently: "Eating on an empty stomach in the morning is best, it can nourish the stomach. How do you feel about the taste?"

The surname Jin tasted it carefully, while Zhou Yanjing said from the side: "So that's it. I heard that Chun and Xi are almost the same. I don't know how to tell them apart?"

"There is not much difference in appearance, but the toon is solid and fragrant, while the citrus is sparse and smelly. Only the root of the toon can be eaten." Tan Zhifeng replied seriously.At this time, half a bowl of wonton surnamed Jin had already been eaten, and the soup and noodles were delicious, and Tan Zhifeng who was standing beside him was very polite and polite, which made people feel very comfortable. The shopkeeper couldn't help but look at him with admiration.

Chen Qing, who was sitting on the side, saw the man put down the spoon, looked at Tan Zhifeng, and chatted with him, his words were full of praise for this small shop and Tan Zhifeng, he couldn't help frowning slightly, and said to Zhou Yanjing: "Brother Zhou , it's getting late, let's go."

Zhou Yanjing ate a few pieces of Yuyan cakes and felt full. The two got up and bid farewell to Tan Zhifeng. Seeing the story book in Yi Yi's hand again, he smiled and said to him: "I finished reading the last time I borrowed "Tiejiang Wang Fenghou Marries the Oiran", and I will return it to you tomorrow."

Without raising his head, Yi Yi said, "Borrow a book for three yuan a day, and if you pay it back tomorrow, you will have to pay today's money."

"Okay, okay." Zhou Yanjing nodded, took out his purse and began to count a dozen or so money on the table, then said: "If there are any good books recently, why don't you let me borrow them together today."

"What kind of brush is written by the master of the Refining Pavilion can still be read." Yi Yi raised the book in his hand: "But it's always not so interesting."

Listening to the two discussing this, the man surnamed Jin seemed to be very interested, raising his head and listening carefully.Zhou Yanjing turned his head and smiled at him, but lowered his voice when he looked at Yi Yi again, and said, "Tell you, this kid is an official servant. I seemed to see him in the Taixue yesterday. Tell you shopkeepers, be careful. "

Yi Yi sneered disdainfully: "What are you careful about? You look like one or two of you, and you haven't done anything wrong. Why do you feel like you've seen a ghost when you see an official?"

"Oh, you shopkeepers are here for the first time. One more thing is worse than one less thing. Be careful to make the Wannian ship." Zhou Yanjing shook his head: "It seems that this case is really big. Zijin, let's go first and come back at night. "

After hearing Zhou Yanjing's words, Chen Qing looked back suspiciously.At this moment, the person surnamed Jin has turned his head away, and started to eat his wonton quietly.

Chen Qing was still a little worried, and ran to the back kitchen to take a look at Tan Zhifeng.Tan Zhifeng asked while making Yuyan cakes: "Why is Mr. Chen not in a hurry to listen to Mr. Lecture today?"

"I..." Chen Qing was at a loss for words, thought for a while, and said: "If you have something to do, let Yi Yi go to Taixue to find Brother Zhou, he is studying in Chongyi Zhai during the day."

Tan Zhifeng pressed the small snow-white dough under his hand, turned around and smiled: "We are running a small business in peace, so what are we afraid of even if the officials ask you a few questions?"

"You know he's an official?" Chen Qing was a little surprised.

Before Tan Zhifeng could answer, Zhou Yanjing had already yelled twice at the door: "Zijin, it's time to go."

Seeing that the man surnamed Jin had also got up and walked towards the cash register, Chen Qing didn't want to go with him at all, so he hurriedly said goodbye to Tan Zhifeng, ran to the door in three steps, and opened the curtain with Zhou Yanjing, put on his coat and went out. .

Tan Zhifeng just pressed out two jade pancakes, but Yi Yi's voice sounded behind him: "Tan Zhifeng, that person surnamed Jin has something to tell you."

Tan Zhifeng wiped his hands and walked to the cash desk, bowed slightly, and asked, "Guest officer, what are your orders?"

Seeing this man looking at him without blinking, Tan Zhifeng felt a little strange. He didn't know that the other party's questions were also popping up one after another—how old is this boy, fifteen?sixteen?The accent doesn't sound like someone from Kaifeng, from Jianghuai?Although the appearance is not outstanding, it looks very clean and refreshing.A person who has been around the stove all day, but there is no trace of fireworks, but he has the taste of a nobleman.

Tan Zhifeng was calm on the surface, but he was anxiously accepting the scrutiny of the young man in the blue robe.Unexpectedly, after a moment of silence, the other party took a step back, saluted Tan Zhifeng slowly, and said, "This is Zhan Zhao, the guard with a sword in front of the Emperor of Kaifeng Mansion. Today, I came here to investigate the case. Because this case...is a bit weird, I don't want to say anything about it, so I didn't give my real name just now. I hope the shopkeeper won't be offended."

Both Tan Zhifeng and Yi Yi were stunned.Although they thought that this man must have some background, they didn't expect him to be such a famous person—Yi Yi's counting hand stopped on a copper plate, and Tan Zhifeng couldn't help but look at him seriously: Zhan Zhao is a little older , personable, every move is so gentle and stable, with a bit of chick in the rivers and lakes, but there is no sense of wildness, but there is a kind of calmness that does not change color after the collapse of Mount Tai, which makes people feel that no matter what time, He is a very reliable person.

All in all, he fulfilled all the fantasies of a young girl's ideal adult man, and the hyacinth on the counter next to him leaned against Zhan Zhao's sleeve, trembling with excitement.Almost fell off the counter with the whole flower pot.Tan Zhifeng quickly raised his hand to support it, hugged the vase tightly and stuffed it under the counter, covered the two copies of "Wang Blacksmith", then got up and said to Zhan Zhao: "If you have any questions, the official, just ask."

Zhan Zhao didn't hesitate this time, but took out a thin paper roll from his bosom, Zhan Zhao shook his hand, and the paper roll unfolded, on which was a portrait of a man.

Tan Zhifeng, Yi Yi and Zhuo Zhuo were all surprised, and said in unison: "It's him?"

"Have you ever seen this person?" Zhan Zhao's eyes lit up, and he smoothed the paper on a table: "Are you sure it's this person?"

Just crawling out from under the table, he smoothed his forehead hair in embarrassment, and gave Tan Zhifeng a look of "you dare to press "Wang Blacksmith" on my old lady, just wait and see".Tan Zhifeng remained unmoved, and motioned the two of them not to speak, but Zhan Zhao asked again: "When and where did you meet?"

That was the first day they entered Kaifeng City. Tan Zhifeng didn't have to think about it, and replied: "On the first night of October, that was our first day in Kaifeng. It was near here, and he showed us the way..."

He roughly told Zhan Zhao what happened that night.Zhan Zhao asked very detailed questions, including what the other party was wearing, whether he had brought anything, and his expression.The young but worried face appeared in front of Tan Zhifeng's eyes, and he felt a little uneasy, thinking about it and said: "He walked very slowly, as if he had something on his mind, but he still showed us the way seriously, and then he ran away .”

"Run away?" Zhan Zhao frowned, "Where did you go?"

"This..." Since Tan Zhifeng came to live in this alley, he has never left the alley.The furthest time was when he reached the alley, only to be startled by Bo's black eyes.

Zhan Zhao dipped his hands in the leftover tea he had just drank, and simply drew a map of east, west, north, south and nearby streets and alleys on the table.Tan Zhifeng thought about the direction he walked that day, and pointed to the door of Suzaku.

"Longjin Bridge." Zhan Zhao exhaled softly, "Thank you guys. This clue is extremely important."