Steward Shen’s expression was even more astonished than his. “Does my Lord like eating the food from Peach Blossom Haven that much?”
Upon hearing this, Han You immediately chimed in cheerfully, “Steward Shen, that sounds like something someone who has never been there would say. Such delicious food, who wouldn’t love it?”
He patted Steward Shen on the shoulder. “You definitely must carve out some time to go eat there.”
Steward Shen didn’t make a sound, feeling slightly bewildered.
If my Lord went frequently and spent a long time in contact with Miss Jiang, it would also be an opportunity.
If Miss Jiang intended to seize it, with her top-notch culinary skills and exceptional beauty, could she really fail to capture my Lord’s heart?
He pondered for a moment, planning to ask his wife to go probe again later. Could it be that his wife had misinterpreted Miss Jiang’s intentions?
Having been too busy yesterday, Jiang Mo woke up an hour later than usual. When she and Iris rushed to the street, they discovered that all the fish had been bought out.
Because of this, the sweet and sour fish could not be made.
A look of puzzlement flashed in Iris’s eyes.
“Usually few people eat fish, and at this hour there should always be some left. Why are they all gone today?”
Fish had bones and weren’t very popular among commoners, who were much more willing to buy pork.
The fishmonger, however, was beaming from ear to ear. “You two young misses arrived at an unfortunate time; all those fish were just bought out completely by the manager of Drunken Fragrance Pavilion.”
Fish were difficult to catch to begin with, and live ones even scarcer, with only a dozen or so available each day—just enough to sell for a single day. Who knew what kind of incredible luck he had struck today.
He had just set up his stall when the manager of Drunken Fragrance Pavilion came over and bought every single fish.
Iris immediately looked at Jiang Mo. “Miss, what if our sweet and sour fish gets copied by someone else…”
“If they want to try, let them try,” Jiang Mo said with a very relaxed mindset. “Since the fish are sold out, we’ll just make other dishes. Your miss knows more than just sweet and sour fish. If they can make it, then consider it their own capability.”
This era lacked too many spices, and she had to find ways to use other things as substitutes. Such delicate seasoning crafts were not something one could figure out so easily.
Iris pouted unhappily.
It was clearly her miss who made the sweet and sour fish first; she didn’t want to see any other place copy it.
The two bought all the other necessary items and hurried to Peach Blossom Haven, only to find two or three diners already waiting at the entrance.
Some of them were even familiar faces.
Nuomi had brought the soup dumplings and preserved egg porridge back to the Lu residence yesterday. The soup dumplings were a huge hit with Lu Yiyao, who even gave her a reward of silver coins, and first thing this morning, she had demanded Nuomi go buy them again.
Seeing Jiang Mo, Nuomi’s eyes lit up slightly, and she was just about to step forward to greet her.
Suddenly, several diners behind her who had also been waiting shoved her aside and rushed forward.
“Boss Jiang is here, give me a portion of crispy fried pork!”
“Morning, Boss Jiang! I want sweet and sour fish!”
“Boss Jiang, two portions of crispy fried pork for me, and one sweet and sour fish!”
“Boss Jiang, can you make mine first? I’m in a rush…”
Nuomi stood outside the crowd, dumbfounded.
What crispy fried pork? What sweet and sour fish?
How come she had never heard of these before?
She hadn’t heard a word about them when she came yesterday morning either.
She quietly inquired of a manservant from a wealthy family standing nearby.
“You don’t even know? Yesterday, the Prince of Qin’s bridal procession passed by Sajin Bridge, and the Princess Consort of Qin stopped to rest at Peach Blossom Haven, staying the entire afternoon. Before leaving, she heavily praised the dishes here, especially the crispy fried pork and sweet and sour fish. That taste was simply peerless—to taste it once means your life wasn’t lived in vain.”
The manservant launched into a continuous stream of praise.
Without a second thought, Nuomi charged into the crowd.
“Boss Jiang! I want the crispy fried pork and sweet and sour fish too!”
Jiang Mo motioned for everyone to quiet down before she shared the bad news.
“There is no sweet and sour fish today.”
The crowd: QAQ!!!
Why?!
They refused to believe it!
Nuomi: “???”
“We didn’t manage to buy any fish today.”
As soon as Jiang Mo made the announcement, she and Iris removed the door panels of Peach Blossom Haven and began welcoming guests.
Didn’t manage to buy fish?
How could they possibly fail to buy fish?
The few who had wanted the sweet and sour fish were driving themselves crazy with frustration.
But since Jiang Mo had already spoken, there was nothing they could do.
“We’re all running open businesses. My master wants to eat sweet and sour fish, can’t you think of a way?” A manservant acting like a steward loudly demanded, clearly extremely dissatisfied with running a wasted errand.
As soon as those words came out, Nuomi was instantly displeased.
How dare someone criticize Boss Jiang?!
What if Boss Jiang got into a bad mood and the food didn’t taste good anymore?!
“Who is your Master Huang, teaching a servant without manners or upbringing like you?!” Relying on the backing of her young mistress, she put her hands on her hips and started yelling.
“And who are you? I’m talking to the shopkeeper, what business is it of yours?” Ding Yi glared with wide eyes, a trace of anger flashing within them.
“Of course it’s my business! I came to buy breakfast and crispy fried pork, and you go out of your way to pick a bone with Boss Jiang. Is it Boss Jiang’s fault that there’s no fish? Talking to her like that—what if it ruins her good mood and the food doesn’t taste as good anymore?”
Hearing this, the onlookers felt it made a lot of sense.
“Not being able to buy fish is definitely not Boss Jiang’s problem. I remember fishmongers are rare around here, only having about a dozen fish a day,” someone chimed in to help.
“Exactly, do you expect Boss Jiang to conjure a fish out of thin air for you?”
“What an unreasonable fuss!”
Ding Yi hadn’t expected so many people to turn on him together, his face turning a shade of mottled green and red.
Utterly ridiculous. If they had all followed his lead in pressuring the shopkeeper, the shopkeeper would have eventually found a way to buy fish. She was just a woman, after all, and couldn’t argue against all of them.
“Think what you want! Truly lacking any sense of tact!” Suppressing the anger in his heart, he coldly dropped those words and left.
Having chased the man away, Nuomi even turned around to comfort Jiang Mo, handling the situation from start to finish without Jiang Mo having to utter a single word, taking exceptionally good care of Jiang Mo’s mood.
Jiang Mo wasn’t angry at all; on the contrary, she was quite happy, delighted to have diners who defended her like this.
Nuomi: “Since Boss Jiang couldn’t buy fish today, we can just wait until there is fish to eat it. Boss Jiang doesn’t need to worry.”
Before Jiang Mo could speak, a sudden flash of inspiration struck someone.
“Hey?! Boss Jiang, if I bring my own fish, would you be willing to help make it into sweet and sour fish?!”
If Boss Jiang couldn’t buy fish, he could go try and get some!
He remembered there were occasionally fish sellers at the Jiangzhou docks in the mornings!
Jiang Mo pondered for a moment. “Today is fine.”
Considering they had defended her and that Peach Blossom Haven was just getting started and wasn’t too busy yet, she agreed.
The words barely left her lips when the minds of the people before her suddenly sparked into action. Some already turned tail and ran to find fish.
Nuomi paused for a few seconds, then bolted toward the docks at a full sprint.
Xu Chanhua ordered people to unload a dozen freshly caught big fish from the boat, setting up a small fish stall right on the dock.
Her gaze kept stealing toward a familiar spot. Seeing it empty once again, she grew more and more anxious the longer she looked.
How come she hadn’t seen the chicken soup wonton stall at all lately?
Could something have happened to them?
Xu Xiaobao ran off the boat looking listless.
“Mom, I want to eat candied haws, I want chicken soup wontons…”
Xu Chanhua sighed softly. “Say no more, Mom wants them too.”
She pulled over a small wooden stool and sat down.
She had quite a few fish today; she reckoned she’d be selling until noon.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, a figure darted up to the stall in a flash.
“Give me two fish! Hurry, hurry, I’m in a rush!”
Xu Chanhua opened her mouth, about to say six copper coins a catty, leaving plenty of room for the other person to bargain.
Instead, the customer pulled out a piece of silver bullion and tossed it straight at her.
Xu Chanhua: “!!!”
Her face broke into a wide grin. “Right away, please hold on a moment!”
Before the final syllable of her words could finish fading, another young woman darted over.
Panting heavily, Nuomi pulled copper coins from her pouch. “Two fish, give me the biggest ones!”
Then another person came sprinting up.
“Fish seller! The fish seller is right here!”
“Don’t grab them all, save one for me!”
“And one for me!”
In the blink of an eye, Xu Chanhua’s fish stall was completely surrounded.
It was Xu Chanhua’s first time being so popular at the docks, leaving her both flattered and curious about what on earth had happened. Why were all these servants, pageboys, and maidservants running over to buy fish?
Could it be that eating fish was suddenly becoming a trend among wealthy families in Jiangzhou?
Fortunately, her little son was just as curious as she was, lifting his little head and chattering away with questions.
While scaling and gutting fish, Xu Chanhua kept her ears pricked to eavesdrop.
So it turned out that a small restaurant that made exceptionally delicious fish had opened in Jiangzhou.
But what was so good about fish?
She ate fish all the time on the boat. Sometimes when they couldn’t dock and go ashore, she ate it multiple meals a day until she was sick of it, and it had too many bones.
Xu Chanhua thought absentmindedly.
It wasn’t anywhere near as good as chicken soup wontons.
Would that young woman stop setting up her stall altogether from now on?
When someone else came to buy fish later, she took one look, saw the stall was empty, and dismissed them, preparing to take her son back to the boat.
Xu Xiaobao put his hands behind his back and chuckled.
“Mom, let’s go stroll around the town; we haven’t been in a long time.”
“Go where? Your dad is still waiting on the boat.” Xu Chanhua patted his little head. “Let’s go back!”
Twisting and turning shyly, Xu Xiaobao brought out the hand he’d been hiding behind his back—he was actually holding a massive fish!!
Xu Chanhua’s face darkened.
“Why were you hiding a fish?”
“Mom, let’s go eat fish at that restaurant they were talking about. It’s sweet and sour fish, it’s sweet!”
“You only ever think about eating!” Xu Chanhua scolded.
“You have no room to talk, Mom! You come down to the docks every day just to see if the pretty older sister is out setting up her stall, don’t you? Maybe they just changed locations, let’s go into town and look around. We can eat some fish along the way, and we’ll find it!” Xu Xiaobao argued eloquently.
Xu Chanhua took a deep breath.
“Jiangzhou is huge, it’s not like you can find whatever you want just by saying so.”
Seeing she was reluctant to go, Xu Xiaobao pouted and acted spoiled. “Mom, let’s just go! Just once, the very last time!”
Xu Chanhua closed her eyes for a moment, ultimately giving in to her younger son.
Mother and son brought the fish along, following the route people had just described until they reached Sajin Bridge, where they easily located the newly opened small restaurant.
“Wow! Mom! It’s candied haws!” Xu Xiaobao pointed at the straw pole standing at the entrance of Peach Blossom Haven.
Xu Chanhua looked closely, and sure enough, it was.
Could it be…
Her heart began to thump wildly.
She led her son inside Peach Blossom Haven.
The restaurant wasn’t large, but it made up for it with cleanliness and warmth. Tables and chairs were arranged by the windows, with bamboo curtains separating the spaces between tables. Fresh, unknown wild wildflowers sat on the counter in small vases. Since food service didn’t seem instantaneous, most diners sat waiting for their meals.
A fierce, dominating, rich fragrance accompanied by a loud sizzle came flying out from the direction of the kitchen, knocking Xu Chanhua into a daze.
What kind of smell was this, smelling so incredible?!
She couldn’t help swallowing a mouthful of saliva.
Along with a cheerful shout:
“Crispy fried pork is coming up!”
The familiar figure lifted the kitchen curtain carrying a tray, appearing right before Xu Chanhua’s eyes.
“Mom! It’s the older sister who was with the pretty older sister!” Xu Xiaobao said happily.
Iris delivered two plates of crispy fried pork to their respective tables before guiding Xu Chanhua and her son to a seat.
Having often seen the two of them back when they ran a street stall, they could be considered old acquaintances.
Xu Chanhua chided affectionately, “You two opened up a restaurant without even telling us regular customers, making us wait at the docks all the time.”
She meant no blame, merely venting a bit of light grumbling.
Iris’s cheeks flushed red, clearly feeling a bit embarrassed. She brought over a pot of tea to treat the two of them and then carried away the prepared large fish.
“Mom! I want candied haws!” Xu Xiaobao tugged on Xu Chanhua’s sleeve.
Xu Chanhua glared at him. “Eat, eat, eat! You were the one whining to eat fish, and now you’re whining to eat candied haws. Is there anything you don’t want to eat? Sit properly and wait for food! Drink some water first!”
She pulled over a round, blue-and-white porcelain teapot.
The teapot looked exquisite and unique, showing that careful thought had gone into picking it out.
When the water was poured into the teacups, Xu Chanhua noticed it turned out to be a reddish-brown color. Bringing it close to her nose, she caught the sweet-and-sour fragrance of plums.
A look of surprise flashed in her eyes. Before she could even take a sip, her son beside her was already crying out.
“Mom! This water tastes so good!!”
Xu Chanhua took a small taste. The blended flavors of hawthorn and plums glided lightly across her taste buds like a fresh breeze, appetizing and mouth-watering. Sweet and sour, she fell in love with it in a single gulp.
She couldn’t help savoring it over and over again, and within a few gulps, her cup was empty.
Xu Chanhua reached out to pull the teapot over, only to discover that while she had been carefully tasting hers, her son had already finished the entire pot of hawthorn and sour plum soup.
Xu Chanhua: “…”
When Iris came over with the menu and bamboo slips, she met Xu Chanhua’s conflicted gaze.
“Older sister! We want more of this water!” Xu Xiaobao pointed at the teapot.
Iris had a sudden realization. “That’s simple, older sister will go get some right away.”
“Wait,” Xu Chanhua smiled. “Better not. After all, we came here to eat, we shouldn’t keep buying these drinks.”
Even though it really was delicious.
Even an adult mother like her loved drinking it.
Sigh…
Iris blinked and smiled as well.
“You jest. This hawthorn and sour plum soup is free of charge; how could we charge silver just because everyone comes here to eat and wants a drink of water when they’re thirsty?”
Xu Chanhua was shocked.
“What? You don’t have to spend silver on this?”
It tasted so good. If it were summer, it would beat those roadside herbal tea stalls by who knows how much, and the business would definitely be booming.
“Dining at our little shop comes with one type of tea provided free of charge; other items require payment,” Iris explained.
Xu Chanhua understood, feeling inwardly that this owner was truly wonderful and knew how to do business.
Because of this, while other restaurants only offered plain water, they fell short by comparison when it came to treating their diners.
People would definitely prefer flocking to restaurants with better hospitality.
“Are the two of you ordering directly, or drawing lots to leave it to fate?”
Xu Chanhua hesitated. “We already brought a fish, having more will be too much to finish…”
“Mom! I’ll draw!” Xu Xiaobao reached out and pulled two sticks from the hot dish bamboo cylinder.
The bamboo sticks clattered onto the tabletop, and he tilted his head, staring at them for a long time without recognizing the characters written on them.
“Salt and pepper crispy fried pork, and shrimp and egg custard,” Iris read out the dish names.
Xu Chanhua: “Is crispy fried pork the kind of dish you just served to those two tables, the one that smells extra fragrant?”
Iris nodded.
Xu Chanhua made up her mind immediately.
“Great! We’ll take those!”
If it tasted good, she and her son would just finish it all!
If it didn’t taste good, they’d take it back to the boat for her husband!
At least nothing would go to waste!
Ever since Ding Yi had been driven away from Peach Blossom Haven with a scold, his anger hadn’t subsided.
“It’s just a small restaurant, just some sweet and sour fish—what’s so great about it? I refuse to believe that in a place as big as Jiangzhou, besides them, there isn’t a second place that can make sweet and sour fish!”
Muttering to himself, he walked toward the center of the street. Passing by Drunken Fragrance Pavilion, he suddenly heard a waiter inside shouting:
“Today’s new dish, sweet and sour fish!”
Ding Yi froze, instantly overjoyed, and happily trotted right inside.
Just as he thought, there definitely had to be other restaurants that knew how to make it.
Once he brought it back to Master Huang, it would count as completing the errand his master had given him.
“Give me a portion of sweet and sour fish, pack it in a food box to go!”
The waiter responded with a beaming smile. “No problem, honored guest, please wait a moment, we’ll make it right away!”
Ding Yi sat on the wooden chair at Drunken Fragrance Pavilion like pins and needles, stretching his neck to peer toward the kitchen every half-cup-of-tea’s length.
When he counted to the seventh time, he finally saw the waiter approaching with a vermilion lacquer food box and a smiling face.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, honored guest, your sweet and sour fish!”
A corner of the food box was lifted, revealing a golden fish body drenched in amber sauce, with scallion shreds seared by hot oil drifting with a charred aroma. Ding Yi swallowed hard, hurriedly paying the silver coins, and rushed back toward the residence clutching the food box.
“Master! Master!”
Ding Yi was still panting when he pushed open the study door. “The sweet and sour fish you wanted is here!”
“Why did it take so long?” Master Huang looked somewhat displeased.
“I ran into a small hitch which delayed things a bit, but this fish is freshly out of the wok, piping hot and just right for eating!” Ding Yi flattered with a smile.
Master Huang put down the book in his hand, picked up ivory chopsticks, and clipped a piece of fish belly meat. The moment it hit his mouth, he frowned—the outer crust of the fish was crispy enough, but the inside tasted somewhat fishy. The sugar syrup was cloyingly sweet, and the sourness felt dull and muted, lacking any sort of brightness.
“What on earth is this garbage?!”
Master Huang slammed his chopsticks down, tea soup splashing onto the Xuan paper at the edge of the desk.
“Are you intentionally trying to fob off slop on me? Is this the sweet and sour fish from Peach Blossom Haven?”
He stared at Ding Yi with sharp, displeasure-filled eyes.
“It’s… it is…” Ding Yi said guiltily.
“Impossible, this doesn’t taste anything like the sweet and sour fish from Peach Blossom Haven!” Master Huang furrowed his brow deeply.
Ding Yi truly didn’t understand.
Since they were both called sweet and sour fish, the tastes should be somewhat similar. Besides, Drunken Fragrance Pavilion had been open for quite a long time and was rather famous in Jiangzhou; it should only be stronger than that small diner, and even if it didn’t taste as good, it shouldn’t taste like slop.
Master Huang’s face darkened. “You’d better start telling the truth right now.”
Terrified, Ding Yi felt his knees tremble and dropped heavily to his knees.
“Master Huang, please spare your anger, it’s this subordinate’s fault. It truly wasn’t that this subordinate was unwilling to buy it at Peach Blossom Haven, but Peach Blossom Haven isn’t selling sweet and sour fish today! The owner said they didn’t manage to buy fish today, which is why this subordinate went to Drunken Fragrance Pavilion. I never imagined Drunken Fragrance Pavilion would dare to fool us by giving you such unpalatable fish.”
He explained in a panic.
Master Huang closed his eyes.
If he hadn’t tasted Peach Blossom Haven’s fish, Drunken Fragrance Pavilion’s version might have still been edible.
He had been lucky yesterday to eat the sweet and sour fish right at Peach Blossom Haven, so tasting Drunken Fragrance Pavilion’s today felt like comparing the heavens to the earth.
A sheer chasm of difference.
“I’ll have people send you off to the country estate; you won’t need to stay by my side from now on,” Master Huang said.
Ding Yi turned ashen-faced.
Xu Chanhua and her son didn’t have to wait long.
Crispy fried pork cooked quickly, and to save time, Jiang Mo cooked them several plates at a time, so their turn came up very fast.
Iris carried the crispy fried pork over and gently placed it on the table.
“Here is the crispy fried pork, please enjoy, you two.”
A wave of hot steam mixed with the fragrance of Sichuan peppercorns hit their faces.
Xu Xiaobao stood on tiptoe, leaning over the table with his nose almost touching the edge of the porcelain plate.
The golden-brown crispy fried pork pieces were neatly stacked, their outer crusts bulging with tiny, dense pores like a dusting of fine gold foil, and the oil pooling at the bottom of the porcelain plate was still sizzling.
Xu Chanhua gently poked it with her chopsticks, and the crust immediately gave a crisp crunch, leaking a thread of rich, savory meat fragrance through the cracked opening.
Xu Xiaobao couldn’t wait any longer; he picked up a piece, opened his mouth, and bit off a huge chunk.
The crust shattered into thousands of fine crumbs between his teeth, falling like a flurry into his porcelain bowl to reveal the pinkish-white meat strips inside. The meat was as tender as freshly steamed rice cake, releasing juices when bitten into, bursting with the pungent aromas of Sichuan pepper and star anise right on the tip of the tongue.
The moment Xu Chanhua bit into half a piece, the corners of her eyes twitched softly.
For no other reason than—it was simply too delicious!!
Even more marvelous was that hidden within the meat strips were tiny, dotted specks of Sichuan peppercorns. When chewed, a sudden numbness rushed to the root of the tongue, making one involuntarily want to swallow more saliva.
Fragrant and numb!
Peerless, absolutely peerless!
“Mom, this crispy fried pork is so good, much better than the food we ate at the big restaurants!”
Xu Xiaobao wiped his mouth with his sleeve as he spoke, not forgetting to throw in a jab, “I told you to follow me here next time. Look at the Drunken Fragrance Pavilion you took me to last time—their food isn’t even one-ten-thousandth as good as this pretty older sister’s place.”
Soon, the shrimp egg custard and sweet and sour fish were also served at the table.
For the two of them, who had never seen sweet and sour fish before, the appearance of the fish arching up like a dragon leaping through a dragon gate was an extremely eye-catching sight.
The whole fish on the plate was fried golden and fluffy, its fins flaring like a phoenix tail, and the poured sweet and sour sauce formed a semi-transparent amber color, bubbling with tiny bubbles where it coated the meat sections.
Xu Xiaobao let out a loud “Whoa!”
Xu Chanhua was left speechless from shock for a long time.
Was this even food to eat?
It clearly looked like the gorgeous carved jade artifacts from the House of a Thousand Gold—so stunningly pretty, how could anyone bear to use chopsticks on it?
She used a spoon to gently push aside the sweet syrup, revealing that the starch shell on the surface of the fish meat was as thin as cicada wings, and the very tip of her chopsticks cracking it open instantly revealed snow-white fish meat inside.
The first bite of fish meat almost made Xu Chanhua bite her tongue.
The outer crispy shell was so crunchy you could hear the sound, yet once bitten through, it was instantly saturated by the sour-sweet syrup, transforming into a tender, smooth sweet-and-sour coat. The fish meat inside was as tender as tofu while retaining a good chew, absorbing the sauce completely. The sourness wrapped in honey fragrance was so intense that even the bones were fried until crispy, making them completely unnoticeable. After eating one bite, she wanted a second bite immediately.
Good heavens.
Was this something humans were supposed to eat?
This was clearly food for immortals!
Xu Chanhua swore this was the best fish she had ever eaten in her entire life.
From now on, the fish she cooked on the boat were nothing more than garbage—she would never eat them again!
Ancient times had Yu Boya breaking his qin out of friendship; today she was swearing off cooking fish forever!!
If she ever cooked it even once, it would be an insult to fish!!