“Oh, madam shopkeeper, why did you make so much? I just asked for a bowl of plain noodles, nothing else. Why did you add meat?”
“We… My daughter and I came to the city to find work, and we have to be frugal with our food and drink. We didn’t bring that much money…”
Shen Miao had to explain with a smile:
“Don’t worry, it’s not forced selling. You came at the right time; today is my first day of business, and you’re the first customer at noon. I have a rule at home: the first customer gets a fifty percent discount. Don’t worry, even with the meat, it’s only four wen.”
The old woman sat down doubtfully: “Really?”
“Really.”
Shen Miao pulled her sleeve out of the old woman’s bony hand and pointed to the kitchen:
“Take your time, I’ll go back to work.”
“Ah…” The old woman sat down awkwardly, her dazed gaze falling on the large bowl in front of her.
After a while, she tremblingly picked up her chopsticks and first gave most of the noodles to her daughter, carefully picking out the meat and putting it all into her daughter’s bowl.
Shen Miao went back to the kitchen to clean the chopping board and wash the pot, but she couldn’t help but secretly glance at them.
The daughter didn’t know how to use chopsticks well, so the old woman used a spoon to break the noodles into smaller pieces so her daughter could scoop them into her mouth.
Seeing her daughter eat with relish, she finally started eating the mostly soup noodles in her bowl.
Shen Miao saw her take a bite and pause, then gradually start eating voraciously, finally drinking all the soup.
She smiled slightly and went back to kneading the dough.
In this era, there were no prenatal checkups, and the concept of “sugar baby” was unknown.
These special children were born into the world, and it wasn’t the mother’s fault.
Moreover… they might die within a few years due to congenital deafness, intellectual disabilities, heart disease, or digestive tract deformities.
Even if they survived, they might be abandoned or even killed by their clan or elders.
Therefore, in ancient times, even in this prosperous Song Dynasty, it was rare to see special children among ordinary commoners, let alone a grown-up girl.
In such a male-dominated era, this old woman’s daughter had been raised to adulthood.
She didn’t know she would give birth to a mentally challenged child, and after finding out, she didn’t abandon her but gritted her teeth and raised her.
Shen Miao couldn’t imagine how much effort and how many external and internal battles she had to endure to raise her daughter to adulthood in such a world.
A bowl of noodles was her tribute to this maternal love.
She also had another thought, wanting to ask them in detail after they had a good, peaceful meal.
But as soon as they finished eating, they seemed afraid that Shen Miao would change her mind or ask for more money and hurriedly left.
“Madam shopkeeper, thank you. The money is on the table.”
Shen Miao heard the voice and poked her head out.
The old woman had already pulled her daughter and hurriedly ran out of the shop.
She quickly came out from the kitchen and called after them,
“Hey, wait!”
But they ran even faster and disappeared around the corner in the blink of an eye.
She could only go back helplessly.
On the long table in the corner, there were two empty bowls and four shiny copper coins.
After that, no more customers came to the shop.
As Shen Miao expected, lunch wasn’t a formal meal at this time, and few people gave up their nap to eat out.
Many shops simply closed half their doors and went back to rest.
Inside and outside, it was quiet.
Shen Miao finished her work and, bored, propped her chin on her hand.
The sunlight shone through the window lattice, casting a grid on her body.
It was so warm that she also dozed off on the kitchen counter.
Perhaps because she had seen the mother and daughter, she seemed to return to her childhood in her previous life in her dream.
She stood on a stool, secretly frying the fresh ribbon fish her grandfather had just bought.
She had been ahead in cooking since she was young, and when she sneaked food, she was the chef, with her cousins and siblings surrounding the stove, holding chopsticks and waiting.
The sunlight was orange, so this old dream was also dyed orange.
Finally, they sat on the kitchen floor, eating…
After eating several beltfish, which were so salty that they were searching all over the house for water to drink, Shen Miao and the other mischievous kids were scolded one by one by their grandparents.
However, they just glanced at each other and burst into laughter despite the scolding.
As the sun gradually set in the west, she was awakened by the gentle knocking sound on the half-wall counter.
When she woke up, she was still somewhat confused between dreams and reality, as it had been a long time since she last dreamed about her past life.
With a few crooked red marks on her face from the pillow, Shen Miao unconsciously tidied her loose bun and, with slightly dazed steps, lifted the curtain.
Unexpectedly, the visitor seemed to be peeking inside to see if anyone was there.
As soon as Shen Miao lifted the curtain, she met a pair of clear and bright eyes, startling both her and the visitor, who both leaned back abruptly, creating some distance before recognizing each other.
Before her stood Xie Qi, wearing a scholar’s hat and a plain, elegant robe with wide sleeves, exuding a graceful demeanor… but leaning on a crutch.
Looking down a bit, she saw Yanshu, who was holding onto the counter and smiling up at her.
Shen Miao was fully awake now: “Brother Xie Qi?!”
“Yes, Miss Shen, I wish you a prosperous opening and a smooth, successful future in all your endeavors.”
Xie Qi’s gaze slid over the red marks on Shen Miao’s face, a hint of amusement in his eyes.
He signaled Yanshu to present a long-necked white porcelain vase with jasmine flowers.
He took it and placed it next to the wooden carved God of Wealth on the counter.
“The jasmine in my mother’s courtyard bloomed overnight, filling the air with fragrance. I thought it looked nice, so I picked a couple of branches to bring as a congratulatory gift.”
A couple of branches?
It was more than that.
In order to select the most aesthetically pleasing branches for the vase, Brother Qi had squatted there, cutting left and right, nearly turning the carefully nurtured jasmine into a bald plant.
When his mother woke up from her nap and saw the fallen leaves and flowers all over the ground, she was so angry that she grabbed the long stick behind the door and rushed to the front yard to beat up the still-drunk Third Brother, who was so confused that he could only dodge and apologize, saying,
“Mom, I’m sorry…”
Poor Third Brother, always so unreliable, now unjustly beaten.
Yanshu scratched his head, not exposing his master.
“Brother Qi, you’re too kind. Next time you come, please don’t bring anything. Besides, didn’t you already send Yanshu over with a gift yesterday? There’s no need to bring another one!”
“ However, your calligraphy is truly excellent. Hanging it in my small shop feels a bit unworthy of it, and I haven’t thanked you for that yet. Also, I heard from Yanshu that you were injured. Why are you out and about?”
Shen Miao gestured towards the two calligraphy pieces on the wall and bowed in thanks again.
As she lowered her head, she noticed Xie Qi’s leg, wrapped in bandages and sandwiched between two wooden planks, peeking out from his robe.
She added with concern,
“Is your hand better? Your leg looks serious; you should be careful. They say it takes a hundred days to recover from a bone injury. You should rest more in bed.”
“My hand is fine; I’ve been applying medicinal oil for two days and it’s already better,” Xie Qi said without changing his expression.
“I just came out to change the dressing on my leg.”
Yanshu secretly thought to himself: Originally, they had arranged for the old doctor from the Zhao family to come daily to change the dressing, but today Brother Qi insisted he was feeling stifled and, after informing his mother, decided to go out by himself to change the dressing and get some fresh air.
And here he was, changing the dressing at Shen’s Noodle Shop.
As Yanshu pouted behind Xie Qi, Xie Qi had already complimented everything in Miss Shen’s shop, from the lanterns hanging from the beams to the green bricks on the floor.
Xie Qi’s compliments were filled with classical references and each one was unique.
Although they weren’t overly exaggerated or direct, they still made Shen Miao blush.
She hurriedly said,
“Did you only have snacks for lunch? Are you hungry now? Brother Qi, you’ve helped me so much these days. I’ve been wanting to thank you but didn’t know how. How about I make you a bowl of noodles?”
Xie Qi didn’t refuse, and Yanshu was even more delighted.
The master and servant sat down at the table closest to the counter and smiled,
“Then we’ll trouble Miss Shen.”
“It’s no trouble, you sit… Let me think, you’re still injured, so it’s not good to eat anything too heavy, as it might interfere with the medicine. How about I make you a bowl of ‘muddled noodles’?”
Xie Qi looked up at her.
Miss Shen seemed unaware that she had a habit of smiling unconsciously whenever she was relaxed.
When she smiled, her eyes would naturally crinkle, revealing two small canine teeth.
She never covered her mouth with a handkerchief or fan like other women to maintain the dignity and grace of a lady.
She seemed to never think about such things; she simply smiled when she felt like it, her cheeks slightly pink, her eyes curved, and her teeth bright, glowing in the afternoon sunlight.
She always reminded him of a lotus swaying in the endless green of the lotus leaves in the midsummer garden of the Xie family’s mountain villa.
The sunlight slowly moved from the zenith to the west, spilling over the long street and gradually filling Shen’s small shop.
Xie Qi gazed at her standing in the warm yellow light for a long time and couldn’t help but smile as well:
“Yes, thank you.”
He didn’t know what “muddled noodles” were, but at this moment, he too became muddled and didn’t want to ask.
Only Yanshu, with his mind full of food, curiously followed her:
“Miss Shen, what are ‘muddled noodles’? I’ve never heard of them!”
“You’ll know when I make them.”
Shen Miao smiled and blinked, then turned and entered the kitchen.
The reason why “muddled noodles” are called that is naturally because you put in whatever you have.
In the past, when people were poor and didn’t have enough food, they would use various vegetables and wild herbs to make up for it.
Whatever was on hand would end up in the pot.
Like dumpling soup, it’s nutritious and good for the stomach.
But later, when Shen Miao went to the Central Plains to try the “muddled noodles” in those big restaurants, this dish born out of poverty had become exceptionally refined.
It wasn’t just a sticky mess; the master chefs made it very meticulously.
The noodles were hand-rolled, and they used millet from the Taihang Mountains to make the broth, then added all sorts of good vegetables and meat, and finally the noodles.
A bowl of “muddled noodles” could be thick, fragrant, delicious, and nutritious.
Miss Shen didn’t explain what “muddled noodles” were, leaving Yanshu’s heart itching with curiosity.
He couldn’t help but tiptoe and peek through the curtain, watching her busy at the counter.
Xie Qi also took the opportunity to see her busy figure.
“Miss Shen, your kitchen is so clean,” Yanshu suddenly exclaimed after watching for a while.
Even in the Xie family’s kitchen, when Chef Fang was too busy to clean up, it could become a mess with vegetable leaves and eggshells everywhere, and the meat and vegetables on the chopping board piled up in disarray.
Not only was there dirty water on the floor that hadn’t been swept, but also…
But Miss Shen’s kitchen was not only clean with pots, pans, and utensils, but the chopping board was also neatly arranged with various ingredients Shen Miao needed to make noodles.
Vegetables and meat were cut and washed, covered with bamboo covers, and even the dough was kneaded and resting.
Extra vegetables were all cleaned up and stacked in the corner vegetable baskets and wooden shelves.
A whole piece of wood was nailed to the wall, with neatly arranged wooden pegs.
The spatulas, spoons, and knives were all tied with hemp rope at the handles and hung on the wall.
Although the kitchen was filled with things, it was spotless and well-organized.
Even the rags were washed clean, either hung up or folded into squares and placed on the table corner, making it very pleasing to the eye.
Yanshu was more and more impressed as he looked around.
He stretched his neck and saw the vegetables in the basket, exclaiming in admiration:
“Miss Shen, how did you even stack the radishes in the basket so neatly?”
On the wooden shelf opposite the chopping board, there were several wicker baskets filled with white and red radishes.
Not only were they separated by color, but each radish was also stacked with the leafy top facing the same direction, layer by layer, neatly arranged.
Shen Miao also peeked at the radish basket on the ground and smiled:
“I didn’t stack them; it was Ji Ge. He helps me clean the kitchen every day. The kitchen can be this clean because, first, it’s a good habit to clean up while cooking, and second, Ji Ge is diligent and helpful. Whenever he comes back, he comes to help.”
She was used to cleaning up while cooking. Her father and grandfather’s kitchen rules were much stricter than this.
After all, hygiene in the kitchen is of utmost importance.
If the kitchen apprentices dared to make a mess with vegetable leaves everywhere, they would surely get a beating with the spatula.
Yanshu was deeply impressed and nodded seriously:
“Chef Fang should come and take a look, to learn properly. As a chef, he’s too careless!”
Xie Qi leaned on the counter, his gaze fixed on Shen Miao’s hands as she quickly chopped vegetables.
Miss Shen’s hands could not be described as “soft as a bud, smooth as cream.”
Her hands were long and strong, with well-proportioned joints.
The faint blue veins would rise and fall under her skin as she exerted force, and there was even a thin callus on the tiger’s mouth from holding the knife.
He looked down at his own hands.
His hands had calluses from martial arts and frequent injuries.
But they were very different.
He was quietly admiring Miss Shen as she cooked the noodles, feeling as if the air was filled with the rich aroma of cooking.
She had two stoves going at the same time, one frying peanuts and the other simmering a thick broth.
She worked methodically, busy but not flustered, like a female general commanding a thousand troops.
Miss Shen is really amazing, Xie Qi thought, feeling ashamed of himself for only knowing how to read and write and being clueless about cooking.
Just as he was watching intently, a tall, dark figure pushing three jars of wine barged into the half-open door of Shen’s backyard and walked straight into the kitchen, calling out:
“Miss, where should I put the wine you ordered?”
Xie Qi calmly turned his gaze, and the dark, burly man also looked over.
Their eyes met across the room.