jdhmnovel Chapter 322 I'll dig it out and beat you!
Chapter 322 I'll dig it out and beat you!
Upon returning to the Ningyang County government office, Yang Shaofeng felt as if he had been reborn.
A reclining chair, a small table, a small clay stove, a kettle, tea set, and small dragon-shaped tea cakes were all arranged.
Yang Shaofeng changed into a short-sleeved shirt, first throwing himself onto the recliner like a salted fish, and then stretching lazily with great comfort.
This is what life is all about!
The little maidservant dutifully boiled water and made tea. Jin'er chased away the cook and cooked the meal herself in the kitchen. Yu'er chattered incessantly around Jin'er.
This is no more comfortable than being that damn prefect in Dengzhou.
Speaking of which, that little maid is different now. She is now a proper, albeit low-ranking, female official in the princess's mansion, receiving a salary from the emperor.
Although the money wasn't much, only Wu Yanhu, Chen Mo, and Lü Peng had official ranks throughout the entire Ningyang County. The yamen runners in the county government also received government pay, but they were merely government-paid clerks.
Important note: Being "not in the mainstream" simply means having no official rank, not that one is not an official.
During the Hongwu era, the system of female officials was very popular, and there were many female officials in the harem, all of whom were under the jurisdiction of Empress Ma.
Or to put it more bluntly, or to be more pragmatic, it means that no ordinary person in the entire Ningyang County is a suitable match for this little maid.
After the maid finished brewing the tea, Yang Shaofeng sat up, took a sip, and was about to lie back down like a salted fish when he saw Jin'er and Yu'er each carrying a plate out of the kitchen.
After arriving at the small table, Jin'er put down the plate in her hand first and said to Yang Shaofeng with a smile, "This is the poached chicken that I learned from Aunt Liu. Husband, please try it and see how it tastes."
Yu'er chuckled and put down the plate, saying, "These are noodles that my sister made."
Yang Shaofeng quickly nodded and picked up his chopsticks to take a piece of chicken.
"Fresh, tender, smooth, and fragrant."
After chewing just a couple of times, Yang Shaofeng suddenly felt something was wrong again.
Why is the chicken skin crispy and tender?
According to the authentic way of making poached chicken, the chicken skin should indeed have a slightly crispy texture.
However, to achieve crispy chicken skin, you need to soak the chicken in ice water the moment it comes out of the pot. If you skip this step, the chicken skin will be smooth and tender, but it will be difficult to get a crispy texture.
Seeing Yang Shaofeng stop chewing, Jin'er asked with a hint of nervousness, "Husband, is something wrong?"
Yang Shaofeng swallowed the chicken in his mouth and asked in surprise, "It would be normal to make such poached chicken in winter, but it's only July now. How did you manage to make the skin of this poached chicken so crispy and tender?"
Seeing that Yang Shaofeng was only curious about the chicken skin, Jin'er couldn't help but smile and said, "I thought something was wrong with it - actually, I heard from Aunt Liu that if you rinse the poached chicken in ice water in winter, the skin will become crispy and tender, so I made some ice."
ice?
Yang Shaofeng looked up at the sky, then down at his short jacket, and then stared blankly at Jin'er, asking, "Where did this ice come from at this time? It couldn't have been transported from the capital, could it?"
Jin'er couldn't help but chuckle and said, "My husband is really joking. The capital is a thousand miles away from our Ningyang County. Even the sturdiest ice would melt by the time it's transported here. This ice was made by me using saltpeter."
After saying that, Jin'er simply got up and went back to the kitchen. A little while later, she came out with a basin. The basin was mostly filled with dense frost, and in the middle of the frost was a smaller basin, which contained a little water with ice crystals.
Yang Shaofeng stared blankly at the basin, then at Jin'er, who was looking rather smug, and asked, "Where did you learn how to make ice with saltpeter, my wife?"
Jin'er replied with a smile, "Naturally, I learned it from books. Although I have never been able to make ice blocks, I can always make these frosts and ice shards."
Yang Shaofeng was momentarily speechless.
Making ice with saltpeter? When did this must-have cool trick for time travelers become so common?
My iced drinks, my chilled watermelon, so many ways to make money just vanished like that?
Seeing Yang Shaofeng staring blankly at the basin of ice water, Jin'er smiled again and said, "Husband, stop looking at the ice water and hurry up and eat the noodles, or they won't taste good later."
A simple bowl of hand-pulled noodles topped with a sauce made from diced celery and eggs.
The noodles are smooth and chewy, and the broth is perfectly salty and savory. One bite of noodles and most of your fatigue will disappear.
Yang Shaofeng slurped down his noodles, occasionally picking up a piece of poached chicken. After finishing, he gave Jin'er a thumbs up: "My wife has excellent skills. If someone could learn them, they could probably open a shop."
Jin'er blushed and said softly, "I'm glad my husband likes it. I'll make it for him again in the future."
Yang Shaofeng hummed in agreement, then suddenly remembered the chilled watermelon he had just been thinking about, so he looked at Jin'er and asked, "Wife, are there any watermelons for sale in the capital?"
Jin'er nodded and said, "Yes, but watermelon needs to be rinsed in ice water to cool you down and quench your thirst. If you eat it directly like this, it won't taste very good."
Ah.
Ha ha.
That guy surnamed Yun is a liar!
This guy made a big show of himself by selling watermelon smoothies when he ran off to the Tang Dynasty. Poor me, I can't even make money selling watermelon smoothies in the Ming Dynasty, let alone make a show of myself!
No, I'll have to find a way to ask Old Deng for permission someday to transfer me to the Chang'an area to be a county magistrate or something.
I'll dig you out and beat you!
……
"The three of you are in charge of setting the questions. Once you have them, bring them to me for review."
"The requirements aren't high; they're just the normal difficulty level of the preliminary examinations for students aiming to become successful."
His idea of using saltpeter to make ice to impress others failed, as did his plan to use watermelon smoothies to woo girls. And since he couldn't be transferred to Chang'an to take up an official post anytime soon, Yang Shaofeng became increasingly annoyed and simply started to mess with the three oxen and horses in Ningyang County.
Setting questions?
Why should I, a dignified sixth-rank county magistrate, neglect my three servants?
Of course, Yang Shaofeng has never been the kind of heartless capitalist who wants his horse to run but doesn't feed it, much less the kind of exploitative man like Lao Deng.
After Wu Yanhu, Chen Mo, and Lü Peng agreed to set questions for the children's examination, Yang Shaofeng continued, "And you three, I told you before that you should study hard when you become officials. Now that the imperial examination has been held, if you want to take the exam, you should prepare early so that you can go to Jinan Prefecture next month to participate in the provincial examination."
However, Wu Yanhu shook his head slightly, cupped his hands towards Yang Shaofeng and said, "Your Excellency, the three of us have already discussed it and will no longer think about the imperial examinations. We will just stay in Ningyang County peacefully."