On a corner of the bustling street, a man and a woman busily worked on their tasks. In front of them were two simple stoves, each topped with a pot.
One pot was filled with water that had already co to a boil, happily bubbling away.
The other pot contained a savory broth, with cubed at mingling in the hot soup. The rich aroma wafted through the air, causing passersby to stop in their tracks.
Another collaboration between Mu Shuangshuang and Lu Yuanfeng, and as always, it was perfect.
Lu Yuanfeng handled the heavy labor—kneading dough, carrying water, and stoking the fire—while Shuangshuang cut the at Lu Yuanfeng brought into cubes and placed them in the broth seasoned with star anise and cinnamon.
She had left in a hurry last night without instructing Lu Yuanfeng to add various supplentary ingredients to the at, so she needed to re-season it today, stewing the at in the pot to infuse it with flavor. When custors arrived later, she’d chop the at on the spot and make the at sandwiches.
The bread for the at sandwiches was sowhat different from stead buns. The dough only needed to be half-leavened, unlike stead buns which needed to be fully leavened, though the process was still quite tedious.
Shuangshuang first soaked an old dough starter in a bowl of water to use as yeast water. In ancient tis, there was no yeast powder, but there was a substitute.
After making buns, people always saved a small piece of old dough to use next ti during the leavening process.
"Lu Yuanfeng, you need to watch the dough kneading process closely; it’s a bit different from kneading dough for stead buns."
Speaking while demonstrating, Shuangshuang added the old dough water to the flour, stirring it with chopsticks until the flour in the bowl resembled snowflakes, and then began kneading the dough.
Bit by bit, the dough gradually beca smooth in her hands. Only after that did Shuangshuang wrap it in a cloth. In such hot weather, it seed an hour was enough for the dough to rise.
Following Shuangshuang’s steps, Lu Yuanfeng kneaded the remaining dough. While waiting for it to rise, he played with Black Mink on the side.
The Little Black Mink seed to have a good relationship with Lu Yuanfeng, chittering excitedly whenever it saw him.
Shuangshuang now realized that when the mink was angry or scared, it made a "hissing" sound, and when it was happy, it chittered nonstop, much like it was doing now.
The dough had almost risen, so Lu Yuanfeng placed the Black Mink into a small bag made of tree bark and strapped it onto his back, checking it multiple tis.
Now, Black Mink was quite valuable, so he couldn’t be careless at any ti.
After washing his hands, Lu Yuanfeng noticed a bundle of wild vegetables among the items Shuangshuang had brought. He asked her about it.
"Shuangshuang, do you want to sprinkle so water on the wild vegetables you brought? They’re about to wilt."
The weather was indeed the uniquely stifling sumr heat; even with the big trees blocking the sun, the stuffiness was palpable, so the vegetables wilting was quite normal.
"Go ahead and sprinkle so. I’ll take them to sell at the market later."
That bundle of wild vegetables could fetch a few coins.
"Why don’t you make soup with the wild vegetables? A bowl of soup for a single coin, I’m sure many would drink it."
Lu Yuanfeng thought that since the weather was hot, Shuangshuang’s at sandwiches might be a bit dry, and a soup could offer so relief.
"You keep an eye on things here, I’ll borrow a stove and make the soup."
"Then I’ll add more firewood."
Mu Shuangshuang headed to Aunt Wang’s house and returned shortly, borrowing a stove and a pot, thanks to Aunt Wang’s help.
The soup could be kept simple—just a vegetable broth with a bit of minced at.
Lu Yuanfeng watched as Shuangshuang cut the wild vegetables finely, took out a piece of semi-lean at, chopped it up, and set it aside before starting to slice ginger, garlic, and spring onions.
Shuangshuang’s cuts were particularly neat; the length and thickness were almost identical.
With three spoonfuls of clear oil heated up, the minced at and ginger, garlic, all went into the pot, which imdiately sizzled, releasing a wonderful aroma.
In the oil pot, the spices and minced at seed to dance, joyfully hissing and sizzling.
Mu Shuangshuang began to stir-fry them. Once the ginger and garlic had infused their aroma into the minced at, she added water.
"Lu Yuanfeng, add a little more fire, the water needs to co to a boil."
Lu Yuanfeng quickly added wood; he watched as Shuangshuang started working with the dough again, the leavened dough looking like a small toy in her hands, transford into a round shape in no ti.
Larger than a bun, yet it was more flat.
These round molds didn’t need steaming but were placed in the pot to fry. Frying two hundred pieces was indeed ti-consuming.
It was truly tiring, but compared to those carrying goods at the docks, Mu Shuangshuang felt that she and Lu Yuanfeng had it much easier at this mont.
The laborers worked all day, earning perhaps a dozen or twenty coins, enough to bloody their shoulders, and still couldn’t rest.
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Shuangshuang poured clear oil into the hot large pot and started simring the breads one by one.
Lu Yuanfeng played along, reducing the fla.
After simring for about two minutes, Shuangshuang turned them over, the bottom of the bread had turned yellow. She cheerfully said to Lu Yuanfeng, "Halfway there, now let’s see about the other side."
The first batch of breads was ready, and Aunt Wang ca to help again.
She brought two wicker baskets from her ho to hold the breads for Mu Shuangshuang. Obviously, two weren’t enough. Shuangshuang gave her a few more coins and had her borrow so more, since renting things here was cheaper than at the tavern.
It was Lu Yuanfeng’s first ti seeing this thod of making breads, and he was a little srized by it.
In the baskets, the golden breads lay there, emitting a unique fragrance.
Lu Yuanfeng’s stomach growled imdiately, having skipped breakfast.
Without a word, Shuangshuang picked up a bread, sliced it open with a knife, then fished a piece of at from the pot, chopped it up with so green peppers and mixed it together.
For the filling, she added a few spoonfuls of chili oil, sandwiched it between two pieces of bread, wrapped it in oiled paper, and handed it to Lu Yuanfeng.
"Eat up. Next ti, have breakfast before leaving. Such a long way, you don’t want to be hungry all day, do you? Silly."
As he accepted the at sandwich from Shuangshuang, Lu Yuanfeng quickly lowered his head, suddenly aware of the thumping in his chest, as if his heart was about to leap out.
The bread was hot in his hands, but he was reluctant to let go.
Reluctant to let go of the warmth in his hands.
So be it, foolish. If he could live like this for a lifeti, it wouldn’t be so bad.
If a lifeti...
Lu Yuanfeng took a bite of the at sandwich, his mouth filled with the aroma of at, the scent of bread, a hint of green pepper, and a spicy fragrance.
"Mmm... so delicious..." Lu Yuanfeng mumbled incoherently while chewing on the sandwich.
"Is it good? Later, save one each for Little Zhi Yuanbao and Xiao Han, and then have another for yourself. One small sandwich surely isn’t enough for a man."
As she spoke, Shuangshuang was already making Lu Yuanfeng a second sandwich, her movents skilled, whether cutting the bread or chopping the at.
Lu Yuanfeng squinted, watching the young girl in front of him earnestly prepare breakfast, his heart suddenly tingling.
"Shuangshuang, your hair is about to co loose."
At her forehead, a lock of hair had fallen over her cheek, obscuring her fair face.
"Can you fix it for ? My hands are tied."
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