novelSusiti Chapter 14: Huh? Why did you all eat the food I wanted to eat first!
Chapter 14: Huh? Why did you all eat the food I wanted to eat first!
The food container was open, and it was completely empty.
Only a lonely plate remained, with a white dough ball lying on it.
The dumpling looked a bit collapsed because it had been sitting for a while; the surface had hardened slightly and was no longer translucent, but you could still see the delicate eighteen pleats on top.
"What is this?" Li Shimin asked, pointing to the lone seedling.
Empress Zhangsun looked somewhat embarrassed and smoothed her hair. "Second Prince, these are just a few steamed buns..."
"steamed stuffed bun?"
Li Shimin chuckled in exasperation, "I've eaten steamed buns my whole life, and I've never seen one shaped like a chrysanthemum. And this smell... why does it smell like vinegar?"
He didn't say much, but stared intently at the plate with a resentful look, as if he were the head of the family but had been excluded.
The little ox felt uneasy under their gaze.
She looked at the empty plate in her arms, then at the lonely steamed bun, and then at her father's face, which seemed to say, "I'm so hungry and I feel so wronged."
The little dumpling sighed with a conflicted expression, put down the plate in his arms, and reluctantly stretched out his chubby little hand to push the plate towards Li Shimin.
"There's only one left..."
Little Sizi pouted, tears welling up in her eyes, her voice full of grievance, "It was originally meant for my older sister at 7 pm, but for my father at 7 pm."
Li Lizhi was heartbroken and sobbing. That was something she had specially saved for a late-night snack!
Li Shimin did not stand on ceremony.
He picked up his chopsticks and took out the now-cold bun.
It feels quite heavy when you hold it.
Although the bun had cooled down, it didn't fall apart. At the bottom, there was a heavy lump of something inside, which trembled slightly as the chopsticks moved.
"It looks quite ordinary," Li Shimin muttered, then took a big bite.
It didn't have the hard, chewy texture I expected from cold noodles.
Although the noodles were cold, they became even more chewy and springy. No soup flowed out the moment your teeth cut into the noodles.
Instead, there is a solid, slippery jelly.
The jelly melts instantly upon contact with the heat in the mouth. Half of it is a rich, creamy paste, and the other half is a melted, flavorful broth.
Li Shimin chewed twice, then his eyes widened suddenly.
What kind of heavenly taste is this?
The meat filling is firm and flavorful, and the layer of jelly is absolutely wonderful!
It locks in the freshness of the meat, and eating it cold has a unique flavor, just like eating a carefully made meat jelly, which is smooth, tender, bouncy and fresh!
(Please remember the website 202s.tw for the fastest chapter updates.)
In particular, the subtle vinegar flavor had already permeated the noodles, making them both refreshing and invigorating.
Gum!
Li Shimin's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed the entire bun.
The emptiness in my stomach was instantly soothed, replaced by a restless feeling of lingering satisfaction.
"That's it?"
Li Shimin looked at the empty plate, feeling that the bite he had just taken was like torture, whetting his appetite, but he didn't care anymore.
"That's all."
Li Lizhi spread her hands, her tone tinged with schadenfreude, "There was a whole box full, but Father was late."
Li Shimin put down his chopsticks, but the savory taste lingered in his mouth for a long time.
This is definitely not mutton.
The mutton smell is so strong when it gets cold it can be suffocating, but this meat... is it pork?
How is that possible!
How could such cheap pork possibly have such a translucent, fish-jelly-like texture? How many processes must it take to remove the fishy smell and odor, and how many times must the skin and meat be boiled down to become such a clear, gelatinous substance?
"Those idiots at the Imperial Kitchen!"
Li Shimin slammed his hand on the table, making the teacups jump. "They spend my imperial treasury every day, and the things they make aren't even as good as a cold steamed bun! I'm exiling them all to Lingnan to grow lychees!"
Empress Zhangsun quickly tried to calm him down: "Second Prince, calm down. It's not the Imperial Kitchen's fault; it's just that their method is too unusual."
"Strange? This isn't just strange, it's turning the rotten into the miraculous!"
Li Shimin stood up, put his hands behind his back, and paced back and forth in the hall, his brows furrowed and his mind racing.
They can make even the lowest grade of pork taste better than dragon liver and phoenix marrow.
They can boil goat milk until it's even sweeter than nectar.
Moreover, he was elusive, indifferent to fame and fortune, and simply hid in the shadows to prepare food.
"I understand."
Li Shimin suddenly stopped, his eyes becoming deep and unfathomable.
"What does Erlang understand?" Empress Zhangsun asked, puzzled.
"This is no ordinary cook," Li Shimin said in a low, confident voice. "This is a Taoist master! He's practicing the art of nourishing the body through food!"
Empress Zhangsun and Li Lizhi looked at each other in bewilderment.
Li Shimin thought about it more and more and found it reasonable: "Think about it, Taoism emphasizes alchemy, which is for the purpose of achieving longevity. This master removes the fishy smell from pork while preserving its freshness, and transforms the muttony smell of sheep's milk into sweetness. Isn't this a kind of refining? Taking the essence and discarding the dross, using food to enter the Tao, and regulating yin and yang!"
He glanced at Empress Zhangsun's much rosier complexion and became even more certain of his deduction.
"That explains it! Why doesn't he want to show himself? Great people are all temperamental and don't want to get involved in worldly affairs. They only want to refine their minds in the world."
Li Shimin stroked his beard, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes.
"Since he is a master, we cannot use ordinary methods."
He turned to Wang Dequan at the door and said coldly, "Issue my decree to withdraw all search personnel from the Imperial Kitchen. Don't make a big fuss and disturb the hermit's seclusion. If he runs away in anger, I will hold you responsible!"
Wang Dequan was about to kneel down and admit his guilt when he heard this, and he froze: "No...no more searching?"
"We're not going to search openly anymore."
Li Shimin sneered, a triumphant smile curving his lips. "I will go incognito! Since this master is hiding in the Imperial Kitchen, I will go and meet him myself. I want to see just who this god-like figure is who can turn pork into something extraordinary."
……
The backyard of the Imperial Food Bureau.
As the sun began to set, Su Mu lay on his homemade recliner, a palm-leaf fan covering his face, but he couldn't fall asleep.
"No, this shabby door makes me feel completely unsafe."
Su Mu jumped off the recliner, picked up the chipped machete from the ground, and circled the broken wooden door twice.
The door panel is cracked; even a slightly strong wind could blow it open, let alone keep out those with ulterior motives.
He turned and walked to the woodpile, picking out a few of the hardest mulberry logs.
"Click, click!"
Swords flashed.
Su Mu's face darkened, and his hands moved swiftly.
In no time, several thick bolts were carved out. He then found some pieces of iron and hammered them into the door frame, making a simple yet sturdy latch structure.
After installing the bolt, Su Mu tried pushing the door.
Not moving.
"That's it, we're safe now."
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and breathed a slight sigh of relief.
No one can come in unless I open the door.
Whether you're an emperor or a god, if you want to eat my food, even if you can only smell it through the crack in the door, it all depends on my mood.
Su Mu lay back down in the chair, pressing the wood-chopping knife under his pillow, and only then did he feel a little more at ease.