In the cold winter morning in Chang'an City, the biting north wind was blowing non-stop. It was already the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, and the Spring Festival would soon be here. In addition, the heavy snow that fell some time ago had not yet melted, making Chang'an Winter mornings are also extremely cold. .
Compared with previous days, the streets of Chang'an today seem particularly deserted. Most people listen to the cold wind outside the window, and then nestle in the warm bed for a lazy nap. Because today is XNUMXth, except for a few people who want to Except for normal work, most other people do not need to work.
Speaking of the benefit of ten-day rest, in the past, only officials or scholars in academies could enjoy it. Workers in factories or clerks in shops had almost no rest time unless they asked for leave from their employer. However, since Li Min took the lead in popularizing Xun Day in Taiwan, and stipulated in the form of legislation that all industries must have one day off every ten days, and special industries can allow employees to adjust themselves, then Xun Day spread. Later, Li Zhi After ascending the throne, he carried out reforms in the Tang Dynasty, and this regulation was also introduced into the Tang Dynasty in the middle of the year.
On the broad Zhuque Street, the number of pedestrians today has suddenly decreased by half, and there are not many horse-drawn carriages. This makes the usually crowded Zhuque Street look a little deserted. Nearly half of the breakfast shops on both sides of the street are not open, but some popular ones The higher-end shops were not affected, and business was still booming.
An unpretentious carriage drove from the direction of the imperial city, surrounded by several mounted guards, but this did not attract the attention of passers-by. After all, this was Chang'an, and there were countless dignitaries. Who would go out without bringing a few guards with them? A scene? Therefore, the people of Chang'an have long been accustomed to this situation.
I saw the carriage heading south along Zhuque Street, then turning east at Anyi Fang near Mingde Gate, and stopped when it reached the Zigzag Pond. This place is not far from Si Zi's Princess Jinyang Mansion, but a few years ago, Si Zi and Shangguan Tingzhi moved to Taiwan shortly after their marriage, and would only come back to live for a while occasionally. Moreover, just before Li Min came to Chang'an, Si Zi and Shangguan Tingzhi went to Australia for fun and have not come back yet.
"Ninth brother, there is a breakfast shop here. Sizi often praises the breakfasts made at this shop. She likes to eat breakfast at this shop the most in Chang'an. It happens that neither of us has eaten, so why not go down and taste it?" Li Min pointed at a breakfast shop not far away and smiled. The breakfast shop didn't have a big front, but it looked very neat. There was a flag hanging next to it with the four characters "Xu's Shop" written on it.
When Li Zhi on the carriage heard Li Min's words, he turned to look at the breakfast shop and said with a smile: "I also heard Sizi praise this shop for its good craftsmanship and cleanliness. It's a pity that I never had the chance to come and taste it. Brother Six, you¡¯re treating me today, so you can have a taste of this family¡¯s craftsmanship!¡±
After Li Zhi received the news from Li Min, he immediately got up from the bed, put on his casual clothes and left the palace. Now he really wants to know, what is the purpose of Brother Six coming here this time? It's a pity that after meeting Li Min, Li Zhi asked several times, but Li Min changed the topic and just said that we could talk somewhere else. What Li Zhi never expected was that his sixth brother He actually chose such an inconspicuous breakfast shop as the venue for the conversation.
Li Min and Li Zhi got off the carriage and walked into the shop. The Xu family's shop was indeed very clean. The entire shop floor was covered with tiles and scrubbed very clean. The surrounding walls were also plastered not long after it was developed. The white cement prevents guests from having to worry about being covered in white dust like white lime.
Xu¡¯s shop has a small appearance. There are ten neat tables placed inside the shop. For some reason, there are no other customers in the shop, so the tables are all empty. The innermost part is the counter of the shop. A woman in her forties or fifties is busy in the stove behind the counter. From time to time, she opens a steamer, which releases waves of mist, along with the alluring aroma of food.
"You two gentlemen, please come in quickly!" When the woman behind the counter saw Li Min and Li Zhi coming in, she immediately greeted with a smile. Then she turned to the small door next to her and shouted: "Hurry up and greet the guests. !¡±
"Well, here we come!" With a crisp response, the cotton curtain of the small door opened, and a girl of thirteen or fourteen years old came out, wearing a crisp cotton coat and trousers, and a neat white apron outside, smiling. Then he greeted Li Min and the two of them: "What do you two guests want to eat? Our Xu's shop has steamed buns, pancakes, fried dough sticks, beef and mutton, as well as various porridges, spicy soup, mutton soup, beef soup ¡¡±
Li Min listened to the little girl introducing so many types of breakfast at once, and couldn't help laughing at the moment: "Little girl, your store is not big and there are no customers in the store. Why do you prepare so many types of breakfast? Is it possible?" Aren¡¯t you afraid of losing money if you can¡¯t sell it?¡±
But after hearing this, the little girl blinked her cute big eyes, and then explained to Li Min: "The guest hasAs you don¡¯t know, although our Xu family shop is small, it is very famous in this area. The people who come to eat in the shop are all dignitaries living nearby. These people are relatively lazy and usually don¡¯t get up until three o¡¯clock in the morning. At that time Only then would I send my family to buy breakfast, so now the store seems a little deserted. "
Hearing the little girl say that the dignitaries living around were lazy, Li Min and Li Zhi both laughed out loud. The land beside Qujiang Pool was extremely expensive, and some nobles in the city liked to build a house here, but Qujiang Pool This place is a bit far from the imperial city, so those who have time to live here are naturally those leisurely nobles who don't have to go to court. They have nothing to do except eat and drink every day. They have a lot of time to sleep in. The little girl is not wronging them when they say they are lazy. .
The woman behind the counter may have felt that it was inappropriate for the little girl to talk to the customers in the store like this, so she hurriedly explained: "You two guests, please don't listen to my daughter's nonsense. In such a cold weather, the customers are naturally unwilling to get up early. , In addition, when the weather in Chang'an gets cold, many noble people go to the south or Daqi to escape the cold, and will not come back until spring next year, so the business of our store is also affected, and the income in each winter is much less! "
Li Min and Li Zhi naturally didn't mind. Li Zhi asked the woman behind the counter: "Madam boss, why are you and your daughter the only ones busy in your store? Isn't this other little girl not in school?"
As soon as Li Zhi finished speaking, before the landlady could reply, the little girl standing next to him rushed to say: "Usually, my father, mother and brother are busy in the store, but my father just went out to purchase goods, and my brother was behind with me during the pregnancy. Sister-in-law, I just don¡¯t have to go to school today, so I came to the store to help. Normally it would be my brother who would greet you!"
Hearing the little girl¡¯s rapid-fire answers made Li Min and Li Zhi laugh again, and at the same time they felt good about this little girl who spoke her mind freely.
Next, Li Min ordered a basket of soup dumplings, a pancake and a bowl of spicy soup, while Li Zhi ordered a bowl of white porridge and a few fried dough sticks. The complimentary pickles are made from pickled radish, cut into thin strips, and sprinkled with sesame oil. Just smelling them makes people very appetizing.
Li Min hadn't eaten well since yesterday, and his stomach was already growling with hunger when he was on the road. So when he saw breakfast being served, he was not polite at all. He first sprinkled the pickles on the pancakes, Then he rolled up the pancake and swallowed it in a few bites. And because he ate it so fast, he didn't even taste the pancake.
After finishing the pancakes, Li Min took a few more mouthfuls of the numbing and spicy spicy soup. He immediately felt warm all over his body. In this cold winter morning, he felt indescribably comfortable. Next, Li Min picked up the small soup dumpling with chopsticks, first put it to his mouth, bit open the skin, and slowly sucked the soup inside. After drinking it clean, he dipped the soup dumpling in the ginger vinegar next to it. Put it in your mouth and slowly taste the deliciousness of the soup dumplings.
Speaking of which, soup dumplings are a southern delicacy, but as transportation becomes more and more developed, exchanges between various places have also strengthened, so special delicacies from various places have also spread. It is not surprising to eat southern soup dumplings in Chang'an.
"The store's craftsmanship is very good. This soup dumpling captures the essence of Runzhou soup dumplings. More than 30 steps are required to make it. It's really rare to be able to eat such authentic soup dumplings in Chang'an!" Li Min tasted the soup dumplings. , immediately praised loudly. Runzhou was Zhenjiang in later generations. At that time, Runzhou's soup dumplings were already very famous. Li Min even went to Runzhou to taste the delicious soup dumplings, so it is still fresh in his memory.
When the proprietress behind the counter heard Li Min's compliment, her eyes lit up and she said, "Your Majesty, you are really well-informed. It takes more than thirty steps to taste our soup dumplings in one go. To tell you the truth, I The daughter-in-law there is from Runzhou in the south. The skill of making soup dumplings has been passed down from generation to generation in her family. She makes these soup dumplings by herself. However, she is pregnant now and can only make ten soup dumplings a day. If you still want to eat our soup dumplings tomorrow, Soup dumplings, then you have to rush early like today!¡±
When Li Zhi heard what the boss lady said, he couldn't help but become interested in this kind of soup dumplings, so he asked for one himself, and then imitated Li Min's example and tasted it. The result was that he also applauded loudly, and at the same time secretly cried out that it was a pity. I have stayed in Chang'an for so many years, but I didn't know that there was such a delicious soup dumpling here.
Neither brother had eaten breakfast, and since it was rare for them to experience the life of ordinary people, they both put down their arrogance and wolfed down the breakfast in front of them. Li Min even added a bowl of millet and mung bean porridge at the end. Just enough.
But just when Li Min put down the chopsticks in his hand, Li Zhi finally couldn't help but asked again: "Brother Six, why did you suddenly come to Chang'an this time?"