CH 141

The chinese foxgloves have all been planted, and now all that was needed was rain, so they could grow quickly and smoothly.

There was still one piece of land that had been left empty. Ms. Liang said it would be a pity to leave it empty. She decided to plant some potatoes, it was better than nothing.

Mo Yan thought of the datura seeds they had, “Mother, leave two rows of land for me, I want to plant datura.” [1]

“What kind of thing is that?”

“It’s also a medicinal herb. I found some by the pond and picked some seeds to plant!”

“It’s alkaline land anyways, do as you please!”

Using prior experience, Mo Yan went home and wrapped the datura seeds in wet cotton to let them germinate.

Mo Yan hasn’t seen Zhao’er for a long time. She thought she would go to Mr. Cao’s to see him in the afternoon if she was free, and also ask Mr. Cao about medicinal herbs.

As soon as she left, she was spotted by Lu Junming and Chi Jie, who had come to look for her, “Where are you going, Yan’er?”

“To see Zhao’er.”

“We haven’t seen Zhao’er in a long time too, let’s go together!”

The three of them walked along the main street together, passing through the alley next to the school, and went to Mr. Cao’s house.

The door was ajar, and it was quiet inside. Mo Yan went in first, passing the kitchen, and saw Ms. Hua inside alone, working on something.

“Godmother, what are you doing?”

Seeing them, Ms. Hua smiled and said, “Cao Zhang wanted steamed buns stuffed with meat, and since I just bought some braised pork, I made some for him.”

“Is he back?”

She nodded, “He came back two days ago.”

“What about Mrs. Cao?”

Ms. Hua shook her head, “Cao Zhang came back by himself.”

At this time, Zhao’er’s voice came from the in-house clinic, reciting the soup song.

What he was reciting was the prescription of medicine used to warm the body. When he had finished, Cao Zhang said, “You got it all correct, Zhao’er is really smart.”

He was actually the one urging Zhao’er to study harder.

Mo Yan called “Zhao’er”, and he ran out with joy on his face, “Sister, brother, you’re here?”

“We came to see if you were working hard.”

Cao Zhang stood at the door of the clinic, “He is studying very seriously!”

Since he is here, it meant that he failed the imperial examination.

Cao Zhang only greeted Mo Yan, and Lu Junming didn’t greet him either. Chi Jie knew that they had some bad blood between them.

Mr. Cao came out as well and warmly invited everyone to sit in the main room. He made tea, and Cao Zhang brought out some dried fruit from the metropolis.

Ms. Hua came over and asked, “Do you want to eat here tonight? I’ll cook.”

It was too troublesome to fry a lot of dishes for so many people. Mo Yan and Chi Jie said at the same time, “Let’s have hot pot.”

Everyone else looked at them questioningly, “What is hot pot?”

Mo Yan thought for a while and replied, “You cook thin slices of meat in boiling water within a communal pot, then take it out and dip it in sauce to eat.”

Chi Jie added, “Aside from meat, all kinds of vegetables can also be cooked like this. The method is simple, but it tastes good.”

Hearing that, Zhao’er swallowed, “Mother, let’s eat hot pot!”

Chi Jie frowned, “It’s unfortunate that we don’t have the necessary things!”

The gentleman said, “We have a pot and a stove, we’re just missing the food!”

Mu Yan looked at Lu Junming, “Can you buy meat and vegetables? Let them cut the meat into thin slices; both beef and mutton are fine. I’ll go home and get some sauce and side dishes.”

Lu Junming rolled his eyes at her, turned around and went out. Mo Yan followed closely behind, and Cao Zhang followed behind her. Lu Junming muttered complaints as he walked, “You keep ordering me around!”

Mo Yan said from behind him, “Then I’ll go, I can ride a horse anyway.”

Lu Junming waved his hand, “Forget it, it’ll be dark in a while, and it’s not worth the risk of you falling off the horse.”

He strode out, and Cao Zhang accompanied Mo Yan back to her house.

“Yan’er, I failed the imperial examination.”

“That’s not an issue, just re-take it next year.”

“I don’t want to take it anymore.”

“Why?”

“Everyone there is either from an honourable family or wealthy.”

“Isn’t it fine as long as you are good at academics?”

“You can’t become an official with no recommendation.”

“Didn’t your mother find someone to give you a recommendation?”

Cao Zhang shook his head with a bitter smile on his face, “It was conditional.”

“What were the conditions?”

“They…” Cao Zhang was at a loss for words.

When they arrived, Mo Yan went in to get her things, and Cao Zhang waited for her outside. He didn’t want to explain why he came back without his mother

Mo Ling was cooking in the kitchen, and when she saw Mo Yan grab things hurriedly, she asked, “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to Mr. Cao’s to have hot pot.”

“What is that?”

“I don’t have time to explain now. I’ll make it for you later.”

Mo Yan took her things and went out. Mo Ling muttered, “You know how to cook?”

Back at Mr. Cao’s, Ms. Hua had cleaned the pot and started the stove. Mo Yan helped chop the onion and ginger, put a few star anises into the pot, added water, and watched the stove.

To make the sauce, they added the sesame paste and bean curd together, added some sesame oil, and stirred evenly. It was very fragrant. Ms. Hua also placed down a few of Ms. Liang’s side dishes.

Chi Jie sighed, “It’s a pity that we don’t have chilli.”

“Chilli?”

Seeing everyone’s questioning gaze, Chi Jie lowered his head. He regretted his slip of the tongue, and was afraid of being regarded as crazy. Mo Yan explained for him, “It tastes hot and fiery, and can be used as a seasoning.”

Ms. Hua asked, “That seems really uncomfortable, like being beaten.”

Everyone laughed, and Cao Zhang laughed with him. He couldn’t remember how long it had been since he had last laughed.

Lu Junming bought wine and meat back, but unfortunately, only radishes and cabbages were stored in the cellar. Ms. Hua washed and cut the vegetables, then placed them in just as the water in the pot started boiling.

Watching the meat slices tumbling in the pot and smelling fragrant, Chi Jie said, “Yan’er, there must be a market for hot pot soup bases.”

Processing and mixing seasonings was a similar job to packaging and selling dried fruit.

“My mother can do this job, and so can godmother. Later, let’s try and invent a recipe for them to make, so we can sell it in the firm.”

They were rapidly disappearing off the wavelengths of everyone else present. Lu Junming curled his lips and said, “They must be having one of those ideas again.”

On the contrary, Mr. Cao understood what they were saying, “This seems similar to the medicinal food in the palace. It’s formulated according to each person’s tastes and needs.”

Mo Yan nodded and said, “That’s right! Please come up with some recipes for a few different groups of people. Aside from being seasonings, it should also be able to nourish them. When the time comes, I will share some of the profits with you.”

Post-translation notes: Inventing Hot Pot in the Ancient Chinese Countryside has unofficially become the new name of this web serial.

[1] This is such a callback to so many chappies ago…props to whoever manages to find it.