Chapter 467 - 469: Because I Crave Spiciness
In the following three days, the Bai Family was busy with their affairs, acquiring what needed to be acquired, tidying up what needed to be tidied up. The entire yard started to look more like a home.
While the women were busy, the men were also bustling about. Zhang Liliang and Bai Zehao were busy searching for suppliers. For safety’s sake, they dared not find suppliers from the villages near Beiyu City, so the two of them spent three days in hard work, leaving early and returning late. However, through this, a more composed demeanor started to develop in Bai Zehao.
Bai Yihong had dug up a plot of land in the backyard and even set up some thatch huts on it, claiming that he wanted to experiment with some winter vegetables mentioned by Ruozhu. Lin Laifu found this entirely fascinating and the two of them trudged on tirelessly.
Actually, Lin Ping’er didn’t quite believe in the idea of winter vegetables. Still, she felt that as long as Bai Yihong enjoyed experimenting with gardening, having something to keep him busy was a good thing.
These three days had given Bai Ruozhu enough time to prepare more of her ointment for Rongrong and her mother. She had already started applying it to their wounds. However, considering the large area of Rongrong’s mother’s burns, Ruozhu feared the ointments might not be enough.
Zhang Liliang had obtained information about the teaching customs at Beiyu’s Study Palace, allowing Bai Ruozhu to prepare writing tools in advance. Bai Ruozhu also tailored fabrics that were popular in Beiyu City for her second brother, having their mother sew a straight-collared robe for him. This spruced up Bai Zepei quite a bit.
Despite all this, Bai Zepei still looked rather thin. Even if he wasn’t doing intensive physical labour, anyone could see how hard he had been working.
Fortunately, after his visit to Study Palace in Beiyu, Bai Zepei said everything there was great, the teachers were patient, and his classmates were enthusiastic.
Three days later, early in the morning, a carriage from Meng Residence was parked at the mansion gate. It was obvious that Old Lady Meng was anxious. Bai Ruozhu, holding Little Dengdeng and bringing change of clothing for the two of them, as well as gifts for Old Lady Meng, bid farewell to her family and boarded the carriage.
When Old Lady Meng saw Bai Ruozhu, she laughed so hard that her wrinkles seemed deeper. She said, "Hongxiu will be here soon. I can’t wait to taste your special Original-Flavor Chicken. Give Dengdeng to me to carry, and go cook your Original-Flavor Chicken."
Truth be told, Bai Ruozhu was not entirely at ease handing over Dengdeng to Old Lady Meng. She wasn’t doubting the old woman’s character, but she was worried that Dengdeng might catch germs from the old woman, who loved children and would kiss their faces incessantly.
But Old Lady Meng already requested it, so she couldn’t simply refuse. She pretended to hand over Dengdeng to the old lady, saying, "Dengdeng can be quite naughty, I hope he won’t be too much trouble for you."
"Could he be any naughtier than our Hong’er?" Old Lady Meng replied, unperturbed.
Bai Ruozhu could only hand over Dengdeng, however, the moment she did, he began to cry loudly, clinging onto Bai Ruozhu’s neck for dear life. His teary eyes clearly said: Don’t separate me from my mother.
Old Lady Meng was amused and touched by his pitiful look, saying, "Do I look so scary? This kid has a very close bond with his mother. Alright, alright, go with your mother. I’m not trying to separate you two."
Cradling Dengdeng, Bai Ruozhu apologized to Old Lady Meng, "My child is very clingy."
Actually, she was quite pleased with this outcome. She thought to herself, raising her son hadn’t been for nothing. When she doesn’t want him pulled away from her, he knows to cry out, as if he’s echoing her thoughts exactly.
Waving dismissively, Old Lady Meng said, "No worries, as long as you get to cooking soon."
Carrying Dengdeng, Bai Ruozhu bowed respectfully to the Old Lady, then followed the maid to the secondary kitchen.
Making Original-Flavor Chicken wasn’t that complicated, but she needed to bring her own ingredients, such as the dried bread crumbs she used for the outer layer.
She cleaned the chicken wings, wingtips, and drumsticks, made several cuts on them and neatly laid them on a plate; onto which she poured soy sauce, a bit of salt mixed with savory soup powder and a little pepper to marinate. With this in process, she had some free time to take a dried steamed bun, cut it open, and rubbed the two halves against each other to produce breadcrumbs.
In her previous life, she used to make this with breadcrumbs, but now, there is no bread, so she had to substitute with dried steamed bun crumbs. She ground it very finely to enhance the texture.
Afterwards, she played outside with Little Dengdeng in the mini kitchen for a while. Once she estimated that the chicken was adequately marinated, she returned to the kitchen, placed Dengdeng safely to one side, and began to make the finger-licking original flavor chicken.
The kitchen maid and the handmaid on the side watched in curiosity, wondering if this was fried chicken? Why use such a dry and hard steamed bun? Even they, the lowest rank servants, wouldn’t eat stale steamed buns, would they?
Bai Ruozhu ignored them, began to heat the pan and added oil. Although the fried chicken seemed simple, controlling the heat and timing was crucial. If not done properly, the meat would either be half-cooked or lack succulence after frying.
She swiftly broke a few eggs, drained the marinade off the chicken, rolled it in flour, dipped it in the egg liquid, and then rolled it in the dried steamed bun crumbs before frying it in the hot oil.
Soon, a large plate of original flavor fried chicken was ready. Bai Ruozhu brought a small dish, took out a few pieces, and sprinkled a bit of red chili powder on top.
When the original flavor chicken was brought into the room by the maid, Yu Hongxiu had already arrived. She sniffed the air and said, "This is not just any fried chicken, it smells so good."
Bai Ruozhu walked over to the table with Dengdeng in her arms and said, "There is a saying about this kind of fried chicken. After eating, you’ll want to suck your fingers, hence it is called finger-licking original flavor chicken."
The old lady couldn’t wait any longer. When the handmaid tried to hand her a pair of chopsticks, she waved a hand in refusal, declaring, "No need, this is definitely a kind of food you eat with your hands."
Bai Ruozhu nodded, revealing an impressed expression that said "wise enough to be taught".
Yu Hongxiu was not pretentious. Like the old lady, she used her hands to grab a piece and put it into her mouth. The moment she tasted it, she immediately gave Bai Ruozhu a thumbs up, "Mmm, delicious!"
"Even if it’s delicious, you can’t eat too much since it’s deep-fried and can cause internal heat, especially for the old lady." Bai Ruozhu pointed to the small portion with chili powder, "This one has chili; the taste is different, but it might be hard for the old lady to chew, so just taking a look should be enough."
Chili powder was already being sold in Beiyu City, but the price was relatively high, so ordinary households wouldn’t specifically buy chilies for their meals.
The old lady pouted unhappily, "I can only look at what you make, isn’t that tormenting me?"
Bai Ruozhu casually pinched a piece with chili powder, took a sniff near her nose, and said blissfully, "Because I’m craving spicy food. But, since I’m still breastfeeding, I can’t eat too much; one piece should be enough."
The old lady’s mood improved again at the sight of Bai Ruozhu’s unwilling expression, "See, this is what you get for teasing yourself with chili. You deserve this!"
Bai Ruozhu didn’t pay any attention to her. She took small bites of the chicken wing with a little chili powder. Although the amount was small and didn’t give her the thrilling spiciness of her previous life, it was enough for her.
The three of them were eating chicken with their hands when a maid came to report that the lady of the house had arrived. When Madame Meng entered the room and saw this scene, her originally stern face instantly grew colder.