Chapter 5 Chicken Soup Wontons Then she went looking for some chicken wonton soup. I guess I would be too lazy to go out for food when I get back to the palace, so I might as well eat something here to satisfy my craving and then have dinner as a midnight snack when I get back. This is just not very healthy, Rong Qing sighed, is this the rhythm of health preservation for middle-aged women? It's just that I haven't had chicken wonton soup for a long time. The more I recall the taste, the more I miss it. There are many night snack stalls in the south of the city, which seems to take into account the fact that there are many civilian students nearby. The most famous ones are the three big alleys here. Dingxiang Alley, Wutong Alley, and Huaihua Alley. Each one is filled with stalls of all sizes, and many of them are more than ten years old. Rong Qing followed her memory and found the wonton shop. When she first came to Suicheng, she often came to this alley to have dinner. As a foreigner with no relatives to rely on, it was already very good for her to be a handyman in the academy. This was because she had read a lot of books and was a woman. However, the quality of the academy cafeteria was very average, and there were only a few dishes over and over again. It was impossible not to get tired of eating for a long time. Fortunately, the academy paid a lot of money every month. Although she could not afford to eat in the restaurant, she could still come to the night snack stalls frequently to change her food. The shop is located in a yard near the alley entrance. The house at the back is where the stall owners and their families live. There are tables and chairs in the middle of the yard for customers to sit down and eat. The wonton shop is run by a middle-aged couple. The boss is responsible for making wontons, while the boss's wife is responsible for making them. If the boss's wife is cleaning the table, the boss will help make them when he is free. When Rong Qing walked into the yard, she was a little stunned. She hadn't been here for a while, and she didn't expect there were so many people here. At a glance, all the tables and chairs were full of people. Some of them didn't look like locals from Suicheng. "Mr. Yu, please come in." The proprietress had sharp eyes and recognized her at a glance. "You haven't been here for a while. Or a bowl and a half of wonton soup?"
"Yes, let's eat here as usual." "Okay, one and a half bowls of wonton soup." The proprietress greeted us without stopping her hands. She skillfully spread the minced meat on the wonton skin and formed a wonton with her hands. There are two types of wontons: one bowl and one and a half bowls. Even one and a half bowls only costs eight copper coins. There is really only a little bit of meat in the wontons, which is equivalent to adding a little meat flavor. Basically, you are eating wonton skin, but it is delicious when paired with the chicken soup that has been boiled for a long time. There are also large wontons for sale, but they are much more expensive. Rong Qing has recently considered saving money to buy a house. She can't say that she is thrifty, but she will not buy things without restraint like before when she sees that they are cheap. One advantage of buying a house is that she can register as a resident of Suicheng, which is very convenient in many cases. However, it is difficult to find a good house that meets her economic level now, and Master Guo will continue to teach the little princess until she reaches the age of marriage. In short, there is no need to be too anxious about this matter. As I was lost in thought, I suddenly felt something wet falling on my face. It turned out that it was about to rain. Rong Qing slowly walked to a tree nearby. If you stay in Suicheng for a long time, you will know that there will be a drizzle at night in this season. The rain is dense and it takes a while for the hair and outer clothes to become wet. Most people don't care, because the rain will not get heavier anyway, so what's the harm in getting wet? Rong Qing stood under the tree. The broad leaves naturally absorbed the rain, so the land under the shade was still dry. She estimated that she would not be able to wait for a while, so she just ate under the tree while hiding from the rain. She didn't feel embarrassed eating while standing. After all, when she was a child... when she was still in that world, she grew up in her hometown in the mountains. When the locals held weddings or funerals, if there were not enough seats, they would stand aside with a bowl and eat, and still pick up the dishes on the table. The dogs at home were very smart at this time, and would stay under the table and touch people's knees with their paws. If they had just finished eating the meat, they would throw the leftover bones, which usually still had meat residue on them, on the ground for them. Even though there were enough chairs, she still remembered that her second aunt would often sit on the doorstep while eating, with a layer of vegetables she had picked on top of the rice. They would eat while looking at the scenery and enjoying the breeze. When it rained, they would watch the birds fluttering their wings and jumping between the branches through the rain. But some people may not think so. "Sir, I'm done eating. If you don't mind, please go sit down and eat over there." The person who spoke was a woman who looked about the same age as Rong Qing. The difference was that she was holding a little girl in her slightly frail arms. Perhaps she was learning to speak, the girl also said "sir". The flat and curved syllables were a little vague, but the sound was very crisp. "So soon?" Rong Qing was a little confused. "It's okay if I don't sit down." "My mother and I have really finished eating," the woman looked at Rong Qing, and lowered her eyes a little embarrassedly, "Sir, you'd better go and sit down. Otherwise, someone else will come later." Looking in the direction she pointed, there was indeed a vacant seat, and even the empty bowls and soup spoons had been put away. "Oh, okay." Rong Qing turned around, "Thank you." The other person had already lowered his head and turned away. The girl hugged her mother's neck, her little face facing Rong Qing, her tender little mouth open, looking at her with some curiosity. As the woman turned out of the courtyard, the mother and daughter completely disappeared from her sight. Since the other party had good intentions, Rong Qing didn't act pretentiously and went over to sit down. There was still a faint warmth on the bench, and because they were both women, Rong Qing didn't feel disgusted. This seat was a single seat, which saved Rong Qing the trouble of greeting. Not long after she sat down, the bowl that Rong Qing ordered was served. The clear oil soup was evenly sprinkled with chopped green onions, with bright colors, especially the tempting aroma in the rising hot steam. Rong Qing didn't care about the heat and quickly scooped two mouthfuls. After drinking several mouthfuls of soup and suppressing the protest in her stomach, Rong Qing looked at the proprietress who was busy at the side and asked directly, "I have never seen that lady before. Did she come here recently?"
"You're talking about the one from the Gong family. She and her husband came here half a year ago. They came from far away." The proprietress was a chatterbox, so since Rong Qing had brought up this topic, she naturally continued, "And she's not really a lady, she's more like a young lady." She said cheerfully, with a tone of contempt that she couldn't quite put into words. Rong Qing was a little displeased when she heard this, but she didn't show it on her face. She changed the subject, "Why did you come to Suicheng? The child looks still very young." Normally, one would not take a newborn baby for a long journey, not to mention that moving the whole family here is not a trivial matter. "It's because of the chaos in the north." The proprietress raised her chin and looked at the tables of people in the distance. The accents were not from Suicheng, but they were familiar with each other. "It's not that everyone who can escape is heading south." After the proprietress said this, Rong Qing also remembered. The north has been very uneasy since the end of the year. No one knows which god they offended, but Xunzhou, Sizhou, Jingzhou, the three northern states, are always plagued by natural disasters and man-made disasters. First, there was an unprepared tsunami that submerged most of the state capital. After the flood, there was a plague, and recently there were even rumors that corpses had turned into corpses over there. In short, there are countless rumors like this, and they are getting more and more outrageous. But apart from the visible increase in the number of outsiders who came to Suicheng for refuge, it did not cause panic among the people of Suicheng. The good thing about Jing State is that it is the only country on this entire land. Without external threats, the pressure of dealing with disasters is also lighter. "The young man from the Gong family is quite capable. He used to be a businessman, traveling between Sizhou and Yehuzhou. Something happened in Sizhou, so he found some connections and now he has a job in the prefecture." The proprietress went back to the woman with the baby girl. "Hey, let me tell you, sir. Actually, I held her in my arms when she was a child. Her bookstore is across the bridge from my house, and I always saw her reading picture albums at the store. She is already in her teens and still can't recognize many words. It's all because her father, Old Man Zhong, doesn't care about her. Otherwise, I think the little girl was very smart back then. Wow, she might have become a top female scholar." The proprietress was obviously joking, and Rong Qing did not interrupt her, but just listened to her continue, "Later, when she grew up a little, Old Man Zhong sold her to Gong Xiaolang who came to town to buy goods. Unfortunately, she was not destined to be a wife. When I saw her, I envied you so much for what you were wearing." Rong Qing was wearing the academy's standard robe, which was made of high-quality material and was completely black, with only the collar and cuffs having white edges. She also tied her hair into a high ponytail with a navy blue headscarf. Compared with the colorful clothes of the men and women around her, she really stood out from the crowd. Rong Qing recalled the woman's dress, which was not very special, just a simple dress that was a little washed out, and the only decorations on her body were a jade hairpin on her head and a gold ring on her hand. Her face was also very ordinary, at most delicate, and she was just an ordinary person in the crowd. Even if the proprietress said it was a pity, the woman was in a different situation from Zhongyong. From the beginning, she was just like everyone else, so there was nothing to be sad about. It was just a story of less than 100 words in Rong Qing's ears, but for the person involved... she had never been trained, and there was no expectation or desire for change. It seemed that being a concubine and taking care of her husband and children was her lifelong destiny. Rong Qing thought that the woman came up to talk to her on her own initiative, and she must be quite impressed by the identity of the female teacher. At this moment, her stomach warmed up, but she felt a little uncomfortable in her heart. For a moment, she thought of helping her, but the thought quickly disappeared. She wasn't a warm-hearted person, and if she rashly went to help, she would probably get herself into trouble. Besides, she had a lot of things to do, so she didn't have the time. Isn't this how most people's lives are, just wishing for the best. Without asking the woman's name, Rong Qing quickly finished her wontons, paid the bill and left. A lifetime of love:) (End of this chapter)