Chang’an Small Restaurant - Chapter 4

Translated by: Milky

After days of practicing at her stall, Shen Shaoguang became more skillful in making Jianbings. She single-handedly knocked the eggs and pressed a little force on it through her index finger and middle finger. With that, the egg white and egg yolk rolled down together without any broken egg shell pieces falling into the batter. Then by swaying her hands, the egg shells were thrown into the small bucket aside, all of her actions were very cool; at the same time, she no longer used her other hand to assist herself when she flipped the Jianbing, she could do it with just one hand and  rarely tore them apart or stacked them together; even sprinkling green onions were smooth and even, which made her felt she was a celestial masters scattering her soldier beans.

Business was also getting better and better, in addition to repeat customers, there were new ones who came to try her Jianbing out every day, and there were those who let their servants come to buy for them as they did not leave their houses.

“My Madam likes your Jianbings a lot. She tried making them herself but it just didn’t taste right.” A little servant girl who was around the age ten talked to Shen Shaoguang as she was waiting. Her face was round and chubby, looking very lively.

“My Madam said your sauce was especially tasty, what did you put inside?”

Shen Shaoguang smiled, “I’m at the square gate every day, just come over whenever you like, why bother yourself by doing it on your own?”

The little servant girl tilted her head and thought, that’s right.

On the other hand, the men had different intentions, “Young lady, what’s your name?” or “Young lady, where do you come from?” These kinds of questions usually came from small merchants who boast of being well-off, or servants of the gentry who had other intentions and chatter a lot.

Shen Shaoguang lifted an eyebrow and looked at them, just as they thought she would be annoyed, she smiled, “Spicy sauce or sweet sauce?”

Shen Shaoguang was someone who did not move no matter what ways they used. They would seem unmannered and rude if they were pissed by the young lady who smiled at them, so most of them gave up.

Shen Shaoguang, of course, was not angry, because their words were still subtle compared to “Hey beauty, can I have your Wechat id?”

However, the person who accosted her today was different. His actions were not smooth and did not pretend to have a flirtatious attitude, but showed a little shyness in his expression. He also looked young, about twenty years old, wearing the ninth-ranked, green-colored official clothes. He had a tall body and *duck-like voice, having a few acne pits on his face too, so Shen Shaoguang suddenly remembered the boys in college.

*It indicates that the young man is still under puberty.

It was the past life that she could no longer return to, Shen Shaoguang sighed.

Because of that, Shen Shaoguang had extra patience towards him, “It’s not just pure flour, if it is it might stick to your teeth, then you’ll have to *take a fire chopstick and stab them down when eating.”

*One of Guo Degang’s jokes.

That young man was stunned for a moment and snorted with laughter.

Shen Shaoguang smiled as she asked: “Spicy sauce or sweet sauce?”

The young man wasn’t sure which flavor he liked, or perhaps it was to please Shen Shaoguang, he wanted one each for every sauce. Then he took the bag of Jianbings and left after thanking Shen Shaoguang with a smile.

The next day, the young man came again, this time he bought five sets of Jianbings in one shot.

Shen Shaoguang looked at him, you’re actually a breakfast buyer for your college roommates, right?

Yet she would earn the money when she had the chance, so Shen Shaoguang quickly made him three sets of spicy, two sets of non-spicy, and jokingly said: “If you buy a full ten, I’ll gift you another set.”

The young man looked at Shen Shaoguang shyly and licked his lips, “Thank you.”

Which made Shen Shaoguang a little ashamed to continue to molest.

The third day, although it wasn’t ten sets, he still bought seven sets.

Shen Shaoguang did not know what to say anymore, but she hoped this buddy would be a breakfast buyer for others. If he bought it with his own money, his ninth-ranked official’s salary was not enough to eat so every day.

In Jingzhao fu, a few young officials each held up a Jianbing and chewed.

“Good thing there’s Liu Lushi, or else I’ll have to work with my empty stomach.” A young man with eye mucus still on his eyes said.

Young men had their nightlife, so they slept late and naturally woke up late. Every morning they would dawdle to the last minute to get out of bed, then slightly wash up and change, and lastly rush to the court. How would they even have the time to eat breakfast?

Lushi, Liu Feng lived nearby. One time he bought an extra Jianbing and it was eaten by his hungry colleagues. It surprised them immediately and this egg Jianbing with Sangza wrapped inside went viral within the lower and middle officials in Jingzhao fu. And so, Liu Lushi started his breakfast delivery boy journey.

“This spicy one is really tasty, it opens up one’s appetite after eating one. Liu San, next time get me an extra one.”

“This Jianbing is actually very fastidious. Have you ever seen street food served in a paper bag? Look, there is a small *seal script ‘Shen’ stamped on the corner of this bag.”

*A style of chinese calligraphy, often used on seals

The refined young man wiped the sauce from the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief, and slowly stretched the paper bag flat, pointing to the words on the corner to show everyone, “It is elegant and simple, unlike those who use regular kai script in seal scripts now, quite like what Li Shaojian in the past would do.”

There were many great scholars who used both regular and cursive script in the dynasty, but not many of them were good at seal script, the most famous one who used seal script was Li Yangbing from the reign of Emperor Xuanzong.

The rest of them did not know much about seal script, but they were all scholars, so they looked at their own paper bags.

One of them joked, “Well I think there’s a sense of boudoir within, perhaps it was a young lady who engraved it?”

The others laughed.

Liu Feng slightly blushed, a trace of doubt was shown in his eyes.

As they were talking about the sense of boudoir, they saw Jingzhao Yin and Shaoyin walking by when they lifted their heads. They immediately put down their Jianbing and stood up to salute.

Jingzhao Yin, Bai Jingshan was a friendly person, he smiled as he waved at the young men, while Shaoyin, Lin Yan just nodded as they walked past.

The young officials raised their eyebrows at each other and squeezed their eyes. They quickly finished eating their Jianbing in a few bites and took tea to suppress them down their throats. Then, they went back to their workplaces.

Bai Yin smiled and said: “It smelled quite nice, what were the kids eating?”

Smelling the aroma that he smelled every morning at the entrance of the square, Lin Yan smiled and said, “Just Jianbings and all.”

“When I was young, I also ate Hubings in the courtyard. Young people always feel sleep deprived and hungry at all times.”

Lin Yan smiled again.

Bai Yin turned and eyed the young Shaoyin by his side: “Yet I have never seen you doing so. Perhaps you’re not interested in those street foods?”

“I have no sense of taste, I can’t distinguish between the tastes, I eat and drink just to fill my stomach.”

Bai Yin laughed: “You’re from a noble family, perhaps your tastebuds were long spoiled.”

Lin Yan showed a faint smile.

The square gate was opened, and breakfast time was over, Shen Shaoguang could finally let her hands rest. She wiped the countertop and Jianbing pans with a rag, then continued to clean up the spilled sauces, chopped scallions and more.

Lu Sanniang who sold Sangza came over with a smile on her face, “Ah-Shen, your business is getting better.”

Shen Shaoguang did not stop her actions but just lifted her eyes and smiled: “And it’s all thanks to Mrs. Lu who fried Sangza well.”

Sangza was made by frying thin and long noodles in oil until they become crispy. There were also some made into the shape of an arm, called ring cake. It can be kept for a number of days, a food that must be kept during the cold days, usually a lot of people would buy to fill their empty stomach too.

Shen Shaoguang ordered from Mrs. Lu and let her fry them into a thinner and crispier one which could be found in her times. Surprisingly, she actually made it, the only difference was a little sugar was added inside so there was a little more sweetness. However, because she ordered them from Mrs Lu, it wasn’t appropriate to let her change her noodle recipe, so Shen Shaoguang also changed the ingredients of her own sauce. By adding both of them together, it actually tasted quite nice. 

Since the day she started, Shen Shaoguang’s business has been very good. How could other vendors not envy? Although Lu Sanniang envied, it was still all thanks to Shen Shaoguang that she could sell more Sangza than before, so she dared not  show any jealousy. This time she saw a young man buying from Shen Shaoguang for days, so naturally she took the chance to keep teasing her.

“Even if my Sangza was fried well, I don’t see any young man here to buy it every day.” Mrs. Lu squeezed her eyes and teased.

Shen Shaoguang paused her actions, and pondered with a serious expression, “Oh? Then my Jianbing must be very well made.”

Mrs. Lu snorted, “Yeah, just continue to pretend you don’t know.”

Shen Shaoguang smiled lightly and continued wiping.

When she was done packing her things, she put her stove and bamboo stand on her small cart.

Qiu Da who sold Hubing beside her helped her put her stove on it.

She thanked him while Qiu Da just nodded numbly and left as he carried his basket with him.

Mrs. Lu lamented in her heart, it’s so nice to be young and beautiful. She also thought to herself, when I was young, there were people who ate my Sangza for every meal so they could come see me.

References:

Lushi – An official title of a copyist in ancient times. It’s a low-level title.