Under the setting sun, Wen Shouzhen"s family of four looked really happy as they walked together. They had been to the town for an outing and were on their way home.
As they pa.s.sed by the "Ten Miles Wine Shop", a skinny and tall teenager with a jar of wine almost crashed into Wen Shouzhen.
"Watch out, Deshun!" Wen Shouzhen dodged and shouted out.
"Uncle Wen!" Deshun was surprised and pleased to see him. "What a coincidence! I was just about to go to your place to find you."
"Why did you want to find me for?" Wen Shouzhen rubbed his nose, as he cautiously asked, "Does your dad want something from the kitchen again?"
"Hehe, no, no such thing! This bottle of wine is a gift from my dad!" Deshun smiled, and his eyes become 2 narrow slits.
"Old man Yin is so generous? This jar of wine is not spoilt?" Wen Shouzhen suspicious eyed the jar of wine.
Yin Deshun face revealed his awkwardness, and barely managed to smile as he replied, "How could that be! My dad said it is almost the Lunar New Year period, and he especially left this jar of plum wine for you." Having said that, he shook the large jar of wine.
Wen Shouzhen stepped forward, open the lid, took a sniff of the wine, and satisfied with the quality of the wine, he smiled, "En, this wine is not bad. Your dad business is not so good, and had been trying to curry favor [3] with me. This time, he had done a good job."
"But, this jar is a little bit small." Wen Shouzhen suddenly becomes unhappy again.
Looking at the big jar that requires both of his hands to carry, Yin Deshun did not know what to say.
Zhou Shi could not stand her husband"s thick skin anymore and remark. "Enough! Do not make things difficult for Deshun - he is only a kid."
Wen Shouzhen laughed out aloud, and waved his hand, "Kid, deliver this jar to my house!"
"Dad, let me carry it."Wen Ting lifted up his sleeves and volunteered.
Looking at Wen Ting skinny body and arms, Yin Deshun hesitated, "This jar of wine is very expensive, it is better to let me carry it."
"What do you mean by this?" Wen Ting was furious. This rascal is implying that I do not have the strength to carry it!
Wen Shouzhen sighed, and said, "Deshun, you carry it."
"No problem!" Yin Deshun quickly replied, and then rushed towards Wen Rou and flashed his most handsome smile as he greeted her, "Sister Wen Rou, how have you been? I have not seen you for some time."
"Oh, everything"s fine." Wen Rou may be smiling happily on her face, but inside her heart, she was cold to the bone.
This 14 years old youth is Yin Deshun, and is the son of the owner of Xianyang "Ten Mile Wine Shop" Yin"s son. He had a way with words, and like his father, Yin Fugui, excel in following the way the winds blow [2].
Wen Rou could clearly recall that Yin Deshun and her grew up together, and could be considered childhood friends. Her father and his father, one of them is a cook and the other brew wines, and both of them depends on their skills to earn a living. Their relationship is also quite good.
If everything proceeded as planned accordingly to her previous life, after the Lunar New Year, Yin Fugui will bring his son, and a lot of gifts to their house in an attempt to arrange a marriage between the two of them.
In the Wen family"s hall, Yin Deshun kneeled in front of her parents and swore to treat Wen Rou well, and will not leave her or abandon her.
Yin Fugui also thumped his chest and promised to treat Wen Rou as if she was his daughter.
With Wen Shouzhen"s personality, and considering that they were good friends and that he had received so many "free" jars of wines from the Yin family, agreed to the match. Wen Rou was betrothed to Yin Deshun, and will marry him when they both grow older.
In his past life, due to Wen Shouzhen"s skills as a chef, he was finally drafted as an imperial chef. The Yin family also moved their wine shop to the capital, and borrowing Wen Shouzhen"s fame as an imperial chef, their business prospered. Thereafter, they would be pushier, and desired that the two children get married earlier.
That year, in the capital, she met Ren Yue and Shen Yaoshan. These two gentlemen fell in love with her. Although Wen Rou had not married into the Yin family, she had been betrothed already. At that time, like all virtuous women, she did not accept their courtship and feelings.
But she did not antic.i.p.ate that disaster struck. Her father was framed for a crime that he did not commit, and was rumored to have poisoned his Majesty. He was thrown into prison while investigations were ongoing.
At this time, this pair of father and son suddenly did not mention a word about the betrothal or marriage, and avoided the Wen family members like the plague.
Wen Rou recalled that after her father was imprisoned, the Wen family had no one to turn to for help within the capital. She naively thought that the Yin family would consider their relationship and spend some money and effort to get her father released from jail.
But regardless of how much or how hard she begged, the Yin family ignored her pleads, and no one of them stood up for her or her family. Rather, they dissolved the marriage agreement and chased Wen Rou out of the Yin family home.
But that is not why Wen Rou hate Yin Deshun with a pa.s.sion. When Ren Yue and Shen Maoshan broke her out of prison and all 3 of them were making their escape, they ran into Yin Deshun.
She did not antic.i.p.ate that the cold-hearted man would rat them out for a reward.
If not for this, Ren Yue and Shen Mao Shan would not be injured.
Today, after she was reborn, she had only scorn and hate towards Yin Deshun. Just looking into his face made her want to vomit in disgust.
In a short period of time, the party of five had reached the Wen family home.
Yin Deshun put down the heavy jar of wine and remarked. "Uncle Wen, I leave this jar of wine here. Once you finished this jar, let us know, and I will send you more!"
"Hahahaha, that is great!" Wen Shouzhen patted Yin Deshun on his shoulders.
Seeing Wen Shouzhen is pleased with him, Yin Deshun smiled. When he looked back at Wen Rou, his smile grew even wider.
Wen Rou also smiled back in return, but in her heart, she was furious. She really wanted to slap this hateful man and stomp on him.
The tragedy that occurred in her previous life will not be allowed to reoccur! The despicable Yin family, just you wait and see!
Wen Rou silently swore, and clutched her fists in anger.
After dinner, her parents, Wen Shouzhen and Zhou Shi retired into their room.
Wen Ting also took out a book from his blossom and rushed to his room to study.
As Wen Rou lay on the bed, she could not see. The events that happened in the daytime seemed in conflict with her memories of her past life.
Oh, yes, regarding the brine…..
Wen Rou suddenly thought about it, and suddenly, the taste of the brine reappeared in her memories. In addition, the vision of the old man who created the brine also reappeared and proceeded to create the brine from scratch all over again. All these images were as clear as if she was standing there, watching him create the brine.
Wen Rou could not resist the urge to try making the brine, and she jumped out of the bed and rushed towards the kitchen.
Using the light of the moon to guide her, Wen Rou silently searched for all the ingredients that she saw the elderly man use to create the brine: Star Anise, Fennel, Cinnamon, Geranium, Chinese Cinnamon, Amomum, Dry Tangerine Peel, Tsaoko, Pepper, Angelica, Cloves….
With great difficulty, she gathered all the required ingredients. Using all her strength, she managed to lift up a huge heavy stone pot. After cleaning the pot, she closed her eyes and tried to recall the recipe. Then she started the fire, pour in some oil, started to fry the ingredients until they are ripe. Occasionally she would add some water to ensure that the ingredients would not be too dry, and slowly added the other ingredients……
In her past life, she had frequently helped out in the kitchen as her father busied himself with cooking. Right now after she was reborn, she is only 12 years old and is not as strong as she was. But she still retains the memory of her cooking skills, and when she cooked, she found that her skills come back to her naturally. She just needs more sharpening and practice and she will be as good as she used to be in her past life.
After that, the next step is to remove the foam, or to add more ingredients. Without knowing it, the night watchmen [1] had rung the bell and indicated that it is now the 3rd watch (11 pm to 1 am).
"What a wonderful smell!" Wen Shouzhen turned around, and licked his lips, and …. continued to talk while sleeping.
Besides him, Zhou Shi also smacked her lips in her sleep, as if she was enjoying a feast in her dreams.
Wen Ting was still holding on to a book, but his head was lying flat on the study desk and he was sound asleep. The candle slowly goes out, but before it covered the room in darkness, you could see the large volume of his drool on the table as he salivated.
Wen Rou gently turned off the fire, sealed the stove and opened the lid of the pot. With a soup spoon, she picked up a spoonful, and carefully blow on it to cool it, before tasting it.
"This taste…" In the kitchen, Wen Rou eyes seem to shine with bright lights.
Her brows furloughed as she considered the taste of the brine that she had created.
Although the brine mixture lacks the matured taste of the brine that she had this afternoon, the base taste is similar to the "Happiness Chicken" brine. Perhaps, like wine, the brine should be kept and allowed time to mature.
Wen Rou was surprised and happy.
My tongue!
Is this the "fortune" that comes after the "misfortune"in my past life?
Notes:[1] 打更人 - It directly translated as ‘hitting more people’. But it is an occupation, whose job is to ring the bell every 2 hours and declare the time. For lack of a better description, I translated them as "night watchmen." This occupation has died out with the invention and wide availability of the watch and clocks. But in ancient China, these men are responsible for keeping track of the time.
[2] 见风使舵。- the exacts words means ‘See the direction the wind blows and raise the sails accordingly’. it means if someone is in power, you will try to build relationships with them. But when they are no longer in power, you will cut off all ties with them. I translated this phase as ‘to follow the way the winds blow.’
[3] 在我那打秋风 – the exacts words translated as ‘trying to blow the autumn wind for me’. But it had a meaning similar to ‘flatter, fawn over, or eagerly agree with someone, especially a person of higher authority as a means of currying favor’. I translate this phase as ‘curry favor’.