The First Volume of Qinghe County

  In the blink of an eye, the guys had already taken away those tea snacks that were splashed with either Dr. Bai's tea or saliva, and more than a dozen large and small plates, saucers, and bowls almost filled up the whole eight-immortal table, and there was even a huge ceramic pot, who knows what's inside.

  The aroma of food mixed with the fragrance of wine, making one's fingers move greatly. Ximen Qing took two heavy sniffs, these are all non-polluting green organic foods, no need for QS certification and no need to worry.

  As he looked around, um, almost all of them were meat dishes, and several seemed to be all meat, like that plate of pork ribs, which really suited his taste! This morning had been busy, cutting the whip, touching the crispy chest, without even a drop of water or rice, Ximen Qing's mouth was watering as he looked at the table full of dishes.

  Corruption, sheer corruption! Fu the shopkeeper didn't even make it upstairs, and instead went back to write a letter of condolence. The sedan chair was waiting outside, and the teacher was standing by attending. It seemed that only three people were at the banquet: Zhu Zhi County, Ximen Qing, and Bai Taigong. Three people eating such a big table of dishes, trying each dish just once - those with smaller appetites probably couldn't even manage this much.

  Luckily, my brother came with an empty stomach and didn't have to pay a dime. This meal was worth it, and we even got a white-haired doctor out of it.

  Ximen Qing had a smile on his face, his eyes scanning the table back and forth, calculating whether to eat a fried meatball first or pick up a piece of braised pork ribs. Wait, what's in that big ceramic pot? It must be some kind of nourishing soup, I'll have a bowl of it first, drinking soup before eating rice is very important.

  What's going on with the dishes not being served yet? And that bearded guy, the master of the mansion, doesn't seem to have any intention of making a move. These dozen or so people are standing by, over 30 eyes staring, how can we eat like this? Is this some kind of Song Dynasty dining etiquette? How many servants do they need upstairs and downstairs? It's better to just bring in two hostesses...

  Ximen Qing was lost in thought when the host of the Haomen Building had already found someone to heat up the wine, lightly clapping his hands. The waiters came out one after another, leaving only two servants pouring wine and waiting on them, causing Ximen Qing to secretly let out a sigh of relief.

  "Sorry, sorry." The master of the grand mansion looked embarrassed and sang a fat apology: "Our humble shop was not well prepared, and in our haste, we could only prepare eighteen dishes. Please forgive us, sir."

  Zhu Zhi Xian nodded, turned his face to the side and laughed at Bai Taiyi: "This banquet was originally supposed to have eighty dishes, but it ended up being a joke for Doctor Bai. This small place is not well prepared, can't compare to Tokyo."

  Although these words were spoken on behalf of Haomen Tower, Zhu Zhixian's tone was still full of pride.

  Eighty pieces. Are you planning on staying here and eating and sleeping, making it a Golden Week?

  When Ximen Qing was flattering, Bai Taoyi scanned the dishes on the table with a shocked expression: "The county magistrate is too modest. As a minor official in the Imperial Hospital for 15 years, I have only enjoyed a few good meals at grand banquets in official residences, and I have never seen all 80 dishes. I didn't expect that in Qinghe County's small territory, in such a hurry, you could actually come up with 18 dishes, which is already remarkable!"

  The master of the mansion smiled all over his face, stretched out his hand and said: "Please taste these few dishes, they are the most skilled in our kitchen. Come on, pour wine!"

  The yellow liquor poured into the cup with a hot air, and the aroma rushed to the nose. Ximen Qing's stomach was hungry, and he also knew the harm of drinking on an empty stomach. He hesitated which dish to start with when, opposite him, Bai Taai took a fried bun, put it in his mouth and chewed loudly; Zhu Zhishan also took a spoon from another bowl and ate with relish, seemingly small tofu.

  "Ah, delicious! Delicious!" Dr. Bai was the first to praise, and even before he finished chewing his meatball, he nodded repeatedly: "This is done extremely well by Kai Tai Warehouse, it's exactly this flavor! Not inferior to what I had in Tokyo!"

  Zhu Zhi nodded slightly and scooped another spoonful: "This White Cloud Stew is getting better and better, not bad, not bad."

  The master of the Hao Gate Building received praise from Zhu Zhi County and, rubbing his hands together, bowed and replied: "I knew that this White Cloud Stew was something you enjoyed, so I put extra effort into perfecting it. If you're satisfied today, then that's all that matters."

  Kai Tai Cang? This looks like just a fried dough ball, the name is too pretentious. Even a small piece of tofu is called "White Cloud Stew", what's the connection between tofu and white clouds?

  When you don't know what to eat, look around and follow what others are eating.

  Ximen Qing moved away from the small bowl of tofu and thought it would be better to do some work before drinking, so he picked up a meatball with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth to chew.

  Hmm, salty and fresh taste, chewy texture, and it seems like there's some soup in the middle? It kind of tastes like my favorite Urine Beef Ball.

  Ximen Qing was very satisfied with this flavor and picked up another one to put in his mouth.

  "Ximen's official also likes this Kai Tai warehouse, the taste is not bad." The owner of the Hao Men building raised his thumb: "This plate of fried sheep's eyes was carefully selected from over a dozen pairs to make..."

  Goat eyes? Ximen Qing's drumming cheeks suddenly stopped, goat eyes?

  "All are good sheep's eyes, shiny and bright..." The master of the Hao Men Lou added.

  My god, you can talk nonsense, but you can't eat blindly. The mutton and lamb chops are fine, but the sheep's eyes are still making Ximen Qing from Journey to the West at a loss.

  Can't spit it out, right? Haven't even started drinking yet, can't pretend to be drunk either? Ximen Qing didn't dare to savor it carefully, and with a helpless effort, he swallowed several times, finally managing to swallow it down.

  Zhu Zhi County had someone bring the small bowl of tofu to Ximen Qing's face, smiling complacently: "Ximen brother, since you're having this whole sheep banquet for the first time, you can't miss this dish of White Cloud Stew. I guarantee that after you eat it once, you'll want to have it again - it's carefully cooked with sheep brain..."

  Zhu Zhi Xian said, Xi Men Qing was unwilling to try the Bai Yun Stew and quickly changed the subject: "This...host, I'm having this whole lamb banquet for the first time, please introduce it to me, be sure to clearly introduce the original materials..."

  The white-haired doctor opposite him gave a look of disdain and said with a sarcastic tone, "Heh heh, this Blowing Snow gentleman is having his first meal, you should introduce him clearly, Master."

  This guy said "for the first time" so heavily that Ximen Qing gave him the middle finger, anyway in the Song Dynasty no one knew what this gesture meant.

  "Yes, you introduce Ximen Xiaodi to him." Zhu Zhixian also nodded and said.

  The owner of the mansion coughed twice and began to introduce with great pride:

  "Stir-frying the lamb's heart."

  "Luoshuiquan, ban yangshe."

  Translation: "Dropping into the water spring, mixing with sheep's tongue."

  "Wind grass, also known as sheep's tongue tip."

  "Explode Phoenix Tail. It is explode stir-fry lamb waist."

  "Thousand-layered stir-fried grass. This is the stir-fried sheep's gallstone."

  "Five-flavor braised pork belly. Red-braised lamb shank meat."

  All sorts of weird and wonderful names for dishes that made Ximen Qing's tiger-like body tremble with excitement, but he finally understood the concept of a whole sheep banquet, fortunately most of which he could still stomach.

  "Uh, what kind of soup is this big vat?" It seemed that the host of the Haomen Building had forgotten to introduce it, so Ximen Qing specially reminded him in order to avoid potential risks.

  "That's the mutton soup, to be eaten with the Hu pancakes." The master of the Haomen Building seemed to not consider the mutton soup as part of the whole sheep banquet at all, explaining: "There was no such dish in the whole sheep banquet originally, it wasn't prepared in time, the chef brought it out to make up for it, and Master's eyes are like torches, noticing this. The Hu pancakes are still being made, they will be presented later when the wine and dishes are finished, hot soup is not bad."

  Ximen Qing heard this and suddenly thought of the scene where he and his classmates were eating hot pot and dipping bread in a steamy sheep soup shop before crossing over, and unexpectedly this kind of food already existed in the Song Dynasty, which made him feel a little emotional.

  Of course, the Hu Bao that appeared in the Song Dynasty was not the sesame seed cake of his own time, but rather something similar to Xinjiang's Nang, which Ximen Qing also learned about from a documentary or something like that.

  The probability of returning to the original era is extremely low, and returning to the future can only be shown in movies, it's impossible in reality. Moreover, this strange world doesn't seem to be as simple as the past Song Dynasty.

  Ximen Qing secretly sighed and his hand involuntarily reached for the warm wine cup, today there's wine today I'll get drunk, who cares about anything else.

  The action received a warm response from the county magistrate, who stretched out his hand to signal the owner of the Hao Gate Building to step down. He himself raised his wine cup and laughed loudly: "Brother Xi Men cannot drink alone, come on, let's use this cup of wine to welcome Dr. Bai."

  Ximen Qing changed his expression to a joyful one, raised his wine cup: "Yaozu brother came from afar, traveling through wind and dust, hanging his medical box to save the world, bringing fortune to the people of Qinghe County. I admire him endlessly. Please drink this cup to the full!"

  White Taiyi's pale face suddenly became quite colorful. After fifteen years of mixing in the hospital, he was finally squeezed out and couldn't even make a living in Tokyo, so he had to slink back home with his tail between his legs, planning to take over the Ximen family's pharmacy by squeezing them out. He had originally thought that if he gave the county magistrate 100 taels of silver, things would go smoothly, but unexpectedly, after Ximen Qing entered the elegant room and spoke a few words, White Taiyi was squeezed out and ended up having to work at the Ximen family's pharmacy instead.

  This tone was really hard for Bai Taoyi to swallow, but Zhu Zhixian sat in the middle and prepared to mediate between the two families. He couldn't afford to turn his face against them on the spot either. Fortunately, he still had a chance to turn things around, and with his own abilities, going to the pharmacy to stir up some trouble was just a small matter.

  Bai Taichang had been sitting for a moment, and he had already thought of several ideas in his mind. At this time, seeing the county magistrate raise his cup, Ximen Qing also raised his cup with a bad smile, and Bai Taichang also put on a smile: "I, a humble man, have been away from my hometown for over twenty years, serving the imperial family in the Imperial Hospital for fifteen years. I didn't expect that upon returning to my hometown, I would receive such hospitality, which makes me feel ashamed. As a doctor, it is only natural for me to use my medical skills to benefit the people of Qinghe County. In the future, I will still have to trouble you, sir, for another month. Come, come, let's drink this cup together."

  Ximen Qing naturally also knew that this white-haired doctor was definitely not good-hearted, and he would have to be on his guard. Since he had already won one round today, it was enough to overwhelm the other side in terms of momentum. Momentum was what mattered most. As long as you were within my shop, weren't you still at my mercy?

  Thinking of this, Ximen Qing laughed even more brightly and downed the wine in his cup in one gulp!

  My god, what's with this wine!!!! Did I pick up the wrong one?????