bayedsolid Chapter 288: So why is it gone now?
Chapter 288: So why is it gone now?
She thought to herself, "They've already assigned a page to the stone; I wouldn't dare think about this."
It was a great blessing for Shi Tou and Cai Wei to meet her as their stepmother; even their own mother couldn't have done that.
Yang Zhu looked on with envy: "That's so far! In my opinion, going to Anyang Prefecture isn't even as close as going to Guanglin Prefecture."
Lin Min shook her head: "You don't know this. Anyang Prefecture is under the jurisdiction of our Jizhou, while Guanglin Prefecture is under the jurisdiction of Nanzhou."
The North and South are quite different, aren't they? Especially in academic fields, like policy essays. The North studies strategy, while the South studies literature... what was it again? Anyway, it's different from what the North studies.
As Dongfang Jin listened to them talk, she realized that this might be the difference between a scholar and a warrior.
It's normal that teaching methods differ from region to region in modern times.
Yang Zhu was surprised: "There's such a saying?"
Lin Min nodded, then covered her mouth with one hand and whispered, "Before the New Year, Lin Yu and I sent a few jars of sesame paste to Yao Ge'er's tutor. That's what the tutor said."
He said that if my family had enough money now, we would send Yao Ge'er to Anyang School.
It is said that children who study there have a high chance of passing the imperial examinations, but in the end, all children who want to study at Anyang Academy have to take the exams.
Not just any child can get in there, and the teachers at Anyang School don't fawn over those of higher status; I've heard they treat everyone equally.
Moreover, the teachers there care about a child's academic performance, not their family background. My son Yao has been studying with him for two years, and he said that if we were interested in sending Yao to the Anyang Academy, he would write a letter of recommendation for him.
Most of the students admitted to Yunshu Academy in our county came from there. Lin Yu and I were also interested, but Yao-ge'er wasn't very ambitious.
Listening to her words, Dongfang Jin thought that her son might be a little timid and should be trained more.
But some people were puzzled: "Why is the primary school in the prefectural city, while the students are in the county?"
Yang Jing leaned over and said, "I know that. My mother-in-law said that the city is too crowded and chaotic, not as quiet as our county. You can see that there are no houses or shops around Yunshu Academy."
Lin Min patted her shoulder and laughed, "Wrong, it's because Dean Yan of Yunshu Academy lives in Ling'an County."
I heard that his father-in-law's family used to be high-ranking officials in Beijing, but for some reason, the whole family moved back to their hometown.
It is said that Dean Yan also resigned from his official post and opened a college in our county.
The Anyang Academy in the prefectural city was run by his father-in-law's family, and the headmaster was either his brother-in-law or his younger brother-in-law.
As Dongfang Jin listened to the others describe Yunshu Academy as a secluded paradise, elegantly surrounded by beautiful natural scenery.
She's never actually been to Yunshu Academy; she'll definitely go check it out sometime.
While the group was chatting, Li Xiuhong called them to go to the restaurant for breakfast.
Breakfast options include fried dough sticks, sweet treats, stuffed eggs, and glutinous rice cakes.
Steamed dumplings, soup dumplings, shumai, and soy milk (both sweet and plain) are available, along with red bean and millet porridge and white rice porridge.
A cold dish made with pickled vegetables, shredded radish, salted duck eggs, tea eggs, thinly sliced pickled fried tofu, and celery leaves; and a cold salad of cabbage hearts.
Yang Zhu looked at the sumptuous breakfast on the table and sat down: "I knew your breakfast was the most lavish. Now my stomach is finally satisfied."
Dongfang Jin gestured for them to sit down: "There are many people in the family, and we have a lot to do. The children are growing, so they can't go hungry."
Try them all, and see whichever you like. I'll give you some to take home; you can just heat them up and eat them.
Lin Min, holding a fried dough stick with glutinous rice cake, laughed and said, "Every time we come to your house, we find new kinds of food. How do you think of that?"
We just learned how to fry dough sticks, and you've already come up with something new! This glutinous rice cake dipped in sesame salt and eaten with the dough sticks is surprisingly delicious.
Yang Tao held a small bowl containing soup dumplings: "My father-in-law likes to dip fried dough sticks in garlic soup. He says it tastes good and saves on vegetables."
Lin Min asked, puzzled, "Then how do we eat it?"
She used to not eat garlic, but ever since her family started making sesame paste, it really doesn't taste good whether she's cooking vegetables or mixing noodles, unless there's some garlic broth in it.
Yang Tao put down the bowl: "Just crush the garlic cloves, sprinkle them with salt and mash them, add water, dip your chopsticks in the sesame oil I got from your house and mix it well, then take a freshly fried dough stick and dip it in that to eat."
I must say, it's actually quite delicious, though it has a bit of a peculiar taste, hehe.
Dongfang Jin watched them eat their breakfast heartily and put down a plate of shumai: "Eat less, we'll have hot pot for lunch, all the meat you can eat."
Uncle Gu, who was at the next table, heard her say, "Okay, cook more of the lamb offal. Sun Xing's cooking isn't very good."
Hearing this, Sun Xing looked dejected: "Sister-in-law, it's all because of Uncle Lai. He insisted that I cook mutton offal in the braised meat broth."
Not only were the mutton offal awful, but I also couldn't use the soup.
He didn't say anything, but if his wife hadn't stopped him in time because she smelled something amiss in the braised meat broth, he almost poured the whole pot of meat into the soup.
Dongfang Jin...
Put lamb offal in braised meat broth?
How do we eat it?
Is that pot of braised meat soup still usable?
Besides, the lamb offal she brought out was specially stewed by Jiang Xiaopei's family. The soup was older than her, so how could it not be delicious?
Sigh, it's all Ruyi's fault. Otherwise, it would be fine if she had the same idea of stewed mutton offal in her head as before.
Ruyi spoke in the space, "Go look for it yourself in the 'Compendium of Materia Medica for Food Therapy'. And I'm not taking the blame for this; what appeared in your mind back then was something I created."
Dongfang Jin was somewhat dissatisfied. "Then why isn't it there now? I still think the old method was more convenient; as long as I touched the herbs and spices, the recipe would automatically appear."
It was a bit scary at the time, but I got used to it and found it quite convenient. Now...
Ruyi gloated somewhat. "Isn't that different from what I'm saying? You can forget about that in your entire life, because I've appeared. As long as I'm here, it won't appear."
Dongfang Jin was too lazy to pay attention to it. Let her read? Forget it, she didn't want to be holding those books.
She hates reading the most; sometimes she even falls asleep while reading.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have only managed to get a diploma.
"The seasonings used for this stewed mutton are different from those used for their braised meat. If you like mutton, you can boil it in plain water."
The food for sheep is cleaner than that for pigs, and it doesn't need as many seasonings.
The most common ingredients used in stewing mutton are ginger, angelica root, and Sichuan peppercorns.
Uncle Gu nodded: "Chenglin's family, do you think we can plant Sichuan pepper trees on the wasteland at the foot of the mountain west of our village?"
Dongfang Jin: "Sure? You want to plant Sichuan pepper trees?"
Uncle Gu nodded and said, "My family has a few acres of wasteland, which we acquired during the land reclamation efforts a few years ago."
Unfortunately, there are too many rocks, so every year I plant some soybeans there, but the harvest is not good.
I was thinking, if those Sichuan pepper trees can grow on the mountain, can they also grow at the foot of the mountain?
Lin Lizheng saw Dongfang Jin nod and looked at Uncle Gu: "Since you plan to plant pepper trees, then you might as well take over all the wasteland at the foot of West Mountain."
Uncle Gu stared at Lin Lizheng: "It's not impossible for me to have both, but you have to give me a discount."
That area is quite large; although it's just one strip, it's still over twenty acres.
Lin Lizheng gestured for him to look at the table inside: "The magistrate is here. Tell him that I can't make the decision right now."
Lu Yunqing, who had been silent until now, spoke up: "If half of the wasteland at the foot of the mountain is made of stone, it's worth three taels of silver per mu."
If you need ten mu, it will be one tael of silver per mu.
Dongfang Jin then said, "You can also grow chili peppers, fennel, and cumin in those fields."
"Whatever you plant, I'll buy it all when it's harvest season."