Rebirth: Contract Husband Falls in Love with Me-Chapter 464 - 238: Vegetarian Banquet
A dish of jadeite shrimp is primarily made with tender snap beans and vegetarian shrimp prepared from glutinous rice flour, eggs, and seasonings. The snap beans are peeled, blanched in oil until cooked, displaying a color as green as jade; after heating oil in the pan, ginger slices and yellow wine are used to flavor the oil, then snap beans, sugar, salt, and other seasonings are stir-fried with broth added. Once flavored, the vegetarian shrimp are stir-fried until cooked, thickened with starch and topped with sesame oil before being served. Alternating colors of red and green create a vivid presentation; the fragrance of snap beans combined with the soft tenderness of the shrimp, though not genuine shrimp, provides a uniquely delectable taste.
A dish of Luojiang bean chicken consists mainly of soybeans, which are ground into soy milk and strained to remove the residue. The milk is then boiled in a pot and left to simmer on low heat. As a skin forms on the surface, it is lifted with thick bamboo chopsticks, set aside, and spread out to dry. Sesame powder, soy sauce, vegetable oil, and Sichuan pepper powder are evenly smeared on the skins, which are then rolled into rectangular blocks and steamed until the flavors permeate the skins. Once cooled after steaming, they are sliced into small, even diamond-shaped pieces for plating. The dish offers a soft, dry fragrance with a combination of salty, savory, and spicy tastes that is satisfying to chew.
An ivory bamboo shoot dish features tender bamboo shoots and preserved vegetables. Four tender shoots are trimmed to resemble ivory tusks and blanched. The preserved vegetables have their stems and leaves removed, are washed, cut into sections, and set aside. After adding peanut oil to a pan, green onion segments and ginger slices are stir-fried to release their aroma, then removed. The preserved vegetables are then stir-fried, followed by the addition of vegetarian broth and various seasonings. Finally, the bamboo shoots are added to the pan and simmered on low heat until the sauce thickens with added starch. For presentation, the four ivory-shaped shoots are arranged at the corners of the plate, tips facing outward, with preserved vegetables placed in the center. The shoots, pure white like jade, and the vibrant green vegetables create a dish that is elegant, refreshing, and naturally fragrant.
In addition, there are dishes such as bell-ringing pork slices, lotus leaf meat, chowder of mixed threads, triple delight fish maw, osmanthus-flavored dried scallops, chicken tofu, crystal duck blocks, premier pigeon eggs, fresh mushroom chicken slices, lotus blossoming from the water, drunken bamboo shoots in wine lees, Chrysanthemum coronarium, stir-fried lilies, pine nut-smoked tofu skin, and more. Each has a unique name but all are made from vegetarian ingredients.
Shi Fengju is obviously well-versed in these dishes, and he is able to explain the intricacies of each one to Sang Wan. Although Sang Wan has also visited temples before, where the vegetarian meals consisted only of stir-fried cabbage, green vegetables, and tofu, she was greatly impressed by the richness on display and the couple thoroughly enjoyed their vegetarian feast. Even Liu Ya and the others were treated to this rare gastronomic delight.
After the vegetarian feast and with the sun tilting westward, the couple bid farewell and descended the mountain.
They spent a night at the inn without incident, and after breakfast the next morning, they took a carriage to the wharf and boarded a boat bound for Qingzhou.
"Even if it’s slower, it won’t cause much delay. We don’t have to rush. Let’s stay onshore at night after mooring at the wharf! Just leave two or three people to watch the boat," Shi Fengju said.
Sang Wan, finding this suggestion entirely agreeable, thought that although it’s improbable to encounter such misfortune twice in a short time, being cautious is never wrong. She smiled and agreed.
In the evening, the couple, along with Liu Ya and others, indeed went ashore to stay.
During the daytime, the boat journey was smooth. Shi Fengju was full of energy, with not much to wear him out, so naturally at night he became ardent in seeking pleasure to dispel his vigor. Sang Wan was reluctant as he had just recovered from an injury and she didn’t want him to weaken and bring shame upon their return. But Fengju half-seriously joked, "Miss Wan, I’ve thought it over; we should hurry and have a child. Once there’s a child, the mother will have something to keep her busy and stop her from overthinking and creating problems!" He then jokingly asked how Mrs. Li was helping her to recuperate.
In fact, Shi Fengju was troubled by the memory of his accident and the more he thought about it, the more bitter he felt. If something were to happen in the future and he had not left behind an heir, how could he face his ancestors, his mother, and his wife? With this sense of crisis in mind, coupled with his affection for his beloved wife, he naturally clung to the idea even more stubbornly.
Sang Wan agreed that he had a point and said nothing more, allowing him to undress her and together they tumbled into the bed.
Half a month later, the boat finally docked at Qingzhou Wharf. Since a messenger had been sent by fast horse two days earlier to notify them, Butler Jin had already been waiting at the wharf with others. As Shi Fengju and Sang Wan disembarked, Butler Jin hurried to welcome them with the crowd.
"Young master, lady, you’ve returned! The lady of the house and all of us have been eagerly waiting every day!" Upon seeing Shi Fengju, Butler Jin’s eyes instantly moistened, and he couldn’t help but lift his sleeve to wipe the corner of his eyes. Fengju was like a child he had watched grow up. Hearing of his distress, how could he not be concerned? Now seeing him, he felt as if a world had passed.
