Palace Full Of Delicacies Chapter 4

GUESS WHO'S BACK! BACK AGAIN! Today, instead of updates on my life, I'll just give you an update on Su Yu's life. And please don't be alarmed by the t.i.tle, I swear it's not what you're thinking of. :'D Enjoy!

C4. Selling the Cat

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On the sixteenth day of the third lunar month, there was a temple fair in the western half of the city.

There was a Bodhi Temple with abundant offerings in the western outskirts, and the path leading to the temple had long since become a good place for street hawkers. On the day of the temple fair, before daylight even arrived, the quiet road was bustling with the noises from donkey-drawn carts—the hoof-beats of the donkeys and the creaking of the carts' wooden wheels.

Su Yu had been up since the hour of the ox[1], since the squid had to be marinated three hours in advance. The kitten was extremely displeased by how his 'mattress' had abandoned him.

"Come with me, Saucey, I'll be setting up a stall." Su Yu loaded his things onto the donkey cart, then tugged the kitten off the blanket it had been clinging to. After hearing this awfully commoner-like nickname, An Hongche was instantly p.i.s.sed, and ignored Su Yu no matter how much the latter tried to gain favour with him.

By the time he had gone from the east side of the city to the western outskirts, he was quite late. All the good stall locations had already been occupied. Su Yu found a rather eye-catching spot, which was next to a tree; he would be partially blocked, but he had no choice either. It was good enough that he had a location.

The kitten crouched on the table, scratching his ear with his hind leg. He watched leisurely as Su Yu made himself busy.

As the sun rose, the number of people increased as well. Around him, those selling wontons and red date cakes were doing very well. Su Yu looked at the ugly squid rings in his hand, then at the flower-shaped red date cakes; in terms of looks, his product was more than a little inferior. Shrugging his shoulders, he got up and bought a bowl of wontons from the stall next to his.

"Saucey, if I can't sell these today, this is going to be our last meal." Su Yu gave the kitten two wontons.

Hearing him use that name again, the kitten immediately turned around so that his b.u.t.t was facing Su Yu, then continued to eat the wontons.

Above the metal box a wire rack was placed, vegetable oil was brushed onto it, and the squid skewers were placed on top. As they were grilled by the charcoal fire, the aroma of the squids began to spread. With one hand, Su Yu controlled the heating, and in his other hand he held the goat-hair basting brush, continuously brushing sauce over the skewers.

Many people were attracted by the fragrance and couldn't help but stop by. After watching for a while, they couldn't figure out what it was, leaving the scene soon after. Even until noon, Su Yu hadn't managed to sell a single skewer, and he began to feel anxious. Maybe he had overestimated the ancient people's ability to accept things; trying to sell something no one had eaten before was basically opening up a completely empty market, which had a very high risk.

"Meow—" Seeing that person's glum appearance, An Hongche pursed his lips, getting up to fluff his fur. Grabbing the hand Su Yu used to hold the squid skewer, he looked at it again and again with distaste, then opened his mouth lazily and tore a piece off. He wasn't hungry, he was just bored and wanted to help the fellow eat some.

Squid flesh came with a naturally sweet flavour which was fully released after being grilled over a flame. Although squids had that characteristic fishy smell of the deep seas, c.u.min was the best thing to remove this fishiness. With a thick layer of sauce brushed on top, the raw c.u.min powder had been grilled by the charcoal fire until it burst apart, each grain becoming distinct.

After taking this bite, he found it extremely delicious. Contented, An Hongche's eyes narrowed to slits, and he continued to take bites.

"Eh?" someone in the crowd exclaimed. Soon, a plump figure squeezed through.

"Have some grilled fish[2], sir, it costs only three copper coins," Su Yu invited, flashing a smile. This person was gorgeously dressed, so he was probably rich, and he had a chubby, childlike face, so he was probably someone who loved to eat.

The plump young man looked at the squid skewer in Su Yu's hand, or to be precise, straight at the little golden kitten who was pawing at Su Yu's hand and eating the squid. "Um…I'd like a skewer."

"Sure thing." Su Yu happily placed a half-cooked skewer above the fire to heat, then brushed on a layer of sauce, handed it to that person, and received his first payment of the day—three copper coins.

"Mm…mm, delicious!" The plump young man looked about sixteen or seventeen, having forgotten about his original business after eating delicious food. As he chewed the last ring of squid, he pointed at the charcoal grill, "Give me another ten skewers!"

"Sure!" Deftly, Su Yu turned around and brought out ten skewers of squid rings, at the same time taking out a whole scored squid. "Sir, there's whole ones like these, would you like to try?"

"Okay, give me one of that," the plump young man agreed readily; his eyes shifted to look at the kitten on the side, winking at the kitten. But he ended up getting only a cold gaze from those amber eyes. He gulped, being at a loss for words, and could only scratch his head.

The people, who had been observing for a while, saw how this person kept saying the squids were delicious, and some brave souls came up to buy two skewers. This flavour was something the people in the capital had never tried before, and it was so much tastier than they had expected. The humble little stall was soon surrounded by customers. Three copper coins for one skewer wasn't exactly cheap, but it cost about as much as three flatbreads, and it was nothing difficult to buy one to try.

Even the ladies in palanquins, who saw how crowded it was, sent their servants to buy ten or twenty squid skewers.

The entire bucket of squid was sold out just after noon. Su Yu was tired and sweaty, but his mouth was wide open. The squid rings and tentacles cost three copper coins per skewer, while the whole squids cost ten copper coins each. Yesterday, he bought a hundred squids, and selling them all would mean Su Yu had earned nearly five hundred copper coins! However, he had purchased these squids for only thirty copper coins!

Five hundred copper coins! One thousand copper coins was equal to one tael of silver; if he carried on like this, he could earn hundreds of taels of silver! At once, Su Yu's eyes were full of gleaming silver ingots that flew towards him with little wings. [see footnote 3]

Seeing Su Yu giggle stupidly, to the point that he was almost drooling, the kitten's amber eyes filled with disdain. Being with such a dumb fellow was so embarra.s.sing. Just then, that plump, gorgeously dressed young man returned, and An Hongche raised one paw to cover his face.

"Sorry, sir, we're all sold out." Su Yu's smile hadn't gone down.

"I'm not here to buy food." The plump young man put out a pale, tender hand, pointing at the golden kitten seated next to the coin jar. "I'd like you to sell me this cat."

Su Yu shook his head. "This cat isn't for sale."

"I'll give you this in exchange." The young man produced a small piece of silver from his sleeve, which looked to be at least three taels' worth!

As a poor little fish seller, this was the first time Su Yu was seeing so much money, and it made his eyes stare unflinchingly. But his reason gained the upper hand in the end, for a cat couldn't possibly be worth three taels of silver, no matter how good it looked. He could not help but frown and ask, "Sir, what do you want this cat for?"

"This cat is stout and well-fed…ahem, it has bright fur and looks very good, I thought…aiyo!" The plump young man reached for the kitten as he spoke, and was promptly scratched.

Stout and well-fed? Alarms went off in Su Yu's mind immediately. He knew that people in the past sometimes liked to eat 'Dragon-Tiger Brawl'[4]; this cat had fur of a special colour, so he might actually be some especially tasty specimen, which was causing this foodie to splurge. Seeing the kitten resist that person's touch, he took the little furball, who was about to raise his hackles, into his embrace, and said with a cold expression, "I'm not selling."

Having said that, he didn't wait for a reaction before loading everything onto the donkey cart and flicking the reins, leaving the scene.

The kitten sat quietly in Su Yu's arms, slowly poking his head out near the front collar and looking up at the graceful line of his chin. His chest, which wasn't considered broad, seemed warm and dependable in this moment. Although a cat wasn't worth any more than a few copper coins, he wouldn't sell even when someone gave him three taels of silver. Mm, he was a little stupid, but he was still a loyal subject, His Majesty the cat concluded.

After reaching home, Su Yu was still torn up about the great sum of three taels of silver. However, a gentleman only obtained wealth through rightful means, and such dishonest money shouldn't be earned…but, that was three taels of silver!

The sun hadn't set yet and it was still warm, so Su Yu filled a basin with warm water by the stove, wanting to bathe the kitten who had been through all the smoke and fire. To protect himself from being scratched, he wrapped cloth strips around his hands.

"Come, Saucey, let's wash you clean."

Hmph, you finally know that you should prepare a bath for the emperor! The kitten shook his fur, then jumped into the wooden basin and lay against the side of the basin like some rich lord, his tail waving about lazily in the water.

Su Yu was dumbfounded for a full three seconds. This cat was definitely a weird one!

He dared not bathe the kitten for too long since the weather was still cold. After rubbing the kitten down briefly for a short while, Su Yu hurriedly wrapped it in a dry cloth, shoved it into his embrace, and ran back to his room to stuff the kitten into his blankets.

After Su Yu had returned from purchasing more squids, the little one's fur was already dry, and it was sleeping in the centre of his bed, belly up and limbs splayed. Amused, he pinched those soft paws, then turned and left to deal with the squids and make dinner.

At dusk, there were many more fishing boats returning from fishing trips, and the fish sold for lower prices than in the morning, just that the fish weren't as big as the ones sold in the morning. After some bargaining, Su Yu bought two hundred squids for fifty copper coins, along with a few small yellow croakers. Since he'd earned some cash today, he could afford to eat a little better.

An Hongche was woken up by the smell of grilled fish. When he got up, he saw that foolish slave bringing a plate of small yellow croakers that had been grilled till golden-brown, with a large bowl of milky-white fish soup on the side. He immediately prepared to leap onto the table, but then hesitated when he reached the edge of the bed. He didn't want to get dust on the paws that had just been cleaned.

"Come here, Saucey." Seeing how the kitten was unwilling to get off the bed, Su Yu thought it was afraid of heights, and he carried the kitten to the table. This action clearly won him the favour of the kitten, who patted his arm encouragingly as a reward.

Delicious charcoal-grilled yellow croakers and savoury crucian carp soup, a cat's life would be complete with just this! Having eaten his fill, the kitten lay in bed with his belly facing up, in good spirits as he slowly waved his tail. Not even the royal chefs could prepare anything this delicious; after he returned to the palace, he had to bring this little slave back to cook fish for him every day.

After his bath, Su Yu was shivering from the cold. He jumped into bed mindlessly, pushing the blanket aside and climbing in. The furball who had been digesting his food on the blanket was immediately flipped into the bed.

"Meow!" An Hongche rolled over. He climbed up, disgruntled, and jumped onto Su Yu's chest, staring at him haughtily. This foolish, insolent slave actually dared to occupy His Majesty's bed s.p.a.ce!

Words from the author:

Cat Gong: The emperor's bed s.p.a.ce is not to be occupied by mere commoners!

Little Fatty: Yes, that's right

Yellow croaker: Yes, that's right

Crucian carp: Yes, that's right

Little Fish: …this is supposed to be my bed though

Do cats have lips? (Dunno.) Do the people in this world eat cats? (Hope not.) Will An Hongche successfully bring Su Yu into the palace? (Probably.) ANYWAY!

Footnotes:

[1]: One Chinese hour is equivalent to two modern hours, or 120 minutes. The hour of the ox spans from 1am to 3am. (Omo, our dear MC got up so early QuQ)

[2]: Su Yu himself refers to it as just 'grilled fish', even though we all know squids ain't fish. It's probably because he's in an ancient setting, where people's knowledge of sea creatures is more limited, and he's trying not to use words they don't know (people tend to be afraid of unfamiliar things). Plus, the first two chapters did show that the people in this world don't know what squids are. Heck, Sanchuan doesn't even know that squid can be eaten until Su Yu says so, and even then, Sanchuan was still apprehensive.

[Necessarily long side note before anyone asks: in Chinese, most sea creatures that can swim and don't have a sh.e.l.l are named (something)+(鱼 'fish'). An example would be how the octopus is called 八爪鱼, which means 'eight-armed fish'. You might be thinking, the octopus isn't a fish, so why is it called a fish in Chinese???. My take is, it's likely because the Chinese language is so old, and a lotta stuff was named long before modern scientific cla.s.sifications were created. Maybe the ancient Chinese people decided that if it could swim and didn't have a sh.e.l.l like a tortoise or clam, it was a fish, period. We'll ignore all the exceptions to this rule for now.]

[3]: I'm a.s.suming the winged silver ingots he's imagining are worth one tael each, which is why 'silver ingot' and 'tael of silver' are used interchangeably here. Just a one-time thing.

[4]: Original term is 龙虎斗. It's a soup dish in Cantonese cuisine. The 'dragon' is snake meat, and the 'tiger' is…cat meat. Some of you might've heard of it. (What I've found seems to indicate that the leopard cat is used, although palm civet cat can be used too.) There's a Hubei version (not soup) which is made with swamp eel ('dragon') and pork ('tiger'); I think most of us would rather eat this version, yes?

If you are seeing this text, you are NOT reading it on the original site. Head on down to lovelysweetdream 959085286 dot wordpress dot com to read the original!