Chapter Seventy-Three: Honeyed Golden Tangerine

  The king of citrus fruits is the golden tangerine, which is similar to the Dan Gui (a type of osmanthus flower with a orange-gold color and strong fragrance without any bitterness). In recent years, people from Shanghai and Hangzhou tried to cultivate Dan Gui in northern Fujian but failed, wasting many resources and resulting in a decrease in the production of osmanthus tea in northern Fujian. The golden tangerine is also unique to northern Fujian (the small ones sold in markets are not golden tangerines but rather golden pomelos). When visiting friends or family in northern Fujian during the first month of the lunar year, they usually serve you a cup of osmanthus tea or golden tangerine tea, which is the highest form of hospitality. The osmanthus tea in northern Fujian is different from those in Hangzhou and Guangxi, as it uses honey to preserve the flowers, whereas the others use dried white or yellow osmanthus flowers that have lost their color and shape, leaving only a bitter fragrance. To make the tea, one spoonful of osmanthus tea is placed in a glass or white porcelain cup, and then hot water is added. The preserved osmanthus flowers then unfurl in the water, releasing their fragrance. Under the reflection of the white porcelain or glass, the tea appears to be rich and luxurious. When you smell the fragrance, it's subtle yet not too strong. As Mr. Zhu said, "If the fragrance is a bit stronger, it's overwhelming; if it's weaker, it's not enough." But when you take a sip, the fragrance is just right, refreshing your mind and body. It's like standing on a high mountain, looking down at the peaceful village below, with the morning mist rising from the fields, and the gentle breeze blowing across your face. When you finally swallow the tea, the fragrance spreads throughout your body, making you feel comfortable and relaxed, as if you're floating on air. To this day, when I visit friends or family during the first month of the lunar year, I always receive the osmanthus tea with reverence, standing up, bowing my head, and holding out both hands to accept it, afraid that I might accidentally profane the deep emotions contained within.

  Unfortunately, Wang Kuang was busy with Wang Ling's wedding last year and perhaps had become too lazy to remember to collect some osmanthus flowers. He even neglected the few osmanthus trees in his own small courtyard at the inn, letting them bloom and wither on their own. If he hadn't seen that family carefully tending to their golden osmanthus at Jiang Creek Mouth this time, he would have forgotten about it altogether.

  The next evening, Gao San bought more than a kilogram of golden osmanthus back and swept away the stored goods of that household again. The only drawback was that due to the long storage time, the color had already become not very fresh. Fortunately, this time Wang Kuang wanted to take its relieving effect on coughing, so the impact was not great.

  Because Wang Kuang had never made candied kumquats before, he only watched others do it, so this first time he must do it himself. After finishing, he could hire people to help during the peak season. The next day, early in the morning, after washing the kumquats with water and then scalding them with boiling water, Wang Kuang used a needle to pick out the seeds one by one. Each kumquat had only one seed. There were over a thousand kumquats in a kilogram, so picking was also quite laborious. Chen Ya'er was idle and had nothing to do, saw Wang Kuang sitting alone in the courtyard, took a needle and started picking, but was clumsy and slow. On the other side, Ruhua had already carried out Grandma Chen to sunbathe in the courtyard, while Qiuxiang had finished sweeping the courtyard and came over to help after seeing that the mistress was picking kumquats. Ruhua originally wanted to come and help pick together, but Wang Kuang called her back to chat with Grandma Chen. These two maids were afraid of being mistreated by the host family when they first arrived, especially Ruhua, who worried that her large appetite would cause dissatisfaction. However, after more than a month, Chen Ya'er did not treat them as servants, but rather like sisters, and Wang Kuang sometimes worried that Ruhua was not eating enough, so he would let the restaurant send more food. As a result, they gradually relaxed, and the atmosphere in the courtyard became lively, with laughter often heard. Every time Wang Kuang heard it, she couldn't help but sigh: "It's said that three women are like three thousand ducks, these four or five together are even more formidable." During this period, Chouchou had also become very close to Chen Ya'er. Today, coincidentally, Mr. Liu was going to a friend's gathering and didn't attend school, so he sat on Chen Ya'er's lap, took a needle, and started learning to pick kumquats in a serious manner. Every time he picked out one, he would hold up the good kumquat and laugh, showing it to Chen Ya'er, who praised him before he continued picking.

  Chen Ya'er had already learned from Wang Ling that her second uncle was not simple, so whenever Wang Kuang wanted to do something, she wouldn't ask questions like others did. Instead, she would help with whatever needed to be done. Women were suited for this kind of meticulous work; it didn't take an hour before all the kumquats had been sorted. Wang Kuang then spread them out on a bamboo tray to dry in the sun, and after just half a day, the water content on the surface of the kumquats would be gone.

  Since it was still early, Wang Kuang decided to go to the iron shop and have a few things made. The general's cabinet he had made in the previous two years had also earned the owner of the iron shop some rewards, and Lin Ming had already instructed him that whenever Wang Kuang came to make something, he would just do it, as long as he went to the salt and iron office to supplement the amount of iron used. This was all thanks to Lin Han's operations in Chang'an, who would occasionally ask for things made of iron when presenting the general's cabinet, and each state and county had a fixed amount of iron that could be used each year. Therefore, the Ministry of Revenue specially allowed Wang Kuang to take out the iron he needed from the annual allocation of iron. The Ministry of Revenue's thinking was simple: would someone who could present a general's cabinet still use iron for nefarious purposes?

  Spent some time at the blacksmith's shop, made it clear what needs to be done, all very simple things, so can get them tomorrow or the day after. Then strolled over to Ao Jiaotou's mutton shop to see how business is going. Ao Jiaotou has already returned to the grasslands, now only his wife and a hired hand are taking care of the shop, as for the mutton, it's now being handled by Sun Jiahuan at Fulaiguesthouse who sends it over, waiting for Ao Jiaotou to return and take over himself.

  As he passed by the only stationery store in Jian'an, Wang Kuang unexpectedly learned that the Go board he had ordered two years ago was finally done. The owner of the stationery store had deliberately tried to curry favor with Wang Kuang, who was known for his close relationship with Lin Xiaolang, a renowned talent in Jian'an. By catering to Wang Kuang's needs, the owner hoped to gain favor with Lin as well, which would ultimately benefit his business.

  The Go board was made of jade, with white stones carved from Hetian jade and black stones from Xixia's ink jade. If it weren't for the owner's attempt to impress Wang Kuang, the board could have been completed in half a year at most.

  Wang Kuang took the Go board with a bitter smile, as he no longer had any enthusiasm for Weiqi (Go). Compared to Weiqi, Wang Kuang preferred playing billiards, especially enjoying the thrill of hitting a shot and watching the ball drop into the pocket without even aiming. It gave him a sense of accomplishment, much like Li Fei's legendary marksmanship.

  However, Wang Kuang didn't want to decline the good intentions of the stationery shop owner, so he accepted it. But before leaving, he handed the shop owner a note and asked him to go to Fulaiguesthouse to pick up some iron plaques that could be used for a 10% discount, which would be given to the big customers of the stationery shop. Wang Kuang had made these iron plaques a long time ago but hadn't sent them out because business at Fulaiguesthouse was too good and didn't need any promotional gimmicks. Even now when people from the county government and prefectural government came to drink, they could get a discount with their own ID cards, so there was no need for these iron plaques. Wang Kuang was just regretting wasting his effort when he decided to give them to the stationery shop instead.

  After finishing all the work and returning home, it was already lunchtime. Wang Ling had already returned home and saw Wang Kuang again with a complaint: "You should come back earlier, the dishes are cold." However, Chen Ya'er pinched the soft flesh on his waist from behind, making him grit his teeth. Wang Kuang had instructed many times before that if he was out, they didn't have to wait for him to return, and everyone could eat by themselves. But now Wang Kuang was already the de facto head of the household, no matter how many times he said it, nobody listened, and they still waited.

  Wang Juan smiled as soon as she saw him, while Qiu Xiang, who was watching from the side, looked a bit shy and still had a straight face. Even Ruhua couldn't help but laugh, perhaps because of her carefree nature, she could eat and grow so plump, that now she was laughing uncontrollably.

  "Haha, big brother, you have food to eat at the government office, why do you need to come home to eat? Who's to blame?" The provincial and county governments had already arranged for a restaurant to deliver food every noon last year, only charging for labor costs. But Wang Lingyi was dissatisfied with the large pot dishes not being as good as small stove cooking, and secondly, it was a new marriage, so being able to stay at home a bit longer was also good. Although the food sent by Wang Kuang was simple, sometimes even less rich than what was delivered to the government office, he still preferred to come back home to eat.

  After eating, I saw that the kumquats had dried up quite a bit, so I brought them back in and spread them out to dry in the sun. Then I took some rock sugar and crushed it, and when the kumquats were almost dry, I let Chen Ya'er and Qiu Xiang help me sprinkle the kumquats with honey and rock sugar powder in an open-mouthed jar that had been washed and scalded beforehand. The ratio was about one kilogram of kumquats to half a kilogram of rock sugar and half a kilogram of honey (this ratio also depends on individual preferences, if you like sweet things, add more sugar). After mixing well, I moved it back under the sun to dry, this needs to be done once a day. If using freshly picked kumquats, due to high water content, it usually takes seven to ten days of drying, but since these kumquats were picked a bit late, most of the moisture had already evaporated, so it only took three or four days of drying. After they were dry, I put them in ceramic jars, sealed the lids, and they can be stored for several years without going bad.

  When drying the golden oranges, Wang Kuang suddenly remembered that this was a gift for Empress Changsun. As people need fine clothes and makeup, Buddha needs gold decorations, so the jar holding the golden oranges should be exquisite too. But where could he find a white porcelain jar? As far as Wang Kuang knew, white porcelain had not appeared yet at this time, even if it did, it would probably be hidden somewhere unknown. The most famous ones at that time were still the black porcelains from Jianyang (now Fujian), but they mainly produced ritual vessels, and it was unlikely to find a ready-made jar. He remembered seeing a white jade pen holder in the paper and pen shop earlier, thinking it could also be used. So he ran another errand to the paper and pen shop, and the owner readily handed it over, originally this pen holder was placed in Jian'an, not many people would buy it, since Wang Kuang wanted it, he sold it to him, not cheaply, a pen holder cost Wang Kuang thirteen taels, using a thirteen-tael worth pen holder to hold golden oranges that only cost less than one hundred wen, probably only Wang Kuang could think of this. But thinking about the extremely luxurious mooncake packaging in later generations, Wang Kuang was relieved, after all, his golden oranges might sell for three or five taels too. Wang Kuang had positioned these golden oranges as a high-end product, just like the later generation's osmanthus tea gift boxes, one box containing one jar of osmanthus and one jar of golden oranges, and the buyer must use a white jade cup to brew it, only then would it show its nobility.

  Division

  The method of making candied kumquats in this chapter, although I saw it when I was a child, but after so many years have passed, I almost forgot about it, today I specially called back home and asked many people, at the same time also asked about the method of making osmanthus, which will be written later. Today there is only one chapter.

  Please recommend and collect it, your support is the motivation for Hui Que, every time I see the collection and recommendation surge, Hui Que will be full of energy.

  In addition, this book is still mainly focused on writing more about food and cooking methods, wanting to write a light and easy life article, there won't be too much plotting and scheming, may disappoint some book friends. However, this is Hei Que's ideal, life should be carefree and relaxed, right?