Chapter 270: Ah, My Eggs!
“Great-Aunt, Great-Aunt, my eggs! The eggs!” Wen Yao began yelling before she even stepped through the door.
Inside the workshop, Old Madam Luo was chatting about something with her younger sister when she heard the racket.
“That darn girl, never acting sensible for even a single day! Just listen to the nonsense coming out of her mouth,” Old Madam Luo grumbled, though her legs were already moving toward the door. She stood in the courtyard waiting for Wen Yao to enter.
Wen Yao stepped inside first, followed closely by Xun Feng carrying the ducks.
Old Madam Luo glared at him, pointing at Xun Feng. “Throw those ducks out!”
This was a workshop—a place where food was made. Ever since Old Madam Luo thoroughly revamped the workshop, her standards for sanitation had become exceptionally high.
Xun Feng’s hands reacted faster than his brain now. The moment Old Madam Luo finished speaking, the ducks in his hands were tossed outside the main gate of the workshop, rolling across the ground a few times.
“My apologies, my apologies! Can’t afford to offend Grandma Luo,” Xun Feng murmured as he looked at the pitiable ducks, guilt practically drooling from the corners of his mouth.
Stepping inside, Wen Yao noticed her grandmother standing there with a rather unfriendly gaze. She instinctively shrank her neck and let out a couple of embarrassed laughs.
“Grandma.”
Old Madam Luo glared at her. “What are you shouting about? What ‘your eggs’? Hens lay eggs—are you a hen?”
Hearing this, Wen Yao burst out laughing, giggling like crazy.
Old Madam Luo immediately lost her stern facade, offering a fond scold, “You even laugh like a hen! Looking for your eggs, are you? It’s a miracle you actually remembered those eggs of yours.”
“I forgot, I completely forgot!” Wen Yao truly had forgotten during this period. Constantly sidetracked by Lady Liu’s affairs, she had completely wiped her precious little eggs from her mind.
Old Madam Luo and her younger sister led the two into the storeroom. The jar containing the century eggs was still sealed, but the salted duck eggs had already been opened.
The younger Old Madam Luo spoke up: “Yao Yao set the number of days beforehand, and I kept track of them all. Time was up a few days ago, but everyone was busy back then, and you fell ill, Big Sister, so I ended up forgetting about it too. I only broke the seal a few days ago, so I don’t know how they turned out.”
Wen Yao reached straight in and scooped one out, saltwater dripping continuously from her hand.
“You darn girl, aren’t you afraid of ruining your hands in the brine?” Old Madam Luo quickly sent Xun Feng out to fetch a basin of water, pressing Wen Yao’s hand inside to rinse away the salt.
Wen Yao fiddled with the egg for a moment. “It’s only been a few extra days, so it shouldn’t be much of a problem. Let’s give it a try.”
Muttering to herself, Wen Yao turned to Old Madam Luo and said, “Grandma, let’s scoop them out and boil them!”
As for the raw one in her hand, Wen Yao found a bowl and cracked it open. The orange yolk had already taken shape. Once the egg white was drained away, the yolk felt bouncy and firm to the touch.
Not much of a problem at all.
Old Madam Luo scooped out the salted duck eggs, rinsed them clean, and set them in a pot to boil. A fishy aroma filled the air, leaving them uncertain whether the batch had succeeded or not.
Once they were finally done, she cooled them in cold water. Wen Yao peeled one open directly; as soon as her chopsticks poked through, the white gave way, and oil from the egg yolk instantly oozed out, flowing onto the plate.
Wen Yao’s eyes lit up. She picked up a piece of the yolk and popped it into her mouth. It was rich and gritty—quite good! As for the egg white, she lacked the courage to try it.
Noticing someone beside her watching with eager eyes, Wen Yao rolled her eyes and said, “Brother Xun Feng, why don’t you try a piece?”
Xun Feng had seen Wen Yao sample it herself, so without thinking twice, he picked up a piece of the egg white and put it into his mouth.
“Gah!…” With one bite down, Xun Feng’s brows knitted so tightly they almost tied into a knot. “Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey! Good grief, why is it so salty?!”
He suspected Miss Yao Yao was trying to pickle him alive.
“Hahahahaha…” Wen Yao laughed so hard she doubled over.
Xun Feng pouted in frustration.
Old Madam Luo cast a glance at the two of them and sampled a bite as well. It was indeed very salty upon impact, but it wasn’t unmanageable. Back when times were tough, being able to eat something this salty was considered a luxury, so Old Madam Luo naturally wouldn’t spit it out.
Frowning slightly, she swallowed it and asked, “Yao Yao, why is it so salty?”
Gazed at resentfully by Xun Feng, Wen Yao choked back her laughter and began to explain to them.
“This is called a salted duck egg. As the name suggests, it’s salty! Although it’s salty, Grandma, think about it—if you use this to go with rice or porridge, wouldn’t a single bite help you swallow a whole lot of food?”
Saying this, Wen Yao urged them to try the yolk again: “Try the yolk. In a salted duck egg, the best part is actually the salted yolk! Give it a shot.”
Xun Feng was suffering immensely. Because he had been greedy just now, he had taken a large bite of the white, whereas Old Madam Luo had been cautious and only tried a small piece, so it hadn’t been as overwhelming for her.
Hearing Wen Yao’s suggestion now, Xun Feng didn’t dare be the first to try again. He silently shuffled to the side, his eyes filled with a pitiable gaze.
Old Madam Luo had no choice but to try it herself. Eating the yolk, however, truly wasn’t as overwhelmingly salty as the white. In fact, it tasted quite delicious. Just as Yao Yao had said, this thing was definitely a master weapon for accompanying meals!
“Go ahead and try it, the yolk isn’t salty,” Old Madam Luo said to Xun Feng. Only then did Xun Feng cautiously sample a bit of the yolk, followed by another piece.
Hey now! The more he ate, the better it tasted!
The salted duck eggs were a resounding success. Wen Yao then scooped out the century eggs. Upon peeling one open, the egg was speckled with mottled, snowflake-like patterns, looking thoroughly enticing.
Old Madam Luo, however, was startled, her face full of distress: “Ah! These have all gone bad!”
Wen Yao countered, “Grandma, they’re not bad. They’re supposed to look like this! These are called century eggs, or pine-patterned eggs. Want to try one?”
This time, everyone present, including Xun Feng and Old Madam Luo, took a collective step backward in unison.
Wen Yao shrugged. “Hmph, I’ll make sure they’re served on the dinner table tonight!”
For the sake of these two new dishes, the entire group gathered at Wen Yao’s house again that evening.
When Wen Xiuyi returned and saw how lively the house was, he slipped straight into the kitchen. Spotting the salted duck eggs and century eggs in the kitchen, he was quite surprised.
“Oh, your salted…” Before he could finish, Wen Yao shot him a glare. Then, quickly winking at him, Wen Xiuyi immediately changed his tune: “Seeing you so bored, what new things did you end up making?”
Before Wen Yao could explain, Old Madam Luo spoke up on her behalf: “This is something new Yao Yao made, called salted duck eggs and century eggs. Hurry up and get out! Look at all the dirt on you—don’t let it get into the food.”
“Oh, right, right! I’ll go change my clothes first.” Wen Xiuyi was pushed out by Old Madam Luo, though he playfully turned back to wink at Wen Yao.
Tonight’s meal was simple: steamed buns, boiled porridge, four roasted ducks split onto several plates, and a few side dishes to go with the buns. After all, the main stars tonight were the salted duck eggs and century egg tofu.
Unexpectedly, those salted duck eggs—which were overwhelmingly salty when eaten alone—tasted wonderfully delicious when paired with porridge and steamed buns. The century egg tofu received even greater praise; who would have thought that this pitch-black egg, when placed atop tender tofu and drizzled with Wen Yao’s secret sauce, could taste so heavenly?
Before the meal even ended, Old Madam Luo had already made up her mind: these salted duck eggs and century eggs—they had to make them!
However, making them was one thing, but the issue of sourcing duck eggs still needed to be resolved. Just as Wen Yao had considered earlier, they decided they needed to make another trip to the prefectural city. This time, Old Madam Luo actively volunteered to go with them.
In any case, Wen Yao didn’t need to use any tricks this time, so she treated it as taking the old lady out for a relaxing trip.
