Chapter 50: Chapter 50 Guest (2)_1 Chapter 50: Chapter 50 Guest (2)_1 Upon seeing this, Zhang and the others speculated that the Lin Family must have caught the fish because the children loved it.
“It’s getting late, we need to return home to cook dinner, so we won’t disturb you further. Oh, Ziyin, Auntie won’t stand on ceremony with you. I’d like to take some leftover bean pulp back to make veggie pancakes,” White Auntie said with a chuckle.
“Sure, we have plenty of it at home,” Lin Ziyin laughed as he replied.
“I’ll pack it up. Aunt Zhang, you should take some back too. Although it’s nothing special, it tastes great when made into pancakes with vegetables,” said Guo Huiniang, a clever woman who further ingratiated herself to the Wu family members following the intimacy shown by White Auntie.
“Great, thanks. We’ll take some back to try,” said Aunt Zhang, looking at the Bai family’s blunt demeanor and then agreeing with a laugh.
Both families took some bean pulp and then went back home.
“They brought over a lot of vegetables, shall we make some bean pancakes tonight too?” Zige asked.
“No, tonight we’ll make mixed fish pies.” Laughed Lin Ziyin, “I’ll do it”.
Zige glanced at the small fish in the bucket. She wanted to say that this mixed fish was too fishy and virtually inedible.
But seeing Lin Ziyin’s enthusiasm, she swallowed back her words.
“I just need a bit of leftover dough. Sister-in-law, you can use the rest of the dough to make some buns,” said Lin Ziyin. “Let’s make tofu buns.”
Guo Huiniang and Lin Zige agreed and then quickly busied themselves.
Lin Ziyin personally cleaned the innards of the small fish and then used the remaining pot to make a mixed fish pie.
At night, the table was graced with a large basin of mixed fish, as well as some pickled vegetables. The staple food was millet porridge and buns, along with the pie.
“It smells so good.” Wu Dayou complimented, “Master Lin, please.”
It was the Lin Family tradition that no one would eat until Grandfather Lin had picked up his chopsticks. Even the youngest Lin Yanzhi was aware of this rule.
“Alright, let’s eat.” Since Lin Ziyin had mentioned earlier that they needed rice wine and wine in the next few days, the three men, though tempted, refrained from drinking.
“It’s really delicious,” Lin Changting raved, with the others chiming in.
“Sister, how come there’s no fishy smell at all?” Lin Zige asked while eating.
“It has star anise in it,” Lin Ziyin replied. The mixed fish was indeed fragrant. Although having water pepper mixed in, to her who was used to eating bland food, the dish was still far from perfect without the addition of chili pepper.
But since everyone else in the Lin Family loved it, Lin Ziyin decided not to dwell on the absence of chili pepper any longer.
The mixed fish dish had stirred up the interest of Lin Changshu and Wu Dayou in fishing. The next day, after finishing their tofu making, the two men, together with their two sons, went out fishing.
By noon, they returned with several large fish weighing around three to four catties each and some small fish.
“I want to have a feast of…” Before Wu Dayou could finish, there was a knock at the door.
Lin Changting ran to open the courtyard door, “Who are you guys?”
Everyone in the Lin family was standing in the courtyard. Hearing Lin Changting’s questioning, they all lifted their heads to look over.
Seeing the newcomers, everyone was so surprised that they couldn’t utter a word.
“Amitabha.” The newcomers were two monks, standing besides them were two young men wearing white robes, one of whom was the person who had rewarded Lin Ziyin at the market last time.
“Master, what can I do for you?” Lin Ziyin asked.
“We came to buy some tofu to take back,” one of the monks replied, pressing his palms together.
“I’m sorry, but we’ve used all the tofu we made today for our own lunch. If you need it, you can come tomorrow,” Lin Ziyin replied with a faint smile.
“Amitabha.” The other monk folded his hands and said, “Then please prepare an additional thirty catties for us. We will come to collect them tomorrow.”
“Good, it can be prepared by tomorrow morning. By the way, I’ve also developed a new type of bean product. I wonder if you would be interested in ordering some?” Lin Ziyin asked with a beaming smile.
“Err…” The young monk was a bit perplexed.
“Let’s do this, give us ten catties first. We can decide if we want more after tasting it.” The other monk found a compromise.
Throughout the entire episode, Lin Ziyin had not paid any attention to the two young men outside the gate.