Its been raining for three days already. I didn't get much customers for today due to the heavy rain. The sound of rain drops falling on the grass and on the roof may be satisfying at first, but if it causes problem for my diner, I won't like it.
I finished my cultivation training for today. I entered my brewery cellar to get some booze. I guess it runs from the family since we always enjoyed drinking booze. My favorite booze is Daisy Goblet. It has revitalizing effect on my body everytime I drink them, increasing my vital energy. It's main ingredients are simply plain booze, soul-clearing grass, and blood essence lotus. It is easy to buy plain booze with Renminbi since I earned it by selling dishes to my customers. Soul-clearing grass is pretty common and easy to forage in the forest where there are spirits lingering in and out.
The problem would be the blood essence lotus because it is quite rare around my area. I have to use the Soul-Wandering Technique to gather them from far away places every night before I sleep.
"Hard Work bears Fruit of Success."
By gathering enough blood essence lotus, I began brewing the ingredients and store them to the other cellar. Mostly the oldest booze taste the best but I have to becareful not to spoil it for a very long time or else, the booze is unfortunately wasted. I brought the small jug to fill up with the Daisy Goblet. I stand in front of one of the barrels that has been there for 2 years and opened the cork. Rich red booze pours into the jug from the hole. The smell of the blood essence lotus lingers my nose. As the the jug is refilled, I closed the barrel's hole with the cork.
The barrels were gifts from foreigners from the western continent 50 years ago. Maintaining the barrels' quality is quite a chore but alas, I earned myself something to cleanse my throat. I head to my diner and sit one of the tables with Melon Seeds and Daisy Goblet at hand. I poured the booze to a cup and I swirled it for a while, savoring the fragrant smell of the booze. Then I take a sip and the bitter taste of the booze overwhelmed me.
But I didn't stop drinking. I slowly drink it to the last drop and I can taste the sweet aftertaste from the booze. I began peeling the seeds' skin and eat it one by one. I added salt earlier so it is expected that the taste of it is salty. I enjoyed drinking alone in my diner while the pouring rain is still falling down from the sky.
I was about to finish when someone knocked on the window. I didn't expect that someone will be out there in the rain. In a hurry I opened the door and a soaked little girl entered the diner, then collapse on the floor. I freaked out and panicked for a moment, but I can't let this child die. I hold the little girl's forehead and I am shocked to feel how hot she is. She is having a fever. I quickly removed her wet clothes and wipe her body dry with my towel.
I let her wear my unused Hanfu dress since none of my clothes fits for the child. I filled a bucket with cold water and soaked a hand towel on it, then dried it then placed it on top of her forehead, hoping to reduce her heat. She is having trouble breathing but thankfully, she is not gonna visit heaven yet. I begin thinking deeply of who she is and why she is outside of the rain alone. Where are her parents? Where is she from?
I take care of her for the time being and feed her with Rice Porridge. It will help her kidney qi to absorb nourishment of the food needed for her body. I made a simple Rice Porridge with minimal ingredients to cook.
I rinse the dried shrimp with water and soaked it for half an hour before draining the water. I set it aside then begin rinsing the rice once. I grabbed a pot and put 2 table spoon of vegetable oil in it and heat it over medium-high heat. I added ginger and garlic and cook it for half a minute until they smell fragrant. It is the cue to put in the shrimp, chopped shiitake mushrooms and rice to the pot. I saute them for a minute before pouring chicken broth and water.
I sprinkled the porridge with salt and stir it. The porridge is ready to be boiled in low heat. I simmered the porridge on top of the stove, controlling the fire with my qi, and occasionally stir it for 1 hour. I put out the fire with water and let the porridge cool for 5 minutes before serving it in a bowl. That is how I made the Rice Porridge for the little girl.
The little girl is awake by then and when she sees me, she seems to be frightened by my presence. Well, I am just a stranger to her. I tried to talk to her calmly and reassure her that she will be fine. She is a little bit shy but she slowly nods. I smiled and served her the Rice Porridge, but I think she is too weak to feed herself. The way she looks at the porridge seems funny to me.
I think she is astonished to see a good food in front of her and wanted to eat it. She looks at me with wide eyes and I said that she can eat it. Well she can't eat it with her hands so I helped her a little bit by spoon feeding her. Its kinda awkward and she is very flustered but she obediently eats the warm porridge. I am very happy she is enjoying it and since then I took care of her until the day when the rain stops.