Chapter 63: Far From Ordinary
That noon, in a city in Anqing County…
There was an inn near the north gate of the city, which was quite easy to find. Opposite the inn was a meat soup restaurant, one of the better dining spots in Anqing County.
At a table made of aged elm wood, Song You and Heroine Wu sat across from each other on the wide benches. The calico cat, Lady Calico, crouched by the side of Song You's bench. Since they were eating out, she couldn’t sit at the table but didn’t run around either.
Song You brought her a deep dish and placed it in front of her. Inside was a large chunk of dragon bone, with half of the dish filled with soup. She crouched down and ate in a serious manner.
On the table was a large pot of pork bone and radish soup. The bones were primarily big chunks of thigh bones and dragon bones, covered with plenty of meat, all simmered until tender. The white radish had turned semi-transparent, soaking up the meat broth and tasting just as good as the meat. The clear broth, dotted with scum, was garnished with jade-green spring onions. Its color made it look very appetizing.
“Slurp...”
Heroine Wu held a thigh bone in her left hand and brought it to her mouth. With a slurp, the meat came right off without much force. She chewed twice, then quickly lowered her head and used her right hand to swiftly shovel rice into her mouth with chopsticks.
The rice was white rice, known as mao'ertou.[1]
There was no particular method to it. It was simply a heaping bowl of white rice, piled high into a sharp peak. More meticulous restaurants would press it tightly, making one bowl equivalent to two regular bowls.