Chapter 14 Twenty-Four Bridges

  It was decided to have dinner at Douhuafang on the Qinhuai River. This is a restaurant hidden in the depths of the Qinhuai River, specializing in Huaiyang cuisine, with flavors that cater to both northern and southern tastes. The dishes are exquisite and carefully crafted. However, the two ingredients "dou" and "huafang" are actually the most humble and unassuming food materials. The restaurant's name is quite intriguing, making one wonder what kind of treasure is hidden inside this calabaza.

  When the agreed day arrived, Dong Zhiyu came to the shore near the food boat after getting off work and waited. Before long, a German 82-style military jeep drove over from this side. The Xuanwu faction often used equipment from the German army, while the Zhengzongguo army used more American-made Willys jeeps.

  The car stopped, and Huai Jin came out of the driver's cabin. She wasn't fully armed today, wearing a simple white cotton shirt tucked into her woolen military pants, with only the Mauser pistol still holstered at her waist. Her dark gray woolen coat was unbuttoned, revealing a slender yet proportionate figure. Ye Ming Tian also jumped down from the passenger seat, looking spirited and neat in his military uniform.

  Many ordinary people cast sidelong glances at her, and Dong Zhiyu was extremely unwilling to be associated with the puppet army, so she stood still, waiting for them to approach. Huai Jin saw her from afar and smiled slightly, removing his gloves and putting them into his coat pocket.

  "Dong translation," as they drew near, Huai Jin extended her hand to her, "I remember you, today's able to grant me an audience, I'm not ungrateful."

  "Not at all," Dong Zhiyu also extended his hand for a handshake, and for a moment, he felt that the other's grip and even body temperature were just right. At that time, it was not common for women to shake hands with each other in Korea, but these two seemed to have drunk a lot of Western ink, and they did so fluently and naturally. "General Hua is too polite."

  "Hello, Dong Translation, great to see you again!" Ye Ming's joy was palpable, radiating from within and extending all the way to his fingertips.

  "Hello." Dong Zhiyu's brief two words were met with a cool hand. Was he a bit nervous?

  After the initial pleasantries, they headed towards the Douwen boat. It was an old, unadorned vessel moored on the Qin River, and compared to the other brightly colored boats on the water, it was remarkably low-key. Upon entering, one didn't see the usual gaudy decorations found in wine houses; instead, it was as simple as a common fisherman's boat. Dong Zhiyu couldn't help but wonder what kind of food they were going to have.

  Just then, a middle-aged man wearing glasses came forward and bowed, saying "Inspector Chui", and also made a bow to the other two, "'The Twenty-Four Bridges' has been prepared for you."

  Twenty-four bridges? What's this again? Dong Zhiyu was even more puzzled.

  Huaijin nodded and said, "Thank you, Manager Tu." Ye Mingtian seemed to notice Dong Zhiyu's confusion and explained in a lower tone, "Don't look down on this place, it's currently the best Huaiyang cuisine restaurant in all of Xuanwu City. Ordinary people can't even get a reservation here," he added, his voice dropping even further, "This 'Twenty-four Bridges' is a private room specifically for receiving distinguished guests."

  Dong Zhiyu appeared to be in a good mood on the surface, but in her heart, she was muttering to herself, wanting to see what made this place so special.

  Don't look at this humble boat, but walking in is a winding path leading to seclusion. It takes a while to reach the end, and when you lift your head, all you see is a black plaque with four large characters written in gold seal script: "Twenty-four Bridges". These seal characters are rarely seen with both bones and flesh, and form and spirit combined. Dong Zhiyu couldn't help but admire them, only to find that there was no signature.

  They walked in, and on the wall was another pair of couplets in clerical script: "Twenty-four bridges under the moonlit night, where is the jade person teaching to play the Xiao? It seems that the name of this private room is also good, if it's called something like 'Moonlight Pavilion', it would be too cliché."

  On the other side, a large folding fan stood on the wine table, with four lively running scripts on the fan: Drunken crabs don't look at lanterns, wind chickens don't pass lanterns, knife fish don't pass Qingming, and sturgeon don't pass Dragon Boat Festival. These four sentences describe the freshness and seasonality of the ingredients used in Huaiyang cuisine, and placing them here is also very appropriate.

  "Dong, please come in and take a seat." Huai Jin said as he gestured for Dong Zhiyu to sit at the upper seat.

  "Let's have Adviser Hua go first." Dong Zhiyu also yielded.

  "You are my honored guest today, please take a seat." Still the same soft and gentle voice, neither too fast nor too slow, yet exuding an air of unquestionable authority.

  Dong Zhiyu no longer declined, thanked and walked over to sit down. Huai Jin then came forward and sat beside her. Ye Ming Tian wanted to sit next to Dong Zhiyu but instead chose a position near the door, convenient for responding. Knowing in advance that there were only three people at this gathering, the table and chairs were arranged quite suitably, so they wouldn't be too far or too close from each other.

  As the three men sat down, a young waiter had already brought up tea. Unlike the simple boat itself, the teapot and cups were extremely delicate. Dong Zhiyu took a sip and found it to be top-grade Bi Luo Chun. Tu Lao Ban looked at the guests who had settled in and bowed to ask Huai Jin: "Officer Huai, how would you like the dishes served?"

  Huaiying turned her head and asked Dong Zhiyu: "As for Huaiyang cuisine, I'm sure you're very familiar with it. Is there anything you can't eat or particularly like?"

  "I'm casual and don't stand on ceremony, so I'll just order two ordinary home-cooked dishes."

  "It's still the same as before." Huai Jin instructed.

  Tu Lao Ban retreated at the sound, and soon several cold dishes were served. Dong Zhiyu took a glance, but didn't notice anything special. On the other side, Huai Jin said: "Ming Tian, I have a task tonight and can't drink wine, you pour a pot to accompany Dong's translation."

  "No need, no need!" Dong Zhiyu hastily waved his hand at Ye Mingtian, who hesitated and sat down. Dong Zhiyu continued, "Don't be so polite, I'll use tea instead of wine to thank you for your hospitality." As he spoke, he picked up his teacup.

  Huaijin, however, stopped him with one hand. "It's I who should be thanking you first," he said. "This watch was entrusted to me by my mother before she passed away. She left in a hurry and only left me with this thought. If it weren't for you picking it up, I would have regretted it for the rest of my life."

  "It's just a small effort," said Dong Zhiyu, raising his own cup. "Let's have one together." But in his heart, he thought that what was said was true and false, as if it were difficult to penetrate.

  While they were talking, Tou Zhanggui brought the small second dish with a person holding a delicate white porcelain bowl covered with a lid. He introduced it as "Crab Roe Lion's Head".

  Another hot dish was brought up and placed in the center of the table. "Braised vermicelli," said Manager Tui, "please help yourselves."

  It's just the same old thing, but Dong Zhiyu really couldn't see or hear anything special. When he lifted the white ceramic lid, a wave of fragrance wafted out, and it smelled very authentic. Using chopsticks to pick up a small piece, it was tender and had a lot of texture. It wasn't until then that Dong Zhiyu felt like there was something to it. As for this Huaiyang dish, the chef in the Dong household was one of the best in the area, and the craftsmanship was exceptional. Take this crab meat lion's head, for example - the pork used in spring and autumn is just right, with a 50% fat content. In recent years, it's been rare to find authentic ones outside, either the meat quality was subpar, or it was chopped into mush, or starch was added to thicken it. This authentic lion's head requires selecting high-quality meat with thin skin, cutting it into small pieces like mud using knife skills, then adding egg whites and relying on the chef's hands to stir and knead hundreds of times until the originally loose meat pieces coagulate into a ball, rather than adding starch. Dong Zhiyu picked up a small piece and put it in his mouth, and as soon as it entered, it melted, and it was indeed the familiar taste from his childhood.

  "This crab roe is freshly delivered every week from Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs, right, Hua Canmou?" Yeh Ming-tien introduced.

  "Not bad, the ingredients here are fresh." Huai Jin said lightly.

  Dong Zhiyu turned to study the "Wen Zhuan Gan Si" on the table, and the tofu threads were almost indistinguishable in thickness and length. They were all cut into thin slices of about 0.5 cm thick, and then cut into threads, which not only tested the knife skills but also the quality of the dried tofu. If it was slightly inferior, it would easily break when cooked or lose its elasticity. Dong Zhiyu tasted it and found that the two key words "fresh" and "elastic" were both achieved. This dish contained not only Gan Si, ham threads, bamboo shoots threads, mushroom threads, chicken threads, but also added sea cucumber threads and leech dry threads, blending in the flavor of old chicken soup, which was truly wonderful.

  The next dishes, Huai Shan medicine duck soup, white cannon shrimp, and two seasonal vegetables, all looked unassuming but were actually extremely exquisite. It was clear that the entire setup of the food boat, inside and out, had been carefully selected to match. At this point, Dong Zhiyu finally realized that Huaichen had put a lot of thought into choosing this place, and he couldn't help but feel some respect for her. She had a good sense of taste in both big things and small things. If she weren't from the Xuan Tong Bureau, she would be one of the few people in this world who could appreciate him, Dong Zhiyu.

  After a meal, Huaijin didn't say much and didn't eat much either. She only moved her chopsticks a few times to taste some light dishes. On the other hand, Ye Mingtian became more and more engaged, chatting with Dong Zhiyu about this and that. Dong Zhiyu knew very well that tonight's dinner was not just for eating. Her work task was to interact with Ye Mingtian, and Huaijin had set up this table only to create conditions for the two of them to start. After dinner, her task was to make Ye Mingtian feel that she also had a crush on him, and she wouldn't hesitate whether she could ask him out alone.

  Everything is ready, walking out of the boat, remembering the lights on the Qin River will reflect the black night red.

  "It's so late, I'll send you back." Huai Jin said.

  Ye Ming was secretly bitter, originally thinking he could send the beauty back, but unexpectedly let Huai Jinjie take the lead and board first. Dong Zhiyu was also depressed, originally thinking she still had to hold on, at least letting this Ye surname accompany her back.

  After saying goodbye, he got into the car. The temperature was very low now, and there were few pedestrians on the road. The car moved forward at a steady speed, and Dong Zhiyu felt a bit sleepy.

  "You did well today," said Huai Jin.

  Dong Zhiyu didn't know how to respond, whether to say she would continue to work hard or complain that the task was too painful.

  Huai Jin saw that she wasn't speaking, turned his head and looked at her, "Cheer up, there's something very important I need to tell you."

  "What?" Dong Zhiyu sat up straight.

  "That list of cultural relics has already arrived at the confidential room, you figure out a way to get it."

  The author has something to say: Looking at the girls' comments, I realized three things: 1. The readers here like to add a "jun" character after "author", which reminds me of my Japanese friends who always call me "certain San", but is it from the same origin? 2. It seems that the readers here are often deceived, because the most consistent comment I see is "Don't deceive us!" 3. My article must have been recommended by some girl somewhere!: )

  It's not a pitfall, after finishing the preface I said that I will continue writing, actually if you write a story with heart, the people in it are already part of you, can't bear to abandon them.

  I would like to extend my special thanks to the reader who helped me promote this article. Writing is a way of communication that brings people with similar frequencies together. As a newcomer, I hope more people can see my story and then it's up to you whether you want to follow or not. The ones who stay here must be a group of people with similar frequencies, each with different personalities, experiences, and purposes for reading the article, hoping to see different things in it, which is something that cannot be forced.

  I'm not a person who is good at promoting, I started writing 10 days ago, the next day I saw that the click rate was a big goose egg, I thought to myself, well, just enjoy it yourself, and then with a guilty conscience went to the forum to self-recommend, to be honest, I disgusted myself, haha~

  Too tired, going to sleep!

  Jinjiang is sleepy now, thinking of replying to comments but can't, will reply to everyone one by one tomorrow.

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