“I knew it! Qiao-gege will definitely get it!” Tang Guo’er jumped up in delight.
“Making it through is good, making it through is good. All that suspense was quite frightening,” Qin Yu said with a sigh of relief. He was so nervous just now that the child in his belly had kicked a few times.
“It’s the second round!” Chen Xiasheng pointed toward the main street.
After the first round, only twenty contestants remained, with more than forty eliminated in one go. The competition was clearly fierce.
The remaining twenty contestants had their tables moved closer to the tasters. Maids and servants brought trays to the twenty who had advanced to the second round.
There were no tea bowls, instead, they were replaced by rather large tea vessels. Placed beside the vessels were sugar and three types of medicinal herbs!
Qiao Suiman frowned slightly. When he learned earlier that the second round would involve medicinal herb drinks, he vaguely sensed something. He asked Lu Dongqing to read him many recipes for medicinal herb drinks. Among these three herbs, one was white hyacinth bean which he recognized.
If it involved white hyacinth bean, then the drink could only be…
Sure enough, just as Qiao Suiman suspected, the shiye presiding over the contest loudly announced: “The theme for the second round is Xiangru Drink!”[mfn]香薷饮 xiāngrú yǐn – A traditional Chinese medicinal drink made from elsholtzia (香薷, xiāngrú), magnolia bark (厚朴, hòupǔ), and white hyacinth bean (白扁豆, báibiǎndòu). It is commonly used to treat summer heat and dampness, with symptoms like fever, headache, and nausea.[/mfn]
As soon as the words fell, both the participants and the spectators began discussing fervently: “What is Xiangru Drink?”
“What drink? I’ve never heard of it!”
“Shouldn’t the second round be like the first round, giving us some ingredients to choose from and make ourselves?! Why do we have to make this Xiangru drink? I’ve never even heard of it!”
“This is a drink that people in the Jiangnan region like to drink. I heard about it when I was trading there. It’s not cheap either,” someone in the crowd said.
“Jiangnan? No wonder we don’t have it here. People from there love tinkering with these things.”
“This is interesting. Few people around here know about Xiangru Drink. Although I’ve heard of it, I don’t know how to make it.”
Several of the contestants who had advanced to the second round immediately felt their legs go weak. Not only they’ve never seen this thing before, they haven’t even heard of it! How are they supposed to make it?
But Lu Dongqing slowly curved his lips and joy flashed across his face. Seeing the others’ grim expressions, he explained before they could ask, “Don’t worry, Xiao Man knows how to make it.”
“Really?” Tang Guo’er was the first to ask.
“Mn. We read quite a few recipes earlier, and one of them was for this Xiangru Drink.”
Hearing this, everyone felt relieved. They have never even heard of this Xiangru Drink. Fortunately, this couple was clever enough to study recipes beforehand. Otherwise, they would have surely lost at this stage.
On the other side, Qiao Suiman lowered his head to suppress a smile. If they were making Xiangru Drink, then aside from white hyacinth beans, the other two medicinal herbs must be xiangru and magnolia bark.
Not to mention the Xiangru drink, even the herbal drinks are rare in Shuiqing Town, so naturally, few people know about it.
The notice had already posted what would be used in each round of the competition. Those who were diligent in studying or inquiring could have found out. At the very least, they could have asked at an herbal shop.
Qiao Suiman thought that this round was likely testing their knowledge of various fragrant drinks.
At the same time, he was also glad that he had learned a lot of herbal fragrant drink recipes from Lu Dongqing. Thinking of this, Qiao Suiman looked up at the teahouse and happened to meet Lu Dongqing’s eyes.
Lu Dongqing gave a slight nod, and Qiao Suiman smiled. He knew Lu Dongqing was encouraging him.
As the gong sounded once more, the second round officially began.
Making Xiangru Drink wasn’t difficult, it was even simple. Qiao Suiman first boiled water. Following the recipe from memory, he quickly cut the xiangru and magnolia bark into pieces. He then lit another stove to slowly heat the white hyacinth beans over a low flame until they turned yellow before taking them out.
The roasted white hyacinth beans were dry and crisp, and could be easily crushed without much effort. He placed the crushed white hyacinth beans along with the cut xiangru and magnolia bark into the tea vessel, poured in boiling water to steep, quickly covered it with a lid, and let it infuse for half an hour. That was how Xiangru Drink was made.
His movements were swift. Those around him saw what he was doing and followed suit, and soon everyone was roasting white hyacinth beans.
The judge sitting at the front nodded slightly and said to Liu Ben with a smile, “Not bad. Six people know how to make Xiangru Drink.”
As Qiao Suiman had guessed, the second round was indeed meant to test their knowledge of fragrant drinks.
Since they were participating in a fragrant drink competition, they needed to show some real skill. Besides the drinks many people in Shuiqing Town knew how to make, they also needed to be aware of those from other regions that hadn’t yet spread here.
Liu Ben nodded in satisfaction.
Those who knew the recipe were among the first to finish. Xiangru Drink needed to steep for half an hour and then cool before it could be drunk. This round wasn’t about tasting the flavor anyway. For those who knew the recipe, the taste would be more or less the same. Liu Ben waved his hand, and the yayi struck the gong.
The shiye collected the numbers reported by the yayi and announced loudly from the front, “The second round has concluded. Contestants number three, twenty-six, thirty, forty-two, fifty-one, and fifty-three advance to the next round!”
This time, those who had just copied how to make Xiangru Drink were displeased. “I know how too, my lord! I know how to make it!”
“I was almost done, my lord”
Liu Ben cleared his throat and said, “The second round was meant to test your knowledge of fragrant drinks. This recipe isn’t difficult. I believe folks could learn it after seeing it once. But it’s also not easy. The difficulty lies in whether you knew it beforehand or only learned it by watching others here. I think everyone saw clearly that those advancing to the final round were the ones who finished first!”
“That’s true. That ge’r was the first to finish,” someone in the crowd said, pointing at Qiao Suiman.
“Right, right. He finished, and the person in front of him had just finished heating the white hyacinth beans.”
“The one in front of that ge’r, what number was he? Although he also knew how, he was clearly not as steady as the little ge’r. He almost spilled the white hyacinth beans from the pot.”
“That ge’r is the shopkeeper of Qiao’s Fragrant Drinks. No wonder, the drinks he makes are indeed much better. Who would have thought he’d even know about Xiangru Drink? The one in front of him seems to be the shopkeeper of the drink shop in the East Market.”
The people who were talking were close to Qiao Suiman and his group, and they could see clearly. They started talking to each other, and several people recognized Qiao Suiman and said good things about his fragrant drink shop.
Xiao Shun clenched his jaw tightly, his fists balled up, shooting a fierce glare at those people as if he wanted to devour them whole.
He pulled countless strings, spent money, and bowed and scraped just to obtain bits of information about the competition.
He thought he was sure to win and would definitely be able to kick Qiao Suiman out of the competition. How could some countryside ge’r possibly know about the Xiangru Drink that Jiangnan nobles loved? In all of Shuiqing Town, he doubted even a handful knew of it.
But to his surprise, right after the gong sounded, Qiao Suiman started making it with confidence. Others seemed to know how as well. In his anxiety, he made mistakes and ended up being the fifth to finish.
As the servants cleared the items from the tables, Xiao Shun snarled viciously at Qiao Suiman, “So you were willing to spend money to buy information as well. Hmph, I underestimated you. Just wait for the final round!”
Qiao Suiman rolled his eyes to the heavens. “You’re ill.”[mfn]你有病吧 (nǐ yǒu bìng ba) can be translated into English in several ways, depending on the context, but often means “Are you crazy?” or “Are you nuts?” if it’s an insult, or “Are you sick?”[/mfn]
“You! Country bumpkin! So foul-mouthed!” Xiao Shun fumed.
Qiao Suiman looked around, pretending to be puzzled, and said, “I think I hear a dog barking. How unpleasant.”
Heijin’s barks were much more pleasing.
Xiao Shun was burning with rage. Just as he was about to point at Qiao Suiman and curse, the servants arrived with their brought materials, and the yayi returned to keep watch. He swallowed his fury, pounding his chest twice in frustration.
Qiao Suiman smirked. Good. He had angered him again. Though truly, the man was bothersome.
Qiao Suiman checked the items the servants brought up. Nothing was missing or wrong.
In the third round, the rankings were about to be decided, and he suddenly became nervous again. No one had ever made milk tea before. Although both he and Lu Dongqing thought it tasted excellent, he didn’t know if it would suit the judges’ palates.
The judges were seated high up, and Qiao Suiman couldn’t see their faces clearly. He didn’t know who exactly were invited. He pursed his lips, suppressing his wildly beating heart, thinking, I’ve made it this far. I just need to give it my all!
When the order to begin was given, Qiao Suiman drew in a deep breath. He lifted the lid from his bowl and poured the fresh milk he had bought just yesterday into the pot.
“What is that?” the judge at the front asked.
“Old Wang, it looks like goat milk to me,” the judge beside him replied.
“Goat milk? How preposterous! How can you use something so fishy and smelly to make a drink?” Judge Wang frowned deeply.
“This, this, this is outrageous. The theme of the third round is ‘life’ (生). Could it be that this young ge’r intends to use raw[mfn]生 – aside from ‘life’, this character also means ‘raw'[/mfn] goat milk directly?”
Judge Wang’s frown deepened. “How can this be presented for tasting? I, Wang, will absolutely not drink it!”
“Not so, not so, Wang-xiong. To ordinary households, goat milk is precious indeed, not something cheap. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’s only just begun. We haven’t even seen the finished product, so how can you refuse to drink it already?”
An elderly judge sitting in the back stroked his beard as he advised.
Judge Wang opened his mouth, then closed it again. This was not someone he could retort against, so he could only swallow his words, though inwardly he thought, What could he possibly make from this? Soon enough, they’ll see I was right.
Xiao Shun paid attention to what Qiao Suiman was doing, and when he saw him take out the goat milk, he sneered.
Someone from the countryside truly has no knowledge. He actually used something meant for little children in a competition.
He then opened his own porcelain jar, which held a milky-white liquid with a faint yellow tinge.
“Jiangshui?” Judge Wang’s eyes lit up.
“It is indeed jiangshui. I didn’t expect someone to use jiangshui for the final round’s drink,” the speaker sighed slightly.
Jiangshui is made by pouring hot rice into cool water and letting it steep for days until a tangy liquid is produced. It was one of the latest favored beverages in Jiangnan. And Judge Wang was, in fact, from Jiangnan.
Besides him, two other judges were also from Jiangnan.
It was clear this contestant had chosen to cater to their tastes. The judge who had spoken earlier shook his head slightly. A pity, a pity.
The spectators were also discussing the situation. Many of them were forced to take a step back by the smell of the goat milk that had just been opened. They frowned and said that the thing had a strange smell in the first place, so how could it be made into a fragrant drink? Some people also felt sorry for Qiao Suiman. He had performed well in the first two rounds, so how could he have gone astray at the last moment?
Hearing these comments, Qiao Suiman remained undisturbed, focusing solely on the task at hand.
After adding sweet almonds, the musky smell was no longer noticeable. Seeing that it was almost done, Qiao Suiman scooped out the sweet almonds and left the goat milk to sit on the side. The bottom of the pot was still hot, and the goat milk was bubbling.
He used another pot to heat Tieguanyin and sugar over the fire. Once the sugar melted, he added water to boil. The aroma of tea and caramel immediately wafted out.
Some regular customers of Qiao Suiman’s drink shop recognized it at once: “Isn’t this a fragrant drink?”
“I think so too, but it seems like something’s missing.”
Qiao Suiman smiled faintly. Indeed, something was missing, which was the sour yellow fruit slices. He tried adding them, but the flavors clashed, so he removed them from the final recipe.
The timing for boiling the tea was crucial. To achieve a strong tea flavor without clashing with the goat milk, the best time was when the tea had just turned dark.
At the perfect moment, Qiao Suiman strained out the tea leaves and immediately poured in the slightly thickened goat milk, letting it simmer gently over a low fire.
By now, the tea and milk aromas had blended together, creating a unique fragrance. People nearby sniffed their noses and kept smelling the aroma.
“How strange! Why does this smell so fragrant now?”
“I think so too. It was so smelly earlier, but now it’s become so enticing.”
“I can’t help it, it’s too fragrant. I really want to have a couple of sips. What does it taste like?”
The tea soup had fully integrated with the goat milk. Qiao Suiman moved the pot away and sprinkled dried osmanthus flowers into it. This way, the milk tea would carry the fragrance of osmanthus without overpowering the tea and milk, leaving a lingering aftertaste.
Following the recipe, he finished making the milk tea. Qiao Suiman let out a deep sigh. This batch turned out even better than the last one he made yesterday. He could tell as soon as he added the milk: the concentration was just right, and the tea was perfect.
Qiao Suiman was relieved and put the ten bamboo tubes in order, filled them with milk tea, and put on the lids.
The carvings on the bamboo tube were more exquisite than usual. Amidst a forest, cattle and sheep grazed in herds. In a household, a ge’r was feeding a child in their arms. Simple scenes, yet they conveyed a sense of vitality and hope.
If you enjoy my translations, consider buying me a milk tea 🥛🍵
Ahh…. Cliffie! Thank you