Volume 1: Storm in the Western Regions, Chapter 97: Songtao Mountain
Although Zhao Rang had been away from home for some time, he had never interacted with a cook. For a moment, he didn't know what topic to use as an introduction. The two could only remain awkward and cold. The old chef faced Zhao Rang.
I was already nervous, and now I couldn't figure out Zhao Rang's purpose. Seeing him standing still, I stood still too...
Not long after, big beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, soaking his collar.
It was only then that Zhao Rang smelled the smell of fireworks wafting from the kitchen, and then realized why he didn't ask the old chef what he had for lunch... As a cook, when he opens his eyes every day, he is thinking about the menu in his mind, and
It was the perfect time for him to talk about food.
He immediately got into the kitchen and said to the other cook:
"You are busy with your business, I will just take a look."
The young cook and the old master had the same expressions on their faces when they first saw Zhao Rang, and they were both a little confused. However, the movements in his hands did not stop, and he was chopping a bunch of fresh leeks.
Most people in the Western Regions make a living by herding and nomadic people, with very little farming. Only in the upper four countries, there is fixed arable land, which produces food and supplies it to the countries in the Western Regions. As for rare things like vegetables, they have to be purchased from Dawei.
It was transported through Yangguan and then sent to the Merchant Alliance to obtain approval before entering the Western Regions.
The vegetables sold here have suddenly increased their wealth, and ordinary people can't afford it. Only a big family like Tongbao Bank, which has its own farmland in Dawei and the ability to transport it by boat and cart, can enjoy it.
The most popular among them is leeks.
Leeks grow quickly and can be harvested one after another. The taste is also very good, especially if there is too much fishy meat, leeks can relieve the greasiness.
Zhao Rang looked at the leeks on the chopping board. They were already a little wilted. This was caused by the long journey from Dawei to here. In winter, because of the low temperature, it is probably not bad. Now it is getting closer and closer to the province. In addition, the western region is dry, so overnight
The harvested leeks will shrink in a short time!
However, Zhao Rang saw that the cuts of these leeks were very neat.
Wilted leeks are no better than fresh ones.
The fresh ones are crisp and can be cut easily. The wilted ones have lost moisture and increased toughness. When the kitchen knife is dropped, it will definitely slip. Unless the chef himself is very skilled in knife skills and adjusts each knife to the best angle.
OK.
Zhao Rang watched the young cook make several cuts and found that he had no intention of adjusting the angle. He just used his left hand to calculate the distance and then cut downwards one by one. The cut of the leek would be extremely smooth and even.
"Wait a minute!"
Zhao Rang patted him on the shoulder. The sudden contact made the young cook tremble, and then he let go of the kitchen knife in his hand.
If the cook's posture and angle are not adjusted, then the problem lies with the kitchen knife. The edge of the kitchen knife must be extremely thin, only in this way can it be sharp enough. In addition, it must be forged with good steel, because the blade is too thin.
The mouth is also brittle! If you are not careful, it will break during use.
If the edge of a kitchen knife can be made thin, strong, and tough at the same time, it must be a master of knife forging!
Surprised, Zhao Rang quickly picked up the kitchen knife and looked at it carefully.
The edge of the blade emits a faint blue light, which can only be formed by sudden quenching at extremely high temperatures. Zhao Rang carefully fiddled with the edge of the blade with his thumb, and an extremely harmonious sound came out. This is the only thing that can happen.
This can only be achieved when the blade is thin enough and tough enough at the same time!
"Where did this knife come from?
Zhao Rang shook the young cook desperately, and unconsciously the strength in his hand became a little stronger. The cook was in pain and let out a scream.
The old chef who was outside quickly ran in and saw Zhao Rang holding a kitchen knife in one hand and squeezing the cook's shoulder with the other. He knelt down and kowtowed vigorously:
"Sir! My apprentice is ignorant... You have a lot of people, please spare his life, sir! I beg you, sir!"
The clanging sounds of kowtowing and wailing were mixed together, and the whole kitchen seemed to have turned into a Shura field. The little helpers who had been hiding completely let go of their voices and ran away when they heard what the master just said.
While shouting.
Such movement finally attracted the guards inside Tongbao Bank.
The leading guard, of course, knew Zhao Rang. He stepped forward, cupped his hands, and asked politely:
"Mr. Zhao, I wonder where these two cooks offended you?"
Zhao Rang looked innocent and turned around with the knife in hand.
The guard stared at the kitchen knife in Zhao Rang's hand and couldn't help but swallow.
"look!"
Zhao Rang suddenly raised his hand, and the blade of the kitchen knife reflected a white light, hitting the beam above his head.
As for the guard, it was even more exaggerated... As he stepped backwards, the knife at his waist had been unsheathed subconsciously, and he was holding it in his hand, with the tip pointed directly at Zhao Rang.
"They, no offense!"
Zhao Rang felt that the guards and clerks in the semicolon, as well as a bunch of miscellaneous people, probably all compared him in their hearts to a monster that drank blood and killed people! Otherwise, how could his ordinary actions make the other party so scared?
"I just want to ask about the origin of this kitchen knife!"
After hearing what Zhao Rang said, the guard sheathed his sword with shame, then turned to the two cooks and said:
"Master Zhao wants to know where the kitchen knives you use come from. Just answer truthfully! No... nothing to be afraid of!"
The guard himself said this last sentence very unconfidently.
But in order to answer Zhao Rang's question, he must have both momentum and airs!
"Sir, are you asking about this kitchen knife?"
The old master spoke first.
Zhao Rang nodded.
This kitchen knife is in very new condition. It must have been used for a short time. It may be in a nearby blacksmith shop!
The master pointed outside, then rummaged in the cabinet on the side, took out a slightly dull kitchen knife, and said:
"Sir, these two kitchen knives were bought from the same person, but there was a gap of several years between them. How many years have passed... oh, I'm out of my mind, I can't remember, but there was a few years between them!"
Zhao Rang heard that the two kitchen knives were made by the same person, and he immediately became interested. He quickly took them from the old master and compared them with the other one.
The old kitchen knife of the old master has some mottled rust. The blade is not as thin and light as the later ones, and the toughness is of course much worse.
But what shocked Zhao Rang was that if the old master remembered correctly, these two kitchen knives were made by the same person. It only took the blacksmith a few years to forge them together and he had entered the realm of a great master!
Such progress can be described as rapid.
Even Zhao Rang, a family with a long history of swordsmanship, has never seen a blacksmith who has improved so quickly.
I immediately changed my mind and thought, if such a person can beg to come back to the Zhao family, then my own forging skills will definitely improve a lot in the future! Even if there is nothing gained in the Western Region this time, it would be great to ask back a great forging master with such skills.
It’s well worth the trip!
"Master, you must be alone!"
The old cook thought for a while, rolled his dirty eyes a few times, and said firmly:
"It is indeed one person!"
"But that person may not be easy to find..."
Zhao Rang asked:
"Do you know who he is?"
It is not easy to find someone in an unfamiliar place. But if you know someone is difficult to find, then you must know this person.
The old cook licked the corner of his mouth and said:
"I don't know him. I bought a knife at that time and thought it was very useful, so I wanted to buy another one to keep. But I couldn't find it. No matter how I looked for it, I couldn't find it. Later I took on an apprentice and came across it by chance.
He just bought one for his apprentice!"
Zhao Rang asked:
"Then why don't you get yourself a new one?"
The old cook's kitchen knives were already rusty.
Although it can still be used after re-sharpening, it is not as good as a new one after all. What's more, the skills of those who forge kitchen knives have advanced by leaps and bounds in the past few years, and the kitchen knives they create are now different from what they used to be.
"I thought, what cook doesn't like knives! But the man said...it seemed to mean that he had also accepted an apprentice, so if he had to teach his apprentice in the future, he wouldn't have time to make knives. My apprentice's one is still his.
It's a gift because I've been thinking about him for so many years."
After finishing speaking, the master did not forget to add:
"They're pretty cool!"
According to the direction pointed by the old master, the guard said it was called Songtaoshan.
Chagan Tologai itself is a mountain nest, surrounded by mountains. However, these mountains are all continuous mountain ranges. When Dawei was at its most prosperous, the people of the Western Regions once thought of shrinking the borders and enclosing the entire Lanmo Kingdom.
Let it go, huddle behind this mountain range, and rely on the natural dangers to resist.
But Songtaoshan is an exception.
This is the only independent mountain top with a radius of hundreds of miles around Chagan Toluogai. People in the Western Regions are not good at naming, and basically use the terrain and iconic natural existence to name places. The reason why it is called Songtao Mountain is because there are only two kinds of trees on the mountain -
—Pine and peach trees.
The terrain here is high and densely covered with pines. The wind blows and the sound of the river surges. However, the peach trees are a bit too abrupt. Zhao Rang has never heard that peach trees can grow so tall! In the peach garden in the northern border of Dawei
, before winter is approaching, peach trees will be protected to prevent them from freezing to death in the long cold winter in the north.
The winter here is of course colder than in the northern part of Dawei, and there will definitely be no one to take care of these peach trees. Their survival is simply a miracle on earth!
However, Zhao Rang did not go there rashly. Instead, he called the guard who was familiar with the surrounding terrain and asked:
"Where are the directions around Chagan Tologai going?"
The guard asked back:
"Mr. Zhao, where do you want to go?"
Zhao Rang said:
"You just have to tell me everything from east to west!"
The guard thought for a moment, took the bowls and chopsticks from the kitchen, used them as a reference, and said:
"We are here now!"
"Going to the east is the Lanmo Kingdom, which is the direction you are coming from, Mr. Zhao. Songtao Mountain is here, and it is the only way to go to the other three of the Upper Four Kingdoms!"
"Then go to..."
"Wait a minute, you said that to go to the other three of the Four Kingdoms, you have to go over Songtao Mountain?"
Zhao Rang interrupted the guard's story and asked.