Liberi Reader

Blaze, what do you think of this one?

Mm... not bad!

What I mean is, do these tangerine cakes taste like the ones you remember?

Umm... well... not exactly.

They're still not as sweet as the ones I had before. They also don't have quite the same mouth feel.

That's strange. This place uses traditional cooking methods. Their snacks are definitely authentic. They haven't changed their recipes in one hundred years.

One hundred years? Have tangerine cakes even been around that long?

No, tangerine cakes are not quite that old, but many famous Baizao snacks do have quite a long history.

The tangerine cake you are looking for were actually invented by a scholar who came to Baizao to study in its early years.

The scholar's hometown was famous for its tangerines. After he moved to Baizao, he missed those tangerines. It was too far to go home and get them, so he improvised.

He smashed up some old, dried tangerine peels and made them into dough, added some sugar, shortening, and spices, and baked them. It was a cheap, easy way to get his tangerine fix.

He gave the recipe to his landlord in lieu of paying rent. He even wrote a small poem about them, 'These tangerine cakes are bright and fresh, just like the orange groves back home.'

After the scholar passed the imperial examination and assumed office, the tangerine cakes became very famous. People began to view them as a symbol of homesickness.

Interesting...

Symbolic food. First time I've ever heard something like that.

Yan is a vast land, with many different climate zones, each with their own cash crops and produce. That's why there are many different types of Yanese cuisine. You can trace all of Yan's history through its food.

For example, Yan's Four Major Cuisines match up with its Four Great Restaurants, which predate Baizao's transformation into a nomadic city.

Cities develop, but flavors remain. It would be odd to find any snack without its own bit of history behind it.

One of my colleagues told me that there are many different kinds of Tianshis in Yan. You know so much about food, you must be some kind of Tasty Food Tianshi, right?

If there really was such an individual, someone who could use Arts to transform stones into vegetables, that might be worth studying, eh?

Alas, I am just an amateur foodie. I like to take notes on the food I eat, and its history. Over the years, I've compiled several notebooks full of such information.

To put it another way, Blaze, if there really were a better recipe for tangerine cakes out there, surely someone here would know about it.

But I'm telling you! The ones I had when I was younger, they were sweeter, and just better!

That really is rather odd...

Traditional tangerine cakes emphasize the fresh essence of the tangerines, not the taste of their pulp. Very little sugar is used, because tangerine cakes are supposed to be a light snack.

You're telling me you've eaten much sweeter tangerine cakes, and I'm telling you that I've never heard of such a thing.

Maybe we can ask one of the chefs around here to try cooking up a batch with extra sugar, so you can compare?

But even if we do that, it doesn't prove that the sweeter variety of tangerine cakes ever actually existed before.

What I want to know is, how did the taste of these tangerine cakes change during their journey from Baizao to Victoria. I'm sure there's a story there somewhere.

It seems you're just as much of a foodie as I am.

I was afraid you'd get tired of traipsing off to all these restaurants.

You're the guide. You lead, I follow.

Alright then. Let's keep looking!

My word, look at the time! We should have lunch first.

Hmm? Lunch?

Yes. It's lunchtime. Shouldn't we have some lunch?

But I just finished eating snacks from five different restaurants!

Snacks are snacks, but lunch is lunch. You must have a proper lunch, you know!

I don't think my tummy has any more room for lunch...

Haha. I know one restaurant that I can guarantee won't make your tummy ache.

Will you give it a try?

You're the foodie here, so I, and my stomach, trust you!

Hmm?

What's wrong?

I feel like... we're being followed.

You... you're... an Imperial Guard?

No, no, no. Without darksteel armor, I'm not a proper member of the Imperial Guards. Officially, I'm a captain serving with the Yulin Guards.

Deputy Minister Lin, I doubt you'd want to encounter anyone wearing darksteel armor anyway, certainly not in broad daylight.

I once heard Taihe mention that there is a 'junior drillmaster' serving in the ranks the Imperial Guard apprentices. She's very young, but skilled beyond her years.

That must be you. You're the junior drillmaster.

Hmph. I guess Taihe's still sore that I beat him in a couple matches last month. There's no need for name calling, though.

No matter. I'd like to ask you, what are you doing here?

I'm investigating a case.

Does that case have anything to do with the former Minister of Rites? Has the Judicial Review Office issued you a search warrant?

You're just a drillmaster. You have no authority to question whatever warrants I may or may not have, do you?

You have no authority to question my authority. Just answer my questions, please.

...Very well.

I heard you were on a long business trip just recently. You left Baizao for a while, did you not?

That's right. I went to go question a witness in an old case and update the case files.

What old case? From when? What witness? Why are you just investigating it now?

......

I don't understand your line of questioning.

If the Yulin Guards want to investigate the Judicial Review Office, I'll go submit the necessary documentation immediately.

If that still isn't enough for you, I can have the Minister of the Judicial Review Office report to the Yulin Guards for questioning.

My questions have nothing to do with the Judicial Review Office. They only concern you, Deputy Minister Lin.

So you went to investigate an old case. What did you learn?

...Too much time has passed, so the trail has gone cold. I didn't learn anything.

Nothing? Really? Are you sure?

......

Nothing.

Alright. I believe you. However, remember that you are speaking to the Yulin Guards here. Your answers carry great weight.

Very good. I'm done discussing official business for now.

So you still have some personal business you wish to discuss?

......

Taihe, that dumb Forte, told me he doesn't have many friends in government. Well, you now count as one.

Well, I must warn you, don't stick your neck out too far.

Your worries are unfounded. I'm just pursuing the truth here, as it is my job to do. I'm not putting myself at any additional risk.

...Very good.

Give Taihe my regards.

They are questioning why I'm here. Well, why are the Yulin Guards here?

Their presence here, I think, is proof that I'm on the right track.

Phew—

Boy, am I stuffed. I never would have guessed that a roadside stand could make such amazing wontons. They're certainly better than the ones in the Rhodes Island cafeteria freezer!

I'm so stuffed that I want to just take a nap right here. Ah... nng...

After eating all that greasy street food, a nice, hearty bowl of wontons is the perfect thing to settle your stomach.

The famous restaurants need no introduction. As your guide in Baizao, I figured I'd share some of my favorite lesser-known food spots.

Well I'm lucky to have found such a good tour guide. Thank you!

Well, I'm also glad to have found a culinary companion. I tend to eat alone, which means I can only order one or two entrees for myself.

You know what they say, 'the more the merrier.' Now that I'm here, you can order as much food as you want.

Speaking of food, what is in these wontons, anyway? They're fantastic!

Just meat and celery. The key ingredient is the soup!

Most places use shellbeast caviar in wonton soup to enhance the flavor. Unfortunately, the finniness of the caviar crowds out the other flavors.

This place uses soybean sprouts instead. This makes for a milder soup, which allows the flavor of the wontons to shine!

The meat filling for the wontons is fresh beast belly. After the wontons are cooked, the bits of fat will naturally seep into the soup.

These wontons are light, yet delicious. They are made of high-quality ingredients which are hard to find elsewhere.

Well, do these wontons have a history? Do tell.

Not really. I just really like this particular wonton shop, I guess.

When I get writer's block, or need a little pick-me-up, I come here and eat a bowl of wontons.

The shopkeeper has been making wontons her whole life. She used to own this shop together with her husband.

Her husband fell ill and passed away, leaving her to raise her child alone. Later, her son joined the army, but he died in a Catastrophe up north several years ago.

She's still running the place all by herself. She says she wants to continue the family legacy and preserve their authentic taste.

What a sad story.

There are many such sad stories. There is no joy without pain.

Over the years, as I've been coming to this shop, I've helped the lady with an errand or two. In return, she told me her family's secret recipe. She hopes that one day, after she's gone, I can pass on her craft to the next generation.

I have something I want to ask you.

Are you really going through all this trouble with the tangerine cakes just because you made a bet with the Young Chef?

Why do you ask?

I simply noticed that you weren't terribly focused on the taste of the delicacies at all. It seemed like you had some other purpose in mind.

Was it that obvious? Wow...

When you watch people eat, you see into their souls.

Sorry, I was just curious. If I've intruded on your privacy, I sincerely apologize.

Hey now! We're friends! I'm not keeping secrets from you.

You're right. I'm not really that concerned about the bet.

Those tangerine cakes, well, my father used to send them to me when he was living in Baizao.

Your father, was he Yanese?

Err... meh, whatever. I don't have anything to hide from you.

I grew up in Victoria, and my father is Yanese. One year, he suddenly returned to Yan for some reason.

I never saw him again, and he died over a decade later in a land foreign to me.

I'm sorry, Blaze...

It's not your fault. Why do you keep apologizing?

I didn't think much about it at first, but yesterday when you mentioned that sweet tangerine cakes are unusual, I thought, 'someone who knows how to make those cakes might have also known my dad.'

Your dad… was also…

He was also what?

Oh... nothing...

Well, I promise you that I will do everything in my power to help you find out the truth about your father—

You're such a contradiction—so bold when you eat, yet so refined when you speak.

When we're eating together, it's all good fun; we're good friends. Why do you turn into a different person as soon as you put down your chopsticks?

......

Friends?

And another thing, why are you helping me look for these tangerine cakes in the first place?

Well, I'm writing a book.

Most cookbooks today only contain recipes from renowned chefs, yet the streets and the countryside are full of unique delicacies that few people ever pay heed.

I hope to collect all these recipes into a book. Perhaps, years later, people will read this book and learn of Baizao's unique cuisine. Hm... it's just a silly dream of mine, is all.

And also...

What?

I think I'll keep that a secret for now.

Well, as long as we're out here, you might as well take me to a few more places, yeah?

Sure! Where do you want to go?

Let me see... this letter mentions the Virtue Bookstore, the Humble Garden, and the Baizao Academy.

Hey... what does this word mean?

Can you let me have a look?

This is a letter? Why is it so greasy?

I didn't do that! It was like that when I opened it! I don't know what my dad was doing when he wrote it.

So these are all letters that your father wrote to you?

Yes. The few that I managed to save.

(Strange, this stationery... it's...)

Hmm? What is it?

N-Nothing. It's just that most of the places mentioned in this letter no longer exist.

Huh? But it was only written a decade ago.

For Baizao, a decade is enough for the whole city to change.

Have you noticed that anything has changed since arriving in Baizao?

Well, aside from the food, there are all these energy poles all over the place. It seems like kind of a waste.

It may seem wasteful, but in fact, we have no other choice.

The city of Baizao was founded a long, long time ago.

At that time, Yan had just experienced a great war, and the country was in dire straits. However, suddenly, an extremely rich Originium vein was discovered right next to the ruins of a battlefield.

Wow. What impeccable timing! You Yanese sure are lucky!

No. It wasn't lucky at all. The Originium vein was rich... too rich. It attracted too many Originium particles in one place, which eventually led to Catastrophe.

Basically, not only was it difficult to mine, but it also created a vast stretch of land that was prone to Catastrophes, and there was nothing the Yanese could do about it.

That is, until one of the Tianshis had an idea—they could build a city right on top of the Originium vein. The city infrastructure would deplete the excess Originium energy, preventing further Catastrophes.

Building a city on top of an Originium mine? That sounds like a recipe for disaster!

It was indeed an extremely dangerous undertaking. However, the True Lung decided to go ahead with it... and that's how Baizao was founded.

How did they do it? I can't even imagine...

Honestly, I'm not totally sure either. In all the Yanese history books, there is only a single passage that talks about that period—

'Skilled individuals were sent to the disaster zone, and after fifty-three years of effort, a city was built and established as the capital. The city was named Baizao, with the hope of tending all cooking stoves under heaven.'

As for the more advanced technical details, you'd probably have to look at some of the materials from the Tianshi Bureaus. That's beyond my area of expertise.

So to this day, the Baizao government still encourages us to use this energy.

Baizao is constantly changing. That's how these skyscrapers appeared, as well as the numerous nomadic city plates.

......

And what happened to the people who built the city?

......

*sigh*...

I'm completely stuffed, but I still haven't found the taste I'm looking for.

I've taken you to every restaurant I know that sells such cakes.

Maybe tomorrow we can go look in some of the larger restaurants.

*burp*

......

What did I tell you? What did I tell you?

You looked the whole day, yet you couldn't find your so-called, 'authentic tangerine cakes', could you?

You were following us all day?

You were afraid we would find better food, weren't you?

Me? Afraid? Pah!

I already told you before, if you're looking for the best chef in Baizao, you've already found him. If I can't cook it, no one else can.

Blaze, I've tasted his food. It really is quite excellent. A rare treat.

...!

You really know how to flatter!

Besides, you're arguing over the details in how a single pastry is made—how could that possibly be the standard for judging a chef's skill?

Still, I can see that you, chef, are still curious about these sweet tangerine cakes that Blaze is talking about, are you not?

....Not really.

How about this? You two set aside your bet, and we'll see where we can find these sweet tangerine cakes.

That way, Blaze will find the tangerine cakes she's looking for, and you, chef, will learn a new recipe. Sounds like a delightful arrangement, no?

Huh? What?

What about my one month of free meals?

Hmph, my cooking skills are so superb that no one can match them, but there are other chefs that I respect. If I had to name one in particular, it would be...

Well... it would be...

Who?

The head chef of Ding Feng Lou, the highest rated of the Four Great Restaurants.

You mean, Mr. Mo Bufu?

Everyone at Ding Feng Lou is busy preparing for the Feast of a Hundred Delicacies. That means the old man is prepping for his last feast.

His last feast? You mean, he's retiring?

Who knows! That old man's been challenging people left and right lately—really showing off...

What are you waiting for? Let's go!

It's not so simple...

Chef Mo is quite an important man. He is responsible for the entire feast. We can't bother him with trifling matters such as some tangerine cakes.

The girl is clever, but she's only half right. If you really do want to go meet him, I have a way.

Last month's receipts?

No. Not in this pocket...

Ah. Here it is.

An invitation to the Ding Feng Lou Chef Selection...

Blaze, we won't get many opportunities to meet Chef Mo.

Then what are we waiting for? Whoever is going to the competition, take me with you!

As to who will participate in the competition...

Huh? What are you looking at me for?