Chapter 36

Although these young women came from humble backgrounds, they were still ladies who had never lifted a finger, and most of them couldn't even manage the simplest of sesame flatbreads. Even when they only handled tasks like collecting money or handing over goods, they frequently became the butt of jokes. What was even more terrifying was that some of them, eager to stand out, would deliberately invent bizarre dishes. Braised fish scales, ginger-scallion fish eyes, honey-glazed chicken posteriors—it was enough to put a person’s life at risk. The most egregious incident involved an Imperial Student who, smitten by a girl's beauty, bought a bowl of rock-sugar-stewed pork intestines from her "Niangzi Stall." That delicate young lady, having no idea how to cook, had tossed the intestines into the pot without even washing them. In the end, the Imperial Student had ended up with a mouthful of filth, so nauseated he nearly vomited his own bile. By now, the students at the Imperial College knew full well: when buying food outside the gates, one must absolutely avoid those "Niangzi Stalls!" Those stalls weren't trying to sell food; they were trying to eat people alive.