The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Diego quickly turned over and stood up, looking down at the thing that tripped him. It seemed to be a person lying on the street. He quickly apologized: "I'm sorry, I didn't see it just now. Did I step on you?"

A dog suddenly appeared from nowhere, snatched the goose leg off the ground in one bite, and quickly disappeared into the night.

Although Diego felt it was a pity, as he had just taken a bite of the goose leg, he could not care about that at the moment. He quickly bent down to help the person on the ground and asked, "Did I step on you just now?" When he got closer, he could smell the strong smell of alcohol, and it was obvious that the person had drunk too much.

The man on the ground mumbled incoherently, obviously very drunk.

Min Xi and Yun Ji also came over: "Diego, are you okay?"

Diego replied: "Boss, I'm fine. This gentleman seemed drunk and fell asleep on the street. I accidentally stepped on him."

Min Xi said: "It's so cold, why are you sleeping outside? Help him up quickly, ask him where his home is, and send him back." If he stays out in the cold all night, he will probably be half dead. If he is not in good health, he may even die. This is Christmas Eve.

Diego tried hard to help the man, Min Xi reached out to help but Yun Ji pulled him back and he went on his own.

Diego asked, "Sir, where is your home? I'll take you home."

The drunk didn't answer.

Diego was a little overwhelmed: "He's so drunk, what should I do as the host?"

Min Xi said, "Then help him up and see if the city hall can provide him with a place to sleep. We can't just let him sleep on the street."

The two men had no choice but to help the drunkard up and walked forward. When they reached a lighted window, Diego turned his head to look at the other person, then stopped and looked at him carefully again: "Isn't this old Hughes?"

Yun Ji looked down and found that it was indeed an old acquaintance.

Min Xi also came over to identify it. It was the old shoemaker Xius with a messy hair, eyebrows and beard. "Mr. Xius, why are you here?"

Old Hughes was quite drunk and naturally couldn't answer him.

Min Xi asked: "Diego, where is Mr. Hughes' home? Where are his family members?"

Diego said, "I don't know. He doesn't seem to have any family. He's not married. I just know where his shoe repair shop is and which hotel he might be staying in. What now?"

Min Xi said, "We can't just leave him on the street. Let's take him back to our store first."

"Are we not going to the City Hall?" Seeing that the City Hall is so nearby, are we going to turn back?

Min Xi said, "You go ahead. Brother Qi and I will take Old Zeus back. You can come back by yourself later, okay?" He was quite confident in Diego. After all, he grew up on the streets and learned basic skills for several months. If nothing else, he still had the ability to protect himself.

Diego thought for a moment and said, "Forget it. I won't go either."

Yun Ji said, "You two go ahead. I'll take Old Xiusi back to the store. Come back early."

Diego showed anticipation on his face: "Boss, shall we go?"

Min Xi said: "Then go take a look, we will be back soon, Brother Qi, please wait for us, we will be back soon."

Diego nodded vigorously: "I actually just want to see how big the Christmas tree is."

Yun Ji heard this and said: "Then I will wait for you here, come back after you have seen it."

"Okay." Min Xi and Diego quickened their pace and walked towards the Municipal Square.

There were quite a lot of people in the Municipal Square at this time. Many candles were lit around the square, making the square dim and the lighting was pretty good. In the middle of the square stood a huge Christmas tree, seven or eight meters high, with many decorations hung on the Christmas tree and many lanterns hung on the lower half.

Many people were gathered around the Christmas tree, and a group of people were playing music, including lyre, viola, nikohba and recorder.

Except for the recorder, these instruments were not Western instruments that Min Xi was familiar with. The names were told to him by Diego, and one or two of them looked like the predecessors of the violin.

Many citizens were hanging out in the town square, looking at the Christmas tree and enjoying music.

Some children were chasing and playing in the square, having a great time.

Soon after Min Xi and Diego arrived, they were surrounded by a group of ragged little beggars, who stretched out their dirty little hands and said, "Sir, please give me something to eat. I'm hungry and haven't had dinner yet."

Generally speaking, begging on Christmas Eve is never in vain. This is equivalent to begging on Chinese New Year's Eve, where the beggar must give the beggar a full meal or some money.

Upon hearing this, Min Xi took out the bag of biscuits he had brought with him and put several pieces in each child's hands.

The children who got the biscuits were a little confused. Few of them would bring food with them when they went out at night. Their main purpose of begging was for money.

Min Xi finished distributing the biscuits in his hand and said, "Okay, I didn't bring much food, just these biscuits, and they are gone."

Min Xi and Diego walked towards the Christmas tree. Several children who had received cookies followed them and refused to leave. Min Xi took a look and realized that they might want money. He reached out and touched it, but there was not a single cent. Normally, he didn't have the habit of carrying money. The money was always with Yun Ji, and Yun Ji was not there at the moment.

Min Xi said somewhat awkwardly: "I don't have any money on me, so don't follow us."

Seeing that the group of kids were not leaving, Diego had no choice but to take out his purse and said, "Line up and come one by one."

He gave each child a 1-reis silver coin and said, "Okay, stop following us and go!"

Min Xi looked at Diego with a smile: "You actually brought money with you."

Diego said a little embarrassedly: "I used to come here to beg with my friends on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve, people would become very friendly, and those gentlemen and ladies who usually refused to give money would also donate generously. So begging in the town square on Christmas Eve has become a routine."

"Then why didn't you remind me? I didn't have any money on me." Min Xi said.

"It's okay, boss. You gave them food and I gave them money. They should be able to get a lot of money tonight. Besides, the city hall will provide free black bread to beggars and homeless people tonight, so they won't go hungry." Diego said.

Min Xi asked: "Where do they live?"

Diego said: "Some children have families, but their families are relatively poor. Some orphans are controlled by some leaders. They will provide accommodation, but the money they beg must be handed over."

"What about you before?"

Diego said: "I used to follow an old beggar, but he died. I was already 9 years old at that time and didn't want to follow another old man, so I begged on my own. I was often bullied by other little beggars. It was Mr. Sanvis who took pity on me and let me stay in his tavern to work."

Min Xi touched his head and said, "Mr. Sanvis is very good to you. You must remember to repay his kindness in the future. Now that you have a skill, you can support yourself in the future and help those you want to help."

Diego said, "Well, thank you for teaching me how to make desserts."

Because Yun Ji was still waiting for them, the two of them didn't stay for long. They took a look around and hurried back.

They took old Hughes back, made a bed behind the counter in the store, and put him to sleep there. As there were no extra beddings, Yunji went upstairs to get his own quilt and covered him with it.

"Seventh brother, let's share one quilt tonight. The quilt is not very wide, so we need to squeeze together." Min Xi shook out his quilt. They usually covered themselves with their own quilts, but tonight Yun Ji's quilt was given to old Xius, so they could only share one quilt.

Yun Ji took a look and said, "Yeah."

Min Xi said, "Don't use the quilt that Old Hughes used. When the time comes, take it apart, wash it, and put it away. I'll keep it for later use, and I'll buy you another quilt."

Yun Ji did not object: "Okay. But I'm afraid I won't be able to buy a quilt tomorrow." After being here for a long time, he knew that the shops here were closed on Sundays and holidays.

"It's okay, we'll buy some when the store opens. We'll just stay here for a few nights. The quilt is a bit narrow, but it should be enough. I don't sleep well, so please bear with me, Seventh Brother." Min Xi said.

Seeing that Min Xi spoke so frankly, Yun Ji felt that he was too reserved, so he took a deep breath and tried to be as natural as possible.

Min Xi took off his clothes and went to bed, and slept inside consciously: "Go to bed early, we have to get up early tomorrow to stew pork elbows and braised pork for His Majesty the King."

"Okay." Yun Ji nodded after hearing that, took off his clothes, lifted the quilt and got on the bed, lying straight on the bed, not daring to get any closer to Min Xi.