The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

The business was closed for three days, and Min Xi only worked for three days. He could only comfort himself that he would be able to relax and have a good rest during the New Year.

The business reopened on the 27th, and when we counted the number of employees on the evening of the 26th, we found that three employees had not yet returned to work.

Gael's home is in the Santarém area, more than a hundred miles away from Lisbon. It is not easy to travel back and forth, so he took a leave this time and will not be back until after the New Year.

Greta took two days off, saying that her brother was going to have a wedding and she was going to help out at home.

The young man named Domit in the pastry shop came on time, but another young man named Faria did not come because he did not ask for leave in advance.

Min Xi asked Diego: "Do you know where his home is? Is it far away?"

Diego said: "His home seems to be in Amadora, about ten kilometers away, not too far."

Min Xi pondered for a moment. It was more than ten kilometers and would only take more than two hours to walk. Maybe he would not arrive until tomorrow morning. He suppressed his uneasiness and decided to find out the result tomorrow.

Early the next morning, Min Xi and Yun Ji went to buy vegetables and saw a butcher selling pork in the market.

When the butcher saw them, he was so enthusiastic: "Sir, you didn't lie to me. The castrated pork is really very fragrant, without any fishy smell. It is really delicious! In the future, I will castrate all the pigs in our village and the surrounding villages, so that everyone can eat delicious pork."

Min Xi smiled and said, "You haven't killed the remaining ones yet, right?"

The butcher waved his hand and said, "No, I want to wait for them to grow a little bit. It's a pity to kill them now. I need to keep them for a few months at least."

Min Xi nodded: "Okay, remember to save some pork for me when the time comes."

"must!"

Min Si said, "By the way, His Majesty the King also ate castrated pork. He said it was very delicious and he is going to summon you."

The butcher opened his mouth wide enough to fit an egg in. His face flushed with excitement, and he stammered, "Really? Really? Is it true? The King ate my pork? And he wants to summon me? Are you lying to me?"

Min Xi smiled and said, "Yes, I didn't lie to you. His Majesty the King knows that you have learned how to castrate pigs. He wants to promote the technique of castration and ask you to recruit more apprentices and teach more people how to castrate pigs. This way, more people can eat delicious pork."

The butcher was stunned when he heard this. He originally wanted to pass this technique to his son as a family secret. "This, this is what His Majesty the King said?"

Min Xi could understand his thoughts: "Actually, you don't have to worry. You have limited abilities to castrate pigs. Even if you have more apprentices, they can't take your job. When you recruit apprentices, just don't recruit those who are close to you."

The butcher's expression was much more relaxed when he heard this: "Sir, you are very thoughtful. When should I go to see His Majesty?"

Min Xi said: "I don't know the exact date, it should be after the New Year, then I will tell you in advance."

"Okay! Thank you, sir!" The butcher was very grateful. He had the opportunity to meet His Majesty thanks to these two Oriental people.

After returning to the store and working for a while, while eating breakfast, Min Xi asked Diego: "Is Faria not here yet?"

"Not yet," Diego said.

That morning, Min Xi felt a little uneasy, as he always felt that Faria would not come.

Sure enough, when lunch time came, Faria had not arrived yet.

Min Si asked Diego: "Do you know what kind of person Faria is?"

Diego thought for a moment and said, "He is very smart and has a very good memory. He will remember every customer who has come once. He is just a little lazy sometimes."

"Did he behave abnormally before the holiday?" Min Xi asked.

Diego shook his head. "I'm busy in the kitchen so I don't know. Ask Domit."

Domit is a quiet young man, very honest. He is very suitable for the cashier job and has basically never made any mistakes. He is a reliable person and makes people feel at ease.

Domit said: "Faria has many friends and often goes out to meet friends during his breaks, but I don't know any of his friends."

Min Xi nodded: "Thank you! There are only you and Diego in the store now. Faria is not here, so you will have to work hard. Two of us are not here yet, so they may not be able to spare the time to help you."

Domit nodded: "I'll try my best."

Diego said, "Don't worry, Boss. I made a lot of snacks yesterday. Today I will mainly make egg tarts and custard buns. I will help Domit if I am busy enough."

Yun Ji said, "You guys go ahead and do your work first. I'll come over to help you when I'm done here."

After dinner, when there was no one else around, Min Xi expressed his concerns to Yun Ji: "Why didn't Faria come back to work? Was he delayed by something at home, or did he stay at home and start his own business?"

Yun Ji hesitated for a moment and said, "If I go back to start my own business, it would be good. What I am most afraid of is that my competitors will turn against me and buy our secret recipe privately."

This is what Min Xi is most worried about. He frowned, "He hasn't worked in the store for a long time, so he probably won't have learned too many secret recipes. Everything else is fine, the profit is slim, and we are not afraid even if there are competitors. What I am most worried about is the secret recipe of the double skin milk."

Shuangpi milk has the highest profit margin. If other shops in Lisbon also sell Shuangpi milk, even if they are not as delicious as theirs, the price will definitely be lowered. I hope Faria was just delayed by something and couldn't come.

After the holiday, Min Xi thought that since everyone was eating a lot of food during the holiday, not many people would come out to eat. Unexpectedly, the business was still good. Maybe it was because they hadn't eaten Chinese food for a few days, and many people missed the taste, so they rushed to taste it as soon as the restaurant opened.

Min Xi didn't prepare too many dishes, and the dishes for that day were basically sold out.

Although this is something to be happy about, Faria's case still makes people feel uneasy.

Faria did not show up until the New Year holiday. Min Xi found the broker and asked him for Faria's address.

The broker said, "I don't know his address, I just know he's from Amadora."

Min Xi then realized that he was careless. He must leave the specific address of the employee's home, or find a guarantor before allowing the employee to start the job. Otherwise, it would be really worrying if the employee never came back.

On the last day before the New Year, the store was closed for the holiday, so Min Xi and Yun Ji rented a carriage and went to Amadora to look for someone. Since they only knew the other person's surname, they asked for a long time but didn't get any clues, so they had to return helplessly.

Because of Faria's incident, Minxi and Yunji both felt uneasy this year.

Baron Fernando came to invite them out to play, but he found that neither of them was in a good mood. After asking, he found out that one of the employees had not returned to work on time.

Fernando waved his hand nonchalantly: "It's no big deal, he probably won't come, let's hire someone else."

Min Xi sighed, "This is not a question of recruiting people. He learned our double skin milk secret recipe and disappeared without saying goodbye. We don't know whether he went back to open a shop or sold the secret recipe to someone else."

Fernando showed an expression of disbelief: "Those who can learn your double skin milk secret recipe must be very important employees, right?"

Min Xi shook his head: "I didn't forbid the store employees to learn skills. They have all learned it."

"Such an important secret recipe, didn't you take any measures to prevent them from leaking it?" said Fernando.

Min Xi said: "I told them in advance that they could not resign voluntarily and could not teach the restaurants and chefs in Lisbon. If they want to open a restaurant, they have to open it somewhere else, not in Lisbon."

"You only made a verbal agreement and didn't take any other measures. This is a complete test of human nature. How do you know that they can still stick to their bottom line when faced with the temptation of money? Where is that person from? Have you found him?" Fernando asked.

Yunji said: "We haven't received our December salary, nor the promised year-end bonus. Who knew they would just give it up? We went to look for him, but couldn't find him. We only knew he was from Amadora, but didn't know his exact address. We asked many people, but couldn't find out."

Fernando touched his chin and said, "Amadora is not big. It shouldn't be hard to find someone with a name. I'll ask someone to help you find out."

"Thank you so much for your help!" Min Xi said gratefully.

Fernando patted the two men on the shoulders and said, "What's our relationship? You are in trouble in my territory, so I must help you get back your place!"

Min Xi and Yun Ji knew that if Fernando took action, the matter would be easier to handle. After all, he was a noble and had channels and conveniences that they did not have.