The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Min Xi and Yun Ji looked at each other in surprise. They never expected that old Xius would send them shoes.

Min Xi hurriedly said, "Mr. Xius, please come in and sit down."

Old Hughes shook his head: "No, I'm too dirty and will dirty your chair."

Yun Ji looked at his hands. He had just been making dumplings and had not washed his hands yet. He stood there without moving: "It's okay. Come in and sit down."

Min Xi hurried over to help the man in and pulled a chair for him to sit down: "Mr. Xius, I told you that you can come to my restaurant to eat anytime. You don't have to bring us anything."

Old Hughes took out four pairs of shoes from his leather bag, two pairs of shallow-mouth leather shoes and two pairs of Roman shoes. "I made two pairs of shoes for each of you. The soles are made of cowhide and the uppers are made of very soft lambskin, which are suitable for this season. Roman shoes will not make your feet uncomfortable in summer."

Min Xi took the shoes, picked up a shorter pair and measured them on the soles of his feet, and said, "The size is right. How did you know our size?"

"You have made shoes for me, so I remember everything," said old Hughes.

Min Xi smiled and said, "Thank you, these are really nice shoes. How much are these four pairs of shoes?"

Old Hughes showed an unhappy expression on his face: "This is a gift from me to you, no money required. You saved me and gave me food, and you didn't ask for money either."

Min Xi smiled and said, "My meal is not worth as much as your shoes. These shoes are not cheap, not to mention the good workmanship."

Yun Ji had already washed his hands, opened the drawer of the counter, and took out two 400-reise silver coins: "Thank you, Mr. Xius, we all like the shoes you made, you must accept this money."

When Old Hughes saw him giving him money, he took the shoes and put them in his bag angrily: "I said I don't want money, but you insisted on giving me money. I won't give you the shoes."

Min Xi and Yun Ji smiled at each other. This was a stubborn old man, so they could only say, "We accept your gift. We'll treat you to breakfast. We're making it now. Please wait."

This time, Old Xius did not refuse. He gave the shoes to Min Xi and Yun Ji, stood up and said, "I'll sit outside to avoid dirtying your store."

Min Xi held his shoulder and said, "Please sit here. There is no one in our store in the morning. We will have customers at noon. Please wait, we are making breakfast."

Min Xi and Yun Ji returned to the kitchen and quickly put the wrapped buns in the steamer to steam them.

Min Xi also made a bowl of double-skin milk for Lao Xiusi. After Lao Xiusi finished his breakfast in the store, Min Xi packed a box of mutton buns for him to take away. When he left, he reminded him: "Come to the store when you are free. I will treat you to a meal."

Old Xiusi just smiled and said nothing. Min Xi knew that the old man had self-respect and would not eat for free, so he would definitely not come.

Shortly after the lawsuit over the secret recipe of double skin milk ended, the restaurants that were fined began to pay their fines one after another, except for the Rainforest Restaurant and Good Taste.

No restaurant is willing to pay for the secret recipe. After all, 100 reais is too much. Even if they make it themselves and earn 15 reais per bowl, they have to sell more than 6000 bowls to make back their investment. Now that everyone knows the secret recipe, sales will drop sharply, and it will be even more difficult to make back their investment. It is better to wait until they leave Fulangji.

Yun Ji saw that the Rainforest Restaurant and Good Taste, which had stolen the secret recipe, had not come to pay the fine, and said, "If they don't pay the fine on time, do we have to go to the judge?"

Min Xi said: "I think the Rainforest Restaurant should give it. They are the most upscale restaurant in Lisbon. They will earn more than us. 150 reais is not a lot of money. But the Good Taste is a bit troublesome. I don't know if the boss behind it is Mendes or someone else."

Yun Ji said: "I think they are not the same company. If they were the same company, they would not agree to be fined separately."

Min Xi frowned: "It seems that the boss of Haoweidao is probably going to run away."

"Do you mean that they want to close the store and move somewhere else?" Yun Ji asked.

"Yes, anyway, the investment in this store should not be that big, and it definitely does not exceed the amount of the fine. He can just close the store and stop selling. We will have no place to find him."

"You have a point."

As expected, within a few days, the Rainforest Restaurant sent 150 reais to Min Xi. The chef who came at that time said, "We paid the fine, so can we sell double skin milk in the future?"

Min Xi shook his head: "Of course not, this is just the fine for stealing the secret recipe. If you want to sell it again, you need to pay 100 reais for the right to use each secret recipe."

The chef said angrily: "You are simply a robber!"

Min Xi looked calm: "This is the court's ruling, written clearly in black and white. Those restaurants that don't have a secret recipe and only sell double skin milk have also been fined 10 reais each. According to your logic, can they sell double skin milk by paying only 10 reais fine? Obviously, it's impossible!"

The chef looked at Min Xi hatefully: "I have never seen someone as unreasonable as you!"

"Why am I being unreasonable? Don't you say you won't pay your apprentice for three years? I pay people for teaching them how to cook. I just don't allow them to pass on my secret recipes to others for the time being. When I leave Lisbon and return to my country in the future, you can all use these secret recipes." Min Xi said.

"Are you really going back?" the chef said in disbelief.

Min Xi said: "Of course, I am just working hard to make money now. Once we make enough money, we will naturally go back. So there is actually another way. You go back and tell Mr. Mendes that if he is willing to pay 10,000 reais, I can teach you how to make all the desserts and snacks in our dessert shop."

The chef's eyes popped out, thinking Min Xi had gone crazy. Why didn't he just rob the ten thousand reais?

"This is crazy, am I talking to a lunatic?" The chef left the restaurant cursing.

Min Xi said from behind: "Don't forget that if you want to sell Shuangpi milk again, you have to give us 100 reais. Go back and discuss it with Mr. Mendes, and mention the reais by the way."

After hearing this, the chef slammed the door and left.

Yun Ji said, "Ten thousand reais, do you really want to sell the recipe for those snacks?"

Min Xi smiled and said, "Yes, if he is willing to spend the money, we can get 10,000 reais at once, which will bring us closer to our goal of returning home."

This was clearly what Yun Ji had been looking forward to, but when he heard this, he did not feel any happier, because going home meant returning to his original life, and he and Min Xi would drift further and further apart, so for the first time he hoped that the date of his return would not come so early.

However, Mendes did not spend 100 reais to buy all the secret recipes, but only spent 35 reais to buy the commercial rights of Shuangpi Nai. According to the production method provided by Min Xi, they improved the taste a little, that is, adding more sugar to make it suitable for the locals' sweet taste, and sold it for reais per serving.

Those who go to their restaurant are either rich or noble, so they can definitely afford it.

Min Xi couldn't help but laugh after hearing the news. If there weren't a lot of overlapping customers in the two restaurants, they would probably want to sell at a higher price.

As expected, the Good Taste Dessert Shop has never opened since the day the verdict was handed down. The owner, Kemble, has also disappeared, and even his home is deserted. He probably didn't want to pay the 100 reais and ran away with his wife and children.

Now that the person had left, Min Xi and Yun Ji naturally had no way of going to find them. After all, finding someone these days was like looking for a needle in a haystack, and they didn't have the time for that.

So now there are only three stores in Lisbon that sell double skin milk, namely China Restaurant, Oriental Taste and Rainforest Restaurant. The sales volume has dropped compared to before, but not by much. After all, people who can afford double skin milk don’t care much about the money.

It is quite troublesome to make it at home, because Europeans usually cook by frying or baking. At most, they have a pot for cooking soup, but they don’t have a steamer. If you make double skin milk at home, you have to make a special pot, which is quite troublesome. The finished product may not be as delicious as the one in the store. If you want to eat it, you might as well buy some.

As time went by, the weather got warmer and the grass and trees began to sprout. During their breaks, Min Xi and Yun Ji would go out to the suburbs to see which flowers and plants had bloomed and sprouted, whether the bear onions had grown in the wild, and the progress of the local farmers' farming work, as they also had to prepare to plant the land.