The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

After breakfast, the two of them prepared to go out and walk around to get familiar with the environment of London. Although they didn't feel very good about going out yesterday evening, they didn't plan to stay at home.

Min Xi's main purpose of coming to the UK was to go to Oxford University to find the crop seeds he needed. He didn't know if his Chinese identity would be useful, and whether the botanists at Oxford would give him some seeds.

If Baron Fernando were here, this matter would be much easier. After all, he is a nobleman and must have a much wider network of contacts. It would not be too difficult for him to get to know the professors at Oxford through his friends.

The difficulty now lies in the fact that the Baron is not here, so while he is worried about the Baron's safety, he also has to find ways to expand his network, get to know the nobles in London, and through them get to know the professors in Oxford.

When in Lisbon, Min Si used his cooking skills to make friends with people like the Baron, and even met the king several times. He also got to know botanists like Greeley. I wonder if this trick would work in the UK.

But even if it is applicable, if you open a hotel, you can't control the time. Today I met a little noble in the hotel. He should not be from London, otherwise he would not stay in the hotel. A little noble from another place is so arrogant. I wonder what other London nobles are like.

The two were about to go out when Hopson called them, "Mr. Min!"

Min Xi turned around and looked at the other person: "What's the matter, Mr. Hopson?"

Hopson asked, "Where are you going?"

Min Xi replied: "We plan to go out for a walk and get familiar with London."

"Do you need me to be your guide?" Hopson asked enthusiastically.

"Won't it cause trouble for Mr. Hopson?" Min Xi showed a surprised expression.

Hopson showed a friendly expression. "Of course not. I am also half a Londoner. I am honored to have the opportunity to introduce London to a gentleman like you who comes from a distant country. Where do you want to go? Let's rent a carriage. I have a carriage myself, but there are only two seats, which can't accommodate the three of us."

Min Xi thought about it and did not refuse: "Thank you, I'll trouble you then."

Originally, they were unfamiliar with London and planned to walk around and explore the city on their own. Now that they have someone to act as a tour guide, there is no need for them to explore the city on their own. After all, the street scenes in London are not at all picturesque and there is even the possibility of stepping on landmines everywhere.

Hopson quickly called an open four-seater carriage, which was perfect for sightseeing, but not very suitable for London's rain, which could come at any time. Today's weather looked good, so it shouldn't rain.

After getting in the car, Hopson took the initiative to find topics to talk about. The first topic was the weather. This is the opening remark of British people when chatting, which is similar to asking "Have you eaten?" when meeting a Chinese person.

Then he talked about the soup dumplings he had that morning: "Your cooking skills are really great. I ate a dozen of them and still felt unsatisfied. I could finish another dozen. This is the most delicious food I have ever eaten."

"Thank you for your liking." Min Xi said with a smile.

Hopson said: "Don't think I'm flattering you. I'm telling the truth. Lord Herbert also thinks it's delicious. If there was such a delicious restaurant in London, I think the door would be visited frequently."

This hit the nail on the head for Min Xi, but was he really going to open a restaurant in London? But opening a restaurant was not an easy task. He had to rent a store, do the renovation, prepare kitchenware and tableware, etc. It would take at least one or two months. He really didn't want to do it anymore, and he didn't have that much time.

Min Xi suddenly had an idea. It was troublesome to open a restaurant. If he opened a private restaurant, the decoration would be much simpler and the investment cost would be lower. He would only serve one or two tables of guests a day and set the price higher so that only rich people could afford it. In this way, he could not only make money easily, but also have the opportunity to meet dignitaries.

Thinking of this, Min Xi suddenly became cheerful. He couldn't hide his excitement and said to Yun Ji: "Seventh Brother, I have a good idea."

Yun Ji turned to look at him: "What's the idea?"

Min Xi smiled and said, "I'll tell you later."

Seeing that he was in such a good mood, Yun Ji thought it must be a good idea, so he also looked forward to it.

Accompanied by Hopson, they toured London in half a day. After all, London was only a small city of about 100,000 people, not much different in size from Lisbon, so it was naturally very fast to travel around in a horse-drawn carriage.

Min Xi asked: "Mr. Hopson, I heard that you have two famous universities in England. I wonder how far they are from London."

Hopson said, "You mean Oxford and Cambridge? They're not that close, each about sixty miles away."

Min Xi asked again: "Are these two schools close to each other?"

"Of course not. They are farther from each other than from London."

"When I was in Lisbon, I heard people say that the two universities in England are very good. So I have always wanted to find an opportunity to visit them. Does Mr. Hopson know anyone at Oxford University?" Min Xi asked.

Hopson shook his head. "I'm really sorry, I don't know that. But I heard that there are many Londoners teaching in Oxford and Cambridge."

Min Xi thought, it's almost July, I wonder if universities have summer vacation during this period. If there is summer vacation, those professors teaching in Oxford should come back for vacation. It seems that there is really a need to open a private restaurant.

When they returned from the tour, Hopson said, "It's a pleasure to travel with you two today. I'll treat you to lunch at noon."

Min Xi said quickly, "How can that be! Since you have accompanied us today, we should treat you to a meal."

Hopson realized that his goal had been achieved, so he said very straightforwardly, "Then I won't be polite."

Min Xi said, "I am new in London and I don't know which restaurant has the best food. Please recommend it to me, Mr. Hopson."

Hopson was stunned when he heard this: "Aren't you doing it yourself?" He thought Min Xi was going back to cook.

"No lunch, I want to treat you to dinner at the best restaurant in London, so you can taste authentic British food." Min Xi knew what Hopson was thinking, but he had other plans. He wanted to understand the market situation in London so that he could investigate the market for his private restaurant.

What else could Hopson say when he said that? He certainly couldn't tell them directly that the best restaurant in London didn't have the best food.

So Hopson took them to the best restaurant in London. In fact, it was completely beyond Min Si's expectations. The best restaurant in London was not even as good as the Tropical Forest Restaurant in Lisbon. Maybe the British people have no talent for food and can't make decent dishes. It may also be that Britain has always been poor and the rich have not had time to learn to enjoy. After all, only people who have enough food have the energy to think about how to make the food more delicious.

All in all, the standard of this restaurant is very average, the food is barely edible, and the price is not cheap. Three people spent three shillings. Three reais can be used to order all the signature dishes in their Chinese restaurant, and it is not a problem for more than ten people to eat.

But ordering a table of barely edible food in this restaurant in London for three shillings was really poor value for money.

After finishing the meal, Hopson spread his hands and said, "This is the best standard of restaurants in London. It is far inferior to what you do. I said that if you opened a restaurant in London, people would line up across the Thames to eat."

Min Xi smiled and said, "Thank you Mr. Hopson for recognizing my cooking skills. I'll cook it myself tonight."

"Then may I have the honor of eating with you?" Hopson's eyes were eager, and he added, "I am willing to pay."

Min Xi asked: "Mr. Hopson, if I want to open a restaurant in London, what procedures do I need to go through?"

Hopson looked at him excitedly: "Are you really going to open a restaurant? If you do, I will eat at your restaurant every day."

"I'm not sure yet because I don't know when my friends will arrive in London. If they do, I might leave the UK soon and the restaurant won't be open."

Hopson was disappointed when he heard this: "Can't you stay in the UK for a while longer? I believe that as long as you open a shop, the business will definitely be very hot. I will bring my friends to patronize your restaurant often."

Min Xi didn't continue the topic. They returned to the hotel and happened to see guests checking in. They were a mother with two young daughters.

My mother was talking to the clerk in a loud voice: "My husband was a very good friend of Mr. Bright when he was alive. Every time he stayed at your hotel, he got a discount. You actually told me that the price has increased to 1 shilling a night this year. My God, this is terrible! This is terrible! Doesn't Her Majesty the Queen do anything about it? The price increase in London is really unreasonable!"

The clerk said helplessly, "Mrs. Wells, our hotel has been charging this price this year, and since there are three of you, we have to cover all three meals for you, so it's really not expensive."

"That's quite expensive. It was only 10 pence last year! You have to reduce it to 10 pence for me! Otherwise, call Mr. Bright over. I want to talk to him." said the woman called Mrs. Wells.

The clerk noticed that more and more customers were gathering around them, so he had to calm things down quickly: "Mrs. Wells, please take a seat. I'll have someone go find Mr. Bright."

Mrs. Wells realized that her goal had been achieved. She looked around with some pride, and then she saw Min Xi and Yun Ji. She looked surprised and came over, waving her small fan. "These two gentlemen look different from us. Are they foreigners?"

Hopson bowed and said, "Madam, these two are from faraway China."

"I was just saying, you look totally different from us," Wells said enthusiastically. "Young gentlemen, what are you doing in London? Are you married?"

Before Min Xi could answer, Hopson quickly answered for them: "Madam, these two gentlemen are traveling to England, and they will be returning to China soon."