The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Baron Fernando glanced at his fiancée and said, "It seems that Miss Alice has more face than me. I am able to eat such delicious wontons today because of you."

Miss Alice blushed: "Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Min!"

Min Xi said seriously: "It is thanks to the Baron's care that we can gain a foothold in Lisbon. He is a very kind and loyal person. You will know it when you arrive in Lisbon."

The baron knew what Min Xi was thinking, that he just wanted to brag about himself to his fiancée. He could not help but look at Min Xi helplessly. He was already very good, so why did he need to be praised?

Miss Alice glanced at her fiancé and said, "He is very lucky to have a friend like you."

After dinner, Min Xi went to bake some egg tarts and took them back to the guests when they left. Eating and taking things really won over Miss Alice, so much so that she had a particularly good impression of Min Xi and Yun Ji, and she thought the baron should be a good person. She was originally 60% to 70% satisfied, and now her satisfaction has increased by one or two points.

The delegation's return schedule has been set. They will set off in seven days, before November, because the weather at sea will become worse as time goes by. In winter, there will be strong storms in the North Atlantic, and the English Channel will be even more windy and turbulent.

If we don’t leave now, we’ll have to wait until next summer, and we really can’t wait any longer.

Min Xi and Yun Ji hung a sign on the restaurant saying they would no longer receive customers. When customers came to ask about the restaurant, they said they were preparing to return to Portugal and would close the restaurant in the future.

The news that they were leaving the UK shocked the diners. It was too sudden! They left without saying goodbye. They would never be able to eat such delicious food again! The old diners who heard the news came to order food so that they could have another meal before they left.

Min Xi and Yun Ji originally planned to close the business and then go to Oxford University to ask for sweet potato and corn seeds. However, the customers were so enthusiastic that they begged for another meal and even raised the price on their own initiative.

Even the baron couldn't help but say, "Why not just not go and make some money from them first?"

Min Xi and Yun Ji turned their attention to Baron Fernando. "How about this? Baron, you have nothing to do anyway. Please go to Oxford University and ask for some plant seeds for us. You want them from the New World. The more species, the better."

The baron scratched his head: "What do you want those for?"

"Sir, don't you want to eat more delicious food? If those plants can be used to grow ingredients, I can make more delicious food for you."

This really touched the hearts of foodies: "But how do I know which ones are edible?"

"The professor must know." Min Xi said.

Baron Fernando thought about it and made up his mind: "Okay. I'll go!"

So Baron Fernando set out alone on the road to Oxford University with the glorious and arduous mission.

Min Xi and Yun Ji stayed to greet the enthusiastic guests. Some guests even said that it was inhumane to entertain one table per meal, and that more guests should be entertained. The guests did not even mind eating on the sofa, and some were willing to wait until the guests in front of them had finished eating before eating.

So at most, one meal served four tables of guests.

They did make a lot of money, but they were both exhausted.

During the trip, Her Majesty the Queen summoned them to the palace to get a letter to the Emperor of Ming Dynasty, which delayed them for a long time. The guests who had ordered lunch that day were extremely anxious, but they did not dare to complain when they saw that it was the Queen who summoned them. They could only blame themselves for their bad luck. So all the guests who had ordered lunch at noon were postponed to the evening and the next day.

All in all, before leaving England, Min Xi and Yun Ji were extremely busy, and even the gifts they bought back were done by the Baron.

Of course, they were leaving England, and many people sent them gifts. Hopson, Brett, Langdon and Fergus all gave them gifts. Everyone was reluctant to leave, and they couldn't help feeling sad when they thought that they would never be able to taste Min Xi's cooking again.

The Baron did not disappoint Min Xi, and he actually asked for a lot of crop seeds from Oxford University. In addition to the sweet potatoes and corn he wanted, there were also tobacco seeds, which was really unnecessary.

Until the day before departure, there were still guests coming to eat. Before leaving, Min Xi and Yun Ji invited Brett, Hopson, Langdon and others to have a meal to thank them for their care during this period.

They also went to the neighbors' homes to give them gifts, bid farewell to them, and returned the horse to Green. When the neighbors learned that they were about to leave England and would never see them again in this lifetime, Mrs. Powell and the children couldn't help but burst into tears. The children cried especially sadly because they would never be able to eat the delicious food made by the Chinese uncle again.

Originally, they were going to restore Brett to his original state when they left, but Brett took the initiative to suggest that the stoves should not be destroyed and left for them to use. Min Xi also left him the copper pots and other items he had bought here.

Min Xi and Yun Ji still took the things they brought from Portugal back with them. After all, they still needed to eat on the way back.

Before leaving, Min Xi dug up the sweet potatoes that had been planted in the flowerpots. They had been planted for more than two months. If they had been planted normally, this amount of time would not be enough for the sweet potatoes to grow. Sure enough, the sweet potatoes were only the size of a thumb, which was really pitifully small.

Yun Ji looked at the sweet potato and asked Min Xi: "Is that all?"

Min Xi gestured with his hands: "Of course not. Under normal circumstances, it can grow this big, and some can even be this big. This is because it has not grown well. You see, the one the Baron brought back is not small, at least the size of a fist."

"Do you still want this? Will it sprout next year?"

"I don't know about that. If it's not dry, it will still sprout. Put it together with the sweet potato seeds that the baron brought back." There is one thing Min Xi is sure of. Even if it is a thumb-sized sweet potato, if it is buried in the soil and left alone, it will still sprout. Whether these two thumb-sized sweet potatoes can sprout depends on their luck.

On October 10, the Portuguese delegation returned home from London, and along with the delegation was Harold's bride ship. Min Xi and Yun Ji were invited to board the bride's galleon, and Fernando and his brother were also on the ship.

It had been almost four and a half months since they left Lisbon, a month and a half later than originally planned. They were finally going back, and everyone was excited.

Once on the boat, no one dared to relax. After all, although the chance of encountering pirates was lower when going out to sea in this season, one still had to endure the test of wind and waves.

In short, operating at sea means trying to survive in the midst of the storm.

The wind was blowing from the west this month, and they were heading southeast. It was hard to sail the boat, and it was impossible to do it with human power. They could only adjust the angle of the sail and use the power to drive the boat. Fortunately, the three captains were very experienced and were always directing the boat to adjust the sail.

It was also the first time for Min Xi and Yun Ji to sail on this headwind route. They learned a lot from the captain and sailors.

Perhaps their bad luck had run out on the outbound journey, and the return journey, although difficult and slow, was smooth, and they encountered neither pirates nor major storms.

Finally, on the evening of November 11, they finally saw the familiar coastline, and everyone on the boat cheered: "Oh-oh-we're home!"

Someone excitedly took off his hat and threw it into the air, but his joy turned into sorrow. A strong wind blew and blew the hat that had been with him all the way into the sea.

Everyone laughed wildly as they watched. Their tense nerves of the past few days finally relaxed. They finally got home safely.

The sails were lowered as the ship waited to enter the harbor, and it finally docked when it was completely dark.

When we walked from the rocking boat to the solid land, we felt a little dizzy as if we had been spinning for a long time. But it was only a short-term discomfort, and soon everyone got used to the feeling of being on solid ground. It is better to be on solid ground.

While they were still waiting in line, the nobles on the ship had already notified their families to come and pick them up through messages.

So several carriages had already arrived at Fernando's house, not only to pick them up, but also to pick up the guests from Britain.

The baron also arranged a carriage for Min Xi and Yun Ji, but Min Xi refused: "We don't need it. We can just walk back. There are too many of you and there is not enough room. Let's go quickly. We are not far away and we can walk there."

The baron said, "No way! Get on my carriage and I'll take you back first." He insisted on forcing Min Xi and Yun Ji to get on the carriage.

In fact, Min Xi and Yun Ji planned to walk back. It would only take about 10 to 20 minutes from the pier to Magellan Avenue, which was about the same distance as when they usually went out to buy groceries. They were used to walking, so it was not a problem at all.

However, they could not refuse the baron's kindness, so they got into the baron's carriage and returned to No. 46 Magellan Street.

Min Xi and Yun Ji got out of the car and thanked the baron: "We'll treat you to dinner later."

The baron laughed heartily: "Take a good rest for two days. We are already in Lisbon. Are you still worried about not having food to eat in the future?"

The carriage left quickly. Min Xi and Yun Ji stood at the door, looking at the familiar Chinese restaurant, feeling very emotional, as they were finally back.

The restaurant was closed, the door was shut, but there was still light on the first floor, so Gail probably hadn't finished his work yet.

The two stood in front of their door, but hesitated. Min Xi said, "We should go to the dim sum shop and knock on the door to give Diego a surprise."

Yun Ji took his hand and walked to the door of the hotel: "It's windy outside, let's go inside first, I'll call Diego over later."

Min Xi followed him up the stairs, and Yun Ji raised his hand and knocked on the door.

A familiar voice came from inside: "Who is it? We're closed!" It was Jasper's voice.

Yun Ji said: "Open the door, we are back!"