The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

At this time, there was no one in the reception room. The Count and Countess were with the children in the living room upstairs, which also had a fireplace. The space there was smaller and the room was warmer.

On the surface, the two guests had just arrived, and the host only came to say hello and left the rest to the housekeeper to arrange, which seemed to show that the host did not pay much attention to the guests.

But Min Xi prefers this way. If the host's house is too grand, it will make them uncomfortable and they have to be careful everywhere. Now the attitude of the Earl and his wife is obviously that this place is just like home, you can just do whatever you want and don't have to be too restrained.

So until the bath water was ready, Min Xi and Yun Ji were the only ones warming themselves by the fire in the living room.

The servant came to tell them that the water was ready, and Min Xi said, "Come on, Seventh Brother, let's take a bath."

Yun Ji sat there without moving: "Why don't you wash first, and I'll wash after you're done."

"How can that be! Then you will be washing my bath water." Although in some eras, in some places in the north where water shortage was serious, the whole family shared a basin of bath water, Min Xi could not accept others using his bath water to take a bath.

"It's okay. It's such a big pool of water, it won't get dirty." Yun Ji didn't mind using his bath water.

"But by the time I finish washing, the water may be cold, and you will catch a cold if you wash again. I am also embarrassed to trouble the servants to help me boil water again." Min Xi said.

Yun Ji took a deep breath and said, "Okay, I'll take a shower with you."

Min Xi and Yun Ji got up, went to get some clean clothes and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

The bathroom space is not small, and fortunately there is a pool of hot bath water. The whole bathroom is filled with mist, and the temperature has risen a lot, so it is not too cold.

The two of them entered the bathroom, and Min Xi looked around and said, "It seems there is no shower here, so let's just go in and take a bath. It's such a big pool, and it shouldn't get us dirty after taking a bath."

"Well, you go down first." Yun Ji didn't dare to look at Min Xi.

Min Xi didn't act shy. He took off his clothes and got into the bathtub. He tried to appear natural. Yun Ji was already embarrassed, and if he continued to act shy, this bath would definitely go wrong.

It's true, such a big pool of hot water makes people feel so comfortable that they want to scream. From toes to the head, they feel so comfortable. Min Xi soaked in the water and shouted: "Seventh Brother, you should come down quickly too, it's so comfortable!"

Yun Ji nodded and started to take off his clothes and go into the water. In order not to embarrass Min Xi, he even tied the bath towel around his waist.

But Min Xi didn't look at him. He was untying his hairband and soaking his hair in water, intending to wash himself clean from head to toe.

The pool is very deep. When you go to the bottom, the water is above your abdomen. If you sit on the steps beside the pool, the water is above your shoulders. It is very suitable for taking a bath.

Min Xi scrubbed his hair with soap while saying, "Seventh Brother, don't you think we are going too far? We just arrived and we have troubled him to boil such a large pool of hot water. Will his servants secretly scold us to death?"

Yun Ji couldn't help laughing when he heard this: "Who told you to be so clean?"

"There's nothing I can do. I feel uncomfortable if I don't take a bath for a few days. But they don't even have a bathtub at home. This is too unscientific! They prepare such a large pool of water for bathing, and they are not afraid that the servants will be exhausted." Min Xi muttered.

Yun Ji thought for a moment and said, "They may only take a bath once or twice a year, so it shouldn't be too much trouble."

"Oh no!" Min Xi suddenly shouted.

"what happened?"

"If we stay at the Earl's house for a month and want to take a bath again, we can't ask others to boil such a large pool of water for us! Are we not going to take a bath?" Min Xi looked conflicted.

Yun Ji said, "That's easy. We can just go to the carpenter and buy a bathtub. When we need to take a bath in the future, we can boil water ourselves and not trouble others."

"Seventh brother is really thoughtful. Let's buy a bathtub ourselves." Min Xi said.

As the two chatted, the awkward atmosphere was alleviated a lot, and the bath went smoothly.

While they were taking a bath, the Earl and the Countess were listening to the butler reporting that they had heated up the water for a bath. Both of them were very surprised; taking a bath right after arriving at someone else's home as a guest was indeed a new thing, but they did not regard themselves as outsiders.

After listening to him, the count said to the butler, "These are all trivial matters. You don't have to tell us everything. Just try your best to meet the guests' requests."

The butler agreed and went down.

The Countess hesitated for a moment, but still said, "In fact, there is no need for us to bring them to our own home. I am very grateful to them for saving Emma, ​​and we have paid them. You just need to spend more time with them."

The count said, "You don't understand. You have never eaten the food they cook. If our cook can learn a little bit from him, we will win."

The Countess was skeptical: "Is it really that exaggerated?"

"I think they will start cooking sooner or later, and you will know when you try it," said the count.

The two washed clean, and then ran to the fireplace to dry their hair. Yunji washed their clothes. The maid saw that they washed their clothes by themselves and offered to help, but Yunji refused: "No, I will wash it myself, thank you." His Spanish level was average, and he only knew a few simple sentences.

By the time they finished taking a shower, it was already dark. Min Xi didn't have time to cook, so they had dinner prepared by the cook.

The cooking skills of the cook were not bad, but the Spanish menu was too limited, which was a common problem of Western cuisine. So the main course for dinner was roast chicken, the staple food was bread with ham, and a vegetable soup.

After dinner, the Earl and his wife chatted with Min Xi and Yun Ji for a while, asking them about their plans for the next day and whether there was anywhere they wanted to go.

Min Xi said, "We plan to go to the market tomorrow morning."

"Are you going to buy groceries? Just tell the servants what you want to buy." The Count thought they were going to cook.

Min Xi smiled and said, "Not entirely. In addition to buying vegetables, we also plan to go to the market to see what the characteristics of the Spanish vegetable market are."

"Well, I'll let the butler accompany you," said the count.

Min Xi quickly waved his hand to refuse: "No, we can go by ourselves. We can take our time to look around."

"Well, if you need anything, just ask. If I'm not here, just ask the butler," said the count.

"it is good!"

When he returned to his room at night, Min Xi habitually called out, "Seventh Brother." He didn't hear a response, so he turned his head and looked behind him. Suddenly, he remembered that he was sleeping alone tonight. He raised his hand to his forehead, feeling a little uncomfortable.

The same was true for Yun Ji. He looked at the spacious room and the soft, comfortable bed. The accommodation conditions were better than any time they had stayed in Europe, but he did not feel happy at all. He was still used to sleeping in the same bed with Min Xi.

Yun Ji sat on the chair, looking at the strange bed, stood up, walked to the door, and wanted to find Min Xi. His hand touched the door handle and stopped. What should he say to him? Yun Ji lowered his head and thought. At this moment, there was a knock on the door. He opened the door and Min Xi was standing outside: "Seventh Brother, you opened the door too quickly!"

Yun Ji was slightly embarrassed, but he quickly adjusted his expression: "What's wrong? Do you want to talk to me about something?"

"Yes, we moved to a new place, and the bedding is not our own, so we are a little uncomfortable. Let me tell you, remember to call me when you get up tomorrow morning, I'm afraid I won't be able to wake up." Min Xi said.

Yun Ji nodded: "No problem, I will call you when I wake up."

"Okay, that's it, nothing else. You should go to bed early." Min Xi waved his hand and walked back.

"Ninth brother!"

Min Xi stopped and turned around: "Hmm?"

Yun Ji looked at him and said, "If you're worried about not being able to sleep, why don't you take your pillow."

"That's a good idea!" Min Xi laughed.

"I'll get it." Yun Ji said and turned to get the pillow. Their bedding was all placed in this room.

After a while, Yun Ji brought a pillow: "It should be easier to fall asleep if you sleep on your own pillow."

Min Xi put the pillow under his armpit: "Okay."

Min Xi returned to the room, took the pillow that was originally on the bed aside, and put his own pillow on top. Then he found that this pillow didn't seem to be his. It was Yun Ji's. Did he take the wrong one on purpose or accidentally? Min Xi shook his head, didn't ask for confirmation, and didn't think about changing it. Yun Ji's is Yun Ji's, it's better than a stranger's pillow.

Min Xi took off his clothes and climbed onto the bed. He lifted his hair and put it behind the pillow, and tilted his head slightly. Although it was not his own smell, it was very familiar and reassuring, and he fell asleep quickly.

When Yun Ji lay down, he realized that he had taken the wrong pillow. He felt hot all of a sudden. Would Min Xi think that he did it on purpose? He buried his head in the pillow and smelled a familiar smell, which made him feel hot.

Min Xi was woken up by Yun Ji. It was already bright outside, but it was still early, less than seven o'clock.

Yun Ji had just finished boxing and was wearing thin clothes. His face looked very rosy after the exercise.

"Seventh brother, you got up so early? How did you sleep last night?" Min Xi asked casually while yawning.

"It's okay." Yun Ji glanced into Min Xi's eyes and quickly looked away. He was a little embarrassed to face him.

Min Xi stretched his arms and said, "I slept well too. You should have woken me up to exercise together."

Neither of them tacitly mentioned the pillow.

Yunji said, "I'll call you tomorrow morning. Come on, let's go to the market."

"Okay! I'll wash up and leave soon."

After Min Xi finished washing up, Yun Ji had already harnessed the carriage. The two of them drove out in the carriage. The guard was quite surprised and asked where they were going. Min Xi said he was going to the market. By the way, he asked him about the distance and learned the locations of several markets in Madrid. He planned to visit two nearby ones first.