The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

After Min Xi finished writing a piece of calligraphy, he looked at it and saw that it was horrible. He put down the brush, wiped his face vigorously, and sighed to the sky: "Oh my god, when can I show my handwriting to others?"

Yun Ji looked up when he heard what he said, and couldn't help but burst out laughing. Min Xi heard his laughter and looked down at his hands, which had turned black without him knowing when: "Is there ink on my face?"

Yun Ji suppressed his smile and nodded, then he took a handkerchief from the washstand beside him, dipped it in water, and wiped the ink off Min Xi's face. This ink was ground from ink sticks, and was different from European ink. It was more concentrated and difficult to wipe off once it was stained.

Min Xi obediently let Yun Ji wipe the ink off her body until her skin turned red, and then he wiped it clean.

"This ink is too thick! I have to add more water next time." Min Xi said.

Yun Ji looked down at the calligraphy and copybook on the table and said, "Why don't we practice Liu Gongquan instead of Taige style?"

Min Xi didn't understand this and asked, "What is Taige style?"

Yun Ji showed him the calligraphy he was practicing: "It's this kind, with straight lines and squares. I'm not good at it. But if you want to go further on the road to the imperial examination, it is very necessary to write beautiful Taige style."

Min Xi looked at the words that looked like printed letters and said, "You call this bad writing? Oh my god, if I have to take the exam with writing like this, it would be easier to kill me. I don't want to take the exam anymore, so I'll just be a nobody." He started to act badly.

Yun Ji said: "I don't like this kind of font either. It's too rigid and formal. This is actually one of the reasons why I didn't take the imperial examination. I felt there was no need to waste time on meaningless things."

Min Xi had seen Yun Ji's previous handwriting. It was as agile as a flying dragon, with forceful strokes that could be felt through the paper. It was definitely not this kind of Taige style without any personality.

Yun Ji added: "You have never practiced calligraphy. If you start writing Taige style now, you may be able to get started faster than me."

"Are you serious?" Min Xi glanced at him.

Yun Ji nodded: "Really. I brought a copybook of Taige style calligraphy, you can copy it." He took out a copybook and gave it to Min Xi.

Min Xi took it and flipped through it: "Is this really written by hand?"

"Yes, it is written by hand, and then the engraver carves them one by one according to the template, and then prints them out."

Min Xi looked overwhelmed and said, "Let me try."

Without opening a shop to run a business, Min Xi thought that he would have an easier time, but it turned out not to be the case, because studying is more tiring than cooking. Cooking is done with confidence, and you just need to follow your experience, and it doesn't require much brainpower. However, reading and writing really require a lot of brainpower, and mental labor is more tiring than physical labor. It's not as easy to see results as cooking, and it's especially easy to feel frustrated.

Min Xi copied a large piece of calligraphy according to the copybook. He looked at his own handwriting, then at the copybook, and couldn't help but sigh, what a piece of shit.

Yun Ji heard his sigh, came over to take a look and said, "Not bad, you've made progress. Both the vertical stroke and the horizontal stroke are very good." He picked up the pen and circled a few strokes of Min Xi's character.

Min Xi smiled bitterly: "Seventh brother, please don't praise me. I just wrote this by chance, not every stroke of my pen is good."

Yun Ji patiently comforted him, "You have just started practicing, so it is normal that your handwriting is not good. You will get better as you write more. Hang in there, and I think your handwriting will improve after you use up all the rough paper we brought."

"Okay, I'll hold on a little longer." Min Xi was about to take another picture when he glanced out the window and saw Diego running in with a basket in his hand. He almost threw the basket up to the sky and it was obvious that he was in a very good mood.

"Diego is back, so it should be sold out."

Yun Ji glanced outside and said, "That's great. Let him cook dinner. You're tired of studying. Let's go out for a walk and relax."

Min Xi smiled: "Okay."

Diego pushed open the gate and rushed into the house excitedly: "Boss, guess how much money I made today?"

Min Xi said, "200 riels?"

Diego wanted to deny it, but paused for a moment and said, "Almost, but it was nearly 300 reais. I only took out 10 or puffs. They sold well. I didn't expect that someone would buy them at reais each. There are too many rich people in Lisbon."

Min Xi asked curiously, "You actually sold them for 10 Reese each? Where did you sell them?"

"At first I was thinking about selling it for 5 reais each, which seemed too cheap, because this puff is much harder to make than other cakes and breads, and it tastes better. When the first person came to ask the price, I said 10 reais, thinking that I could bargain and sell it for 8 reais would be about right. Unexpectedly, she didn't bargain and bought it directly. After eating it, she found it delicious, so she bought one for each of her friends. I sell it at the Municipal Square. There was a rally there this afternoon and a lot of people went. The sailors on our ship are setting up stalls in the square. It's so lively and business is booming." The excitement on Diego's face has not yet died down. This is the first time he has made money alone. This feeling is so novel.

Yun Ji praised: "Not bad, it should be a little more expensive. We sold it too cheaply before. If we sell it a little more expensively, even if we sell less, we can still make back the money. The most important thing is that people won't be so tired."

"I thought so too. I didn't make much anyway. If I can't sell it, I can just take it back and eat it myself or give it to others." Diego said with a smile.

"That's right, this is a very good mentality. We don't rely on this little money to support our families. We just want to cheat the rich!" Min Xi praised.

"Then I'll go sell it again tomorrow!" Diego said excitedly.

"Of course. Are you tired?" Yun Ji asked.

Diego shook his head vigorously: "Not tired."

Yun Ji smiled and said, "Okay, you can cook dinner."

Diego readily agreed: "Okay."

Yun Ji said to Min Xi, "Someone is cooking, why don't we go out and relax, at least on foot?"

"Only one horse."

"Go to Sanvis and borrow another one."

"Okay. The wild flowers in the mountains are blooming, and the bear onions should have grown as well. Take a basket and pick some wild vegetables to eat." Min Xi went to get a basket.

When Diego heard that they were going to pick wild vegetables, he was also tempted, but he had already promised to cook, so he had to watch the two masters ride away on their horses with his eyes closed.

Spring is so beautiful. As the two of them rode their horses, they unexpectedly discovered a vast sea of ​​pink flowers. As they rode closer, they discovered a large apricot forest. The pink apricot flowers were in full bloom, like clouds and mist, so beautiful that it was breathtaking.

Min Xi sighed: "If only I had a camera, I could take a picture of this scene and watch it for a long time."

"What is a camera?" Yun Ji was already used to hearing all kinds of new terms from him.

Min Xi said: "It is a machine that can record this scene like looking in a mirror, but it can be preserved permanently."

“So it’s similar to a painting?”

"A little bit, but paintings are processed by the artist, but cameras can reproduce them exactly. And camera imaging only takes a moment, while painting takes a long time."

"I don't have a camera, I'll draw a picture later." Yun Ji said.

"Great!" Min Xi was full of anticipation, wondering how Yun Ji would present such a scene.

The two of them rode to the mountainside, where there were flowers and plants everywhere, which was pleasing to the eye. However, they only knew one or two kinds of wild vegetables, one of which was the bear onion that Min Xi was most familiar with, and the other was the gray-gray vegetable that Yun Ji recognized.

This kind of vegetable is also very common in the north of the Ming Dynasty. The winter in the north is long, and the only vegetables that can be eaten in winter are cabbage and radish stored in the cellar. After eating them for a whole winter, no matter how much you love them, you will get tired of them. When spring comes, wild vegetables always grow earlier than other vegetables. Northerners go everywhere to dig wild vegetables. It is normal to buy wild vegetables in the market, including this gray vegetable. Yun Ji has eaten a lot of it.

After the two men dismounted, they put the horses aside to eat grass while they went to pick wild vegetables. The wild vegetables in April were very fresh and tender. Min Xi became happier and happier as he picked them. He even thought about how to eat them. In the end, he picked a full basket. Seeing that it was getting dark, the two men hurriedly carried the baskets and led the horses out of the foot of the mountain and rode back to the village.

Diego had already prepared the meal and was craning his neck to wait for the two men to return. When he heard the sound of horse hooves, he hurried out to greet them: "Boss, you are back. The meal is ready."

"Okay, we'll be ready to eat soon." Yun Ji reined in his horse and handed the basket to Diego, "Take it to the kitchen."

"Wow, so many wild vegetables!" Diego exclaimed happily.

Min Xi jumped off the horse and said, "The meal is ready. What have you done? Go and knead the dough and make some leek dumplings. When I send the horses off later, I'll give some to Sanvis and Reis to try."

Diego said, "I kneaded the dough and made the noodles. I'll cook them when you come back."

"Okay, let's just wait a while before eating. I'll go make some leek dumplings." Min Xi rolled up his sleeves and went to the kitchen to make some leek dumplings.

By the time we had dinner, it was already dark, but the freshly picked chive dumplings were so fragrant that it was worth eating them later.

The next day, when they went to the Baron to deliver the gold coins, they also took back the seedlings grown in his greenhouse. These seedlings were ready to be planted. They just needed to be placed outdoors for a few days to acclimate.

By then, the yard will be filled with the fragrance of fruits and vegetables, and we can basically be self-sufficient in vegetables except for meat.

Min Xi and Yun Ji lived a pastoral life again, reading books, growing vegetables, cooking and eating every day, and their days were quite leisurely. Except for the fact that reading and writing made Min Xi a little overwhelmed, everything else was pretty good.

However, Min Xi was not a person who disliked studying. Although the Four Books and Five Classics were difficult to read, he found them quite enjoyable once he got into them. After all, they were the wisdom of our ancestors and guided the Chinese people's thoughts and words for thousands of years. Although there were some dross, the essence definitely outweighed the dross.