The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

The three of them had breakfast and then went back to the study to read.

Min Xi and Yun Ji were candidates, so they naturally had endless books to read. Yun Lin was on vacation at home, but Tao Hong still assigned him homework, so he also had to study.

Soon, the sound of Yunlin reading aloud could be heard in the study room. Min Xi and Yun Ji did not mind his noise and did not drive him away. When he was reading, they read books, and when he was writing quietly, they wrote articles.

To them, this environment was not considered noisy. They had been in noisier environments and were still able to study without being noticed by others.

Diego came to see them soon after he learned they were back. Since he got married, bought a house and moved out, he rarely came to Yun's house. It was also because Min Xi and Yun Ji were both in school and were not at home during normal times, so he would not meet anyone when he came. But he would definitely come during the holidays. He usually paid close attention to their dynamics, so he knew about their return not long after.

During the time when Min Xi and Yun Ji were not at home, Yun Lin lived in the Tao Mansion. He would make snacks and send them to the Tao Mansion from time to time. One was for Yun Lin to taste, and the other was for the people in the Tao Mansion to taste. He was also fulfilling his duty as a brother.

Min Xi and Yun Ji both knew about this, so when Diego came, they were very happy. They stopped reading and just talked to Diego, asking about the situation in the store and his family.

Gao'er is five or six months pregnant and her belly is already noticeable. In the middle of winter, Diego doesn't allow her to go to the store to work and just lets her rest at home, so she didn't come today.

Min Xi gave Diego some of the specialties he brought back from Henan, and also picked out some less ostentatious cloths from the palace rewards and gave them to him, so that the couple could go back and make clothes.

Diego knew that everything Min Xi gave him were the best, so he didn't refuse and accepted them happily.

At noon, Min Xi cooked and several people had a hot pot together. In the winter, hot pot is the only way to keep warm.

Min Xi asked Diego and Gao'er not to come to his house to pay New Year's greetings during the Chinese New Year. They should go to his house to visit them. After all, they were seven or eight months old and heavy, and it was freezing cold, so it was not suitable for them to go out. Diego agreed.

Yun Ji sent people to the Tao Mansion every day to inquire about his grandfather's health. Min Xi knew that the old man was ill and had a poor appetite, so he would make some delicious food and send it to him.

Tao Hong was old after all, and it took him nearly a month to recover from a cold. But this also seriously damaged his vitality, and it was close to the Chinese New Year, so the school simply closed its classes. Tao's family planned not to let him teach the children after the Chinese New Year, and to invite another scholar to teach.

Although there are many juren in the Tao family, they are all busy preparing for the imperial examinations and will not go to school to teach, at least in the short term.

Min Xi and Yun Ji accumulated all the doubts they encountered in their studies, and every once in a while, they would go to the Tao Mansion to ask their grandfather or uncle for advice.

After working as the head of the Ministry of Rites for a year, my second uncle Tao Jingzhi moved to Wendeng County, Shandong Province to be the magistrate. He has been in Shandong for more than a year. His parents were old, so Tao Jingzhi went to take up the post alone. His wife and children stayed at home. He was alone as an official, and he felt a little lonely.

Tao Yuan planned that if he failed the imperial examination after the new year, he would go to Wendeng to accompany his father and ask his father for guidance on his studies.

Tao Yuan was also self-aware and knew that he would most likely fail the exam this time.

Tao Shu and Tao Yu had taken the exam several times, and they were even more determined to win. After all, their grandfather and father (eldest uncle) also passed the exam in their twenties. Who wouldn't want to pass the exam when they were young? What a glorious moment it was to be a young man in fine clothes and riding a horse!

The snow fell more frequently this winter than in previous years. After the first heavy snowfall when they came back in November, there were two or three more snowfalls before the New Year, one of which was even heavier than the first.

After the snow fell, it didn't melt for many days. The whole capital was frozen hard and cold, which brought a lot of inconvenience to life. There was no fresh fruit and vegetables in the market. Although there were a lot of radishes, cabbages and potatoes stored in the cellar at home, it was hard to eat these all the time. Min Xi and his family were better off than others. At least they had dried food such as seaweed, kelp, water shield, and bamboo shoots at home, but they still couldn't stand the hard winter.

Min Xi recalled that it was almost the Little Ice Age of the Ming Dynasty. No wonder it was so cold in winter. There was thick ice everywhere, which was suitable for ice play. The so-called ice play was ice skating.

Min Xi and Yun Ji took Yun Lin to the ice for skating twice. It was fun, but it was also very cold. Yun Lin was weak, so they dared not let him play for too long. Most of the time, Yun Ji took him to practice standing and boxing at home.

Before the Chinese New Year, the palace sent New Year gifts and rewards, asking Min Xi and Yun Ji to go to the palace on the second day of the New Year to talk to the emperor.

The two men accepted the order and waited for someone from the palace to come and take them into the palace on the second day of the New Year.

This year, Min Xi and Yun Ji had to concentrate on preparing for the exam, so they didn't personally go to any events during the New Year.

Yun Zhen and Yun An were in charge of the year-end inventory of Yunxiang, and they were also the ones who distributed the year-end dividends. They just came over to report to Yun Ji.

Tao Xing and his friends bought all the New Year's goods for the family. Min Xi and Yun Ji only took Yun Lin to write Spring Festival couplets and post couplets before the New Year, while Min Xi took time out to prepare a New Year's Eve dinner. After all, it was only once a year, so they had to eat a satisfying meal.

The three brothers celebrated the New Year with their servants, and they had a big family, and it was very lively. During the meal, the nurse said that it would be nice to have a mistress.

Min Xi and Yun Ji pretended not to hear. Old Madam Tao had been looking for a suitable girl for them, but she had never found one that she liked. Generally, the legitimate daughters of good families were engaged at the age of fifteen or sixteen, or even younger, and they would choose men of similar age and family background. People might not be willing to find "old" men like Min Xi and Yun Ji, who were in their twenties or almost thirty.

Older girls either have this problem or that problem. All in all, they don’t seem like good matches.

Of course, there are also younger girls who don’t care about the man’s age, but the girl is either not good-looking or her family background is not compatible with the man’s.

The old lady was so worried about this. The two young men in the family were both very handsome and good-looking. They also had achievements and were loved by the emperor and the empress dowager. But they couldn't find a wife! It was outrageous!

The aunts advised them not to be anxious, because once they passed the imperial examinations, there would naturally be officials in the court who would be willing to take the initiative to win them over and marry their daughters to them.

The old lady felt a little comforted, but then she thought, if they didn't pass the imperial examination this time, they would have to wait another three years, and that would mean they would be thirty years old!

Min Xi and Yun Ji hoped that there was no suitable candidate, otherwise they would have to waste their time and energy.

On the first day of the new year, the Yun brothers went to their parents' house to pay New Year's greetings. Yun Lin received a lot of red envelopes, and his small purse was bulging, almost unable to hold anything. When he came back, he gave them all to Min Xi and asked his second brother to help him put them away. Min Xi smiled and said, "Okay, I'll put them away for you, and keep them as a wife's gift in the future."

Yun Lin smiled a little embarrassedly: "Become the wife of my second brother."

Yun Ji was horrified: "That's impossible! If your second brother gets married, he won't live in our house anymore."

Yun Lin was puzzled: "Ah? Why?"

"Your second brother's surname is Min, and he is my sworn brother. He is not married now, so it is reasonable for him to live in our house. If he gets married and still lives in our house, we certainly won't say anything, but people will gossip about it. Will your second brother still live in our house? Are you willing to let your second brother move out?" Yun Ji asked.

Upon hearing this, Yun Lin shook his head vigorously: "Forget it! Second brother is not getting married." If his second brother moved away, he would not be able to sleep with him, eat the delicious food he cooked, and he would not be so nice to him.

Min Xi looked at Yun Ji with amusement, Yun Lin, you are so easy to fool, wait and see how you fool your grandmother.