The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Min Xi touched Diego's little head and said, "Then come to my place. By the way, how is Captain Reis now? Is the penalty result announced?"

Sanvis shook his head. "Not yet. He has been escorted to Lisbon. But I heard that he will not be sentenced to death. As for how long he will be imprisoned, we have to wait and see. I will be leaving soon. I ask you to pay attention to Reis's affairs. Go see him for us. He doesn't have many relatives, just friends like us."

"Okay, I will." Min Xi agreed, "Why did Leis sell the boat?"

Sanvis said: "This is the result of a discussion between him and his partners. When he first bought the shares, he invested a relatively small amount, and the other part of the shares was conditional on him becoming the captain. Now that he can't go out to sea, his partners are naturally reluctant to share the shares with him, and hope that he can transfer the ship to someone else. Reiss didn't want the Shark to fall into the hands of strangers, so he asked me to take over his ship. We were originally planning to buy another ship."

"So that's it!" Min Xi could only say this. He couldn't express any regret either. After all, it was Sanvis who bought the boat.

Sanvis said: "If you want to go back to China in the future, you can still take our ship."

"Okay, thank you!" Min Xi suddenly thought of something, "Sanvis, I have another thing to ask you for help."

Sanvis asked hurriedly, "What's the matter?"

Min Xi said, "You are going to Asia, can you bring a letter for us?"

"Where are you taking it to? Who are you taking it to?"

Min Xi said, "Help Yun take a letter. He has been away from home for so long that his family may think he is gone. We cannot go back for a while, so we want you to help take a letter. When you arrive in Malacca, see if you can find a merchant ship from China. Entrust this letter to a reliable Chinese and ask him to take the letter back to China. We will write the address on the envelope, and literate Chinese will know where to take the letter."

Sanvis thought for a moment and said, "That's not difficult. It's OK."

Min Xi asked: "When are you leaving?"

"We'll be ready to leave the day after tomorrow," said Sanvis.

"Then we will send the letter to you tomorrow at the latest," said Min Xi.

"Okay. That's it. Let Diego stay with you. This kid was so excited that he couldn't sleep all night last night when he learned that I was going to send him to you." Sanvis ruffled Diego's soft brown hair.

"Don't worry, we will take good care of Diego." Min Xi said.

Diego couldn't help but feel sad when he thought about parting with Sanvis. Although Sanvis was usually very strict with him, he treated him well sincerely: "Mr. Sanvis, I can't bear to leave you. I will miss you."

Sanvis said, "Okay, it's not like I won't come back. You have to work harder and eat more here at Min's place. You're in luck. He's the best chef in all of Fulangji. Eat more and grow taller. Then you can be a sailor on my ship and I'll train you to be the first mate."

Diego's eyes were a little moist: "Okay, I will definitely work hard to grow taller."

Sanvis left, and Diego started crying. Min Xi said a few words to comfort him, then went downstairs to find Yun Ji, telling him that Sanvis was willing to take the message back for them.

When Yun Ji heard that Sanvis was willing to help him take the letter back, he was immediately excited and said to Min Xi, "Ninth brother, you come to pay the bill, and I will go to write the letter."

Without waiting for Min Xi to reply, he ran up to the attic in two or three steps. He missed home so much that he dreamed of going back. Now that he had the chance to send a message back, how could he not be excited.

Min Xi looked at his back and couldn't help feeling a little guilty. If it weren't for him, he would have started his journey home right away.

Diego was a very self-conscious child. As soon as he finished his meal, he actively helped to clean up the dishes on the table. Gale was unhappy: "Why are you taking my job?"

Diego was stunned when he heard this, and felt a little at a loss as to what to do while holding the dishes.

Min Xi came back to his senses and said, "This is Diego. He will also work in our store from now on. Washing dishes and cleaning are his jobs. He will help you when you are too busy. Diego, his name is Gale, and he is a waiter in the store. You two should get along well in the future."

Gail felt relieved when she heard that he was a dishwasher.

Diego carried the dishes into the kitchen obediently. Min Xi followed him and said to Amanda who was washing the dishes, "Amanda, this is Diego. He will come to help in the kitchen from now on. He will be responsible for washing the dishes."

Hearing this, Amanda looked up at Diego and was surprised to find that he was about the same age as her eldest son. Could it be that the boss was willing to use such a young child? If she had known earlier, she would have brought her son here as well.

Diego had no objection to being assigned to wash dishes and clean the house, because he did everything at Sanvis's place. In addition to washing dishes and sweeping the floor, he also had to greet guests and do Sanvis's clothes.

After Min Xi went out, Amanda asked Diego curiously: "Diego, how old are you?"

"14," Diego said.

Amanda was surprised and said, "You don't look like that. You look about the same age as my oldest son, about 11 or 12 years old."

Diego said shyly, "I'm short."

Amanda looked at Diego's movements and saw that he was very skilled. He was not a novice. "What did you do originally? Was your agent sending you here?"

Diego blinked, "No, Mr. Sanvis sent me here."

"Who is Mr. Sanvis?"

"He is the owner of the Magellan Tavern and also my former boss. He no longer runs the tavern and asked me to come here to work for Mr. Min," said Diego.

After the guests left, Min Xi settled the bill and calculated the amount, which was slightly more than yesterday's lunch. Then he went to the kitchen and said to Diego who was washing dishes, "Diego, where is your luggage?"

"Still in the tavern," Diego said.

Min Xi said, "Then bring your luggage here and stay in the store tonight."

Diego nodded, "Okay, thank you sir, I'll be there after I wash the dishes."

"Okay." Min Xi said and went upstairs.

Yun Ji was still writing furiously at the table, and had already written on several sheets of paper. Those papers were all produced locally by Fulangji, and although they could be used for writing, they were very thick and the ink easily smudged, so even though they were thick, they could only be written on one side.

Min Xi did not go over. He just took a look and did not say anything. He then lay down on the bed to rest. When he woke up from his sleep, Yun Ji was still at the table. However, he was not writing a letter. Instead, he was holding his head with a distressed look on his face.

"Seventh brother, what's wrong?" Min Xi asked.

Yun Ji looked back at him and said, "The paper is too thick and can't fit in the envelope." He had bought the envelope without knowing when.

Min Xi licked his lips and said with some difficulty: "The Shark will leave the day after tomorrow, why don't you go back with the ship."

Yun Ji frowned: "What about you?"

"I definitely won't leave. Maybe I will go back in two years," said Min Xi.

Yun Ji's brows were still furrowed: "What nonsense are you talking about? I promised to stay with you, so I won't leave you alone."

Min Xi said: "Seventh brother, if you stay with me, you may not see your parents again. Will you regret it?" Will you blame me?

Yun Ji said: "I have never regretted any decision I have made, because regret is useless." Including his decision to go out to sea and save Min Xi instead of Zhongbo from the waves.

Min Xi nodded: "Okay, I respect your decision. If you decide to stay, I will certainly be grateful to you."

Yun Ji thought for a moment and said, "Actually, my selfish thoughts are not all because of you. I left nothing behind except my life when I went out to sea. I can't go back in such a miserable state. I have to bring something back with me."

Min Xi smiled: "Yes, that's what I thought too. We finally came to Fulangji, how can we return empty-handed?"

"So don't think too much. Let's work hard and earn more money. When we go back, we can buy some unique specialties here and resell them. Then you won't have to worry about the rest of your life." Yun Ji said.

Min Xi raised his eyebrows: "That makes sense. What about your letter?"

Yun Ji sighed, "It's too thick. It will be a burden for the messenger. I'll rewrite it and let them know that I'm still alive."

Yun Ji spread out another piece of paper and wrote a few brief words, telling his parents that he was still alive, had been rescued by the people of Fulanji, was already in Fulanji, everything was fine, and he would be able to return when the time was right, so they should not worry.

Min Xi watched him fold a piece of paper and put it into the envelope, and then said, "Should we give you some money? It's okay for Sanvis, but you can't let the messenger deliver it for free."

Yun Ji said: "The Fulangji silver coins we have now are useless in the Ming Dynasty. It is better to let the other party go to Yunxianghao's shop to collect the payment for delivering the letter."

"We still have to give something. Let's give Sanves 10 reais and ask him to help us find a solution. We don't have any more than that," said Min Xi.

Yun Ji smiled bitterly: "I only earned a dozen reais in the past two days, and I emptied it all again."

"What does it matter? Our store is open and money comes in every day." Min Xi didn't care at all.