The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Min Xi put the snack box on the table, brewed a pot of lavender tea to soothe the nerves and help with sleep, and poured it for Wanli: "Sir, this is the snack I made, please try it and kill some time."

Wanli pointed at the box of duck necks and said, "Why do these look like chicken necks?"

Min Xi explained: "This is duck neck. Sir, don't look down on it, it is quite interesting to eat." As he said that, he took the lead, grabbed one in his hand, put it in his mouth and started chewing it.

Yunlin also followed his example and grabbed one and started eating.

Wanli took a sip of tea, which smelled like lavender. He first picked up a piece of braised dried tofu with chopsticks and put it in his mouth. It was slightly chewy, salty and fragrant, and covered with sesame and sauce. It was very delicious. "What is this?"

Min Xi said, "Braised dried tofu, a southern way of eating noodles, what do you think, young master?"

Wanli nodded: "It's interesting."

"Please try them all. These are all braised dishes. They taste almost the same, but the texture is slightly different. Please try this beef. It is bought from the Tatar trade." Min Xi specifically explained the origin of the beef to prevent Wanli from feeling resentful.

It was not the first time that Wanli had eaten beef at Min Xi's place. He actually didn't mind too much. He ate a piece of braised beef. The meat was firm and the sauce was rich. It was indeed delicious. He tried several other types, but only left the duck tongue, duck neck and duck intestines.

Wanli put down his chopsticks, picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea. Then he picked up a small piece of duck intestine with his chopsticks, put it in his mouth, smacked the taste, and said, "This taste is different from the others."

"My lord, this is the last part of the stew. I added chili pepper to it, so it's a little spicy. But not much, not very spicy, but it can enhance the flavor. What do you think?" Min Xi said with a smile.

Wanli tasted another duck tongue and nodded: "It's really good." Then he took another sip of tea to suppress the spicy taste in his mouth.

The only thing he didn't dare to gnaw on was the duck neck. After all, gnawing it with his hands was a bit unsightly for an emperor.

Yunlin likes to chew duck necks. He is already eating the third one. Wanli glanced at him and finally couldn't resist the temptation and put one in his mouth. Duck necks are different from others. They are all bones, with only a circle of meat on the outside. There is really nothing to eat, but this bit of meat, which can be eaten or not, has a special taste when chewed.

Wanli didn't want to use his hands at first, but finally reached out and grabbed it, and started to chew the duck neck like Yunlin.

When Yun Ji came in with a lantern, he saw three people at a table gnawing on duck necks. He took a look and looked a little strange. It was obvious that Min Xi had led the emperor astray again. He originally thought that duck necks were not presentable and not suitable for the emperor to eat. Min Xi said, if he doesn't eat it, we can eat it ourselves. Well, now the emperor has also started eating it. Min Xi is always like this. He has a magical power that can successfully lead people astray. Fortunately, he didn't bring the duck head as well, otherwise the scene would be unbearable to imagine.

Min Xi saw him come in and asked, "Why did you take so long?"

Yun Ji explained: "There were so many people that it was hard to squeeze in. I also asked the shopkeeper to bring over all the riddles for today, so we can play riddle guessing together."

Wanli threw away the duck bones in his hand, took the wet towel handed to him by the eunuch and wiped his hands. He had just gnawed three duck necks and drank tea before saying, "Give it to me and have a look."

Yunji handed him the lantern. Wanli looked at the riddle on the lantern: "'Holding the moon in the water', guess an idiom. What is this idiom?"

Yunlin thought about it and opened his mouth to speak. Yunji looked at him and shook his head slightly. Yunlin then closed his mouth and waited for Wanli to guess the answer. Wanli thought for a while before saying, "But the apple of your eye?"

Yunlin quickly clapped his hands: "I guess it's the same."

Yun Ji smiled and said, "Yes, she is the apple of your eye. Young Master is amazing."

Wanli smiled very proudly.

Min Xi smiled and said, "This puzzle is also related to the moon, which is very appropriate. Are there any other puzzles?"

Yun Ji raised the paper in his hand and said, "There are more. Here, I have brought them all. But there are also answers on them. I will give you the riddles and you can guess them. What do you think, sir?"

"Sure!" Wanli also became interested, "But let's add a little prize. Whoever gives the most answers will get the jade pendant."

After Wanli finished speaking, he took off the fine mutton-fat jade pendant hanging around his waist and placed it on the table.

"Thank you, sir! I will start asking questions now, please listen carefully." Then Yun Ji asked everyone a question, "The restaurant is full, guess a word."

"Urge, urge." Yun Lin's little brain worked very quickly.

Wanli had just thought of this, but before he could say anything, someone else said it first: "You win!"

Min Xi smiled: "I feel like I should be the one to set the questions. I'm not good at this." Riddles are mainly word games, which are really not what he is good at.

Yun Ji looked at the puzzle in his hand and said, "I've already read most of the answers, so it's not appropriate for me to participate. Let me read it. The most important thing is to participate."

Wanli said, "That's right, we're just playing around, winning or losing doesn't matter. Come up with the questions!"

So they continued to guess riddles. Fortunately, in addition to word riddles, there were also daily life riddles. Min Xi was much more familiar with various daily utensils than Wanli and Yunlin, so he had an advantage in this type of question.

However, the questions that Yunji picked were mainly those that Wanli was good at. After the three people guessed the riddles, the winner was still Wanli himself, narrowly beating Yunlin by one question.

Wanli had a lot of fun, and finally gave the jade pendant to Yunlin: "Second Master Yun is very smart, so I will give you this jade pendant today."

Yunlin looked at Wanli's hand extending towards him in some surprise, wanting to take it but not daring to.

Min Xi said, "Just accept this reward from the young master."

Yun Lin quickly stood up and took the jade pendant respectfully with both hands: "Thank you for the reward, young master!"

"Study hard and you will be a pillar of the country in the future." Wanli patted his shoulder.

"The student will work hard!" Yun Lin took the jade pendant and solemnly hung it on his belt.

Wanli looked at the mooncakes and asked, "Did Min Qing make these mooncakes himself?"

"Yes, sir, would you like to try it? There are several flavors, including egg yolk and lotus seed paste, and meat-filled mooncakes." Min Xi hurriedly introduced.

"Mooncakes with meat fillings?" Wanli became interested. "Then let me try some."

Min Xi took a small knife and cut a few mooncakes into small pieces: "I'll cut them up, you can have a little bit of everything, so you won't get food stagnation."

Wanli grabbed a piece of fresh meat mooncake and said, "This is the first time I've eaten meat-filled mooncakes. Let me try it to see what it tastes like."

After finishing the meal, Wanli waved his hands and said, "This is not the taste I can accept. Aren't the others all salty too?"

"The egg yolk and lotus seed paste mooncake is a little salty, but it is still mainly sweet. You should try it." Min Xi recommended.

Wanli picked up a piece of egg yolk mooncake and took a bite: "Well, this one is better than that one. The salted egg yolk tastes good and is not too salty. It goes well with the mooncake."

After eating mooncakes and snacks for a while, everyone leaned against the window to look at the street scenery. The spacious Qianmen Street was brightly lit, and from a distance it looked like a long river of flowing light. Flowing in the river were tourists holding colorful lanterns, and the shouting was one after another, making it extremely lively.

Wanli looked at the scenery in front of him and couldn't help but sigh: "It feels so good to see such a scene! It's right to come out tonight." It is impossible to see such a grand scene in the palace.

Min Xi said: "Yes, the smell of fireworks in this world is the most beautiful scenery in the world."

"Well said! The atmosphere of human life is the most beautiful scenery in the world!" said Wanli.

Wanli did not continue strolling on the street, but stayed in the restaurant, leaning against the window and looking at the scenery for a long time.

When they returned, Wanli said to Min Xi and Yun Ji, "Next time you go to the Lantern Festival, make me a moving lantern."

Min Xi couldn't help but laugh: "Yes, sir! Next time I will make you a unique lantern."

Wanli got on the carriage with satisfaction and left, carrying the dragon lantern.

Min Xi and Yun Ji stood in the alley and watched his carriage leave. Yun Lin looked at the toad lamp in his hand, then reached out and touched the jade pendant bestowed by the emperor, and said, "Should I have given this lamp to the young master just now?"

Yun Ji touched his head and asked, "Why didn't you send it?"

Yun Lin lowered his head and said, "I can't bear to part with it. This is what you and my second brother made for me."

Min Xi smiled and said, "It's okay. If he doesn't want to give it to me, then I won't give it to him. We will make him a three-legged golden crow lantern during the Lantern Festival."

Yun Ji laughed and said, "Come on, come on!"

Min Xi rolled her eyes at him and said, "Of course I'll do it. It's only beautiful if I, as a designer, compose the picture. You can't just do whatever you want and end up making it look terrible."

Yun Ji bowed to Min Xi and clasped his fists: "Next time when I make lanterns, I will follow your lead!"

Yunlin stuffed the lantern in his hand into Yunji's hand: "Brother, hold it for me."

Yun Ji looked at him: "What are you going to do?"

"Let's go home. I don't want to take a car, and it's not far, let's walk back." He held Yun Ji's hand with one hand and Min Xi's hand with the other, and walked home with his two brothers.

Just now, when he was looking at the scenery through the window of the restaurant, he saw many heartwarming scenes of families going out to visit the lantern festival. Some younger children sat on their father's neck, holding lanterns in their hands, while some older children held their parents' hands and walked happily on the street. He had no impression of his parents, but he still had two older brothers, and on this day when the full moon was over and families were reunited, their family was also reunited.

Yun Ji looked back at the carriage and said, "Why don't you take the carriage?"

Yunlin shook his head: "No, let's walk back. Second brother, is that okay?"

Min Xi could probably guess what he was thinking, so he said, "Okay, it's not far anyway, let the driver drive the car back first, and we'll walk back. We've eaten so many mooncakes, so walking will help digest them so we don't get food stagnation."

The night was deep and the streets were quiet, with the occasional barking of dogs breaking the tranquility of the autumn night. The full moon was almost at its zenith, and its silver light enveloped the solemn and ancient city of Beijing, lighting their way home.

Min Xi looked up at the bright moon in the sky and thought of his relatives. No matter which world they were in, no one should be worried about him. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but turn his head to look at Yun Ji. Yun Ji seemed to have a telepathic connection and turned his head to look at him. The two of them looked at each other and couldn't help but smile. Fortunately, at least the person he wanted to see was by his side, so he didn't have any regrets.