The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Europe is at a high latitude, with long days in the summer and late nights. The dinner didn’t start until 7:30, and it wasn’t completely dark until we finished eating.

The young people wanted to stay for the dance. Many of the older guests did not plan to stay any longer and went back early before it got dark. They all came to say goodbye to the Duke and Duchess, and without exception, they all praised the food tonight.

The Duke and Duchess were so pleased with the compliments that they were overjoyed. When a host entertains guests, isn't it the most joyful thing to hear the guests praise the delicious food? This greatly satisfied the vanity of the host.

While no one came to say goodbye, the Duchess said to her grandson, "Pedro, the food tonight was very good. Please reward the chef for me."

The baron asked hurriedly, "Grandmother, you already gave me the reward yesterday? What else do you want to give me today?"

The Duchess thought for a moment and asked, "How much did you pay for them to cook?"

"It's 50 reais for two days."

"Then double it and give them 100 reais," said the Duchess.

The baron smiled and nodded: "Then I will thank Grandmother on their behalf."

The banquet was over, and the chefs and helpers who had been busy all day could finally take a break. The post-meal cleaning work had nothing to do with Min Xi and the others.

Their meal tonight was similar to the previous one. The unfinished dishes were eaten by the chefs and servants. At this moment, Min Xi and the others had eaten their fill and were sitting down to rest, waiting for the baron to send a carriage to take them back.

The taken-back plates were also piled up in the kitchen. It was obvious that more dishes made by Chef Fulangji were left over, while very few dishes made by Min Xi were left over. The first two or three dishes were almost cleared, and only later when everyone had almost finished eating did some left over, but not much.

Baron Fernando didn't come to the kitchen until it was completely dark. He opened his arms enthusiastically to Min Xi and said, "Dear Min, you have done a great job today. Please allow me to express my sincere gratitude to you on behalf of my whole family!"

Min Xi didn't feel shy and hugged him naturally. But Yun Ji frowned. He had seen the Fulangji people hugging and greeting each other, but he couldn't accept this etiquette. It was too intimate.

The baron turned to look at Yun Ji, and naturally did not ignore his frown. He laughed and opened his arms to him: "Of course, Yun's contribution is also indispensable."

Yun Ji raised his hands and clasped his fists: "Thank you! It's my job." He blocked the other person's hug.

Eastern and Western etiquette collided, and in the end the baron admitted defeat: "Haha, okay, I respect your wishes and won't hug you."

Min Xi asked, "Is the Duke satisfied with the food I cooked?"

"Satisfied, absolutely satisfied. Grandfather and grandmother are very satisfied, and His Majesty the King is also very satisfied. His Majesty is very interested in your identities and would like to invite you to the palace someday. He wants to hear you talk about the customs and people of your country." The baron said with a smile.

Min Xi and Yun Ji looked at each other. Neither of them seemed surprised. Min Xi said, "It is my honor! I am willing to help Your Majesty."

The baron handed a bag in his hand to Min Xi: "This is your hard work fee for the past two days. The extra money is from my grandmother. She said thank you for your craftsmanship, which made everyone very satisfied."

"Thank you so much." Min Xi weighed the money and found it was much more than 50 reais. He didn't hesitate and just took it. The Duke was not short of money and he earned it by his own ability.

The baron said, "I have arranged a carriage to take you back. Go back and rest early."

"Thank you!"

Min Xi and others got on the carriage. It was completely dark at this moment. The whole castle was brightly lit. The cheerful sound of the organ rang out in the hall, and men and women began to dance to the music.

But these have nothing to do with Min Xi and others. They gradually move away from the light and noise and disappear into the darkness.

Min Xi and the other two got off the car first and asked the driver to take Amanda and Gail home.

The car left and they turned to open the door. Diego walked to the window and prepared to look into the store when he suddenly exclaimed, "Sir, look, the window is broken."

Min Xi and Yun Ji were startled and rushed over to check. Their eyes had already adjusted to the darkness and they could vaguely see that the window glass was broken.

"What happened? We forgot to close the windows, and it's windy today?" Min Xi said puzzledly.

"But I checked before I went to bed last night, and everything was locked." Diego lives downstairs, and it is his job to close the doors and windows every day.

Yun Ji said nothing. He went in, rubbed the tinder, lit the candle, held the candlestick with one hand, protected the candle flame with the other, walked to the window, looked up and down, stretched out his hand and shook the window frame, and said, "The window is not open, it is broken."

When the house was first renovated, there was only one door on the front of the house and the light in the room was a little dim. Min Xi discussed with the landlord and decided to chisel a hole in the wall and open a window. The landlord also felt that the light inside was too dim and agreed.

For ventilation, Min Xi requested a sliding window that could be opened and closed, but the carpenter didn't know how to make it, so he worked with the carpenter for a long time before he finally made it. For light transmission, they chose the lightest glass, which cost a lot of money.

Min Xi said: "Maybe some naughty kid broke it accidentally."

Yun Ji shook his head: "No, all the glass is broken. It was intentional."

Window glass is made up of small pieces of glass. If a child breaks it mischievously, not all the glass will be broken.

"Did someone do this on purpose? Who is so ungrateful as to break our window glass when we were not at home?" Min Xi said angrily.

"It seems so." Yun Ji said.

Diego was so angry that he clenched his fists: "I want to know who did it, I will make him pay!" He has become the boss of this place and can't bear to see the store damaged in any way.

Min Xi looked at the hollow glass again and said, "Let's ask the neighbors tomorrow to see if they heard anything."

Yunji said: "It was dark when we came back yesterday, and it was still dark when we left this morning. We are not sure whether the glass was broken today or yesterday."

Diego said: "It was definitely not yesterday, but today. When I checked it last night, the window glass was fine. I still remember that my face was a little distorted in the reflection on the glass."

"That's for today. The target is smaller now. Let's go ask next door tomorrow." Yun Ji said.

Although Min Xi was angry, he had no other choice but to say, "Yes, let's do it tomorrow. Let's see if the fire is out and boil some water for a bath first."

I added coal when I went out in the morning, but I got up at four in the morning and it was almost ten o'clock when I came back. In such a long time, the coal I added in the morning had already burned out.

Yun Ji reached out and touched the water in the pot: "It's still warm, ninth brother, you wash first, I'll go outside and boil some water with firewood."

Min Xi said, "Why don't you wash first, Diego, and we'll boil some water for washing."

"Will the store be open tomorrow?" Yun Ji asked.

"Open it. It's been closed for two days. We told the customers it would only be closed for two days." Min Xi yawned.

"Then hurry up and take a bath. You are the most tired every day. Go to bed after you take a bath." Yun Ji's tone did not allow for argument. He scooped out hot water and brought it to the bathroom for Min Xi to use. "There is not enough water today, so don't take a bath. Just rinse and take a bath tomorrow. Wash your hair tomorrow too. Leave the clothes for me to wash."

Min Xi had been given clear instructions by him and had no choice but to go take a shower.

Yunji went to fetch water and Diego made a fire, and the two worked well together.

When Min Xi was taking off his clothes, he took out his purse from his pocket and then he remembered the purse that Fernando gave him. The joy of making money was diluted a lot by the incident of broken glass. It was really infuriating.

After taking a shower, Min Xi went upstairs and felt that his legs were as heavy as if they were filled with lead. Although Yun Ji and others helped, they could only help, and he still had to rely on him. After a banquet for hundreds of people, he was really too tired to talk.

He threw himself on the bed and poured out the silver coins in his purse, all of which were 1-real coins. He began to count the money by candlelight, but before he reached fifty, his eyelids began to droop. He forced himself to count to sixty, and it seemed that there were still many left, but his mind was a mess. He couldn't remember whether it was sixty or sixty-one, and fell asleep while counting money.

When Yun Ji came upstairs after washing the clothes, he heard a slight snoring sound. Min Xi usually didn't snore unless he was particularly tired. These two days really exhausted him.

He walked to the bed, looked at Min Xi's posture and the silver coins on the bed, and couldn't help but smile. He fell asleep before even finishing counting the money, which showed that he was really tired.

He raised his hand and gently stroked Min Xi's face, then took his hand back, lowered his eyes and looked at him for a long time before untying his hairband, gently laid him down, and pulled a thin blanket over his stomach.

Then he counted the silver coins, exactly 100, twice as many as agreed upon. It seemed that they were given by the Duchess, who was quite generous. Together with those from yesterday, he made a total of 115 reais.

Yun Ji thought about it and took out three more coins. He decided to give one to each of the three employees. They deserved to be rewarded, but there would be no more. After all, their money had other uses.