The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Yun Ji looked at the happy Min Xi and said with a smile: "Don't be too happy too soon. The price is too high. It won't sell so well every day."

Min Xi was optimistic: "There are other things, such as roast duck, squirrel fish and Buddha jumps over the wall. And more and more nobles will come here to consume, they can definitely afford it. Conservatively estimated, we can make 350 reais a month, which is more than 4000 reais a year. If we can earn enough for the deposit of the galleon sooner, we can go back earlier."

"Yes." Yun Ji became inexplicably excited at the thought of being able to go home early.

Min Xi saw Yun Ji sitting at the table writing and drawing again, so he walked over. He also needed to learn: "Seventh Brother, have you started to conceive the painting of horses now?"

However, Yunji was not painting horses, but practicing artistic advertising slogans.

Min Xi took a look and said, "Seventh Brother, I already know how to write. Just leave it to me from now on."

Yun Ji said, "I plan to practice it until I am familiar with it, and then write a reverse character."

"What's the opposite word?" Min Xi asked in confusion.

Yun Ji said, "It's the reverse characters on the seal. I want to practice it and carve a seal. Then you don't have to write them one by one in the future. You can just print them directly on the box."

Min Xi clapped his hands vigorously: "How come you are so thoughtful! Why didn't I think of it?"

Yun Ji laughed: "I thought about it before, but I was busy painting and didn't have time to do it."

"You can also carve seals?" Min Xi was surprised.

Yun Ji said, "I learned a little from my teacher when I was studying painting before, and my carving is average, but we are just making a slogan, so there is no need to be too particular about it."

Min Xi said, "I think it's enough. Let's try carving it with a carrot. Oh, we need a carving knife. Let's ask the blacksmith to make one for us."

Yun Ji said, "If you need a few, I'll go to the blacksmith shop and talk to the blacksmith."

Min Xi suddenly thought: "There should be someone here who can carve seals! If there is, we can just ask someone to carve them instead of doing it ourselves." He remembered watching European and American TV dramas in the past. When the ancient Europeans wrote letters, they would drip sealing wax on the seal of the envelope and then stamp it.

Yun Ji looked at him: "Is there?"

Min Xi said, "I'm not sure, I'll ask later."

Yun Ji said, "If someone knows how to carve a seal, there must be carving knives for sale. I'll carve one myself. I haven't carved one for a long time and I'm itching to do it. I'll carve a seal for myself, so I can sign my name after I draw for others."

"That's fine." Min Xi approved of his approach. "It's really not easy to be stranded in a foreign country. You really need to do everything yourself."

Yun Ji suddenly said, "It would be nice to have an abacus." He currently does his accounts by mental arithmetic and oral calculation. Although he can do it, there are bound to be omissions and mistakes. He needs to calculate twice each time, which is very inefficient. If he had an abacus, he could just move the beads.

Min Xi smiled and said, "Why don't you make one yourself? Ask the carpenter to customize one."

"I think so too. It doesn't have to be too sophisticated, as long as it can be used." Yun Ji said.

"Okay, let's go out tomorrow afternoon and find a carving knife and a carpenter."

The next morning, Min Xi stewed the roast chicken. He bought a few young hens and more old hens. The old hens could be stewed until the evening.

I prepared more chickens today than yesterday, a total of twenty-five chickens, and I hope I can sell them all.

At noon, yesterday's customers came to eat the roast chicken. They didn't have it yesterday and had been thinking about it the whole night, so they had to have it today. It might be sold out when they came in the evening, but it would at least be sold out at noon.

So seven roast chickens were sold at noon, and Merlot reserved two more, so it seems that there is no need to worry about not being able to sell out in the evening.

After the guests left, Min Xi and Yun Ji went out to look for carving knives. At this time, people were taking a nap, and they didn't know where to buy carving knives, so they went directly to the blacksmith shop. All ironware came from the blacksmith shop, so it was right to find the source.

They went to the shop they often go to, where all the kitchenware in the shop was custom made. The blacksmith and his son were taking a nap in the shop. Min Xi was very sorry to disturb them, but he had no other time to come out. He had to go to the palace to meet the king on Sunday, so he could only disturb them at this time.

Min Xi woke up the blacksmith. The blacksmith opened his sleepy eyes and saw him, looking unhappy: "Why are you here at this time? Didn't you see it's lunch break?"

Min Xi smiled and said, "I'm really sorry. We run a restaurant. We have to prepare food in the morning and entertain guests in the evening. We are only free at this time. We have no choice but to disturb your rest."

After hearing what he said, the blacksmith sat up and wiped his face: "What do you want to buy?"

Min Xi said: "We want to buy a few carving knives to carve seals."

The blacksmith rubbed his eyes with his rough hands, stood up and walked outside: "I have a few that I made before, see if they can be used."

The blacksmith rummaged through boxes and cabinets and finally found a few carving knives. They were very different from the ones Min Xi remembered. They were too thick and big.

Min Xi looked at Yun Ji: "Seventh Brother, can it be used?"

Yun Ji picked it up and weighed it repeatedly, and finally said, "It can barely be used, so let's make do with it."

Min Xi asked the blacksmith: "Can you make it smaller? The blade is a bit thick."

The blacksmith said, "Okay, I'll forge it for you again, but it will take two or three days."

Unexpectedly, Yun Ji said, "No need to forge it, just leave it as it is."

Min Xi looked at Yun Ji in surprise: "Is it really possible?"

Yun Ji nodded: "Okay. I want 13 more iron sticks, this thick, or thinner, and this long, straight and smooth." He found a stick smaller than the tip of a chopstick and showed it to the blacksmith for demonstration.

After hearing the request, the blacksmith shook his head and said, "This is too difficult. The smaller the iron tool, the harder it is to make!"

After hearing Yun Ji's request, Min Xi knew that he wanted to use an abacus, and said, "How difficult is that? You can just make a mold, pour the molten iron into it, and it will come out. Then you just need to pound it a little bit and it will be fine."

The blacksmith's eyes lit up after hearing what Min Xi said, but he still shook his head: "It's easy for you to say, but how can it be that easy to make it both straight and smooth?"

Min Xi said: "Just tell me how much money you need!"

The blacksmith looked at Min Xi and said, "For 13 pieces, I'll give you 400 riels."

Yun Ji frowned as he listened, knowing that the blacksmith was just talking nonsense. Thirteen abacus bars were just a little more iron, which meant a little more work.

Min Xi said: "400 is 400, I want the best product, if I am not satisfied with the quality, I will deduct money."

The blacksmith said, "Don't worry, I will make it for you. Come and pick it up in a week."

Min Xi asked: "How much are these carving knives?"

The blacksmith took a look and said, "These carving knives cost 150 riels in total. Since you are a regular customer, I will give you 140 riels."

Min Xi didn't bargain with him, just gave him the money and left.

After leaving the blacksmith shop, Yun Ji said, "Those 13 bars are a bit expensive. In our Ming Dynasty, 400 coins are enough to buy a few abacuses."

Min Xi smiled and said, "But this is not the Ming Dynasty. We only need this abacus, so it doesn't matter if it's a little more expensive. By the way, Seventh Brother, is this carving knife too thick? We only have a thin one."

Yun Ji said, "For carving seals, the thin one is enough, and the two thick ones can be used to carve blanks. I also want to use this carving knife to carve an abacus myself."

"Didn't you ask the carpenter to do it?" Min Xi asked.

Yun Ji said, "Ask the carpenter to cut the wood into small pieces for me, and I will do the rest myself."

"Well, we really have to rely on ourselves." Min Xi shrugged.

They found a carpenter who had been working with the hotel for a long time. When the carpenter learned about their purpose, he said, "There are some scraps of wood over there. You can pick them out yourself and I will split them into small pieces for you."

Yun Ji said, "I'll chop it myself."

The carpenter saw him and was skeptical: "You can do it?"

"Let me try." Yun Ji said.

Min Xi and Yun Ji were selecting wood from a pile of broken wood. Min Xi asked, "We don't need something too hard, as it will be difficult to carve."

Yunji said, "It doesn't matter if it's a little harder, it's more durable, I can carve it."

Finally, the two of them picked out some pieces of precious wood from a pile of debris. Because the precious wood was compact and delicate, it could withstand grinding and beating, but it would require Yun Ji's strength.

Yun Ji selected the wood, borrowed an axe from the carpenter, and cut a square piece of wood with one stroke. His quick and decisive technique not only surprised Min Xi, but also shocked the carpenter. The young man's knife skills were too precise and powerful. He seemed to be cutting such hard oak as easily as mud.

The people around were also attracted to come over. Yun Ji didn't even raise his head, holding the wood and immersed in cutting the wood. Soon, he had cut hundreds of pieces of wood, including wood for making abacus beads and wood for carving seals.

When the people around him saw him put away the knife, they couldn't help but applaud.

Yun Ji raised his head and found that there was a circle of people around him. His expression was still calm and he gently put down the axe in his hand.

The carpenter said excitedly: "Young man, what kind of knife skills are you using? It's so amazing."

Yun Ji smiled and said, "As long as you are strong enough, that's fine."

The carpenter admired Yun Ji even more. He was familiar with the texture of these woods. They were basically very hard woods. It was easy to cut along the grain, but many of them were not along the grain. How much strength would it take to cut them?

Min Xi quickly collected the small pieces of wood and borrowed a basket from the carpenter to put them in. "Master, how much are these?"

The carpenter said, "They are just worthless scraps, and you chopped them yourself, so I don't want any money."

"Thank you, Master! We will need some other things from you later, and we'll pay you then." He carved the abacus beads himself, and he had to find a carpenter to make the beams and the outer frame of the abacus.

In this way, they walked back with a basket of small wood blocks. Min Xi said, "Seventh Brother, your sword skills are really amazing! How did you practice it?"

"I learned it from practicing martial arts." Yun Ji said.

Min Xi sighed: "It seems that I will never be able to master such sword skills in my lifetime."

Yun Ji said: "You don't need to practice this kind of swordsmanship. With me here, no one will dare to bully you."