Chef's Knife

"Hit him! Hit him—a good lesson! Twice how to bark like a dog!"

The boy in the crowd was panting under the stick of the servant, his whole body was bruised and his forehead was bleeding from the beating.Tears were still wet on her dirty face, her eyes were wide open and filled with resentment, and her lips were bloody from being bitten.

"Do you still dare to speak hard? Little bastard!" The man in charge sneered, and he put down his robe and opened his legs, "Now I'll give you a chance! Get under my uncle's praise, and I can consider letting you go one time!"

"Drill! Don't dawdle, drill quickly—" the surrounding spectators booed mercilessly.

The boy's face was pale and he stood up trembling all over. Suddenly, he was kicked hard on the back.

"What are you dawdling on, boy!" The malicious laughter of the instigator was very harsh, "I see you are not moving your crotch against the man's crotch, so you don't mean to blow the flute for our eldest son?"

"Hahahaha——" Contemptuous laughter sounded from all directions.

The ragged boy moved his body slowly, crawling forward with a numb face.The stones on the ground scratched his palm, leaving two blurred bloodstains wherever he went.

Every passerby who passed by here on that day witnessed that scene with their own eyes.

A little boy who was only about ten years old with a foreign accent, crawled on the street amidst wanton ridicule and insults, forced a bone into his mouth, tied a straw rope around his neck and knelt and crawled like a dog, with his body full His scars roamed every street and alley in the entire small town without dignity.

"I'll help you up."

The young man who spoke was carrying a suitcase, wearing a light green gown and carrying a cauldron.Although he did not witness the atrocities, he found the boy thrown in the corner.

The boy curled up, instinctively showing vigilance and caution.The boy was a few years older than him, but his figure seemed much taller due to the contrast of the boy's thinness.Although the young man is not good looking, he has a pair of beautiful almond eyes, which inadvertently revealed a hint of kindness, "What's your name?"

The boy hesitated for a moment, then stretched out his hand covered with blue and purple bruises into the air and then retracted it.The boy's palms were bloody and covered with mud on the ground. He rubbed his clothes several times before he dared to touch the boy in front of him.

The boy's fingers are long and slender, but they are not free from the water of spring, and there are layers of calluses distributed in several places on the palm, which makes people think of the cauldron on the boy's back.The heat from the boy's palm did not relax the boy's tense body.He raised his thin face, and replied without emotion in a childish voice that hadn't yet entered the period of voice change.

"My name is Chuning."

Even though he was as embarrassed as a bereaved dog, his eyes were like a wolf in death.

……

There is a Baiwei Building in Chang'an, which is known as the first building in the world.

It is located in the west city of Chang'an. It can be seen at a glance when you go out on the mountain in the suburbs of Beijing or go to the temple to offer incense.

When the restaurant was first built, the storefront was shabby, and the location was not prosperous.However, since Luo Sheng, the owner of Baiweilou, was conferred the title of Royal Kitchen God and awarded a gold medal by the Holy Lord, the imperial court sent hundreds of craftsmen to renovate it.According to Luo Sheng's design, a lot of manpower and material resources were spent at the cost of ten thousand taels of silver, and finally this distinctive and unique restaurant was built.

On the day of the completion of the restaurant, the Holy One came in person and wrote the signboard of "No. [-] Building in the World".

And this area, which was not originally prosperous, also became lively overnight with the birth of the first floor in the world.Surrounding shops, pawnshops, inns, teahouses and Goulan have sprung up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, and hawkers gathered on the streets, shouting endlessly.

In just a few years, this street has become the busiest and most prosperous commercial and economic center of gravity in the entire Chang'an City.As a result, the price of surrounding residential land has also risen, and rich people have built houses and settled here.

The Baiwei Building has also become one of the characteristic symbols of Chang'an.In other words, if you have come to Chang’an City, you have never visited the White Horse Temple, seen the No. Come here for nothing; if you can finally have a meal at the No. [-] Baiwei Restaurant in the world, it will be complete.

Baiweilou does not do business during the day, but tea and snacks are provided for free in the building.Therefore, there are always some literati and inkmen gathered here, drinking tea and talking here.

They sing poems and poems about spring flowers and autumn moon, they talk about ancient and modern anecdotes about gods and ghosts, they talk about political history, laws, industry, agriculture and commerce, they analyze the general trend of the world, spit on traitors, scold eunuchs and talk about state affairs.Sometimes they gossiped and joked, passing nonsense stories from east to west; Wang Yuanwai’s son lived in a golden house in a different place, Master Zhang bought a young lady who stayed with him every day, and the newly listed girl in Yihong Courtyard was so ecstatic. .

Among them there are many sharp-edged people who are dissatisfied with the world, have great ambitions and care about the world, and discuss the world affairs very radically. higher.Among these young people, there may be literary talents who will live forever, and there may be future champions on the gold list.Some of them will become the pillars of the civil servants and military generals of the country, and some will gradually become unknown as the years go by.

Luo Sheng would make a pot of tea while studying recipes.Sitting in the most inconspicuous corner, watching and listening quietly, smiling and silently remembering the names of each of them.

Then year after year, with those eyes that are no longer young, sit and watch the ups and downs of talented people from generation to generation.

I don't know when, God of Cooking has heard a name countless times from those young people who are filled with righteous indignation.

"Shameless Chu thief, bullying the superior and flattering the inferior, blatantly embezzling disaster relief money, filling his own pockets! Taking advantage of the fire to rob, raising food prices wantonly, not as good as animals!"

"As an official, he secretly meddles in the commercial market and competes with the people for profit. He is really greedy!"

Luo Sheng knew that the Chu thief they criticized was Chu Yuanzhong, the prime minister who was now in power.

It is rumored that he was born in the market, originally a gangster, but with extraordinary talents, his background is a mystery. At the age of 16, he was the number one scholar in high school, and his voice moved the capital; he offered a unique strategy to control floods and turned the tide, and became famous all over the world;Should be the minister of the brachii and thigh, with a bright future.

However, thanks to this Prime Minister of Chu, the current Holy Majesty has not been to court for one year and three months.The three characters of Chu Yuanzhong have basically become synonymous with "treacherous", "little man", "villain" and so on.

The Holy One is superstitious, so he takes advantage of this.He painstakingly collected all kinds of pills that could make people live forever from all over the world, asked the emperor to drink some boy's urine every morning, and used the menstrual blood of court ladies to make alchemy.He also recruited a group of old-fashioned and old-fashioned people known as immortals to enter the palace.And relying on the heresy that he didn't know where he learned from, he created a bunch of so-called "visions", which convinced the emperor.Every day, I either listen to the preaching of the immortals or practice alchemy in front of the incense burner, and the government affairs are gradually neglected.

Bewitched by Chu Yuanzhong, the Holy Majesty is now completely insane, and his body and mind are addicted to practicing the art of longevity.Ignore the affairs of the court, do not enter the harem, and stay in the palace built by myself to practice in seclusion.The power fell to the hands of Chu Yuanzhong and his party members, which also created a situation in which the prime minister of Chu covered the sky with one hand.

According to the group of literati, basically this person has never done a good thing when he was in power, and his mind is always thinking about how to harm others and how to make money.

"Let's use an analogy, dig out his conscience and give the dog a taste. I guess the dog can spit out the bile in disgust..."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Before the laughter died down, a team of guards rushed forward.

"Presumptuous! How dare you openly slander the court officials? Take them away quickly—"

The people who were chatting and laughing just now saw the man who suddenly appeared in the most eye-catching position in the hall, and their faces turned ashen.

This man's name was Li Si, and he was the most loyal vicious dog under Chu Yuanzhong.Born in a famous noble family, although he looks dignified and talks well, he is an out-and-out dude.When he became an official a few years ago, he acted ruthlessly and never left any room for retreat, and he admired and supported Chu Yuanzhong very much.No distinction is made between right and wrong when things happen, and "whatever Yuan Zhong says is right" is his creed in life; when someone else leads a deer, if Chu Yuanzhong says it is a horse, he can take the deer without saying a word. Everyone will be arrested, gouged out their eyes and cut out their tongues!

"Noisy, it's really boring." Behind Li Si, the boss who had been spurned for a long time, sat in the shadows with a nonchalant look, "Chu just came to find someone, and disturbed everyone's elegant interest in chatting. I am very sorry for this.”

No one dared to look in which direction, and no one knew his expression at the moment.

The man spoke with a straight accent and a gentle tone, sounding like a modest, polite, and personable young man.

"Finally, I implore all of you to bring your relatives and friends together in the prison of the Anti-Corruption Factory. Chu will definitely be very grateful."

Every word and every word was filled with a gloomy chill.