French cuisine was already well-known at home and abroad at this time. The French Revolution at the end of the 18th century overthrew the rule of Louis XVI. A large number of palace chefs scattered among the people, which actually directly promoted the development of the entire French food culture.
Baked snails, French soup, veal steak, pan-fried foie gras... Various exquisite French dishes were served. At first, the French diners in the restaurant were waiting to see these Chinese jokes, but when Xiao Letian After the very standard table manners were presented, everyone was dumbfounded.
This is really a strange Chinese person. He actually knows all the etiquette on the Western table. Although the other people he brought were a little clumsy, they quickly got into shape under his low-pitched teachings.
The French people who wanted to watch the fun felt very bored. They didn’t pay as much as the Chinese people. They wanted to laugh at the Chinese people’s table manners but there was no flaw for them. Since these Chinese people are not fun at all, they should just eat for themselves. of rice.
After getting over the initial restraint, and after three glasses of wine, the atmosphere in the restaurant began to soften gradually. Even Huniu and the others began to chat in low voices, and from time to time they even smiled softly, which was revealed inadvertently. The various amorous feelings amazed all the men present.
Pierre was stunned. He suddenly felt that all the women he had met in the first half of his life were as ugly as goblins, and that his half of his life had been in vain.
Pierre was not the only one who had this idea in the restaurant. Almost all French men were peeking at these oriental beauties out of the corners of their eyes, especially Ping'er and Fangguan, who were the focus of the men's eyes.
French men's gaffes made their female companions angry, and some even threw down their knives and forks and walked out, embarrassing the men at the same table.
To be fair, French women are not unbeautiful, but they are two completely different styles from Chinese beauties. The most prominent feature of oriental women is their delicacy, coupled with their delicate skin that far exceeds that of European women, these have deeply attracted romantic lovers. French man.
Pierre was already drunk, and he found that all his eyes were on Fangguan. This tall woman with two small dimples when she smiled had attracted him deeply. Pierre is not stupid. Through his observation over the past few days, he has already figured out the relationship between Xiao Letian and these four women.
Huniu is Xiao Letian's legal wife, and she can't be evil even to death. However, Ping'er and Xiao Letian have been flirting with each other, and even a blind person can see the ambiguity between them. Europeans all know that Chinese law allows polygamy, so Ping'er is most likely Xiao Letian's concubine.
As for the little girl A Chou who serves Huniu, she is too young, and she is dark and thin. She cannot be said to be ugly, but she cannot be counted among the ranks of beauties.
It seems that the girl named Fangguan still has a little chance. During these three days, Pierre used his keen observation skills honed over many years of intelligence work and discovered that the girl followed a group of Chinese people without any emotional entanglement. Especially Xiao Letian, he treated this girl like the sister next door, his eyes were very pure, without any distracting thoughts.
Pierre's guess was right. Xiao Letian should not have brought women with him on this trip to Europe. However, due to modern thinking, Xiao Letian insisted on becoming the first honeymooner in Chinese history, so he forced himself to go on a honeymoon trip. A daughter-in-law went to Europe with him.
Who is a native-born Qing woman who has the patience to wander around the land of foreign devils, but she can't stand Xiao Letian's insistence. In the end, the two women discussed it, Fuhui will guard the house, and the crazy Huniu will accompany the master.
Originally, Xiao Letian only wanted to take his wife to travel alone, but after hearing this, Fu Hui firmly objected and said righteously, "You are a grown man, don't be so childish, okay? Huniu, a girl will accompany you to a place thousands of miles away." Tianbian, how about not having anyone to serve and talk to? When the time comes, you go to discuss your business, leaving Hu Niu to deal with the foreign woman on her own?"
Xiao Letian thought about it and it made sense. In the end, Huniu personally chose A Chou, Ping'er and Fangguan to accompany her and the master to Europe.
Needless to say, the reason for choosing A Chou was that she was a maid who had grown up with Huniu since she was a child, and was no different from a relative. And Ping'er is a good hand in managing domestic affairs, and he can definitely make people feel at ease in managing money and property. As for Fangguan, it is Huniu's own request.
Fang Guan is well-known in the Jiaofang Division for her good voice. There is no well-known repertoire in Kun Opera, Peking Opera, Ping Opera and local Bangzi Opera that she is not proficient in. Although Xiao Letian is not very proud of these traditional repertoire, he cannot deny the lethality of this kind of repertoire to ancient people.
Facts have proved that Huniu's choice was correct. With Fangguan's help, the boring journey suddenly became more colorful. What is even more astonishing is that Fangguan is actually a musical genius. At a cocktail party held by a British businessman in Calcutta, she only listened to the aria from the opera La Traviata once and sang it that night.
Xiao Letian is going crazy. The aria in La Traviata is the famous toast song. This song is so popular.
After Fangguan finished humming the melody, Xiao Letian took Fangguan off the boat without saying a word, and went to visit the soprano at night. In just one night, Fangguan actually learned the toast song by rote. .
From that moment on, Xiao Letian began to consciously teach Fangguan foreign languages. He really wanted to train her well, and she might become the first person to promote Chinese opera.
Heinobi's wine is really strong. Twenty years of aging makes the wine more mellow and easier to get drunk. The four bottles of wine quickly bottomed out. The generous Xiao Letian asked for two more bottles. It seemed that he was not drunk today. No return.
Pierre held the goblet and stared at the reddish cheeks through the clear wine syrup. When he gently shook the wine syrup, the woman's swaying figure seemed to be dancing. He really wanted to jump. Dance with this angel from the East in the sea of red wine.
It was impossible for Pierre's squinting eyes to escape Fangguan's eyes. Fangguan wanted to show some mercy to him at first, but this French man with a big nose didn't know how to restrain himself at all, and he looked endless.
Fangguan was like a little pepper. She turned to look directly at Pierre, her eyes glared fiercely, and she said something silently with her small mouth. If Pierre knew lip reading, he would have known that the little girl was using typical Chinese words. He was greeting his relatives.
At this moment, a soft violin sound suddenly came from the restaurant, and the resident band began to play music for the guests. The happy atmosphere in the restaurant became even more intense.
Xiao Letian was already a little drunk now, and under the anesthesia of alcohol, he actually whispered a few words in Fangguan's ear. When Pierre saw how close Xiao Letian and Fangguan were, a sour taste came out of his heart.
Fangguan seemed to be arguing about something in a low voice, his cheeks turned redder and redder, and he began to shake his head desperately, but in the end he couldn't resist the master, so he could only nod his head like a chicken pecking at rice.
Xiao Letian left his seat excitedly, walked to the band and whispered a few words, and handed over a few gold francs. The band members immediately stopped playing the music in their hands with smiles on their faces, took a short rest, and a melody that everyone was very familiar with began to flow in the restaurant.
"Oh, La Traviata! Why are they playing an opera? Did the restaurant owner invite a singer today?"
"No, I'm very familiar with the boss. If he has a new show, he won't forget to tell me... Oh, look, the Chinese girl stood up. What is she going to do?"
Fangguan had seen big events, and the big-nosed foreigners in front of her didn't give her stage fright. She saw this little girl wearing a dress and a jacquard pleated skirt that was the most popular among the upper class in France. She stood there with a high spirit.
Her mind has been completely devoted to the beautiful music, and there is nothing in front of her eyes. At that moment, she is the elf dancing in the music, an angel flying in the white clouds. The moment she opened her mouth to sing "The Toast Song", the whole restaurant was in an uproar as soon as she uttered the first sentence.
"Let us raise the glass of joy high. The wine in the glass makes people intoxicated. Although such happy moments are beautiful, sincere love is more precious. Don't miss the current happiness. Let's drink to love. Youth is like a little bird, flying Go and never fly back. Please look at the champagne billowing in the glass, like the love in people's hearts."
The French were dumbfounded on the spot. Such a natural sound came from the throat of an oriental girl, and she could speak Italian so fluently.
The singing is as clear and transparent as the spring in the Alps, flowing slowly through the fields full of flowers. Anyone who approaches this spring will have their soul washed spotlessly by this clear spring stream.
The toast song was just the beginning. Fangguan covered all the male and female parts. As soon as the male voice sung the words just now, the guests in the restaurant were shocked. Even the chef and waiters at the back rushed out.
Next came the more exciting part about girls. When Fang Guan spoke again, the whole restaurant was in a state of excitement.
"His singing is full of true feelings, which moved me deeply. The most important thing in this world is happiness, and I live for happiness. If a good flower withers and never blooms, youth will never come again. People's hearts are full of love. Love please won’t last forever.”
"Oh God, this is the sound of nature, this is the music spirit living in the world... Let's raise a glass together!" All the French people present stood up with their wine, and this was the final part of the chorus.
Everyone in the restaurant, regardless of gender, age or status, started singing.
"Ah, let us drink another drink for love. Let the beautiful morning glow from the east shine through the flower window on the carnival banquet..."
People sang the chorus over and over again, and the band also repeated this tune back and forth very cooperatively. The atmosphere of the dinner party had reached its peak, and even the people outside the tavern were alarmed.
Countless pedestrians stopped outside the glass window, listening to the beautiful singing inside, with smiles on their faces. Even the French spies hiding in the dark corners came out with cigarettes in their mouths, staring blankly at the angel-like fanguan, listening to the sounds of nature.
"These Chinese people are having so much fun. It seems that they have given up the idea of escape and are ready to contact mainstream French society. Haha, this is very wise. Even if an Eastern politician is a big shot in his country, he will not be able to escape in France. He still has to obey the emperor’s arrangements honestly..."
Another spy next to him took out a match and polished it on the red brick, lit a cigar and sighed, "Yeah, it's impossible for these Chinese to defeat us France... But this singing is really too good." It’s so melodious. If you can walk in and listen to it with a glass of wine, that would be such an enjoyable thing!”
"Haha, stop dreaming. With our salary, even if you don't eat or drink for a month, it's not worth the price of a bottle of wine. You'd better give up your fantasy!"
