When Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai walked up to the second floor, more than ten people in the lobby on the first floor stared at them and took note of their faces.
These people, without exception, are all members of the martial arts world.
Among them, there were invitees who came to attend the Young Heroes Association like Sun and Huang, seniors from the world who came to Luoyang to watch the excitement, and local gangsters... And the reason why they looked at this was because they all understood this. The "upstairs" of Buguilou are not so easy to get to.
Anyone who knows anything knows that this No Return Building has three floors.
The lobby on the first floor is the busiest place on weekdays. If you have money, you can sit down and eat, but the price is really not cheap.
The second floor is called "Zhixian Pavilion". It has several private rooms and a large kitchen that is separate from the kitchen on the first floor. On weekdays, most of the time, there are no guests on the second floor. , because there is a rule for eating on the second floor - you have to pass the three levels of "one taste", "one glance" and "one word" before you can eat the food on the second floor.
If you don't go up, that's fine, but if you go up and fail the third level, then I'm sorry; not only will you not be entertained on the second floor, but you won't be able to enter the first floor again, even if you have passed. This is no longer on Guilou’s “blacklist”. If you dare to come again, I will blast you out directly at the gate.
You want to ask why? It's simple, because you don't know your own abilities.
Buguilou's boss hates people who don't know their own abilities the most.
Of course, you can argue with the boss. The boss is on the third floor. He named the third floor "Siyuju". The boss has his own food and accommodation there. If you want to "complain", you can go up and talk to him yourself. Chat with the boss.
Anyway, over the years, there have been quite a few people who have gone in vertically to complain, and come out horizontally and said they were “very satisfied.”
Even if those prominent people in Luoyang City come here, they still have to abide by the boss's rules without exception; that is to say, no matter how rich you are, as long as you can't pass the three tests, you are not worthy of sitting on the second floor and you have to behave. Stay on the first floor.
Over time, the number of people who went up to "humiliate themselves" basically disappeared.
As for the distinguished guests who can go to the second floor, they are undoubtedly very capable people. For example... Shen Youran can go to Zhixian Pavilion to eat at will. However, most people at his level are very busy. I don’t have time to go here every day, and those who do have time may not have that much spare money... After all, the food on the second floor is more expensive than the one on the first floor.
However, tonight, Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai, two freshmen who looked like they were just seventeen or eighteen years old, actually walked up to each other.
There is no doubt that everyone in the lobby on the first floor who saw this scene was waiting to see their joke.
"These two boys must not understand the rules here, or they are ignorant and fearless. They probably have to be kicked out without much effort." - This is the vast majority of the people present... No, it should be said that everyone noticed them. people have the same thoughts.
This speculation is actually not wrong, but... things are unpredictable.
…………
"Two guests, please sit here for a moment. I will go and inform you sir." The greeter led Sun and Huang to the second floor, then left them in a place similar to the front hall, and then Turn around and leave.
Although there were seats and small tables with teacups here, no one served them tea, and there were no fruit plates or snacks.
"What's wrong?" Seeing the other party leaving, Sun Yixie felt a little unhappy at the time, "What's going on in this store? I'm here to have a meal and I have to meet 'sir'? Do I have to take a test before eating?" ?”
What he said casually was eighty-nine percent correct.
"I don't know either." Huang Donglai continued, "But I just took a look around on the first floor and the food here is really good. Maybe we have entered a very awesome restaurant, so there are many rules? "
"Hmm..." Sun Yixie thought for a while, "You put it this way... it seems possible, but if you open the door for business, can you still set rules that prevent others from consuming?"
"It's hard to say." After all, Huang Donglai is from a martial arts family. Even though he has not traveled much, he still hears about some strange people and strange things. "I have heard of a store that sets a threshold for consumption. In Beijing, There is one called the "Zhuangyuan Building". The best banquet there is. You can't buy it with money, so you have to exchange it with poems or pairs. Of course... the poems must be good and the pairs must be perfect, and the illiterate limericks like you will definitely not work. "
"Get lost!" Sun Yixie curled his lips and said, "I've been to a serious private school, okay?"
While they were chatting like this, they suddenly heard footsteps.
Not long after, a thin figure came from the direction where the greeter left.
The man was about forty years old, short in stature, with a beard, white face, and rosacea. He was dressed as a scholar. He held a paper fan in his hand and walked lightly. He spoke with a Shaoxing accent: "You two, I, Xue Tui, have a gentle word." Official, I was given the number one 'Little Dezu', but I haven't asked for advice yet..."
Perhaps because he was stimulated by Huang Donglai just now, or perhaps because he heard that the scholar on the other side had a very impressive way of greeting him, Sun Yixie also acted on a whim and said: "It's easy to talk, I'm Sun Yixie, nicknamed 'Yifeng', also known as 'Yifeng'" 'Neptune'."
Huang Donglai was listening and almost laughed out loud, but then he thought about it, it was quite fun, so he jokingly added: "Then I am Huang Donglai, nicknamed 'Gongren', nicknamed 'Xudong Laoxian' .”
Xue Tui was shocked after hearing the two illiterate self-introductions.
He muttered in his heart: "Where did these two idiots come from? Are they here to make fun of us? Don't you know where we are? Or are you here to cause trouble?"
That's what he thought, but he wouldn't fall out after just two words.
Xue Tui thought for a few seconds, and then said in his slightly arrogant tone: "Okay, since Mr. Sun and Mr. Huang are both here, it means that you are well prepared, so I won't say more about the rules... He paused and glanced at the two of them, "So, who of you will pass this 'First Grade' test?"
It should be noted here that the three levels of "Yipin", "Yiyan" and "Yiyan" in Zhixian Pavilion do not necessarily have to be completed by one person; because one private room here can accommodate eight people at the same table, so As long as one of the eight people can pass these three levels, it doesn't matter whether you pass three levels alone or three people each pass one level. But one thing remains the same... you can only challenge each level once. If you fail, you cannot substitute someone and try again, and if you fail, all eight of you at the same table will be blacklisted from now on.
"Uh..." When they heard this, Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai both came to their senses - it seemed that their casual guess just now was indeed correct.
But now that the matter has come to this, the face-loving Brother Sun must not know how to pretend to understand and pretend to be fat. So, after a brief hesitation, he gritted his teeth, stamped his feet, and took a step forward: "I'll do it!"
"Ha..." Xue Tui sneered in his heart, seeming to have read something from the expressions of the two of them, but he did not tell the truth and just calmly continued, "Okay, you two, please come this way."
After saying that, he put his hands behind his back, turned around leisurely, and led the two of them along the corridor.
After turning two corners, the three of them arrived at a fairly spacious tea room, where an old man was already waiting.
Sun and Huang just took a glance and knew that the old man was a cook, and a famous chef at that.
In Dashu, people pay a lot of attention to their clothes. Generally speaking, the colors are red, green, green, gold, blue, soap, tea, and white, and the styles include skirts, helmets, robes, 襕, silk, shawls, and coats. , towel; of course, there are actually far more than these 8864 correspondences. Here is just a general list of the most common combinations.
Most of these common colors and styles have certain symbolic meanings. They can not only symbolize status level and professional characteristics, but sometimes also refer to the five elements, direction, or character... These characteristics are very important in today's opera stage. There is a certain inheritance in it, but not many people are interested.
Cooks, even if they were a relatively humble profession in those days, were supposed to wear green. But if the cook became famous and rich, he could also wear red instead, because the Stove Lord is a fire person.
And one step further up, the imperial chef has a special official robe, and a "fire skirt" is worn around the official robe to work.
If the royal chef quits one day...those who are kicked out don't count...the few who can leave the palace safely will not be able to wear official robes, but the fire skirt can stay.
In addition, the waist tag used by the cook in the palace can also be brought out.
The waist medallion is divided into two parts, Yin and Yang. There are two carp tails carved on the plate, one with its head facing up and the other with its tail extending upward. One of the two fishes is protruding like a relief, and the other is concave like a cake mold. The raised fish pattern is the Yang sign. The sunken tiles are Yin cards; in the palace, visitors and palace guards each hold one, and when the two tiles fit together during inspection, they can pass, which is very clever.
When the cook leaves the palace, he can take the yang card with him, and the yin card will be destroyed directly. After leaving the palace, this waist card will be a symbol of your status as an imperial cook... Of course, this operation requires money, and the eunuchs and guards are there. You have to be filial, otherwise they will take away your badge.
Now, the old man in front of Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai had a waist card and was wearing a fire skirt, so his identity was self-evident.
"Old Yuan Fangzhi, I have met the two young masters." After Xue Tui's brief introduction, Yuan Fangzhi also bowed and then asked, "I wonder... what kind of food does Mr. Sun want to 'taste'?"
When he heard this question, Sun Yixie realized that the so-called "first taste" turned out to be tasting food. He responded: "Then what kinds of food are there to choose from?"
"Ha..." Yuan Fangzhi had already exchanged glances with Xue Tui just now. He knew that the two boys in front of him most likely came in by mistake, so he responded with a somewhat arrogant attitude, "In the sky and on the earth, there are treasures from mountains and seas, birds and animals. , water trees, fruits, flowers...all are acceptable."
When Sun Yixie heard this, he thought to himself that this old guy is very arrogant. He is trying to get in my face. In addition, he was already a little hungry, so he couldn't help but get a little evil: "Huh...that is, Say, you can fly, run underground, swim in rivers, jump in grass huts, etc., right?"
This part of his sentence is a line from cross talk. Huang Donglai has also heard it, and he knows that as soon as the other party agrees, Brother Sun's next sentence will be "wipe paper".
Huang Donglai felt that arguing would not help them get food faster, and if the other party really took out the butt wipes and handed them to Brother Sun, Brother Sun might suffer a lot, so he quickly stopped him: "Okay, okay...Sun Brother, give me some face and don’t commit suicide, okay?”
His vulgar words made both Xue Tui and Yuan Fangzhi frown, but Sun Yixie really listened: "Okay."
Sun Yixie took another deep breath, paused, and then said to Yuan Fangzhi: "Then... I'll choose 'fish'."
"Oh?" When Yuan Fangzhi heard the word "fish", his expression was a little subtle, and he smiled immediately, "Ha... Okay, okay, sir, wait a moment." After saying that, he turned around and ran to the kitchen.
In less than a cup of tea, Yuan Fangzhi returned with a large tray.
There were five small plates on the tray, and each plate had something in it. At first glance, each plate seemed to be fish, but just by looking at it, it was obvious that you couldn't tell what they were.
Yuan Fangzhi quickly put the plates on the table next to Sun Yixie's seat, then stood aside, looked at Sun Yixie with a smile and said: "Master Sun... please."
Obviously, in Yuan Fangzhi's heart, Sun Yixie had already committed suicide at this level.
You said that if you choose something like pork, tofu, etc., you might have a chance to guess the origin of the ingredients, or at least guess the cooking method; like black pig, white pig, Jinhua pig, fried and boiled in southern paste and northern stew, most people Still heard about it.
fish? With the aquatic knowledge and fishing technology of that era, even fishermen sometimes couldn’t figure out what they were catching; to take a step back, even the fish that are well-known to the public have an extremely wide variety... So, this It can be said to be the most difficult choice.
But Yuan Fangzhi never expected...
"Ha...that's it?" Sun Yixie hadn't even touched his chopsticks yet. He just glanced at the contents of the five plates and showed a disdainful smile.
At this time, the smile on Yuan Fangzhi's face disappeared, because he vaguely felt that the other party was not bluffing.
Tuk Tuk.
Sun Yixie lazily picked up his chopsticks, tapped them on the table in an uncivilized manner twice, and then picked them up and tasted them: "Angler fish liver, boiled in white wine." Before he finished speaking, his second chopstick was already there After he went out, the aftertaste of the previous piece of fish in his mouth hadn't gone away, so he ate what was on the second plate, "Fugu sashimi, with a few drops of soy sauce." Then, the third bite, "Barracuda" Dried, pickled with chili, salt, cooking wine, onions, ginger, garlic, etc." The fourth mouthful, "Squid, steamed until soft and then mixed with black beans." Finally, when the fifth mouthful of fish was put into his mouth, he said again He smiled and said, "Heh... As for the last way to make the whitebait, let's just make do with it; considering that you cooked five kinds of fish in such a short period of time... Oh no, the dried barracuda should be ready-made... Four kinds of fish were cooked. , it is indeed difficult, so the cooking method is a little rough, so I don’t care.”
Huang Donglai was not surprised by Brother Sun's pretense. After all, they knew each other well.
But Xue Tui and Yuan Fangzhi were stupid...
Xue Tui stood there stunned, thinking: "Did I make a mistake? Did they deliberately lie when they announced their names just now? Wait... He seemed to have said he was 'Sea King' just now?"
Yuan Fangzhi was even worse, his face was crooked; Sun Yixie not only correctly said what kind of fish he took out as the "five products" and how to make them, but he also mentioned "sashimi", a term he had heard for the first time. As if he knew more than him.
Yuan Fangzhi thought to himself: I wasn’t taught this way when I was cooking for the Emperor’s Empress, right? What is this thing called?
But his idea was actually overkill - what did the Emperor know about this? They don't even know how much an egg costs per pound, or how to make meat out of the water first. Of course, they can't challenge you. But Sun Yixie has been dealing with the fish market for his whole life. You are being hypocritical with him. ? It's like a human swimmer discussing diving with an Atlantean.
"Hmph... that's not a bad tone." Sure enough, Yuan Fangzhi thought about it for a while, but still wasn't convinced, "It's true that Mr. Sun guessed what my five-flavored fish is and passed the 'First Grade' level, but you want to say The way I made the whitebait was 'just okay', but I would like to ask you for advice."
The translation of this sentence is: "You said I can't do it, right? Then you can up, and you can show me an example."
Actually...it's a bit messy.
But Sun Yixie didn't mind trying to compete with the other party in this win-win situation: "Okay, come on, where's the kitchen?" As he said this, he had already stood up and turned to Huang Dong. He said, "Brother Huang, come together. I'll make an appetizer for us first."
