"The candy looks so unique! But the color is really nice! I just don't know how it was made?"
"Yeah, the white sugar I've seen before is like sand, and it also has a layer of gray. It doesn't look very good. It's not as good-looking as this kind of sugar!"
At this time, a young man picked up a spoon and tapped the sugar gently, and the swan's wings fell off! He laughed loudly when he saw this scene, and then said: "It turns out that the candy was squeezed into this shape! I thought how it was made! It seems that it was not squeezed tightly, and it collapsed when I touched it!"
At this time, Miss Mingyue picked up a small silver clip, picked up a snail and gently placed it in the tea cup. She said lazily: "This candy was bought at a huge price by my family! It is said that it came from overseas! The taste is from overseas! Not only is it as sweet as honey, but it can also be made into various delightful shapes, which is even more popular!”
A rather fat young man said in surprise: "Do girls also like sweets?"
Miss Mingyue said: "That's right! In addition to playing the piano and dancing, I have to practice non-stop every day! It's very tiring! So after dancing, it's easy to replenish your energy by drinking a cup of sweet sugar tea!"
The person next to the fat young master answered and said: "That's it! If Miss Mingyue likes it, can you tell me the name of this shop? Tomorrow, the Japanese master will send someone to help the girl buy it!"
Hearing what this young man said, several other people also expressed their willingness to help Miss Mingyue buy this novel candy! In their opinion, these candy bars are not worth much money anyway. It would be a good thing if they could please Miss Mingyue!
Miss Mingyue said with a smile: "Young masters are so thoughtful, I would like to thank you! But I only know that this is for sale by Zhang Ji, I don't know the specific details!"
These young masters immediately expressed their opinions, and later sent people to find out what kind of immortal Zhang Ji was? When the time comes, I will definitely buy high-quality candies for the girl to taste! So the guest and the host can enjoy themselves in no time! What they don't know is that this kind of situation has happened in more than one brothel!
In the afternoon of the next day, in a village outside the city, more than a dozen carriages gathered outside a wealthy family's house with a red door. There were people of all ages getting off the carriage, but it was obvious that these people were Confucian disciples!
The people who got off the carriage first were relatively young. After getting off, they all raised the curtains and helped the older people in the carriage get off. And it can be seen from their behavior that those young people should be the nephews or disciples of the old man in the car! When these people got off the carriage, they naturally had to greet each other before entering the house one after another.
This house is the home of a senior official in the capital. This man's surname was Chen, and he had served as Minister of Rites. He has some reputation among the scholars in the capital. Therefore, after he became an official, he often held literary gatherings at home. On the one hand, it was for old friends to discuss articles, and on the other hand, it also gave the nephews and disciples of each family a chance to stand out!
This cultural gathering is actually a way for civil servants to communicate with each other and make connections! Therefore, this kind of cultural gathering is quite popular among the capital! But there are only a dozen well-known scholars who are qualified to hold literary conferences frequently! The remaining poetry gatherings and literary gatherings are all organized by New Year festivals or by young people connecting with each other!
Those slightly younger literati are very keen to participate in literary conferences, because if their articles are well received at literary conferences, they will become famous in the blink of an eye! If you are chosen as a disciple by a great Confucian, your worth will be doubled immediately!
After entering the lobby, these people took off their furs and handed them to the servants, and then greeted the master who came over! The owner here looks to be about seventy years old. His hair is pulled up into a very dignified bun and neatly combed. It can be seen that he has taken care of it carefully. There is a green jade hairpin inserted in the bun! The cheeks are thin, but the eyes are very sharp!
I only heard him say to one person: "It was your loss if you didn't come to the last literary meeting! At the last literary meeting, Brother De Songxian's nephew wrote an article, which was quite interesting!"
"Oh, that's great! I hope these young people will study hard enough and have a good chance of taking the imperial examination in the future. Only then can they live up to their family background!"
"Chen Weng, Brother Zhang, don't rush to praise others. This time my disciple also brought an article for you to comment on!"
"..."
While they were chatting, the servants had already brought the prepared brazier! Under the steaming heat, the main hall suddenly became as warm as spring. The guests also sat down one after another according to their age and status. The nephews and disciples they brought sat down on the outside, and they all looked at the dozen or so people in the middle with admiration!
All of these people are well-known figures in the capital, and some of them even hold key positions in various ministries! So it’s understandable that they look up to these people!
After everyone sat down, young and beautiful maids brought tea on trays. But along with the tea came three small white squares on a thin porcelain plate! These little squares look crystal clear and very cute!
One of them seemed to be familiar with the owner, so he picked up the plate and smelled it without hesitation, and said, "Brother Chen, what is this? It smells very sweet, I guess it must be sugar, right?"
Chen Weng laughed and said: "Brother Li Xian has a really good nose. He can guess it right away when he smells it! This is indeed candy. It's a new thing that just appeared on the market. It's called snow candy!"
When the others heard Chen Weng confirmed that it was sugar, they all commented in surprise: "This is the first time I have seen this snow candy, and the name is quite good!"
"I have seen white sugar, but it seems different from this kind of sugar!"
"That's right. The white sugar on the market is shaped like grains of sand. How can it be so square?"
"Not to mention the shape, just say that this candy is as white as snow and as delicate as salt, which shows that a lot of effort has been put into its production!"
After everyone discussed it, the person who spoke first said: "Brother Chen, what is going on? Let me introduce it to everyone!"
Chen Weng twirled his beard and said: "This candy was sent by a businessman! He said that he had read the manuscript that was circulated at our literary conference and liked it very much! So I sent some candy for everyone to taste!"
Everyone looked bright after hearing this. However, one person said: "Brother Chen, our literary association does not lack a few taels of candy from him, why should we accept it as a gift from such a stinking person?"
Someone immediately echoed and said, "That's right! This kind of businessman has a low status and has all kinds of calculations in his heart. Why should Brother Chen associate with them? He has lost his status for no reason!"
