On June 24, the team from Xiaqiu Village set off, bringing another batch of glass mirrors, telescopes and twenty large wooden barrels.
Ten guards from the Prince's Mansion stayed behind to guard the village, but Zhu Taiyi and four others left together. The guards rotated, and they didn't go home for a long time.
At noon, everyone arrived at the Danqing store, and all the work in the store was completed, except for installing glass on the windows of the greenhouse.
Xiaocao was guarding the store by himself, and he only cleaned and guarded the door. He was still given fifty cash every day.
When he saw people from the village coming, he was so excited that his eyes were red: "I'm finally here. It's not interesting for me to be alone. I just sit at the door and rub the hemp rope during the day. How much do I rub?"
He showed everyone the fruits of his labor, which was such a big bundle. When others finished their work and left, he started to rub it.
The village chief felt sorry for him, but Hanhan would not be alone in the village.
"Xiaocao, where are you going to eat when you live alone?" The manager looked at Xiaocao. Fortunately, he was not hungry and thin, and he was still big and round.
"When I have dinner at Fuhua House, I ask the waiter to bring me a portion. The leftovers from the guests are the most delicious. They are rich and spend money.
The waiter told me that four people ordered a table of dishes, and just after eating for a while, two more people came, and the dishes were removed from the table and placed on a new table.
At this time, I have a good meal, which is really delicious and tastes better than the box lunch you make. "
Xiaocao talked about his own situation and compared it.
"That's because you only pay three cents for food, and you take three thousand cents to see."
The manager is not happy anymore, what should I do with the food for a few cents? You should really go to Xiaqiu Village to see it.
"Are you Xiaocao? Don't worry, we are here. We will have dinner later at noon and prepare it for you."
The chef in charge of cooking in the village smiled and told Xiaocao that he had brought nine people and some of the dishes he was going to cook.
After the house is tidied up, it’s time to start a new fire and burn the stove. Otherwise, we can just bring vegetables over, it’s only half a day’s journey away.
The things were moved here, and the rest were taken away by the palace guards in cars.
Zhu Taiyi and four others went to the Prince's Mansion first, and then went home with their gifts.
Large pots are set up, and the children help pick vegetables and light the fire. Everyone in the kitchen has their own division of labor, and those who prepare cold dishes are separated from those who prepare meat dishes to avoid getting sick.
A large pot of rice cooks a lot of meat at one time, and it is impossible to clean the cutting board. You have to use a special cutting board to eat raw meat.
Half an hour later, Xiaocao stared at the food on the table in shock.
Guobao pork, sizzling mutton, fish-flavored shredded pork, steamed carp, home-style tofu, salt and pepper crispy pork, coir raincoat eggplant, garlic cowpeas, fried chicken with soy sauce, beer duck, spinach and ginger soup, crucian carp braised pork ribs.
The staple food is rice and dumplings stuffed with three kinds of fresh food. The side dishes are also four meat, four vegetarian and four dried fruits.
Xiaocao was in a daze for a while, then pointed at the sizzling mutton and asked, "Is the thing underneath this iron?"
"Of course the sizzling mutton is iron-clad, try this lunch box that you can't get for just three cents." The manager still remembers it!
"I could smell the fragrance outside. Sure enough, you were hiding and eating good food secretly."
Shopkeeper Xu's voice came from the door. He brought a few waiters and brought trays with dishes. There were four dishes on them, like those from Xiaqiu Village.
"Shopkeeper Xu is here and I'm about to invite you! Sit down quickly." The manager stood up and said hello.
The guys helped put down the dishes and turned around to go back to their restaurant. Shopkeeper Xu washed his hands and smiled at Hanhan and Xiaocao.
He had known that people from Xiaqiu Village were coming and needed to pass by Fuhua Building. The guy was not blind.
He estimated the time and asked the restaurant to prepare four dishes, with four servings for each dish. The number of people in the village was estimated to be four tables.
There were indeed four tables. Including Xiaocao, there were thirty-six people in total, nine at each table.
Shopkeeper Xu came over and sat down at the table of the chief. He took a look and found that there were several things he didn't recognize. Well, let's try them!
"Zhu Lichang, you can't finish these, can you?" Shopkeeper Xu found a table with sixteen dishes.
"The chefs from Fuhua Building have invited three of them to eat together." The manager understood what the other party meant. If he couldn't ask for the recipe, he would find someone to eat it.
"Okay! I'll be back soon." Shopkeeper Xu turned around and left without being polite. Within twenty seconds, he brought three chefs with him.
The chef comes with a mission to eat. He eats slowly and tastes carefully.
Then I started to frown when I saw the coir raincoat eggplant. How did you cut it? Try beer duck again, what seasoning?
"It's delicious, it's delicious, it's better than the one at Fuhua House. I'm willing to spend ten, no, thirty yuan to eat it once." Xiaocao justified the name of the box lunch through comparison.
"You don't have to spend money, you can eat for free here every day." The village manager became happy and said, "Look, let's just say our lunch box is special!"
"Okay, okay!" Xiaocao was very happy. He liked every dish.
Shopkeeper Xu took a sip of wine: "Zhu Lichang, I have something for you to know. The shop opposite me and the Luoyunzhai opposite you have changed people. I don't know who it is. They have all moved away."
"Uh-huh!" Li Chang coughed: "I know who it is, it's...Xiaqiu Village."
"Xiaqiu Village! Listen...ah? Did you buy it?" Shopkeeper Xu's eyes widened.
He knew that there was someone behind the pawn shop and had contacts with many officials. How did he buy it?
As for those who sell the Four Treasures of the Study, it is easy to deal with. If you find someone from the authorities to pressure and scare them, they will sell it, but no one is optimistic about the location.
"It's a long story. Anyway, let's go back to the village and have a meal later. Otherwise, we will have to wait for a while before coming."
The head of the village didn't mention that the prince helped buy it and owed the prince eight thousand guan.
Shopkeeper Xu was silent for a moment: "Your village is still rich and powerful."
He thought that the palace had taken action, and people were invited to watch the ceremony. The crown prince had a concubine, and he had met the current emperor.
"I don't have any money. I owe a lot to the famine. Hey! Not to mention the power. I'm just the leader."
The leader is humble, we are not crazy, we only did some small things for Ming Dynasty.
The two sides chatted about other things. Shopkeeper Xu introduced that his Fuhua Building has a lot of customers because it has a few more dishes, breads and cakes. If Xiaqiu Village is short of money, they can help.
After the meal was finished, shopkeeper Xu called the waiter to take the leftover dishes back to Fuhua Building for others to eat.
The people in Xiaqiu Village originally planned to heat it up for dinner, but if someone wants it, then give it to them! Remember to send back iron plates, plates, etc.
"I'm not afraid of spoilage this time. I'll make something else tonight." The person in charge of the kitchen shrugged.
As soon as Shopkeeper Xu returned to the restaurant, he greeted the waiters and the people in the kitchen to eat.
"Try them all. This is the first time I've seen people put vegetables on the iron plate. This method is great! Especially in winter, it won't get cold when you eat it."
Shopkeeper Xu looked at the iron plate carefully. There was an edge. The mutton and other things were placed inside so that the juice would not flow out.
"Shopkeeper, we don't know how to cut this eggplant. It's called coir raincoat eggplant. The empty spaces and connected ones inside look similar to the grid when weaving coir raincoat."
The best chef in the restaurant used chopsticks to pick up the uneaten eggplants in the coir raincoat, like a continuous fishing net, which is how the coir raincoat is braided.
"Could it be a little hollowed out?" Another chef shook his head after saying that he would not be able to eat it until it was finished.
