Chapter 105
Instead, Boss Luo smiled, "You'll find out later."
"Did you really find a famous cook? Where did you find it?" Boss Du asked in doubt.
Boss Luo didn't want to say more. While Boss Du kept pestering for answers. At this moment, someone said, "Master Bai, Master Li, and Master Qin are here."
These three people were the leaders among the wealthy businessmen in the capital. When they came, everyone stood up.
Boss Luo and Boss Du hurried outside to greet them.
Master Bai was a fat middle-aged man, wearing a crimson-colored brocade embroidered with clouds. Anyone with knowledge could immediately recognize that this brocade was the famous Yue brocade. Every inch of the brocade was gold. And looking at the embroidery and workmanship, it must be produced by Caisheng Pavilion.
Master Li was a man in his thirties with a gentle appearance. He was wearing a light blue robe. The material of the gown was considered expensive, but it wasn't as good as Master Bai's. Still, the embroidery was exquisite, the tailoring fitted well, and there was an inconspicuous flying phoenix pattern on the lower right corner of the gown.
Immediately, someone exclaimed, "Master Li's clothes are made by Zhu Yu Niang?"
Zhu Yu Niang was the wife of the magistrate of Lincheng and had superb embroidery skills. A piece of her embroidery was hard to buy. Master Li was wearing a robe that she embroidered and cut out?
Master Qin was an old man in his fifties. He didn't wear anything special, except for the rare dzi bead bracelet on his wrist that was occasionally revealed when raising his hand. It was amazing.
That was one of the seven treasures of Tibet, the male elephant dzi Bead. It was said that it could attract good fortune, block evil spirits, cure diseases, and save lives. A piece of this quality was hard to find in the world. Master Qin made it into a bracelet.
Boss Luo and Boss Du looked at each other with sourness in their hearts. Sure enough, compared with Boss Bai and others, they had too little background. No wonder they looked down on them.
For a while, the two of them even felt a sense of waning interest.
Master Bai trio had already entered the hall.
Master Bai smiled and said, "I was just joking last time. Didn't expect Boss Luo to take it seriously. Alright, let's try Boss Luo’s master cook’s skill together today. Presumably, we won't be disappointed."
He spoke very politely, but everyone present was smart. Everyone could tell that he was speaking sarcastically.
Some responded, some smiled, and some worried for Boss Luo.
It looked peaceful from the front, but in fact there was an undercurrent. Jiang Yun Zhu from the back had already prepared everything and was waiting for the banquet to start to make the hot food. There was nothing to do at this time.
"Boss, you didn't see those people in the front hall. I heard that there are clothes that are worth a thousand liang. And it’s in gold. There are people who have a bracelet worth a hundred thousand liang silver." Xue Jing was idle and went to the front. After a circle, he came back and sighed to Jiang Yun Zhu.
He felt that a moment ago, his perception of rich people was completely subverted.
Compared with these people, the richest household in Wuling County was simply a pauper.
Jiang Yun Zhu wasn't surprised. These people were the richest merchants in the capital city of the Great Xia Dynasty. How much money did they have in their families? Maybe it was uncountable. What's wrong with a ten thousand gold bracelet?
Of course, Jiang Yun Zhu felt that they were burning their wallet a little bit. This kind of comparison...
At this time, everyone in front had already taken their seats. They chatted for a while. Soon, a dancer came up to sing and dance.
This was an inherent show of rich businessmen's banquets, to see which one's woman was beautiful.
Boss Luo bought these dancers from the south at a high price. They were all beautiful and graceful. Their dances were even more graceful and moving.
However, in the eyes of Master Bai and others, it wasn't worth mentioning. Nothing special!
Master Bai and others didn't go to watch those dancers and chatted with each other.
This was indicating dissatisfaction with the dancer girls. When everyone saw this, they talked and laughed.
This was equivalent to slapping Boss Luo in the face. Boss Luo's complexion was ugly.
"Brother Luo!" Boss Du sighed softly. He knew this was the case. He never dared to hold a banquet for fear of being humiliated.
Boss Luo decided to advance the following events and he gestured to the housekeeper next to him.
The housekeeper immediately went to the back and said anxiously, "Boss Jiang, let's serve some snacks and drinks!"
"So fast?" Jiang Yun Zhu was surprised. It stood to reason that one should drink tea first, enjoy the dance, and then serve snacks and drinks. It meant the banquet was about to begin.
"This is Master’s intention." The housekeeper said.
"Okay." Jiang Yun Zhu agreed.
Not long after, a group of beautiful maids came to the guests’ table with trays of snacks and respectfully placed the snacks on the table.
As soon as the snacks were served, it attracted everyone's attention.
These snacks were so beautiful!
There were four snacks dishes. The first dish was Lotus Fun. One could see the lotus leaf fields painted on the fine white porcelain plate and in the water waves next to it, there were eight lifelike water birds the size of a thumb.
These waterfowls were desserts. They were plump and white, with gorgeous tail. They even have eyes and mouths. Each had a different expression; so vivid as if real birds were playing in the water waves and lotus leaves.
Putting aside the taste, the workmanship of being able to make snacks so small and lifelike was an eye-opener.
The second dish was lotus crisp. Some people knew about this dessert. This dessert had a long history. According to the records of ‘Dream Meal Record’, this dessert was the favorite of Emperor Guangzong of Song Dynasty. However, after the invasion of foreign tribes, this imperial dessert was lost.
What? Manager Luo's cook knew how to make this snack?
Was it a counterfeit? Didn’t seem so. The appearance of this dessert was exactly the same as that recorded in the book. It looked like a pink lotus flower in full bloom. The most difficult thing about this dessert was that each petal was layered on top of each other and were as thin as thin paper and not stuck together! Many people have wanted to imitate this dessert, but they couldn't make it like this.
Now looking at the petals of this snack, one knew that the records in ‘Dream Meal Record’ were true.
The third dish was the snow lotus root and pumpkin cup. For this snack, the small pumpkins were only the size of plums and the color and shape were the same as real pumpkins. The most ingenious thing was that the pumpkins could be opened. Inside, there were some snow-white and sweet things. It was quite tempting.
The fourth dish, lotus flowers reflecting the sun. Under the lotus petals, pieces of crystal-like snacks and lotus petals set off and complemented each other. It made people seem to see the beautiful scenery of ‘the lotus flowers reflecting the sun were extraordinarily red’.
That's right. The theme of Jiang Yun Zhu's banquet today was lotus.
After the four dishes of snacks were served, even Master Bai stopped joking and focused on the plates of snacks.
"Please, let's enjoy the scenery as you are eating." The hall became quiet. Seeing this, Boss Luo finally felt elated and invited everyone with a smile.
Then he put a lotus cake in his mouth.
He had only heard of the name of this snack, but had never eaten it before. Now he ate it, he felt like layer upon layer of lotus petals were blooming in his mouth. Without exception, it made people applaud.
Boss Luo felt that it was worth it to invite Jiang Yun Zhu to the banquet for two cellars of ice cubes. For nothing else, other than being able to eat such delicious snacks. He profited.
Since the host started to eat, the customers started to move their chopsticks.
Some people ate lotus cakes. Some people ate the waterfowl in the lotus pond. While some people were curious about what was in the pumpkin cup...
No matter which snacks they ate, they had only one thought after entering their mouth- how could this snack be so delicious.
This time, no one was watching the singing and dancing. Everyone was busy eating snacks.
There were very few snacks. Each item was only the size of a child's fist. Soon, everyone ate up the snacks, and then stopped in realization. It was a little embarrassing.
When attending a banquet, snacks were an appetizer. Everyone used to go through the motions and eat one or two pieces. But now... it was completely finished. How shameful! It was as if they hadn't had snacks before.
There were one or two pieces left on the plate. Better put down my chopsticks quickly.
But the snacks were delicious. The chopsticks seemed uncontrollable and they picked up the remaining snacks and put them in their mouths.
Some people were thin-skinned and couldn't help but blush.
They were all people of status. What delicious food hadn’t they eaten before? Was there a need for this!
Master Bai and the others ate a lot. Although they didn't want to admit it, the snacks were indeed delicious.
At this moment, Boss Du's jaw almost dropped from shock. Where did Boss Luo find the cook with such superb cooking skills?
He bumped Boss Luo with his arm. A resentful expression was on his face. He sneakily came up with such a surprise and didn't let him tag along. Truly not being a good friend.
Boss Luo smiled shyly. He also received Jiang Yun Zhu's invitation. It was just that he didn't seize the opportunity himself.
After the snacks were finished, the singing and dancing continued. This time, everyone stopped chatting and watched the singing and dancing absent-mindedly. In fact, they were waiting for the feast. They ate a few pieces of snacks, which completely hooked the gluttons in their stomachs. Now they want to eat and see what surprises there were.
The dishes began to be served. At the same time, the drinks were brought up.
It turned out to be a glass of wine with a transparent bottom and a dense blue top. It looked very mysterious and beautiful.
"Boss Luo, what is this?" Someone couldn't help asking Boss Luo.
Boss Luo picked up the wine glass and explained, "This is a glazed glass. I have someone improve the original method to make it."
Everyone complimented him a bit. They were eager to listen to what he had to say next. Glass had been around for a long time. It was considered a treasure in the Han and Tang Dynasties, but it was nothing in this dynasty. They were curious about the color of the wine in the glass and how the layers separate.
"Let's try it first." Boss Luo seemed to be deliberately whetting everyone's appetite and directed to everyone.
If it was before, everyone would have ridiculed him.
But now, it was a good idea to try it first. What if the wine didn't taste good!
Everyone raised their wine glasses and took a sip. They have never drunk wine with this taste. It was refreshing and sweet. And because there was ice in the wine, this feeling was deepened. It seemed to permeate the whole body after one sip.
Tasting it carefully, it seemed that there were other long-lasting flavors mixed in this wine. There was an endless aftertaste.
"Good wine!" Boss Du praised first. Then he commented, "With this kind of wine, it seems that this summer will be much better."
When he said that, everyone secretly agreed.
It was already June and the hottest time of the year was around the corner. Every summer, everyone would be bitterly sweating. If one could drink a glass of this wine in the hot summer… just the thought alone was comfortable.
Everyone was more concerned about what the wine was called and where it came from.
It couldn't be that Boss Luo's cook brewed this wine?
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