Chapter 106
Boss Luo had never been under the spotlight like this before. He was a little proud, "Have you ever seen the sea?"
Some people have seen it. Some people haven't.
"What does Boss Luo mean?"
"The name of this wine is 'Ocean'. If you have a chance, go to the sea to see the origin of this wine's name." Boss Luo sighed. He had seen the sea before. Wasn’t this blue and mysterious sea like this wine?
Everyone knew that he was in the maritime business. Hearing what he said. Some people felt he was showing off on purpose. If it was before, they would have ridiculed him immediately and then left with a fling of their sleeves. Now...they were waiting for the feast and wine. Let him be proud for now.
There were people who had seen the sea. After hearing what he said, they felt that the wine was named correctly.
"Come on. Let's drink this cup together." Boss Luo raised his glass and declared.
Everyone picked up their wine glasses and drank the wine in one gulp, feeling happy and sweet.
At this moment, the maids of the Luo Family began to serve wine. But instead of pouring wine into everyone's glasses, they served a new glass of wine.
This glass of wine was green and transparent. So clear and sparkling.
"The name of this wine is 'Jasper Lake '." Boss Luo jolly introduced.
Another new wine? Everyone was surprised.
Boss Du didn't believe it. He took a sip of the wine in the glass. It tasted completely different from the earlier one. This wine was sweeter, like jade dew of Jasper Lake. It got an elegant honey fragrance and a pleasant aftertaste.
Others took a sip of this wine. Some immediately fell in love with it, while others felt that the earlier 'Ocean' had more charm.
"Brother Luo, are there other wines? Why don't you bring them up and let us have a good drink." Boss Du couldn't help but say.
After hearing this, everyone immediately chimed in agreement.
"Of course, there are." Boss Luo replied.
Indeed, "Boss Luo, how many new wines do you have?" Someone asked in amazement. They all found it incredulous. These two new wines were amazing enough. Now there were more? Since when was it so easy to brew good wine?
"Only five kinds are prepared today." Boss Luo casually answered, as if this was normal.
Everyone was surprised. Five? And from what he said, it seemed that there were more than five new wines!
Everyone looked at each other. They were all rendered speechless. They have been beaten. All of them have been outmatched. Based on these new wines, they weren't as good as Boss Luo.
Master Bai, Master Li, and Master Qin were a little confused. They didn't believe that Boss Luo, who was selling tofu on some unknown streets ten years ago, could come up with so many good wines at once. Unless, the wine was from overseas?
But it didn't seem so. They had drunk wine from overseas. They burned their throats and tasted bad. It wasn't as delicious as this wine.
They affirmed that this wine was native to the Xia Dynasty. It had that lingering and fragrant taste.
Then why? They were puzzled and their faces were gloomy.
Seeing them like this, the corners of Boss Luo's mouth almost turned up to the sky. Finally, he made them deflated once.
At this time, the dishes were already set. He ushered, "How can we have wine without dishes? Let's try these dishes and see if it suits everyone's taste."
When he said the last sentence, he looked at Master Bai. He was obviously responding to his previous provocation.
Everyone turned to Master Bai.
Master Bai smiled on the surface as he looked at the table.
This table dish was based on the theme of lotus. It was in line with the earlier snacks. This was rare. One must know that cooks have only a few specialties. Once the theme or the ingredients were limited, there would be even fewer special dishes that could be served on the table. Sometimes they could only make up a few dishes from here and there to make up the number.
To call it a lotus banquet? Can’t really.
But what about the table in front of them?
There were 18 dishes in total, including cold dishes, hot dishes and soups. All of which were related to lotus flowers and were extremely exquisite.
What did this mean? It showed that the cook's craftsmanship was far beyond the level shown by this table dish.
Take a closer look at those dishes. Lotus pod fish buns, a delicacy recorded in ‘Mountain Family Pure Supply’.
The lotus pod mandarin fish meatball. In a thin porcelain soup bowl was clear soup, a small green lotus pod, and a white meatball the size of a baby's fist rolling in the soup. It was very attractive to look at.
Jade seed shrimp. The crystal clear shrimps and the moist lotus seeds complement each other.
The lotus flower bun. The stuffing was wrapped with lotus petals and then displayed in the shape of a lotus flower. Truly like a lotus flower waiting to bloom.
...
In June, the lotus was blooming. And the table full of lotus dishes was very suitable for the season. Because the dishes were exquisite and lifelike and the fragrance of lotus wafted in, everyone suddenly felt like they were seeing the lotus blooming on the table. Paired with the cups of green Jasper Lake wine, it didn't seem to be in the human world.
Boss Luo was stunned for a moment. Although he already knew that Jiang Yun Zhu would have a lotus-themed banquet, he didn't expect that she could do this.
"Try it, everyone," he beckoned.
Some people couldn't bear to eat these dishes, while some people started to eat those dishes. The rest of them all stretched out their chopsticks, fearing that the dishes would be eaten up by others.
Lotus pod fish bun, the perfect combination of fish meat and lotus pod! No wonder it was a delicacy that Lin Hong was full of praise for.
The lotus mandarin fish meatball was also fish meat and lotus pod, but it had a different taste. So smooth and delicious.
Jade seed shrimp. The shrimp was chewy and full of umami. It had an unexpected flavor when eaten with lotus seeds.
The lotus flower bun turned out to be lotus petals filled with fish roe. The golden fish roe had no stench taste at all. Quite soft and delicious.
...
No one spoke at the dinner table. Everyone was tasting delicious food.
After a while, the drinks were changed. This time the wine was bright red. It was called Red Makeup. It matched perfectly with the lotus feast.
Then there were Iced Peach and Amber.
Amber was a honey-colored wine. After drinking it, everyone had their fill.
At this time, the dishes on the table were basically finished. There was no need to express how well the dishes were.
"Good wine, good food." Master Bai remarked in satisfaction. This time he praised with sincerity.
Everyone else also admired endlessly.
Then, there was that question.
"I wonder which master cook made this delicious food." Master Bai asked. His eyes sparkling. What kind of future did such a cook have in Luo's house? Come to his house and he’ll satisfy any terms he offered.
Master Bai asked everyone what they thought. Everyone looked at Boss Luo.
Boss Luo already discussed this matter with Jiang Yun Zhu, asking her if she wanted to come out to meet everyone.
Of course Jiang Yun Zhu didn't want to. She wanted to be behind the scenes.
So, Boss Luo smiled, acting all mysterious. All the people sitting here were businessmen. He deeply understood the character of a businessman too well. If one tells them directly, they might doubt it. If he bait them before letting out the information and let them assume they investigated it themselves, it would be a completely different outcome.
Sure enough, the more he kept silent, the more itchy everyone felt. They had already started planning how to find out the identity of that cook.
This cast a layer of mystery on Jiang Yun Zhu's body.
Everyone was talking in hushed voices. But one of them had a strange expression. It was Jing Cheng Yan. As soon as he ate it, he knew that this dish was Shiguang Restaurant’s cook's work.
In the past few days, he had been going to Shiguang Restaurant to eat every day. Of course, he knew the rules of the restaurant. Every day at noon and evening, they only receive twelve tables of customers and the cook decides the dishes each day.
There weren't many customers in the restaurant these days. Every time he went there, he always had a place.
But now... Jing Cheng Yan was in a panic. Boss Luo couldn't hide the identity of the cook. It won't be long before everyone knew that the cook was from Shiguang's private restaurant. Once the restaurant gets overcrowded, can he still grab a seat?
Suddenly, he remembered the invitation that Jin Jiao Yue sent before. At that time, she said that as long as one took this invitation to the restaurant, the owner would sweep the couch to welcome. He didn't know what it meant then, but now he did.
This invitation was the ticket to enter Shiguang Restaurant!
Thinking of this, he suddenly stood up.
"What are you doing?" Master Lian glared at his son angrily and quietly berated. This son of his was ignorant and incompetent. Truly made his heart broken.
Jing Cheng Yan couldn't care that much anymore. He found an excuse and ran out of Luo's house in a hurry. He called his servants and told them to go to the homes of rich merchants. No matter if it was bought with money or whatever, they must get the invitation card.
It was six days ago that Jin Jiao Yue sent the invitations. Some of the invitations were thrown away, some were casually left somewhere by the gatekeepers, and some were in the rich merchants’ miscellaneous pile.
Jing Cheng Yan went out in person. The invitation that was thrown away? Tell him where it was and there’ll be a reward of ten liang silver.
The servants randomly placed it? Quickly give it to him and he’ll give twenty liang silver.
In the rich merchant’s miscellaneous pile, fifty liang silver! Can’t do? One hundred liang!
...
It was getting late, and Jing Cheng Yan gathered more than a dozen invitation cards. He hugged those invitation cards and laughed excitedly.
Over at this side, the banquet was over. Master Bai and others left.
Immediately after they boarded their respective carriages. Someone whispered that it turned out that it was the cook of Shiguang's private kitchen who was cooking the banquet and making wine at Boss Luo's house today.
No one knew the name of the cook, except that the restaurant opened six days ago. Back then, they sent invitations to the masters, saying that whoever came to the door with the invitation, the owner of the restaurant would welcome all.
"Shiguang Private Kitchen Restaurant?" There seem to be some recollection. There was a menu attached to the invitation. It included ‘Fish wrapped in mutton, Mrs. Song's Fish Soup, Boiled Ginkgo, Taibai Duck, Chicken in Clear Soup, Luoyang Yancai…’ and the likes. At that time they didn't believe that someone could make these dishes and felt that the person was grandstanding.
Now.
"Quickly go home and show me the invitation." In different carriages, there was the same urgent cry.
At this time, Boss Luo brought a young man to the backyard to meet Jiang Yun Zhu.
The young man was his son. Boss Luo had seen Jiang Yun Zhu's cooking today and could foresee how priceless a meal at Shiguang Restaurant would be in the future. He wanted to keep Jiang Yun Zhu. After pondering and deliberating, he felt that the general conditions would definitely not work. Suddenly he thought, if only Jiang Yun Zhu could take a fancy to his son and everyone would be happy.
Jiang Yun Zhu and others were packing up their things and preparing to go back to the restaurant.
Boss Luo sorted some things with her and mentioned his son intentionally or unintentionally. The meaning couldn't be more obvious.
Jiang Yun Zhu didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Off to the side. No one can take her from ice block Shen Yuyu. 🤣
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