They were in the east of the city and didn't have to go far. It didn't take long to walk to Yangliu Lane.
When we arrived at Yangliu Alley, we didn’t even need to ask anyone where the Hu Family Courtyard was. We saw that the alley was jammed with people. After asking, we found out that they were all waiting in line to sign up.
Maybe the registration countdown is on. It’s this afternoon and there are still quite a few people signing up.
There were so many people, so crowded, Song Qiu just asked A Ling to accompany her, and asked Lu Jingye to go sit and wait at the tea stall opposite.
After queuing in a bustling queue for nearly two quarters of an hour, we finally reached the courtyard.
The name is Hu Family Courtyard, and this courtyard is really big.
I heard that this was specially rebuilt by Man Tang Hong for the cooking competition every five years. It was originally a large house with three entrances, but the front and rear were opened up, leaving only a few rooms in the back room, and the rest were completely empty and turned into a large courtyard.
.
It's empty, registration is here, and the preliminaries will be held here.
After entering the courtyard, we waited in line for another quarter of an hour before it was Song Qiu's turn.
If there was one more team to sign up, it wouldn't be so slow.
There are two people sitting behind the table. One person is responsible for registering names, and the other is responsible for collecting registration fees and issuing wooden cards to applicants. With this wooden card, they can participate in the competition.
"Name?" the steward asked, subconsciously looking up, he was stunned.
"What are you doing here? This is the registration office for the Man Tang Hong Cooking Competition. Did the girl go to the wrong place?"
Song Qiu and Aling lined up and had already been pointed at by others. After all, almost all of them in this long queue were men. There were occasionally a dozen or so women, and they were all elderly women.
people.
Girls as young as Song Qiu and Aling didn't look at them.
So everyone is curious.
Such a young girl also comes to participate in the cooking competition?
How about playing?
Being stared at by so many people, Song Qiu's expression remained unchanged and he answered the steward: "Song Qiu, sign up for the cooking competition."
After hearing it with his own ears, the manager suspected that he heard it wrong, "Are you really here to sign up for the cooking competition?"
Song Qiu asked back: "Does it mean that little girls are not allowed to participate in your competition?"
That's not true. The registration stipulation is that you only need to pay a registration fee of one or two silver. There is still a preliminary round after all, and those who are not good at cooking will not be put into the second round to be embarrassed.
The steward was stunned for a moment and opened his mouth, but still couldn't react.
After all, he has been responsible for registration here several times, and this is the first time he has met such a young girl who has not yet been married to participate in the competition.
In a girl's house, a good meal and a good meal are also important for marriage, but with such little cooking skills, can you go to the lobby? How dare you participate in the competition? What a fuss!
The steward was stunned for a long time, but in the end he didn't say anything against it, and all the money was handed over.
He could only register his name and ask his companion to give her a wooden sign.
At any rate, whether it succeeds or not, you have to pay money. If it fails, you will be brushed off from the preliminaries and you will not be able to go up.
Song Qiu took the wooden sign and walked out of the team with Al Ling, and went out to another special door. There was a sign at the door, which said the time when the preliminaries would start. It would be the morning after tomorrow. Come and gather here directly.
, waiting for the game.
I happened to be visiting Xue Mansion tomorrow, and I will concentrate on participating in the competition.
Song Qiu and Aling left, but a teenage girl signed up for the cooking competition, and word spread quickly.
But it's all a joke. Whose girl doesn't just stay at home and wait to get married, but instead runs out to show off and participate in this much-anticipated cooking competition.
The parents in this family are also big-hearted.
My daughter's family is not afraid of losing her reputation by participating in a competition with a large group of men.
But no one paid much attention to this little girl. They just thought that she would definitely be kicked out of the preliminaries, and she would cry when the time came. It was really beautiful.
…
After leaving the alley, I met up with Lu Jing and others, and then headed back to Wangyuan Inn together.
After running around all afternoon, everyone was tired. After having dinner, washing up, and then taking a rest.
The inn was big, the bed was big, and the bedding was warm. Song Qiu almost felt like Duke Zhou when he touched the pillow.
After a dreamless night, Song Qiu got up early in the morning and changed into a new turquoise dress, tied up her hair in a simple bun, and inserted the hairpin that Li Yang gave her.
Get ready and go downstairs to have breakfast.
The breakfast provided by the inn was very light, but very appetizing. Song Qiu drank a bowl of millet porridge and ate six crystal shrimp dumplings, which made him almost full.
Putting down his chopsticks, he saw that Lu Jing and the others were still enjoying their meals, so he said, "I'll just go with A Ling, and you guys can take a walk around."
Ah Ling swallowed what was in his mouth and did not forget to warn: "Don't run around, otherwise we won't be able to find anyone when we come back."
Lu Jing stuck out her tongue, "I know Master, we are not children anymore. Besides, there is Brother Ye following us."
Speaking of Ye Fang, Aling glanced over and said, "Speaking of which, the New Year is over and it's almost March. Are you still not planning to go back to your school?"
Ye Fang said: "I have been traveling for only three to five years, so I am not in a hurry to go back."
Al-Ling listened, thinking that this man had pretended to be a sophisticated person before, but in the past few months he had been following them, he had been dressing as he always was, and he never got any easier.
"Since it's a journey, why don't you go on a journey and follow me?"
Ye Fang said with a smile, "I am also traveling with you, how exciting is every day?"
Aling snorted.
Ye Fang was stared at by her, not to be outdone, "Besides, I'm not following you, I'm following A Jing, and I promised my master that I will take good care of her."
Lu Jing looked at her master, then at Brother Ye, silently lowered her head and drank her porridge.
Aling stared, then smiled suddenly, "Ajing is my disciple, you are her eldest brother Ye, and you are also my junior. Okay, just follow. Elders should take care of juniors. My good nephew, if you need help, please don't
Meet the elders."
Ye Fang: "What elder? I'm three years older than you."
Ah Ling grinned, "Okay, if you have the ability, ask Ah Jing to call you Uncle Ye."
Lu Jing, who was drinking porridge, almost spit out her mouth. Uncle Ye?
She couldn't scream.
…
Song Qiu and Al-Ling went to Xue Mansion together. Al-Ling was also wearing a brand-new dress. It was inconvenient to drive and they were not familiar with the road, so they simply called a carriage on the street and asked him to take them to Jinhua Avenue in the north of the city.
go.
It's not that close from the east of the city to the north of the city. It took the carriage two quarters of an hour to get there.
When we arrived at Jinhua Avenue, we saw the majestic Pingjiang Government Office.
Passing by the government office, Wutong Lane is right behind the government office.
The carriage stopped at the entrance of the alley. Song and Qiu got off the carriage, paid the carriage, and then went into the alley.
Wutong Lane is quiet and quiet. There are only six houses in the whole alley, with lanterns hanging in front of the doors and plaques on the doors.
Entering the alley, the second house on the left is Xue Mansion, which you can see at a glance.
The two walked over, and Aling quickly climbed up the steps and knocked on the door.
Just as the door knocked, there was the clatter of horse hooves at the entrance of the alley.
Song Qiu and Aling glanced subconsciously and saw a carriage approaching with several mounted guards on the left and right.
The carriage and the group looked familiar.
At this time, the door also opened.
The boy who opened the door saw the carriage stopped outside, and immediately greeted him with a smile, "But the young master is here? Madam is still talking about it!"