Chu Ci and the others were invited to Zhaixing Tower by the servants arranged by Zhuang Zisheng.
There are many high-rise buildings in Xunweizhai, the tallest of which is the Zhaixing Tower. It is second only to the Ba Yong Tower of the City Lord's Mansion in Yangzhou City.
Zhou Jiuzhang stood at the window and saw people walking like ants downstairs. He panted and said, "Zhuang Zi gave birth to this grandson, and he must have deliberately arranged the place in a tall building to mess with me."
He breathed more fully and said, "If it weren't for watching this joke, I wouldn't have come up here."
Bu Ju frowned slightly, "How could you become vulgar after staying in an inn for one night?"
Chu Ci smiled slightly, "He is a rough man to begin with. If he is with a rougher person, he will inevitably be led astray."
Fortunately, I have never been here for the rest of my life, otherwise I would have had to argue with him. Shopkeeper Yu has always regarded himself as a civilized person.
After the servant went in to report, Zhuang Zisheng quickly went out to greet him. Behind him was the young master of the Cai family.
Regarding the origin of Gouzi's name, Yu Sheng once mentioned it to Zhou Jiuzhang when he was at the inn, and he remembered it firmly.
Now after meeting the young master of the Cai family, Zhou Jiuzhang couldn't help but think of the dog in the inn, and couldn't help but grinned: "Hey, the dog is here too."
"Gouzi?" Zhuangzi, dressed in white, paused and looked around, "Who is Gouzi?"
Zhou Jiuzhang pointed at the young master of the Cai family, "He."
The young master of the Cai family was puzzled, "Mr. Zhou, did you admit your mistake? This is Cai Ming, from the Cai family of Shangxinlou."
Zhou Jiuzhang pretended to be honest and rubbed his head, "I really remembered it wrong."
Zhuang Zisheng glanced at him coldly and said with a smile: "Brother Chu, Zhuang just got a piece of exquisite porcelain, and I would like you to take care of it."
Chu Ci said modestly: "I dare not say that I have palm eyes, it is true that I have long eyes."
They entered the room hand in hand, with the windows open, and the wind from the lake not far away blew in, blowing the gauze curtains.
There are already many beauties waiting in the room, as well as many respectable young men.
After they saw Chu Ci and the others, they all stood up and greeted them with their hands in hand. To them, the young masters of these four major families were untouchable.
As Zhuang Zisheng clapped his hands, wine and delicacies were placed on the table one by one.
Normally, Zhou Jiuzhang would have had a great appetite, but today Zhuang Zisheng was an eyesore, and he had tasted Yu Sheng's cooking skills, so looking at these things, he couldn't help but lose his appetite.
He grabbed the maid and asked, "Do you have any buns?"
The maid shook her head, "If the master wants it, I'll ask the cook to do it." The maid said.
"Please make it smaller and fill it with soup." Zhou Jiuzhang instructed.
"I'm going to ask the cook." The maid retreated with some embarrassment.
Zhuang Zisheng naturally would not let go of the opportunity to laugh, "I remember Brother Zhou's taste is very delicious, why are you eating steamed buns now?"
The other noble gentlemen also looked at Zhou Jiuzhang funny. They didn't have many opportunities to eat steamed buns at home, let alone come to the famous Xunweizhai to eat steamed buns.
Zhou Jiuzhang glanced at everyone with pride and said: "You are cicadas who don't know snow, and your knowledge is shallow. I don't blame you."
"Hey, Zhou Jiuzhang, what do you mean?" The people present were unconvinced.
Zhou Jiuzhang said arrogantly: "Why, I have wronged you. Have you ever enjoyed that white and tender food?"
"You've been lucky once, but you're not done yet." Everyone teased him. Regarding this, Zhou Jiuzhang showed off not once or twice.
"I'm sorry, buddy, you stepped on shit again..." Zhou Jiuzhang said half a sentence before he finally realized, "Ah, you're the lucky one who stepped on shit."
He continued: "I recently tasted another delicacy, which is to pour soup into small buns. That is the real delicacy."
"The buns are soft, tender and fragrant. When you take a bite, the soup will overflow..." Zhou Jiuzhang described it in a ostentatious manner, making himself and others salivate.
"Zhou Jiuzhang, where did you taste it? Is there any new food in Xunweizhai?" someone asked strangely.
"This delicacy is called soup dumplings. As for where you tasted it," Zhou Jiuzhang smiled proudly, "I won't tell you."
Everyone condemned Zhou Jiuzhang, and Zhuang Zisheng, who was overtaken by the crowd, said: "Don't let brother Zhou deceive you. I don't believe there are delicacies that are not available in Xunweizhai."
He looked at Zhou Jiuzhang, "Brother Zhou is letting the cook do the cooking right now, isn't he?"
"Yes, yes, yes." Everyone nodded, "If Xunweizhai doesn't have one, wouldn't it mean that it's a failure of shopkeeper Liu's brand?"
"Who wants to smash my Xunweizhai's sign?" A person said with a smile, and quickly walked into the house. It was the owner of Xunweizhai.
He has a goatee, a tall figure, and a long, slender black coat.
His name has never been known to outsiders. People in Yangzhou City only know that his surname is Liu, and he is known as Shopkeeper Liu. It is said that he comes from Fuyu Mountain.
Fuyu Mountain is well-known to people because of a strange beast. It looks like a tiger and has an ox's tail, and its sound is like a barking dog. Its name is a pig, and it likes to eat people.
Because shopkeeper Liu was also engaged in the slave business, he was called Liu Zhi by Yangzhou people behind his back.
Everyone talked about the soup dumplings that Zhou Jiuzhang just mentioned.
Shopkeeper Liu smiled and asked: "Master Zhou, where did you eat such simple food that you can't forget?"
Zhou Jiuzhang would not tell anyone about the inn, "a small country inn."
Shopkeeper Liu didn't ask any more questions. He was here to see the treasure that Zhuang Zisheng was showing off in a big way.
Zhuang Zisheng was frowning because Zhou Jiuzhang had overshadowed him. After hearing what Shopkeeper Liu had come, he immediately said proudly: "Shopkeeper Liu is also knowledgeable, so he can help me appreciate it."
He turned around and asked Cai Ming to take it out.
By this time, the porcelain had been replaced with boxes and wrapped in layers of soft and precious silk.
Everyone else gathered around to look at the treasure in the box, but Chu Ci and the other two remained indifferent.
Zhuang Zisheng raised his head and saw them, thinking that the three of them were embarrassed, and became even more proud.
He pushed aside the young masters who were surrounding Chu Ci and said, "Everyone, give way and let Brother Chu see clearly."
Everyone also knew that they were secretly competing with each other, so they all got out of the way.
Cai Ming even tilted towards Chu Ci knowingly, and opened them layer by layer, revealing a dignified and beautiful blue and white porcelain vase.
"Wow." Everyone exclaimed.
Chu Ci and the other three reluctantly pretended to be jealous, and they happened to be spotted by Zhuang Zisheng who looked up with a smile, which made him even more proud.
It's just that Zhou Jiuzhang, you are so weird that you exclaimed "wow wow".
"Brother Zhou, you can actually see how extraordinary this porcelain is?" Zhuang Zisheng asked casually.
Zhou Jiuzhang wanted to curse, but he was clumsy. He secretly regretted that he had not learned enough in the rest of his life, so he could only tease: "Aren't I cooperating with your performance? You can't turn a blind eye?"
Zhuang Zisheng was embarrassed for a moment, and secretly cursed himself for asking why he was so full.
"Huh?" The real actor started to perform, and Bu Juqi said: "Brother Chu, this porcelain looks familiar. Is it the one you want to buy but are not selling?"
Chu Ci looked at it carefully and said with envy: "Yes, yes, brother Zhuang, how did you buy it? He didn't sell it even if I offered ten strings."
"Buy?" Zhuang Zisheng said proudly, "The treasures are treasures that belong to the virtuous. Of course you can't buy them. This treasure was given as a gift by the owner."
Chu Ci shook his head, "Oh, Brother Zhuang is so proud. I begged him in every possible way, but the owner just refused to sell it and finally gave me some broken bottles and jars."
Zhuang Zisheng said: "Look at the exquisiteness of this porcelain. Even the broken bottles and jars must be extraordinary. Brother Chu, you might as well let us see it."
"Forget it, forget it, let's not show off our ugliness." Chu Ci refused.
The more this happened, the more Zhuang Zisheng refused to let him go, "When it comes to appraising treasures, there must be a level of authenticity. Brother Chu, don't shirk it."
"Okay, then I'll let everyone take a look." Chu Ci said reluctantly.