Hearing a large group of people shouting these six words in unison, they immediately raised their glasses and drank. Zhang Shou, who was already in a good mood, happily raised his wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp. The fragrant rice wine spread in his mouth,
The taste was soft, and it seemed to have no energy at all at first taste, but when the sound of Qianqiu rang in his ears again, he seemed to be drunk and couldn't help but fall into a trance.
Different from Long Live, the word Qianqiu has never been exclusive to the royal family, and its rich meanings can make any foreigner who comes into contact with Chinese stunned. Qianqiu can refer to passing away and heading west; it can also refer to growing up.
A long time; but it can also refer to a person’s birthday, or even congratulate a person on their birthday. In addition, this polysemous word has many other meanings.
But at this time, he was very happy to hear this call from Young Master Qianqiu, not because he was narcissistic and thought that he could really live forever and live forever, but because he could truly feel that this call was full of joy and elation.
There was not much reluctance to be heard. Even if the joy was not necessarily because of his birthday, but maybe because of having something to eat and drink, he didn't mind.
But soon, Zhang Shou couldn't be happy anymore. Because Ah Liu, who had just taken the lead in drinking to celebrate his birthday, was the first to come up and toast again. As if they had agreed upon it, they all lined up in a long queue.
Without exception, he held full wine bowls in his hands, and shouted auspicious words such as "blessings like the East China Sea, longevity, and Nanshan Mountain" in his mouth. He drank three bowls in a row, and then he finally couldn't bear it anymore.
When he saw the fourth little guy after Ah Liu coming up with wine, shouting about the sun and the moon, the sun and the moon, and the everlasting spring, he couldn't help it anymore. He grabbed the wine bowl with his left hand and closed his five fingers with his right hand.
He hit the little guy on the head with a knife and scolded him angrily: "Do you know what Songhe Changchun means? It's for birthday wishes for people of your grandfather's level!"
Seeing that the young people waiting in line at the back were obviously stunned, he said angrily: "The same goes for Fu Rudonghai Shoubinanshan just now! You can propose a toast to me, and think about the poems or idioms you have learned.
, find a few words to suit the occasion, otherwise..."
Zhang Shou cast a malicious glance at the young men who were whispering to each other, and was about to add a few frightening suffixes to the words. The young man who had just been stabbed suddenly said in a loud voice as if he was blessed: "I wish the young master an early bridal chamber and a son."
!”
Almost as soon as he finished speaking, there was a burst of laughter from all around, but it stopped abruptly after a moment.
Zhang Shou, who was completely dumbfounded, rewarded the little guy with another blow, but immediately after, he saw a bowl of wine being brought to his mouth. When he looked again, the boy who was delivering the wine with a steady hand was not Ah.
Liu, who else? Although the wine was almost full to the top of the bowl, miraculously not a drop was spilled, and Zhang Shou doubted that if he didn't drink, Ah Liu would just drink it.
In desperation, he could only reach out and take it, but after taking a few sips, he was wondering if he could find a way to cheat and let it leak on the ground, or something else, when he only heard Ah Liu say: "Master, rice wine."
The folks in the village use spring water to brew the rice wine, and they brewed the rice wine two years ago and buried it in the ground."
Whether it's rice wine or rice wine, they all require food. For the villagers who have always been thrifty, this is the most precious thing they can give. Today is your birthday. For the sake of everyone's happiness, drink a few more sips, don't let it down.
Everyone's feelings - although this was purely Zhang Shou's imagination of Ah Liu's words, he knew that this was what this boy meant.
He looked helplessly towards Ah Liu, but Ah Liu looked at him innocently: "After drinking this bowl, I will change it to a small cup for you."
Under this promise, Zhang Shouwei closed his eyes and drank it all again. It must be said that the food grown in his own land and the spring water gurgling from the back mountain of his village were brewed in such a pure and pollution-free way
The rice wine is indeed as delicious as honey water.
The problem is that drinking alcohol is fine like drinking water, but drinking water can have fatal side effects!
Even though he changed the small cup next, after he drank at least seven or eight small cups again, Zhang Shou finally felt that he couldn't hold it in any longer. Fortunately, before he could say anything, a steady hand was stretched out from the side.
After supporting him, Ah Liu's voice came.
"Those who haven't made a toast will come back later. I'll help the young master go out to get some air to relieve the hangover."
When others said this, a group of young people would make a fuss for a while, but when Ah Liu spoke, no one dared to say no. They actually watched helplessly as Ah Liu helped Zhang Shou out. And the one who accompanied Wu
Seeing this scene, Aunt Liu hurriedly whispered to the hostess: "Madam, you see that the young master is about to marry a wife, and Ah Liu is now a grown man. Shouldn't we pay more attention to this life-long event?"
Before Wu could respond, Aunt Liu lowered her voice very low: "I heard that Ah Liu hopes to marry a stunning beauty!"
"Ah sneeze...ah sneeze, sneeze!"
After arriving at the clean room, the water was turned on. When Zhang Shou came out again, he heard Ah Liu sneezing several times. Just as a gust of cool wind blew by, he couldn't help shivering, and then he felt a little dizzy.
, then he quickly stepped forward and said: "The autumn wind has become cold. You are too thin. Go back to the room and add some clothes. Bring my cloak by the way!"
Just chase this kid back to his room and see who else dares to drink from him!
However, Zhang Shou's words were always on target when he used them to coax others, but facing Ah Liu, he was greeted with a faint glance from the young man. The young man took a piece of paper from his arms and wiped his nose, and then he said with some annoyance
He said, "It's not that I'm catching a cold. Someone must be talking about me behind my back. Young master, you, the birthday girl, don't try to hide. Even if the small cup is replaced by a small wine glass, you have to accept the toast."
Zhang Shou was almost driven crazy by such an inexperienced boy. At this moment, he couldn't help but curse angrily: "Do you know that drinking will cause trouble? I don't have a day off tomorrow, I have to go to the Imperial College!"
Ah Liu was not fooled at all. He raised the corner of his mouth and asked, "The supervisors of Jiuzhang Hall are all performing their duties. Master, why are you going to the Imperial College? Are you envious, jealous, and hateful?"
Well, speaking of it, those supervisors at the Imperial College have indeed been busy recently. The ones who are checking the accounts at Guanglu Temple, the ones who are helping Lu Sanlang run the imperial chef selection competition, the ones who are learning how to work in the Ministry of Accounts, and the scary ones, and the ones who are helping Wan Yuanbao check the accounts.
A group of people who dominate Wang Siye's industry in Nancheng, plus a group of people who are interning with Wang Datou in Datong, Xuanfu, Qi Liang is still in charge of leading the team there...
If the students of the second phase of Jiuzhang Hall are not recruited, he will be the commander-in-chief! Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, and if he goes to the Imperial College tomorrow, he will really encounter the envious and jealous looks of a lot of colleagues!
After realizing this, Zhang Shou finally understood that Ah Liu had already predicted that he would be able to sleep until the sun rises tomorrow, so he personally brought a bunch of children to make mischief here. He would definitely not be able to escape this drunken meal.
Lost it. So, he had no choice but to sigh deeply, then turned around and walked towards the front yard, but after walking a few steps, he heard Ah Liu's faint voice.
"After the toast, everyone will give gifts. Master, just think about this."
This was said... as if I just wanted to receive a birthday gift with mercy! Zhang Shou muttered in his heart, although he knew that Ah Liu didn't mean this, but he was completely disappointed with the young man's language skills.
When he was approaching the side door of the front yard, he heard a loud sound of punching on the other side. When he came to the door and took a closer look, the guy who was happily taking turns punching with several children, who was it if he wasn't Song Juren?
This weirdo, who had previously bribed a small restaurant to pretend to be a chef, and went to participate in the Royal Chef Selection Competition, now opened his front, his face flushed with excitement, his fist gestures changed rapidly, and his shouts were even louder.
It's so surprising that it makes people wonder, this guy is so versatile in the business world, how did he get the honor of being a civil servant?
However, when Zhang Shou stepped into the courtyard with this muttering, the sound of fist-pumping came to an end temporarily - or rather, it did not end, but only Song Juren's happy shouts of "I won" and the sound of slamming the table were left.
, but the boy who was supposed to lose and drink, suddenly came up to him with a wine bowl. After him, all the boys who were originally gathered around to watch the boxing rushed up and surrounded him.
Seeing this scene, Song Juren, who had just drunk a few bowls of wine in a daze, and started fistfighting with others to relieve his boredom, suddenly became depressed again. But seeing a group of boys chattering around Zhang Shou, he was finally
The young man next to Zhang Shou rushed to line up for a toast, and he couldn't help but feel a little envious.
The Song family is the richest man in Guangdong, integrating government and business. Even though none of the officials are local, after decades of operation, it has become a behemoth, and all rules and regulations have become an indispensable part of daily life.
Not to mention the birthday celebrations of those who are at the level of masters, even if it is a young man like him celebrating his birthday, it will be very lively, but it should not be too much. You can invite your usual relatives and friends, but you must not hang out with the servants.
Even the bookboys and girls around him kowtowed to him to celebrate his birthday, and gave him one or two pieces of needlework or other gadgets to celebrate his birthday. As for toasting, they also had to watch the master drink it, and if he didn't finish it, he would be done.
If he refuses to obey...that is absolutely impossible! Just like he just drank and boxed with a group of young boys, if his family saw him, he would definitely be punished!
However, seeing Zhang Shou helpless, he quickly let Ah Liu hold the pot and pour the wine. Even if he changed to a smaller glass, he actually drank one cup after another. Song Juren didn't know why.
Feeling the urge, I suddenly picked up the wine jar on the side and poured myself a full bowl, then staggered up and walked up.
Although Zhang Shou was drinking everyone's birthday wine, he also saw Song Juren's actions over there. But when he came up with a wine bowl, he actually jumped into the front of a group of little guys without relying on his identity.
, but honestly queued up at the back, and he couldn't help but have a deeper understanding of this Jusheng.
This is a more interesting person than imagined!
Fortunately, the little guys toasted very quickly. They were rich and auspicious, safe and sound, and promoted step by step... It seemed that there were only these few auspicious words in the world. They said them in their mouths, and as they drank the bowls of wine, they looked at Zhang.
After Shou drank up his glass of wine, they happily left. In the end, only Song Juren was left standing in front of Zhang Shou.
"I'm really lucky. I happened to meet the princess's birthday party at Xinglong Teahouse today, and I celebrated Dr. Zhang's birthday here in the evening. I finally had a big meal... You know, if I hadn't almost fainted from hunger at noon,
I wouldn’t have thought of making taro balls to eat. If that guy hadn’t suddenly appeared and looked at me directly, I wouldn’t have been so dizzy for a moment and just gave him a bowl.”
Perhaps because he was a little drunk, Chef Song's words were somewhat incoherent. However, when Zhang Shou heard what he said, he immediately looked at Ah Liu standing aside with a strange look on his face. But when he looked at him, he realized that he was standing just now.
The boy beside him had disappeared at this moment! When he found out that Ah Liu had run away among the little ones at some point, he couldn't help but feel angry.
I didn’t mention it, but Ah Liu should definitely be responsible for the little farce after the two bowls of taro balls were delivered upstairs today!
Of course, Qi returned to Qi, but this was not anger at all. In the end, Zhang Shou could only laugh dryly and said: "At noon, like other chefs, all you think about is how to win, so you have no intention of eating before it's over.
, this is also normal."
"At that time, I only thought about participating. I was overjoyed to be able to join in. I didn't think about such a futile thing as winning. So I didn't eat because I was scared."
Song Juren shrugged as he spoke, then raised his bowl and saluted Zhang Shou. Regardless of Zhang Shou's reaction, he drank it all in one gulp. Then he sighed and said, "I saw your Aunt Liu demonstrate those overseas ingredients earlier."
When I did this, I thought that my identity as a descendant of the Song family in Guangdong had been revealed, and that it was a warning to me, so I did the extra questions completely randomly."
Seeing that it was Zhang Shou's turn to be dumbfounded, he smiled bitterly and said: "Dr. Zhang, you should understand that when I sneaked in to participate in the Royal Chef Selection Competition at noon today, it was like a person who had no reputation as a scholar sneaked in.
I want to go to the provincial examination room to take the exam, but I just want to understand the specific process first, and I don’t even want to pass the exam, because even if you pass the exam, you won’t be given any honors!”
Sorry, I can't understand... because I have never seen such a confused and out-of-touch person like you!
Zhang Shou thought so in his heart, but an interesting smile appeared on his face: "But didn't you do a great job with the ginseng fruit birthday celebration? Even the princess was full of praise, otherwise she wouldn't have summoned you. You probably
I don’t know, but when this snack was served before, she and Yingying fought over it and ate all the peaches. No one else, including me, got a bite."
Hearing that what he made was highly praised, Song Juren showed a somewhat proud expression: "That's right, I'm the best at desserts. I like to use all the ingredients and fruits brought back from Southeast Asia to make desserts, so
When it comes to how to use ingredients that have never been seen before, there are really few people who can match me, because they don’t have the chance! I have been to Nanyang several times..."
Speaking of this, he suddenly realized that he had diverted the topic too far. He coughed quickly and then said bitterly: "But Dr. Zhang, tell me, since the princess likes the sweets I make, why do you have to go with me?"
Do the elders in my family think that I am not doing my job properly and that I am just playing around with things to lose my ambition? In other words, was my registration rigged? Will I be held accountable later?"