On the night of the Dragon Boat Festival, the Qinhuai River was filled with the fragrance of lanterns. Near the drill ground where the Top Courtesan Competition was held, the hall used for the Top Courtesan Banquet was brightly lit and full.
The banquet this time was about three to four hundred people. It started with a small song and dance performance under the host of Magistrate Liu. After that, the four Top Courtesan Banquet appeared in their own way, thanked and sat down. This was a fixed procedure. It was gorgeous and formal. All kinds of celebrities and scholars were gathered in the hall. The ones seated at the front of the banquet were naturally the truly famous officials and scholars, followed by the merchants who had supported them in the Top Courtesan Competition. For example, Pu Yangyi, Su Tan 'er, and the others were seated at the front. Gu Yanzhen, on the other hand, was seated a little further down the middle. As he chatted with Shen Miao, he would occasionally look at the crowd in front of him, or turn his head to look at the thicket outside the main hall.
Soon, after the formal greetings with everyone, Yuan Jin'er, who was seated, seemed to find something. She smiled and said to the magistrate next to her. Gu Yanzhen also smiled and turned his head to Shen Miao and said, "Zishan, look, the show is about to begin."
Yuan Jin'er and Yunzhu were good friends. Gu Yanzhen had already vaguely expected these things. At this time, he had a feeling that he had calculated everything. Sure enough, what Yuan Jin'er smiled and pointed at was the peeled century egg, "Interesting and beautiful. Magistrate Liu, what is this?"
Magistrate Liu probably had never eaten this before, but he was the host of the banquet this time, so he naturally asked about it. At this time, he smiled and said, "This is the century egg, also known as the rich egg, jade egg. Miss Yuan, look at the pattern on it, like the grain of pine branches, the pine wind is noble and clean. This is also the Top Courtesan Banquet, and everyone here is rich and noble. Jade represents peace and security, and it is the best dish for this banquet."
With the words "official" and the names "century", "wealth", and "jade", Magistrate Liu talked about it along the way and extended it. How could he have known that Yuan Jin'er, one of the Four Great Line Leaders, was a shameless scapegoat. She was using him to say these things. Everything went smoothly. Yuan Jin'er was also very happy. She turned her head and looked out of the hall.
Nie Yunzhu, who was waiting there, also smiled and waved her hand. She was excited. Naturally, she didn't have the money to find the magistrate of Chang 'an to act as a swindler. Over the past two months, under the guidance of Ning Yi, she had been looking for connections and setting up a trap, just to make the century eggs really famous through the magistrate of Chang' an. Although Yuan Jin'er was a little unhappy about the fact that "Ning Yi supported Qi Lan" in the competition, at this time, she still tried her best. After a charming smile, she picked up the century egg and said, "Magistrate of Prefecture, your words have such a meaning. Jin'er must try one. I don't know how to eat it."
The longer the audience's attention stayed on the century egg, the better the effect would be. Yuan Jin'er maintained the topic about the century egg. At this time, an old man next to her waved his hand and said, "Wait."
Yuan Jin'er and Magistrate Liu were stunned. They heard the old man say, "I don't know where Magistrate Liu bought these century eggs. I have heard a little about the method of making this egg. In the process of making it, lime will be added. If the proportion is too high, it will be poisonous …"
This was truly unexpected. Yuan Jin 'er maintained the smile on her face, but she was cursing in her heart. This old man was really unnecessary. However, this old man's status was simply too high. She could only smile along and wait for the next discovery. In the seats at the back, Gu Yanzhen, who had been watching Yuan Jin'er's performance, felt happy. At this time, he couldn't help but laugh and say, "This is great. Someone ruined the show halfway. This person is not easy to deal with."
In the bushes outside the hall, Nie Yunzhu didn't know that such a thing would happen, so she was slightly surprised. But after seeing the appearance of the old man who spoke, she looked at Ning Yi in the hall. At this time, some people at the banquet had already started to eat the century egg. When they heard this, they all put down their chopsticks. Only Ning Yi was still dipping it in soy sauce and stuffing a piece into his mouth as if there was no one else around. Beside him, his wife, Su Tan'er, snatched the century egg from him in a bad mood. Nie Yunzhu looked at it and smiled, feeling a little sad in her heart.
In the hall, the old man smiled.
"There's no need to worry too much. Many dishes have been cooked with lime water. As long as it is used properly, it can stimulate the saliva and stimulate the appetite, and even improve health. It's just that those dishes have been cooked for a while, and there's no need to worry about mistakes. This century egg is a new thing that came out this year. I have eaten it before. Only the Takeshi century egg, which developed this recipe, is the authentic one. It's a delicacy for banquets. But after all, it hasn't been out for a long time. I heard that at this time, there are already imitations in the market. I'm just afraid that if the imitation is not correct, this egg will not only not improve health, but also harm the body. Then it won't be a century egg, a rich egg, or a jade egg, hehe … "
Halfway through his words, Yuan Jin'er opened her mouth slightly, and Gu Yanzhen in the back was also stunned. Magistrate Liu hurriedly sent someone to ask, and then the steward replied. Magistrate Liu laughed and said, "This egg was indeed bought by Takeshi."
When the old man heard this, he smiled and nodded over there, "Then it's okay." He picked up the century egg in front of him and put it in a bowl. Someone on the opposite side also laughed and said, "Duke Ming is knowledgeable. I didn't expect that you also know about eating and drinking here." The old man called Duke Ming laughed and said, "I'm not boasting about this. When I was young, I was called Old Tie Yuan. I once traveled all the famous mountains in the world and ate all kinds of delicious food. Today, I admit that I'm the second best at eating and drinking. You can't find the first!"
He started to eat the century egg, and the others no longer had any doubts. On the side of the magistrate, he immediately picked up the century egg to set an example. He had said so much just now. If people later thought that the banquet dishes were not authentic, it would be a great loss of face. At this time, naturally, he had to say, "There can't be fake goods at my banquet." Then he said a few more words for the century egg.
Inside the hall, Kang Xian and Ning Yi exchanged a "you owe me a favor" look. Outside the hall, Nie Yunzhu sighed, looked at the Milky Way in the sky and smiled. When she looked into the hall again, Ning Yi was eating as if nothing had happened. A little behind, Gu Yanzhen frowned and said, "I didn't expect him to have released such a rumor …" He naturally didn't know that Ning Yi and Kang Xian had a relationship. He just thought that the rumor had spread to Kang Xian's ears.
Next to him, Shen Miao sighed and then laughed, "Yan Zhen, I'm afraid you'll lose these ten taels of silver to me in advance."
In this era, the circulation of news was not flexible. Most of it was spread by word of mouth. But because of this, there were not too many noises to confuse people's hearing. The story about the century egg at the Courtesan Banquet was just a small episode, but it was bound to spread throughout Jiangning at a very fast speed. As long as people talked about the century egg, this news couldn't be missed. And with Kang Xian's statement, for a while, perhaps only Takeshi's century egg could be called a century egg. The rest couldn't be called Fugui or Jadeite. Those who wanted to imitate had been driven to extinction in a short period of time. Even if there was a price war, it wouldn't have any impact on Takeshi.
And at the end of the banquet, a woman said that there seemed to be a person in the east of the city who was poisoned two days ago. Although the symptoms were not serious, it was feared that he had eaten a fake century egg. This matter was half true and half false, and it was difficult to distinguish. Not long after, a new shopkeeper invited by Nie Yunzhu came over in fear and trepidation, saying that the boss was worried that fake century eggs would harm people, and was willing to offer the authentic ratio of century eggs, which would be announced by the government to those imitation workshops. Magistrate Liu waved his hand, "This kind of vicious workshop that steals the fruits of others and disregards human life, why give them such benefits! Quickly seal it! "
In fact, at this time, there was only one imitation century egg workshop outside. Ning Yi had long known that the recipe would not be kept for long, so Takeshi didn't make any effort to keep it a secret. He simply deliberately let the recipe leak, so that they could make century eggs before the Dragon Boat Festival, in order to cooperate with this show. Otherwise, if someone ate century eggs in the future and had a problem, and Takeshi was blamed, the consequences would be quite troublesome. Magistrate Liu sealed a small workshop with a daily income of less than one or two taels. It was also a small show, and it was praised by everyone at such a banquet. If the imitation century egg industry had already become popular at this time, he wouldn't have been so vigorous.
At this time, the advance preparation was actually enough, and all the actions could only wait for tomorrow.
At the banquet, there was a small episode on Ning Yi's side. The reason was that Su Tan'er knew the century egg.
"The first time Husband gave me to eat, it was this thing. Was it made by Husband?"
"I accidentally researched it and scattered it."
"Did he give it to a friend?" Su Tan'er smiled. "I know."
"En?"
"Li Pin or Gu Yanzhen … In short, it was spread out like this, right?"
Hearing the name Gu Yanzhen, Ning Yi was slightly puzzled. Su Tan'er said, "I saw this thing on the road earlier, and I remembered that Husband gave it to me to eat that day. Later, I inquired about it. The story of Gu Yanzhen using century eggs to please a woman in a brothel has spread everywhere. He is really infatuated. It is a good thing that Husband helped him achieve his dream … En, although it always makes me feel uncomfortable to put Husband's things on other people's heads … "
It was impossible for the Su Family to like Ning Yi running away to do business, and it was even more impossible for them to set up a restaurant or something. Su Tan 'er only thought that her husband understood the difficulties of the Su Family, so he made it and gave it to someone else. Of course, Ning Yi downplayed it at that time. Even if it wasn't made by him, it didn't matter. Ning Yi was a little speechless about this understanding, and Gu Yanzhen was sitting far behind. If he sat close and heard Su Tan'er talk about this "story," would he vomit blood?
The next day, after careful decoration and decoration, a small shop with the signboard "Takeshi" opened at a crossroad in Jiangning City that wasn't very crowded. Nie Yunzhu hired a reputable chef, and the signature dishes were related to century eggs. For example, congee with pork and century eggs had already been tested. There were also various other dishes, but Ning Yi only put some simple ideas into them. This wasn't a year where people were alienated, so a professional fast food operation couldn't be used. Instead, it was best to give people a sense of closeness and homecoming. The chef was also a professional and had the ability. Compared to Ning Yi and Nie Yunzhu's fumbling, the taste of the various century egg dishes was many times better.
Every day, the number of trolleys that were pushed out to sell century eggs increased to four. They were named "Plum, Orchid, Chrysanthemum and Bamboo." On them, there were paintings that, in Gu Yanzhen's opinion, were full of craftsmanship. They moved around Jiangning every day. If one could spend a certain amount on such trolleys, one could get an interesting wooden sign. After collecting four of these with different patterns, one could enjoy a 20% or 10% discount in the main store.
Among the restaurants that helped to sell century eggs, a beautiful wooden sign with the words "Takeshi Century Eggs" had been hung up at this time to prevent counterfeiting, and in conjunction with the rumors of the Top Courtesan Competition, they had invisibly built up a reputation.
Although there was a plan, it didn't take too much effort. For Ning Yi, these simple arrangements were just a piece of cake. His mind was not on the businessmen who wanted to compete with Takeshi for business, nor on the family members who wanted to compete with Su Tan'er for power, nor on the many scholars and scholars in Jiangning. As for Gu Yanzhen … he didn't know Gu Yanzhen yet.
The next day, before dawn, he ran all the way to the Qinhuai River and saw Nie Yunzhu in front of the small building with a red face. Today was the opening day. Nie Yunzhu had been waiting for him for a long time. Then, she asked him to raise one of his palms. She bit her lip and made some effort before she raised her slender and fair right hand and gently clapped it on Ning Yi's palm. Then, she smiled frankly.
She looked at Ning Yi, who was also smiling. She thought that he might not understand her feelings, but in any case, it was good that everyone was smiling. Such a high-five was a bit out of line, but she really wanted to do it once. Her heart was pounding. Two months ago, her hand was held by Gu Yanzhen. Then, she slapped him in the face and rushed to the side to wash her hands. At that time, she felt terrible. The feeling of being held made her feel disgusted, and she couldn't wash it off.
At that time, she thought that it would be better if Liheng was next to her. But when she saw him the next day, she couldn't muster up the courage. Now, she only touched his palm like this. In her heart, she felt as if she had done something big. It was as if the shop that was about to open today had a new meaning.
Ning Yi naturally didn't care about this gentle high-five. In the morning, he saw the Century Egg cart pass by on the opposite side of the road. He thought about Nie Yunzhu's efforts. However, he also had other things to do at this time.
He picked up a pair of shoes from a nearby shoe and sock shop, then walked to the school with his breakfast.
Early in the morning, in Jiangning City, a woman named Su Taner boarded a carriage and went to manage the business under her that had grown to a considerable scale. On one side of the city, a woman named Nie Yunzhu opened the first door of a small shop. Among the crowd, Ning Yi carried a small parcel and went to touch some things that could really interest him …
The sixth day of the fifth month of the eighth year of the Wu dynasty, the city seemed to be full of vitality and hope. Everything had just begun.
Ning Yi pushed open the courtyard door and heard the sound of the wind chime …
*****
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