Xia Ma was speechless.
He had known Person for so many years, but this was the first time he saw him being so shameless. Most importantly, what he said was logical and logical.
Hanses was originally thinking about how to make his uncle agree to stay in Chengdu for a few more days. He wanted to ask, but he was afraid of delaying his uncle's business. He didn't expect that he could get what he wanted without even asking. There was nothing better than this.
"Let's go to the souvenir shop you mentioned first, and then have dinner here later." Person concluded.
"Follow me." Xia Ma was also reluctant to leave, so he took Person and Hanses for a stroll on Taoxi Road.
With the end of lunchtime, the bustling scene in the restaurant gradually quieted down. However, after a few minutes of silence, a group of people arrived noisily.
First, it was Cheng Zhao Mei who came with a group of junior brothers and sisters. Today was the Chong Yang Festival, and as a disciple, they naturally had to come and see their master. Even though this master was young, the group of people who worshipped Yuan Zhou from the bottom of their hearts naturally wouldn't miss such a day.
In the past, the Chong Yang Festival was only held because in the Book of Changes, the "six" was set as a Yin number, and the "nine" was set as a Yang number. On the ninth day of the ninth month, the sun and the moon were both Yang, and the two Nines overlapped each other. Therefore, it was called the Chong Yang Festival, and also the Double Ninth Festival. The ancients believed that it was an auspicious day worth celebrating.
After a series of cultural celebrities such as Tao Yuanming added on, the content of the Chong Yang Festival gradually became richer, such as inviting friends and relatives, climbing high to look into the distance, planting cornel, and so on. In the plains, people couldn't climb high to look into the distance by themselves, so they ate cakes instead of climbing high. Hmm … this logic was also acceptable.
In modern times, roasted sweet potatoes should be popular, as long as it was associated with the college entrance examination.
In modern times, the traditional Chong Yang Festival was combined with respect and love for the elderly, ingeniously combining modern and traditional. Therefore, Cheng Zhao Mei and the others came with sincerity.
"Master, this is the nine-layered Chong Yang cake I made. You can try it and see how it tastes."
As a direct disciple, Cheng Zhao Mei's position as the Eldest Senior Brother was unshakable. Naturally, he would be the first to offer a cake to Yuan Zhou.
What he was making was the traditional Chongyang Cake. The layers were distinct, and the surface was covered with a thick layer of crushed nuts. The shiny nuts formed a contrast with the pinkish pastry underneath. A rich sweet aroma spread in all directions, and the unique aroma of pastry pervaded the store.
"Not bad. The control of the heat is just right. The proportion of each layer is too even. We can change it a little and the taste will change," Yuan Zhou said after looking at it.
Although the Sea King's mission had not been completed and the reward had not been received, Yuan Zhou was very familiar with the Double Yang Cake. It was more than enough for him to guide Zhao Mei.
"Yes, Master."
Knowing Yuan Zhou's habit, he took out his notebook and wrote down Yuan Zhou's following words after he handed the pastry to Yuan Zhou.
With Cheng Zhaomei taking the lead, the following apprentices presented the cakes they made one by one. The custom of eating cakes on the Double Ninth Festival remained unchanged, but the cakes they made were also varied. Some were like Cheng Zhaomei, who made the Double Ninth Festival Cake. They didn't have nine layers, but two or three layers. There were also others who made other cakes, such as osmanthus cake, dingsheng cake, begonia cake, etc.
Among them, the most outstanding one was definitely Wang Mingjie.
As a nominal disciple of Su Cai, this guy did not send a colorful Double Yang Cake like Luo Qing did. Instead, he took a different approach and came out with a three-kilogram turtle.
His style was completely different from that of the other apprentices, and he attracted everyone's attention as soon as he came out.
The color was beautiful reddish-brown, and there was a lifelike huge turtle in the middle. There were also some patterns of flowers, birds, insects, and fish beside it. There were also some words of fortune, fortune, longevity, and happiness on the four corners of the square, which looked very auspicious.
Such auspicious patterns were put together, and it was easy to know that the gift giver wanted to express good wishes.
"Master, this is a variant of the sugar turtle I made with reference to the sugar turtle in Zhejiang Province. I hope you like it," Wang Mingjie said.
Although Wang Mingjie was old, he was more experienced than young people. His admiration for Yuan Zhou had reached its peak since he was guided by Yuan Zhou to perform the Turtle Dance and Lion Dance. His Knife Skills had made great progress, and he had been affirmed by the old master Wang Huai.
After acknowledging Yuan Zhou as his teacher, Wang Mingjie put himself down even more. He abandoned his identity as a famous chef and learned from Yuan Zhou earnestly. Therefore, apart from Cheng Zhaomei, Wang Mingjie was definitely the one who made the fastest progress among all the disciples.
And Yuan Zhou also liked the hardworking Wang Mingjie very much. No one would dislike a hardworking and humble person.
The sugar turtle belonged to Zhejiang cuisine, but Zhejiang cuisine and Suzhou cuisine were still somewhat similar. This time, Wang Mingjie had put in a lot of effort to make the most perfect sugar turtle he could make.
Moreover, he couldn't just blindly learn the method of making the sugar turtle in Zhejiang cuisine. He also needed to incorporate the advantages of Suzhou pastries. Only then could it be regarded as a sugar turtle that belonged to Wang Mingjie alone.
"The proportion of brown sugar is very good. Although Mingjie's knife skills have made great progress, it's still not good enough for wood carving. I don't need to carve it myself. I should focus on improving my knife skills first and take my time with the rest," Yuan Zhou said.
He could tell at a glance that these turtle models were carved by Wang Mingjie himself, because many of the lines and habits were similar to Wang Mingjie's habit of using the knife.
"Junior Brother Wang, this turtle looks much better than me. It seems that I also need to hurry up with my knife skills." Zhang Longquan got closer and studied it carefully.
"That's right. Senior Brother Wang's woodworking should be the best among us. It seems that I also need to work hard," Mi Hao said.
"Junior Brother Wang's sugar turtle is the only one among us. It's indeed very good. We all need to learn from Junior Brother Wang," Cheng Zhao Mei said.
Ever since they succeeded in becoming the disciple of the omnipotent Yuan Zhou, the disciples led by Cheng Zhao Mei were both proud and busy.
All masters were omnipotent. If the disciples only knew how to cook from one cuisine and had no other talents, how could they have the nerve to say that their master was Yuan Zhou? Wouldn't that be embarrassing?
Therefore, the disciples started their side jobs one after another, vowing to take care of some other skills while doing well in their own cuisine. Of course, everyone did what they could. Generally, they only took care of one talent, and those who had spare energy could take care of two. This was the result of the disciples' private efforts.
"Master, I will pay attention." Wang Mingjie didn't defend himself and said directly. Then, after thinking for a while, he continued, "Master, can I ask you some things about woodworking in the future?"
He was very interested in woodworking and carving. Ever since he was born, he could already carve such a vivid image of a turtle. Although it was nothing in the eyes of a master like Yuan Zhou, from his own experience, it was acceptable to say that he was talented.
When it came to choosing the second skill, Wang Mingjie chose woodworking without hesitation.
To be honest, just by looking at this turtle, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Wang Mingjie was a woodworking master who was held back by the chef. Fortunately, there was a gem like Yuan Zhou in front of him. Otherwise, Old Man Wang would have had to eat a meal of stir-fried pork with bamboo shoots.
After all, this was not a proper job.
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