The Manchu and Han Banquets in Qing Dynasty

It turned out to be a boy of thirteen or fourteen years old, the boy opened his mouth, showing a mouthful of white teeth, and showed him an apologetic expression.

The author has something to say: Hey, guess who this boy is O(∩_∩)O~

No.30 Two courses

"You little boy, how can you be so reckless?" Liang Jiugong scolded.

The boy said awkwardly: "Yes... sorry, I also want to be in the front row, there are still many people behind."

Zixiu saw that he was young but his hands were callused, he must be a child of a poor family, so he asked, "Do you like to learn to cook?"

"I like it, I have liked it since I was a child. I was born in a family of chefs, but unfortunately my parents died early, and my grandfather passed away not long ago... So I wanted to learn cooking here and revive my family's glory." The young man clenched his fists, his face full of fighting spirit.

"Hehe, you kid, you have lofty ambitions. What's your name?" Kangxi also became interested and asked.

"My name is Zhang Congyuan." The child replied.

"Well, Zhang Congyuan, if you can enter Shen Garden, I will promise you one thing. No matter what, as long as you ask, I will satisfy you." Kangxi said seriously, this kid is very suitable for him, he can't help but want to help him.

Zhang Congyuan looked at Kangxi, saw that he was dressed in gorgeous clothes, and knew that he must be a son of a rich family, so he said, "Then you can't go back on your word."

"Once a word is said, it's hard to follow. How can there be any reason to go back on it?" Kangxi patted his head and smiled.

While speaking, the gate of Shen Yuan was in front of him, Zixiu was in front, and Zhang Congyuan stepped inside first.Kangxi and the others were waiting outside. They believed that with Zixiu's strength, he would be easily selected.

After Zixiu went in, he found three examiners inside. The one sitting in the middle was around [-], with piercing eyes. He must be Shen Yeqiu, the owner of Shen Garden.

Zixiu bowed to several people, and then heard Shen Yeqiu say: "What do you know? There are materials over there, and you can make what you are best at."

Zixiu looked to the side and found three or four people standing there cooking food, they must have been the first applicants.The ingredients and kitchen utensils here are very complete, and applicants only need to use their skills to cook.

Zixiu frowned when he saw that the kitchen utensils were occupied by several people, and he couldn't finish them in a while. It seemed that he couldn't make time-consuming food.

He cupped his hands to Shen Yeqiu, and said: "I am good at knife work, so I will carve a dragon's claw chrysanthemum for my shame."

Shen Yeqiu was noncommittal, there are many people like Zixiu who are not self-effacing, but very few have real skills, so he waved his hand to let him pass.

Zixiu didn't care about his attitude, he walked to the side and picked a plump Chinese cabbage from among the many vegetables.Several people who are cooking are a little surprised, Chinese cabbage, what good things can be made?

Zixiu smiled, and took out a carving knife from his bag, and then peeled off the old skin of the cabbage, leaving only about ten layers of fresh cabbage heart.He weighed it, and suddenly cut off the leaves of the cabbage with his left hand, leaving only the root of more than ten centimeters.

No one paid attention to what he was doing, and the three examiners had already begun to question the next applicant, who was the young Zhang Congyuan.Zhang Congyuan looked a little cautious, but he was still calm.

"What do you know?" Shen Yeqiu asked impatiently.

"I... I can carve carrots."

"Go over there and take a look." Shen Yeqiu pointed to Zixiu and the others, then his raised right hand froze in the air, and his mouth opened slightly.

Zi Xiu was performing his stunts. His movements were not fast, but looked very graceful and calm. The carving knife was gently moving in and out of the Chinese cabbage as if it were alive.The cabbage still looks the same, but only Zixiu and Shen Yeqiu know what has changed inside.

Not long after, Zixiu finished carving. He put the cabbage on the plate, put away the carving knife, and walked towards the examiner with the plate.

The two examiners sitting on both sides rolled their eyes in disdain, isn't it just a cabbage?Who can't get this look?

Scholarly girl cloth

The man on the left said: "Is this what you made?"

"Everyone, please take a look." Zixiu tapped the plate with his right hand, the cabbage on the plate suddenly disintegrated, and the leaves fell one after another, leaving only the finished product in the middle, which was a pure white dragon's claw chrysanthemum!

Everyone opened their eyes wide and watched this spectacle without moving. It was just a Chinese cabbage with its leaves removed, how could it turn into a flower in an instant?

The petals of the dragon's claw chrysanthemum are layered on top of each other, the outer ones spread out, and the middle ones gather inward. If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they would definitely think it was a flower.

"This..." The two examiners on the left and right were speechless, thinking to themselves that they could not do this step.

Shen Yeqiu said: "Since you have such a skill, why do you still come to Shenyuan to study? With your talent, going to a better restaurant is not a problem at all."

Zixiu said: "I came here on purpose because I admired Master Shen. I heard that Master Shen was an imperial cook in the palace, so I imagined Master Shen to study." After staying with Kangxi for a long time, Zixiu also learned some polite words.

Shen Yeqiu smiled and said: "With the ability of the young master, the old man has nothing to hand over to the young master, so please go back, young master."

"But……"

"Seeing off the guests." Shen Yeqiu directly issued the order to see off the guests, Zixiu had no choice but to put down the Chinese cabbage and go out.What's the matter with this Shen Yeqiu? He doesn't accept if he does too badly, and doesn't accept if he does too well. What kind of disciple does he want to accept?

Seeing Zixiu came out with a disheveled face, Kangxi and others immediately went up to meet him, Kangxi said: "How is it?"

Zixiu shook his head and said, "He said he has nothing to teach me, alas... I would have known better if I had known earlier."

Kangxi: "..."

Several people walked aside, and Kangxi said: "This way, it is still impossible to know the identity of this person, but he can see your foundation, so he must have some skills."

"Master, I want to pay a visit to him. I think even if he is not an imperial cook, his culinary skills are amazing." Zixiu thought for a while and said.

"Just make up your own mind, let's go back first," Kangxi said.

A few people were about to leave when they suddenly heard a voice saying: "Give me one more chance, I will definitely be able to engrave it well, please, let me try again..."

Several people were taken aback, isn't this the voice of Zhang Congyuan?Then Zhang Congyuan was driven out from the inside by someone, who pushed him out rudely and said something viciously.

Zhang Congyuan was still begging for mercy, and the applicant next to him pointed and pointed, obviously not saying anything good.Kangxi shook his head, it seems that this kid didn't pass the exam.

Zhang Congyuan knelt there and refused to leave. There was a tendency to keep kneeling until he was not allowed to take the exam again. Zixiu felt dissatisfied, so he walked up to him and said, "Get up first, it's useless for you to kneel here."

Zhang Congyuan shook his head and said, "I won't get up until they let me try again."

Zixiu laughed and asked, "Are you sure you can pass the exam again?"

Zhang Congyuan was stunned for a moment, but did not answer.Zixiu said: "Look, you don't even have confidence in yourself, so what's the use of kneeling here?"

"But if I leave like this, there will be no chance. I really want to learn cooking skills. I want to be a royal chef. I want to make the Zhang family come back to glory." At the end, he even started to cry, and the people around him were still discussing in low voices. , seems to say that he does not know the heights of the sky and the earth.

"If you really want to be an imperial chef, come with me." Kangxi also came over at some time, and he said seriously: "A man stands upright, don't cry every now and then, otherwise you will never be an imperial chef for the rest of your life."

Zhang Congyuan stared at him blankly, then wiped his face with his hand, and stood up.Zixiu was speechless. What he said just now was not as good as Kangxi's words. It seems that he is really stupid.

Kangxi ignored him, turned around and walked towards the inn, Zixiu and Zhang Congyuan hurriedly followed, Zixiu was curious, what would Kangxi do?

After returning to the inn, Kangxi asked Liang Jiugong to give the shopkeeper a piece of silver, saying that he would rent his kitchen for an hour, and he happily agreed.Xiao Er led the crowd to the kitchen, then left with a wink.

Kangxi said: "Zhang Congyuan, what do you know, show us your skills."

Zhang Congyuan nodded, then picked up a carrot and started to carve it.His technique wasn't unfamiliar, but it wasn't fluent either. Zixiu looked at it seriously, wanting to see how far this kid had gone.

Not long after, Zhang Congyuan finished carving a bird. Kangxi looked at the bird and asked Zixiu how it was.Zixiu shook his head lightly, expressing that he was not doing well.

"You want to carve a phoenix, right? Your phoenix has form but no spirit. No, it doesn't even look good." Zixiu commented, then picked up a carrot, took the carving knife from Zhang Congyuan, and started to carve. .

Zhang Congyuan looked carefully, and when he looked at him, he found that his eyes could not keep up.Zixiu's speed is not very fast, but the angle of each cut is very characteristic, and Zhang Congyuan found that he couldn't remember it at all.

After the last cut, Zixiu blew away the debris, and a phoenix with wings spread out appeared in front of everyone.Zhang Congyuan took a closer look in disbelief. It was also a phoenix, but compared with Zixiu's phoenix, he was carved like a pheasant, and it was the kind that lost its hair.

"Boy, how is it?" Kangxi smiled.

"It's amazing!" Zhang Congyuan praised.Zixiu took one-third of his time, and the carvings were a hundred times better than his. He can only describe it as amazing.

"How about it, do you want to worship him as a teacher?" Kangxi asked.

Zhang Congyuan: "Think."

Zixiu: "Master, I didn't say I wanted to take on apprentices."

Zhang Congyuan blinked his eyes and looked at Zixiu pitifully, Kangxi also stared at him with a half-smile