Versailles is worse than being queen

◎Rococo chocolate◎

Antanya flipped through a progress report on the construction of power plants in Versailles and around Paris.

The construction of the power plant went very smoothly according to the original plan, and while Versailles and Paris were transforming the water system, Nicola also took the wire laying plan into consideration.The city of Paris is relatively large, and it will take a year or two to complete; the power supply system in the Palace of Versailles has basically been covered.

Now, some rooms have been powered by a set of generators next to Tesla's research workshop, and it is expected that after the power plant is completed, all the palaces can be lit.

Because of this foreseeable prospect, the white candle in the palace is no longer a hard currency that can be used as a quarterly subsidy.However, after everyone realized that installing wires and even installing lights was not all, and that the lights had to wait until the power plant was actually running to replace the candles, the price of white candles did not plummet.

Even more comforting is the improvement in cleanliness - it turns out that the toilet is just a facade, and the most important thing is the overall system that can effectively deal with sewage discharge.

Although it is too huge a project to equip all the houses in the Palace of Versailles with bathrooms and toilets, there are now three public bathrooms in Versailles that meet the needs of different price points.The most exclusive private baths cost 3 livres to rent, while the cheapest communal baths cost only 10 sous for a bath.

In the spring of this year, the living environment here finally produced a clearly visible improvement, at least the smell disappeared.

What Antanya is more concerned about is the health data-the data obtained from the doctor's office shows that the number of people with sudden gastrointestinal diseases in the past year has been greatly reduced compared with the average level of the previous ten years.

She drew the line on some representative and convincing data, and Henriette will copy them and send them to the editorial office of the Rheinische Zeitung to explain to the public that now temporarily endure the torture of dust in the city, Then there will be a completely different living environment.

The transformation of the city of Paris is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

As spring was drawing to a close, Nikolay sent Antanya a message saying that the practical gadgets he had promised her were ready.

When she came to Nikolai's chassis, the place that was usually used for hot meals seemed to have undergone some transformation. There were a lot of bottles and cans on the long table against the wall, and there was a big metal guy who was obviously the protagonist. .

"What kind of strange instrument is this?"

Antanya studied the unremarkable-looking object for a moment.A square metal box, the side cover can be opened outwards.

"Microwave." Nicholas smiled, "It was just invented before I died, so I only heard about the general principle, but never saw the real thing. It took me some time to research it, and I also adjusted the power for a long time. "

He put the two cups of chocolate next to him into the stove, closed the lid and pressed the switch.

There was a slight hum.

Antanya imagined what it would look like inside—is it possible to barbecue in such a small box?

"Actually, it is not difficult to understand the principle. The core component is a magnetron. When it is powered on, it will emit high-frequency electromagnetic waves, vibrate the water molecules in the food, and generate heat through friction."

There was a "ding" sound.

Before Antania could react, Nicholas opened the door, put a cup of chocolate in front of her, and put a small spoon: "The temperature should be just right, try it?"

This is also too fast.Antanya picked up the cup and felt the slightly hot temperature.

A fine and uniform layer of foam floated on the cup, and as the small silver spoon was stirred, it tremblingly drew a spiral line, and there was a gentle resistance from the handle of the spoon—it was her favorite hot chocolate with a thicker taste.

She took a sip, and the unique aroma of cocoa immediately lingered between her lips and teeth.Sweet but not overpowering, the smoothness of the milk blended perfectly with the richness of the whipped cream, and she could clearly taste her favorite flavors of nutmeg and cloves.

Antanya laughed: "It's delicious."

It is a little different from the palace-prepared chocolate she usually drank, it seems that the taste is indescribably softer and more delicate.

But she is still more interested in this thing that heats up quickly: "Is it difficult to make a microwave oven?"

"It's not difficult. It just needs a fixed power supply and voltage, and it can only be used when it is powered on."

"Can I order a few from Mr. Alchemist?" Antanya smiled, "Otherwise, wouldn't I have to come to you every time I want to heat chocolate?"

"No problem." Nicholas shrugged and said casually, "Oh, right. I'm not too busy recently, and I'm studying the craft of solid chocolate."

In fact, he often deviates from his thinking to do a lot of weird research, and he has obtained a lot of inexplicable and useful knowledge, such as how to make dry red wine that is not sour, and the history and history of duck ducks. Cooking methods.

He is also very interested in the appreciation of food and beverages, and chocolate, which is popular all over the world, is naturally within the scope of his investigation.

It's a pity that Antanya loves hot chocolate so much, but has never eaten afterlife chocolate-spirits shouldn't be able to eat or taste it, right?

However, although the production process of chocolate is not very difficult, it is a bit troublesome, especially many processes require specialized industrial processing.

For this reason, he subcontracted the tasks scientifically—he had a meal with Lavoisier, and discussed with him the business prospects of processing milk into milk powder and then selling it.

As expected, Lavoisier was a lawyer who was also a royal tax collector, and he was very keenly aware that this matter was quite promising.After Nicola introduced the steps of pretreatment, sterilization, sugar addition, concentration and drying to him in great detail, he has probably designed a very complete process in his mind—and how to send it to the production line .

So happily decided!Lavoisier immediately began to carry out preliminary experiments. For this reason, he did not go out to seek help from His Royal Highness the Dauphin to discuss the feasibility of the parts of the machine design.

"Now, I got the first batch of milk powder that passed the quality standard. In addition, I also tested the appropriate grinding rate and temperature to separate the cocoa butter from the cocoa beans."

Nicholas pointed to a few jars on the table, "If it goes well, it should be successful soon."

All the glass jars on the table are neatly arranged, stacked in groups of three.The dark brown powder is cocoa powder, and the cocoa butter jar is a milky white paste, which looks shiny.

Antanya asked curiously: "Is the craft complicated?"

"It's not complicated."

"Then can I try it together?"

"You?" Nicholas looked at her teasingly, "Have you ever been in contact with anything related to cooking? Probably you don't even know how to heat rice."

Antanya snorted, "I've watched people reheat food for hundreds of years in the Palace of Versailles. How do you think I remember the croissant recipe when I'm fine?"

"It's amazing." Nicholas nodded exaggeratedly, "Then let me see it."

Having said that, he still told her in detail what to do, and then the two started to do it.

Nikolay boiled water on the stove, and put three bowls in a saucepan with a wide opening, and heated them over water.

The cocoa butter dug out from the glass jar slowly began to melt, and then it suddenly turned into a pale yellow transparent liquid with no smell, as if a magic spell had come into effect.

But after adding crushed white sugar, cocoa powder and milk powder, the sweet and warm taste like hot chocolate slowly overflows, and the rich milky fragrance is entangled in it.

"The standard is two spoonfuls of fresh cream. If there is more, it will be softer." Nicola said to Antanya.

Antanya thought about it, and put one and a half spoons, two spoons, and two and a half spoons into it respectively.

Nicholas is turning a strangely shaped revolving handle in his hand, and three spoons are installed at the end-the three spoons are stirring slowly and evenly in the three bowls, which saves effort.

As he stirred slowly, the steaming aroma of chocolate wafted from the skillet and wrapped around them, making the whole air soft and sweet.

Antanya took a breath of the sweet air lightly, and looked at Nicholas a few times.

His side face is facing her, with more handsome browbones and bridge of nose than when he was a teenager, with a sculptural silhouette outlined against the light behind him, a little indifferent, but because of his focused expression, there is a little bit of saying no Out of sincerity.

His long lashes drooped quietly and were black - not like her own gold lashes.Black looks elegant and quiet.

He was just stirring chocolate, how could he be so serious?

Antanya couldn't help pursing her lips.

The Slavs, who incorporate some oriental elements, do have a temperament that is different from theirs.

Maybe it was because blond hair seemed too noisy to her, or maybe she just felt that most people here were indulging in an illusion of excessive flashiness and artificiality.

In her previous life, she catered to them and almost forgot who she was.In this life, she met this man.

He was shrouded in a cold and mysterious atmosphere with a hint of melancholy, and he always looked indifferent, but he always seemed to be able to reassure her at critical moments.

She was a little lost in thought, and when Nicholas took away the mixing bowls and brought them back, she realized that the chocolate sauce of different shades in the bowls had solidified , was cut into small squares and placed on a light white porcelain dish.

"The lighter the color, the higher the milk content." Nicola said, "You can try them all and see which one you like."

Antanya picked up a piece and put it in her mouth.

The touch on her hands made her expect the hardness of the chocolate block, but she didn't expect that the silky softness in the mouth was indescribably soft, and a sweetness richer than hot chocolate wrapped around the tip of the tongue with a mellow touch.

Hot chocolate is her favorite, but that kind of deliciousness also pales in comparison to the happiness at the moment.

"Chocolate has a very low melting point and is very fluid, especially with the amount of cream added just now, so ideally it should melt in your mouth." Nicola said in an unpleasant way.

Antanya thought for a moment that this was probably one of his experiments—and she was acting as his experiment now.

Antanya swallowed the chocolate and took another piece into her mouth.

After eating this piece, she raised her head: "When tasting delicious food, if the chef's explanation can't improve the taste, then it seems to be a better choice to keep quiet."

Nikolay couldn't help laughing.

Somehow, the tip of the girl's nose was rubbed with chocolate, probably because the freezing point was not well grasped, the chocolate melted as soon as she touched it, and she rubbed the tip of her nose?

Thinking of this, Nicholas subconsciously wiped the tip of the small and round nose with his hand, wiping off the chocolate.

Antanya's voice stopped abruptly, her eyes widened.

The sweet aroma of the prepared chocolate still lingers around them ambiguously.

The atmosphere suddenly stagnated for a subtle and embarrassing moment.

Nikolai then belatedly realized what he had done.

...Damn it.

"Uh, that," he said hastily, and his brain seemed to lose the ability to organize words for a moment. "It's kind of chocolate, I mean, on your nose..."

It seems to be getting worse.

"..." Nicholas took a deep breath, feeling that his heartbeat was accelerating uncontrollably, the blood flow rate increased as a result, and the friction with the blood vessels produced more heat.

"I still need to check the data. You can take these chocolates with you."

"Oh, yes." Antanya replied slowly, "Thank you...then I'll go."

"OK, bye."

He didn't wake up from a state that seemed to be haunted until Antanya left.

He put his hand in front of his eyes—the dab of chocolate was still on his fingertips, telling him that what happened just now was real.

...it's incredible.

As a man living in the world for the second time, although he has never experienced love, he is keenly aware of some strange signs in himself.

What is he doing now?Making microwave ovens, asking Lavoisier to produce milk powder, making chocolate... It is true that he was interested in all kinds of weird things, but he just has an amazing memory.

Traveling here, after he figured out what happened to him, she was the first person he met—of course, she didn't know him.

He has seen too many cruel worlds, and many things in the world have long been unable to cause waves in his heart.He watched all this indifferently, watching all the unexpected choices made by the little girl, just like watching a classical oil painting that had already been painted over.

But he never thought that one day he would be attracted by the person in the painting—he would actually walk into the painting.

The flowing Seine here, the whirling waltz, and the girl's faint smile are not frozen words, but the most vivid reality at this moment.

It was difficult for him to describe the feeling of suddenly revealing the secret in his heart.

It's like a fluffy green shoot breaking through the winter ice, and the glacier shattered, and the sprouting greenness can no longer be blocked.

"A person with an artistic temperament, should he get married?" The words of the reporter back then suddenly echoed in his ears.

How did he answer?

... The young man said with a smile, "For an artist, it should; for a musician, it should; for a writer, it should; but for an inventor, it should not."

"Because . . . an inventor would have given his all if he had given that much passion to the woman he loved."

He hesitated again, "This is also a pity."

"Because, sometimes I also feel... so alone."*