Kaifeng Bistro

Chapter 77

Lu Yang wanted to persuade him again, but Zhou Yanjing stopped him: "It's okay for Zijin to go and relax. I think the number of people who came to the capital to take part in the test this year is double that of previous years. The amount of solution is limited every year. It’s getting more difficult every year! To be honest, I’m born to be useful, if I can’t figure it out this time, I’m afraid I won’t stay in Kaifeng any longer.”

"Hey, I haven't taken the test yet. Why are you talking so dejectedly?" Lu Yang interrupted Zhou Yanjing: "Come on, try this pine yellow cake. Last time I asked the shopkeeper, he told me, This is because the winter is almost over now, and the spring is warm and the sun is warm, so we can enjoy such delicious food."

"Really?" Chen Qing picked up one with great interest, tasted it, and praised: "It has a delicate fragrance, like the smell of pine nuts. Could it be made of pine nuts?"

"You're wrong!" Zhuo Zhuo walked out with a smile: "This pine flower, it's my girl. I went to the pine forest outside Kaifeng City to gather pollen, and then Zhifeng and Shangmi made pine flower honey. Stuffing, and then roll the skin with flour, carefully wrap the pine honey filling in, and steam it in a basket, you can still see a little yellowish filaments."

Everyone was admiring when they saw Bai Yutang walking in from the outside.He handed over his robe and saber to Zhuo Zhuo, and then found a table and sat down.In the past few days, Bai Yutang almost never appeared when there were customers in the tavern. As soon as he appeared, he immediately attracted everyone's attention.Lu Yang looked at him curiously and asked Zhou Yanjing, "Who is this person? Could it be the newly elected commander in front of the palace, look at his outstanding talent, he is not inferior to Zhan's guards!"

"That's not necessarily true," Zhou Yanjing said with a smile, "I think he has a bit of a knight-errant air. Isn't the shopkeeper here? Just ask the shopkeeper."

"Speaking of this appearance, shopkeeper Tan, why do I feel that you look different from before recently, is it strange? Could it be that my head was too confused in the past year? Seeing that everyone looks so outstanding, go home and take a picture The mirror only hates that my parents didn't give birth to me better!" Lu Yang looked at Tan Zhifeng suspiciously: "Well, it seems to be the same, it's been here so many times, I can't make a mistake."

Tan Zhifeng smiled at him, but felt guilty for a while. He asked Wen Hui for advice, and Wen Hui taught him a little trick to make everyone ignore his appearance changes for the time being. After using it a few times, everyone will soon forget his original appearance.

It was the first time for Chen Qing to see Tan Zhifeng's true face this time, a trace of confusion naturally flashed across his face, but he soon regained his composure. Before Tan Zhifeng had time to tell them who Bai Yutang was, Zhuo Zhuo came over He replied in a low voice: "That is Master Bai Yutang Bai who works in Kaifeng Mansion with Guard Zhan. He is a third-rank deputy, half a level higher than Master Zhan. But he is not as friendly as Master Zhan. Be careful what you say. , don't annoy him."

When Bai Yutang heard Zhuo Zhuo mention that his official title was half a rank higher than Zhan Zhao, he smiled lightly, took a taste of the pine yellow cake that Zhuo Zhuo had placed in front of him just now, and praised: "Little shopkeeper, your craftsmanship is getting better and better." Well, I read in the medical book that if you eat this pine yellow cake in the morning and evening, you can stay beautiful and prolong your life. In the future, you might as well make more snacks like this, which are much more elegant than those oil cakes, mustard cakes, and meat pies outside. "

"Hey, thank you Brother Bai for your compliment..." Tan Zhifeng was about to chat with Bai Yutang when suddenly the wooden door slammed behind him, and it was Xu Gan who came back.As soon as he appeared, the atmosphere in the room immediately became a little weird.Bai Yutang's gaze was fixed on him, and the others kept looking at him.Xu Gan glanced at everyone and went to work in the back kitchen without saying a word.Tan Zhifeng then said to everyone: "A few days ago my brother...was in Tianqing Temple...he accidentally hit his head, and he has been a little dizzy for the past two days..."

"Oh, really?" Zhou Yanjing asked with concern: "This matter can be big or small, Zhifeng, do you have to find a doctor to treat Brother Ling quickly? Taixue will go to the hospital in two months Try it, if you have any symptoms, you should take the medicine in time to cure it as soon as possible!"

"Oh... good." Tan Zhifeng looked back at Xu Gan. After Xu Gan woke up, except for the two of them sitting together in the yard for half the night that night, there was not much communication between them.Seeing Xu Gan's appearance, he didn't seem to have completely forgotten himself, but as for whether he remembered something else, he didn't tell himself.These days, he still continued to go in and out of the back kitchen to help Tan Zhifeng with work as before, and occasionally sat outside to take out a few books to read when he was free.

Once, Zhuo Zhuo ran over to him when he had nothing to do, and asked him: "I said, uh... what is this imperial examination for? How do I see that you are all writing articles as if you are facing a big enemy? Are you right? Or endorsement? "

"Come here, don't embarrass yourself here!" Yi Yi glared at her, and pulled her to the counter: "Do you really want to know? I'll tell you."

"Then tell me, I'm afraid that what you said is not right at all." Although Zhuo Zhuo replied a few words, he still sat down and listened carefully.

Yi Yi put down the account book in his hand and said to her: "Although the imperial examination system has been changed several times, the content of the examination has always been the same, nothing more than poetry, fu, policy, theory, post scriptures, and ink meanings. During the Baoyuan period, that is, the first two years, the first show was poetry and fu. If the poetry and fu were not well done, one would be eliminated. But now that the current situation is changing, the imperial court is increasingly ignoring poetry and fu, and emphasizing policy theory and first strategy. Sub-theory, sub-fu, sub-tiejing, Mo Yi...and after several exams, the examiners will judge together, and no longer decide whether to stay or stay based on whether a particular round is good or bad. Do you understand?"

"It doesn't matter whether I, I understand clearly, the key is that this, this great god... Didn't he show up that day? Why is he still here to study for exams? Then Zhifeng..." Zhuo Zhuo leaned over and lowered his voice cautiously Said to Yi Yi: "...Do you think he lost his memory again..."

"That's right." As soon as she finished speaking, Xu Gan said behind the two of them.His deep voice startled Zhuo Zhuo.Zhuo Zhuo hurriedly stood up: "Oh, it's been so hard, you should hurry up and study hard, I'm off to work!"

Seeing Zhuo Zhuo running away, Yi Yi also raised his head to look at Xu Yan, and asked him after a while, "You... really want to take the exam?"

Xu Gan nodded slightly, turned around and went back to the small table at the bottom of the stairs to read a book.

Right now the three people at the table were chatting, Zhou Yanjing looked at the sky outside, and hurriedly said to the other two: "It's getting late, I have to go there first, the homework was assigned a few days ago in the Taixue, my Fu only wrote It’s halfway through, and I can’t show it to Mr. Straight Talk if I don’t rush out before the morning class. Why don’t you two sit down for a while, and we’ll meet at Taixue later, and I’ll reserve a seat for you two.”

Lu Yang and Chen Qing had only eaten half of the meal, so they both nodded and agreed.Tan Zhifeng saw Zhou Yanjing got up and walked to the door, then turned around and said to himself: "By the way, shopkeeper Tan, many students in our Taixue have recently said that they want to find a place to have a good gathering while there are still some days before the exam. Gather some wine and have a big meal. I wonder if I can borrow this treasure of yours? Also, many of them admire Lord Zhan and that Lord Bai... I didn’t know that he was the former If those people in the academy heard about the righteous man who worked hard to get rid of the King of Xiangyang in the past few years, they would definitely clamor to see him..."

"It's definitely not a problem to come here," Tan Zhifeng said, "It's just that my place is not big. If you don't mind, please tell me in advance that I will prepare the food and drinks. As for Brother Zhan and Brother Bai..."

"Have a chat with the scholars, why not?" Bai Yutang happened to be walking to the reception desk at this time, he glanced at Tan Zhifeng and Zhou Yanjing with a smile in his eyes, and said to the two of them, "Zhan Zhao and I Definitely will come."

"Oh, that's great." Zhou Yanjing raised his brows with joy, and he and Bai Yutang exchanged a salute, then hurriedly paid for the meal, put on his outer robe and headed towards the Taixue.

……

"Having a banquet again? Oh my god, Zhifeng, can you let me rest for two days!" Zhuo Zhuo sat on the chair and complained to Tan Zhifeng with a sigh: "Besides, you said you should do it well. The last time you did not have to sacrifice a few poor rabbits, but this time you have to make some kind of barbecue? How do you make barbecue? You won’t let me skewer skewers for you Oh my god!"

"There's no need to be so troublesome." Tan Zhifeng reassured her, "This is actually simpler than the first few times. Besides, eating barbecue is not a new thing in Kaifeng. People here call barbecue '烧', which means to burn. .I heard that there was a monk named Huiming outside the Xiangguo Temple earlier, and his specialty was making "roasted pork". The "Shaozhuyuan" where the vermilion pigment was fired is therefore called "Shaozhuyuan". Nowadays, Tai students often make fun of this matter."

"Oh? And this thing? Then what does the roast meat they cook look like?" Zhuo Zhuo couldn't help asking curiously when he heard this.

"You will know when the time comes!" Tan Zhifeng smiled at her mysteriously, "It's just that the oven is not easy to find, Brother Bai has already agreed to borrow their oven for me from the 'Roasting Pig Yard'. And, I plan to roast something other than pork and mutton, and I will definitely satisfy you by then."

As soon as Zhuo Zhuo heard that he was lucky again, he immediately stood up happily, took the list of ingredients that Tan Zhifeng handed her, and asked Shang Yiyi to go out to buy.

……

The sky was getting dark, and at the entrance of the alley, which was narrower and darker than Wheatstraw Alley, a figure suddenly appeared.This man didn't look very old, and he wasn't too tall, but he walked into the depths of the alley step by step, and the moonlight in the whole alley seemed to be covered by the gloomy black aura emanating from his body for an instant. It became dim, and even the insects and birds that kept singing just now had no sound at all.Where he walked, he left behind dark, muddy footprints.

"Open the door." He walked to the end of the alley, but didn't knock, just called out in a low voice.