Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 461 Birthday Celebration
"Congratulations, young master!"
Hearing a large group of people shouting these six words in unison, and then raising their cups to drink, Zhang Shou, who was already in a good mood, also happily raised his wine bowl and drank it all. The fragrant rice wine spread in his mouth, with a soft taste. At first glance, it seemed to have no strength at all, but when the sound of Qianqiu rang in his ears again, he seemed to be drunk and couldn't help but feel a little dazed.
Unlike "Wansui", "Qianqiu" has never been used exclusively by the royal family, and its rich meanings are simply jaw-dropping for any foreigner who has come into contact with Chinese. "Qianqiu" can refer to passing away, or a long time, or even to a person's birthday, or even to congratulating someone on his birthday. In addition to this, this polysemous word has many other meanings.
But he was very happy to hear the voices of "Long Live the Young Master" at this moment, not because he was self-indulgent and thought he could really live forever, but because he could truly feel that the voices were full of joy and excitement, and there was not much reluctance to hear. Even if this joy was not necessarily because of his birthday, maybe it was just for food and drink, he didn't mind.
But soon, Zhang Shou couldn't be happy anymore. Because when Ah Liu, who had just taken the lead in drinking to celebrate his birthday, came up to toast again, the little guys lined up in a long queue as if they had discussed it beforehand, with their hands full of wine bowls without exception, and they shouted auspicious words like "May you be as blessed as the East Sea and live as long as the South Mountain". He drank three bowls in a row, and then he couldn't take it anymore.
When he saw the fourth kid coming up with wine after Ah Liu, shouting something like "May the sun and the moon be bright, and the pine and crane live forever", he could no longer hold back, snatched the wine bowl with his left hand, clasped the five fingers of his right hand and hit the kid on the head with a knife, scolding him angrily: "Do you know what pine and crane live forever means? That's for celebrating the birthdays of people at your grandfather's level!"
Seeing that the teenagers waiting in line behind him were obviously stunned, he said unhappily: "The same goes for the blessing as vast as the East Sea and a life as long as the Southern Mountains! You can toast me, but think about the poems or idioms you have learned and find a few words to suit the situation, otherwise..."
Zhang Shou glanced at the guys who were talking to each other with ill intent, and was about to add a few threatening suffixes at the end, when the guy who had just been stabbed suddenly said loudly as if he had an idea: "I wish the young master a quick wedding night and a baby soon!"
Almost as soon as he finished speaking, there was a burst of laughter all around, but it stopped abruptly in a moment.
Zhang Shou, who was so amused that he couldn't help crying and laughing, gave the little guy another knife blow, but then he saw a bowl of wine was delivered to his mouth. He looked again and saw that the boy who was delivering the wine steadily with one hand was none other than Ah Liu. Although the wine was almost full to the brim of the bowl, it miraculously didn't spill a drop, and Zhang Shou doubted whether Ah Liu would pour it for him if he didn't drink it.
Helplessly, he could only reach out to take it, but after just two sips, he wondered if he should find a way to cheat and spill it on the ground, or something else, when he only heard Ah Liu say, "Master, the rice wine was brewed by the villagers using spring water, and the yellow wine was brewed two years ago and buried in the ground."
Whether it is yellow wine or rice wine, both require grain. For the villagers who have always been frugal, this is the most precious thing they can give. Today is your birthday, just for the sake of everyone's happiness, drink a few more sips, don't let everyone down - although this is purely Zhang Shou's imagination of what Ah Liu said, but he knows that this kid should mean this.
He looked at Ah Liu helplessly, but Ah Liu looked back at him innocently: "Finish this bowl, and I'll change it for you."
Under this promise, Zhang Shou had no choice but to close his eyes and drink it up again. It must be said that the rice wine brewed from the grain grown in his own fields and the spring water flowing from the back mountain of his village is as delicious as honey water.
The problem is that drinking alcohol is fine like drinking water, but drinking water has some deadly side effects!
Even after changing to a small cup, after drinking at least seven or eight small cups, Zhang Shou finally felt that he could not hold it in any longer. Fortunately, before he could say anything, a hand reached out to support him steadily, and then Ah Liu's voice was heard.
"Come back later if you haven't toasted yet. I'll help the young master go out to get some fresh air to sober up."
If someone else had said this, the group of kids would have been making a fuss for a while, but when Ah Liu spoke, no one dared to say a word, and they watched Ah Liu help Zhang Shou out. Aunt Liu, who was accompanying Wu, saw this and hurriedly whispered to the hostess, "Madam, you see, the young master is about to get married, and Ah Liu is not young anymore, shouldn't you pay more attention to this important matter?"
Before Mrs. Wu could get a word in, Aunt Liu lowered her voice and said, "I heard that Ah Liu wants to marry a stunning beauty!"
“A-choo… A-choo A-choo!”
After they had flushed the toilet, Zhang Shou came out and heard Ah Liu sneeze several times. A cool breeze blew by and he shivered. Then he felt dizzy and walked over to him and said, "It's getting cold in the autumn wind. You're wearing too little. Go back to your room and put on another layer of clothes. Bring me my cloak!"
As long as we send this kid back to his room, let’s see who dares to force him to drink!
However, Zhang Shou's words were always effective in coaxing others, but when facing Ah Liu, he was greeted with a faint glance from the boy. The boy took a piece of paper from his arms and wiped his nose, then said in a muffled voice: "It's not a cold, someone must be talking about me behind my back. Master, the birthday boy, don't try to hide, even if the small cup is replaced by a small wine glass later, you have to accept all the toasts ."
Zhang Shou was almost driven crazy by this stubborn boy. He could not help but yelled angrily, "Do you know that drinking will delay your work? I have no day off tomorrow. I still have to go to the Imperial College!"
Ah Liu was not fooled at all. He raised his lips and asked, "The students of Jiuzhang Hall are all doing their jobs. Why are you going to the Imperial College? To make people envious and jealous?"
Well, speaking of it, the students of the Imperial College have been busy recently. One group is checking the accounts at the Guanglu Temple, one group is helping Lu Sanlang organize the imperial chef selection competition, one group is learning and doing things at the Ministry of Revenue , one group is helping Wanyuanbao check the accounts and count the assets of the South City tyrant Wang Siye, and one group is interning with Wang Datou in Datong, Xuanfu. Qi Liang is still in charge of the team...
If he didn't recruit the second batch of students for Jiuzhangtang, he would be left alone! Today was the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, and if he went to the Imperial College tomorrow, he would really be met with envious and jealous looks from his colleagues!
After realizing this, Zhang Shou finally understood that Ah Liu had already calculated that he could sleep until the sun rose tomorrow, so he personally brought a bunch of children to make trouble here, and he would definitely not be able to escape this feast. So, he could only sigh deeply, and then turned to walk to the front yard, but he had only taken a few steps when he heard Ah Liu's faint voice.
"After the toast, everyone will give gifts. Master, just think about this."
You said that... as if I just wanted to receive lots of birthday gifts! Zhang Shou muttered in his heart. Although he knew that Ah Liu didn't mean that, he was completely desperate about the boy's language art.
When he was about to reach the side door of the front yard, he heard a loud sound of finger-guessing coming from the other side. He went to the door and took a closer look. The guy who was happily taking turns playing finger-guessing with several children was none other than Mr. Song.
This oddball, who had previously paid money to bribe a small restaurant to pretend to be a chef and had solemnly entered the imperial chef selection competition, now had his collar open, his face flushed with excitement, his finger-guessing gestures changing very quickly, and his shouting very loudly, which made people wonder, how did this guy, who is so versatile in the ways of the world, get the title of a juren in the imperial examination?
However, when Zhang Shou stepped into the yard with this mutter, the sound of the finger-guessing game came to a temporary end - or rather, it did not come to an end, but only Song Juren's happy shout of "I won" and the sound of clapping the table remained, and the boy who was supposed to lose and drink came up with a wine bowl. After him, all the boys who had been watching the finger-guessing game came up and surrounded him.
Seeing this scene, Mr. Song, who had just drunk a few bowls of wine and was in high spirits playing finger-guessing games with others to relieve his boredom, suddenly became depressed again. But when he saw a group of boys chattering around Zhang Shou, and finally being driven by the young man next to Zhang Shou to line up and toast, he couldn't help but feel a little envious.
The Song family in Guangdong is the richest family. They are both officials and businessmen. Even though the officials are not in the local area, after decades of operation, they have become a huge company, and all the rules and regulations have become an indispensable part of daily life.
Not to mention the birthdays of those masters, even if it's a birthday for a young man like him, it can be lively, but it can't be excessive. You can invite your usual friends and relatives, but you absolutely cannot hang out with the servants.
Even the servants and maids around him kowtowed to him and gave him one or two pieces of needlework or other small things to celebrate his birthday. As for toasting and watching the host finish the drink, and refusing to obey until the host finishes the drink... that's absolutely impossible! Just like he just drank and played finger-guessing games with a group of young servants, if his family saw it, he would definitely be scolded!
However, seeing that Zhang Shou was helpless, he quickly let Liu hold the pot and pour wine beside him. Even though he changed to a smaller wine glass, he really drank one cup after another. Mr. Song didn't know where the impulse came from, but suddenly picked up the wine jar beside him and poured himself a full bowl, then staggered over.
Although Zhang Shou was drinking the birthday wine offered by everyone, he also saw the actions of Mr. Song. He found that after he came forward with the wine bowl, he did not rely on his status to directly insert himself to the front of the group of little guys, but lined up honestly at the back. He could not help but have a deeper understanding of this scholar.
This is a more interesting person than you might think!
Fortunately, the little guys toasted very quickly, saying "prosperity, wealth, peace, success"... It seemed that there were only these auspicious words in the world, and they kept saying them over and over again. As they drank bowl after bowl of wine and watched Zhang Shou finish his cup after cup, they happily left. In the end, only Mr. Song was left standing in front of Zhang Shou.
"I'm really lucky. Today I happened to meet the princess' birthday at Xinglong Tea House, and tonight I also met you, Dr. Zhang, for your birthday here. I finally had a big meal... You know, if I wasn't almost starving at noon, I wouldn't have thought of making taro balls. If that guy hadn't suddenly appeared and looked at me straight in the eyes, I wouldn't have been so confused that I would have given him a bowl."
Perhaps because he was a little drunk, Chef Song's words were somewhat incoherent. However, when Zhang Shou heard what he said, he immediately looked at Ah Liu beside him with a strange expression, but when he looked, he found that the boy who was standing next to him just now was gone! When he found that Ah Liu had run into the little guys without knowing when, he couldn't help but feel angry.
There's no doubt about it, the blame for the little farce that happened after those two bowls of taro balls were delivered upstairs today...definitely should be borne by Ah Liu!
Of course, he was angry, but he was not angry at all. Zhang Shou could only laugh dryly and said, "At noon, you were just like the other chefs. You were thinking about how to win, so you had no appetite before the end. This is normal."
"At that time, I only thought about participating. I was overjoyed to be able to get involved. I didn't even think about winning. So I didn't eat because I was scared."
Mr. Song shrugged his shoulders and raised his bowl to Zhang Shou. He didn't care about Zhang Shou's reaction and drank it all in one gulp. Then he sighed and said, "When I saw your Aunt Liu demonstrating how to cook those , I thought my identity as a descendant of the Guangdong Song family had been exposed. It was a warning to me, so I answered the extra questions at random."
Seeing that it was Zhang Shou's turn to be dumbfounded, he smiled bitterly and said, "Dr. Zhang, you should understand. My sneaking into the Imperial Chef Selection Competition this afternoon is like a person who doesn't even have the title of a scholar sneaking into the provincial examination room to take the exam for a juren. He only wants to understand the specific process first, and doesn't even want to pass the exam, because even if he passes, he won't be awarded the title!"
I'm sorry, I can't understand...because I've never seen someone as confused and eccentric as you!
Zhang Shou thought so in his heart, but showed an interested smile on his face: "But didn't you make the ginseng fruit birthday dish very well? Even the princess praised it highly, otherwise she wouldn't have summoned you. You probably don't know that when this dessert was served, she and Yingying fought over it and ate all the birthday peaches cleanly. No one else, including me, got a bite."
Hearing that his cooking was highly praised, Mr. Song showed a somewhat proud expression: "Of course, desserts are my specialty. I like to use all the various ingredients and fruits brought back from Southeast Asia to make desserts. So when it comes to how to use ingredients that have never been seen before, there are really few people who can compare to me, because they don't have the opportunity! I have been to Southeast Asia several times..."
At this point, he suddenly realized that he had digressed too far, so he coughed and said bitterly, "But Dr. Zhang, since the princess really likes the desserts I made, why does she have to act like the elders in my family and think that what I do is not my job and that I am wasting my time? Did I do anything wrong with my registration? Will I be held accountable later?"
