Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 462: Strange Gift
At first, Zhang Shou thought that Chef Song came to toast and talk to him just to vent his depression, but he didn't expect that he would talk a lot. Finally, he turned to more normal topics. He was worried about whether the fight with Princess Yongping was serious and whether he would be held accountable.
He listened and sipped the rice wine in the small wine glass in his hand. He then said with a smile, "If you want to investigate, you were kicked out at the scene, or you were taken away and locked up somewhere. How could I bring you back? Besides, didn't Fourth Master Hua come up to plead for you? Didn't the princess and the eunuch Chu from the Imperial Household Department both do things for themselves?"
Although Zhang Shou said it lightly, Mr. Song laughed and tilted his head drunkenly and said, "I have only met Mr. Hua once. He is a few years older than me and is already the head of the Hua family in Suzhou. I am a lazy child of the Song family who has to rely on my family for support. His pleading for me is just an excuse to go up to the third floor and get close to the big shot!"
Who would have thought that this rather eccentric Mr. Song was actually quite perceptive in some aspects!
Zhang Shou slightly raised his evaluation of Mr. Song, at least from a simple and stupid fool to a kitchen idiot who was somewhat knowledgeable about the ways of the world, but was too lazy to think carefully most of the time. So, he smiled and said, "In short, no matter whether Mr. Hua Si was false or sincere, the princess accepted his request. In short, you can rest assured."
"The princess used to be famous in the capital for her love of recommending talented people. Seeing that a scholar like you disregarded the old saying that a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen, she was a little disappointed. That little dispute is nothing. Even if you took an unorthodox way to participate in the competition, as long as you really made something good and your identity is not suspicious, no one will pursue you."
"Perhaps, with the emperor's unique personality, he will remember a talent like you."
If it were any other scholar, he would certainly think that the word "talent" was a mockery, and the so-called "the emperor will remember it" was even more of a mockery. At this moment, he would at best fly into a rage and retort, at worst walk away in anger and sever ties with Zhang Shou - of course, Mr. Song and Zhang Shou were not yet familiar with each other, so it was quite a stretch to say that - and Mr. Song's reaction at this moment was indeed far from that of an ordinary person.
"Will the emperor remember a talent like ? Will he remember my cooking skills? If I open a restaurant right now, will the emperor come incognito to taste my food after hearing about me? Oh, how should I entertain him then..."
Zhang Shou watched as Mr. Song started to circle in front of him with an empty wine bowl in his hand, muttering something. He was both angry and amused. How could there be such a person with such a fancy mind in this world!
After laughing, he felt that the dispute between Mr. Song and Princess Yongping was not strange at all. Mr. Song was obviously a person who lived in his own world most of the time. The reason why he took the exam to become a juren was because his family forced him to do so. He had good talent and was probably very diligent in studying. He was also very good at pretending to be Pleasant Goat, but in fact he was Big Bad Wolf.
It seems that this description is not quite accurate, but in short, this kind of person will not reveal his true nature, but once it is exposed, he will fight to the death even if the emperor is in front of him! Therefore, Princess Yongping was so angry that she cried, and Zhu Ying also misunderstood.
He coughed and reminded, "Wake up, wake up first! Brother Song, you are still a guest of honor in my Zhang Garden. Your shop is still in its infancy, so don't dream of the emperor personally patronizing you!"
Mr. Song finally stopped spinning and pressed his forehead to calm his hot and dizzy brain. However, he drank two extra bowls of wine when he saw others toasting Zhang Shou, and then he drank a few more bowls when he played finger-guessing games with others. He then went forward to toast Zhang Shou and drank another bowl. He was not a big drinker and was indeed a little drunk.
He really liked the atmosphere of the market, so he played finger-guessing with a few little guys. Although he made a lot of noise, he actually lost a lot. At this time, he did not feel that he was drunk. He shook his head and saw a group of guys gathered in twos and threes over there discussing something. Finally, he turned around and looked at Zhang Shou and laughed.
"Dr. Zhang, I envy you very much. You have a beautiful and cheerful fiancée, elders at home who don't control you, and a king who trusts you. But what I envy most now is your..."
He waved his hand violently and drew a circle around everyone in the yard. "What I envy you most now is that on your birthday, there are so many people who are sincerely happy for you and wish you a long and happy life! Really, I can see that those guys are really happy, not just for the big feast and the fun today. I even heard people whispering about how to send you gifts!"
Because of the big movement, Mr. Song slipped and almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, Zhang Shou felt that something was wrong with him and rushed forward to grab him, but he was almost dragged to the ground by the strong guy. When he looked again, he saw that Mr. Song was already sleepy, as if he was drunk.
Even when he was drunk, this guy was still not honest. He kept mumbling, "I want to open the biggest sweet soup shop in the capital. The world is big, and the sweets are the biggest. There are so many rich and powerful ladies. I don't believe that business will not be good! Every time I open a shop, there will be a lot of people coming to congratulate and give gifts. I also want to accept gifts!"
Seeing that the man had already fallen to the ground, Zhang Shou had no choice but to let go, and then called Old Liu over and told him to put the man in the guest room. But before Old Liu could ask Yang Hao to help him get the man up, he suddenly remembered something that he had completely forgotten before.
"By the way, didn't Yingying send someone to pick up the servant boy beside him? Where is he now?"
As soon as he said this, he saw Old Liu's face stiffen, while Yang Hao had a silly look on his face. He knew at a glance that the former knew about it, but the latter didn't. He immediately asked Yang Hao to ask Zheng Dang to come and take Mr. Song away, and then he stared at Old Liu and asked, "Why, is there any flaw in this little thing?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard Ah Liu's familiar voice: "That stupid guy was evasive before."
When Old Liu saw Ah Liu appear, he was immediately relieved and quickly evaded the question, "Master, you and the eldest lady were enjoying the scenery in the garden when the guard from the Zhu family came over to report the incident. This matter is quite complicated, so let Ah Liu tell you..."
Before anyone could run away, Zhang Shou grabbed the man and said with a fake smile, "Everyone knows that you are a chatterbox, but Ah Liu is a taciturn person. Do you need to ask who is more suitable to explain the whole story? Don't keep us in suspense, just speak up!"
Seeing that he couldn't escape, Old Liu said helplessly, "That Young Master Song is truly the most extraordinary person in the world. He brought not only a servant boy with him, but also two attendant guards and a groom. Then, in order to go to the Xinglong Tea House to participate in the preliminary round of the imperial chef selection, he drugged all of them. He tied the servant boy to the bed, and the two guards to the bed legs."
He paused, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, and said, "That's not all. He even gave his horse croton seeds and asked the groom to take the horse to a veterinarian. When the young lady's people rushed to the inn to rescue the man, the groom came back in a hurry. When he saw the situation in the guest room, he shouted that his young master had been kidnapped. His voice was so loud that it could be heard three blocks away. The whole inn was in chaos!"
It seems that I have underestimated this guy. He is more than just a weirdo, he is one of the weirdest people in the world!
You tricked the groom into leaving, drugged the guards and the servant boy, just to try your cooking skills in the imperial chef selection. Mr. Song, you have successfully made yourself famous in the capital. Any senior figure from the Song family, the richest family in Guangdong, in the capital must be furious and come to your door, right?
Zhang Shou rubbed his brows in astonishment, and felt his birthday today was definitely as exciting as last year's. The drunken weirdo who was carried off was as good as the talkative rebel leader and a bunch of rebels who died last year!
"What happened next? You're not going to tell me that the coachman and the Song family servant went to the Wanping County Court, the Daxing County Court, or even the Shuntian Prefecture Court to report to the authorities?" If that were the case, he would be too lazy to save this weirdo. He would just throw him out and let the elders of the Song family beat to death this kid who had acted too outrageously!
"No, no." Old Liu shook his head like a rattle. "The guard of the Zhu family was smart. He immediately revealed his identity and said he knew the whereabouts of Mr. Song. He persuaded the groom and servants to come out. We didn't have any experience in dealing with these people, so we took them all to the Zhaoguo Mansion. When the news came, Zhu Hong tried his best to comfort me."
"He said..." Old Liu hesitated for a moment, then laughed dryly, "Since the Madam and Madam sent a message saying that there are some minor matters, please don't worry, they will take care of it, then everything will be fine."
They were actually sent to the Zhu family! Zhang Shou's face suddenly looked strange, thinking that Zhu Ying's guards were really like Zhu Ying's style, and they were afraid of causing trouble for him, so they sent the people to the Zhaoguogong Mansion! The Taifu and Jiuniang, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, were even more responsible, and directly kept those unlucky guys, and said lightly that it was a minor matter.
Well, that's fine. Even if the news spreads, the Song family will probably go to the Zhu family first if they want to find someone...
After thinking for a while, he asked again: "Does Mr. Song know about this?"
Old Liu laughed immediately: "This is his family's business, how can I not tell him? He was silent for a long time, and finally said in a very bachelor way that it is a blessing in disguise, and if it is a disaster, it cannot be avoided, and then he did what he had to do. To be honest, this is the first time I have seen such a rich kid in my life. He is so bold and reckless, and he is so ruthless!"
Haha, this weirdo can even argue with Princess Yongping, so of course he can hurt his own people too!
Zhang Shou breathed a sigh of relief, then said helplessly: "Since the Duke Zhao's Mansion has taken over the matter, we will not be in charge."
Old Liu was worried that Zhang Shou might not be able to help but meddle in other people's business, so he nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, it's better not to meddle in other people's business! Why does he need our help to clean up the mess he made?"
Even Ah Liu nodded seriously: "That's right, everyone has their own responsibility."
Zhang Shou was just about to remind Ah Liu that this proverb seemed to be used in the wrong place, when he suddenly heard a loud shout: "Master, everyone is going to send you a gift!"
Hearing this, Zhang Shou immediately threw aside all his thoughts about a certain weirdo and strode back to the table. Before he could take his seat, he saw the toasting team reappear in an instant, and it became a long team in a moment. However, compared to the initial group of teenagers, there were a few more little girls in the team.
As for the dozen or so adult men and women who got up late, they couldn't help but laugh and cry when they saw that they were overtaken by a group of children again.
After all, the personnel composition of Zhang Garden is very complicated. The majority of the people are half-grown children from Rongshui Village who have never had any experience of working in wealthy mansions. There are a total of eleven boys, aged from eight to sixteen, four girls, aged from eleven to thirteen, two widows who have a hard time living in the village, and two lonely old men who still go to the fields in their old age.
The two widows are now in charge of laundry, and the two lonely old men are now planting a few acres of vegetable garden in the northeast corner. Most of the vegetables in the mansion are grown by them. None of them eats for free, and they can all be said to be self-reliant.
Then there were the two mothers, two stewards, and two gardeners who were seconded from the Duke Zhao's mansion to help. The rest were a group of people of mixed backgrounds that Ah Liu had subdued by some unknown means - including the three people including the lame Anlu, the doorman, the old woman Xu from the kitchen, and the six people who cleaned the house and guarded the courtyard.
At this moment, the group of adults at the back, who were either from the Zhaoguo Mansion or from the market, watched helplessly as the excited half-grown children rushed ahead of them and lined up to give gifts to Zhang Shou. Although they thought the queuing was ridiculous, Zhang Shou obviously didn't care, so they had nothing to say.
However, looking at the two widows and two old men at the back, they couldn't help but exchange glances in groups of three or two.
Apart from Zhang Yuan, probably no other family would include widows and the elderly when recruiting slaves.
The first gift Zhang Shou received almost made him feel that children these days were more mature than those in later generations. The person who gave him the gift was the same boy who had wished him a quick wedding and a son. He mysteriously took out a book from his bosom and stuffed it directly into his hand. Before he could lower his head to read it, the person hurriedly stopped him.
"You can't watch it, you must not watch it now! You can watch it with the young lady later!"
Zhang Shou glanced at the man doubtfully, and seeing that the boy immediately slipped away after saying this, he couldn't help but have a very subtle premonition - this brat... wouldn't he give him a pornographic painting?
He opened the book without even thinking about it, and decided that if it was the real deal, he would catch the person and beat him up even if he had to leave the other gift-givers alone. But when he opened the book and found it was a legendary story, he put his heart at ease. But he soon realized that he was too happy too early!
