delicious little cook

Chapter 147 The young masters have entered the tribute courtyard

The next day, Tong Mingli received a donkey roll sent by her cousin at home. She tasted the taste at the first bite. The taste of the red bean paste was the same as the cakes on the table at the birthday party, but it was not a pre-banquet. The taste of the last two baked dim sum.

Sure enough, there is another cook hiding in the Duke's mansion, and it must be that person who is the gunman for the cousin.

After Tong Mingli ate a few donkeys, she changed her mind and wrote a letter to her cousin. She invited her and her cousins ​​to come home and make sweet-scented osmanthus sauce with her friends. By the way, everyone had lunch together to see who made the dishes. most popular.

Cooking and needlework are the most important boudoir education for girls since childhood. Literacy, reading, piano, chess, calligraphy and painting all belong to the level of the superstructure. The average family with limited financial resources can only teach their daughters the two most basic things. It is a joy of life and a traditional custom for young girls to compare their cooking skills with each other at a party, which not only enhances the relationship between sisters, but also allows the parents behind them to choose a satisfactory future daughter-in-law.

It is quite normal for Tong Mingli to invite her cousin to participate in her sister's activities, but it is a girl's daily communication.

Gu Wan's face turned pale when she received the letter from her cousin. How could she have learned a good cooking skill in the past few days, so she quickly took the letter to show to her mother. Bai Kou wrote a note to ask her what dishes are convenient and easy to learn and suitable for showing off in front of others.

After reading the note, Bai Kou understood what the second lady meant. The third lady wanted to show off her culinary skills in the circle of sisters.

See, one of the consequences of layman pretending to be an expert is to face this situation head-on.

Sighing, Bai Kou wrote a reply letter to the second lady, suggesting that the two ladies pretend to be sick and don't go. The fun of cooking at this kind of sisters' gathering is that the ingredients are optional, and it all depends on personal freedom. The third lady and the fifth lady are full. If you are full of poems and books, it is better to find a chess club and ask the sisters to talk with each other for a day.

This suggestion is really in place, Gu Wan immediately regained her spirits. Apart from the weakest cooking skills, she is confident that she will not lose face in the circle of friends, but Tong Mingli has spent too much The time is spent on cooking, and naturally there is no extra energy to take care of other aspects.

The time came to an end in the back-and-forth of letters between the two sisters. Tong Mingli had already made sweet-scented osmanthus sauce with her friends, and neither Gu Wan nor her sister went out to show off their cooking skills in front of outsiders.

After entering August, Qiuwei became the top priority.

Qiu Wei has a total of nine days and seven nights. Once the physical examination is completed and he enters the dormitory, he can only come out on the [-]th day of the eighth month, except for illness and sudden death. So I stayed in the official office and was not allowed to go home. The family members were only allowed to send some changes of clothes and food the next day, but the family members were not allowed to meet, and the officials had to leave when they handed things over to the official office.

The old man specially brought a bag of instant noodles and a small jar of beef paste in his luggage, which was originally for his own supper convenience, because he also had to do things at night, and put all the trivial things before and after Qiu Wei into place one by one. If there is a single mistake, otherwise they will be unlucky from top to bottom.

Originally, those suppers were enough for the old man to eat for seven or eight days alone, but after only two days, the servant who went to change the clothes brought home the noodle pockets and empty jars that had already been eaten. They were divided up, a group of officials and gentlemen who were accustomed to delicious food ate delicious food one by one, and wanted more. The East Kitchen was busy all afternoon and made a bunch, and the next day they hurriedly sent them to the official office.

Bai Kou decided that the old man must be bragging to his colleagues. Every other day when the servants went to deliver a change of clothes, they would always bring back a bunch of empty jars. Those adults actually started to order dishes. The next time the sauce Side dishes need this and that taste.

Apart from the old man's supper, the most grueling thing is the dry food of the two young masters. Nine days and seven nights are a test of one's spirit and emotions, and the weather is still quite hot. In order to prevent the food from rotting, there must be enough meat to maintain physical strength Well, Bai Kou made a lot of beef jerky and dried pork, as well as the ready-made sausages, and she even made luncheon meat.

In order to pass the inspection of the three gates of the Gongyuan smoothly, cut beef jerky into pieces, shred dried meat, slice small sausages, cut luncheon meat into strips, a big bag of yogurt chicken cakes the size of your thumb, as well as dried eggs, small scones, frankincense and incense. There is a big bag of scallion cookies and a jar of honey, which looks like food for a picnic.

Gu Yun doesn't like sweets, but during this intense exam, it is still necessary to bring some sweets.

The two young masters had the same amount of food, which filled a five-layer food box. In addition, they also brought a water cup made of bamboo joints.

The stationery for the exam is packed in a basket, and the nine-day and seven-night change of clothes and commonly used medicines are packed as a burden. The Tribute Court is in the imperial city. In order not to block the gate of the Tribute Court, candidates have to get off the car, horse, sedan chair and walk in a street away. .

In the early morning of the seventh day of August, before dawn, the carriage of the Duke’s Mansion was waiting at the West Square Gate, and they went out as soon as the gate opened. Just as the city gate was wide open, there were not too many carriages, horses and sedan chairs blocking the road, and the carriage arrived at Gongyuanwai Street smoothly all the way.

Torches were lit on the street to illuminate the whole street. Gu Yun and Gu Jing carried their burdens on their backs, with a basket in their left hand and a food box in their right, and walked along the bright street to the gate of the Gongyuan. After closing, the two brothers stood in front of the soldiers and waited for the dawn.

Not long after the two of them arrived first, more and more candidates rushed for the exam. The people in the front row were all living near the imperial city, and most of the people who came from the surrounding Zhili crowded into these workshops, so every time they rushed to the exam In these years, the inns in these squares are overcrowded and prices are high.

After dawn, the gate of the Tribute Academy opened, and Gu Yunshan, the Minister of Rituals, came out in a neat official uniform and gave lectures to the candidates, and then stood aside to supervise the soldiers to examine the candidates.

This kind of time can often reflect the advantages of the aristocratic family. There are many famous scholars in the family, Gu Yun brothers have the experience and guidance of the elders, they are clean, they don't even bring a penny, and the size of the food they bring is within the standard , so soon entered the second door, and began to divert to their respective dormitories, and the common people students who consulted for the first time would have various situations.

The Grand Master has been standing outside the gate watching the last examinee finish the physical examination, and then the door of the Gongyuan was closed and barred, and he took the long-awaited official carriage back to the official office to rest, and then continued to be busy with the things behind Qiu Wei, while he His immediate boss was already in the tribute courtyard with the servants of the Ministry of Rites.

The young masters have entered the examination room, and the Wenling courtyard is also busy. There are a bunch of brand-new boxes and cages in the yard. Bai Kou took the list and instructed the girls to pack all the items in the three main rooms one by one.

(End of this chapter)