After finishing the meal, Xu Jiang praised, "It's really sweet."
Liu Mei was a little full after eating, and rubbed her chest and said: "In the past, I didn't think it was anything special when I saw the girls and boys eating. But after eating this today, I realized that these little guys are the best eaters."
"Sister Liu, please don't compete with us in the future."
"Rare."
Liu Mei pretended to be angry and grabbed Yin Yin and slapped her for a while. Suddenly, she heard footsteps outside. She leaned over to see and found that the servants came to serve fruits and snacks.
"I'm afraid the master's guests are about to arrive. Yinyin, you go and do your own thing. I'll stay here with my wife."
"Okay." Yin Yin shook Xu Jiang's hand and left reluctantly.
Liu Mei was worried that she would be bored, so she suggested, "Madam, would you like to go outside for a walk?"
"Okay." It's a good opportunity to take a look at the banquet process of this wealthy family.
"Today is a private banquet. Master has invited only close friends, about ten or so of you, all of whom are kind and amiable. Madam, please do not be afraid or restrained."
"That's for granted." Xu Jiang was not timid, and was even a little curious. She didn't know what kind of people they were.
When they walked to the banana tree, they saw a group of people led by Lou Jing coming towards them from afar. Liu Mei led her to the side and waited for them to pass before following them into the house.
"We are all old friends, so I won't greet you. Please take a seat."
Xu Jiang wanted to sit in the small room outside, but Du Hui saw her and waved her over.
Liu Mei quickly pushed her forward and stepped back.
Du Hui asked, "Why are you running so far? Are you afraid of seeing people?"
Xu Jiang said, "Gentlemen, you are of high status. How dare I sit on the same level with you?"
Hearing this, Lou Jing hurriedly said, "There's no such thing in Ziran Pavilion. Just sit back and relax."
"After being caged for so long, I can finally return to nature. What a wonderful natural pavilion." Xu Jiang smiled, "That's where I can let loose."
After everyone was seated, Xu Jiang recognized them one by one. In addition to the ones in Mingshi Pavilion, there were seven or eight more people, all of them were in their forties or fifties and above, and they were all dressed very elegantly. They must be rich or noble.
Du Hui introduced them to her in a low voice, "The one in the first room on the left is named Tan, the one in the second room is named Lu, the one in the first room on the right is named Zhong, the one in the second room is named Liu, the one sitting opposite is named Wang, the one sitting diagonally is named Zhou, and you know the rest."
"Thank you, sir. I've made a note of this. If you come to my shop next time and see anything you like, I'll give you half the price."
"I'm short of that few bucks?" Du Hui paused, then added, "But if you can give me two more jars of mushroom oil, that's fine."
Lou Jing, with his sharp ears, asked hurriedly, "What's mushroom oil? Old Du, you're so dishonest. You keep all the good stuff hidden away."
"If I had hidden it, I wouldn't have invited Manager Xu."
"Then why haven't you mentioned this mushroom oil?"
Seeing that the two were about to bicker again, Xu Jiang advised, "They are just some snacks that I made myself. If you like them, I will bring some over for you to try someday."
Du Hui felt quite unhappy, "Look, I know you guys are going to divide it up."
Xu Jiang couldn't help laughing. "It's not a valuable thing, but a condiment made from pine mushrooms, used to mix with noodles or rice. If you like it, I'll make some more for you. Whenever you want to eat it, just send someone to get it."
Du Hui was finally satisfied. "Speaking of which, this mushroom oil tastes really good. My spleen and stomach haven't been feeling well lately, and everything I eat has no taste. But thanks to this jar of mushroom oil, after a few bowls of rice, my belt is tighter and I feel refreshed."
"I was just saying you looked a little fatter after not seeing you for a few days. Turns out you were secretly eating alone."
Lou Jing's ridicule made everyone laugh. Someone said, "My lady, everyone who sees it gets a share. Don't be partial."
"That's right, that's right. Just hearing that makes me so hungry that I almost want to try the empty city plan. We have to have a taste of it too."
Xu Jiang stood up and said, "Thank you all for your appreciation. Please register your name later. When I make a new one, I will send it door to door for you to try."
Everyone cheered again.
Xu Jiang secretly calculated that a jar of mushroom oil in exchange for a customer was a good deal.
After a round of banter, the servants brought in some acrobatic games, and everyone enjoyed themselves playing pitching pots, six-bo, backgammon, guessing riddles, and shooting covers. Xu Jiang didn't dare to stand out, so she just cheered. If Du Hui forced her to join in, she would also play a few games, winning and losing sometimes, but playing it safe.
At the time of Shen, Lou Jing ordered someone to serve the meal. A dozen maids dressed in plain clothes, each holding a food box, distributed the food to everyone present.
Xu Jiang looked at the food on her low table, but found that it was not delicacies from land and sea, but some homely farm dishes. There were vegetarian dishes such as pumpkin soup, vegetable soup, stewed eggplant, pickled cucumber, as well as meat dishes such as fish sashimi, pickled duck, and stewed meat. In addition, each person was served with a small pot of rice wine.
Lou Jing first proposed a toast, and then asked everyone to start eating.
"Everyone, come and try some of this fresh farm food. I've specially hired a country chef to prepare it, so it should taste great."
Xu Jiang first tasted the fish sashimi; it was delicious. But the second time, she noticed a slight fishy smell, which she quickly suppressed with a sip of rice wine. She then picked up some other dishes, but aside from the pumpkin soup, which was quite good, the rest were mediocre.
Fortunately, Lou Jing paid attention to health preservation, and the portion of each dish was not large. Except for the fish sashimi, Xu Jiang finished all the other dishes and was almost 80% full.
Du Hui saw that the sashimi on her table was basically untouched, so he asked in a low voice, "Shopkeeper Xu, don't you like sashimi?"
"I eat it sometimes, but the fish sashimi today has a fishy smell, which I can't get used to."
"Don't fish sashimi always have a fishy smell?"
Xu Jiang shook her head. "I once ate a kind of fish sashimi in Fengcheng. The flesh was red and white, as thin as a cicada's wing, fresh and sweet, and not even a hint of fishy smell."
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