Chapter 53: Screening Students: The lame man from the northern border is here again. ...
The heavy spring rain soaked the bluestone tiles on the ground.
The oil-paper umbrellas, bamboo hats and horse-drawn carriages passing through the street all gathered in one place, and the joy of the pedestrians was beyond words.
If you meet someone you know on the road, you can introduce them to each other and say hello.
"I'm from Lizhou City in Donglu, Taiyue Restaurant. Nice to meet you all."
"You must be Master Chen, right? Nice to meet you. Your Shandong cuisine is truly exceptional. We brothers have come here from Yanping and Zezhou."
"It seems I'm the one who's come the furthest. Mr. Muxi's pearl milk tea in Laicheng has instantly captivated our shopkeeper. I'm going to learn a few more tricks for this spring banquet."
At the window on the second floor of Chunhe Jingming Inn, Liu Qianjin saw the crowded scene and her eyes were full of astonishment.
It took her a while to react.
"Aren't these the chefs from the restaurants and inns we passed along the way? They've used their kitchens before, so why are they here?"
Guizhi'er had dressed up as Mr. Muxi again and gave a look of gratitude to the camel-clothed attendant who was helping to receive the guests.
No matter what the intentions of the prefect Liu were, at least his subordinates were efficient.
"Everyone is here to attend the banquet and help us." Guizhier was confident of winning.
Cooking is a craft, and to be a craft, you have to kowtow and become a disciple before you can learn it.
Apprentices start by doing heavy physical work such as washing pots and pans, chopping wood and fetching water. They have to be humble and work hard, and it takes several years of hardship before they get the opportunity to watch the master cook up close.
At first, you can only talk less and watch more, and slowly figure it out.
Even if you have questions, you need to serve the master well and then choose the right time to ask for advice.
"Teach the apprentice and starve the master." Gui Zhier explained to Liu Qianjin with a smile, "I don't have such concerns."
"So I've already written to my colleagues. If you're willing to lend a hand, I'll teach you for free. How much you learn depends entirely on your own ability."
The art of cooking, like knowledge, is about communication.
Sichuan cuisine is spicy, Lingnan cuisine is fresh, Eastern Shandong cuisine has a long history, and Southern cuisine tends to be sweeter. As the saying goes, local climate and soil nurture local people; it's better to learn from others than to work in isolation.
Guizhier has gathered the strengths of hundreds of schools, and this is her confidence in contracting the Spring Banquet!
"Master, your foresight is brilliant." The shock in the eyes of Wang Pu and other students turned into admiration. "A supervisor without good cooking skills is not a qualified knight."
Sure enough, excellent people are excellent at everything they do.
Gui Zhier said with a smile, as if teasing a child: "Gentlemen, even if you are one in a thousand, there are nearly ten thousand of them in Daliang. Learning never ends."
All the candidates were impressed and from then on they became more cautious and diligent in their studies.
In a blink of an eye, after intensive preparations, the Spring Banquet kicked off.
The banquet venue remained the same, nestled between the mountains and the water. A spring breeze blew across the mountains and rivers, and the grass and trees gradually woke up, dots of new green connected into a single piece, and flowers gradually bloomed.
This spring banquet follows the theme of food and takes "tea" as its theme.
In a small pavilion with flying eaves and brackets, a young man in elegant clothes was writing with a brush.
The painting on the table is ink-colored, like clouds and mist, with tea trees scattered in an orderly manner and tender green tea leaves exuding a light and elegant fragrance.
"The ink is naturally rhythmic, and the artistic conception is profound." The man with the green scarf on his head bowed and said, "May I ask if you are Brother Tian, the Yanping Juren who won the first place in the provincial examination?"
"Oh?" the young man paused and asked, "You are..."
"Junior fellow student Yang An Li Mi. I've heard of your great name for a long time. This spring, you will surely win the first place in the imperial examination and be on the list of top scorers."
"Yes, yes. If you become successful in the future, don't forget your old friends."
On painted boats, by the water, and similar words can be seen everywhere in the gathering.
The clear sound of the piano and strings was interrupted, and the battle of drinking tea and playing chess was disrupted.
The impetuous atmosphere seemed to be contagious. The scholars who were originally writing articles calmly put down their pens and socialized with others, for fear of missing any important information.
At this time, the specialness of the candidates from the northern border was revealed.
Wang Pu put away his bamboo stick, his back straight as a pine tree, and he was dragging his lame left foot, writing an article stroke by stroke.
"Brother Wen Jing, do we need to go and get some news?" a student asked.
"It's a matter of the Spring Examination, and it's indeed worthy of attention, but the teacher said that we must be calm and steady, and not lose the big picture because of small things." Wang Pu said solemnly.
The gentleman never makes mistakes.
So the students from the northern border stopped their wandering minds and focused on writing poetry.
The final step of the Spring Banquet was to present each of our masterpieces, which would be voted on by the audience. If any mistakes were made, we would be truly ashamed of the teacher's guidance.
There are also those who are discerning and cannot stand the trend of forming cliques.
"I see these scholars haven't produced many good articles, but they've made a lot of friends." A traveling merchant patted the cloth bag at his waist and said with a smile, "They're not as good as us businessmen. We can't fake our income and expenditure."
The cloth bag was bulging with bank stubs.
Although the spring tea transaction with Guizhier did not make as much money as expected, at least the investment was recovered.
Needless to say, the merchants straightened their backs and went to the brokerage firm to seek justice.
"Now that all your affairs have been dealt with, what are your plans next?" Xie Yuan waved his folding fan slowly.
He was wearing a stone-blue satin shirt today, which was free of all glitz and glamour, revealing a simple and elegant look.
There is no difference between them and the students here.
It is not easy to get a ticket to the Spring Banquet. Those who participate in the gathering must have achieved great achievements or be noble and prominent.
But Guizhier gave away several of them at once.
"It's a bad year, and times are tough." The leading merchant shook his head. "Business is tough everywhere these days."
"I heard that there are no bandit problems in the northern border for the time being. We are going to collect some medicinal herbs from the snowy mountains."
Businessmen have the keenest sense of smell, and they will rush to seek a way out wherever the financial situation is improving.
"Let's not talk about mundane matters!" A merchant changed the subject. "Young Master Xie, you were also a third place winner in the imperial examination. Which of these masterpieces do you prefer?"
You're just bringing up things that are irrelevant to the topic.
But Xie Yuan didn't take it as an offense. He fanned his hand and a gentle breeze blew.
"Most of them are pretentious, but the writing of Wang Pu from the Northern Territory is simple and honest. I like it very much." He pondered for a moment and admired it.
The article abandons flowery and elegant rhetoric, and is full of insightful and nuanced analysis, making it easy to understand at a glance. I wonder why someone who can write such sophisticated prose repeatedly fails the exam?
"Perhaps he is disabled after all and cannot be of great use." The traveling merchant did not understand the difference between the high and low scholars and could only scratch his head in confusion.
After all, there are too many factors that influence an exam.
At the same time, on the high and wide platform in the mountains.
A tall and thin man like a bamboo pole was leisurely throwing fish food into the tank, attracting fish to flock in.
He had a hooked nose and a somewhat mean look, and his lips were thin and pale.
"How's the screening going for the students for the Spring Banquet?" He saw the little fish jostling each other for food, his mouth opening and closing as he smiled sinisterly.
"Reporting to the master, we have selected several suitable candidates according to your instructions." The servant said humbly.
The hook-nosed man, his eyes sinister, scooped up a grass goldfish from the tank. He grasped its flailing body and watched its panicked expression.
Seeing this, the servant approached cautiously, covering his mouth with his hand and whispering, "Also, that cripple from the north is here again."
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