Chapter 143: City Gossip (Part 1)
In the west city of Eston, a wonderful carnival began unknowingly.
"Hey, did you hear? A restaurant just opened, and the owner is a skeleton who's a real good cook!"
"Hey, not only have I heard of it, I've even been there! That restaurant has so many dishes I've never tried or heard of, but each one is better than the last! Rice noodle rolls, roast meat, rice bowls! And even sea salt pineapple beer! It's amazing!"
"What! You ate roast meat? I heard that stuff is limited, and there's only one roaster open in the morning and one in the afternoon!"
"Hey, that's why I say I'm lucky! That crispy roast pork... wow, I've never eaten anything so delicious! The crispy skin crunches and the gravy sizzles! It's so delicious! Dip it in the owner's homemade sour plum sauce, wow! It's so greasy and satisfying!"
“…I’m different. I didn’t get to eat roast meat, but I got to eat boiled chicken!”
"Pfft! You've been eating boiled bird legs for so many years, and you still haven't had enough?"
"No way! I'm telling you, that boiled chicken has a different, delicious flavor! The chicken is so smooth and tender! I don't know how they cooked the skeleton, but it's not tough at all! With every bite, the chicken is slightly springy and then bursts with delicious gravy. The best part is the sauce!
"Let me tell you, there are three kinds of sauces. One is a sweet soy sauce, one is a yellow and green ginger and scallion dipping sauce, and the other is a shallot-filled scallion sauce. Each one is amazing!
"Sweet soy sauce may seem ordinary, just a dark brown, almost black liquid, but the flavor is amazing! Just a light dip of it on the chicken is like it's been reborn! Salty, sweet, and fresh... the rich flavors coat the chicken. Wow, I can never get tired of it!
"The ginger and scallion sauce is a little pungent and spicy... not the spicy kind of chili pepper, but a completely different kind of spicy, but very powerful! I love it too!"
"Scallion sauce is made by mixing scallion oil from fried shallots with something like soy sauce. It sounds a bit similar to the first two sauces, doesn't it? But it tastes completely different! That scallion aroma! Intoxicating!"
"Hiss, now that you put it that way, I want to eat it too!"
"Let's go have another meal!"
Similar conversations took place in the streets and alleys of Eston West City.
The newly opened brewing shop, with a skeleton lich as the chef and manager, became a favorite overnight.
In this quiet and peaceful magical Middle Ages, people do not have many ways to entertain themselves, and any little disturbance will become a topic of conversation after dinner.
Not to mention that the center of this topic is a "Brewery" that sells novel and delicious dishes. Everyone who has eaten there raves about it, and in an instant this store has become a new trend in the city, even without an internet connection.
"So, why is a restaurant called the Brewing Workshop?" In the garden where aristocratic ladies gathered, a lady raised her hand to adjust her bun, expressing her curiosity elegantly and politely.
"Oh, probably because they sell witch beer and specially brewed sauces. They say those are their main products. As for the food, it's just a accompaniment to show off the delicious sauces and beer."
"The accompaniment? The accompaniment alone is so amazing, how delicious must those sauces and beer be?"
"It's delicious! And it goes with everything!" exclaimed the garden's owner, Baroness Neumann. "I asked the housekeeper to buy some of their plum jam. It's a delicacy that's not sold separately yet! They only give a small amount with roast meats! I only managed to get a whole jar thanks to the Baron's kindness!"
The plump Baroness was very proud of this: "At the barbecue banquet at noon today, everyone will be able to taste the plum sauce and see what kind of novel flavor it brings to the barbecue we are familiar with!"
"That's fantastic! That brewery is in the slums, I don't even dare go there!" A noble lady waved her fan and complained with a hint of disdain. "Madam, I'm telling you to talk to the Baron and have the knights of the kingdom take good care of the city's security. I haven't dared go out at night these past few months!"
Three months ago, a wave of elusive robbers appeared in the western part of Eston. They specialized in robbing late at night, drunken nobles, wealthy people, and even lone travelers. Because of this incident, the city's social season was put on hold, and the noble ladies were upset that they could not hold their balls.
You have to know that in this magical medieval era, where entertainment was scarce, nobles primarily relied on the endless social balls held during the social season to demonstrate their status and wealth, connect with other nobles, gossip, or engage in secret relationships. Social balls also served another important purpose: they allowed noble ladies of age to make their grand debut. After making a grand appearance at the social ball, they could meet and mingle with eligible men of matching status, and even choose their preferred marriage partners.
In the Duchy of Huntington, the social season generally begins in spring when the flowers bloom and ends in late summer. From the beginning of the social season, nobles will gather in the nearby prosperous cities, frequently attending balls held by various hosts or hosting such balls themselves.
Spring and summer were often the time for the tenant farmers and slaves of the nobles to farm, but this busy season had nothing to do with the idle nobles. They did not want to stay in the barren countryside during this springtime, as only the prosperous cities could bring them more opportunities.
Noble men of lower ranks pursued the daughters of higher-ranking nobles, while these noble ladies carefully selected men who could bring more advantages to their families. They often had only one chance to carefully choose their husbands, and the interests and prosperity of the family had to be put before personal preferences.
In this era, those born into upper-class aristocratic families often faced different hardships than the poor. Most aristocratic children did not have much say in their own marriages, and marriages were always considered based on family units.
When autumn arrived, the nobles would return to their estates to count their harvests and calculate the taxes they would pay to the royal family, before the restless winter set in. During this time of idleness, the nobles would often gather together for fun, but due to the limited resources of winter, their gatherings were far smaller than the balls of the social season.
The success of a society ball is closely tied to the host's reputation: if the food is unpalatable, the venue is shabby, or the host is cheaply dressed, the guests will ridicule them behind their backs. Throughout history, in the Duchy of Huntington, and even in the previous generation of the Kingdom of Derman, many families have been despised and ridiculed by the nobles for hosting poor society balls, leading to their downfall.
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