Chapter 166 Su Ji Morning Tea
The Shi Er couple were busy all the time, one in front of the shop and the other in the kitchen. They had three sons, two of whom were waiters and one was a buyer. They also hired two maids, one to make the fire and the other to wash dishes and do odd jobs.
Su Ruojin stood in front of the breakfast shop, looking at Wenshan Street which was full of literati atmosphere, and suddenly thought of the morning tea culture of later generations. Since the breakfast shop already had so many food varieties, why not do one more step?
Wouldn't it be better to turn Su Ji Breakfast Shop into a morning tea shop, which would fit in with the literati spirit of Wenshan Street? Thanks to Prince Zhao's generosity, he gave her a small courtyard. She separated two rooms from the east courtyard near the shop and used them as a morning tea room.
Morning tea is a unique dining culture in the south. Drinking morning tea literally means drinking morning tea, but this "tea" is not the same as the other "tea", and has a broader meaning. Drinking morning tea includes eating breakfast, drinking tea, and spending social time.
There are two main schools of morning tea in the south. One is Suzhou-style morning tea, represented by Yangzhou and Taizhou; the other is Cantonese-style morning tea, which is popular in the Cantonese area.
There is a common saying among Cantonese relatives and friends: "Drink tea when you have time." Drinking tea together when you have time is an important part of the Cantonese people's social life. Drinking tea is not just about drinking one or two cups of tea, but about going to a teahouse with relatives and friends, ordering some snacks, brewing a pot of tea, chatting, and filling your stomach while having fun.
In Yangzhou, there is a saying that goes "skin is covered with water in the morning, and water is covered with skin in the evening."
The "skin wrapped in water" here refers to Yangzhou's morning tea culture, while "water wrapped in skin" refers to Yangzhou's bathhouse culture. This reflects the leisurely and contented attitude of Yangzhou people, and we can also see from it that morning tea occupies a very important position in the lives of Yangzhou people.
Of course, Yangzhou morning tea is inseparable from Yangzhou salt merchants. Salt merchants have a lot of wealth and are very particular about food and entertainment. They not only require exquisite and luxurious food, but also the dining environment and dining pomp. Therefore, they renovated gardens, hired chefs, and supported literati. At this time, wealthy merchants also developed an unprecedented tradition of drinking tea and liked to drink tea and discuss matters in the morning. Under the influence of these elegant effects, Yangzhou morning tea came into being.
At that time, Yangzhou was a tea-drinking city with a flourishing teahouse culture. The places selling tea were usually not called teahouses, but tea clubs, teahouses, and tea houses. Many old restaurants and hotels were even named after teahouses. No wonder there is a record: "The teahouses in my hometown are the best in the world."
Although the salt merchants declined and the prosperity was gone, the picky attitude towards food and the ritual of having morning tea have been engraved in the genes of Yangzhou people and have been passed down to this day.
Su Ruojin and Ye Huaizhen, the two young women, discussed the issue for two days. Two days later, Su Ruojin asked Hua Ping to ask Prince Zhao for help and asked his steward Siping to prepare exquisite tea sets, tables and chairs for her.
By the time the morning tea shop was fully opened for business, it was already the end of February or the beginning of March, which was the perfect season for city dwellers to go out for an outing.
Su Ruojin didn't count on the flow of people. She wanted to attract the teachers of Dongshan Academy to have morning tea. According to Su Dalang's statistics, there were nearly a hundred faculty and staff in Dongshan Academy. If they came to the foot of the mountain to eat, the atmosphere of Su's morning tea would definitely be great.
In order to make flyers, Su Ruojin asked Su Dalang for help. Since he was studying in the mountains anyway, he could come down the mountain in the evening to help him draw a few hundred copies.
"I'm not asking you to draw hundreds of copies, but you should draw the templates and ask your classmates to help you draw them. Then you can treat them to Su Ji morning tea for free."
Su Dalang smiled and said it was no problem. He discussed the size and content of the poster with his sister. It took them two nights to finalize the draft. After he finished drawing a poster, his sister took it to the academy when she thought it was okay. After school, he asked his classmates for help.
A group of young people gathered together to paint, and were seen by Su Xiangheng. Not only did he not scold them for not doing their job properly, he also despised their poor paintings and started working directly. He expected them to paint hundreds of paintings, and then he would take the paintings and leave.
"I'll give it to you in two days."
Su Dalang: ...
My classmate asked, "Anzhi, do we still need to paint?"
Su Dalang looked at the drawings on the table and said, "Just draw them first." In case the teacher is unreliable, he can use these to make up the numbers.
Su Xiangheng, who was suspected of being unreliable, suddenly sneezed, "Could it be that Su Shaobai is thinking about him?" That's perfect, let's go have a drink with him. They went down Wenshan Street and arrived at a farmhouse.
He knocked on the door.
"Brother Yu..."
"It turned out to be Shao Qing."
In the dusk, a sickly young man holding a lantern opened the wooden gate. His long hair was simply tied up, and he seemed to be hiding a lot of deep thoughts between his slightly furrowed brows. Although his clothes were a little gray and old, they still made him look dignified and energetic.
"Sorry to bother you, Brother Yu."
“Where…where…”
Shangguan Yu stepped aside two steps to let Su Xiangheng in.
He asked, "Have you eaten?"
Shangguan Yu shook his head: "No appetite."
"How can this be possible?" Su Xiangheng frowned, "Shaobai asked me to take care of you. If you don't eat, it will be bad for your recovery!"
Shangguan Yu forced a smile and said, "It's just an old problem. It doesn't matter."
The two of them talked as they walked and soon entered the main room.
The main hall of the farmhouse is not big. There is an ink-and-wash landscape painting hanging on the front wall, and two couplets on the side: Upper couplet: Smoke and trees float in the distance, and spring is ethereal; Lower couplet: The wind boat wanders with the moon.
Su Xiangheng smiled and said, "Luckily I'm prepared." He asked the servant to take out the instant noodles he had looted from the students, "Just boil some water and cook it in the pot and you can eat it."
"Shaoqing, don't bother me. I drank some loquat leaf juice and I'm about three-quarters full."
After drinking only three-quarters of the water, Su Xiangheng was speechless for a moment and didn't know how to comfort him.
"Leng Mo, go and cook it. When it's done, Brother Yu and I will share it."
Leng Mo went to the kitchen and soon brought out two small bowls of instant noodles. The aroma of the instant noodles filled the whole house.
Shangguan Yu moved his nose, and then sniffed again.
Su Xiangheng saw it and said with a smile, "It smells good!"
Under the oil lamp, a faint blush appeared on Shangguan Yu's sickly face, as if he had not seen the light for years. His embarrassment was obvious and he looked very embarrassed.
Su Xiangheng was moved by what he saw. It was no wonder that Young Master Su had a beautiful girl in a luxurious house. He was elegant and refined even in a humble room. He was ordinary but dignified. He looked like a nobleman who was lost among the people.
Leng Mo placed the noodles on the table beside the two men, "Gentlemen, please—"
Su Xiangheng gently gave in, "Brother Yu, please—"
"Then I won't be polite." Shangguan Yu, who had been anorexic all day, was aroused by the aroma of the food. He picked up the small bowl, politely took a piece of food with chopsticks and put it into his mouth. He chewed it and found the noodles were chewy, so he took a sip of the soup.
The rich soup immediately stimulated his taste buds which had lost their taste buds, and he quickly finished a small bowl of noodles.
Su Xiangheng pushed his bowl over and said with a smile, "I brought several packets." He meant that if it was not enough, he could have more.
Recently, the second update is always at night, my family members!!!
Looking forward to your support!!!
(End of this chapter)
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