Led by Yang Cui and Su Murong, the emperor, empress, and others toured the food city.
Actually, the food court is not fully completed yet; currently, only the hot pot, barbecue, and grilled meat restaurants are up and running.
Later, the Observatory will also open a branch here, along with food shops selling dumplings, buns, wontons, cosmetics, fine clothes, and jewelry.
After walking around, it was almost noon, and the guests took their seats.
The male and female guests were separated. The Empress was increasingly pleased with Yang Cui, so she had Yang Cui sit next to her. This made many women envious, and they secretly sent their children, Erya and Sanya, to move around.
"Your Majesty has been boasting about how delicious hot pot and barbecue are, and today I am finally in luck to enjoy them."
"I don't know how Madam Cen's brain works? The Star Gazing Pavilion used to come up with new products all the time, and they were all delicious. I've gained quite a bit of weight this year." The speaker was Madam Fan, the wife of Marquis Anle.
"Madam Cen is a woman who is just as capable as any man. She has built such a large fortune all by herself. She is truly remarkable."
"Please stop praising me, everyone. You ladies are all very capable in managing such a large family business. I am just a businessman who reeks of money and only has money in my eyes."
No one took Yang Cui's self-deprecating words seriously.
Who doesn't love money? Don't be fooled by their glamorous appearances on the outside; they have hundreds of people to support at home, so their finances might not be that good.
At this point, the waiters brought out the hot soup and side dishes.
Yang Cui then demonstrated how to eat hot pot. "These lamb slices are very thin. Just blanch them until they change color, and then you can eat them. Dip them in this sauce; it's especially delicious. When eating hot pot or barbecue, you have to do it yourself to make it taste better."
The smell made their stomachs rumble, but they were still a little hesitant to let loose.
The Empress noticed their awkwardness, so she picked up her chopsticks and, imitating Yang Cui, started to put vegetables into the pot.
The Empress has already started eating; how could the others not follow suit?
Since cattle cannot be slaughtered privately, it's one thing to eat them secretly, but it's definitely not allowed to eat them in public places like this. Therefore, the meat that people eat most often in this era is mutton.
Thin slices of lamb dipped in the hot pot and then coated with the signature sauce—the taste is absolutely amazing!
"fragrant!"
"tasty!"
...
Praise poured in.
Yang Cui looked around and found that everyone was working hard, and the word "working" here refers to doing something productive.
The hot pot is served buffet-style, and the trained servers are constantly adding food.
At this moment, Huang Chunsheng and his men delivered a plate of grilled meat skewers to each table.
"These kebabs are a gift for everyone. Thank you for coming today. If you like them, you can buy them from the fragrant barbecue shop across the street in the future." Su Murong stood up and gave the barbecue shop a shout-out.
Next to the barbecue restaurant was a self-service barbecue restaurant. Qiuqiu preferred barbecue, and since hot pot could be eaten at home from time to time, barbecue was eaten much less often. So today, he and An Xiaohu, along with several of his classmates, went straight to the barbecue restaurant.
Er Ya and San Ya were also at the barbecue restaurant, but they didn't have many friends. The only girl they knew was Chen Shiqi.
Chen Shiqi also wanted to play with them, so she invited a few of her girlfriends to join them at the barbecue restaurant.
Chen Shiqi, being very outgoing, led the group to sit next to Er Ya and San Ya.
But this displeased Lord Anning.
"Shiqi, what are you doing sitting here? Let's go eat hot pot."
"Anning, the barbecue tastes really good. I'd like to grill some for my mom to try."
“You don’t feel ashamed to sit and eat with country girls? I do feel embarrassed.” An Ning glanced at Er Ya and San Ya with disdain.
In An Ning's view, Er Ya and San Ya were not Cen Xiao's biological daughters, so it was no big deal to humiliate them a few times.
Er Ya and San Ya's faces instantly turned red.
Yuan Qiu, who was at the next table, heard her words clearly and looked furious: "I feel ashamed to eat in the same restaurant as you. If you don't want to eat, then get out. You're not welcome here."
Xia Zhen, who was sitting at the same table as Yuan Qiu, said, "An Ning, don't be so annoying. Eat if you like, or get out if you don't. Don't bother us."
Upon seeing Xia Zhen speak, An Ning immediately fell silent.
Xia Zhen was the second son of the third prince. In terms of status and position, he was inferior to An Ning, the daughter of a princess. More importantly, Xia Zhen was known as the Little Tyrant of the capital.
If he doesn't like you, he has countless ways to get back at you.
An Ning was afraid of him.
He had already stood up for Er Ya and San Ya, so An Ning could only reluctantly shut up, but she held a grudge against Er Ya and San Ya in her heart.
"Alright, hurry up and sit down to grill the meat, I can't wait any longer," Xie Tong quickly smoothed things over.
Chen Shiqi chimed in, "Yeah, hurry up and sit down. I still want to grill chicken wings for my mom and dad. I didn't get enough chicken wings at your house last time."
Er Ya smiled and said, "Then you can eat more today. My mother said she prepared a lot of food this time, which is definitely enough. Also, you can come to my house next time, and I will save a roasted pig's trotter for you."
"Roasted pig's trotters? Then it's a deal."
Chen Shiqi was overjoyed. Last time at the General's Mansion, she had only tasted one pig's trotter. There was nothing she could do; a pig only has four trotters, and she couldn't share them all. But the taste was something she truly missed.
“That kind of lowly stuff is for the lower classes, Shiqi, don’t lower yourself like that,” An said contemptuously.
Hearing this, Xia Zhen angrily threw a bowl of sauce on An Ning's head: "I've eaten that kind of lowly stuff before, so what? What kind of person am I? Tell me."
"You...you all ganged up on me, boohoo..." An Ning burst into tears.
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