The lights are bright, and the cups and plates are staggered.

With the delicate patterns and inscriptions, there are sweet and sour honey pork, oyster stickers, baked scales with soybean sauce, marlin soup bucket, braised yellow croaker with sauce, fried eggs with shrimp, clam and melon soup, stuffed crab cups, fried fish cakes, bean sandwich and snail meat, and roasted beef tongue.

The dishes at these banquets are mainly salty and sour. The selection of ingredients in the dish itself is quite refreshing and neat, and the cooking is also quite exquisite and elegant, and the efforts to reflect the relatively layered taste sensation in the limited seasoning methods of this era.

In front of these delicacies that make most people's appetites move, Zhou Huai'an did not politely eat while listening to Song Zhiyan, the owner of the east. Introduce to him the identities and professions of the more than ten guests present, their names and titles.

In the following time, to Zhou Huai'an's surprise, at this banquet that deliberately flattered and cheered him alone, the most active and distinctive performance was actually the guest who was born in the former soldier - Xiao Chubby Shui Wang Han;

He is like a living treasure who is specially used to enliven the atmosphere, constantly creating all kinds of interesting topics, or throwing out allusions with meaning and interest, while making it convenient for everyone to praise and praise each other, but also making the whole scene always lively and not cold.

Of course, among these guests who claim to be the background of the fourteen major banks in the city, they are not completely imaginary, but really have something to ask for.

Fengling Port, which is now under the command of Zhou Huai'an, is undoubtedly the largest entry and exit port and port in Chaozhou, and it is also an important transshipment place for salt, pottery and sugar along the coast. Therefore, in the past, the government also set up a special city gate for tax collection and purchase.

Therefore, some people wanted to ask for a certificate for the passage of the city and permission to go to sea for the ship owners who ran between the rivers and seas under their command, and Zhou Huaian also agreed to them half-truthfully. And said that he still has more than a dozen idle ships in his hands, which can be converted to them at a price. Suddenly, there was a chorus of compliments.

"I heard that Master Void is anxious for justice and righteousness, and he likes to ask for his life for the people"

After the five flavors of the dish and the three rounds of wine, Song Zhiyan, the head of the meeting, opened his voice again.

"As a local person, I can't be left behind."

"I am willing to do my best, and please ask your officials to smile and accept it."

"It's easy to say, it's easy to say, and I'm willing to hear it."

Zhou Huai'an couldn't help but secretly say in his heart, is this the main drama?

。。。。。。

In the large kitchen in the back garden of the merchant house, there is already a lot of people.

"Hurry. Hurry up and send it over."

"Don't turn off the fire on the stove, continue to cook."

In the midst of shouting and urging, the slaves and maids who were busy delivering food were like loading a rotating hub, and there was hardly a moment of pause between the empty plate and the new food.

And on the upper floor of the small building where the room is located, there are also people looking at the brightly lit banquet in the distance

"Have you seen it yet, is it the void monk?"

As the actual planner of tonight, and the old man who has really led the underground order of Chaoyang County for decades, he asked his cronies around him

"What did Mr. Song and Mr. Shui say there?"

"Just this posture and appearance, it's not an ordinary grass thief's background."

A cronie who had shown his face at the banquet said respectfully

Judging by his words and demeanor, the name of erudition and versatility is not groundless. It's for a good conversation. ”

"How can such a good-looking person (who is well nourished and highly educated in modern times) go to be a thief."

Another cronie sighed

"Could it be that the imperial court is really running out of gas...

"Be careful, this is not something we can talk about."

Another person who looked more mature reminded him.

"Do you want to provoke Dong Weng?"

"It's okay."

The old man was unimpressed.

"The court is not angry, and we can't see or touch it."

"But isn't the current situation an opportunity for my generation to take advantage of the times?"

"Maybe the corresponding chance will fall on these grass thieves."

"You don't hear it, most of those who claim to be one side in the Lingnan have been sealed and posthumously recognized by the imperial court,"

Hearing this, none of these people's eyes lit up, and their hearts became hot.

"It's just, this guy is really a glutton."

One of the cronies laughed dryly and pulled the conversation back.

"What do you mean by that?"

The old man frowned slightly.

"The eight-color dried and fresh fruit dim sum served first, sixteen kinds of hot and cold dishes,"

"There are also two large pots of soup, which have been swept away by him."

"It's already cooking in the room. I'm afraid that I will cut off the service of the confession. ”

"It's really a good guy, isn't it possible that there is an ancient evil and a cheap mouth?"

"In that case, are you ready to turn around?"

The old man suddenly turned his head and asked.

"It's already waiting, the secret aged ginseng and turtle wine, you can start to see results within half an hour of drinking"

"There is also the deer blood paste configured by Lao Antang. The main thing is to prevent people from drinking alcohol. ”

"It's all tried by someone, and it's the most appropriate color. There is no peculiar smell in the mouth, but it feels mellow,"

"In addition, the two reddest pink heads and four new chicks in Beyue Fang have been called over and are on standby in the side room."

Another cronie said.

"The widowed sister-in-law of this family also brought over to prepare a toast."

"By the way, there's also a handsome little guy. Just get a few from my garden, just in case. ”

The old man thought for a moment and added.

"If you want to do it, you can do it thoroughly..."

"Daddy...

A greeting suddenly made the old man turn around and ask with some displeasure.

"Why did you come here all of a sudden?"

"Daddy."

The young man was a little alarmed, but he forced his composure and called him aside.

"I'm afraid there's news of a disaster."

"What's the trouble that makes you so breathless?"

The old man couldn't help glaring at him and said.

"If you want to talk about big and small disasters, will there be fewer in the lifetime of this family?"

"Yes, yes, Daddy is right."

The young man wiped the sweat stains from his forehead and said.

"But it's news from the grass thieves in the inner city."

"The thief monk outside, I'm afraid I'm eyeing our family business."

"Oh, so what."

The old man still said in a flat voice that was as immobile as a mountain.

"In the past, those people in the government were afraid that they were not doing the same."

"One by one, they shouted to restrain their arrogance, but what could they do in the end,。。"

"I'm afraid it's going to be a little different."

The young man continued to add with some anxiety.

"Because the source of my news is from Ding Zhen, the deputy of the grass thief, and he personally said it to the left and right."

"He warned the other subordinates on the spot that they should try to put those people on the table in their own family, and put them aside."

"Could it be that this guy is suddenly willing to come over tonight, I'm afraid it's a delaying tactic to hide people's ears."

The old man couldn't help but show a solemn and hesitant look on his face.

"This family business, but your grandfather and grandfather, from those barbarians and smugglers,"

"A knife and a gun are earned by their own skills."

"How can we still be robbed by these grass thieves in our hands."

Speaking of this, the old man's face softened.

"So your eldest brother has already taken the lead and gone to Fengshanman."

"Your little uncle is also on the way to Qiaotouling at this time...

"And Lao Lei, who went out before, I also asked him to take the wealth back to Yutou Ao."

"Just in case."

"So, the child has made more guarantees."

The young man hurriedly answered

"What the hell have you prepared for?"

The old man couldn't help frowning.

"Don't make things happen and bring me new variables."

"Of course I didn't want to poison him, there is a price to pay here, but I can't afford it."

The young man suddenly became confident.

"The child just got some kind of dietary medicine prescription, so he couldn't bear it."

"If you have some problems in your body in a short period of time, lie down for a while,"

"There won't be other spirits and thoughts that will hinder us again."

"Presumably, these vulgar people, where can they see such a battle formation."

"Even if you go to a doctor who is good at it, it's hard to diagnose it."

"In the future, at most, I will prescribe some prescriptions for treating gastrointestinal disorders and sorting out overeating."

At the same time, Zhou Huai'an suddenly felt a prompt popping up in his field of vision.

"Steroid-rich ingredients were monitored."

"Does it speed up the body's metabolism and eliminate it."

He couldn't help but sneer, and glanced at the mellow-tasting amber wine in his hand, was this the last resort of the other party's poor dagger.

Since the night he returned to Chaoyang City, he had a relatively sufficient intake of high-quality nutrients, and he seemed to have unlocked a small function in his body again; It is the food that has been eaten with a certain ability to analyze harmful ingredients simply. If necessary, it can even be metabolized by depleting part of the stored energy, or by stimulating rumination in the stomach and intestines.

This was one of the private reasons why he dared to go out to the banquet, but the night was still long, and he had enough time to deal with it.

"Come on, let's go on."

Since he got up and returned from his clothes and toileting, he once again said in a meaningful and broad voice to the people present who had already shown all kinds of staggering and difficult to hide their hard work or sad colors.

"It's a long night, and you have to be happy."

。。。。。。

Outside Chaoyang City, in a dilapidated Taoist temple near a ferry, some men in ragged clothes who could not hide their sturdy bodies were standing, leaning, lying, or sitting in a messy palace, and after a few hours, some people would come in and rotate them out.

In the only doorway leading to the apse, there was from time to time the sound of some kind of ghostly crying, but they all seemed to be accustomed to it; Only occasionally when I feel really impatient, I hit the handle with the back of the knife a few times to make this sound stop for a moment.

It wasn't until the flickering lights appeared outside at night, which was the ox cart that delivered food and drink from the nearby Zhuangzi, that most people seemed to come to life, and made a noisy noise around the things that were brought down from the ox cart.

"It's cold rice and cake dumplings again."

"How long are we going to eat this tasteless cold food?"

"I said that I was not allowed to start a fire, and I was not allowed to go to the nearby Zhuangzi fields to steal chickens and ducks."

"As long as you get through this for a while..."

"Go back to the city and let you drink and eat enough meat."

"Leave some for those goods, too."

"Hungry and ruined, it's all money."

(End of chapter)