Gao Yi took a sip of the red wine glass, and a warm happiness rushed from his stomach to his brain, and then spread to his limbs, making him feel this happiness everywhere in his body. It is most comfortable to drink to this extent, and the mind is still sharp, but the body is already in a hearty state, which is a state of contentment in harmony with body and mind, from life to mind, from body to soul, everything seems to be at ease.

The crab leg meat has been served four dishes since then. One was a bowl made of half an orange with fruit cubes with yogurt, one was a potato roasted quail, then a dish of asparagus scallops in white sauce, and a strange dish of fruit with foie gras in a sweet sauce that had just been removed by the servants.

Red wine is served with grilled quail, and although the quail is white meat, the grilled dishes are served with red wine. There are still two kinds of wine to choose from, Cordon and Shadora Rose, both of which have never heard of Gao Yi, so he still repeats his old tricks and follows the two French candidates, and the result is Cordon, which is quite suitable for his spleen and stomach.

Soon a new dish was placed in front of Gao Yi, this is a sea bass, pink and pale white flesh, like a little girl's soft skin.

While one of the servants was serving Gao Yibu's dishes, another waiter who was in charge of pouring wine stood on his other side without a trace, and filled the glass he had just drunk with Kauldon.

The drinks at the banquet were added as they were drunk, and the servants kept an eye on the level of the liquid in the glasses of the guests, and could always fill them silently when they bowed their heads to eat or whispered conversations.

As the drinks fell, the faces gradually became brighter, and it became much easier to find new topics. At present, the main topic on the dinner table has changed to the problem of transportation, after the construction of the road across the border, the scope of the concession has become larger and larger, relying on the speed of the wheelbarrow and the number of passengers has obviously not been able to support this growing city, the development of public transportation seems to have become an urgent matter. However, whether to use the public carriage for the transition first, or to introduce the tram in one step, is still a matter of debate.

Gao Yi couldn't help but feel that wine is really the best lubricant for interpersonal relationships, and with its help, all the parts of this table finally ran smoothly, and even Kesvik published a long speech several times in a row to explain the necessity and feasibility of the tram.

Gao Yi took a sip of mint water from the water glass, cleared the taste of red wine in his mouth, and then picked up the white wine glass and drank Meng Haxie, so he hurriedly picked up the fish knife and dealt with the plate of perch in front of him.

Fish knife is a special kind of Western knife, it has any shape, some look like a salrote knife, some look like a butter knife, and some simply look like a long iron bar, many people are confused. But it is actually very simple to distinguish, because the meat of the fish is relatively soft, and cutting the fish does not require as much effort as cutting the meat, so no matter how shaped the blade of the fish knife is, its edge is always straight.

The difference between a straight edge and an arc edge is that a straight edge can only provide the force to cut, while an arc edge can cut in addition to cutting. Tough beef needs to be cut back and forth, so it is necessary to use a curved blade, and for tender fish, it is enough to just cut, and using a curved blade will be more laborious.

"Please come and see our troupe, I have always said that the expatriates in Shanghai cannot be satisfied with the days of just "making money by the mouth of death". From time to time, the city is criticized as a soulless place, where its inhabitants chase money during the day and pleasure at night, rather than so-called 'cultural cultivation'. Ignoring the art and elegance of life, the people here are vilified as a combination of mercantilism and frivolity......"

The speaker was Mr. Bain, the current chairman of the board of directors of the Ministry of Industry, who sat to the right of Mrs. Grissen, and he also participated in the conversation between the three of them. Now the four of them formed a small group, ignoring what was being said at the dinner table, and instead talked about the topics they cared about.

They talked about boating and hunting, the sandbar outside Wusongkou, where reeds and thatch grew together, and big turtles and wild ducks floated together; Ningbo, across the Hangzhou Bay, is a world of pheasants on the hillsides and in the valleys. On luxury cruises, men hunt, women swim, drink a glass of chilled champagne when thirsty, gather fresh ingredients when hungry, take a nap in a comfortable cabin when tired, or simply camp on the beach.

They talked about the rowing competitions held by the rowing club on the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek. It's already March, and spring is coming, which means that the new year of outdoor recreation is about to begin.

They talked about the horses, about the short Mongolian horses on the racecourse, running hard with round bellies and ridiculously short legs; When it comes to the Chinese who are more enthusiastic than Westerners in the racetrack, although they are not even qualified to enter the racecourse as spectators, it does not prevent them from pushing wheelbarrows, sitting in palanquins, gathering outside the wooden railing, and enclosing the entire racecourse on three floors inside and three layers outside.

They talked about the ladies' favourite balls, tennis and cricket, which were the sport that Brits had to take wherever they went.

They also talked about cultural life and the earliest Xujiahui Library; Talking about the Shanghai Library, where the collection of books and magazines is very entertaining; Talking about the library of the Society of Asian Studies, which houses most of the books on the Far East, especially on China; The Reading Room is spacious, gorgeously equipped, and has a rich collection of newspapers and magazines from all over the world, which can satisfy readers of all tastes.

Gao Yi has never experienced these lives, but this does not prevent him from relying on his extra hundred years of experience and his own extensive knowledge to summarize, purify, and sublimate other people's opinions, transform them into his opinions, and then sell them back to the other party. As a result, his words always sound extraordinarily pertinent, appropriate, and moving, because this is the listener's own thoughts. In addition, he has sharp words, humorous conversation, and can always hit the nail on the head in cynicism, often giving people a refreshing feeling, always feeling that he can think about himself, but if he is in line with the moderation, he can not only talk about his heart, but also talk about himself It's itchy and hard to scratch.

So, this is the situation where Bane invites him to visit his theater company.

The theater company that Bain is talking about is actually the ADC Club, the full name of which is the Amateur Dramatic Club, that is, the amateur drama club. This is a community organization that cannot be mentioned when talking about the cultural life of Shanghai, and its status among the many clubs in Shanghai can be said to be second only to the most popular horse racing club. Public opinion commented that the club was "on a par with the Shanghai Horse Racing Association in terms of the happiness they gave us", and its popularity among expatriates can be seen from the fact that Bain was elected chairman of the board of directors of the Ministry of Industry Bureau.

For this invitation, Gao Yi naturally agreed in a hurry. Even if he had made up his mind not to join the troupe, it would not be a bad thing to be able to establish a good relationship with the nominal supreme leader of the concession.

After the fish was removed, a chocolate banana with pomegranate juice was served, which was sweet and sour. Being able to pair a dish with a piece of fruit for each dish in winter can be said to be extremely laborious for hostesses, after all, this is not an era when you go out and have a fruit supermarket. The guests were full of praise for the sumptuous food tonight - of course, not to praise the good food, which is not in line with the rules of the English banquet, because the food is made by the chef, and there is no need to compliment it at the dinner table, even if it is delicious. However, this time everyone unanimously praised the meticulous and intimate hostess, who took care of the appetite of every guest perfectly.

After the chocolate banana, tonight's main course was finally served, and as expected, the main course was a piece of Danyang steak.

After the main course was served, the banquet had actually come to an end, and the guests were all drunk and crimson, and their voices were getting higher and higher, quite a bit of an English to Scottish rhythm.

Gao Yi stopped tasting the steak in front of him, and most people were like him. It wasn't long before the last fruit salad replaced the main course, and the waiter who poured the wine stepped forward and poured an after-dinner wine for each blue glass on the table, a Johannesburg wine from South Africa that Gao Yi had never heard of—this time there was only one wine, and he didn't bother to choose.

Keswick raised his glass and said a brief message: "May Mr. Rida in Tianjin, who is far away, be in good health, and may the Lady Rida in front of him be beautiful and eternal." ”

Everyone raised their glasses and greeted Mrs. Rida.

The dinner is over! But it's still early for the end of the night.