At first, Zhang Shou thought that Chef Song came to toast and talk to him just to vent his depression, but he didn't expect that he would talk a lot. Finally, he turned to more normal topics. He was worried about whether the fight with Princess Yongping was serious and whether he would be held accountable.
He listened and sipped the wine in the small cup in his hand. He drank it all up and then said with a smile, "If you want to investigate, you were kicked out at the scene, or you were taken away and locked up somewhere. How could I bring you back? Besides, didn't Fourth Master Hua come up to plead for you? Didn't the princess and the eunuch Chu from the Imperial Household Department both do not care about themselves?"
Although Zhang Shou said it lightly, Mr. Song laughed and tilted his head drunkenly and said, "I have only met Mr. Hua once. He is a few years older than me and is already the head of the Hua family in Suzhou. I am a lazy child of the Song family who has to rely on my family for support. His pleading for me is just an excuse to go up to the third floor and get close to the big shot!"
Who would have thought that this rather eccentric Mr. Song was actually quite perceptive in some aspects!
Zhang Shou slightly raised his evaluation of Mr. Song, at least from a simple and stupid fool to a kitchen idiot who was somewhat knowledgeable about the ways of the world, but was too lazy to think carefully most of the time. So, he smiled and said easily: "In short, no matter whether Mr. Hua Si was false or sincere, the princess accepted his request. In short, you can rest assured."
"The princess used to be famous in the capital for her love of recommending talented people. Seeing that a scholar like you disregarded the old saying that a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen, she was a little disappointed. That little dispute is nothing. Even if you took an unorthodox way to participate in the competition, as long as you really made something good and your identity is not suspicious, no one will pursue you."
"Perhaps, with the emperor's unique personality, he will remember a talent like you."
If it were any other scholar, he would certainly think that the word "talent" was a mockery, and the so-called "the emperor will remember it" was even more of a mockery. At this moment, he would at best fly into a rage and retort, at worst walk away in anger and sever ties with Zhang Shou - of course, Mr. Song and Zhang Shou were not yet familiar with each other, so it was quite a stretch to say that - and Mr. Song's reaction at this moment was indeed far from that of an ordinary person.
"Will the emperor remember a talent like me? Will he remember my cooking skills? If I open a store right now, will the emperor come incognito to taste my food because he has heard about me? Oh, how should I entertain him then..."
Zhang Shou watched as Mr. Song started to circle in front of him with an empty wine bowl in his hand, muttering something. He was both angry and amused. How could there be such a person with such a fancy mind in this world!
After laughing, he felt that the dispute between Mr. Song and Princess Yongping was not strange at all. Mr. Song was obviously a person who lived in his own world most of the time. The reason why he took the exam to become a juren was because his family forced him to do so. He had good talent and was probably very diligent in studying. He was also very good at pretending to be Pleasant Goat, but he was actually Big Bad Wolf.