"Shiny and shiny candied haws~~delicious and beautiful candied haws~~~"
"Sir, please come in. Today, a new chef has come to our house. He specializes in all kinds of Western cuisine. Here is the menu..."
“Fragrant and crispy pancakes!!”
The city was bustling with activity. A hawker carrying a load on his shoulder was shouting his wares. He passed through the crowd of passers-by and saw a figure that looked like a scholar. His eyes lit up and he ran up to him, shaking his load.
"Sir, do you still remember me?"
An old donkey rang its bell and stopped. Under its shaking mane, Lu Liangsheng let go of the reins and looked at the familiar vendor. He remembered that he had bought a few cakes from the vendor when he returned to Chang'an a few days ago. He smiled and raised his hand: "I remember. I wonder if you are stopping me from going there?"
"It's okay, it's okay." The peddler was in his thirties, short and strong. He put down his carrying pole, swiftly took out two pancakes from the carrying pole, wrapped them in oilcloth paper, and handed them to the scholar with both hands.
"Sir, don't despise me."
The long street was noisy. Lu Liangsheng looked at the pancake handed over. It would be polite not to take it. He took it in his hand and asked, "Brother, what are you doing?"
"It's all right."
When the vendor saw the scholar accept the cakes, he smiled on his rough round face and rubbed his hands honestly: "This is a new cake made by my wife. The filling is made of jujube paste. It is sweet. If you hadn't bought the last few cakes of mine in one go that day, I would have been scolded by my wife when I got home. I met you today, so I have to give it to you to try."
The vendor was also a mild-mannered person. After saying so much, he didn't know what to say next. He picked up his load again and nodded to Lu Liangsheng with a smile: "Sir, you are busy, I will go first."
"Thank you, brother!" Lu Liangsheng bowed and thanked him. Looking at the two pancakes in his hand, the residual warmth coming through the oil paper, he smiled, put down the bookshelf, led the old donkey that was looking around, and continued to go forward to the bustling West Market. Above the streets, various flags were fluttering, and the restaurant was bustling. Waiters carrying dishes walked past the door, and the aroma of wine and dishes wafted into the street. Before passing the restaurant, a thunderous sound of "gu-" came from the bookshelf on the back of the old donkey behind the scholar.
Taoist Toad leaned on the small door and looked at the restaurant through the gap, then sniffed hard.
"Liangsheng, we've been eating wild food outside for the past few days, we should go out and fill our stomachs with peace of mind."
Looking at the waiters busying around inside and the various dishes being served, Lu Liangsheng began to feel a little hungry. The eight big men following him were eager to go in and sit for a while to have something hot to eat.
"Liangsheng, why don't you go to this one? It smells really good."
"Actually, I'm hungry too. Uncles, please go in together."
Lu Liangsheng took the old donkey and turned to walk towards the restaurant. The waiter at the door saw the customer coming, put the rag on his shoulder and greeted him with a smile on his face.
"Hey, sir, there are several guests. Come in and take a seat. Today, a new chef, Mr. Zhu, has arrived in our shop. His cooking skills are superb. Whether it's Western cuisine or my Central Plains cuisine, they are all delicious."
"Then please introduce these eight uncles to me."
"Okay... eight... uncles?" The waiter looked at the eight big men standing around the table in front of him, who looked like a tall wall. He swallowed his saliva and quickly invited them to sit down at a large round table inside.
Over there, Lu Liangsheng went out and led the old donkey to the backyard of the restaurant. When he tied the donkey to the shed, he took out a golden hair from his sleeve pocket with his other hand and dropped it lightly to the ground.
A puff of white smoke rose up, and the next moment, a monkey less than four feet tall jumped onto the donkey's back, scratched the hair on its cheek, swept across the barns around the backyard, and fanned its nose with its hairy palms.
"Are we there? There's just a smell..."
Lu Liangsheng gathered the reins, tidied the bookshelf, walked out of the donkey shed with a smile, and just said, "Great Sage, this is just the backyard of the dining area...", when white smoke rose from the ground, and a fat old man with a white beard and wearing a white robe came out. He shook the hem of his robe, walked straight past the monkey, and snorted softly.
“I have no idea.”
"Hey, you old toad, you want to be beaten!" The monkey on the donkey's back climbed onto the beam, stretched out his hand to pull his ear, and a stick appeared in his hand.
"Great Sage!"
Lu Liangsheng quickly used a magic trick to cover up the scene, frowned and said softly: "Great Sage, have you forgotten what you promised me before?"
"Did I, Old Sun, promise you that?"
The monkey in the donkey shed scratched his forehead, looked at the frowning scholar, reluctantly shrunk the stick and stuffed it back into his ear, then jumped down, put his hands on his hips and raised his head: "Alright, alright, just take it as what I said, let's go, the old toad has gone in."
After taking two steps, Lu Liangsheng realized that something was wrong and stopped again: "Great Sage, why don't you change into a human form?"
"You are the only one who has too many things to do."
The monkey rolled his eyes, raised his finger and pointed at himself, and suddenly turned into a skinny middle-aged man with a pointed chin and monkey cheeks. He touched his short beard under his chin and ran excitedly to the back door of the attic.
Lu Liangsheng sighed and followed closely, passing through the corridor behind the kitchen. The sound of the kitchen knife chopping on the chopping board gradually became quieter, and the voices in front became noisier.
Over there, Lu Pan and his eight companions had already ordered a full table and were waiting for him to come over. When they saw a skinny man suddenly appear and sit down at one side, the eight people looked at Lu Liangsheng in confusion. The Toad Taoist, who was picking up food quickly with chopsticks next to them, suddenly said, "It's the monkey from that day." This solved the confusion of Lu Pan and the others.
"Hey, why does this smell familiar?"
The Toad Taoist took a few bites of the food, smacked his lips and savored it, "It seems like I've eaten this before."
Lu Pan and the others looked at each other, picked up their chopsticks and tasted some of the dishes. Apart from the good taste, they could not taste anything else strange. Lu Liangsheng looked at his master's thoughtful expression and tasted some curiously. He didn't know much about food and felt the same as Lu Pan and the other eight.
"Pah!" At this moment, the monkey sitting next to the scholar grabbed a few green vegetables, put them in his mouth, chewed them for a few times, and spat them on the ground, "It tastes terrible, it tastes worse than a peach."
The monkeys made quite a loud noise, so the diners around could naturally hear it clearly. The people at the nearest tables started to chuckle when they saw the servants grabbing food.
"This guy has never used chopsticks..." "The chef here is newly hired by Cuiyunlou, and he can't even get used to the good food!"
"Isn't that man a barbarian?"
When Lu Liangsheng heard some fragmentary words, his heart tightened and he subconsciously reached out to pull the monkey. Before the other party could lose his temper, the eight big men sitting in a semicircle opposite him slammed the table with a loud bang, and stood up in unison, staring at the surroundings with their big eyes, looking ferociously.
"Who said that just now?"
"Come out and say it again if you dare!!" "Damn it, I'll teach you a lesson!"
Glancing around, he saw eight men who looked rough and sturdy, with strong bodies. They buried their faces in their burrows, pretending nothing had happened and continued to talk and eat with their companions.
The monkey pushed Lu Liangsheng's hand away and looked at the eight men in front of him who were stronger than ordinary people with great interest. He spread out his hands, showing eight hairs, and handed one to each of them.
"Haha, it's rare to see someone stand up for me, Old Sun. I'll accept this small gift. If you encounter any monsters or demons, just blow the hair in my hand and I'll solve the problem for you."
Lu Liangsheng looked at the monkey with a mixture of laughter and tears. Although the monkey hair was indeed a treasure that could be used in emergencies by ordinary people, it was not something that could be given away like this.
Just as he was about to ask the waiter if he had any fruits or something, the Toad, who had been holding his chopsticks straight in front of him, suddenly put down his chopsticks and raised his face.
"Master knows who cooked this meal!!"
Soon, Lu Liangsheng brought his master and asked the waiter to lead the way to the back kitchen. Listening to the "dong dong" sound of chopping vegetables inside, he gently pushed open the half-closed door.
His sight passed the kitchen helper who was making the fire and fell on a fat, black-haired man in front of the kitchen counter. Lu Liangsheng laughed and called out the other person's name.
"Zhu Ganglie?!"
Boom boom boom…
The black-haired man was chopping a sheep bone with a boning knife in his hand. When he heard a familiar sound, the falling blade paused and he slowly turned his head. When he saw the scholar and a fat old man at the door, he laughed like a pig.
“Hahahaha… hum hum… haha… Lu Liangsheng, old toad!!”
In the kitchen was Zhu Ganglie wearing an apron.