The first volume of pearl curtains rolls up the western mountain rain at dusk Chapter 11 For Deliciousness
If you make a date with the early morning, the early morning will never let you down, she will always arrive on time. Li Diudiu didn't want to make a date with the early morning, he just wanted to make a date for breakfast, he arrived at the cafeteria even more punctually than the early morning.
It sounds too poetic to talk about a date in the early morning. Li Diudiu doesn’t have the leisure time for that. All the good things in his mind right now are the delicious food on the long table in the cafeteria.
Aunt Wu smiled when she saw Li Diudiu. Although this child never left any food after eating, which was a little unpleasant, she liked him in other aspects, the most important of which was that he was polite.
Apart from Li Diudiu, no one would show such respect when speaking to her. Little did she know that Li Diudiu's respect for her far exceeded that for Yan Qingzhi.
Li Diudiu’s idea is so straightforward that food is more important.
"What are you eating today, sir?"
Aunt Wu asked.
Li Diudiu looked at the table, not knowing what to choose. Suddenly he remembered that people always say that nothing is more fun than dumplings...咥, and nothing is more delicious than sister-in-law's food,咥!
“Are there any dumplings?”
Li Diudiu asked.
Aunt Wu nodded quickly: "Yes, yes. In Jizhou, noodles are the main food, so we have dumplings. Do you want meat or vegetables?"
Li Diudiu is eleven years old and he has never eaten dumplings.
The master naturally didn't know how to make dumplings, nor did he invite him to eat dumplings. From the day the master took him to make a living, he had wanted to change his fate. How could he be willing to waste a single copper coin? Now his fate had already been changed.
So if you say that Li Diudiu, a person born in the north, has never eaten dumplings, many people may not believe it at all.
Seeing that Li Diudiu didn't answer, Aunt Wu thought that people from such a wealthy family might not have much desire for meat-filled dumplings, so she introduced: "These are dumplings made this morning, with shepherd's purse and eggs. They should be delicious."
Li Diudiu asked: "What is shepherd's purse?"
Aunt Wu said, "It's a kind of wild vegetable, very delicious."
Li Diudiu: "Impossible, what's so delicious about wild vegetables?"
Aunt Wu thought that this kid from a wealthy family didn't even know what wild vegetables tasted like. Just as she was about to speak, Li Diudiu said firmly, "Those who eat meat! Three servings!"
Li Diudiu thought, you want to trick me into eating cheap food? It's not that easy.
Although he couldn't remember the names of wild vegetables, that was what his master had taken him to eat the most over the years. His master also said that eating wild vegetables was good and that they tasted much better than regular vegetables.
Li Diudiu asked his master why wild vegetables tasted better than regular vegetables, and his master gave him an analogy.
The master said, a wife is not as good as a concubine, a concubine is not as good as a secret one, and not as good as something that can be stolen at all. Meat is equivalent to the wife, vegetables are equivalent to concubines, and wild vegetables are the things that can't be stolen.
Li Diudiu's thoughts were a little confused at the time, but no matter how he thought about it, it didn't make sense. He felt that if he followed the order that his master had said, it seemed that meat was the one that couldn't be stolen, and wild vegetables were the legal wife...
There were twenty dumplings in a serving. Aunt Wu thought that Li Diudiu would not be able to finish them. After all, Li Diudiu looked thin and small, and she would be almost full after eating twenty dumplings.
Li Diudiu ate three servings of sixty pieces without stopping, and then shouted to Aunt Wu, "Another serving."
Aunt Wu was scared. What is this young man’s belly made of?
"Sir, don't eat anymore. I'm afraid you'll feel uncomfortable because of the meat-filled dumplings. Your stomach will swell."
Aunt Wu came over quickly: "If you like it, come back at noon."
Li Diudiu shook his head firmly: "No, another one."
Aunt Wu had no choice but to cook him another portion. When she brought it to Li Diudiu, a young student who looked about 16 or 17 years old came over to take a look. He asked Li Diudiu, "What's so delicious about this thing?"
Li Diudiu said: "It's delicious. It's really delicious."
The student reached out and pinched one, put it in his mouth and tasted it, frowning: "It doesn't taste good."
He didn't swallow it and turned around and spat it into the trash can next to him.
He turned around to leave, but Li Diudiu refused to accept it. He looked at the man and said, "You have to compensate me with a dumpling."
The student was stunned. This little guy was quite domineering. It was just a dumpling, and it was free in the cafeteria, but this little guy actually asked him to pay for it.
"How can I compensate you?"
The student smiled and sat down in front of Li Diudiu, pointed at himself and said, "My name is Xiahou Zhuo. How about this? I won't compensate you for the dumplings. I saw you have eaten three servings just now. If you can still finish this batch of dumplings, I'll give you one or two taels of silver."
Li Diudiu's eyes lit up: "One tael of silver!"
Xiahou Zhuo looked at his expression, and after a moment's hesitation, he responded, "That's right. We are all students in the academy. Who would care about one tael of silver? How about two taels? Just treat it as a joke. I'll bet on you eating dumplings."
Li Diudiu nodded: "Don't regret it."
Sweep away everything in its path.
Li Diudiu finished 19 dumplings in no time. Xiahou Zhuo looked at him with his eyes wide open. He took out a piece of silver from his sleeve and put it on the table: "I haven't seen anyone eat like you for a long, long time. I haven't eaten like you for a long, long time..."
Li Diudiu asked curiously: "When was the last time you ate like this?"
Xiahou Zhuo said: "When I was still in their arms, I ate whatever they fed me. At that time, I ate it as a meal, but now I eat it for fun."
Li Diudiu wondered what that was to eat?
Xiahou Zhuo smiled and stood up: "I will come to see you for dinner tomorrow, it's quite interesting."
Li Diudiu waved his hand, and Xiahou Zhuo smiled and said, "No need to see me off."
Before he finished speaking, he heard Li Diudiu waving his hand and saying , "Bring money."
Xiahou Zhuo: “…”
There was no need to wait until the next morning. When Li Diudiu came to the cafeteria to eat at noon, Xiahou Zhuo and seven or eight students around sixteen or seventeen years old were already waiting there. These people didn't eat either, and it seemed like they were waiting for Li Diudiu specifically.
Aunt Wu was just about to greet Li Diudiu and ask him what he wanted to eat when Xiahou Zhuo waved at Li Diudiu. Li Diudiu thought that he had accepted two taels of silver from him after all, so he went over and greeted him.
"That's him."
A young man smiled and said, "I heard you can eat eighty dumplings?"
Li Diudiu said: "Seventy-nine."
Another young man said, "I also heard that you are the only poor person in the academy."
Li Diudiu was a little embarrassed and didn't know how to respond.
Xiahou Zhuo said, "Don't talk nonsense. Just have fun. Why are you talking about someone's background?"
"Yes Yes Yes……"
Everyone else nodded. It was obvious that Xiahou Zhuo was the leader among these people. Li Diudiu thought that it was probably because Xiahou Zhuo's status was more noble.
“Do you want to make money?”
Xiahou Zhuo asked.
Li Diudiu nodded: "Yes."
This is not shameful. Li Diudiu thinks that it is not shameful to want to make money. Who doesn't want to make money? But what he doesn't know is that he may be the only student in this academy who wants to make money, because other people don't need to think about this.
"Well."
Xiahou Zhuo pointed to the long table in the cafeteria and said, "You eat whatever we order. If you eat a bun, it's worth 20 coins, so I'll give you 20 more coins. If you eat a dumpling, it's worth 15 coins, so I'll give you 15 more coins. I'll give you as much as you eat, and I'll pay you according to the price of the food."
Li Diudiu asked curiously, "Why?"
Xiahou Zhuo sighed, "Because I'm bored, I want to play a trick on you."
The people burst into laughter.
Xiahou Zhuo looked at Li Diudiu and said seriously, "People like us can no longer find much fun in the academy. It would be great if we could have fun with little money."
Li Diudiu asked, "You gave me two taels of silver this morning, why are you lowering the price now?"
Xiahou Zhuo said: "Because I know you are poor."
He smiled and continued, "I asked Mr. Yan Qingzhiyan, and he told me your origins, so I think giving you two taels of silver is a bit too much. Of course, you can refuse us. After all, we won't make things difficult for you."
Li Diudiu was silent for a moment, then turned and left.
A young man sighed and said, "Boring, and you're pretending to be embarrassed?"
Another person said, "It looks like there will be no fun today."
Li Diudiu sat down at the table and let out a breath slowly. Are rich people really so boring?
"Let's order."
He said.
"Um?"
Xiahou Zhuo, who was already walking out, turned around, looked at the young man's back, and smiled: "Interesting."
For this lunch, Li Diudiu ate three trays of small dumplings, a total of thirty of them, two bowls of rice porridge, a small bowl of rice, two dishes, one meat and one vegetable, and a whole braised pork elbow.
After eating these things, he earned a hundred coins. According to the rules set by the court of Da Chu, one tael of silver can be exchanged for one string of coins, and one string is one thousand coins. However, Da Chu is now in civil strife and the people are living in poverty. If coins are exchanged for silver, it is no longer according to the rules of the court.
In the current Chu State, one tael of silver can be exchanged for 1,600 copper coins, and these must be copper coins from the early years with good quality. If it is new money in recent years, one tael of silver can be exchanged for 2,000 copper coins, because the quality of new money is too poor.
Two taels plus one hundred coins, this is what Li Diudiu earned today, and he was very happy.
"I think this is the limit of your appetite."
Xiahou Zhuo said, "Next time I play, if you can still eat as much as you can, I will triple the price."
"Five times."
Li Diudiu looked into Xiahou Zhuo's eyes and said seriously, "It will be very uncomfortable if you continue to eat after reaching your limit, so it cannot be less than five times."
Xiahou thought about it and nodded: "That's reasonable, then five times."
Li Diudiu hummed, turned around and walked out: "See you tomorrow."
Xiahou Zhuo suddenly asked, "Why did you agree to let me make money in this way? Don't you feel humiliated?"
Li Diudiu looked back at him and said, "Why do I feel humiliated? You have money and I don't. I want to make money and you want me to give it to you. I didn't steal, rob or cheat. Although this is not a proper way to make money, I use what I can do to exchange for equivalent money. It's not shameful."
Xiahou Zhuo was silent for a while and then said, "The first question."
Li Diudiu didn't react, so he asked back: "What's the first question?"
Xiahou Zhuo said, "You answered my second question, about humiliation. What I want to know is why you want to make money. Even if you were born poor, you don't have much money to spend in the academy. You can just pretend that you are not born poor and no one can tell."
"Why should I pretend I'm rich?"
Li Diudiu also had his own confusion: "You don't eat yourselves, but you spend money to watch others eat, why do I still feel that you are playing tricks on me?"
Xiahou Zhuo asked: "Then what do you think is a joke?"
Li Diudiu said: "You agreed, but you didn't pay me. You are playing a trick on me."
Xiahou Zhuo thought about it and nodded.
But he felt that it was really embarrassing.
Li Diudiu asked again: "Do you really think the food in the cafeteria is not delicious?"
Xiahou Zhuo sighed and said, "Maybe you're the only one who thinks it tastes good."
Li Diudiu thought that he must make a lot of money in the future. His master had never even eaten food like the one in the cafeteria over the years, and the food in the Taoist temple should not be much better than here. If he made money, he could take his master to eat the food that Xiahou Zhuo thought was delicious, which would definitely be delicious.
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