Chapter Eleven: Fine Wine Worth Five Guan per Jar

  As they walked into the wine building, although Hu Ji was performing a dance music in the field, the performance of the dance music was quite wonderful, but there were still many people who looked at them, including those sitting in the main hall and private rooms, and someone immediately commented.

  Chen Yichang's tall and handsome, Ning Qingjun is elegant and refined. The two of them walking together are quite eye-catching, they had already experienced this when strolling on the streets and in Xishi. Being the center of attention made Chen Yi's confidence swell to a high degree, he completely accepted the attention from others and even somewhat enjoyed it. Entering the wine tower, this semi-enclosed space, and receiving the attention of others again didn't feel out of the ordinary.

  But what Chen Yi thought was wrong. Many people in the wine house were paying attention to him and Ning Qing, not because they looked handsome, but for another reason.

  There were not a few people who came to watch Huji dance and have fun, but those who brought women with them were extremely rare. Many people came to see Huji at this time with ulterior motives, just like they went to Pingkangfang for entertainment, wanting to take advantage of Huji or taste the charm of exotic women, so they wouldn't bring their wives along. Even if there were women who came, it was as if those noble ladies from wealthy families came to see the excitement and satisfy their curiosity, wearing men's clothes and trying not to reveal their identities as women. Chen Yi, who brought in the lovely young girl Ning Qing, didn't know this.

  Facing the gaze of so many people, Ning Qing's thin-skinned face involuntarily turned red. Chen Yi, on the other hand, seemed unaffected and followed the leading Hu Ji to a window seat, where he immediately called out to the approaching waiter.

  "Two gentlemen, what can I get for you?" The waiter bowed and scraped forward with a smile on his face, asking Chen Yihe and Ning Qing what they wanted.

  Chen Yi's demeanor was extraordinary, and her attire was not shabby. At first glance, she didn't seem like an ordinary young lady from a common family. Ning Qing was tall and handsome, but upon closer inspection, it could be seen that the fabric of her clothes wasn't particularly good. Judging from the situation, she seemed to be a personal maid or servant of a noble young master. This combination wasn't too unusual when they came into the store. It's normal for a noble young master to bring his personal maid to watch Hu Ji's performance. Most people just dress their maids in men's clothing, that's all. Moreover, since they were guests, the shopkeeper's expression didn't show any surprise.

  Chen Yi looked at Ning Qing, inquiring with his eyes, but the young girl seemed to have little experience ordering dishes, her face slightly red as she shook her head, wanting Chen Yi to decide himself. Seeing this, Chen Yi didn't say anything either, turning his head to instruct the waiter: "Pick a few of your store's signature small dishes, add two catties of mutton, one plate of chicken, one serving of duck liver, one bowl of spring bamboo shoots, and a pot of fine grape wine. That's it for now, we'll call you later if we need anything else!"

  The first time taking a girl to a restaurant, can't lose face, being treated as a country bumpkin! Inside the wine house, there are advertisements such as "our store's signature dishes", Chen Yi walked upstairs and happened to hear the guests at the next table ordering food from the waiter, he also followed suit and ordered in the same way. Being unfamiliar with the local customs, can only "follow the local customs" even when ordering food!

  "Alright, young master and young lady, please wait for a moment, I'll have them brought up to you right away!" The waiter said with a nod, "Two catties of mutton, one plate of chicken, one serving of duck liver, one bowl of spring bamboo shoots, one jug of fine grape wine... coming right up!"

  At this time, Hu Ji's spinning dance on the scene had just ended, and the music also stopped. Although the voices of the guests in the field were a bit noisy, the voice of the little second singing was still very high-pitched! Other guests also had similar little seconds singing, with similar tone and content!

  "Ziying, why did you order so many dishes? We can't finish them all!" Ning Qing was a Taoist who mainly ate vegetarian food in the Zongsheng Palace and rarely ate meat. Sun Simiao was very frugal and hardly ever wasted anything. The master and his disciples usually ate together, and it was rare to have so many dishes. When Chen Yi ordered so many dishes at the wine tower, he couldn't help but want to stop him.

  "No big deal, let's try the flavor of this wine house, and order a dish with a good reputation!" Chen Yi smiled and shook his head, indicating that it was nothing serious. "Besides, we've been strolling around for half a day, our stomachs are growling, we need to replenish our energy, and then go shopping again later!"

  He actually wanted to say that he was going to appreciate Hu Ji's dance and music in this wine house, and he had to stay for a long time, so the wine and dishes couldn't be less. It would only be enjoyable if he could eat and drink while watching. But this idea couldn't be expressed, or else the little girl would misunderstand it as something else and despise him!

  "Alright then!" Seeing that many people's eyes were occasionally cast on them, Ning Qing dared not speak loudly and did not dare to argue with Chen Yi again. He could only agree and say nothing more, quietly sipping the tea brought by the shopkeeper.

  Soon, a young waiter and an older, somewhat unattractive, stout foreign woman brought the wine and dishes, quickly arranging them with nimble hands and feet, saying "Please enjoy your meal" before bowing and retreating.

  The atmosphere in the store and the wit of the waiter made Chen Yi feel pretty good. He smiled, picked up the wine jug, filled himself and Ning Qing's cups to the brim, but his eyes kept glancing at the Hu girls who were preparing for their performance. In his heart, he was already ranking them. Although they were all Hu girls, the one serving food and the ones performing gave people completely different feelings. The Hu girl serving food just now made Chen Yi think of Russian mothers in later generations. Russian mothers seemed to have good figures when they were young, but as they grew older, they became barrel-waisted and their faces lost shape, making people feel sick. It seems that the Hu girls performing in the wine shop also relied on their youth for food, and when they got older, their figures were no longer slender, and they could only play the role of serving dishes and serving as waiters. The two Hu girls who performed and served food vividly wrote all this in reality!

  The music and dance in Hu Ji's wine shop will not stop for too long. The scene was quiet for a while, but soon the sound of drums and music came up again.

  As the strings and drums sounded, a slender foreign woman with a large area of exposed skin walked into the arena, but it was not the one who had just danced. Her appearance and figure seemed even better. After bowing to the surrounding guests, she began to dance in rhythm.

  Watching Hu Ji flying quickly in the arena, Chen Yi immediately thought of a term "Hu Xuan Dance"!

  Chen Yi knew that in the historical records, there was a famous dance music called Hu Xuan Dance. According to legend, An Lushan, who led the Tang Dynasty to decline, was a master of Hu Xuan Dance. This "skill" made him gain the favor of Li Longji and Yang Yuhuan, who loved music, and his original crimes were eliminated, and he was reused, concurrently serving as the governor of multiple regions, with his own army, ultimately bringing disaster to the Tang Dynasty.

  Just as Chen Yi was drinking grape wine, eating dishes and watching the dance performance with great interest, the music suddenly became more intense and exciting. The dancer Hu Ji's movements also accelerated, her toes tapping rapidly as she spun around the stage. Many objects on her body were spinning along with her. As the drumbeat grew more urgent and thrilling, her dance movements became even faster, until all that could be seen was a blur of flying sleeves and garments, making it hard to discern the person inside. The rapid spinning caused the bells on Hu Ji's body to collide and produce a pleasant ringing sound, while the flying sleeves and ribbons added an extra touch of splendor to the dance performance.

  This wonderful dance music won thunderous applause, and Chen Yi and Ning Qing, who were stunned, couldn't help but cheer! Even Chen Yi, who had seen many exotic dances in his later years, was amazed by Hu Ji's high-difficulty huaxian dance. As he followed Hu Ji's body with his eyes, they became a little dizzy!

  No one knows how long the Hu girl spun rapidly, the drum sound and string sound gradually slowed down, and the Hu girl's spinning also slowed down. After a few urgent drum sounds, she finally stopped her footsteps. The Hu girl who was panting heavily walked over, opened her hands, slightly bent her body, and saluted the audience in all directions. The scene suddenly burst into thunderous applause.

  When the woman who had just taken her final bow walked up front, Chen Yi finally got a clear look at what she looked like.

  This Hu girl was indeed young and beautiful, at most only fifteen or sixteen years old. Her head of brown hair with a slight curl was tied up with a ribbon, very casual, her skin much whiter than that of the people from the Central Plains, big light blue eyes exuding an enticing exotic charm. This Hu girl, due to dancing urgently and sweating, had her clothes stuck to her body, the tight clothing fully revealing her figure, even more attracting people's eyeballs. For ordinary men, a woman's face was an important factor in attracting them, but the beautiful scenery of ups and downs under their clothes was what they most wanted to see.

  Chen Yi was no exception, his eyes naturally fell on Hu Ji's towering chest, subconsciously estimating the size of that place, whether it was B or C, or D. But he was afraid of being seen by Ning Qing beside him, and had a slightly guilty conscience, so he only dared to take a few brief glances.

  Ning Qing saw the dishonest look in Chen Yi's eyes, snorted twice with her nose, glared at him angrily, and put down the wine cup she had been holding up while watching the dance performance.

  "Qing'er, this Hu Ji's dance and music are too wonderful, I'm stunned, even forgot to eat the dishes. Come on, let me toast you a cup!" Chen Yi Xiu smiled and raised her cup, "I suppose there will be more wonderful performances later, let's take our time to enjoy it!"

  "Hmph, who doesn't know what you're looking at!" Ning Qing glared at Chen Yi and muttered, reluctantly raising her cup, clinking it against his, and downing the contents in one gulp.

  Seeing Ning Qing like this, Chen Yi naturally understood why the little girl would become like this. He leaned in close to her and prepared to say a few playful words to tease her into happiness. At this time, that Hu Ji had finished her performance and had already walked to a place where she couldn't be seen.

  But before the words were out of his mouth, there was a commotion on the scene. Looking up, he saw a middle-aged man in luxurious attire walking into the arena, followed by Hu Ji, who had just finished dancing and playing music, holding a golden vessel that seemed to be filled with wine.

  Only then did the middle-aged man with a decent temperament bow to the crowd and say loudly: "Gentlemen, I am Xu Zhu, the owner of Zui Xian Lou. Thank you for your patronage! Zui Xian Lou is the most famous wine house in Chang'an City, and every day many customers come to taste the wine and watch the dance. The reputation of Zui Xian Lou today cannot be separated from the support of gentlemen like you. Our store has recently imported a batch of aged grape wine from the Western Regions, which sells for at least five guans per pot on the market, and is priceless...

  This remark brought a buzz from the crowd, this price is too astonishing, five guan is no small sum!

  Some of the regulars here knew what the shopkeeper was going to say next, while Chen Yi and Ning Qing, who were unaware, looked at each other curiously, whispering to each other what this shopkeeper was going to do.