Chapter 41: The Willing One Takes the Bait

  Yang Fan walked in and quickly scanned the situation inside the hotel.

  On the west side, there was a table with seven or eight men wearing official hats and robes, who were drinking and having a great time. On their table, they had set up a "wine advisor" - a ceramic figurine of a foreigner with red hair and green eyes, a pointed nose, and one hand pointing forward. They would spin the ceramic figure around and wait for it to stop, then whoever it was pointing at would have to drink a cup of wine as punishment, while the others would applaud and cheer, creating a very lively atmosphere.

  On the east side, there was also a seat, where two merchants sat facing each other, surrounded by a screen on three sides, with only the stage side open. On the table were several small dishes, and beside them stood two slender and charming Hu girls, busily serving food and urging wine. The two seated Hu merchants sipped their wine lightly and spoke in low voices, seemingly discussing business.

  Yang Fan didn't have time to look around, and accompanied Tian Ai Nu to a position closest to the stage, where they sat down. First, he called for the waiter to bring over a screen, which was placed on three sides, and only then did Tian Ai Nu remove her veil and kneel down in front of the seat.

  Yang Fan sat in the side seat and said to Tian Ai Nu in a low voice: "We came a bit early, the one with the surname Liu hasn't arrived yet."

  Tian Ai Nu said in a low voice, "As long as he is willing to come today, there will be a way to attract his attention. For a man like him, once his attention is attracted, it's just a small trick to make him obey."

  Yang Fan smiled wryly: "Use a small trick? The expenses of the past few days are really not small. Just that one leopard, in these two days it has eaten more meat than I have in a year."

  "Heavens, you're really something! Those pearls were originally a gift from me to you as a token of gratitude. Since you're so generous and insist on taking them out to help friends in need, how can I bear not to use them all up and fulfill your reputation for being as noble as the clouds?"

  Yang Fan made a very painful expression and sighed: "If you can save some for me, I'm sure it won't be too thin."

  Tian Ai Nu raised her chin and snorted, saying: "I don't often get the chance to put on airs, today I can be generous with someone else's generosity, I absolutely won't be stingy."

  Just as he was saying this, a man with a pointed nose and bright green eyes walked in, bowed and smiled: "Honored guests have arrived, the humble abode is honored. Does the young lady want to order some wine and dishes?"

  In this era, there were no menus. Menus only appeared in the late Qing and Republican periods. In this era, if you wanted to order dishes, you had to look at the water signs hanging above the wine cabinet, or let the wine doctor show off his skills by reciting the names of the dishes.

  Tian Ai Nu said: "Wine Doctor, pick a few of your store's signature dishes and bring them up. Also, bring up a jar of fine wine."

  Yang Fan's eyes watched her nose, her nose watched her heart, and in her heart, she sighed again: "This prodigal daughter..."

  When watching the singing and dancing in the wine house, each table was very quiet, only occasionally a burst of laughter would come from those seven or eight people gathered together, I thought that "Wine Fool" had pointed at someone again. When the Hu Ji retreated and two excellent performers came on to perform the "Can Jun Xi", the atmosphere of the whole wine house became lively and warm.

  "Canjun Xi" is a type of drama that originated during the Five Barbarians and Sixteen Kingdoms period. At that time, there was an official who held the position of Canjun who embezzled public funds and accepted bribes. After being caught, he was punished, and as a result, a troupe leader ordered an actor to wear official robes and play the role of a Canjun on stage, while another actor stood by and ridiculed him.

  As a result, this form of performance was well-received as soon as it came out. Some excellent performers were inspired and continued to compile similar short sketches with other stories for performance. This form of performance was thus established and named after the protagonist of its first play, "Zhan Jun" (meaning "participating in the army"), hence called "Zhan Jun Play".

  This play is actually the ancestor of later generations' operas. Although its performance form was simple at that time, with only two people from start to finish, and its style was mainly humorous and funny, but later more and more people participated in the performance, and roles began to evolve into "Sheng Dan Jing Mo" and other types, and the plot also became more and more complex.

  At this time, the opera had not yet flourished, and singing and dancing were still the main content of entertainment projects. Therefore, this "participating in the military play" was just a passing scene, because it was almost time for dinner, and a large number of wine guests would soon take their seats.

  The play being performed on stage is adapted from the legend of Cowherd and Weaving Maiden, with only two characters appearing, one is Weaving Maiden, and the other is not Cowherd but Weaving Maiden's lover.

  The plot is simple, it's about the Weaving Maiden who often descends to earth and secretly meets her lover. The lover asks her if she feels uneasy leaving Cowherd alone on the other side of the Milky Way, and worries that he will be discovered by Cowherd for having an affair with the Weaving Maiden. The Weaving Maiden thinks nothing of it: "My business has nothing to do with him." She turns around to comfort her lover not to worry, saying that the Milky Way is vast and Cowherd won't discover them.

  This little play's dialogue is witty and humorous, interspersed with many risqué connotations, but expressed in a rather subtle and elegant way. After all, the guests present are either wealthy or noble, so they wouldn't appreciate anything too crude. However, not liking crudeness doesn't mean they don't enjoy this kind of topic. Whenever the surrounding diners catch on to the implicit meaning behind the witty repartee between the two courtesans, they would burst into hearty laughter.

  Yang Fan had never touched these things before, and was watching with great interest. Before long, the wine and dishes came up, although Tian Ai Nu had said that as long as they were familiar with the menu, they could bring it up, but the restaurant did not have a luxurious table setting, but rather prepared several delicious dishes according to the number of diners.

  Tonghua soft beef tripe, Jin Su flat hammer, sheep skin flower silk, Eight Immortals plate, Snow Baby, Fairy's tongue, Small Heavenly cream puff, Zongtou spring, eight dishes, and there are twenty-four Qi Bao dumplings, those twenty-four dumplings, flower-shaped fillings are different, twenty-four have twenty-four flavors, exquisite.

  At this time, in places that pay attention to etiquette, they still follow the Han Chinese tradition and implement a separate meal system. Therefore, Yang Fan and Tian Ai Nu each have a small table in front of them, with the same dishes served on two sets of plates, which are separately presented to the two people's tables.

  The wine is Lanling's fine wine, with sandalwood, agarwood and patchouli added to it, and honey used to adjust the flavor. Its color is golden yellow, and its taste is clear and fragrant. The fragrance can be smelled from afar, and even if you drink until drunk, you won't feel a headache, nor will your mouth feel dry, nor will you have diarrhea. This fine wine of Lanling in Shandong has an extremely long history. It's said that the water here is used as a standard for measurement, and it's heavier than water from other places. The reason why the wine tastes so rich and delicious is because of the quality of the water.

  Two people eating dishes, tasting fine wine, quietly waiting.

  The number of guests gradually increased, and the two men's position was excellent, at a diagonal angle from the door. Every guest who entered would inevitably fall into their eyes. Before long, they saw Liu Junhuan accompanying Xiaoxin, welcoming a woman in magnificent attire to come in. Yang Fan gave Tian Ainiu a glance, and Tian Ainiu's eyelids slightly drooped downwards.

  The guests had all arrived, and the atmosphere was lively. Amidst the din of voices, Dong Ling, the manager of "Jin Chai Zui", suddenly walked onto the stage with a smile, bowed to the crowd in all directions, and said loudly: "Ladies and gentlemen, please quiet down, please quiet down."

  Everyone in the shop was quiet, looking east, and didn't know what this bearded Persian wanted to do.

  "Everyone, this morning someone came to our store to consign a jar of good wine. Normally speaking, with the 'Golden Hairpin Drunken' here, we already have the best wines from all over the world, so there's no need for us to do business on behalf of others. However, after tasting this jar of grape wine, I must say it's indeed a fine wine!"

  "Jin Chai Zui" is one of the top hotels in Luoyang City, and Luoyang is the most prosperous place in the Tang Dynasty, where officials and nobles gather. In other words, "Jin Chai Zui" is one of the top hotels in the entire Tang Dynasty. Dongling said that his store gathers the best wines from all over the world, which is not an exaggeration.

  At this point, Dongling's shopkeeper actually started doing the "proxy selling" business that only a small wine tavern in the countryside would do, and he even took the stage himself to introduce it to the guests with great fanfare. It can be seen that this wine is extraordinary. The guests present were all eager to hear him explain and examine it carefully.

  "This wine is from the Western Regions, it's a grape brew, extremely delicious, far surpassing any fine wine sold in this store..."

  The words had barely fallen when they caused a stir among the guests. At that time, there were also winemaking in the Central Plains, but the best wine still came from the Western Regions. Even the wine made in the Central Plains was extremely expensive, and the wine from the Western Regions was even more so.

  Wine, golden armor, Wu Zhi fifteen fine horses...

  This is about a married girl, taking her dowry to her husband's home. The dowry she brought was wine and golden utensils. Golden utensils are made of pure gold, implying that the high-quality wine is as expensive as golden utensils.

  "In the 'Golden Hairpin Drunken' wine shop, even the most famous wines of the time, such as Xichuan Shaochun and Fuping Shizhengchun, were all available for sale. The varieties of grape wine were also quite complete. Now the owner of the shop actually said that this pot of grape wine was better than all the famous wines in the shop, which naturally shocked everyone. In the place where those seven or eight scholars were, someone couldn't wait to ask: 'What's so good about this wine? How much is it worth?'"

  A woman's voice suddenly rang out: "Bring me the wine!" As soon as the voice came out, the four seats were silent, and they didn't even ask for the price. They directly asked someone to bring the wine over. It wasn't just any customer who dared to speak like this in "Jin Chai Zui".

  The one who spoke was Mrs. Yao, and Mrs. Yao often came to "Jin Chai Zui". This woman loved fine wine, especially grape wine. Yang Fan had already inquired about these things clearly. Today, Mrs. Yao came to "Jin Chai Zui" for a drink, and she also let Chu Kuang's subordinates investigate beforehand.

  Dong Ling bowed and smiled, "Madam Yao is a regular customer of our store, but there's an order to follow. The old man has no reason not to comply. However, there's one thing - this guest who pawned the fine wine is in urgent need of money, so he instructed me that this fine wine must be auctioned publicly, and whoever offers the highest price, I, as a trustee, dare not accept any private transactions."

  At that time, whether it was business or personal relationships, people attached great importance to the word "integrity". Although there were those who lost their integrity, many more placed a high value on keeping their promises. Dongling's words caused the guests to nod in agreement, and Mrs. Yao could no longer say anything, so she proudly said: "Very well, you don't have to sell us short either. Let's begin! I'd like to see who can offer a higher price than me!"

  Sincerely seeking recommendation votes and Sanjiang votes!