Chapter - 149 Repentance of the Haughty Dragon (2) (2/2)
He regarded the soup again:
” Yes,” he agreed, ” there are these flower petals…”
” Exactly!” confirmed Huang Rong. ” The name of this soup, can you imagine it from these five ingredients?”
” If this a riddle game, I declare I've lost. Tell me quickly…”
” I'll give you a clue,” said Huang Rong, it suffices you to think about the Book of the Odes!”
” Ah no!” Qi Gong protested, ” I know nothing in the books!”
” The flower hints at a beauty's complexion,” explained Huang Rong, the cherries to her small mouth, isn't that right?”
” Ah, this is therefore the «Beauty's Soup»?”
” No, said Huang Rong while shaking the head, the bamboo is a symbol of modesty, it therefore characterises a gentleman, just as the lotus is the most eminent of the flowers. Thus, bamboo and lotus relate to a gentleman.”
” Oh,” said Qi Gong, ” this is therefore the «Gentleman and Beauty's Soup »?”
” What about the turtledove?” said Huang Rong. Indeed, all these elements meet again in the first poem of the Book of the Odes, that finishes thus: ”The gentleman is in good company”. Thus, this soup is called the ”Soup of Good Company”!”
Qi Gong burst out laughing:
” Since there is such a complex and strange soup, it's good that it has such a complex and strange name. Very well! Very well! You're a complex and strange little one yourself, I would like to know which complex and strange father that sired you…In any case, this soup is truly exquisite, much better tasting than the soup with cherries that I ate, approximately ten years ago, in the kitchen of the Imperial Palace.”
” You have a pass to the imperial kitchen?” asked Huang Rong. ” Tell me, and see if I'll try to prepare something that will please you just as well.”
Qi Gong devoured literally, and didn't have time to reply. He halted himself when he had reached the bottom of the bowls:
” In the imperial kitchen,” he explained, ” there are lots of good things of course, but nothing is worth the two dishes that here… Ah, if, there is well a «Five-flavoured slices of Mandarin duck » that was delicious, but I don't know how it was prepared.”
” And it was the emperor that invited you?” asked Guo Jing.
” Absolutely,” said Qi Gong while laughing, ” the emperor treated me, but he didn't know that! I lived hidden on a big beam of the imperial kitchen for three months, while tasting each of the dishes intended for the emperor. If I found it to my taste, I kept it for me, otherwise, I left it to him! The cooks believed that there were ghosts!”
” This person really is excessively greedy, ” thought Guo Jing and Huang Rong to themselves, ” but he is also insanely audacious!”
” Little chap,” said Qi Gong while laughing, your little girlfriend is the best cook in the world, your happiness is assured! Goodness! Why didn't I meet such a woman when I was young?”
He seemed sincerely sorry.
Huang Rong, with a hint of a smile, prepared the remainder for Guo Jing and for her. One bowl of rice was more than enough for her, while the young man put away four big bowls. As for the exquisite placement, it did not seem to make a difference to him. Qi Gong shook his head while sighing:
” Like a bull chewing on peonies! What a shame! What a shame!”
Huang Rong put a hand in front of her mouth to prevent herself from laughing.