Three people went to the Summer Palace.
Upon entering the Summer Palace, Christina was immediately captivated by the picturesque scenery of lakes and mountains.
Christina flitted around the Kunming Lake like a cheerful little bird.
She felt she truly loved this place, that such beautiful architecture and scenery could exist in the world.
Su Xiaotian smiled and introduced the Summer Palace to Christina. Su Dan Novel Network
"Christina, you're very interested in Chinese cuisine, shall I tell you a story about the Empress Dowager dining at the Summer Palace?"
Christina tilted her head and thought for a moment, then asked, "What does 'dining' mean?"
Su Xiaotian smacked her forehead and said, "I forgot, dining means eating."
"Oh, eating is eating, why call it dining?" Christina couldn't understand this way of using words.
But that wasn't the point; the point was that Xiaotian was going to tell her the story of a famous Empress Dowager's meal in Chinese history.
"In China's thousands of years of history, the emperor was unique. To embody imperial supremacy, emperors had special privileges in many aspects, such as referring to themselves as 'Zhen' or 'Guaren', and calling eating 'dining', all to display supreme and unique authority."
Su Xiaotian patiently explained the meaning of "dining" to Christina.
"Now, let's get back to the point. I'll tell you about the meticulousness of the Empress Dowager's dining at the Summer Palace, which I doubt you've ever heard of."
After Su Xiaotian finished speaking, Christina's interest was instantly piqued.
"What kind of meticulousness can dining have? Isn't it just eating?" Christina muttered to herself, then added, "Tell me quickly, Xiaotian, how did the Empress Dowager dine?"
Christina's beautiful big eyes blinked, almost sparkling.
"The Empress Dowager had a special kitchen at the Summer Palace called the Shou Shan Fang, located behind the Renshou North Hall and to the east of the Grand Theatre. Of course, the location isn't important; what's important is that this Shou Shan Fang had eight courtyards and over a hundred rooms. There were over 120 people solely responsible for cooking and preparing food."
Hearing this number, Christina couldn't help but click her tongue.
She considered herself worldly, but she had never known that a meal could be prepared with such grandeur.
"Are there so many people serving just her? Our family has grand meals too, but we don't have over 120 people serving us."
Such a life was unimaginable, utterly preposterous!
Su Xiaotian smiled, "You've always wanted to try imperial cuisine, haven't you? There's a very important reason why imperial cuisine can't be replicated now. No restaurant or eatery can afford such a scale."
Although some large restaurants today have many chefs responsible for cooking, they still fall far short of the standards of imperial banquets.
"Christina, I don't know what kitchens are like in Germany, but in the imperial kitchens, meat dishes, vegetarian dishes, cold dishes, hot dishes, pastries, and beverages all had separate chefs."
Many chefs in the imperial kitchens were only responsible for the one thing they excelled at. Therefore, even descendants of imperial chefs could at best only recreate a portion of it.
There was no restaurant that could gather all the descendants of imperial chefs.
Imperial cuisine had become an unattainable luxury.
Christina nodded, "Xiaotian, you're right. If that's the case, it's indeed impossible to replicate."
Christina felt a bit disappointed when she thought about this.
She had always had the idea of tasting what Chinese imperial cuisine was like.
But after Xiaotian's explanation, she understood completely.
It was essentially impossible to taste authentic imperial cuisine!
"Xiaotian, this is truly a regrettable matter!" Christina shook her head with regret, "It seems that if I want to eat Chinese food, I can only go to your house."
"My grandmother isn't actually a descendant of imperial chefs, but my grandmother cooks very well," Su Xiaotian said with a smile, covering her mouth.
"But everyone says that Yiming Pavilion is a shop opened by descendants of imperial chefs. The people at the hotel where I'm staying also recommended it to me that way."
Su Xiaotian had never heard this information before.
Su Xiaotian believed that it was best to be honest, so she had no intention of creating a false identity as a descendant of imperial chefs to attract customers.
Although some restaurants claiming to be run by descendants of imperial chefs were already bustling with customers.
But Su Xiaotian had never thought of making her family's Yiming Pavilion into such a pseudo-imperial restaurant.
"Is there really such a saying?"
Su Xiaotian didn't know if she should refute such rumors if they spread.
But it seemed there was no way to do it. She couldn't possibly go around explaining to everyone that her family had no connection to imperial chefs.
Moreover, sometimes, the more you try to explain, the worse it gets.
Forget it, such a situation appearing was also beneficial to her family.
As the two young girls chatted animatedly, Chi Yiyuan, standing beside them, felt a bit lonely.
Why had Xiaotian forgotten about him after meeting Christina?
Did he have such little presence?
The young man, who had been very confident in himself, suddenly began to doubt his own charm.
He felt he was better than Miss Christina in every way.
Moreover, he and Su Xiaotian had a relationship spanning many years, practically childhood sweethearts. How could he not compare to a foreign girl?
Seeing that Su Xiaotian wouldn't even spare him an extra glance, Chi Yiyuan thought he should do something to attract the girl's attention.
Just then, Chi Yiyuan spotted a small vendor pushing an ice cream cart in the distance.
Seeing the scorching weather, Su Xiaotian even had fine beads of sweat on her forehead, so he decisively ran over to buy ice cream.
Chi Yiyuan chose taro and red bean flavored popsicles.
"Xiaotian, this is your favorite taro flavor, try it."
Chi Yiyuan decisively handed the popsicle to Su Xiaotian, who was overjoyed upon seeing it.
It was the hottest time of year in the capital, and it was almost noon, so the heat was considerable.
"Oh, that's wonderful, I like popsicles too, and this purple color is really beautiful," Christina unceremoniously took another taro-flavored popsicle from Chi Yiyuan's hand.
Admittedly, the pale purple color always felt very pleasing.
Although Christina didn't know what taro flavor tasted like, anything that looked pleasing was bound to be delicious.
Chi Yiyuan looked at the remaining red bean popsicle, which he had originally intended for Miss Christina.
He had planned to have the same flavor as Xiaotian.
He cast a mournful glance at Miss Christina, only to receive a provocative smile from her.
The meaning was clear: it was a challenge.
It seemed as if she was showing off how much more favor she had with Su Xiaotian than Chi Yiyuan.
Chi Yiyuan shook his head helplessly.
Why did he feel like he had brought himself a love rival?
He never expected that Xiaotian cared more about a foreign girl than him.
However, what Chi Yiyuan didn't expect even more was that the red bean popsicle in his hand, which he hadn't had time to taste, was suddenly taken away.