Volume 2: Jade Promise Chapter 8 Black Shop (I)
"White Sea Stone Shrimp, Silver Hammer Brocade Fish Shreds, Three-Rolled Fire Dragon Bird..." Tang Zheng's finger kept pointing on the menu, "There are also Pearl Honey Milk Warm Cake, Seven-Layer Seven-Color Seven-Flavor Soup..."
Every time he called out a name, the expression of the beauty in the thin skirt changed.
Although there would always be one or two wealthy people at this time of year, she had even seen big customers who came back for a month after eating there once, and she had also seen wealthy people who ordered all the most expensive dishes, but she had never seen anyone like Tang Zheng.
Tang Zheng listed ten dishes in one breath, not too many, not too few, and every one of them was their chef’s specialty!
"Is there any problem?" After Tang Zheng ordered the dishes, he looked at the beautiful woman in the thin skirt with a smile.
"No...no." The beauty immediately regained her polite smile, "Please wait a moment."
There were only six adults and one child in Tang Zheng's group, so he ordered ten dishes, just enough to fill them up without leaving any food.
While Tang Xiaotang and the others were waiting for their food to be served, they were still saying that this restaurant was definitely a shady one, but after they took the first bite, they shut up.
They finally understood. No wonder the diners at other tables, although looking unhappy, didn't say anything.
tasty.
Indescribably delicious.
Although you can't taste the sauce in each dish, you can still appreciate the shape, taste and temperature. They are all just right in your mouth, not greasy, and leave a lingering fragrance on your lips and teeth.
However, Tang Zheng kept frowning while eating.
The dishes did taste good, but they were far from what he expected in terms of texture and cooking time. He ordered all ten dishes at once because he heard the thin-skirted beauty say that their head chef was a three-star warrior, and that he had achieved something that even Lu Huang hadn't done... the three stars of the Sun's main star piercing the sun!
Tang Zheng himself used the foundry furnace to cook, so he knew what kind of taste he could make if all three fate palaces were ruled by the sun...
The beautiful lady in a thin skirt who was serving beside their table frowned at Tang Zheng, fearing that he was here to cause trouble, and asked hurriedly, "Excuse me, is there anything you are not satisfied with?"
"Too much." Tang Zheng tilted his head, then shook his head, "For the White Sea Stone Shrimp, a warrior with the Sun Star Three-Star Penetrating Sun can keep the stones in the plate warm for at least half an hour, but in fact the stones in the plate were only heated for a quarter of an hour, resulting in the shrimp skin not being crispy enough, and the taste was not good because it was too soft."
"..." The beauty in thin skirt was stunned.
"Speaking of the silver hammer shredded fish, it should be hammered into the thickness of vermicelli with a heavy hammer. If it is really a three-star caster, it would not be too difficult to process the fish meat to a uniform texture and cook it without breaking. However, the shredded fish on our plate broke into small pieces."
The entire second floor fell silent.
Even the enthusiastic waiters stood there with their plates in hand.
The other diners stared at the food on their plates thoughtfully, and then looked at Tang Zheng with complicated expressions.
Most of those who could come to Feishi City to take the entrance exam for Yisu Academy and also eat at the restaurant were not ordinary villagers. Therefore, even if Tang Zheng spent four taels of purple gold on the meal, at most they would laugh at him and say he was "sick in the brain" or "a spendthrift".
However, every accusation Tang Zheng picked out was reasonable, which made them unable to help but be surprised and look sideways.
Tang Zheng continued to speak...
"The original method of cooking the triple-boiled Fire Dragon Bird was probably to use three furnaces lined up in a row, using high heat, low heat, and fast heat to cook the meat of the Fire Dragon Bird until it was cooked and tender... But the meat quality of our plate of Fire Dragon Bird is obviously lacking the low-fire quality. It can only be called a double-boiled Fire Dragon Bird at best."
"The pearl honey milk warm cake is the worst of the ten dishes. Not only is it not warm, but the cake itself is also hard! If the two ingredients, honey milk and flour, were prepared in advance, then after being quickly frozen and melted with three-star power, the entire cake would break easily with chopsticks, and must be picked up with hands. It looks like cake to the eyes, but it tastes like milk when you eat it. This is how pearl honey milk warm cake should feel..."
"It's just a seven-layer, seven-color, seven-flavor soup. It's still done well. Except for the poor control of the star power in the layers, which caused the colors of a few layers to be uneven, there are no other problems."
After Tang Zheng finished speaking, the entire second floor became even quieter.
Many warriors at the neighboring tables couldn't help but ask, "Has this brother...eaten here before?"
Not only these warriors, but also the waiters and the beauties who took orders thought so. But they were also puzzled. Even if Tang Zheng had eaten here before, it would be impossible for him to guess the chef's cooking secret recipe directly from the name of the dish, right?
But Tang Zheng shook his head: "Never. This is my first time in Jade City!"
"Are you a chef?" asked a warrior next to him.
"I'm a foodie." Tang Zheng continued to shake his head.
…
There were so many diners on the second floor, and they were actually immersed in the food before Tang Zheng spoke. For them, this was already the most delicious meal they had ever eaten in their lives, so they would just endure it even if they spent a little more money.
After all, they came from afar to take exams, not to cause trouble.
Moreover, it is really embarrassing for a two-star warrior to make a fuss in a restaurant for a meal. If the noise gets loud enough and attracts the garrison, it will be even more embarrassing. If he is even more unlucky and happens to be bumped into and seen by the staff of the academy, then what's the point of their exams?
Tang Zheng sighed, but the food was actually much more delicious than what he made.
After he finished speaking, he bought three more portions of the ten dishes, packed them all up, and sent them back to Wulong Town.
He gave one portion each to Tang Boyuan and Ban Yilou, and of course, Luo Fei, the foodie, had to have one too. Otherwise, if he had to watch Tang Boyuan eat, he would tear down Tangjiabao.
By the time all the dishes were served, most of the guests had left.
A young woman of about seventeen or eighteen walked out of the kitchen on the second floor. She was not very beautiful. She was wearing a gray linen dress and had long pigtails casually standing up. She had small eyes and a straight nose, and her face was greasy from being stuck in the kitchen for so long.
But her hands were very white and clean, and she was not holding a spatula, but a small stove the size of her palm.
That stove was only the size of an ordinary spice jar.
But Tang Zheng could see that it was not a spice can, but a foundry furnace!
She was very tired. She sat in front of Tang Zheng for a long time before she raised her tired eyelids and said, "My name is Li Qing. I cooked all the dishes today."
Tang Xiaotang and the others behind Tang Zheng felt guilty for a moment when they saw the girl's tired face.
However, Li Qing didn't seem to care what they thought: "I have heard everything you said. As you can see, the dishes on the menu should be made by three-star warriors... and I don't have a single fate palace lit up."
The way she looks, the way she dresses, and her star power are exactly like an ordinary person.
As she spoke, she raised her own constellation, a little gray rabbit.
Like most people in this world, her horoscope is dark, without the bright light of stars - she is an ordinary person whose fate palace is not even lit up!
When she said this, Tang Zheng's lips slightly opened: "Didn't they say... the chef is a warrior from the Sun's main star, the Three Stars Penetrating the Sun? Looking at the names of the dishes, he is not only a warrior, but also a foundry master."
If a three-star warrior had made the dishes he ate today, he wouldn't be too surprised.
But if she was an ordinary person who didn't even have an ounce of star power, why would Tang Zheng discuss with her the issue of insufficient control over star power?
"In that case, then... where is the chef?" Tang Xiaotang has realized that something might have gone wrong in this black shop.
"The chef is my father, he's dead." Li Qing's face was calm, without any sadness, "He was murdered."
"You... aren't sad?" Tang Xuan asked carefully.
"I'm used to it since I was a kid... Every once in a while, someone would come to kill him. He also said that sooner or later he would be killed... I've been preparing for more than ten years, so the day he died was no surprise." Li Qing's eyes were still calm, as if the person who died was a stranger.
Tang Zheng couldn't help licking his lips: "How is the quality of his cooking?"
Li Qing shook her head and said, "It's so delicious that I can't describe it. No matter how I cook it, I can't make it taste like that."
Her eyes were sometimes a little cloudy, but not the kind of cloudy look that befits a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl.
However, sometimes it is very clear, like the seven-color and seven-flavor soup. Although they have different colors, you can clearly see from the surface of the soup to the bottom of the bowl.
"You came out of the kitchen specially, right? Not just to tell us that the dish is not right?" Tang Zheng asked, looking at the foundry furnace the size of a spice jar in her hand.
"Of course not." Li Qing placed the foundry furnace in his hand on the table. "Before my father died, he told me that this 'Wolf Smoke Beacon Fire Furnace' would be given to the right person when the time comes. I think you look pretty good... so I'll give it to you."
After saying that, she actually put the stove on the table, stood up and went back to the kitchen.
Tang Zheng was confused by this divine development...
Why did you come out to have a nice meal and bring back a stove?
"Wait a minute." He felt that this routine was not right. "You didn't even tell me what to do, and you just gave me this stove?"
"What?" Li Qing didn't laugh, but just asked, "Why do I have to ask you to do something?"
Tang Zheng was speechless.
Is this the routine in Xingyao Continent? No need to complete the tasks, but just give out the task rewards directly?
As soon as he thought about it, he felt something was wrong and said, "It won't bring about any fatal disaster, right?"
"Are you afraid?" Li Qing said.
"Not bad." Tang Zheng picked up the stove. The more he looked at it, the more exquisite and beautiful it seemed. As soon as he injected a little star power into it, it was as if he had entered a black hole. Even he could not feel it.
Smoke beacon stove...
Just by listening to the name, you can tell that this stove is of some importance.
"It won't eat you, nor will it devour your soul. Dad wasn't killed because of it... In short, it's just an ordinary foundry." Li Qing blocked all of Tang Zheng's thoughts, glanced at him, and said, "It's just a small collection of Dad. When the time comes, I'll give it to the right person, and I'll have fulfilled his last wish."
Tang Zheng felt that she didn't even ask his name. Wasn't this last wish fulfilled in a perfunctory manner?
Seeing her disappear in the restaurant kitchen, Tang Zheng finally remembered to ask, "Hey, since I was so 'destined' to take your father's things, I should at least help him... avenge him, or clear his grudge, right?"
"Whatever." Along with her two words, the sound of a door closing was heard from the kitchen.
