Volume 4: It's Dark, Please Close Your Eyes Chapter 11: How much does this sea cost per pound?
Tang Zheng had said so much, even Ji Lan had nothing more to say. He shook his head slightly and stopped with the sisters.
"My favorite is the Hundred Flavor Secret Milk Soup." Su Miyan answered expressionlessly.
"Braised salmon with figs." Bai Shu said immediately.
"Three-bearded eel and lychee roll."
"A Hundred Flowers in Splendid Bloom."
Soon, Rong Xue and Qiao Wenzhu also told each other their favorite dishes.
After hearing the names of these dishes, except Tang Zheng, Tang Xiaotang and Meng Fenghua, the other people from Yisu Academy frowned slightly.
At this time, Tang Zheng looked at Ji Lan and said, "Well, I have already noted down the favorite foods of the other senior sisters. The only one left is Sister Ji Lan. Your favorite food has not yet been told to me."
Ji Lan glanced at the girls beside him and smiled, "My background is different from Mi Yan's. I am not used to those delicacies. What I like most is the sweetheart fruit, one of the fruits I sent you last time."
Sweetheart fruit, a fruit similar to strawberry, can be found everywhere on the entire continent, but the sweetheart fruit produced in Licheng is the most famous.
But no matter what, this fruit is indeed too common and inconspicuous compared to the dishes mentioned by the girls before.
After saying that, the people from Alsophila Academy wanted to leave again, but were stopped by Tang Zheng again: "Uh... sisters, please stay. I have one last thing to do for you."
"You say." Although several girls from the Alsophila Academy were well-educated, they all felt a little unhappy at this moment. Only Ji Lan still asked with a smile on her face.
"Since we are going to cook and eat, we must choose a good place and get a good set of kitchen utensils, right? So I have to ask you to help solve these two things." Tang Zheng said calmly.
"Okay, don't worry, we will prepare now. Don't worry, the venue and kitchen utensils you want will definitely satisfy you." Before Ji Lan could speak, Su Miyan spoke.
Her subtext was very clear, which was that if you lost the bet today, don't blame it on the bad venue and tools.
Tang Zheng was not angry either, he nodded and said: "That's great, I'll go prepare the ingredients then, bye bye, I won't see you off."
Just like that, several girls from Alsophila Academy left in a huff.
"Tang Zheng, are you sure? Su Miyan and the others are indeed of noble birth. The dishes mentioned just now are all famous dishes of the mainland, famous for their exquisite food, rare ingredients and extremely difficult cooking. I believe their taste requirements are also very high. It is very difficult to satisfy or surprise them." Jiang Wuyan turned around .
As the eldest son of a clan, he has learned some common sense about dealing with these aristocratic families since childhood, and food is one of them.
Therefore, although Jiang Wuyan had not eaten every delicacy mentioned by Su Miyan and others, he had heard of every one of them.
"I think that the one proposed by Ji Lan is the most difficult. There is no dish, it is just an ordinary fruit. It seems that there are countless ways to use it, but because of this, there is no way to know which one will suit her taste. It is impossible to really give her only one sweetheart fruit..." Meng Fenghua also continued.
However, in the end, everyone's eyes fell on Tang Zheng.
After all, he is the chef today, and the success or failure of the bet depends entirely on him.
"Uh... Master, have I caused you any trouble?" Although Xiaotang was still full of confidence in Tang Zheng, after listening to Jiang Wuyan and Meng Fenghua's analysis, she suddenly felt that the bet she had just blurted out was a bit too impulsive.
"What's wrong with me? Why did my mind go blank just now..." Xiaotang muttered to herself, feeling her ears turning red.
"No, no, no, you didn't cause me any trouble, you just added mushrooms to me... But it doesn't matter. I'm so happy today, it's also fun to add some stakes as a weight. But, Xiaotang, I have a question to ask you." Tang Zheng suddenly said.
"What's the problem?" Xiaotang suddenly became a little nervous.
"Just now, you and the girl from Alsophila Academy made a bet of one hundred taels of purple gold each. The question is - do you have one hundred taels of purple gold? What will you do if you lose?" Tang Zheng asked curiously.
"If I lose, of course you have to pay, Master. You are a rich man!" Xiaotang said righteously.
"You make a bet, and I lose money... You really don't consider yourself an outsider at all. This is really a misfortune for our sect, a misfortune for our sect." Tang Zheng said, covering his face.
"Then Master, what should we do now? Buy some ingredients? Can I buy some snacks and toys as well?" The little bell that had been hanging on Tang Zheng's body unconsciously came out and said coquettishly with a smile.
"Well, let's buy, buy, buy. Put aside your worries, take your wallet and let's go!" Tang Zheng gave an order, and a group of people walked out of the Alsophila Academy in a mighty manner.
…
The Alsophila Academy covers a large area. Outside the academy, it is not far from the most prosperous central commercial area of Licheng.
As soon as Tang Zheng and his companions walked out of the academy, they were filled with the sweet aroma of various tropical fruits in the air, the body fragrance of beautiful women in colorful floral dresses, the sandalwood wafting from the golden-roofed and colorful-eaves temples, the aroma of wine wafting from the lively restaurants, and other all kinds of exotic flavors mixed together, making them feel a little tipsy.
The sunshine in Pear City is much brighter than that in Emerald City. When it shines on people, there is always a lazy feeling of warmth.
Unlike border cities like Jade City, which always have an iron-blooded and cold atmosphere and the air seems to be always filled with leaden clouds with an evil aura, the colors of this city are like the most popular clothing fabrics here, colorful, bright and strong.
"Master, Master, look, there is a big ball with a tube inserted that you can drink directly from..."
"Well, that's called a coconut, uh... But I don't know if it's called a coconut here, anyway, let's each have one first."
"Yeah, and there's also that big bowl of red, spicy soup next to it. It smells delicious, too."
“Okay, buy it!”
“That little drum that makes a sound when you swing it…”
"Buy! Boss, no no no, not this one, but this row. Forget it, all the toys, yes, all of them, pack them for me..."
In this way, they played, ate and shopped along the way, and everyone was dazzled by the exotic scenery of Licheng. If Tang Zheng had not been accustomed to bringing several "shopping bags" given to him by Ban Yilou, I'm afraid everyone would have large and small bags in their hands, and even their stomachs would be full.
"Master, it's getting late, aren't we going to buy the ingredients for today's cooking? If we play any longer, we might be too late." After the group of people had been walking around and eating for a long time like a small train, Xiao Tang was still worried about the bet between Tang Zheng and several girls from the Alsophila Academy, so she stopped and reminded him.
"You're right. It's time to prepare for tonight's dinner. Let's go to some of the best restaurants in Licheng first." Tang Zheng nodded.
"Ah? Aren't we buying ingredients? Aren't ingredients supposed to be at the farmers' market, or the rarer ones should be sold at the local Jubao Pavilion. Can we buy ingredients in a restaurant? Even if they do, they may not sell them to us." Xiaotang asked curiously.
"Well, of course we don't buy the ingredients in the restaurant, but the problem is that many of the dishes those girls from Alsophila Academy reported are the first time I've heard them today. I don't even know which ingredients to use, and I don't know how to buy them, so... let's go to the restaurant to try these dishes first. Fortunately, they are all famous mainland dishes, and the most expensive restaurants should have them." Tang Zheng said, touching his chin.
"Master... these dishes... you... just heard of the names of the dishes today?!" Xiaotang said in a dry tone after hearing Tang Zheng's words. She suddenly felt that tonight, it would be best if she had a stomachache suddenly and "regretted" that she couldn't attend the dinner. It would be a wise choice. Thinking about it, it would be embarrassing in front of those girls from the Alsophila Academy, which was really unacceptable.
"Well, if I find that things are impossible to do, I'd better make some sacrifices and eat all the food made by the teacher by myself in advance. Maybe this can be regarded as... the bet is invalid?" Xiaotang has quietly started to work on the legendary plan B.
At this time, under the guidance of Xu Qingyan, the “know-it-all”, everyone had come to the first of the most luxurious restaurants in Licheng - Haitian Yiselou.
"This restaurant basically has all the dishes mentioned by the people from Alsophila Academy, except for the last one, Splendid Hundred Flowers Medley. That dish is the exclusive dish of the Splendid Pavilion across the street." Xu Qingyan introduced as he led the way.
"Does this Haitian Yiseselou have any exclusive dishes?" Tang Zheng asked with a smile.
"Yes, the Hundred Fragrance Secret Milk Soup." Xu Qingyan nodded.
As they were talking, the beautiful lady welcoming them at the door asked Tang Zheng and his friends what they wanted with a smile, and then took them to the private room called "Ting Tao" on the top floor with the widest view.
This private room is semi-open. In addition to the rattan and painted pottery decorations that are very characteristic of Licheng, the most commendable thing is that two walls of this private room are covered with transparent gauze. Looking around, there is a piece of azure water not far away, like a huge sapphire, with white waves appearing under the sunlight.
"Is this... the sea?" Xiaotang asked in surprise.
"It's just a saltwater lake. Of course, you can also think of it as an inland sea." Xu Qingyan nodded.
"It can't be called the Aegean Sea, right?" Tang Zheng complained as he stood beside the railing of the private room, feeling the slightly salty wind blowing across his face.
"This saltwater lake has not been named yet, so the locals call it the Salt Lake. Are you planning to conquer it and then name it the Aegean Sea?" Xu Qingyan looked at Tang Zheng, with an indescribable light in his eyes.
"Well, maybe we can find some time to ask the Lord of Licheng how much this sea salt costs per pound?" Tang Zheng touched his nose and said with a smile.
