[Do you know where to find authentic Buddha Jumps Over the Wall?]
The business car was driving towards the dock, Ansheng thought for a moment and typed out a line on his phone to ask.
"Master Fox wants to eat Buddha Jumps Over the Wall?" Lin Ying was taken aback, shook her head and said, "Preparing Buddha Jumps Over the Wall takes a lot of time, if ordered on the spot it’s basically not tasty, it needs to be pre-ordered one to two days in advance."
"Master Fox should bear with it! I’ll immediately place a rush order with the restaurant."
Authentic Buddha Jumps Over the Wall requires a reservation, once reserved, the restaurant will start preparing it, two days is only the time for simmering the broth over charcoal, without even counting other preparation time.
[It’s not me who wants to eat, it’s my friend. She asked where we can find it.] Ansheng thought for a moment and added.
"There are a few white houses next to Longhai Reservoir, where there’s a restaurant without signage offering private cuisine." Lin Ying opened a map to show Ansheng the way.
"Ehhh..."
Ansheng nodded slightly, then asked Lin Ying for a bottle of iced cola and a few grilled sausages, comfortably sitting in the airplane seat, enjoying some snacks and drinks.
The business car arrived at the seafood market, the shops along the street were still brightly lit, offering various marinated and sashimi dishes, while inside the market, besides a few illumination lights, all premium seafood wholesale shops had closed for the night.
"Ehh!"
Ansheng got off at an alley entrance, glanced around without seeing any cameras, then walked into the market, let out a soft cry to call for Tu Song A Bai.
"Where’s the dog?"
After calling out, Ansheng didn’t hear any response inside the seafood market.
"Could I have... guessed wrong, or even come to the wrong place?"
"Woo woo, woo—"
However, just as the little fox was in a daze, a dog’s whimper came from the nearby seafood shop.
’Shhh! There’s someone in the market, Boss Bai is still at home and can’t come out, we have to wait until midnight.’
Beside him, the dog in the seafood shop let out a whimpering sound and quickly explained to the little fox.
Of course, the dog didn’t explain in detail, it was merely trying to tell Ansheng to keep it down and not disturb the people sleeping in the seafood shop since they would come out later.
"...Can’t you guys be a bit more carefree? Watching you all being so loyal, I’m really not used to it."
The little fox groaned with a head full of black lines, complaining.
Being used to seeing Alaskans, Huskies, or Shepherds who had ideas of their own, each characterful dog always being carefree.
Suddenly encountering such an obedient dog, Ansheng felt a bit uncomfortable...
Waiting until midnight to gather, it didn’t actually take Ansheng much longer than expected since he left after eleven.
Considering the time driving here, it was already around eleven forty.
Ansheng waited for a moment when some noise started upstairs in Qiu Lingling’s family seafood shop.
Tu Song A Bai opened the sliding window, peered out from the windowsill, quickly leapt onto the signboard, and then jumped to the ground after confirming no one’s presence.
Throughout Tu Song A Bai’s outing, he didn’t make any noise, including when jumping down from the second floor.
"Woo——"
Tu Song A Bai landed, rolled over, looked up at Ansheng, signaled for him to follow quickly.
During Tu Song A Bai’s outing, he seemed to be consciously avoiding something, walking entirely in the center without approaching the edges of the seafood shop.
Walking out from the seafood market, going backwards all the way, arriving at the originally abandoned dock.
The originally open and flat dock had now been transformed into a series of neighboring seafood processing plants.
From midnight to three in the morning, basically no one was inside the factories.
Tu Song A Bai led Ansheng to the front of a particular seafood processing factory, then jumped on top of the fish pool where rare fish and waste fish were placed.
Half of Jiule City’s seafood was directly sea-caught, then put on trucks sent to processing plants for sorting.
Occasionally mixed with some protected animals or substandard fish, for the larger and younger fish it’s usually released, just hitch a ride with the delivery truck.
"Wow——"
With no one around, Tu Song A Bai’s dirty little hand fished out a fish covered in golden scales from the pool and pushed it to the little fox’s front.
A Bai seemed to say: brother, help yourself, young brother, don’t be shy, have some sashimi first.
"Isn’t this... a national first-class protected yellow-lipped fish?"
Seeing A Bai offering fish, Ansheng recognized it as a yellow-lipped fish less than twenty centimeters long, the whole fox was stunned, then looked at Tu Song A Bai with a strange expression:
"I must say... this yellow-lipped fish is indeed valuable, once sold for millions at a crazy price."
Yellow-lipped fish is known for its tender flesh, reputed as golden treasures of the sea, but wild yellow-lipped fish are now nationally protected.
Not to mention one bite, a single scale falling off could land nearby witnesses fifteen days in detention for inciting trouble.
Of course.
Ansheng’s knowledge of it wasn’t due to its delicious flesh, neither wild nor farmed, Ansheng hadn’t actually eaten it, but he had seen a fish maw auction here in his previous life.
At the auction, the most expensive fish maw came from a 68-pound yellow-lipped fish.
The fish maw sold for 4.7 million.
More than four million for an ingredient.
At the time, Ansheng was dumbfounded, even joking with colleagues saying all the money could go to the club for silk collagen instead of eating that mouthful of fish maw.
Gave the technician 4.7 million, and if you chewed her silicone chest pads to pieces, she’d still praise you for its crispy sound.
Ansheng thus remembered the yellow-lipped fish.
"Ehh ehh..."
Ansheng shook his head, waved his hand to toss the yellow-lipped fish back into the pool.
Maybe yellow-lipped fish tastes good?
However, Ansheng previously lived in the forest, had eaten raw meat until he feared it, so he had no interest in unseasoned raw ingredients, no matter how fine they were, only good once cooked or prepared.
"Wow——"
Tu Song A Bai comforted Ansheng, saying it was fine for Ansheng to sneak a bite without feeling guilty, this stuff was unwanted, even if eaten in secret, people would think stray cats did it.
Ansheng looked at Tu Song A Bai with disbelief, couldn’t have imagined such a tactful dog when in front of Qiu Lingling, would be like this outside.
As long as it doesn’t concern my house, my owner, then as long as the law permits, anything goes.
"Woof woof——"
As time passed, more dogs gathered in front of the seafood processing factory.
This seafood processing factory might be the gathering place for Tu Song A Bai and other dogs.
And as more dogs gathered, the originally Samoyed-like Tu Song A Bai squatting at the fish pool slowly started transforming, its robust body began to develop, wide mouth tube narrowed.
Its smooth long hair split into layers, curly tail silently grew long and straight.
"Awoooo——"
Ansheng witnessing A Bai transforming, couldn’t help but show surprise on his little fox face, until Tu Song A Bai let out a howl, Ansheng was taken aback:
"Oh my... we’re all spirit beasts, why do you have such a cool second phase?"
"Amazing!"
"A dog turning into White Wolf! No wonder before, didn’t see anything odd in you! So you’re just being a dog in front of Qiu Lingling, acting like a domineering CEO among dogs outside, right? Quickly say, ’Woman, you’re playing with fire!’"
Dogs gathering caused the lead dog Tu Song A Bai to undergo changes, growing in size.