Chapter 76: Going Fishing for Rare Fish Ingredients
Changle Village.
After a flurry of activity from Li You, several dishes were ready.
There were meat dishes, vegetable dishes, and a soup.
A well-balanced meal.
Once all the dishes were on the table, Li You called for his mom and dad, as well as the guests, to come and eat.
Everyone took their seats.
Liu Jialiang’s eyes landed on one of the dishes, and he asked in surprise, "Xiaoyou, is this Boiled Cabbage in Clear Soup? Why did you make this too?"
Earlier today, Liu Jialiang had clearly seen on the "Today’s Specials" sign by the restaurant entrance that the Boiled Cabbage in Clear Soup was 568 yuan per serving.
To serve them such an expensive dish was far too extravagant!
Li You smiled. "The selling price for this dish is high, but for me, the cost to make it isn’t."
"Is that so? Well, that’s a bit better then," Liu Jialiang said, nodding.
"Is this cabbage dish very expensive?"
Li Zhong and his wife, as well as Liu Jialiang’s wife and parents, all looked at Liu Jialiang.
Liu Jialiang said, "568 yuan a serving."
"That expensive?" Li Zhong and his wife, along with Liu Jialiang’s wife and parents, were all shocked.
Being treated to such a costly dish... how could they possibly eat it without feeling embarrassed?
At this, his dad smiled. "Xiaoyou just said, the selling price is high, but the actual cost isn’t. Don’t worry about it, everyone."
Only then did Li Zhong and his wife, along with Liu Jialiang’s wife and parents, relax.
"By the way, is there something special about this dish? Why is it so expensive?" Li Zhong asked, his curiosity piqued.
Li You explained the preparation method for the Boiled Cabbage in Clear Soup and mentioned that it was a famous state banquet dish.
This came as a pleasant surprise to Li Zhong and his wife, as well as to Liu Jialiang’s entire family.
They never thought they’d one day have the chance to eat a famous dish from a state banquet.
"And this Mapo Tofu. It looks completely different from the Mapo Tofu we make at home. You can tell it’s going to be delicious just by looking at it," Li Zhong added.
Everyone, including Li You’s mom and dad, nodded in agreement.
Li You smiled. "Well then, everyone, please, dig in."
"Alright, alright. Then we won’t stand on ceremony."
The fragrance of the food assailed their nostrils, and the guests’ appetites had been whetted long ago.
Once they started eating, the only word they could say was "delicious."
Every single dish was simply irresistible.
Tofu, cabbage, potatoes, pork—these were all very common, ordinary ingredients.
But now, they had all been transformed into supreme delicacies.
For the first time, everyone truly understood that dishes made by a highly skilled chef were on a completely different level.
"By the way, Xiaoyou, what’s in this soup besides the luffa?" Li Zhong asked.
"Bamboo Mushroom," Li You replied. "It’s a type of fungus that grows in bamboo forests."
"Is it the one with the white, net-like skirt?"
"Yes, that’s the one."
"So that’s called a Bamboo Mushroom. It’s quite tasty."
They all ate and chatted.
Gradually, every dish was finished.
They ate their rice as well, of course.
Everyone was full and deeply satisfied.
After resting for a little while, the guests took their leave.
...
「The next morning.」
Li You cooked three bowls of beef noodle soup for breakfast.
"By the way, the cucumbers, bitter melons, eggplants, tomatoes, and luffas in the garden are all ready to be picked. Do you want to grab some to take with you?" his dad asked while eating his noodles.
Li You nodded. "Sure. I’ll go take a look in a bit and pick some if they’re ready."
His family didn’t grow a large quantity of vegetables, but they had a wide variety.
After finishing his noodles, Li You slung a back-basket over his shoulder and went to the vegetable patch not far from the courtyard.
The patch was full of all sorts of vegetables: cucumbers, bitter melons, eggplants, tomatoes, luffas, and more.
They were all bearing fruit, a delightful sight to see.
"Ingredient: Cucumber.
Quality: Medium."
"Ingredient: Bitter Melon.
Quality: Medium."
"..."
The system indicated that all the vegetables were of medium quality.
His mom and dad managed this vegetable patch very well.
’I’ll just pick a few of each.’
He began to pick them.
Li You loved the feeling of plucking vegetables from the vine.
He picked seven or eight each of the cucumbers, bitter melons, and luffas, about ten eggplants, and more than a dozen tomatoes.
He put them all into his back-basket, filling it halfway.
After hoisting the basket onto his back, he picked one more tomato to hold in his hand.
Then he began to walk back, eating it as he went.
Eating a raw tomato felt quite nice.
By the time he walked back to the courtyard, he had just finished the tomato.
He set down the back-basket.
Then, he grabbed a basket, went outside the courtyard, and climbed the plum tree to pick plums.
The plums were especially plentiful this year.
It didn’t take long for him to fill the basket.
’That’s enough.’
’I can always come back for more when these are gone.’
Back in the courtyard, he put the vegetables and plums into separate bags and tied them to the luggage rack on his motorcycle.
"Dad, Mom, I’m heading to the restaurant."
"Okay, ride safely."
"I will."
After saying goodbye to his parents, Li You started his motorcycle and set off.
...
About ten minutes later, he arrived at the restaurant.
Ye Shengge, Zhao Yanglin, He Xianfei, and Qu Feng were all waiting in front of the restaurant.
"Morning, Boss!" the four of them said in unison.
Li You smiled. "Morning. Have you been waiting long?"
"Not at all, we just got here a little while ago."
Li You wasn’t surprised to see the four of them here.
They had surely all planned to eat breakfast here before leaving.
And indeed, all four of them said they had come specifically for breakfast.
After they ate, they would be heading back.
Ye Shengge, Zhao Yanglin, and He Xianfei all ordered a large bowl of beef noodle soup, while Qu Feng asked for a large bowl of Yangchun Noodles.
Li You unlocked the restaurant, went into the kitchen, and started cooking.
Once the noodles were ready, he served a bowl to each of them.
After they slowly finished their meals, they all declared that they were now completely satisfied and could head back.
However, they might be back at any time.
Li You smiled and said they were always welcome.
After the four of them left, Li You unloaded the vegetables and plums from his motorcycle and put them away in the Storage Pavilion.
As he was opening the Storage Pavilion, he happened to see the Seven-Orifice Fish Bait he had gotten from a lottery draw.
’Holy crap!’
’I almost forgot about this bait.’
This bait could be used to fish for rare fish ingredients.
Suddenly, Li You felt a strong urge to try it out.
The fishing spot, of course, would be one of the deep pools in the gorge.
The entire gorge stretched for over thirty kilometers, and it was dotted with many deep pools, both large and small.
There were all sorts of fish inside them, too.
’I just wonder if there are any rare fish among them?’
’Only one way to find out.’
The idea grew stronger and stronger in Li You’s mind.
Soon, he made his decision.
He wouldn’t open for business this morning. He was going fishing.
There was a fishing rod in the Storage Pavilion. It was just a regular hand pole, but it would be enough.
He closed the restaurant door, picked up a bucket, and headed for the gorge.
The Storage Pavilion couldn’t store living things, so Li You had to bring a bucket for the fish.
’It would be great if the system had a storage space for living creatures too.’
As this thought crossed Li You’s mind, he ambled along at a leisurely pace, slowly making his way down to the bottom of the gorge.
He then walked to the edge of the nearest deep pool.
From the surface, the pool looked to be about the size of a basketball court.
As for its depth, Li You had no idea how deep it was.
But he was certain it was over fifty meters deep.
Standing on the edge of such a deep pool, many people would feel an inexplicable sense of fear.
Li You felt a little of it himself, but it was manageable.
He took the fishing rod and the Seven-Orifice Fish Bait out of the Storage Pavilion.
Li You officially began to fish.
Would he catch anything? Li You didn’t know.
But he was very much looking forward to finding out!
...