Duan Rong and Xin Kankan walked out of the Yuan Shun Escort Agency.
Xin Kankan’s servant, Shi Liang, was already seated in front of the carriage, waiting for them!
Once the two boarded the carriage, Shi Liang drove off.
"Where are we going for dinner?" Duan Rong asked from inside the carriage. Xin Kankan had said he would treat him to a al but hadn’t ntioned where.
Xin Kankan blinked and said, "Snow Veil Residence!"
"Isn’t that your ho?"
"Yes!" Xin Kankan replied, "My family’s old Xu is the best chef in Xianggu County, there’s no second to him!"
Duan Rong curled his lips, thinking to himself: Starting to show off again!
When the two walked out of Yuan Shun Escort Agency, it was still dusk. By the ti the carriage entered the West Gate Mansion, night had fallen, and in the gloomy sky, many bats were flitting about catching insects...
The two arrived at Snow Veil Residence. Xin Kankan had soone light the lamps, and they settled in front of a few tables in the hall!
"Tell old Xu to start preparing the dishes!" Xin Kankan said with hands clasped behind his back, striking a pose of maturity as he instructed Shi Kang, who had just extinguished the flint.
Shi Kang hurried away upon hearing this!
Xin Kankan turned around, smiling at Duan Rong, and said, "Master Duan, please take your seat first!"
Duan Rong stood by the wall, studying a few paintings in the hall. Out of curiosity, he reached out to sense the spirit of one painting, unexpectedly discovering that its Artifact Spirit Tier was Five, indicating it was an extraordinary treasure!
Upon hearing this, Duan Rong turned back and smiled, "Are these paintings part of your collection too?"
Xin Kankan’s expression suddenly turned a bit somber as he said, "These paintings were all collected by my mother while she was alive. But she passed away when I was three. Neither my father nor I are too knowledgeable about these. Since her departure, these paintings have likely been feeling lonely in this house. Master Duan’s visit is indeed a comfort to these paintings in Snow Veil Residence; at least now there’s soone who can appreciate them!"
Duan Rong chuckled softly. Despite Xin Kankan’s clumsy words, they were filled with deep nostalgia for his mother.
"This guy is quite a filial son," Duan Rong mused.
Looking at a landscape painting behind Xin Kankan, Duan Rong felt an understanding dawn upon him. This Snow Veil Residence was so elegant, which suggested that Lady Xin was a person of refined tastes. It’s a pity she passed away too soon, seemingly before she could pass on such influences to Xin Kankan!
Just then, Shi Kang brought up two plates of sliced fruits!
"Master Duan, please have so fruits to cleanse your palate; the main dishes will be up soon!" Xin Kankan said with a smile.
Duan Rong chuckled, "Young Master Xin, just call Brother Duan. Calling Master, Master, those who don’t know might think I’m a Jianghu sorcerer! If your father knew, he might just have taken to the governnt office!"
What Duan Rong said was amusing, and they both laughed heartily!
After chatting for a short while, the first dish was served!
"Brother Duan, please!" Xin Kankan said politely.
Glancing at the dish, Duan Rong couldn’t help but find it a bit humorous. Xin Kankan had raised his expectations so high, yet the first dish was rely a plate of stir-fried bean sprouts, without even garnishes, purely just bean sprouts. Its appearance was not even as good as that of a typical street-side stall!
And Xin Kankan had boasted that his family’s chef was the best in Xianggu County!
Although Duan Rong found it funny, he wasn’t picky about food, so he picked up a pair of ivory chopsticks from the table and casually picked up a chopstick’s worth, putting it in his mouth!
The mont the bean sprouts touched his mouth, Duan Rong’s expression changed. He couldn’t quite describe the texture—crisp, fragrant, and delightfully tender. It was simply not like any bean sprouts!
"Is... this... bean sprouts?" Duan Rong was genuinely surprised.
Xin Kankan laughed, "Of course, it’s bean sprouts! But not any ordinary bean sprouts! These are processed by old Xu!"
"Processed?" Duan Rong was truly puzzled. How could bean sprouts taste this good, with layered flavors of deliciousness and aroma, it was simply exceptional!
"Each bean sprout is hollowed out with a needle, and then various fillings are stuffed inside, before being quick-fried in hot oil. It retains the crispness of the sprouts and carries the savory aroma of the fillings!"
Duan Rong was taken aback, grabbing a bean sprout with his chopsticks and taking a bite. Under the candlelight, he examined it closely and indeed saw the hidden fillings oozing out from within the sprout.
"Hollowing out each bean sprout..." Duan Rong was astounded.
If it were just one, he could manage to hollow it out with a needle, but for such a large plate of bean sprouts, how long would that take!
Xin Kankan noticed Duan Rong’s amazent and said, "Reaching the pinnacle in any field is an art! This dish is not sothing old Xu usually prepares. To get him to make this plate of stir-fried bean sprouts for you, I had to persuade him for quite a while!"
Duan Rong’s mind was stirred, realizing this young man was hinting at sothing. It seed the favor he’d ask later wouldn’t be a simple one. He’s being nice without reason—if he’s not up to sothing, he’s likely plotting sothing!
Just then, the second dish was already being served!
After the second dish was served, Shi Kang unexpectedly took away the first dish!
Seeing the remaining half plate of bean sprouts being taken away, Duan Rong felt a pang of regret! But Shi Kang had already removed it, so there was nothing he could say!
Looking at the second dish on the table, Duan Rong saw a duck head in the dish, but behind it was a gourd-shaped body. Confused, he thought to himself: What kind of strange dish is this?
"Brother Duan, this second dish is called Eight Treasure Gourd Duck!"
"This is another intricate dish that requires the whole duck to be deboned without breaking the skin, removing the claws and small wings! Eight ingredients such as shrimp, mushrooms, ham, and glutinous rice are stuffed into the duck’s belly, sewn up, shaped into a gourd, then fried and stead afterward!"
"Once it’s out of the stear, it is salty, fragrant, rich, and extraordinarily delicious!"
"Brother Duan, please!"
With Xin Kankan’s vivid description, Duan Rong was already salivating. He picked up his ivory chopsticks and poked the gourd-shaped duck body!
The duck at was already tender and soft, and with a pinch of the chopsticks, a large piece of duck at with the stuffing was pinched off!
Duan Rong placed it in his mouth, chewing slowly, feeling as if his taste buds and soul were trembling...
"Brother Duan, this dish takes quite a bit of effort! Even I can’t have it often! If I hadn’t kept pestering old Xu for a long ti, he wouldn’t have shown his culinary skill so easily!"
Not only was Duan Rong spellbound by the deliciousness, but Xin Kankan was also enjoying it, his mouth covered in oil, nodding repeatedly!
The third dish hadn’t even co out yet, and the two had already cleaned off the Eight Treasure Gourd Duck completely!
At that mont, Shi Kang suddenly ca in from outside, carrying a jar of wine!
It was a small jar of wine, roughly the size of a human head!
Yet it was tightly sealed, with a layer of beeswax at the seal!
And the jar looked quite aged, possibly with so years behind it; even though its surface had been cleaned, there were still plenty of signs of erosion...
Xin Kankan took the jar of wine from Shi Kang, looked at Duan Rong, and smiled, "Brother Duan, let’s have a drink to cleanse our palates!"
Saying this, Xin Kankan unsealed the jar and inserted a wine dipper carved from Qingzhu into the jar, scooping out a dipper of wine!
Xin Kankan poured that dipper of wine into two silver embossed cups!
One cup was placed in front of him, and the other in front of Duan Rong!
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