Moutai liquor has a rich, mellow, and fragrant flavor, with a strong and lingering aftertaste.
The box of Moutai that the fat man brought was a cellar collection.
As soon as the drinks were served, the fat man became lively. His skills honed in officialdom ensured the conversation was never dull, always keeping things lively. Seeing the fat man and his father, Zhang Zhengrong, getting along so well, Zhang Guodong became merely an observer. Of course, they were only talking about their hometown and military affairs—Zhang Zhengrong's past glories.
Nearby, the four little green dogs, big black dog, and two black dogs, tired from playing, came over to fawn over Zhang Guodong, licking his hands until they were covered in saliva. They had their eyes on the roe deer meat.
Although it couldn't compare to the unique taste and texture of blackfish and eel, roe deer meat was fresh. While jokingly scolding the six little ones for being greedy, Zhang Guodong still picked some up and fed them.
The six little ones were small in stature, but they had big appetites. They swallowed a piece of cooked meat in one bite without even chewing it, and then licked their lips, still savoring the aftertaste.
In the blink of an eye, half of the large plate of roe deer meat was gone.
"Go, eat later, go play somewhere else!" Zhang Guodong stopped feeding them, thinking he would give them some fish soup with wild ginseng later.
Zhang Guodong doesn't treat the one adult and six puppies as pets; they're like companions, members of the family. In fact, the adult and the puppies are quite intelligent now. After adapting for a while, they can even find their own toilets when they need to relieve themselves, which is very convenient. Of course, given the current conditions, that's all they can do.
Once the delicious food started to be served in the kitchen, the four of them moved to a different spot for a drink.
Ye Cuihua brought over a plate of green pepper and wild rabbit meat and a plate of pickled vegetables, then said, "You guys eat first, the rest will be ready soon. The pickled vegetables are quite sour, so they can cleanse your palate and cut through the greasiness—"
This meal had too much meat, so the extra plates of pickled vegetables kept it from being too greasy and kept my appetite good.
Li Yun and Ye Wan were also pulled down to sit by Ye Cuihua. The kitchen was almost ready, enough for one person. Li Yun pushed the fat man aside and sat next to Zhang Guodong. The fat man grinned, but Li Yun ignored his threat.
Green pepper and rabbit, pheasant stew with mushrooms, two meat dishes were served one after another.
Stir-fried bracken fern, this is purely vegetarian, cooked to about 80% done, the leaves are bright green and plump, crisp and sweet, so delicious. Scrambled eggs with cucumber, mixed with a little tomato sauce, yellow, green and red colors interspersed, with a savory aroma. Scallion-flavored wood ear mushrooms, this is also a vegetarian dish, the color is relatively light, but the flavor is unique, with a lingering scallion fragrance. Spicy and sour cabbage.
Four vegetarian dishes.
The soup was a tomato, egg, and vegetable soup, without any seasoning. The red, green, and yellow colors were very appealing and appetizing.
The fat man ate with great relish, frequently exclaiming how delicious it was, which greatly satisfied his mother Ye Cuihua's vanity. She smiled and kept urging the fat man to eat more, and of course, she didn't forget Ye Wan and Li Yun's portions either.
It's not an exaggeration to say it's delicious.
Mother Ye Cuihua's cooking skills are far superior to Zhang Guodong's. Decades of experience at home have proven her worth, resulting in dishes that taste significantly better. Both Fatty and Li Yun can attest to this.
"Eat slowly, there are two more dishes. The boiled fish will be ready soon, and the other one is being steamed!" Ye Cuihua said.
"Auntie, this is the best food I've ever eaten! Hey, I'm almost stuffed!" The fat man gave Zhang Guodong a blatant compliment, and Zhang Guodong almost burst out laughing.
He remained completely unfazed.
Li Yun was much more reserved: "Today feels like Chinese New Year, there are many foods that you can't usually eat!"
The third brother's girlfriend, Ye Wan, was much quieter. She just smiled faintly and occasionally served food to the two elders, which the third brother also enjoyed.
The boiled fish dish actually uses precious black carp meat, or perhaps it's more accurate to call it stewed fish, as it's not only seasoned with various spices but also contains sliced three-year-old wild ginseng, creating a fish soup. Another dish, steamed eel, is prepared and soaked in a broth with ginseng slices. This is the final, grand finale.
Whether considering nutritional or pharmacological value, these two dishes would definitely fetch a high price if sold, since wild ginseng is hard to find, especially fresh ginseng.
Sure enough, when the boiled fish dish was served...
Everyone's attention was immediately drawn to the dish. The aroma of ginseng was soothing, and the blackfish, cooked in a pressure cooker, was tender and infused with the fragrance of ginseng. It could be said that this large blackfish was itself a precious medicinal dish.
"Guodong, do you have any more black carp? Give me a few, and also, I want some eels!" The fat man tasted it and found the flavor unique and fresh. It was a completely different style from the previous dishes, especially the boiled fish. Moreover, the soup made him feel warm and cozy. He realized that this was probably due to the wild ginseng. What a magical soup!
Zhang Guodong rolled his eyes speechlessly and said, "Do you think this is a rock, that it's everywhere? There are only a few blackfish in total. We've already eaten one, and the rest are still useful!"
The fat man was clearly disappointed.
"However, I can give you one eel. There are five or six in total, which isn't much. Come back to the shop with me to get them later!"
"Me too!" Li Yun immediately exclaimed.
Zhang Guodong chuckled and nodded, saying, "Alright, there aren't many of those, so I can only give you one each. Eels aren't any worse than snakehead fish, are they?"
After a pause, Zhang Guodong said to Ye Wan, "When you go back, take one with you too. Sigh, it's still too few. There aren't even enough for our own people to eat right now!"
Zhang Guodong didn't want to buy large quantities of black carp or eels, as those fish were quite valuable. Secondly, he didn't want the good stuff to become overabundant. Selling grass carp and the like was fine, but he wanted to keep the good stuff for himself, since he was generally satisfied with his current life. By selling large quantities of wild fish, the secret of Peach Blossom Spring might easily be exposed.
"Thank you, Second Brother!" Ye Wan said shyly.
Zhang Guodong smiled and nodded.
Mr. and Mrs. Zhang Zhengrong never expected their son's business to be so promising; he could even create so many ingenious dishes from a single fish. And indeed, these dishes were far tastier than ordinary ones.
"Is the black carp expensive? What about the eel? They don't sell it in the store?" Ye Cuihua asked with concern.
Zhang Guodong understood what she wanted to say, so he said, "Snakehead fish and eels are quite expensive, and wild ones are better, so the quantity is very limited. Our family doesn't deal in snakehead fish and eels; we just eat them ourselves. We don't sell them, and we don't have anything to sell anyway!"
The fat man, his mouth greasy from eating, smirked and said, "Guodong, actually, selling one black carp isn't even worth as much as selling ten grass carp. This business is definitely profitable; many hotels would probably be scrambling to buy them. Why don't you consider it?"
“I’d like to too, but you know how rare good things are. How rare is a wild blackfish or a wild eel? And even if you raise them, they still need time to grow, right?” Zhang Guodong said helplessly.
That's true.
The fat man sighed, "What a pity about this rare blackfish!"
A premium snakehead fish is one that at least meets wild standards, but surpasses them in quality, clearly not in the same league as farmed snakehead fish, and is far superior to the latter. The difference is easily discernible when tasted together.
After the family dinner, Fatty and Li Yun sat for a while before taking their leave, leaving behind the case of Moutai for Zhang Zhengrong to drink. Zhang Guodong thought to himself, "It'll be easier to freeload meals from now on."
Zhang Guodong also stood up: "Mom, I'm going to the shop. I'll stay there tonight. It's not convenient for these guys to stay at home. I'll eat at home. It's easy to come by with a car!"
“Then come back early tomorrow!” Ye Cuihua said.
Zhang Guodong, Fatty, and Li Yun arrived at Green Treasure Pavilion.
Taking advantage of an opportunity, Zhang Guodong netted two large yellow eels from Taoyuan. Fatty and Li Yun each caught one, but unfortunately, there was only one large yellow eel left in Taoyuan. There were still two large blackfish left, though.
In addition to an eel, Zhang Guodong also brought two grass carp, two carp, two catties of live shrimp, two catties of crab, a bundle of bracken, as well as tomatoes and large green peppers. Before leaving, he thought for a moment, dug up two three-year-old wild ginseng roots, and brought them to their families.
Two large baskets full.
"Aquatic products can survive for a while if kept in a water bag, and wild ginseng is best enjoyed fresh and tender. Please give my regards to your families!" He gave the two a few words of advice before taking his leave.
The day after tomorrow is the Little New Year, and Fatty and Li Yun are going home. They accepted Zhang Guodong's gifts without hesitation; they both knew these things were of high quality and couldn't be bought in the market.
The scene of people driving luxury cars and excitedly carrying vegetable baskets is quite amusing.
By 7 p.m., Green Treasure Pavilion had sold out of all its vegetables and seafood for the day. Because the Lunar New Year was approaching, Zhang Guodong had deliberately sold 30% more, and the extra seafood also sold out completely. Normally, daily supplies are limited, and once sold out, there's no more overdraft; today was a special day.
After closing the shop door, Zhang Guodong took a shower, thought about it and, finding nothing else to do, went online for a while to pass the time.
"Is the boss in? Do you have any more fish?" A loud knocking sound came from outside.
Looking out the window on the second floor, Zhang Guodong saw a bald man below; he didn't recognize him. Those who came to buy vegetables and seafood here were all people of status; ordinary people couldn't afford them, and they were mostly regular customers who had made reservations.
"That's all, come back tomorrow!" Zhang Guodong shouted down.
The bald man looked up and saw the shop owner's window on the second floor. He immediately said, "Wait a minute! I have a big business deal to discuss with you. I'm from Haitong Catering Company. Open the door and let's talk!"
Haitong Catering?
I've never heard of Zhang Guodong.
"Tomorrow then, I have something to do today, that's all!" Zhang Guodong was unmoved, closed the window, and didn't respond to anything the bald man said.
What big business?
Zhang Guodong had no interest.
Both vegetables and seafood production are limited each day, making it impossible to expand the business even if one wanted to. Furthermore, Zhang Guodong prefers a low profile, and with less family pressure, he is quite satisfied with his current life.
When the man saw that Zhang Guodong was ignoring him, he cursed a few times and slunk away. Perhaps he had never seen a small business owner refuse big business deals before; he had actually run into a wall today—very difficult indeed.
P.S.: This book is being strongly recommended on the Urban Channel. Everyone, please give it your all and hope it can make it onto the Urban Weekly Recommendation List! Hehehe!
So, the third update will be released in a few minutes. Chapter 30 is an extra update to thank everyone for their support.
Then Tiandao disconnected from the internet and focused on writing, continuing to finish the rest. Send all your votes at me!
Finally, thank you to 'z1hf', '厸鶬', and '天空和大地' for the generous donations! This is the second time 'z1hf' has donated, haha.
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