Chapter 22
Song Wei and Zhao Yu both swallowed the last mouthful of rice and collapsed back in their seats at the same time. Zhao Yu even burped in a very ungraceful manner.
There were two empty bowls in front of each of them. The braised spareribs and stir-fried pork with chili peppers had been cleared out, leaving only two clean white porcelain plates - even the soup inside was carefully mixed with rice and eaten by the two of them.
"What should I do with the rest?" Song Wei's eyes were empty as she stared at the void in front of her, feeling a little dazed.
Who would have thought that these two dishes would be so delicious? Song Wei felt that she would not get tired of eating this dish of fried pork with peppers even if she ate it for three days in a row.
Zhao Yu struggled to sit up, flapping his hands twice, "Help me up, I can still eat!"
She suddenly caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye, and her hand froze in mid-air.
Zhao Yu reacted and suddenly turned his body, trying to use Song Wei's body to shield himself, but an angry voice exploded behind them.
"Xiaoyu! Weiwei!!"
Song Wei's back also stiffened.
Chen Hui, with his hair messy from sleeping and two buttons on his collar tied incorrectly, rushed to their table angrily, with the remaining team members standing behind him.
Pastor Xiao He pointed his trembling fingers at Song Wei, complaining with great grievance: "You didn't even wake us up and secretly came to eat without telling us!!"
He noticed the two empty bowls and gasped, "He ate two more bowls!"
Song Wei: “…”
Zhao Yu: “…”
The onlookers who pricked up their ears secretly, thinking they could get some melon: "..."
They dispersed in disappointment.
"Well, we are actually... here to gather intelligence." Zhao Yu racked his brains to comfort, "We have already found out clearly that the food here is unlimited, as long as you come to eat before closing at 8 o'clock... I just want you to have a good sleep. You didn't sleep well the day before because you were on the road, and the bed there is so soft and comfortable."
The excuse would have sounded convincing—if she hadn't accidentally burped halfway through.
Everyone looked at the two of them in speechless confusion, and someone's stomach growled loudly.
"Forget it, let's go get the food."
"This smells so good, I'm starving!"
"Silly girl." The female soldier who was in the same room with Song Wei pinched Zhao Yu's cheek and scolded her with a smile.
After such a long nap, they seemed to be much more energetic than in the morning. What Zhao Yu said was actually correct. The beds in this hotel seemed to be enchanted and had the magical effect of quickly restoring one's energy.
Zhao Yu was satisfied and collapsed back like a pancake.
She planned to take a rest for a while and wait for the food in her stomach to be digested before continuing to eat.
Anyway, the restaurant only stipulates the closing time, but does not stipulate how long a person can occupy a table.
*
Apparently, there were many people who shared the same idea as Zhao Yu.
As the meal continued, the seats in the restaurant gradually filled up, and some later customers even had to share tables with others.
Shu Mo was amazed. He didn't expect that the business would be so popular on the first day of operation. There wouldn't be enough seats in a restaurant that could accommodate fifty people?
She has already started looking forward to the turnover at midnight settlement!
Jiang Qing and Fu Yiming and his wife also arrived late.
They lived upstairs in the hotel and arrived later than many players who set up tents outside. There was no way around it. Parents raising children would always be caught up in various emergencies.
"There are no empty tables for four." Fu Yiming looked around and came back dejectedly.
"Let's see if anyone is willing to share the table..." Jiang Qing was helpless.
As soon as he finished speaking, a man suddenly stood up at the round table in the middle of the restaurant and waved his hand vigorously at them, "If you don't have a seat, you can come here."
The two looked and saw that it was Chen Hui who was waving.
Their team was large and they occupied a large round table.
"If we squeeze in, it won't be a problem for two adults and one child to sit down." Chen Hui still remembered that he had rejected Fu Yiming, so he greeted him warmly out of apology.
The couple gratefully accepted his offer.
They had chatted with Chen Hui for a while while having dinner together in the hall in the afternoon, so they could be considered to have known each other, which made it less awkward than sharing a table with someone they didn't know well.
They followed Chen Hui's reminder and went to the corner to get their food. Like everyone else, when they saw the mouth-watering and rich dishes, they couldn't help but take one of each. Jiang Qing guessed that Haohao liked egg tarts, and even took two extra.
"Finish the rice in your bowl before you can eat the egg tarts," she reminded her son.
But Jiang Qing soon discovered that her warning was completely unnecessary.
Haohao followed his parents' instructions and was not picky about food. He tasted every dish and even ate the chili peppers happily. He even opened his mouth and breathed for a long time, which surprised and pleased Fu Yiming and Jiang Qing.
They didn't know that Haohao was different from Zhao Yu and never had the preconceived impression that vegetables were unpalatable. In his eyes, the rich green color of the screw peppers, the bright red of the tomatoes, and the tender yellow of the eggs combined together look like a colorful and beautiful picture. How could such beautiful things not taste good?
Besides, they are really delicious!
Haohao has never eaten such delicious food since he was born. When he goes back and tells his friends in town about his experience at Nuannuan Hot Spring, they will surely envy him to death!
Not only the food, but even the ordinary-looking liquid in the cup at hand tasted delicious, with an indescribable fragrance that made Haohao sniff it for a long time in fascination. After taking a sip, he smacked his lips, savoring the gradually emerging aftertaste.
"Mom, what is this? It smells so good."
"It's barley tea. It's made by mixing roasted barley with tea leaves and grinding it into powder." Jiang Qing also tasted the barley tea, and the rich aroma of the barley spread on the tip of his tongue. "It can stimulate appetite and relieve greasiness. It can also relieve heat in the summer."
Haohao is already six years old. With his parents' guidance, he has learned a lot of words and has read many books collected by Jiang Qing. He seemed to understand what was said and nodded. "It tastes good, but not as good as the coffee and milk I had this morning."
Although scented tea is good, he prefers sweet things.
Jiang Qing smiled.
She really likes the refreshing taste of barley tea. This is probably the difference in taste between adults and children.
Jiang Qing swallowed the barley tea, picked up a large portion of scrambled eggs with tomatoes and put it in the bowl, and mixed it with the rice.
This is the way she has loved eating since she was a child.
The rice absorbed the sweet and sour tomato soup while being stirred. The tender eggs and soft rice grains created a wonderful and harmonious taste. From time to time, a piece of spicy meat slices was added... Fu Yiming also adopted this way of eating under Jiang Qing's recommendation. The two of them ate until sweat broke out on their foreheads and felt unprecedented pleasure.
Haohao, who was standing by, couldn't eat spicy food, but he enjoyed eating the ribs as well.
Chen Hui and his friends arrived much earlier than the family of three, but the battle was not over yet. They would take a rest from time to time and get something to eat. If they couldn't eat any more, they would drink barley tea in small sips, trying to use its effect of "digesting food and relieving greasiness" to make their stomachs fit a little more.
In short, no one wants to stop talking.
For players who are starving in the doomsday game, being able to have a good home-cooked meal is a rare and blissful experience.
Shu Mo went downstairs to bring some food to Mo Bai who was guarding the hall. He ate a few bites quickly and went back upstairs, marveling at the still packed restaurant.
After tasting it herself, she also discovered that the food sold in the restaurant also has special effects. But probably because most customers only take a few bites of each item, instead of eating the whole thing like fresh meat buns or candied haws, the effect is very limited and often disappears before the meal is over.
Fortunately, people who come to the restaurant to dine are not there for special conditions. They are all immersed in the food and don’t care about it. Many people don’t even notice the fleeting buff at all.
"Mom, I'm done."
Haohao showed Jiang Qing his small bowl, which was clean and tidy, with not a grain of rice left.
Jiang Qing and Fu Yiming looked at each other, their eyes filled with joy.
"You're so good for eating so much!" Fu Yiming gave his son a big kiss on the face and coaxed him, "Finish the cream soup too, so you can have another string of candied haws tomorrow."
"Okay!" Haohao responded happily. He didn't need anyone to coax him. He picked up the small spoon and drank the soup mouthful after mouthful.
Fu Yiming smiled happily.
In the first two years after the game was launched, the number of newborns in the world was extremely small. Most people waited until a city was built, they had a house, and their lives gradually stabilized before starting a family.
Most of those who dare to have children are people in good circumstances like Jiang Qing and his wife, and Chen Hui - the former two are elite players, it goes without saying how wealthy their lives are, and the latter also has his own fixed team and a very stable income. But even if they provide their children with the best food, clothing and other necessities within their means, the quality of life of children is still not even one-tenth of what it was before the advent of games.
Among them, diet is the most troublesome issue for parents.
Adults find cold canned food hard to swallow, let alone children. Thinking back to my own diet as a child and comparing it with that of my own children, as a parent I can’t stop feeling heartbroken.
But now, the Nuannuan Hot Spring restaurant is open. The owner, Shu Mo, said that different dishes will be served every day. Jiang Qing and Fu Yiming were so happy to hear this.
Although canned foods are nutritious, how can they compare to real fruits, vegetables and meat?
Moreover, every dish on the table was cooked to perfection. Even if one discarded the filter of rare goods, Jiang Qing felt that the taste was no less good than that of the restaurant before the advent of the game - she used to be a college student who ate in the cafeteria every day. If she really had to cook her own food, it would probably not be as good as the ones bought from this restaurant.
The couple worked hard and secretly made up their minds to make up for the money their children had lost before.
Haohao had no idea what his parents were thinking and was still immersed in the impact of the delicious food.
The cream of mushroom soup had been left on the table for a while and was at just the right temperature. Cream was added to the butter and flour, and the soup was salty, thick, smooth, and had a strong milky flavor. It slid down the throat into the stomach, warming the entire stomach. The soup also contains pieces of minced chicken made from chicken breast and thinly sliced enoki mushrooms, which also have a rich milky aroma after cooking.
Haohao finished the soup in a few mouthfuls, licked the soup on the corner of his lips with satisfaction, and reached out for the egg tart he had coveted for a long time.
Fu Yiming kept his word and handed the egg tart to him readily.
I don't know what high-tech the owner used. The transparent lid on the table in the corner of the restaurant is like an insulated box that is constantly baking and heating. The egg tarts looked like they were just out of the oven when they were taken out. Fu Yiming was suddenly scalded when he grabbed it through the tin foil. He left the egg tarts on the table for a while, and they were still steaming slightly. The faint sweet fragrance made people drool.
The egg tarts are round, with a uniform golden-brown pastry crust of just the right thickness. When you take a bite, it makes a slight crunching sound. It is fragrant and crispy. You have to use one hand to catch the falling crumbs, otherwise they will get all over the corners of your lips, chin, and collar.
The middle of the puff pastry is surrounded by solidified egg liquid, and the surface has beautiful dark burnt spots. When you take a bite, the sweet and tender tart core rushes into your mouth, with a strong milky flavor, sweet but not greasy.
Haohao's eyes were as round as egg tarts, and he couldn't wait to express his feelings before he could even swallow it, "Mmmmm!"
So delicious!
He carefully licked the puff pastry residue in the tin foil clean, making sure there was no food residue on the table. Then he touched his round belly and burped with satisfaction.
This was truly the happiest day of his life!
Chen Hui and his group at the same table had almost finished their meeting and were chatting while drinking barley tea. Chen Hui was startled when he inadvertently glanced at the happy expression on Haohao's childish face. His eyes fell on the egg tart in front of him that he had bought but never eaten, and he sighed softly.
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