Just as He Jiu had said, after the van left, it went through the back door and quickly and quietly merged into the traffic, without even a single reporter being seen.
"Mr. Fang, how about we find a place to eat around here tonight? We won't go into the city center. Is that alright?"
"Teacher He, you can arrange this. We should go along with whatever the host says."
“Okay, it’s only a few minutes’ walk away, but the food is alright, we often eat there.”
After turning a few streets, Fang Yang arrived at a building with layers of pavilions and towers. He looked up and exclaimed, "Wow, I've been quite lucky to have this West Lake Tower lately!"
He Jiu, sitting in the passenger seat, turned around upon hearing this and asked, "What do you mean by that, Mr. Fang?"
Fang Yang chuckled and said, "Didn't our company buy a piece of land in Xihu City this year to build our headquarters? Every time we come to Xihu City lately, we eat at Xihu Restaurant. Isn't that just a coincidence?"
The van stopped at the parking lot, and He Jiu got out of the car and said with a smile, "What President Fang said makes a lot of sense. However, this West Lake Restaurant is not the same as that West Lake Restaurant. It only has the same name. The dishes and everything else are different."
Fang Yang and Zhou Xin also got out of the car. Fang Yang looked around at the buildings and said with a smile, "This building is very tasteful, with an antique style. With the lighting, it feels like we've stepped into ancient times."
He Jiu led the way, with Fang Yang and Zhou Xin following behind, and the driver bringing up the rear, seemingly unnoticed. "This place is now a popular spot in Xingcheng, but there probably won't be too many people here at this time. The food is definitely good though."
Fang Yang remained noncommittal about trendy restaurants, seeing them as nothing more than marketing gimmicks. However, given He Jiu's approval, the food must be pretty good.
He Jiu led the two to a private room with practiced ease. At that moment, the waiter who had been waiting outside also came in. "Teacher He, what would you like to eat tonight?"
He Jiu had already asked Fang Yang and his companion about their preferences that afternoon, so she placed the order directly: "One wood-fired chicken, please. And the crayfish is still 'buy three catties, get one catty free,' right? Then three catties of crayfish, or there won't be any left! One serving of chopped chili fish head, and also roast goose, braised turtle..."
He Jiu rattled off a list of dishes, making Fang Yang's eyes widen. He quickly stopped He Jiu, saying, "Teacher He, that's enough, that's enough. There are only four of us eating, and it's a late-night snack. If we eat too much, we won't be able to sleep when we get back."
He Jiu shook his head and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Fang, the quantity won't be too much. These things may seem like a lot, but they won't make you feel bloated at all. Only the firewood chicken is a bit large."
"That's enough, no need to order any more, we'll have enough to eat."
He Jiu had no choice but to put down the menu and say to the waiter, "That's all for now. We can order more later if it's not enough."
Watching the waiter leave the private room, He Jiu said to Fang Yang and Zhou Xin, "This place is amazing. It's said to be the largest Chinese restaurant in the world, encompassing most of the Chinese cuisine. But as a local, I still prefer what I ordered earlier; it's spicy enough."
Fang Yang nodded, "Although I grew up in Shanghai, I don't actually dislike spicy food. In addition, I often cook Sichuan dishes at home, and my spiciness is far superior to that of people from southern Hunan."
He Jiu laughed and said, "That's true. People from western Sichuan aren't afraid of spicy food, and people from southern Hunan aren't afraid of spicy food. But now there's a lot of population movement across the country, and people from southern Hunan don't think the spicier the better anymore. The chili peppers in the market are becoming more and more like those in the north, not very spicy anymore. I'm afraid that in a few decades or even a hundred years, we won't be able to find chili peppers that can make your soul spicy anymore!"
Compared to He Jiu's lament, Fang Yang also felt deeply moved. "Nowadays, if you want the dishes to be spicy enough, most restaurants use chili oil, which is a processed product made by stir-frying chili peppers and onions. Although it's spicy enough, it always feels like it lacks that original, authentic spiciness."
He Jiu gave a thumbs up, "I didn't expect that President Fang, being from Shanghai, would have such a deep understanding of chili peppers. But there's a saying that if you walk on the streets of Changsha, even the air is spicy! People in Changsha love to eat late-night snacks. Once night falls, the streets and alleys are filled with all kinds of dishes made with chili peppers. People from other places who don't eat chili peppers will suffer when they come to Changsha."
"Yes, that's true."
Without realizing it, Fang Yang also blurted out a sentence in Changsha dialect.
He Jiu laughed and said, "President Fang speaks the Xingcheng dialect very authentically. Let me tell you a joke. A few years ago, a friend of mine from Suzhou and Hangzhou came to Xingcheng on a business trip. I was away from Xingcheng at the time, and do you know what happened to my friend? Haha, my friend didn't eat anything except drink water!"
Zhou Xin, who had been silent the whole way, suddenly became interested and said, "Really? Even if we don't eat spicy food, there's always porridge."
He Jiu laughed and said, "Later, my friend said that he ate some noodles in the morning and said he would not eat chili, but the soup was full of red oil. When he went to eat lunch, the chef said that no dish is complete without chili. If the chef did not add chili, the chef would go on strike, saying that it would affect the quality of his dishes. When he went out at night, even the air was spicy. He could not even breathe, let alone eat!"
Fang Yang chuckled. For someone who can't stand spicy food, coming to Hunan is indeed no different from coming to hell.
Amidst the laughter and chatter, the waiters kept bringing out dishes. People from Hunan like to drink beer, and after getting Fang Yang's permission, He Jiu ordered a keg of draft beer, the kind that weighs fifty jin (25 kg) per keg. Fang Yang immediately shook his head. Although draft beer has a low alcohol content, fifty jin is indeed a frightening amount, especially since it's only for two people.
Seeing that Fang Yang firmly refused, He Jiu had no choice but to switch to a 20-jin bucket, which was poured into 20 beer mugs, one jin per mug. For some people who were not used to it, it looked quite frightening.
"Mr. Fang, welcome to Xiangnan. We people of Xiangnan are very hospitable. We hope you will visit us often in the future."
He Jiu picked up a glass of draft beer and downed it in one gulp, making Fang Yang's eyes widen. This Teacher He was so thin and small, but he never expected that when he drank, he could rival a burly man from the north.
There was no other way, so Fang Yang picked up his glass and downed it in one gulp. Draft beer has a very low alcohol content, and you can only taste a little bit of malt in your mouth. That's why it's very popular at night stalls in Hunan, because it won't make you drunk and it's very harmless to your body!
"Mr. Fang, Ms. Zhou, please have some food first. This grilled fish is also excellent. It was caught this morning from the Xiangjiang River. Now that fishing in the Xiangjiang River is prohibited for ten years, it is not an easy thing to eat wild fish from the Xiangjiang River."
Zhou Xin loves to eat fish, and hearing that it was wild fish caught from the Xiangjiang River, she naturally devoured it with gusto, frequently exclaiming how delicious it was, which made He Jiu laugh heartily and feel very gratified.
The two downed five glasses of draft beer in one go before slowing down to eat some food and relax. "Mr. Fang, Hunan TV's variety shows are the best in the country. Would you be interested in collaborating with us?"
Seeing that He Jiu was getting down to business, Fang Yang put down his chopsticks. "Teacher He, the variety show on Hunan TV is going well, why are you thinking of collaborating with me?"
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