Chapter 15 The restaurant must serve potatoes
Following the main group, you entered the restaurant you had booked in advance, accompanied by the tinkling of door-mounted wind chimes.
Moving the gaze upwards, unlike the modern style of the building's exterior, the interior still features traditional wooden beams and decorations.
The local guide leading the group went to talk to the waiter about the table you had reserved, while you curiously looked around the restaurant.
A long wooden table, rustic murals, and slightly aged deer antlers hanging on the wall. Beside the deer bones, besides what appears to be a decoration or a real hunting rifle, are many old black and white photographs, seemingly telling the story of this land over the past few decades.
The diners at these mountain town restaurants are usually tourists. Today is a weekday, so there aren't many diners at the moment. There are only a few tables of elderly diners eating with their heads down, occasionally raising their beer glasses for a drink and bursting into laughter.
Although there were few people, the restaurant was not as quiet and orderly as advertised on the website; on the contrary, it was just as lively.
An older waitress, wearing a red and white checkered apron typical of Papua, led you to a long table by the window. Passing by, you could see several fireplaces crackling with burning wood, on which freshly baked bread and roasted meat simmered, filling the restaurant with the aroma of wheat and meat.
When she handed you the menu, she didn't say much, but her smile seemed a little stiff, and she clearly glanced at you and Xiaohong several times. But when you looked at her, she turned away.
You chuckled, remembering Xiaoming's comment about how people in Ouzhou towns who had never seen people of other ethnicities in their lives would stare at others like they were monkeys. You stopped paying attention to that and looked down at the menu.
You take out your phone, take a picture, and translate it, only to find a bunch of things like "barefoot" and "Chinese idioms"... You decide to give up. Using the words you already know, you find baked potatoes in the main dish section, and you memorize all the other potato-related words.
I pointed out which dishes to choose to Xiaohong. You see that some of the others have already folded up their menus, so I did the same.
The waiter, noticing your actions, walked right up to you and asked in a very friendly tone, "Aitwastika?"
You told the waiter what you wanted to order, but the waiter didn't leave and repeated what she said again.
You stared at her blankly for a few seconds before finally understanding what she was saying.
The waitress asked you what you wanted to drink, but she spoke so fast that you didn't react immediately.
The terrible daily spoken English teaching only teaches grammatically correct sentences, without showing commonly used phrases in context.
"Cola," you said.
"No." The waitress indicated her refusal, picked up the drinks menu in front of you, and began to enthusiastically point to some of the drinks and try to sell them to you.
From her long speech, you can only extract a few words: "culture," "experiment," and "beer," but that's enough. Judging from her demeanor, you don't want to cause trouble for yourself, so you simply consider her a kind person who wants to introduce you, a "foreigner," to the local specialty beers.
After all, Papua beer is indeed famous.
You point to one randomly and say, "Dass."
“Oki.” She nodded as if to say, “You have great taste,” and turned to Xiao Hong to ask questions again.
Xiao Hong will naturally follow your lead.
The waiter frowned and looked at her several times, then asked her something in a serious tone.
You were just spacing out when another unexpected thing happened, so you quickly took out your phone and secretly opened the translator.
"Are you really an adult? I'm asking you, are you an adult?" She kept repeating these questions, swinging her upper limbs wildly in a fit of anger.
Oh, this.
Indeed, Xiaohong is a high school student in real life, and she still looks quite young. Being interrogated so harshly and not understanding what was being asked, she was completely at a loss and didn't even know where to look.
There was no time to explain to Xiaohong; you immediately started searching for her identification documents.
You noticed before that although the body looks like your own, the personal information on the documents is different from yours. Your identity here is that of a 20-year-old undergraduate student who has been here for two years and has just found a new place to live.
It would be best if Xiao Hong's identity in this world was already established, otherwise you might worry that her drinking alcohol as a minor could lead to bad situations.
Found it.
Oh no.
Xiaohong's residence card shows that she is only 14 years old, while the student card in her wallet indicates that she came here to study at a high school.
After craning his neck to confirm Xiao Hong's identity information, the waiter instantly became furious.
Her eyes were practically spitting fire, and her anger wasn't directed at Xiao Hong, but at you.
He shouted a few words in a string of gibberish, and several people ran out from the kitchen.
Several chefs of varying heights but all chubby, dressed in chef uniforms, are walking towards you menacingly, carrying cooking knives, can openers, and other tools.
Xiaohong was stunned. She clearly understood that she had dragged you into this mess and looked at you helplessly. Meanwhile, your brain was racing, trying to figure out how to handle the situation.
What is logic?
Xiao Hong ordered her own drinks, what's it to you? Even if it's the kind of situation that Sister Y mentioned, where she was seen as part of a group by the locals and attacked as a result, they shouldn't ignore Xiao Hong.
Do you mean they assume you're in charge of Xiaohong just because you and Xiaohong are of the same ethnicity and she's a child?
The waiter stepped aside, seemingly making a phone call. The chefs had surrounded you, and things were about to get out of control. You decided to take the plunge, regardless of whether your thinking was right or wrong, and quickly shouted, "Formicis!"
Pointing to the beer Xiao Hong had just ordered, you continued, "Dazs, Formicis, Alles."
You tried to tell them that the beer Xiaohong ordered was for you too. Since you and Xiaohong are "together," what's wrong with her ordering you a beer?
The waiter stopped talking on the phone, and the chefs' eyes seemed to hesitate. You reached out and pressed your hands down to calm them down, then pointed at Xiao Hong and said with a smile, "Cola, Foltz."
So, you ordered a Coke for Xiaohong.
Sure enough, the atmosphere softened. The chefs chuckled, patted you on the shoulder, and brought you an extra basket of freshly baked crispy bread. The waitress hung up the phone and went back to work as if nothing had happened.
After asking around, I left.
Xiao Hong wiped her eyes and looked at you apologetically. You nodded to her, telling her not to worry about it.
This isn't her fault; no one could have predicted it would turn out this way.
In no time, two large trays were placed firmly on her arm muscles, filled with full cups of drinks.
After they were distributed to you one by one, two large glasses of beer, each bigger than your head, were placed in front of you.
With a pained expression, I weighed it in my hand, only to hear the waiter start asking me questions again, beginning with "Eisen?"
Now it's finally time for the food.
As planned, we chose a dish consisting entirely of potatoes. The waiter then asked, "Wastabai?" and rattled off a list of dishes.
You didn't understand either, so you just randomly chose the word that included "potato".
This time she got through smoothly, and in about ten minutes she served the food.
Each local had a plate in front of them with roasted pork knuckle, sauerkraut, and two round, pale yellow meatballs.
In front of you and Xiaohong is a large plate of roasted potatoes, and also large meatballs.
Take out a fork and poke it; it's not the mashed potato ball you might have guessed. The texture is clearly soft and sticky.
Let's eat!
The crunchy sounds of others chewing on crispy pork knuckles are incredibly tempting. You reluctantly cut off a meatball and put it in your mouth—it has no taste.
Moreover, it seemed to be a pure dough ball, with an unusually sticky texture that almost couldn't slide down the throat. There was also a slightly bitter taste spreading in the mouth, as if mixed with some unusual herbs or spices.
You're wondering what this has to do with potatoes when it suddenly dawns on you that these are dumplings made from potato starch.
You've eaten two huge chunks of carbs and you're feeling really choked up, so quickly grab a beer to go down the drain.
The beer here is indeed very flavorful, but it's a pity you can't fully savor it. I just thought to myself: No wonder everyone orders drinks; it's really too hard to swallow on its own.
Roasted potatoes are simply roasted potatoes, skin and all, just drizzled with oil and sprinkled with spices, then baked in the oven and served.
Well, it was delicious, but just as choking as I always have been. What should have been a nice meal turned into a workout for my esophageal muscles.
So many potatoes are really testing your stomach capacity, but you still have two large glasses of beer to drink. There's a high chance you won't be able to leave any, so you look out the window with a sense of despair, slowly sipping the beer.
In fact, the evening sky was very beautiful, with golden sunset glows on the distant mountains, and the snow-covered mountain peaks were veiled in a golden veil.
But these views soon disappeared.
I don't know what it's like in reality, but winter evenings here are always very short, and soon the night falls like a blanket.
The tour leader asked everyone if they had finished eating, and after receiving an affirmative answer, he gave the waiter a signal with his eyes.
She came over again, asking everyone in turn, "Alesgut?", inquiring if everyone had enjoyed the meal. This time, however, she put you and Little Red last.
With a fake smile, you reply with "Gute goute," and only then is she satisfied enough to take out the card reader from their store.
Everyone took out their cards to swipe their own bills, but when it came to you, you found that she had already selected a 10% tip for herself.
In real life, you definitely wouldn't be willing to pay for such a service, but here... you reluctantly paid for it.
Xiao Hong had cash, so she skipped the tipping part.
After paying the bill and clearing away the plates, the locals didn't rush to leave. They ordered some drinks and started chatting.
You and Xiaohong are practically outsiders. You want to use your phones, but after looking at the sign hanging at the bar that says "Enjoy your time, say no to your phone," you decide to resist.
You were so bored playing with Xiaohong's hands that you were almost falling asleep when the team leader slapped his hand on his thigh, shouted "So!", and got up.
I can finally leave.
It was completely dark outside, and your group was the only customers left in the restaurant. A few waiters, the kitchen staff, and other employees were eating fries, drinking beer, and chatting at a table near the entrance.
After the locals greeted them, they left one by one. When it was your turn and Xiaohong's turn, the head chef, who had seemed the most ferocious just moments before, called you back.
"dein deutsch ist sehr gut."
It has appeared.
The unreasonable aspects of the general rules.
This group of people were smiling brightly, and the alcohol had made their faces flushed, yet it made you feel uneasy.
They praise your eloquence, and you have to curse them in your native language for 15 seconds.
A note from the author:
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Actually, potato balls are really delicious! (Good afternoon! I saw the moms' comments, thanks for the suggestions! I'll stock up on eye patches when I go back to China for Chinese New Year, hehe~) Speaking of which, yesterday I went to see an ophthalmologist who doesn't require appointments, and it turned out my eyes were fine, just overuse and needing more sleep. But when my eyes get tired, I feel sleepy all over, so the doctor told me to get a physical exam, and it turns out it's anemia causing the fatigue... I'm so surprised, I never knew I could be anemic... Are all women anemic...? Everyone, please remember to supplement your iron intake!
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