Seeing Professor Yu nodding repeatedly, Huang Yan and the others showed joy on their faces. The data was fine; the next step was negotiating the cooperation with Xujia Village. After the negotiations, the next step would be to apply for project funding and officially enter the research phase.
"Satisfied?" Professor Yu's friend had left the computer at some point, his face full of a mischievous smile.
"Satisfied, very satisfied, extremely satisfied, incredibly satisfied!" Professor Yu placed the thick analysis report on the coffee table, saying "satisfied" four times in a row. Then, he asked curiously, "Such a large mudflat, how come your school hasn't seen it for so many years? Just leaving it there unattended?"
“How can we not see it? We’ve brought it up so many times, but every time it’s either a lack of money or a lack of people.” Professor Yu’s friend sighed. “Besides, our school has also contracted a piece of tidal flat. It’s not in Qianhai Town, but in the neighboring Hailan Town. It’s not big, just over a hundred acres. Each teacher gets three or four acres. It’s a bit small, but it’s enough for research.”
After saying that, Professor Yu's friend seemed to feel that the topic was a bit too heavy, and quickly changed the subject, saying, "Did you receive an invitation from the Fisheries Bureau yesterday? Would you like to have a casual dinner together tonight?"
"Yes, I just happened to be passing by to give a report and have a chat, then it'll be about time." Professor Yu nodded.
Xu's Fast Food Restaurant, 2:30 PM.
After Xu An checked that there were no problems at the second store, he locked the door and returned to the first store. As soon as he entered the store, he heard rustling sounds coming from the kitchen, along with a rich aroma.
What happened? The shop wasn't cleaned properly, some braised food fell on the floor and wasn't noticed, and it attracted rats?
It's difficult to avoid rats and cockroaches in restaurants, but because Xu'an requires all ingredients to be sealed properly, even potatoes must be bagged and tied up, and with weekly pest control operations, Xu's Fast Food Restaurant has not seen a single rat or cockroach since it opened.
However, this record seems to end today.
Xu An tiptoed towards the kitchen. The closer he got, the stronger the aroma became, and he could clearly hear the sounds of chewing—smacking sounds, smacking sounds.
Just as Xu An was about to reach the kitchen door, a man's muttering voice came from inside the kitchen: "Both of these taste pretty good. I wonder if the customers will accept them and if they'll sell well."
That voice... it sounds like Zhang Dezhen? It's already 2:30, time to get off work. Why is he still in the kitchen? To confirm his guess, Xu An cautiously peeked into the kitchen and, sure enough, saw Zhang Dezhen's figure.
"Master Zhang, it's time to get off work!" Xu An called out in a normal voice, but Zhang Dezhen seemed not to hear him and did not react at all.
"Master Zhang, it's time to go home!" Xu An raised his voice and reminded him again, but Zhang Dezhen still did not react.
"Master Zhang!" Xu An not only raised his voice this time, but also walked behind Zhang Dezhen and patted him on the back: "Serves you right."
Zhang Dezhen suddenly leaped upwards, then jumped to the side, tightly hugging his chest with both hands, closing his eyes, and letting out a deafening scream—Ahhhhhh!
In that instant, all sorts of folk tales flashed through Zhang Dezhen's mind, such as three flames on the shoulder and never responding when someone calls your name, and his screams became even more shrill.
The piercing scream almost ruptured Xu An's eardrums, but as Zhang Dezhen jumped away, the thing that had just been blocked by Zhang Dezhen's figure appeared in front of Xu An's eyes.
There were two plates of braised dishes. Their colors suggested two different flavors, but the aromas were now mixed together, making it impossible for Xu An to distinguish them by smell alone. The only certainty was that neither dish contained chili peppers, or at least very little, almost negligible amounts.
Zhang Dezhen's screams had stopped, but his eyes remained tightly closed. He muttered repeatedly, "You can't see me, you can't see me."
Xu An shook his head, reached for a pair of disposable chopsticks, tore open the outer plastic packaging, snapped the chopsticks apart with a 'click,' and rubbed them together to remove the bamboo splinters. Holding the chopsticks, Xu An went straight for the darker-colored braised dish on the left.
After a long period of simmering and soaking, the large intestine has absorbed all the broth into its cells. The broth seeps out from the cells under the pressure of the teeth and tongue, and with each chew, you can feel the rich, fragrant broth flowing through your mouth. On your taste buds, you can savor the slightly sour, spicy, and salty flavor of the fermented bean paste, the rich aroma of sesame seeds, and the added fragrance of garlic.
This dish is braised food with a soy sauce flavor.
Having just finished swallowing the large intestine, Xu An's chopsticks reached for another dish of lighter-colored braised dishes. The mushroom looked dry, but when he picked it up with his chopsticks, it sizzled and oozed juice; upon tasting it, a myriad of flavors—sweet, sour, bitter, and spicy—exploded in his mouth. Life's many flavors, indeed!
This dish contains braised dishes with five-spice flavor.
As Xu An made a sound, Zhang Dezhen seemed to finally realize something. He quietly opened his eyes and found that the person standing in front of him was his boss, not one of the strange things he had heard about. He immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and his expression returned to normal.
"Boss, these are two new flavors I just developed." Zhang Dezhen came over and introduced them to Xu An: "People in Haishi don't eat spicy food much. The best-selling dishes in the past were the regular flavored braised dishes. So I developed two new flavors. This one is soy sauce flavor and this one is five-spice flavor. Boss, please try them and see how they taste."
Xu An nodded, reached out with his chopsticks again, and put two more pieces of braised food into his mouth. The taste was still so delicious.
"Great! These two flavors definitely have a market." Xu An looked at Zhang Dezhen, who looked nervous, and praised him generously, giving him a thumbs up.
"Hehe." Zhang Dezhen was a little embarrassed by Xu An's straightforward praise. He unconsciously scratched his head with his right hand and looked at Xu An expectantly: "Boss, how about making some of both flavors tomorrow and seeing how they sell?"
"Okay." Xu An nodded, and with a flick of his chopsticks, he ate two more pieces of braised food. This braised food was really something; the more he ate, the more he wanted to eat!
The shop offers two flavors of braised food: regular and spicy. Now, they've added five-spice and soy sauce flavors, making four flavors enough to satisfy most customers. However, Xu An felt that these four flavors were too ordinary. Not to mention chain stores like Zhou Baiya, even street stalls basically offer these same flavors, so there seemed to be nothing special about them!
Just then, a chili seed mixed in with the fermented bean paste suddenly landed between Xu An's teeth. As he chewed, his teeth ground the chili seed hard, and a fiery sensation spread throughout his mouth. However, the chili seed was ultimately outnumbered, and the sensation disappeared without a trace in less than a second.
But Xu An's brain and tongue accurately captured the feeling at that moment: it was spicy, the ultimate, pure, and unadulterated spiciness!
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