Li Huan knew that Cao Cao was quite suspicious.
Cao Pi's timely reminder would inevitably make Cao Cao hesitate.
So Li Huan quickly gave Zhuge Liang a wink.
Liang understood immediately and reached for his chopsticks.
"To prove that the dish is not poisonous, I will taste it first. Please, Prime Minister, examine it carefully!"
After saying this, Zhuge Liang picked up a spicy crayfish and prepared to put it in his mouth.
"Wait!" Li Huan called out.
Zhuge Liang was stunned.
Li Huan laughed and said, "That's not how you eat crayfish. Let me demonstrate."
He picked up a crayfish, slowly peeled off the shell, leaving only the plump tail meat, dipped it in the thick broth, and then put it in his mouth.
Zhuge Liang immediately followed suit, quickly peeling the shrimp meat and dipping it in sauce to taste.
In an instant, Zhuge Liang's eyes lit up, as if he had seen a guiding light in the darkness.
"The shrimp meat is tender and juicy, spicy and fragrant – it's truly a delicacy!"
Zhuge Liang couldn't contain himself and praised him lavishly.
"Hmph!" Cao Pi scoffed. "Self-praise, how laughable!"
Zhuge Liang slurped up a mouthful of spicy food, almost drooling, before tasting the other seven dishes.
Sweat beaded on his forehead, his face flushed, and he hurriedly said to Li Huan, "Brother Huan, beer!"
Pfft! Li Huanqi opened a bottle of beer and poured it into a glass.
Zhuge Liang took the cup, tilted his head back, and drank it all in one gulp.
"Refreshing! Soothing!"
Zhuge Liang, having relieved the spiciness, smiled broadly and wiped the beer foam off his beard with his sleeve.
Li Huan instructed, "Let's taste the staple food again."
Zhuge Liang scooped up the "cold spicy chicken noodles," quickly ate them, and sweated profusely from the spiciness. He then drank a few sips of beer.
Li Huan asked Cao Cao, "Prime Minister, are you relieved?"
Cao Cao stared at Zhuge Liang: "Why did his face turn red and he looked uncomfortable after tasting the food?"
Li Huan explained, "Six of these eight dishes are quite spicy. My older brother, who prefers milder flavors, was quite overwhelmed by the spiciness! The Prime Minister is bold and unrestrained, so his ability to handle spicy food is definitely far superior to my older brother's!"
Cao Cao was pleased to hear this, and he puffed out his chest and stroked his beard.
"Haha, I have a strong palate and I'm not afraid of spicy food!"
Li Huan pointed to the simple dining table: "Prime Minister, please sit down. I will serve you a box of very generous food."
Cao Cao and Lady Bian sat down, while Cao Pi stood beside them.
Li Huan acted quickly, getting a boxed lunch and opening a bottle of beer, placing them in front of Cao Cao.
Cao Cao reached out and picked up a "spicy crayfish" to examine it closely.
"This shrimp doesn't look like a river shrimp, so why is it called a crayfish?"
Li Huan replied, "This kind of shrimp comes from North America. It has two long whiskers on its head, and its appearance is similar to a dragon, so it is called a crayfish."
Cao Cao straightened the crayfish's curved tail and admired it carefully.
"Indeed, its appearance resembles a dragon! What country is North America? How far is it from the Central Plains?"
Li Huan patiently explained, "North America is not a country, but a region, which is 20,000 miles away from the Central Plains."
Lady Bian exclaimed in surprise, "Twenty thousand li! That's so far!"
Li Huan laughed and said, "It is precisely because of its remote location that crayfish are so precious."
Cao Pi asked with great interest, "Do crayfish live in rivers or in the sea?"
Li Huan said, "Young Master Cao asks a good question. Although this kind of crayfish looks like a dragon, it cannot grow in the sea and can only grow in rivers."
Suddenly, Cao Cao's thick eyebrows furrowed, his teeth clenched, and the muscles in his face trembled.
Lady Bian asked with concern, "Prime Minister, is your head throbbing badly?"
Cao Cao closed his eyes, forcing himself to endure the discomfort, and then exhaled.
"It hurts even more than yesterday... It feels like a saw, repeatedly cutting my head..."
Li Huan hurriedly said, "Prime Minister, please have some spicy crayfish; it can alleviate your symptoms."
Lady Bian took the crayfish from Cao Cao's hand. Following Li Huan's previous demonstration, she first peeled off the crayfish's shell, then dipped the crayfish meat in the thick soup in the box before feeding it to Cao Cao.
Cao Cao chewed slowly, savoring the taste.
"Hmm... the shrimp meat is indeed fresh and tender... cough cough cough... cough cough cough..."
Cao Cao was choked by the strong, spicy smell and coughed repeatedly.
Zhuge Liang poured a full glass of beer and said in a feignedly solicitous manner, "Prime Minister, please have a drink; it's refreshing and soothing."
Li Huan chuckled to himself, thinking that Liang Ge's acting skills were quite good and he had the potential to be an undercover agent.
Cao Cao picked up the cup, and foam welled up. He quickly drank a few mouthfuls.
"This wine is bitter... Its color is similar to that of rice wine, but the taste is very different."
Li Huan then launched into a science lesson: "Beer is produced overseas and is made from barley through fermentation. It tastes completely different from rice wine and yellow wine."
Cao Cao said, "The crayfish are so spicy and numbing, they must have been seasoned with a lot of dogwood and Sichuan pepper!"
Li Huan knew that before chili peppers were introduced to China, chefs in the Han Dynasty used dogwood and ginger to cook spicy dishes, and Sichuan peppercorns, just like in modern society, to cook numbing dishes.
As a powerful and ambitious figure, Cao Cao not only enjoyed beautiful women and other men's wives, but also had a keen interest in various delicacies and fine wines from different regions.
Li Huan shook his head: "The Prime Minister is only half right. The reason why crayfish are spicy is not because of the large amount of dogwood, but because of the chili peppers!"
Cao Cao asked curiously, "Chili peppers? I've never heard of them before."
Li Huan said, "Like crayfish, chili peppers are also produced in North America. Their spiciness is ten times, or even a hundred times, stronger than that of dogwood!"
Cao Cao was astonished: "No wonder it's so spicy!"
Pointing to "spicy boiled fish, spicy blood curd, hot and sour shredded potatoes, and dry-fried spicy green beans," Li Huan said, "These dishes all contain different varieties of chili peppers, each with its own unique flavor."
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