Chapter 98: You Will Miss a Delicacy
The five of them were all very confused.
Still puzzled, Zhou Yang asked a customer at a neighboring table, "Hey, man, sorry to bother you, but aren’t you guys here for the wild Red-crowned Cranes?"
The person he asked happened to be Liu Xu.
Hearing Zhou Yang’s question, Liu Xu was taken aback. "Wild Red-crowned Cranes? There are wild Red-crowned Cranes here?"
They didn’t know yet that Mu Qingye had photographed wild Red-crowned Cranes here yesterday.
Liu Xu’s reaction left Zhou Yang and his four friends stunned yet again.
Zhou Yang said, "You don’t know there are wild Red-crowned Cranes here?"
Liu Xu replied, "Nope, had no idea!"
Zhou Yang asked again, "Then what are you all here for? Just to catch bamboo grubs and roast them?"
Liu Xu said, "Not exactly. Catching bamboo grubs to roast is just a side activity. We’re here to eat, of course!"
"You came all this way just to eat?" Zhou Yang and his friends were still completely baffled.
"Where did you guys come from?" Zhou Yang asked.
Liu Xu said, "The county town."
"Changxi County Town?"
"That’s right!"
"Is it far from Changxi County Town to here?"
"About a two-and-a-half-hour drive."
A two-and-a-half-hour drive... that was about the same distance it took for them to get here from their school.
Driving all this way just for a meal?
Zhou Yang and his four friends were still dumbfounded.
"Why would you drive two and a half hours to eat here?" Zhou Yang asked again.
Liu Xu looked at Zhou Yang’s group in surprise and said, "Don’t you know how amazing the food is here?"
"We had no idea... well, not exactly. Is the food here really that good? How good is it?" Zhou Yang said.
Liu Xu said, "Ah, so it’s your first time here. You’ll understand once you’ve tried the food."
Zhou Yang and his four friends looked at each other.
’Could the food here really be that good?’
’But even if it’s delicious, it makes no sense to drive two and a half hours just to eat here!’
If they came for some other reason and just happened to eat here, that would be perfectly normal.
But to come here specifically for a meal?
They simply couldn’t understand that kind of thinking.
At that moment, Liu Xu spoke again. "So you didn’t come for the food, you came for the wild Red-crowned Cranes?"
Zhou Yang and his four friends all nodded.
"But," Liu Xu added, "if this is your first time here today, how did you know there were wild Red-crowned Cranes? Even we didn’t know that!"
"Well, it’s like this..."
Zhou Yang explained how Mu Qingye had photographed the wild Red-crowned Cranes there the day before.
So that was how.
Liu Xu nodded and said, "Oh, so you’re also students from the Xingshui Academy of Fine Arts."
"Also?" Zhou Yang and his friends all looked at Liu Xu.
’Why did he say "also"? Could it be that he knows Xia Xiaoyue, too?’
Zhou Yang asked, "Hey, man, why did you say ’also’?"
Liu Xu smiled. "There’s a very beautiful girl from your school named Xia Xiaoyue, and some of her classmates, who come here to eat all the time. We’ve seen them around. I don’t think she’s in the same major as you guys. Do you know her?"
Zhou Yang and his four friends exchanged another look.
’So this guy really does know Xia Xiaoyue.’
’Could it be that Xia Xiaoyue is famous even out here?’
’I guess a truly top-tier beauty gets famous no matter where she goes, huh?’
After a moment, Zhou Yang said, "Xia Xiaoyue is the most beautiful girl in our entire school, bar none. Of course we all know her. Well, to be more precise, we know her, but she doesn’t know us."
Liu Xu nodded and added, "Xia Xiaoyue is indeed stunning—her face, her figure, both are top-tier. But here at the boss’s place, when it comes to looks and figure, Xia Xiaoyue can only rank second."
This was hard for Zhou Yang and his friends to believe.
’There’s someone here even more beautiful than Xia Xiaoyue, in both looks and figure? That’s impossible, right?’
Seeing the disbelief written all over their faces, Liu Xu chuckled and said, "I’m telling you the truth. If you get a chance to see her someday, you’ll know."
"Really?" Zhou Yang asked. "What’s her name? What does she do? Does she come here often?"
Liu Xu replied, "Her surname is Ye. Ye Shengge. I don’t know what she does for a living, but you can tell she comes from a powerful family—either rich or noble. Her status is definitely not simple. She comes here at random times. Whether or not you’ll see her just depends on your luck."
"Ye Shengge?" The five of them looked at each other again. "That’s a nice name, at least."
But was she really superior to Xia Xiaoyue in both looks and figure? The five of them remained skeptical.
Nevertheless, they were now very eager to meet this Ye Shengge.
’Hopefully, we’ll get the chance to see her.’
"Oh, right," Zhou Yang added, "are you guys really going to catch bamboo grubs to roast and eat later? Can you really eat those things?"
Liu Xu laughed. "Not only can you eat them, but they’re delicious and fragrant. Of course, we didn’t know that before, either. It was only last Saturday, after the boss took us to catch some and roasted them for us, that we found out."
"Really? But..." Zhou Yang and his friends still found it a bit hard to accept.
Still, it was a good thing these people were going to catch bamboo grubs.
That way, they wouldn’t disturb them while they were trying to film the Red-crowned Cranes.
However, Liu Xu then continued, "You just said there are wild Red-crowned Cranes here. So after we go catch some bamboo grubs, roast them, and eat, maybe we’ll also go take a look in the gorge and see if we can spot the wild Red-crowned Cranes?"
"Uh..."
Zhou Yang and his four friends felt a little helpless.
But it wasn’t like they could tell the others not to go.
So, all they could do was nod and agree.
By this time, the news that there were wild Red-crowned Cranes in the gorge had spread throughout the entire restaurant.
Everyone was pleasantly surprised.
’They even have wild Red-crowned Cranes in the gorge? Now that’s seriously amazing!’
Afterward, everyone was talking about going to the gorge to see if they could spot the wild Red-crowned Cranes after they caught, roasted, and ate the bamboo grubs.
When Wei Ping’s two children heard they might get to see wild Red-crowned Cranes, they became very excited as well.
"We’ve rested enough. Should we go catch those bamboo grubs now?" someone suggested.
"Yeah, let’s go. I can’t wait anymore," the others agreed.
Everyone began to get up one after another.
"Boss, we’re heading up the mountain to that bamboo forest to catch bamboo grubs," someone called out to Li You, who was stir-frying in the kitchen.
"Alright. Go on ahead. Be safe."
"Will do."
The crowd filed out of the restaurant’s entrance.
"Well, you five students, we’re off to catch bamboo grubs. After we bring them back, would you like to try some?" Liu Xu said to Zhou Yang and his group.
All five shook their heads and said, "Thanks, man, but you guys go ahead and enjoy. We’ll pass."
They still didn’t believe those things were edible.
"That’s a real shame. You’ll be missing out on a delicacy," Liu Xu said with regret.
’A delicacy?’
’How could that thing be called a delicacy?’
The five of them truly couldn’t understand.
With that, Liu Xu said his goodbyes and left.
A moment later, Li You came over carrying a plate of Mapo Tofu.
He placed it on the table.
"The Mapo Tofu is ready. Please, enjoy."
When the five of them saw the Mapo Tofu on the plate, they were all stunned once again.
...