Chapter 18: Exotic Delicacies
The next day, on his way home from school, Conan passed by Xiayu's place and found that the first floor was actually open for business.
Curious about what kind of shop Xiayu was planning to run, he peered inside. The sign hadn't gone up yet, but from the street he could make out four or five tables, with a pile of vegetables blocking the doorway. It looked like a restaurant.
He stepped through the open door, and the moment he was inside he spotted Xiayu, who was busy cleaning. She wasn't alone, either — there was another girl in the shop, dressed in a simplified cheongsam, her short hair cut to her ears with two little braids tied at the back.
The girl noticed a child suddenly appear in the restaurant and immediately set down her work, hurrying over to him. "Hey there, little guy, how'd you get in? We're not open yet, you know. If you're looking for a meal, come back the day after tomorrow — I guarantee you'll leave satisfied!"
"I know Xiayu. I saw the door open, so I came in to look around." Conan noticed the calluses on the girl's hands. "Miss, are you a chef?"
"That's right! Cooking all kinds of dishes is what I do best," Xiangling said brightly. "But how did you know, little guy? Did the Traveler— ahem, did Xiayu tell you?"
Conan smiled with confidence. "Nope. I figured it out from where the calluses are on your left hand. Chefs usually develop calluses on the inside of the left thumb, from gripping the edge of a wok over and over. I saw you had them in exactly that spot, so I guessed you might be a chef. I can't believe I got it right on the first try. Ha ha."
Conan added that last part to smooth things over, but then... "Miss, the calluses on your right hand look like they came from gripping something long and slender. Could you tell me what that is?" Unable to come up with any explanation on his own, he had no choice but to ask her directly.
Xiangling held out both hands and studied her palms, still baffled as to how the little boy had spotted it. But she answered his question readily. "It's my kitchen knife, of course! I'm always gripping one when I chop vegetables — that's what did it."
"Ohh, I see." Was it, though? Conan still had his doubts, but he couldn't think of any other explanation either.
Seeing that Xiangling and Conan had wrapped up their exchange, Xiayu came over and made a brief introduction.
"So you're the really clever elementary schooler Xiayu told me about!" So this really is that Grim Reaper elementary schooler, Xiangling thought. He's pretty cute, though. She reached out and ruffled Conan's hair.
"Nice to meet you, Miss Xiangling," Conan said politely. He hadn't managed to dodge her hand, so he simply stood there and let her pat him to her heart's content.
The moment she let go, he put several steps' distance between them and moved over to Xiayu. "Xiayu, are you two opening a restaurant?"
"That's right. Xiangling's a friend of mine, and she's an excellent cook — especially with spicy dishes. She just arrived here and didn't know what to do with herself, and since my first floor was sitting empty, I figured she could open a restaurant here." Then something seemed to occur to her, and she leaned toward Conan with a smile. "Conan, we're opening soon. Before we do, Xiangling wants to try out a few of her signature dishes. Could we invite you and Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi to come taste them tomorrow? It's all free, of course."
"Huh? Sure, of course! I'll tell Genta and the others tomorrow — they'll definitely want to come." Heh, a chance to eat gourmet food for free? There's no way they'd turn that down. But as Conan looked at Xiayu's smile, something about it struck him as off.
With the promise made, Conan said his goodbyes and left, and Xiayu let out a sigh of relief — at last, she'd found someone to share the burden of Xiangling's signature dishes. Xiangling's cooking was genuinely delicious, but the exotic creations she came up with... well... let's just say they were very signature, and not everyone could handle them.
It wasn't exactly noble, dragging little kids into this, but look out for number one or be damned — sorry, kids, you'll have to be the sacrifices.
The next day arrived quickly. Genta and the others were thrilled to hear that Xiayu was treating them to a free tasting, Genta most of all — he spent the entire day going on about it.
The moment school let out, they couldn't wait to race over to the restaurant.
Genta watched Conan's unhurried pace and urged him on. "Come on, Conan! Hurry up! The good stuff is waiting for us!"
Conan was puzzled. "There's no need to rush, is there? Xiayu and the others will wait for us."
"I can't wait a second longer," Genta said. "I wonder what kind of yummy things there'll be."
"Yeah," Mitsuhiko agreed. "I wonder what kind of signature dishes they'll be."
At the restaurant, Conan and the others found a table against the wall and sat down.
They didn't have to wait long. Before long, Xiangling's dishes came out one after another.
Conan looked at the plates arrayed before them and fell silent. Even Genta — a boy who practically lived to eat — didn't dare dig right into the riotously colorful dishes in front of him.
Oblivious to their unnatural silence, Xiangling warmly explained the names and preparation of each signature dish to her little customers.
She began by pointing to the one plate where the main ingredient was still recognizable — though Conan and the others would much rather it hadn't been. "This is charcoal-grilled lizard! Don't let the looks fool you — I made sure to pick an edible species, seasoned it with salt, pepper, and spices, and grilled it over the coals until it was just barely charred, so it keeps some of its original flavor.
The Traveler— ahem, Xiayu tried it and said it tastes a bit like chicken, but I think it's a little different from chicken. Chewier, you know? (The flavor description was totally made up.)
Hey, don't just stare at it — dig in!" Xiangling urged.
Conan and the others looked at Xiayu with newfound respect — she had actually tasted this thing. But that also put them a little more at ease; at least this dish probably wouldn't kill them. And with Xiangling watching them with such expectant eyes, Genta and the others couldn't bring themselves to refuse. One by one, they squeezed their eyes shut and put the food in their mouths.
"Well? How is it? How does it taste?" Xiangling asked eagerly.
Whoa — it's actually pretty good. Conan discovered that the flavor wasn't nearly as terrifying as he'd imagined; it was surprisingly tasty, and it really did resemble chicken. But when he opened his eyes and saw the main ingredient staring back at him, he still couldn't muster much of an appetite for the dish.
"This is great!" Genta declared after his first bite.
"It's a little salty," Ayumi said, "but that mixes with the ingredients just right. It doesn't taste gamey at all!" Then she opened her eyes, looked down at the plate, and lowered her voice. "It's just... the ingredient is kind of scary."
Mitsuhiko nodded along. "The taste is good, but the appearance really is a problem. A scary-looking ingredient is bound to spoil customers' appetites." He did his best to offer a suggestion. "Miss Xiangling, instead of serving the whole lizard straight to the table, you could grill it over charcoal and then slice off just the meat to plate separately. That way nobody sees what the ingredient actually is."
"Hmm, you've got a point there," Xiangling said, nodding. "I'll think of something for next time."
With that, she moved on to introducing the second dish —
the Seven-Color Glazed Grand Pancake.