Chapter 00086: Wine, Meat, and Conversation
# Wine, Meat, and Conversation
Chapter 86
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 86: Wine, Meat, and Conversation
Roast duck should be fatty, braised duck should be lean, and salted duck should be neither too fatty nor too lean.
It is said that the ducks specially supplied to this restaurant are raised on snails and duckweed.
Three days before slaughter, they are fed osmanthus flowers, so that when served, the meat still carries the fragrance of osmanthus.
He Lingchuan had been here a few times and admitted that the duck here was delicious, though he never tasted any osmanthus.
But that didn’t matter.
As long as there was a gimmick, there was style, and with style came prestige.
And with prestige, the price could be high.
Moreover, the traditional meats in Blackwater City were mainly beef, lamb, chicken, and dog.
Ducks, which thrive in watery areas, were rarely eaten here before.
The Xiangsi Lou, by offering something different, had managed to attract a large following.
As soon as He Lingchuan arrived at Xiangsi Lou, Liu Baobao welcomed him into the innermost private room.
At this time of year, private rooms in Blackwater City’s major restaurants were hard to come by, but that wasn’t a problem for Liu Baobao.
Zeng Feixiong hadn’t arrived yet, and Liu Baobao peeked outside: “Did the second young master not come?”
“He’s only fourteen. He can’t drink!”
Liu Baobao coughed lightly: “Young Master, actually, I have two other tables of guests to attend to tonight. My father arranged them before he left Blackwater City…”
He didn’t want to be rude, but the other dinner arrangements had been made long ago, and He Lingchuan was the unexpected guest.
“It’s fine.” Today, He Lingchuan was surprisingly easygoing. “I’ll let you go in a bit.”
Before the waiter for the private room arrived, He Lingchuan grabbed the wine pot and personally filled both their cups, then toasted Liu Baobao.
Liu Baobao was flattered and quickly drank his cup before asking, “Young Master, why so polite today?”
“Am I usually not polite?”
Liu Baobao chuckled.
If this young master had ever been polite, he wouldn’t know how to write the words “thick-skinned.”
He Lingchuan waved his hand, dismissing the waiter from the private room: “I have something to ask you. Do you remember a few days ago when my old man met with your old man?”
Liu Baobao nodded.
His father, Liu Yang, was the head of the Liu Family Merchant Guild.
A few days ago, he had been summoned by Prefect He and had dinner with other political and business bigwigs at Hongyan Lou.
When he returned home, his face was glowing, clearly indicating that both host and guests had enjoyed themselves.
“What did they talk about?”
Liu Baobao thought for a moment: “Nothing too important. Prefect He mentioned that the lease for White Deer Forest was up. The original contractor, the Lin family, plans to move out. They haven’t managed it well these past few years—cutting down too many trees and planting too few. Prefect He asked if we were interested in taking over—of course we are!”
White Deer Forest was a government asset, not private property.
Many such official businesses existed, including mines, forests, and even large tracts of government-owned farmland.
In the inland regions, these were often contracted to the relatives of local officials, but He Chunhua always used a bidding process to delegate management.
He had long understood that if left to the government to manage, efficiency would be abysmal, and corruption would be rampant, with financial records being a mess.
Needless to say, these were lucrative positions.
In the past, the Liu Family Merchant Guild would never have had a chance. “What else?”
Though young, Liu Baobao had been learning the ropes of business from his father since childhood and was well-versed in dealing with officials.
He continued, “There’s nothing to hide. My father is going to the capital on business, and Prefect He asked him to deliver a letter to Vice Minister Du Feng of the Ministry of Revenue—apparently an old acquaintance of the He family—and to pay a visit to Du Feng’s grandmother, the matriarch of the Du family, to tell her about what happened in the Coiling Dragon Desert.”
The old lady of the Du family? He Lingchuan was puzzled. “That’s it?”
“That’s it, nothing more.” Liu Baobao didn’t want to know why He Lingchuan was asking about his father’s actions. “Simple and straightforward.”
The two drank for a while longer before Liu Baobao’s personal maid came over, giving him meaningful looks.
“Alright, go attend to your other guests.” He Lingchuan was busy gnawing on a duck head, another specialty of the house.
First braised, then roasted, it was especially good with wine, though the supply was limited since not everyone dared to eat duck heads.
He Lingchuan had loved duck heads in his previous life, and now, eating them brought back a flood of memories.
Liu Baobao smiled and excused himself.
He Lingchuan had the leftovers cleared, the table wiped clean, and the dishes replaced before pouring himself another cup of fine wine, sipping as he waited.
About half an hour later, Zeng Feixiong arrived.
He immediately apologized for being late, explaining that there had been a fight in the camp, and it had taken him some time to deal with it.
He Lingchuan, of course, didn’t mind.
He called the waiter over to list the dishes and quickly ordered ten.
Zeng Feixiong protested, “That’s enough, that’s enough. How can we eat so much?”
He Lingchuan waved it off: “Liu Baobao’s paying. Are you feeling sorry for him?” He also ordered two jars of fine wine.
Soon, a stream of delicacies was brought to the table.
Though Zeng Feixiong had received a generous reward for his journey to Coiling Dragon City, he was used to being frugal.
Even before the New Year, he would hesitate for days before buying a small piece of fat to grease his pan.
Now that his pockets were fuller, the most he indulged in was a few jars of wine he couldn’t afford before, pairing it with garlic and peanuts, or occasionally some braised pig tails or pickled fish.
Xiangsi Lou was a place he had always wanted to visit but never dared.
In the desert, the two had gotten along well, being close in age and on the same side.
But back in Blackwater City, the gap in their statuses had subtly distanced them, making Zeng Feixiong a bit reserved.
But that was easily solved.
After a dozen cups of wine and reminiscing about their adventures in the desert—most importantly, cursing Nian Songyu, that heartless little bastard—the atmosphere in the private room warmed up.
By the time Zeng Feixiong polished off a whole roast duck with half a jar of wine, the two were calling each other brothers, laughing and chatting.
If not for the soundproofing of the private room, their laughter would have echoed downstairs.
“Here, try this.” He Lingchuan personally used serving chopsticks to place two drum shrimp on Zeng Feixiong’s plate.
Xiangsi Lou’s signature dishes always found a way to incorporate duck.
This dish of shrimp involved frying the sweetest local drum shrimp until crispy, then coating them in a paste of salted duck egg yolk that had been cooked until it released its red oil, creating a dish that was both fragrant and explosively flavorful.
Normally, Zeng Feixiong would politely decline, saying something like “Young Master, you’re too kind,” as was proper etiquette.
But now, with his cheeks flushed, he simply took the shrimp and crunched away, savoring every bite without a word.
In contrast, He Lingchuan remained clear-headed.
The original owner’s high alcohol tolerance was convenient for what he planned to ask next.
He steered the conversation from Nian Songyu to Sun Fuping, and the two cursed Sun Fuping for his sinister schemes, especially his plan to sacrifice over two hundred Blackwater City soldiers as offerings.
Fueled by alcohol, Zeng Feixiong cursed until his face turned red and his neck veins bulged.
But in the end, he grabbed He Lingchuan’s hand and expressed his gratitude to He Lingchuan and his father.
Without them, he would have been buried in the desert, never able to care for his father in his old age.
Naturally, He Lingchuan then brought up a certain matter:
Sun Fuping’s final moments.
As residents of the southeastern coast, today they needed to stock up on food and daily necessities, just in case.
(End of Chapter)