Watching Qin Yao walk downstairs, He Yuefeng glanced around from his seat and soon spotted a self-service condiment station with various sauces. His eyes lit up.
The Food Critique Magazine had detailed the unique aspect of hot pot dining: the self-made dipping sauces and the experience of cooking the ingredients yourself. These simple steps gave diners the joy and satisfaction of cooking their food.
Born into a wealthy merchant family where everything was attended to by servants, He Yuefeng had never cooked for himself. This was a novel experience.
He stood up and walked to the condiment station, mimicking other diners by taking a clean condiment dish from a neatly stacked pile. Then he moved to the condiment station.
Recognizing the dozens of different condiments was challenging for He Yuefeng, but the clear labels on each condiment were very user-friendly for someone with no culinary skills.
Not fond of greasy food, He Yuefeng decided to make a dry mix. Recalling the recipe for a dry mix in his mind, he clumsily used the communal spoon to add crushed chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, crushed peanuts, roasted soybeans, white sesame seeds, salt, ground star anise, cumin, cinnamon, and MSG into his dish.
After adding all the condiments, He Yuefeng stirred the mixture with chopsticks and then tasted a small amount.
The initial spiciness from the chili hit his tongue, followed by the rich aroma of various spices, filling his mouth and nose. He Yuefeng couldn't help but grin.
Satisfied with his self-made sauce, he returned to his seat. In the short time it took him to prepare the sauce, Qin Yao had already brought a delicate steamer basket to his table. "Here is your Xiaolongbao, please enjoy."
So this is Xiaolongbao?
He Yuefeng widened his eyes, looking at the ten plump, round dumplings in the small steamer basket. Suddenly, he remembered something. "Um... there should be a dish of vinegar for these Xiaolongbao, right?"
He vividly remembered from the Food Critique Magazine that the Xiaolongbao tasted best with a vinegar dip.
Qin Yao didn't say a word, just smiled and stepped aside slightly. A small kitten with silver and dark grey stripes skillfully leapt onto the table, carrying a vinegar dish in its mouth, and placed it beside the Xiaolongbao.
This...
He Yuefeng's eyes widened in surprise at the adorable kitten.
Amazing, the kitten can serve dishes.
"Your Blazing Cup and spicy hot pot base will be ready soon, please wait a moment." With that, Qin Yao left. The kitten gave He Yuefeng a very human-like glance before jumping off the table and following Qin Yao.
"Meow!"
Male human, no petting allowed!
Except for the pooper-scooper!
Originally, the kitten Pururu called Qi Han a massage officer, but after Qi Han cleaned its litter box for the first time, it had a sudden realization and changed the title to pooper-scooper.
Pururu couldn't speak human language, so for now, Qi Han was still smugly content, believing that upon arriving in Douluo Continent, he had finally shed his title as a pooper-scooper.
Momentarily taken aback by Pururu's cleverness, He Yuefeng had lost count of how many times he had been astonished since entering the Small Shop. Everything here seemed uniquely different, shrouded in a mysterious allure.
A faint aroma drifted into He Yuefeng's nostrils, pulling his attention back to the Xiaolongbao before him.
Having familiarized himself with the use of chopsticks earlier, he effortlessly picked up one of the soft Xiaolongbao.
The Food Critique Magazine detailed the correct way to eat this delicacy, which is why Qin Yao hadn't needed to explain.
Recalling the description from the review, He Yuefeng carefully bit a small hole at the top of the dumpling, gently blew on it to cool the broth inside, waited a moment, then brought his mouth to the opening and sucked in.
Slurp!
A soft slurping sound followed as the warm, savory broth rushed into He Yuefeng's mouth.
"Mmm!" He Yuefeng closed his mouth, eyes widening as the broth flowed over his tongue, leaving a lingering, intense umami taste.
A mix of fresh osmanthus and fruity flavors, with the umami meat broth lacking any greasiness, filled his mouth and nose—an experience He Yuefeng had never had before.
Is it really this delicious?
He Yuefeng thought he had imagined the Xiaolongbao's flavor accurately after reading the review, but the reality was beyond his imagination, at least ten times more delicious than he had anticipated.
Indeed, Fenglai Pavilion had limited his imagination.
He once thought Fenglai Pavilion represented the pinnacle of culinary delight, but now he realized the gap between its dishes and those at Small Shop was immense.
'From now on, I'll only come to Small Shop,' he decided silently.
Many other diners shared He Yuefeng's sentiment, choosing Small Shop over Fenglai Pavilion after experiencing the superior food.
...
At Fenglai Pavilion, Zhao Fenglai stood silently in an upstairs private room, looking down at the flow of people entering and exiting the pavilion, his expression growing darker.
The brief comfort from having 5 dishes featured in the Food Critique Magazine was fading, replaced by a chilling dread.
Despite numerous dishes from Fenglai Pavilion making it into the Food Critique Magazine, the number of customers hadn't improved; instead, it had dropped by nearly 20%.
Zhao Fenglai could easily guess where these customers had gone.
He had already seen Small Shop as a serious threat but hadn't anticipated the threat would come so quickly, catching him off guard.
His plan to prevent Small Shop from appearing in the Food Critique Magazine had failed, leaving Zhao Fenglai momentarily without a strategy to curb his competition.
Now he could only regret that he hadn't been more ruthless before. If he had forced the Qin sisters to sell Moonlight Pavilion to him sooner, he wouldn't be facing such a formidable adversary now.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Come in!"
The door creaked open, and two burly men entered. "Boss, we found only this piece of jade at Cao Pingzhi's house. The other piece has already been sold."
One of the men handed over a more exquisite jade piece worth nearly 10.000 Gold Coins to Zhao Fenglai.
Zhao Fenglai nodded, his expression frighteningly calm. "Put the jade on the table and leave."
"Yes, sir!"
The two men lowered their heads and left the room, closing the door behind them.
Zhao Fenglai walked slowly to the table, picked up the jade, and weighed it in his hand.
He vividly remembered buying this piece of jade a few days ago to further curry favor with Cao Pingzhi, spending a fortune to satisfy that greedy wolf's appetite.
Now, the jade had returned to him, but...
Zhao Fenglai's face contorted in fury. He took the valuable jade and smashed it on the floor with all his might.
A dull thud followed by the jade breaking into pieces.
"Small Shop!"
A deep roar echoed in the room, reminiscent of a rabid dog's howl.
<+>
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