The Immortal Ruins - Chapter 91 Reception Dinner For Friends
The new boss’s friend was coming now and Mr. Li was excited to show off his cooking skills.
All manner of food ingredients had been requisitioned and Mr. Li tried hundreds of new dishes on the people of the shelter every day. Everyone had a smile on their face at the mention of Jiang Shaoliu.
“Mr. Jiang is really a good leader. Our living standards have improved a lot; we’ve changed the furniture, got a smart TV, a new toilet too,” remarked a middle-aged man sitting with a few acquaintances in the sun outside the shelter.
A young lady carrying a baby excitedly said, “You know, it’s because I spoke to Mr. Jiang and he promised to let us live a good life, and now he pulled through. Some of us were planning to go back to the city center, but now no one wants to leave.”
“Absolutely.” An old man with a walking stick smiled, “I was living in a small room of less than 5 square meters with my old friends before, and we didn’t even have s.p.a.ce for a bath. Now I have my own room.”
They fell silent when they noticed Jiang Shaoliu come out.
“Don’t mind me,” he smiled and waved to them, before turning to focus his gaze on the horizon.
Ruo Feng’s truck was approaching.
“Here you are,” Jiang Shaoliu beamed.
The truck stopped not far from Jiang Shaoliu, and several people climbed out.
“Shaoliu!” As soon as Zhao Yang got out, he ran to hug Jiang Shaoliu and cried, “You’ve sure done well for yourself, brother. Share it with me in the future.”
Jiang Shaoliu laughed, traces of tears in his eyes as he patted him on the back: “Of course.”
Mr. w.a.n.g’s full name was w.a.n.g Jiadong. He was in his early twenties and stood by the truck with his girlfriend, hesitantly looking at Jiang Shaoliu from a distance.
“Mr. w.a.n.g,” Jiang Shaoliu beckoned him, “You’ve lost weight! Is this your beautiful new girlfriend? Well, you haven’t been idle, I see, haha!”
w.a.n.g Jiadong nodded and said, “Her name is Du An’an. We met during the Cataclysm when we were escaping with a crowd of visitors from the Inst.i.tute of Agricultural Science. We’ve been living in the temporary housing and it hasn’t been so good.”
Du An’an wore her hair short. She had pale skin and looked a little bashful. “Doctor Jiang,” she said in a weak voice, “Jiadong talked about you all the time, how you’re such a kind-hearted person and the most powerful master in Yungang City.”
“Thank you,” Jiang Shaoliu said with a smile. “Now you’re one of us.”
Du An’an nodded and her face turned red.
Mr. Liu was in his forties, holding his wife with one hand and his daughter with the other. He watched Jiang Shaoliu with a measure of awe. “Mr. Jiang, I can’t believe you became the leader of the Yungang League. Who’d have thought?”
His wife, Huang Li, glanced at him and complained, “Don’t say that, Liu Ding! If it weren’t for Mr. Jiang, we’d still be living in temporary housing and eating meat only once a week.”
Jiang Shaoliu bent down and patted the little daughter’s hair, then said gently, “Hey, Ting Ting. You can enjoy good food and play as much as you like here. You don’t need to be afraid of the monsters anymore.”
The little girl nodded and replied, “Uncle Jiang, my parents said you are a big hero and can beat strong monsters, and we can have our own house later.”
“Yep.” Jiang Shaoliu felt a little uncomfortable for no reasons, he stood up and turned to look at Yao Xiaoqian.
Yao Xiaoqian was a short but beautiful young woman with her hair in a respectable bun, with faint freckles on her face. She was the only female veterinarian at the clinic and she would always bring Jiang Shaoliu snacks when he was on duty.
She came up to Jiang Shaoliu and whispered, “Remember I’ve always given you delicious snacks back in the day. I’m bringing my parents here, so you know what to do, right?”
“Of course,” Jiang Shaoliu smiled. “We don’t have a lot of snacks here but there’s plenty of real food for you to enjoy.”
She nodded and leaned in a little closer: “Jiang Shaoliu, I don’t have a boyfriend, so you know what to do, right?”
Jiang Shaoliu snickered. She was always playing jokes like this.
Jiang Xiaoyun’s friend, Li Qianqian, was standing the farthest away, watching his shyly.
“Li Qianqian,” Jiang Shaoliu came up and greeted her. “we’ve already met several times. Don’t be so shy.”
“Okay…” She sighed.
Ruo Feng said, rubbing his belly, “Shaoliu, is Mr. Li ready with the food yet? I’m starving!”
“Indeed.” Jiang Shaoliu waved and cried out: “Come on, everyone! Let’s go have dinner.”
Wan Yao Restaurant was in the depths of the shelter, not far from Jiang Shaoliu’s room. The shelter had been especially expanded away from the residential areas to create a new sumptuously decorated banquet hall.
The group sat around the large round table. Mr. Li entered the room in his white chef ap.r.o.n, his face impeccably shaved and scrubbed for the occasion, and stood next to Jiang Shaoliu to introduce the first course he’d prepared.
“This is braised two-silver-ringed beef, marinated in special seasoning for two days and slow-cooked for four hours.” Mr. Li licked his lips and whispered, “Just try it.”
The plate containing the meat was more than a meter in diameter. The flesh was a rich red, with streaks of crystalline yellow fat, decorated with colorful vegetables and fruits. A mouth-watering aroma suffused the banquet hall.
Everyone looked to Jiang Shaoliu, too embarra.s.sed to start eating first.
“Let’s dig in!” Jiang Shaoliu picked up his chopsticks and smiled, “We’re all friends here, there’s no need to be so formal.”
He stuck his fork in a piece of meat and took a bite. He stared at the meat in amazement.
Almost instantly, all his muscles became relaxed while his pores greedily sucked in the fragrant air. He felt like he was floating in the clouds.
Zhao Yang swallowed a piece and almost bit his tongue. “Wow, that’s delicious!”
Ruo Feng bit into one piece and was nearly moved to tears. It was worthy of Mr. Li’s hard work.
As for w.a.n.g Jiadong, Du An’an and Liu Ding
Each one of them showed different facial expressions. Ting Ting ate three pieces and still wanted more.
In the middle of the plate, beneath the red meat, was a pile of silver crystalline sheets with colorful dots on the surface.
“These are the tail fins of a three-silver-ringed shark. I’ve been told that the Monkey King fished it out himself. Prepare yourselves for a taste experience like no other!” Mr. Li proclaimed, and added, “It’s best eaten fresh from the pot, so do try some before it cools.”
Everyone sampled a slice.
“Mr. Li, is there any more?” Ruo Feng complained once the huge meat platter was emptied. “This wasn’t enough at all.”
The chef threw up his hands and laughed, “I’ve prepared more than eighty different dishes for you to taste! Besides, Mr. Jiang and Mr. Han have suggested that the food in our restaurant should be of the highest quality but of limited quant.i.ty, so that the guests will order more plates and pay us more.”
“But they were talking about the paying customers, not us!” Ruo Feng shouted, “Let’s see some food in here!”
As the third dish was served, Mr. Li somewhat sullenly said, “This is pickled pork boiled with wine. The meat is from a wild boar with three bronze rings, caught for us by the white tiger. I’ve personally selected the best cuts and the finest rice wine”
Before he could finish his explanation, the pork was gone.
“And here we have rice and vegetable eggrolls with duck breast in sauce”
“Fine slices of beef tongue, seasoned to perfection with minced garlic”
After about fifty courses, Liu Ding was just about stuffed. His face ruddy from all the wine he, he mumbled, “Mr. Jiang, I’ve always expected a lot from you in the past. You’ve been a great volunteer at Huaguoshan. You are such a good young man with a kind heart, not distracted by greed.”
Jiang Shaoliu nodded and stuffed another plateful of gourmet cuisine into his mouth.
“Don’t listen to him, he’s talking nonsense.” Huang Li threw back her cup of red wine.
Jiang Shaoliu nodded and smiled.
Little Ting Ting, seated beside her mother, looked up at him seriously and said, “Uncle Jiang, all my friends from the temporary housing lot know that you are the strongest person in Yungang City, and your monkey too.”
“Thank you, Ting Ting.” Jiang Shaoliu took up his gla.s.s of wine and smiled, “Welcome to the Yungang League, everyone. Cheers!”
