I Have a Countryside Gourmet Restaurant

Chapter 233: Chapter 229: Another Film Crew Came to Eat

After finishing their bowls, the three of them didn’t have any more.

It was time to eat a proper meal.

After eating, they watched TV for a while longer before returning to their rooms.

...

「The next day.」

In the morning, Li You treated Ye Shengge and Ling Xiaoru to a bowl of Yangchun Noodles each.

After they finished eating, Ling Xiaoru left for town. She had work to do and couldn’t stay there forever.

However, she said she would still come back to sleep there that night.

Li You, of course, was more than happy to have her.

Besides, Ling Xiaoru was renting a room there. It was her prerogative to come and sleep there whenever she wanted.

Ye Shengge had nothing pressing to do, so she decided to take a stroll up the mountain.

”Be careful out there,” Li You said.

Ye Shengge nodded and headed up the mountain.

Li You returned to the kitchen and started on a batch of braised chicken and chicken feet.

He braised a potful every day now. ’Should I add a couple new braised dishes?’

The braised dishes were very popular and easy to sell. Li You didn’t even have to handle sales himself; Da Bai and Xiaohai could take care of it.

Selling more braised dishes would certainly free up more of Li You’s time, which he would be happy about.

’So, I should consider stocking up on more ingredients for other braised dishes.’

...

Early this morning, several vans departed from the Southwest Film and Television Base.

Their destination: Jiulong Gorge in Wenxian Town, Changxi County.

The people in the vans made up the entire film crew for Director Zhang Hongyi’s latest movie.

This included the star actor, Yu Hai.

They had decided yesterday to go eat at the Jiulong Gorge Restaurant.

So, they figured, why not just go today? The sooner they went, the sooner they could solve the mystery, and then everyone could stop obsessing over the Jiulong Gorge Restaurant.

Along the way, a palpable sense of excitement and anticipation filled the air.

What kind of restaurant could possibly earn such high praise from Wei Yang’s entire crew, including the man himself? In just a few hours, they would finally have the answer.

It was definitely something to look forward to.

Even Director Zhang Hongyi himself was feeling quite eager.

...

「Jiulong Gorge.」

「11:00 AM.」

Ye Shengge returned from the mountain holding a dark purple, nearly spherical fruit about ten centimeters in diameter. ”Boss,” she asked Li You, ”what kind of fruit is this? Can you eat it?”

Li You glanced at it and smiled. ”That’s a black tiger fruit. You can eat it, and it tastes pretty good. It’s juicy, sweet, and fragrant.”

”Black tiger?” Ye Shengge repeated. ”Why such a strange name? This fruit looks nothing like a tiger.”

Li You said, ”That’s how it is with wild fruits. They have all sorts of bizarre names. Plus, the names often change from place to place. For example, this black tiger is also called pineapple-grape, cold rice ball, mountain-crossing wind, sandstorm vine, earth-piercing beads, red diamond, and so on in different areas.”

Ye Shengge nodded. ”That’s true. A lot of wild fruits do have weird names.”

Li You continued, ”As for why we call it ’black tiger’ around here? It probably likes to grow in shady, damp places, and its leaves are so dense that from a distance, it vaguely looks like a crouching tiger.”

”Is that right?” Ye Shengge nodded slowly. ”I suppose that’s possible.”

’Still,’ she thought, ’if you just look at the fruit, there’s no way you’d ever associate it with a tiger. It looks more like a giant lychee.’

’Of course, the reason for the name isn’t important.’

Ye Shengge then asked, ”This kind of wild fruit must be pretty rare, right? I’ve never seen one before.”

Li You replied, ”It’s not actually that uncommon. You just don’t really see it for sale in markets.”

Ye Shengge nodded. ”True, I’ve never seen it. Oh, right, you said it tastes pretty good. I’ll give it a try. How do you eat it?”

Li You explained, ”Break off one of the little knobs, peel the skin, and you can eat the pulp. You have to spit out the seeds inside; you can’t eat them. And there are a lot of seeds, which makes it a bit of a hassle to eat.”

The black tiger is an aggregate fruit, meaning its individual drupelets can be broken off one by one.

It’s nearly spherical, ranging from a few to over ten centimeters in diameter, and belongs to the Kadsura genus of the magnolia family.

The fruit is green when unripe, turning red or dark purple when mature.

Its flesh is somewhat like a grape and somewhat like a lychee. It’s juicy, with a sweet, fragrant flavor.

It has a unique flavor and a pleasant texture.

However, it’s not quite as mind-blowingly delicious as some people claim.

Of course, it’s also not as terrible as others might suggest.

All in all, it’s quite a decent fruit.

Furthermore, it has a high nutritional value, rich in vitamins C and E, amino acids, and various trace elements.

Ye Shengge broke off a single drupelet and peeled away its skin. The pulp inside was translucent and delicate, looking quite tempting.

Ye Shengge popped it into her mouth and took a bite.

She quickly spat out a cluster of seeds.

Then, she remarked, ”It really does taste pretty good. It’s juicy, sweet, and fragrant. There are just so many seeds.”

Li You laughed. ”That’s its biggest flaw. If it weren’t for all the seeds, it would probably be much more popular.”

”But it’s still good overall,” Ye Shengge said. ”There were tons of them where I found this. I only picked one to bring back. I’ll go get some more this afternoon.”

Li You nodded. ”Just be safe.”

”Okay,” Ye Shengge replied.

She then held the black tiger fruit out to Li You and added, ”Want some?”

Li You reached out, broke off two of the drupelets, and said, ”I’ll have a taste.”

He peeled them and popped them in his mouth. The texture was indeed quite nice.

’It’s not exceptionally delicious,’ he thought, ’but it qualifies as a good fruit.’

After he finished eating the two pieces, customers began to arrive for lunch.

Li You went into the kitchen to get busy.

Ye Shengge leaned back in the rocking chair, continuing to eat the black tiger fruit. The seeds were a nuisance, but thankfully the fruit was large, and each individual drupelet was sizable as well, which largely compensated for the seedy drawback.

More and more customers arrived, keeping Li You busy.

Still, he managed to find a moment to whip up two servings of Chopped Pepper Fish Head and eat lunch with Ye Shengge.

This meal was on Li You.

After lunch, Ye Shengge rested for a bit before heading up the mountain again.

Meanwhile, in the parking lot, Director Zhang Hongyi’s film crew had finally arrived.

The group of over forty people all disembarked, looking around curiously.

”It really is out in the remote wilderness. Still, it’s good they have a road. It’s narrow, but at least a car can get through.”

”Even with a road, this location is just too remote. It’s a two-hour drive from the county seat. And it’s still several kilometers from that little town we just passed. To get any business in a place like this, the food has to be absolutely incredible.”

”It’s already two in the afternoon, well past lunchtime. But it looks like there are still customers eating inside. That must mean business is pretty good.”

”Of course business is good. Otherwise, Director Wei Yang’s crew wouldn’t have given it such rave reviews. This place is a lot smaller than I expected, though.”

”The size of the restaurant doesn’t matter. It’s the food that counts.”

”In any case, the scenery here is incredible. If it wasn’t so remote, this place would be an absolute gem.”

”I can finally see the restaurant. It actually looks pretty nice. Come on, let’s head over.”

”Let’s go.”

”...”

The crew members chatted among themselves as they slowly made their way toward the restaurant.

At that moment, two tables of customers were still finishing their meals inside.

Since all their dishes had been served, Li You was resting on the rocking chair outside the entrance.

Li You had noticed when Zhang Hongyi’s party of several vans pulled into the parking lot.

He was a little surprised to see such a large group of people get out.

’But they look like a team,’ he observed.

’They must be here to eat.’

’I wonder what kind of group they are?’ Li You was a little curious.

As the crowd slowly approached, Li You noticed a few familiar faces among them. They looked like actors.

He understood instantly. ’Ah, another film crew.’

...

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