I Have a Countryside Gourmet Restaurant

Chapter 340: Chapter 322: This Flavor is to Die For

Not long after, Liu LiangZhong returned home.

When Lin Quan saw him, he walked over and said, ”Uncle, you’re back. Where’s the steamed sea bass? Let me see.”

Although he was asking where the steamed sea bass was, Lin Quan had actually already spotted it in the truck bed.

He and Liu LiangZhong each carried two containers, placing all four portions of steamed sea bass onto a table.

Then, Lin Quan lifted the lid off one of them.

The rich, savory aroma startled Lin Quan slightly.

After taking a closer look, he saw that the presentation was excellent too.

And this was just the takeout version. If it were served on a proper plate, the presentation would probably be even better.

’It really does seem like it’ll taste better than my steamed sea bass.’

’That chef really has some skills. No wonder Uncle was willing to pay 100 yuan to have him cook it.’

”It does look really good. It should be better than what I make,” Lin Quan said.

Liu LiangZhong smiled. ”I heard even high-ranked chefs are incredibly impressed by his cooking.”

”For real?” Lin Quan was skeptical. ”His cooking is good, but he can’t be *that* amazing, right?”

Liu LiangZhong said, ”I heard from Lao Liu that many customers at Xiaoyou’s place say the same thing, so it’s probably true. By the way, want to grab some chopsticks and have a taste?”

Lin Quan replied, ”I’d love to, but it’s not right to dig in now. I’ll just wait until we all eat later.”

Liu LiangZhong nodded. ”Alright. How many dishes are left to cook?”

Lin Quan said, ”We’re basically done. After this pot of braised vegetables is ready, I just have to stir-fry two more vegetable dishes, and that’s it.”

Liu LiangZhong said, ”You’ve worked hard, Lin Quan. You should be a guest, but instead, we have you manning the kitchen.”

Lin Quan said, ”Uncle, now you’re being too formal. I was just sitting around anyway, so what’s the big deal about cooking a little?”

Liu LiangZhong let out a hearty laugh, very fond of this nephew of his.

「Soon, it was 12:00 PM.」

All the dishes were on the tables, and all the guests were seated.

Liu LiangZhong encouraged everyone to eat and drink.

Lin Quan could finally taste the steamed sea bass.

He picked up a piece of fish with his chopsticks, dipped it in the sauce, and placed it in his mouth.

Instantly, a look of shocked disbelief appeared on his face.

’Holy crap!’

’This is too damn good! It’s so, so much better than I ever imagined.’

’It’s countless times better than mine. The two aren’t even in the same league.’

’Or rather, they’re several leagues apart.’

’Can steamed sea bass actually be this delicious?’

It was unbelievable. But the flavor in his mouth was so very real.

’This is an unparalleled delicacy.’

After the shock wore off, Lin Quan became incredibly excited—excited to have eaten such a delicious steamed sea bass.

’My uncle was absolutely right to have the sea bass cooked by someone else. Even though it cost 100 yuan, it was worth it!’

’More than worth it!’

’This level of culinary skill is worth countless hundreds of yuan.’

’Just how high is the skill of that person, Li You?’

Lin Quan was once again astonished.

His uncle had said earlier that even high-ranked chefs were in awe of Li You’s skills. That had to be true.

Lin Quan hadn’t believed it before.

But now, he did.

Based on the taste of this steamed sea bass, even a high-ranked chef would have to be impressed.

’Incredible!’

Liu LiangZhong also took a piece of fish. He had only heard Liu Jialiang say that Li You’s steamed sea bass was delicious. He had never tried it himself.

So, he had no real idea just how good Li You’s steamed sea bass was.

Therefore, he too was filled with great anticipation.

After eating a piece of fish, he finally understood.

And that understanding thrilled him.

Because it tasted even better than he had imagined.

Having a dish like this at today’s banquet would surely be a wonderful surprise for all his relatives and guests. They would definitely remember this meal for a long time.

And there was a high probability that later on, when they were chatting and telling stories, they would bring up this banquet. They would say that the steamed sea bass they once had at Liu LiangZhong’s place was on another level of delicious.

’That would make me look so good!’

The more Liu LiangZhong thought about it, the happier he became, and the more prestigious he felt.

And his relatives reacted just as he had imagined. Every single person who tasted the steamed sea bass would exclaim in disbelief, ”How is this fish so good? I’ve never eaten fish this delicious before.”

”I never used to eat steamed fish because I thought it was bland. But why is this steamed fish so delicious today? What kind of fish is this?”

”Lin Quan must have made this, right? Lin Quan’s fish-cooking skills are divine now!”

”...”

The guests marveled at the flavor of the steamed sea bass. At the same time, they were amazed by Lin Quan’s cooking skills.

They knew Lin Quan was a decent cook and that his food was good. But they never expected it to be this good. The flavor of this fish was truly divine.

Hearing everyone’s praise, Lin Quan said with regret, ”I wish I’d been the one to make it, but unfortunately, I wasn’t. My uncle had it cooked by someone else.”

Cooked by someone else?

Everyone looked at Liu LiangZhong.

A relative from the same village said, ”Did you take it to Xiaoyou’s place to have it cooked?”

Liu LiangZhong nodded with a smile. ”I did indeed.”

The relative from the village said, ”Yesterday, I heard Liu Jialiang say that the steamed sea bass Xiaoyou makes is amazing. Now I see it’s true. This is too good. No wonder his business is so successful. With flavor like this, how could it not be?”

”Who is this Xiaoyou you’re talking about? Does he run a restaurant somewhere?” the relatives not from the village asked one after another.

”He’s the son of Old Li from our village, named Li You. He opened a restaurant over at the entrance to Jiulong Gorge...”

Liu LiangZhong briefly explained the situation with Li You’s restaurant, and after hearing it, all the relatives gave a thumbs-up.

”To have such amazing cooking skills in his twenties. That’s impressive! He’s the very definition of having a boundless future.”

”Your village is something else! To think someone there can make steamed sea bass this delicious. This is sea bass, right?”

Liu LiangZhong nodded. ”It’s sea bass, just ordinary sea bass.”

”It looks like sea bass. I’ve had steamed sea bass many times, but this is the first time I’ve had it taste so good. It’s simply divine!”

”Since it’s ordinary sea bass, that means the only reason this dish is so delicious is because of his high-level cooking skills. Truly, that’s incredibly impressive!”

”Besides this steamed sea bass, how are his other dishes?”

To this question, Liu LiangZhong replied, ”They’re also incredibly delicious. Every dish he makes is delicious.”

”Impressive! Impressive!”

The relatives were even more full of praise after hearing this.

While praising, they continued to eat the fish.

The steamed sea bass on all four tables was quickly eaten clean.

After finishing, the relatives were once again filled with praise. At the same time, they all expressed their thanks to Liu LiangZhong.

They thanked Liu LiangZhong for taking the sea bass to Li You to be cooked, allowing them to taste such a delicious dish.

Liu LiangZhong laughed heartily, extremely pleased. The decision to take the sea bass to Li You had been absolutely, unequivocally correct!

「...」

「Jiulong Gorge.」

The few customers who had said yesterday afternoon that they wanted to buy peaches from Liu LiangZhong’s house all showed up.

Li You said to them, ”I asked this morning. He’s selling them for 10 yuan a pound. See if you want any.”

”10 yuan a pound? That’s a bit pricey. But it’s normal for peaches to be expensive right now, and since they taste so good, 10 yuan a pound is definitely worth it. I’ll take some. I’ll buy ten pounds.”

”10 yuan a pound is actually pretty good. If he took his peaches to the city to sell them now, he could probably get 20 yuan a pound and still have plenty of buyers. So this is fine. I’ll get ten pounds too.”

”I’ll get five pounds. I’ll buy five pounds for now and see after that.”

”...”

Everyone said they wanted to buy some. Although 10 yuan a pound was a little steep, they also knew that was the going rate for peaches this time of year. Plus, since the taste was so good, the price could actually be considered a bargain.

”Are you guys talking about buying peaches? Where are you buying them? Are there peaches for sale already?” a nearby customer asked.

Li You said, ”Someone in my village has peaches that ripened early, and they’re ready now. He’s selling them for 10 yuan a pound.”

”They’re ripe this early? If they’re real, 10 yuan a pound is normal. The key is, how do they taste?”

”They taste amazing,” one of the first group of customers said before Li You could speak. ”We all tried them yesterday. They’re better than most peaches on the market. At least, I’ve rarely had any that taste that good.”

”Is that so?” the other person said. ”Then how do we buy them? Where do we buy them? I’d like to get some too.”

Everyone, including the first group, looked at Li You.

Li You said, ”There are two ways. First, you can all go directly to Uncle Liu’s house in our village to pick and buy them yourselves. You can pick them from the trees, or Uncle Liu can help you.

”Second, if you don’t want to make the trip, Uncle Liu can pick the peaches and bring them here to sell. It’s your choice.”

After hearing what Li You said, the crowd discussed it among themselves for a few moments and unanimously decided to go to Uncle Liu’s house and pick the peaches themselves.

Picking them yourself was more fun. Plus, you could pick whichever ones you wanted.

And they could also take the opportunity to see Li You’s village. They had never been there before.

Someone said to Li You, ”Boss, are you going with us?”

The others also looked at Li You.

Of course, they all hoped Li You would go with them.

It would be much more interesting with Li You there.

Li You nodded. ”Sure, I’ll go with you. We’ll head out around three o’clock.”

”Okay! That’s great!”

”Around three, no problem.”

”...”

The customers were all very happy.

Seeing his customers happy made Li You happy as well.

’Right, I should call Liu LiangZhong and tell him everyone has chosen to go to his house to pick the peaches themselves.’

’And then I’ll call Ling Xiaoru. That girl will definitely want to go too.’

「...」

「Changle Village.」

After receiving Li You’s call, Liu LiangZhong repeatedly said it was great and no problem at all, finally saying, ”Then I’ll be waiting at home for you all to come over.”

At that moment, everyone was still eating. They had all overheard what Liu LiangZhong said on the phone.

After Liu LiangZhong hung up, Lin Quan asked, ”What’s going on, Uncle? Who’s coming over?”

”Xiaoyou, and some of his customers...”

Liu LiangZhong explained that Li You would be bringing his customers over to buy peaches that afternoon.

When Lin Quan and the other relatives heard this, their eyes all lit up.

’That chef named Li You is coming over this afternoon?’

’This is great!’

They were all very curious to see what kind of young man could make steamed sea bass taste so incredibly good.

Lin Quan was especially intrigued. He was quite interested in Li You.

Originally, he had planned to ask Liu LiangZhong to take him to see Li You’s restaurant after the meal.

Now that Li You was coming over himself, nothing could be better.

...