"Mom, is that uncle not answering our call?" In a room that was very simply decorated, so simple that there was nothing to be seen except for a bed, a girl slightly older than the impoverished sword hugged her mother, who couldn't help but shed bitter tears.
Let's get back to the main story and focus on Guhan. In the entire Yuzhang base city, there weren't many restaurants that could openly serve pork, and the most famous was probably a pork specialty store called Chanel. Legend has it that a thousand years ago, Chanel was already a well-known luxury store overseas.
"Is there anything more expensive than a pound of natural pork in this world? No. So, a thousand years ago, Chanel must have sold pork." This was the opinion of a certain historical research expert.
However, Chanel was a very down-to-earth luxury pork store. When it opened for business at 11:00 AM, the store was already packed with people eager to eat pork. Guhan was only twenty minutes late, and there were almost no seats left in the entire store.
"Mr. Guhan, welcome. However, I'm very sorry, as you can see, there are no empty seats left. Could you...?" After scanning Guhan's personal terminal and discovering he was a citizen, the staff member's attitude became much more respectful. In this base city, no one in the citizen category was easy to deal with.
"Do you mean we should leave, or wait here?" Guhan didn't mind waiting, but the little impoverished girl in his arms was already drooling at his fingers. If they waited any longer, she might bite a piece of flesh from him to taste.
"No, no, no, I mean, could you share a table with other guests?" The waiter said cautiously. Many citizens were very arrogant, and when they heard the suggestion to share a table, they would immediately act arrogantly and scold the waiter harshly. If it weren't for the fear of the background of the Hengshan Sect behind Chanel, some would have overturned the table.
"That's fine... as long as you serve the dishes quickly, my little sword maiden is almost starving!" Guhan tapped the cute little nose of the impoverished sword, indicating that this was his little sword maiden.
"Ah, a respected sword wielder!" The waiter took a deep breath, becoming even more respectful, almost bending over to lead Guhan to a table where only one person was sitting.
Sitting at this table was a burly man, his casual shirt pulled up to his chest, revealing a round beer belly. One foot was resting on a chair next to him, and his posture was no different from that of a thug. There were no dishes on the table yet, but there were already two empty beer bottles... drinking beer on an empty stomach, this man was indeed a tough guy.
"Hey, a cute boy! Come, come, come, have a drink with Uncle!" The burly man said casually. He looked to be in his thirties, more than enough to be Guhan's uncle.
"You, how can you have no manners at all!" Before Guhan could get angry, the waiter was already scolding the man. "This is a noble sword wielder, a hero who fights for the future of humanity. Unlike you, who just drinks and is useless..."
"Sir Guhan, don't mind him. I'll find you someone else to share a table with, don't sit with this vulgar person." The waiter tried to pull Guhan away.
"No, no, no! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The burly man quickly apologized, grabbing Guhan's collar. "Hehe, I didn't recognize you, Sir. I'll buy you a drink, how about a genuine Shaoxing Daughter Red?"
Is there still genuine Shaoxing Daughter Red these days? The location of Shaoxing is still debated by geographers, and the Shaoxing Daughter Red on the market is said to be made by the descendants of the Shaoxing family using a machine.
"Guhan, I'm hungry! I'm hungry!" The smell of pork around her made the impoverished girl's mouth water uncontrollably. She couldn't wait to sit down and eat a big piece of meat and didn't want to walk any further.
"Alright, let's sit here. Just serve the dishes quickly!" Guhan didn't care about the burly man and didn't want to wait any longer, so he sat down opposite him.
"Alright, what would you like to order, Sir? How many pounds of meat? Artificial or natural?"
"Introduce me to your dishes, what do you have?"
"Sure thing!" The waiter tapped on his personal terminal, and pictures of delicious dishes appeared in the air.
"There are three must-order dishes when you come to our Chanel. These three dishes are our specialties, and everyone who eats them says they're great! First, this steamed pork with rice flour, made from the most tender and juicy pork belly, steamed with rice flour, lotus root, and taro. The meat is fatty but not greasy, with a prominent sauce flavor, a perfect balance of salt and sweetness, and a lingering aftertaste!"
"Next, look at this picture, the fillet pork chop. This is made from the finest fillet loin, marinated with white wine, butter, and other seasonings. It's a heavenly delicacy that will make you want to eat more after just one bite!"
"The last one is the most amazing! The legendary Dongpo Pork, passed down from the ancient sage Su Dongpo. Legend has it that one day, Su Dongpo saw an eagle chasing a pigeon. Feeling pity, he told the eagle to let the pigeon go, as it was a life too. The eagle refused, saying that if it let the pigeon go, it would starve to death. Was the pigeon's life worth more than its own?"
"Su Dongpo, being a great sage, said, 'How about this, I'll cut off my own flesh for you to eat in exchange for the pigeon's life?' The eagle agreed, and it found seasonings like firewood, rice, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea. After Su Dongpo cut off his flesh, they cooked it together, creating the famous Dongpo Pork!"
"What happened next? What happened next?" The impoverished girl, captivated by the story, asked eagerly.
"Later, the eagle and the pigeon lived happily together!"
"What about Su Dongpo?"
"Su Dongpo, having cut off so much flesh, naturally died!" It was a setup, the story of the eagle and the pigeon was full of tricks.
"Wow, I want to eat Dongpo Pork! I want to eat Dongpo Pork!" After hearing this touching story, the impoverished girl developed a strong liking for Dongpo Pork and insisted on eating it.
"Waiter, give me one of each: steamed pork with rice flour, fillet pork chop, and Dongpo Pork. Add some side dishes and two bowls of rice!" Guhan shook his head with a bitter smile. According to the information he found, the one who cut his flesh to feed the eagle was Ximen Qing, not Su Dongpo.
"Would you like artificial or natural meat?" The waiter asked again.
"What's the price for artificial? What about natural?"
"The artificial is 50 RMB per pound, and the natural is 800 RMB per pound. How many pounds of natural pork would you like?" The waiter's words set the tone for natural meat.
"Natural! Natural! The impoverished girl wants natural!" Fine, no need for Guhan to choose, the impoverished girl had already made her choice. Guhan nodded helplessly, "One pound of each!" He only had a little over 2000 RMB left in his personal terminal, just enough for three pounds of meat.
The waiter happily went to the kitchen, leaving Guhan, the impoverished girl, and the burly man who was drinking beer. The burly man finished a large glass of beer and leaned in mysteriously to the impoverished girl, whispering, "Little sword maiden, don't be fooled by that waiter. The one who cut his flesh to feed the eagle wasn't Su Dongpo, but Wang Anshi!"
---
The dishes ordered by Guhan and the burly man arrived almost simultaneously. Guhan had arrived ten minutes later than the burly man, but the kitchen had clearly expedited his order.
Guhan didn't touch the three meat dishes, only eating some pickled radish with two bowls of rice. The impoverished girl, however, looked very dominant. Because she was too short, she stood on Guhan's legs, holding a large piece of steamed pork with one chopstick and a piece of Dongpo Pork in her other hand, shoving them into her mouth one after the other.
It was clear that the burly man wanted to chat with Guhan. While eating, he kept trying to make small talk, but Guhan ignored him, focusing on his meal. This made the burly man very bored.
Three pounds of meat! For an adult, that was a huge amount. After eating three pounds of meat, there was hardly any room left in the stomach. But not for the impoverished girl. Despite being a little girl, three pounds of meat were not enough to fill her. After finishing the last piece of steamed pork, she reached out her greasy hand to Guhan's face, "Guhan, I want more! I want more!"
"Wait!" Guhan quickly caught the little girl's hand before it reached his face. "No money... no time to eat more. We still need to buy clothes. Clean your hands, and we'll leave."
"No, I want more meat!" The impoverished girl pouted, her hands trying to scratch Guhan.
"Waiter! Another three pounds of Dongpo Pork!" Suddenly, the burly man shouted, startling the nearby waiter.
"Sure thing, coming right up!" The waiter went to place the order with a smile. The burly man patted the table, "Little sword maiden, come chat with Uncle Luo. Uncle Luo will buy you more meat!"
"Okay! Uncle Luo! Uncle Luo is so nice!" She immediately started chatting happily with Uncle Luo... as the saying goes, where there's meat, there's a mother.