Yu Yue and her classmates looked over Qiongye Restaurant and couldn't help feeling speechless. The exterior decoration of this place was a bit too shabby.
Other agritainments, if not surrounded by mountains and rivers, at least had flowers and grass, a couple of rockeries, and a couple of swings, making them look somewhat distinctive.
Yet this agritainment, were it not for the sign, looked no different from an ordinary residential house.
Stepping into the lobby, it was even shabbier, without even a menu to be found. It didn't feel like a proper restaurant at all.
Yu Yue hesitated about whether to leave, but her classmates had already followed her inside, and on top of that, a waiter with dyed yellow hair was quite enthusiastic, either pouring water or pushing tables together.
Being a student after all, she didn't have thick enough skin and felt too embarrassed to leave just like that.
She no longer held any expectations for the taste of the food; she only hoped they wouldn't overcharge too ruthlessly, or else Qi Cong would definitely make sarcastic remarks later.
"Boss, what kind of dishes do you have here?" Yu Yue asked with some apprehension.
Bai Mengmeng patted her head and hurriedly found a blackboard: "I've been too busy these past two days. The dishes at our place aren't fixed. This is today's menu, have a look first."
Since the agritainment didn't have any other cooks, Uncle Xu could only help out, and coupled with the fact that the source of ingredients wasn't fixed, they naturally couldn't let guests order whatever they wanted, let alone have that much money to prepare ingredients in advance.
Therefore, Bai Mengmeng could only prepare two main dishes, two side dishes, plus one staple food and one soup based on the ingredients available in the shop, letting the guests choose.
In this way, ingredients could be prepared in advance, allowing them to serve meals quickly once guests arrived.
So on the small blackboard, only a few dishes were listed: water dropwort with cured pork, scallion oil chicken, braised beef, shredded pork and green vegetable soup, wild vegetable salad with dried bean curd, and shepherd's purse fresh pork wontons.
Compared to market prices, the items on the blackboard were noticeably more expensive.
Qi Cong immediately became displeased: "Your shop is way too shabby, and there are way too few dishes. Look at this decoration of yours, it's hideously ugly. How do you even have the nerve to open a restaurant like this?"
"Smack!"
Liang Cha slammed the book in his hand onto the ground and stood up abruptly.
He tried his utmost to suppress the anger in his heart. After all, Bai Mengmeng had repeatedly urged him to restrain himself, and it wasn't easy to say much lately, so he just glared fiercely at the group.
Everyone turned their heads in unison, but the scene of being intimidated by his imposing aura, as they had imagined, did not happen.
The girls' eyes lit up one after another.
"This young man is so handsome, and his features are so refined. I didn't even notice him under the counter just now."
"Oh my, what a pity. If only I had been born a few years later."
"With a handsome guy like this, meals must taste so much better!"
Ignoring Qi Cong completely, Yu Yue and several others said, "Boss, bring out the food! We'll take everything on the blackboard, and make a few extra portions of wontons."
Bai Mengmeng never expected that this business transaction would actually rely on Liang Cha's face. Smiling all over, she nodded at him and then walked into the kitchen.
Qi Cong wore a look of utter reluctance: "That brat is too arrogant, and he even dared to glare at me! Let's go eat somewhere else!"
"Aren't you to blame for that stinky mouth of yours? You won't even let people get angry?"
"You're a grown adult, and you're still bickering with a kid? The handsome young man is clearly not even of age yet."
"How is my mouth stinky? If you want to eat, you guys can eat by yourselves. Anyway, I will absolutely not eat the food at this restaurant!"
Everyone couldn't be bothered to pay attention to him, their minds entirely focused on Liang Cha.
Some even wanted to take sneaky photos with their phones, but after being caught by Liang Cha, they could only offer an awkward smile.
Before long, the cold dishes were served.
Everyone was already hungry and dug in with large mouthfuls.
Yu Yue ate a couple of pieces of beef and felt the flavor was quite good.
"What is this?"
"It's green. Malantou, probably. It smells so fragrant."
Yu Yue was a bit surprised; Malantou shouldn't be anything special, and in restaurants, this was just an ordinary cold dish.
As a result, after taking a bite, a fresh fragrance instantly burst forth in her mouth, crisp and refreshing, as if tasting the flavor of spring!
In an instant, she cast her gaze toward the other dishes.
Not long after, the main dish was also served. A large plate of scallion oil chicken, golden in color, instantly stimulated everyone's appetite.
The chicken had been bought from the market in the morning and pre-boiled; when making the dish, they just needed to chop it into pieces and mix it with scallion oil.
The dish itself was ordinary; the key lay in the scallion oil, which was meticulously rendered from wild scallions dug up on the mountain.
The more they ate, the more fragrant it became, until finally they started fighting over it. After all, although the portion of scallion oil chicken wasn't small, there were many of them.
Yu Yue snatched a piece of chicken breast. Although the meat was a bit tough, the scallion oil was simply too fragrant!
She had eaten this dish many times, and the scallion oil usually tasted more or less the same since there wasn't much room for variation with this dish. Yet the one she tasted today had a rich aroma and a unique texture, making this otherwise mediocre, and even somewhat stringy, chicken meat exceptionally enticing.
There were only a few dishes to begin with, and with seven or eight of them, demand far exceeded supply. After fighting over the food for a bit, they finished it all very quickly.
Exchanging glances, everyone felt awkward and could only lower their heads to play with their phones, quietly waiting for the rest of the dishes to be served.
Qi Cong, on the other hand, hadn't touched his chopsticks from start to finish, seeming truly determined to starve rather than open his mouth.
Amidst everyone's expectant gazes, Wang Hao brought out another plate of food.
It was stir-fried cured pork with water dropwort, shredded pork and water dropwort soup, as well as several plates of wontons.
By this time, Yu Yue couldn't care about anything else. She directly picked up a large amount of white water dropwort, put it all into her bowl, and planned to savor it slowly.
This white water dropwort was indeed extraordinary—crisp and juicy. Even more delightfully, pairing it with the cured pork produced an unexpected effect.
The fresh texture blended with a light sweetness, and the two flavors merged exceptionally well, making it even more delicious than the previous scallion oil chicken.
Everyone ate the wontons hurriedly and drank the soup in big gulps. For a moment, nothing could be heard except the sound of eating.
Once everyone was full, they couldn't help discussing it.
"Have you guys noticed that everyone in this shop is so good-looking?"
"You came here to eat, not on a blind date. I think the food at this agritainment is simply amazing. I never expected such a shabby little shop to have this kind of culinary skill."
"Are we just too hungry, which is why we think this food is exceptionally delicious? How come every single dish feels extra tasty? I even forgot to take pictures today!"
"I feel like the stir-fried water dropwort with cured pork is the best. And why is this celery white? It's truly so fresh and delicious!"
Qi Cong couldn't help swallowing hard, his face full of disdain: "You guys really went to great lengths just to make me regret it. You're acting quite well, but laying it on this thick is disgusting, and I'm not going to fall for it."
Yu Yue was momentarily speechless. Looking at Qi Cong, she didn't know what to say.
This guy was being way too full of himself. Did he really think all of them teamed up just to put on an act for him?
To put it mildly, he was not only arrogant, but also lacked the palate to enjoy good food.