Chapter 86: Have Wine, Meat, and Stories to Tell

For roast duck, choose fatty; for braised duck, lean; and for salted duck, neither fatty nor lean.

It was said that the ducks raised exclusively for this establishment were fed snails and duckweed, and before slaughter, they were given osmanthus for three days. This process was believed to imbue the meat with a delicate osmanthus fragrance when served.

He Lingchuan had visited several times and admitted the ducks here were delicious, though he never detected any osmanthus flavor. But that didn't matter; a good gimmick implied sophistication, and sophistication translated to prestige.

Prestige, in turn, commanded a higher price.

Moreover, traditional meats in Blackwater City were primarily beef, lamb, chicken, and dog. Ducks, being creatures of watery environments, were rarely eaten by the locals in the past. Xiangsi Restaurant's differentiated approach quickly garnered a large following.

As soon as He Lingchuan arrived at Xiangsi Restaurant, Liu Baobao ushered him into the innermost private room.

Private rooms in Blackwater City's major restaurants were difficult to book at this time, but that was no obstacle for Liu Baobao.

Zeng Feixiong hadn't arrived yet. Liu Baobao glanced outside and asked, "Has Young Master Er not come?"

"He's only fourteen; he can't drink!"

Liu Baobao cleared his throat. "Young Master, actually, I have two other tables of guests to attend to here at Xiangsi Restaurant, which my father arranged before he left Blackwater City..." He didn't want to be neglectful, but his other dinner arrangements for the evening had long been set, making He Lingchuan the unexpected arrival.

"It's fine," He Lingchuan said, uncharacteristically accommodating today. "I'll let you go in a bit."

Before the attendant came into the private room, he picked up the wine pot himself, filled both their cups, and then offered a toast to Liu Baobao.

Liu Baobao was flattered. He quickly drank his wine before asking, "Young Master, why are you so polite?"

"Am I not usually polite?"

Liu Baobao chuckled heartily.

If this young master had ever been polite, Liu Baobao wouldn't know how to spell "thick-skinned."

He Lingchuan raised a hand, dismissing the attendant from the private room. "I have something to ask you. Do you remember a few days ago, when my father met with yours?"

Liu Baobao nodded.

His father, Liu Yang, was the head of the Liu Family Merchant Association. A few days prior, he had been summoned by Commander He, and that evening, he had dined with other political and business magnates at Hongyan Tower. He returned home beaming, indicating that both host and guests had been pleased.

"What did they talk about?"

Liu Baobao thought for a moment. "Nothing too important. Commander He mentioned that the contract for White Deer Forest expired, and the original contractor, the Lin family, intended to move. They hadn't managed it well these past few years, cutting down too many trees and replanting too few. Commander He asked if we were interested in taking over – and of course, we were!"

White Deer Forest was a government-operated asset, not a private domain. There were many such official enterprises, including mines, forests, and even large tracts of state-owned farmland. In other regions, these ventures were often contracted out to local officials' relatives, but He Chunhua always entrusted their management through a bidding process.

He had long understood that if the government managed these operations itself, efficiency would be abysmal, profits would disappear into unofficial channels, and the account books would be a mess of old, unresolvable issues.

These were lucrative positions, of course, but the Liu Family Merchant Association had never had a chance at them before. "Anything else?"

Though not old, Liu Baobao had learned the ways of business and dealing with officialdom from his father since childhood. He now said, "There's nothing to hide. My father was going to the capital for business, and Commander He asked him to deliver a message to Du Feng, the Vice Minister of the Imperial Treasury – apparently an old acquaintance of the He family. He also specifically instructed my father to visit the Du family's matriarch, Du Feng's grandmother, and tell her what happened in the Coiling Dragon Desert."

The Du family's matriarch? He Lingchuan was puzzled. "That's it?"

"That's it, nothing more." Liu Baobao didn't want to know why He Lingchuan was asking about his father's actions. "It was all very straightforward and transparent."

The two continued to drink for a while. Then Liu Baobao's personal maid approached and repeatedly gestured to him.

"Alright, go attend to your other guests," He Lingchuan said, busy gnawing on a duck head. This was another specialty of the house, first braised then roasted, perfect with wine. However, the supply was limited because not everyone would touch a duck head.

He Lingchuan had enjoyed gnawing on them in his previous world, and eating it now brought back a flood of memories.

Liu Baobao smiled and took his leave.

He Lingchuan had the leftover dishes cleared, the table tidied, and the tableware replaced. Only then did he pour himself a good wine and waited, sipping as he did so.

About a quarter of an hour later, Zeng Feixiong arrived.

As soon as he entered, he quickly apologized, explaining that he was late because he had spent some time dealing with a fight in the camp.

He Lingchuan, of course, didn't mind. He called the waiter over to list the dishes and quickly ordered ten of them.

Zeng Feixiong repeatedly said, "That's enough, that's enough! How can we eat so much?"

He Lingchuan shrugged. "Liu Baobao's paying. Are you feeling sorry for him?" He then ordered two more jars of fine wine.

Soon, delicious dishes flowed continuously onto the table.

Although Zeng Feixiong had received a generous reward from his trip to Coiling Dragon City, he was accustomed to frugality. He would hesitate for days even before buying a small piece of fat to grease a pan before the New Year. Now that his purse was bulging, at most, he would go to a tavern and have a few pots of wine he previously couldn't afford. His accompaniments for liquor also changed from simple garlic and peanuts to savory snacks like braised pig tails and fermented fish.

Xiangsi Restaurant was a place he had always wanted to visit but never dared to.

In the desert, their age difference was smaller, and they were on the same side, so Zeng Feixiong and He Lingchuan had gotten along well. However, upon returning to Blackwater City, the unspoken disparity in their statuses had subtly distanced their relationship, making Zeng Feixiong a little reserved.

This was easily remedied, however. After a dozen cups of wine, and some talk about amusing anecdotes from the desert – most importantly, a shared session of cursing that vicious little scoundrel Nian Songyu – the atmosphere in the private room became much more harmonious.

By the time Zeng Feixiong finished an entire Peking duck with half a pot of wine, the two were calling each other brothers and chatting animatedly. If not for the good soundproofing of the private room, their laughter would have carried downstairs.

"Here, try this," He Lingchuan said, personally picking up two "drumming shrimp" with communal chopsticks for him.

Xiangsi Restaurant's main dishes always found a way to relate to duck. This particular shrimp dish involved deep-frying the local, exceptionally sweet "drumming shrimp" until crispy, then coating them with salted duck egg yolk powder, which had been cooked to release its red oil. The result was an incredibly fragrant delicacy, bursting with both flavor and calories.

Normally, Zeng Feixiong would politely decline, saying something like, "Excuse me, Young Master," as a basic courtesy in official circles. But now, with flushed cheeks, he took the shrimp and ate them with relish, making crunching sounds, without saying much at all.

In contrast, He Lingchuan remained clear-headed.

The original body's high alcohol tolerance certainly made it convenient for him to ask questions later.

He guided the conversation from Nian Songyu to Sun Fuping. Together, they vehemently cursed Sun Fuping's malicious schemes, particularly his intent to slaughter over two hundred Blackwater City soldiers as human sacrifices.

Under the influence of alcohol, Zeng Feixiong's face turned red and his neck swelled as he swore. However, he eventually clutched He Lingchuan, expressing his deep gratitude to both him and his father, stating that otherwise, he would have been buried in the desert sands, with no chance to care for his father in his old age.

So, He Lingchuan naturally asked about one thing:

Sun Fuping's final moments.