In Ocean King City’s largest tavern, Jun Changxiao sat in a high-grade private room and began chatting idly with Liu Sinan. Those unaware might think the two were old friends.
Before long.
Plates of delicacies were brought up.
Because it was a coastal city, the cuisine was primarily seafood-based.
Liu Sinan closed his eyes and drew a breath, praising: “I’ve long heard people say Ocean King City’s seafood feast is unparalleled in the upper realm. Now just smelling the fragrance, one can see it’s well-deserved!”
“Is Brother Liu a gourmet?” Jun Changxiao said.
“I dare not claim to be a gourmet.” Liu Sinan said with considerable modesty: “Just ordinarily particularly fond of good food, enjoying tasting the world’s delicacies.”
Experts could avoid starving without eating, but who wouldn’t want to eat delicious things?
“Please.”
“Please.”
The two men exchanged pleasantries and began tasting the seafood feast.
The eating process won’t be described, lest the instant noodles in your bowls suddenly lose their appeal.
“Excellent!”
“Excellent!”
Liu Sinan ate while praising unceasingly.
“Sigh.”
Jun Changxiao put down his chopsticks, picked up a napkin to wipe his mouth, his face showing a disappointed expression.
“Here it comes!”
The system said: “The drama king is about to perform!”
Liu Sinan asked with considerable puzzlement: “Sect Master Jun, why have you stopped eating? Could it be you don’t like seafood?”
“Sigh.”
Jun Changxiao first sighed, then stood up and pointed at the table full of seafood, saying indignantly: “Such good ingredients, yet cooked so terribly—truly wasting heaven’s bounty!”
“……”
Liu Sinan was dumbfounded.
The seafood feast here was quite good. How could it be terrible?
Even if it wasn’t to his taste, there was no need to get angry. Could this fellow’s pickiness about food have reached a terrifying degree?
“Brother Liu.”
Jun Changxiao said: “You might think my mouth is finicky. In fact, this tavern’s chefs completely don’t understand cooking. The food they make is both terrible and soulless!”
“……”
Liu Sinan’s mouth corner twitched slightly.
He only knew food was delicious or not delicious. He’d completely never heard it must also have soul.
“Not eating anymore!”
Jun Changxiao flung his chopsticks down and sat down huffily.
Liu Sinan suppressed his voice: “Sect Master Jun, a table of seafood feast costs at least ten thousand Profound Stones. Not eating would be wasteful.”
“Brother Liu, please rest assured.”
Jun Changxiao said: “This meal is my treat. Wasteful is wasteful.”
Hearing the two words “my treat,” Liu Sinan truly felt relieved, picked up his chopsticks and smiled: “Then I’ll continue eating.”
“Snap!”
Jun Changxiao retrieved a bowl of fried rice from his spatial ring, saying: “Brother Liu eat seafood. I’ll eat what I brought myself.”
“This is?”
Liu Sinan looked puzzled.
Jun Changxiao said: “Fried rice made by the sect’s chef.”
“……”
Liu Sinan felt somewhat dizzy.
Not eating the valuable seafood feast, instead eating fried rice resembling dry rations—was this fellow sick?
“Brother Liu.”
Jun Changxiao asked: “Do you want a portion?”
“No no!”
Liu Sinan hastily said seriously: “I’ll eat the seafood feast first, lest it can’t be finished and gets wasted.”
On one side was king lobster, emperor crab and other precious delicacies. On the other side was cold fried rice. As long as one’s brain hadn’t been kicked by a donkey, anyone would know what to choose to eat.
“Alright then.”
Jun Changxiao picked up chopsticks to eat the fried rice, his mouth smacking loudly.
Liu Sinan completely opened his appetite, eating the table’s delicacies in large mouthfuls, but occasionally glancing over to see the other person eating with even more happiness than himself, he couldn’t help muttering internally: “Can this stuff compare to a seafood feast?”
“Ah!”
After a moment, Jun Changxiao leaned back in his chair, used his hand to pick off stuck rice grains and stuff them in his mouth, closing his eyes to savor carefully, saying: “This is true delicacy, this has absolute soul!”
“……”
Liu Sinan’s mouth corner twitched.
A fellow eating who-knows-how-many-nights-old fried rice actually ate it to a soul level—his brain definitely has problems!
“Brother Liu, come, drink a mouthful!”
“Come!”
After drinking a cup of wine, Jun Changxiao continued eating, his mouth making very loud sounds, his manner also very contented.
Liu Sinan was immediately infected, feeling the seafood on the table had lost its appeal!
“Brother Liu, why have you stopped eating?”
“……”
Liu Sinan truly couldn’t stand it anymore and weakly asked: “Sect Master Jun, is this fried rice really very delicious?”
“Of course.”
Jun Changxiao said: “Any flowery words cannot describe it!”
Seeing him speak so exaggeratedly, Liu Sinan became even more curious internally, so he smiled: “Could you give me a bowl?”
“Sigh.”
The system said helplessly: “Still fell for it.”
“Alright.”
Jun Changxiao retrieved a bowl of fried rice from his spatial ring and pushed it over.
Liu Sinan lowered his head, carefully examining the fried rice, feeling somewhat disappointed internally, because just from the color, it was obviously quite old.
What were the standards for delicious food? Complete in color, aroma, and taste.
Although the fried rice’s color was still golden due to being overnight, it was obviously much dimmer.
As for the taste… Liu Sinan leaned over and sniffed—completely smelled nothing. He immediately concluded internally that this bowl of fried rice’s purpose was at most to fill the stomach, absolutely not any delicacy.
Why did Sect Master Jun eat so fragrantly?
If he hadn’t guessed wrong, this person’s sense of taste was severely deficient!
“Brother Liu.”
Jun Changxiao said: “Eat it while it’s hot.”
This fried rice was clearly cold—eat it hot my ass!
Liu Sinan was after all a person with cultivation. Although somewhat regretful internally, he still picked up a spoon.
Right.
For eating fried rice, spoons have more soul than chopsticks!
From this small detail one could tell Liu Sinan was indeed a gourmet.
Thinking again of Jun Changxiao’s manner of picking up the bowl, using chopsticks to forcefully shovel fried rice into his mouth—no wonder… he ate with such relish, ate so enviably!
One small spoonful, placed in mouth.
Even though he’d already concluded the fried rice could only fill the stomach, Liu Sinan still savored carefully like a gentleman, because he understood the principle that every grain on the plate came through hard work.
Chew and chew.
Chewed to Grandmother’s Bridge, chewed to youth…
A simple small courtyard. A young woman wearing an apron stood at the kitchen door calling: “Brother Nan, the meal is ready.”
“Wait a moment!”
“Hmph, only knows to focus on cultivation!”
After another while, the young woman called again: “Brother Nan, the food is all cold!”
“Wait a moment!”
After urging several times, the young man finally walked out, casually ate a few bites with chopsticks regardless of whether the food was hot or cold, then continued cultivating.
This kind of life continued for a long time, until one stormy evening, until the cooking young woman lay in his arms barely breathing, still not forgetting to smile: “After… after I’m gone, remember… to eat on time…”
“Swish!”
Liu Sinan suddenly returned from the past, lowered his head looking at that bowl of cold fried rice. Manly tears fell from his cheeks, because the ice-cold fried rice made him think of his beloved, think of his own failure to cherish her.
This lifetime’s greatest regret was being too immersed in martial dao ordinarily, neglecting the woman who cared for him meticulously, until after she left did he suddenly awaken, until wanting to eat her cooking again became completely impossible.
Back to the main topic.
How did the fried rice taste?
No longer important, because whether delicious or not, it evoked Liu Sinan’s past, making him recall the taste of hurriedly eating while busy with cultivation back then.
“This man.”
Looking at the stone coffin leaning nearby, Jun Changxiao thought secretly: “Definitely has a sad story.”
“Obviously.”
The system retorted: “Without a story, how could you get a chance to poach him.”