Chapter 92: Eastward Fortune

With a mere thought, he bored a tiny hole in the bottom of their little boat and then watched them in silence.

Beside him, Spring Bell Orchid tried to pull Xiao Weiguo away, but he said to her, “Let’s wait a little longer. For all we know, their boat might capsize in a moment.”

Spring Bell Orchid thought to herself, impossible.

Yet just then, Zheng Xiangqin suddenly began shrieking on the boat. Looking closely, they saw that water was gushing through a hole in the bottom, and the little craft was rapidly taking in water. It looked as though it might sink at any moment.

Panic seized Zheng Xiangqin at once, and she cried out at the top of her lungs for help.

She did not know how to swim. How had a perfectly good boat suddenly sprung a leak?

Seeing the situation, another boat quickly paddled over and took Zheng Xiangqin and the others aboard one by one.

Then it hurried back toward the shore.

Xiao Weiguo had refused to leave mainly because he wanted to see how things ended. If no one rescued them, he would have had to go into the water himself.

A foul mouth could be answered with a prank, but not with death.

Watching the heavily overloaded boat finally make it to shore, and seeing that there was no more excitement to watch, Xiao Weiguo at last led Spring Bell Orchid away from the lake.

Spring Bell Orchid was overjoyed to see Zheng Xiangqin, who always bullied her, suffer like that. On the way, she laughed so hard she broke into a giggle.

Seeing her so happy, Xiao Weiguo felt happy too.

If he had a special ability, he ought to use it when he could. There was no point in waiting until it expired. Besides, it had been nothing more than a simple prank.

As for the boat that had gone to the bottom, he did not know how it would be handled. Would the women have to pay compensation, or would the scenic area, because of the safety hazard, compensate them instead?

After wandering through nearly the entire zoo, the two of them headed for the exit and prepared to leave.

On the way back, the boy and the girl rode their bicycles beneath the golden glow of the setting sun, while laughter and chatter seemed to bloom along both sides of the road as they moved steadily onward.

“Let me treat you to dinner today,” Spring Bell Orchid said after they had ridden to a street very near his home and she asked him to stop. “You treated me last time, after all.”

“Sure. I feel like I could eat a whole ox,” Xiao Weiguo said, feeling how empty his stomach was.

He had eaten a little at noon, but it had not been a proper meal. At their age, snacks were never enough to fill them up, no matter how much they ate.

Spring Bell Orchid tilted her head, thought for a moment, and said, “Then how about Universal Duck or East Comes First? I wanted to take you to Old Moscow, but that place needs advance reservations.”

Xiao Weiguo was astonished when the little rich girl opened her mouth and immediately named two of the most famous restaurants in the old capital.

No matter the era, those places held a lofty place in the hearts of people across the country.

And as for Old Moscow, the only Western restaurant in the capital opened by Russians, its popularity was simply extraordinary.

“Do we really need to go somewhere so expensive? Why don’t we go back to the August First Hotel like last time?” Xiao Weiguo suggested.

“No, no, no, just pick one of those two. I want to treat you properly, Weiguo, and thank you for taking me out today.” Spring Bell Orchid raised her head and looked into his eyes, waiting for him to choose between the two.

After thinking it over and weighing which of the two would be cheaper, Xiao Weiguo said, “Then East Comes First. I’m in the mood for copper-pot lamb hotpot.”

“Great, then East Comes First it is today.” Spring Bell Orchid mounted her bicycle and pedaled off toward the restaurant.

Seeing how fast the girl was going, Xiao Weiguo shouted, “Wait for me!”

Then he pushed hard on the pedals and chased after her.

The restaurant was decorated in an old-fashioned style, and above the main entrance hung the words Restaurant of East Comes First.

Once they entered, it was just dinnertime, and the place was bustling with people. The waitstaff moved nonstop from table to table, bringing out all kinds of sliced lamb and side dishes.

A cheerful server ushered Xiao Weiguo and Spring Bell Orchid to a table, then asked, “Today, would you like fatty, lean, or something in between?”

Xiao Weiguo grew interested and asked, “Is there a difference? This is our first time here.”

“Then you’ve come to the right place. Let me explain. We only use lamb from the west-gate small-tail breed, and we choose only lambs weighing between thirty-five and forty-two jin. If you like fatty meat, we serve the small three-point cut. If you prefer lean meat, we serve the top shoulder cut. If you want something neither too fatty nor too lean, we serve the large three-point cut. I guarantee you’ll come back for more after trying it.”

It was the first time Xiao Weiguo had heard there was such an art to it. He had always known that East Comes First’s lamb hotpot was something special, so he said, “Then bring us the middle one, the one that isn’t too fatty or too lean. Let’s start with six plates, and add some side dishes. We’ll begin with that.”

Spring Bell Orchid only smiled beside him, watching him speak with the waiter. No matter what they ate, she had already decided she would pay for it today.

“Right away. Please wait a moment,” the waiter said, immediately turning to prepare the ingredients. Then he pointed toward the condiments and added, “You may mix your own dipping sauce.”

Xiao Weiguo got up and went to the condiment counter. The selection was quite rich: premium soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil from a stone mill, fermented tofu, raw sesame paste, cooked sesame paste, chive-blossom paste, shrimp oil, chili oil, Sichuan pepper oil, cooking wine, sweet pickled garlic, cabbage hearts, tender mustard greens, salted chives, cilantro, sour cabbage, vermicelli, frozen tofu, and more.

Xiao Weiguo mixed a bowl to suit his own taste. Then, when he turned to ask Spring Bell Orchid what flavor she wanted, he noticed that she had already gone to the cashier and was paying. It seemed this place required payment in advance.

When she came back, Xiao Weiguo again said he could mix something for her if she wanted.

Spring Bell Orchid said, “No need. I can mix it myself. You sit down quickly and get ready to eat.”

Soon enough, Spring Bell Orchid returned carrying a bowl loaded with chili. Xiao Weiguo was quite surprised; he had not expected her to handle heat so well.

Not long after that, the copper pot, six plates of sliced lamb, and the side dishes were all brought out.

The two of them were truly hungry, and they made no pretense of politeness. Xiao Weiguo dropped in two plates of meat at once, gave them a brief swish, lifted them out, and ate.

As he lowered the meat, he watched the slices in his chopsticks: thin as paper, straight as thread, the fat glistening like crystal, white and delicate, with a bright, flowerlike sheen.

Once plunged into the broth, they cooked almost instantly. When eaten, they were fragrant and tender, neither gamey nor greasy, and exceptionally delicious. If he had to describe them in one word, it would be “fresh.”

Neither of them had time to talk; they simply kept eating.

By the end, after nearly finishing all six plates of meat, Xiao Weiguo finally felt as though he had come back to life.

Sometimes, truly good food can make a person feel as though they have been born again.

At the end, the waiter brought them two bowls of mung bean mixed noodles, explaining that the noodles could absorb the grease. One bowl would soak up the floating oil in the hotpot and also remove the oily taste from the mouth.

After everything was eaten, Xiao Weiguo leaned back in his chair and did not move a muscle.

Spring Bell Orchid, however, was still eating vegetables at the end. A girl’s appetite was truly baffling; she seemed as though she could keep eating forever.