Chapter 268: Warmth of One Serving of Soup Dumpling
Translator: Xiong Guoqi Editor: DesTheSloth
Then, the three people started to eat their soup dumplings. Strangely, Zhou Jia didn't charge them beforehand, but just went to serve other customers soon. She was fairly busy during the breakfast time.
"Hurry up. It's the last time we ate this. So expensive," Boss Zhao instructed immediately. Thinking of the price of 66 RMB for each, he felt a severe heartache.
"Thank you, Boss Zhao," Lin Cong and Zheng Xing looked at each other and then said in one voice.
"Now that you guys are thankful to me, eat it up quickly," said Boss Zhao, who felt that it was funny.
"Yes, sir." The two persons agreed at the same time and then looked at the soup dumplings in front of them attentively.
The almost translucent thin skin was wrapping the filling and gravy. When Lin Cong poked it with the chopsticks curiously, the skin of the soup dumpling was only dented slightly. Only then did he said in surprise, "It surprisingly didn't break."
With his carefree character, Lin Cong then picked the soup dumpling up and prepared to stuff it into his mouth.
Having picked it up at the folded part, he saw the soup dumpling directly become an umbrella shape and slightly swayed following his actions, which looked quite interesting.
"This is so funny." Lin Cong was indeed young. He was only 26 and was the youngest one among the three of them. Therefore, he was a little childish.
"Hurry up and eat it. You are way too mischievous," Zheng Xing couldn't endure him anymore, hence straightforwardly said to him.
"Indeed. The taste of the soup dumplings is absolutely extraordinary." Other customers beside them proved it true.
"I know, I know." Lin Cong answered smilingly. Only then did he put the soup dumpling into his mouth and prepared to eat.
The soup dumpling normally had plenty of thick gravy inside. The most elegant way of eating it was usually taking it to the small plate and biting a small opening on the edge, and afterwards, sipping the gravy slowly with a sound of "Slurp". The taste was really incomparably fresh and delicate.
The gravy was the quintessence of a soup dumpling. After the gravy was sipped up and the soup dumpling became slightly hollower, those who liked eating vinegar would pour some celestial vinegar into the soup dumpling and eat them together. The celestial vinegar served in Yuan Zhou’s restaurant had a genuine sour taste with a hint of sweetness.
With the filling of marbled pork inside and the chewy dough skin, the soup dumpling basically tasted extraordinarily appetizing. Even if there were ten dumplings, one would have no problem eating them up, let alone only one.
However, the careless guy Lin Cong wouldn’t eat that way. Once he picked it up, he started to eat at a gulp and then something tragic happened. "Hiss, hiss, hiss. It’s so hot."
He was immediately scalded by the hot gravy. However, as the gravy was much too delicious, he was reluctant to waste even a drop, not to mention that it was his mean superior that was treating.
He had only to hiss due to the scalding gravy and meanwhile enjoyed the superb taste. Even so, he wasn’t able to stop eating. It seemed that he was able to bear the hot gravy.
"The taste really deserves the price and is basically not worse than any other food," Zheng Xing sipped the gravy happily and meanwhile didn’t forget to praise contentedly.
"It truly is appetizing, but likewise too expensive." When Boss Zhao thought of the payment of 198 RMB later, he felt such a heartache that he almost couldn't breathe.
"Only fine food cannot disappoint." Zheng Xing looked like a goody-goody, nevertheless he didn't show mercy at all while setting others up.
It was him who had proposed having the breakfast in Yuan Zhou's restaurant yesterday. Boss Zhao had quite a good memory about that.
At the other side, Lin Cong straightforwardly drank up the gravy inside of the soup dumpling, without any elegance.
"The way you eat makes you unable to savor the genuine delicacy. If you eat that way, how will you eat the remaining insipid pork and dough skin?" Zheng Xing said with an expression of pity on his face.
The good taste of the soup dumpling could only be better revealed under the condition that it was eaten along with the gravy.
"It’s originally a dumpling. Since the gravy tastes so good, the remaining parts are definitely not bad, either." Lin Cong was nevertheless quite confident.
"As you please." Boss Zhao also poured the vinegar leisurely into the soup dumpling and prepared to gulp it down.
With such a high price, he would rather eat it slowly, which was contrary to Lin Cong who ate the soup dumpling like a pig gulping the valuable ginseng fruits.
"I feel it's also tasty to eat it that way." While speaking, Lin Cong directly swallowed up the entire soup dumpling, of which the gravy had naturally been sipped up.
The size of the dough skin was far bigger than that of the filling. Only in that way could it wrap the plenty amount of the gravy. What Zheng Xing had meant just now was that Lin Cong could savor only the taste of the dough skin in the end if he ate that way since the skin was much bigger.
"Ba Ji, Ba Ji" Lin Cong then started to chew.
After a simple bite, he straightway bit open the oblate filling, from which the gravy burst out right away. Then he chewed it again. The filling was soft, tender, fresh and sweet and besides, had the natural fragrance of pork. Eaten along with the chewy dough skin, it became another different texture.
Zheng Xing’s worry about the dull taste of dough skin absolutely didn’t come true. It turned out that there was more gravy inside of soup dumpling. The gravy was mixed with the filling. When he bit open the filling, the fresh and delicate taste was then released.
"Yum-yum. So delicious." Lin Cong said with great satisfaction.
"The delicate sour taste increases the appetite while the dough skin was extremely chewy. It’s the best, the best of soup dumplings." Zheng Xing set down the chopsticks and revealed an expression of satisfaction.
"Yeah, exactly. It’s indeed tasty." Boss Zhao said that rather sincerely this time, although he still felt heartache because of the price. After all, his wife didn’t give him much pocket money and after the meal, it reduced by half.
"Check, please, little girl." Lin Cong said proactively. But that was because he didn’t pay.
"Your bill has been paid by others," Zhou Jia went up and said courteously.
"Great! I don’t need to pay.... Wait, who paid for that?" Boss Zhao first got relieved and then asked with puzzlement.
"Who has paid for the meal?" Lin Cong was startled in his heart, but still asked with puzzlement.
"Yeah, yeah. We don't know anyone here," Zheng Xing looked around for a circle and said affirmatively.
"Don't you know they require payment first before serving the meal?" a customer asked curiously.
"Payment first?" Boss Zhao thought for a while. They were just the first several customers and indeed no one had ever been here prior to them. Who exactly would it be that paid for the meal?
"Boss, is it you?" Lin Cong suddenly looked at Yuan Zhou and asked.
Judging from what he said, he definitely didn't know the famous Compass. Even if the sun rose from the north, it was impossible for Yuan Zhou to treat and offer the meal for free.
"No, not me. I even don't know you guys," Yuan Zhou denied immediately.
"Who else would it be?" Zheng Xing was also curious about that.
"I can't tell you," answered Yuan Zhou straightforwardly.
"You seem to know something." Boss Zhao stared at Yuan Zhou firmly.
"Yes, I know. But I can't tell you," said Yuan Zhou deservedly.
"Then you might as well say you don't know," said Lin Cong in anger.
"Why would I tell lies?" Yuan Zhou asked back with puzzlement.
"Er, well..." Lin Cong choked. Although his dishes were delicious, the boss nevertheless seemed to be a little stupid.
In the end, it was still Yuan Zhou who finally said in a way he himself believed to be kind, "That granny might know something." Yuan Zhou signaled to them the granny who was selling the steamed buns outside the restaurant.
Then the three people stood up and left. Of course, Yuan Zhou kept the secret as he had promised. For example, he didn't tell them that half of the meal was paid by him. After all, there wasn't any discount for this dish right now.
Due to some special reasons, the three people needed to know who treated them to the meal. Naturally, they asked the granny about that.
And the granny was just the one that swept the ground at Yuan Zhou's entrance early every morning, hence she heard Yuan Zhou talk with the girl earlier in the morning. And because of her work, she indeed knew Huang Ling.
"It's a girl called Huang Ling who treats you guys to the meal. She's a hardworking girl and also does the cleaning in this street," the granny said candidly.
"Thank you. Do you know where she lives?" asked Zheng Xing carefully.
"In the building over there," the granny said that while pointing at the opposite direction of their car.
"No problem," said Lin Cong with a low voice. After that, Boss Zhao thanked the granny again and again and brought the other two away.
"Do we need to check the matter?" asked Zheng Xing.
"No need. It's just a small case. We have more important work to do now," Boss Zhao smoothed his knitted brows and then said.
"The soup dumplings today made me feel fairly warm," Lin Cong sighed with emotion.
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