249: Chapter 249 Yellow River Carp

The service at Huanghe Hotel is quite particular. Waiters stood one after another, forming a line from the private room door to the table. Dishes were taken from a small cart at the door and passed along from one waiter to the next until they reached the table.

Since ancient times, the Jiangnan region has been a land of fish and rice, rich in produce. As people's lives became more prosperous, they naturally had the means to explore culinary arts, leading to the emergence of many local dishes. On the table were stir-fried rice cakes with crab, shrimp stir-fried with tea leaves, sweet and sour yellow croaker, Beggar's Chicken, osmanthus duck, squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, Dongpo pork... Each was a famous dish representing the local Legacy. Of course, the most eye-catching was the massive Huanghe Carp placed in the center of the table. This was the signature dish of Huanghe Hotel. The carp was prepared in a way that kept its shape intact before being deep-fried. Once fried, the whole carp took on a golden hue. The chef then drew inspiration from squirrel-shaped mandarin fish and West Lake vinegar fish, drizzling it with raw vinegar and coating it in freshly squeezed tomato salad. Thus, the Huanghe Hotel's signature dish, the Huanghe Carp, was complete.

The large carp, fried to a golden, crispy perfection, combined with the vibrant red tomato sauce, was visually and aromatically enticing, making everyone present salivate.

Chen Mo swallowed his saliva, suppressing his hunger. He was clearly starving, but out of social anxiety, he waited until he saw other classmates pick up their chopsticks to start before he followed suit. He stretched out his arm and plucked a large piece of fish meat from the belly of the Huanghe Carp.

Looking at the meat—the skin fried golden and crispy, but the inside tender and delicate—and catching the pungent aroma of vinegar wafting from it, Chen Mo felt his salivary glands go into overdrive.

Chen Mo immediately put the large piece of fish into his mouth, closing his eyes to savor the deliciousness of this signature dish from the most expensive restaurant in Jiangnan. However, to his surprise, after just one chew, he had to stop. His eyes squeezed shut even tighter, and his features contorted as if he were wearing a mask of pain.

"Here, drink some water, drink some water." Ye Chen, sitting next to him, handed him a cup of tea, a gloating smile on his face. Clearly, he had anticipated that Chen Mo would react this way after eating the Huanghe Carp.

Immersed in the painful experience of tasting the Huanghe Carp, Chen Mo's eyes remained tightly shut, so he naturally missed the gloating smile on Ye Chen's face. He simply took the tea, tilted his head back, and downed all the water. He didn't dare to chew the piece of fish in his mouth a second time, swallowing it whole along with the tea.

Fortunately, while the taste experience of the Huanghe Carp was shocking, the ingredient itself had been handled quite well. Before the fish was coated in flour and deep-fried, the chef had removed all the small bones from the meat. Thus, when Chen Mo gulped down that large piece of fish, he didn't have to worry about choking on a fish bone.

As for the other classmates, they weren't faring any better. When the dish was served, the waiter had introduced it as the signature dish of Huanghe Hotel, so most of them had targeted it first with their chopsticks, eager to see what made the signature dish of the most expensive restaurant in Jiangnan so special. However, the moment the fish entered their mouths, everyone's reaction was more or less the same—like biting into an unripe, wild green apricot without warning. A sour and bitter taste instantly filled their mouths. Every student who ate the Huanghe Carp wore an expression of pain, forcing themselves to endure the torment this signature dish inflicted on their palates. Mixed with this pain was a degree of shock and confusion, for they had imagined what the Huanghe Carp might taste like—sour, sweet, crispy, tender, melting in the mouth—but no one could have anticipated this flavor.

Some students, being more tolerant and adhering to the principle of not wasting food, forced themselves to swallow the fish just like Chen Mo. But many more, after exchanging knowing glances, silently covered their mouths with napkins and spat the fish out.

Recalling the taste, how should one put it? It was like eating a carp just pulled from muddy water, drenched in copious amounts of vinegar. The thick, earthy, fishy smell hit the top of their heads, and the sourness of the pure aged vinegar made their scalps tingle. What was even more extraordinary was that while enduring this desperate, fishy, and sour taste, the sweet and sour tomato sauce acted as a palate opener, elevating this hopeless flavor to a level that struck the very Soul.

"Is this really the signature dish of Huanghe Hotel?" "Did the waiter bring the wrong dish?" "Maybe the chef in the kitchen made a mistake?" "I think the fish must have gone bad. Otherwise, even my grandma couldn't make a Huanghe Carp this terrible." "..." Everyone began to discuss it, one after another.

If only one or a few people had made such pained expressions after eating the signature dish, they might have suspected that something was wrong with their own taste buds or that they didn't know how to appreciate the dish. After all, nobody would expect the signature dish of the most expensive restaurant in Jiangnan to be this awful. But when they saw that everyone who tried it was frowning in pain and struggling to swallow, they had to accept the fact that it was genuinely terrible. They just couldn't understand how this Huanghe Carp could be called the signature dish of Huanghe Hotel. Forget being a signature dish; if even a common dish were made this poorly, the restaurant would need to close down for rectification. How could it still sit firmly on the throne as the number one restaurant in Jiangnan?

Unfortunately, many of them usually didn't have access to this level of cuisine, so they had no way of knowing what was going on with this Huanghe Carp. Consequently, they all turned their confused gazes toward Ye Chen. After all, judging by what the waiter said earlier, Ye Chen was a regular at Huanghe Hotel and must know something about this signature dish. "Brother Chen, try this signature dish. How can it be this terrible? Should we call the chef over and ask?" a classmate asked.

Ye Chen laughed happily and said, "No, no. Although I haven't eaten it yet, seeing the expressions on all your faces, I know this must be the authentic Huanghe Carp!"

"Huh?" Almost everyone was shocked and looked at Ye Chen with even more bewilderment. This included Chen Mo, who had been badly startled by the signature dish and was now cautiously trying other dishes. His brain couldn't quite process this: how could it being so terrible that everyone wanted to spit it out actually prove that it was authentic Huanghe Carp?

But Ye Chen continued, "This is actually a quite interesting story. You guys eat the other dishes, and we can chat as we eat."

"Legend has it that during the Huasong Dynasty, an emperor was traveling south by boat and, perhaps due to poor health, caught a cold. At the time, he couldn't taste anything. He happened to encounter an old woman with a heavy palate making fish soup. This old woman's taste was extremely heavy, so she didn't bother with removing the fishy smell or marinating the fish. During the cooking process, she added a great deal of vinegar. As the vinegar reduced and concentrated into the fish, the resulting soup was naturally very fishy and sour. However, the emperor's sense of taste was almost gone due to his cold. He only tasted the freshness and tenderness of the fish, and only caught a hint of the fishy and sour notes. Consequently, not only did he not find it unpalatable, but he was also delighted to be able to taste something. He immediately rewarded the old woman with a lot of gold and silver. Thus, the dish's fame spread across Jiangnan. Later generations who carried on the Legacy of this dish didn't take pride in making it taste good, but rather in making it fishier and sourer. Because the worse it tasted, the more it represented an authentic Legacy. So, when Li Tianming, the owner of Huanghe Hotel, founded the restaurant and wanted a signature dish, he immediately thought of this fish soup. He innovated on that basis, using a whole Huanghe Carp, deep-fried and topped with tomato sauce. This achieved an effect where it looked better than traditional Jiangnan fish soup but tasted even worse. It became famous overnight, and many people flocked here, wanting to see just how terrible this Huanghe Carp could taste."

Everyone listened to Ye Chen tell the origin of the Huanghe Hotel's signature dish, the Huanghe Carp, while they ate. After hearing it, many looked astonished and incredulous, pausing their chopsticks in mid-air.

They had heard of people painstakingly researching and developing a delicious dish as a signature, but they had never imagined someone trying to make a dish taste even worse. Most importantly, this whimsical approach actually succeeded; he really managed to create such an incredibly terrible Huanghe Carp, and Huanghe Hotel had indeed become the number one restaurant in Jiangnan. This story simply shattered their simple worldviews.

A student marveled, "Brother Chen really knows a lot. But come to think of it, to open a restaurant and not think about making the food taste good, but instead intentionally make it as bad as possible—and yet succeed in making Huanghe Hotel the most expensive restaurant in Jiangnan—this Li Tianming is quite the eccentric genius."

"Shh!" Just as the student said this, he saw Ye Chen's expression change. Ye Chen held a finger to his lips and shushed him.

"What's wrong, Brother Chen?" the student asked, puzzled. He wondered if Ye Chen was afraid that the restaurant owner would be unhappy to hear them bad-mouthing him behind his back. But when he looked up at the four corners of the room, he saw no surveillance equipment, as private rooms usually tried their best to ensure guest privacy. Besides, even if Li Tianming heard them, so what?

The student said nonchalantly, "It doesn't matter, right? We're just chatting casually. We aren't really bad-mouthing him. Even if Li Tianming heard, so what? Isn't he just a restaurant owner? Doing business is all about harmony. If I gossip about him behind his back, is he going to hit me?"

He felt quite satisfied after saying this, believing he hadn't lost face in front of his classmates. Just as he was feeling self-satisfied, he saw Ye Chen's expression grow grim.

"What restaurant owner? I see you don't understand at all." Ye Chen's expression was serious, and his tone carried a hint of severity.

The student sensed that things might not be as simple as he thought, and couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. "No, no, Brother Chen, didn't you just say it yourself? The owner of Huanghe Hotel, Li Tianming?"

Ye Chen was about to answer him, but his throat bobbed, and as if thinking of something, he swallowed his words for the moment. He scanned the nearly forty people at the two tables. Except for Wang Chao, everyone else was moving their chopsticks while occasionally casting curious glances at him, clearly having never heard of this Li Tianming.

Ye Chen said, "I can tell you, but let's drink first to build up some courage, so you don't get weak in the knees once you know the true identity of this Li Tianming."

His words made many people laugh. "Since I've never heard the name, I can probably imagine the extent of his power." "Yeah, the names of truly powerful people are household words. For instance, that security guard Hu Gualing who went viral a few days ago, taking on four people at once—I saw the news reports about him." "A name like Li Tianming, we've never heard of it, so he probably has limited power." "No need to build up courage, but we should drink nonetheless!" "Come, come, Brother Chen, we've all poured our drinks. You should raise your glass."

Some people had been stunned by Ye Chen's words, but after hearing what the other classmates said, they realized—yes, since the vast majority of those present had never heard of Li Tianming's name, he probably didn't have significant influence in the Jiangnan area. At most, he was just a very successful restaurant owner in the industry.

Of course, no matter how little influence he had, it wasn't something ordinary students like them could compare to. Moreover, when Ye Chen, the richest among them, mentioned Li Tianming's name, he seemed so solemn, even seemingly a bit reverent. It stood to reason that Li Tianming was no simple character. Therefore, everyone was curious about Li Tianming's true identity and poured their drinks, ready to down them quickly and listen to Ye Chen explain exactly who this Li Tianming was.