“An Family?”
An Xiaofu nodded, “My dad is the head of the An Family.”
Liu Ruhua was mildly surprised, and then turned to Mo Hua, wondering how Mo Hua had come to know the young master of the An Family.
Mo Hua said, “Mom, I invited Xiaofu for a meal, could you make something delicious?”
“A child your age inviting someone for a meal…” Liu Ruhua chuckled and asked An Xiaofu, “Young Master An, what would you like to eat?”
An Xiaofu quickly gestured with his hand, “Just call me Xiaofu. I’m not picky, anything is good.”
Liu Ruhua nodded and said, “Then you two play for a while, I will make some food.”
Mo Hua then took An Xiaofu to an open and bright table to sit down.
An Xiaofu looked around and said, “So this is your family’s restaurant.”
“That’s right!” Mo Hua said with some pride.
He had been a big help in getting the restaurant up and running.
An Xiaofu felt a bit envious, “That’s really nice.”
Mo Hua was puzzled, “Doesn’t your An Family have the Spiritual Meal Building? That place is even bigger and looks more impressive.”
“It’s not the same,” An Xiaofu thought for a moment and said, “Although the Spiritual Meal Building is big and quiet, it always feels too serene, making dining less fun.”
An Xiaofu looked around at the other patrons.
There were Monster Hunters, Artifact Refiners, Alchemists, local Loose Cultivators, passing peddlers, and traders from other places. Everyone was different, but all were gathered together, eating and chatting with laughter and talk.
Sometimes, even strangers struck up warm conversations, toasted each other, and wished one another a smooth journey.
“It’s fun to eat together in such a lively gathering,” said An Xiaofu.
Mo Hua felt the same way, “Then eat as much as you like later, my mom’s cooking is really delicious.”
“Thank you,” An Xiaofu said in thanks.
But he was just being polite, appreciating Mo Hua’s hospitality without really expecting the food to be anything special.
The An Family ran the Spiritual Meal Building, where they hired culinary masters to study all kinds of high-quality recipes and make various rare delicacies.
He ate there every day, what good food hadn’t he tasted?
But when Liu Ruhua served the food, An Xiaofu found out he was indeed unfamiliar with it…
After trying a bite, An Xiaofu asked, “What kind of meat is this?”
“Monster Beast meat,” Mo Hua took a bite with his chopsticks, “Probably some kind of sheep. If it were in Big Black Mountain, I could recognize it, but now it’s on the plate, I can’t tell.”
An Xiaofu was surprised, “Monster Beast meat can taste this good?”
“Hehe, didn’t expect that, did you?”
An Xiaofu took another bite and savored it carefully, “These spices are different too.”
“You can tell the spices apart too?” Mo Hua asked.
An Xiaofu nodded.
“Which ones can you identify?” Mo Hua was a bit curious.
Hmm…” An Xiaofu thought for a moment, “There’s cassia leaf, mustard seed, plum, zedoary…”
An Xiaofu listed quite a few and then said, “There are others too, with very unique flavors that I’ve never tasted before, so I can’t name them.”
Mo Hua was impressed, “You’re really amazing!”
Some of these spices were bought from the market town, while others were picked by Mo Hua from outside Big Black Mountain. These spices were rather unusual and not easy to mass produce, so it was normal for An Xiaofu not to know their names.
But being able to taste so many spices was already quite impressive.
An Xiaofu blushed with the praise from Mo Hua, “I… just eat a lot, so I can pick them out, nothing special. I can’t compare to you…”
Mo Hua was a Formation Master, and his skills in formations were very high, to the extent that even his grandfather found it unbelievable.