Chapter 45: It was my superficiality! Completely blown away!

Chapter 45: It Was My Shallowness! Completely Blown Away!

After Ma Lieven and Chen Shengfei sat down at a relatively quiet table in the corner for a moment, Gao Yaoyao brought over freshly cut Grade 2 watermelon and Grade 2 strawberries.

"Mr. Chen, Mr. Ma, here are your watermelon and strawberries," Gao Yaoyao said with an enthusiastic and sweet smile. "The kitchen is already preparing the rest of the dishes."

"Hmm!" Chen Shengfei nodded, then turned to Ma Lieven and said, "Old Ma, try this watermelon and strawberries. They taste amazing."

With that, he had already picked up a slice of watermelon, popped it into his mouth, and started munching.

Seeing this, Ma Lieven picked up a slice as well. After taking a bite, his eyes lit up instantly. "This melon has some serious quality to it!"

Watermelon was a common fruit, and he had eaten his fair share of expensive ones, but he had truly never tasted such a delicious melon. It was as if his taste buds had been instantly awakened, leaving a lingering sweetness in his mouth long after the first bite.

Ma Lieven then picked up a strawberry and put it into his mouth, prompting him to praise it immediately: "Old Chen, you were right. Besides the fish, there really are other incredible treasures here. I never expected such delicious watermelons and strawberries to exist. I always prided myself on having tasted every kind of fruit out there—even those specialty watermelons from the little devils that cost a hundred dollars a pound. But compared to this, those are nothing."

Chen Shengfei laughed and said, "This just goes to show that our country's watermelons aren't inferior to anyone else's; it's just that others are better at marketing them. Nowadays, too many people only have eyes for imported specialty varieties, completely oblivious to the fact that many things back home are far superior."

"That is a very philosophical statement, and I agree entirely," Ma Lieven said, giving Chen Shengfei a thumbs-up.

A moment later, the kitchen assistant brought over the fish—a wild crucian carp weighing over ten jin, prepared in three ways: fish head soup, steamed, and braised in soy sauce!

"Old Ma, have a taste!" As he spoke, Chen Shengfei picked up his bowl and chopsticks, served himself a bowl of fish soup, and wore a look of utter intoxication after a single sip. "Classic."

"Old Chen, you're exaggerating a bit," Ma Lieven teased.

Chen Shengfei just smiled without a word.

Ma Lieven also filled a bowl with fish soup and began to eat. Soon, an expression of sheer disbelief appeared on his face: "Old Chen, is this really fish soup? The wild fish we looked at just a moment ago?"

Chen Shengfei chuckled. "What else could it be? Such a huge fish!"

"Damn it..." Ma Lieven cursed softly out of frustration. He grew indignant. "Wild crucian carp actually tastes like this? Then the boss of the Fragrant Pavilion must have treated me like a fool! Last time, he served me a five-jin wild crucian carp and bragged about how rare it was, acting as if he was doing me a massive favor."

"How could the taste of that five-jin wild crucian carp from his place fall so terribly short compared to this? And he even claimed a renowned chef personally cooked it! He must have fooled me with artificially farmed fish. Otherwise, wild fish shouldn't differ in taste by this much."

"If I ever go back to his Fragrant Pavilion, I'm an absolute idiot. I'll have my assistant cancel my membership card tomorrow."

"Uh, eat a bit more, and soon you'll realize this fish isn't just about good taste," Chen Shengfei said, looking somewhat stunned, not quite knowing how to explain.

He had eaten his fair share of wild fish too, but compared to Boss Qin's place, all of those were simply trash.

Old Ma's reaction probably wasn't just because of the Fragrant Pavilion. He suspected that Boss Qin either used some special ingredients with a secret recipe, or perhaps it was some unique variety they didn't know about. Otherwise, how could it possibly rival those top-tier medicinal diets?

As Ma Lieven continued to eat, he quickly began to feel that something was amiss. A faint warmth started coursing through his meridians and blood vessels, making his entire body feel remarkably unblocked and smooth.

"Old Chen, is this a medicinal diet?" Ma Lieven was a man of wide experience, and he finally caught on.

"Its effects won't be any less potent than the Xue family's medicinal diet in the capital. Why else do you think I would have brought you here?" Chen Shengfei smiled, blinking suggestively. "Besides, there are even better things to come."

This left Ma Lieven completely astonished.

From the very beginning, he had looked down entirely on this resort—it was just too low-end. But now he realized how shallow he had been.

His perception of the resort had completely shifted, and it wasn't just because of the delicious watermelon and strawberries.

This fish was undoubtedly a classic. The warm current inside his body and the feeling of utter physical well-being were definitely not fake.

Just as Old Chen had said, it was no less effective than the Xue family's medicinal diet in the capital. If the resort were renovated to be a bit more upscale and luxurious, a single fish like this would probably command an additional medicinal diet material fee running into the tens of thousands.

The crucial point was that Old Chen actually claimed this resort had even better things to offer?

This inexplicably filled him with a sense of anticipation.

If those guys back in the city found out about this, their jaws would probably drop in shock.

He, Ma Lieven, actually found himself looking forward to things from this little resort!

Even he found it unbelievable.

A moment later, a plate of yams, a plate of okra, and a plate of broccoli were served.

"Old Chen, are these the good things you were talking about?" Ma Lieven looked doubtfully at the three very common vegetables.

Given his previous experience, he didn't immediately voice a judgment. Instead, he picked up his chopsticks and began tasting the three dishes.

After a short while, he felt the abnormality again. That warm, cozy sensation around his lower back appeared once more.

"Old Ma, feel it?" Chen Shengfei also felt the warmth in his lower back and asked with a wicked grin, "Now you know why my wife has been so gentle and in such a great mood these past few days, right? This effect is comparable to little blue pills, but the best part is that food therapy has no harmful side effects and has nourishing properties."

"Damn it..." Ma Lieven cursed again, suddenly remembering that ordinary okra and yams also had similar effects, though never this pronounced.

Subconsciously, he picked up his chopsticks and began continuously serving himself more.

He was already forty, and his wife was more than ten years younger than him. Being constantly fed stews and tonics by her was a bit of a blow to his pride.

The more he ate, and as digestion took place, that warm and comfortable sensation around his waist grew even more intense.

By the end of this meal, Ma Lieven was so full he was burping continuously.

"Young lady, come here for a moment," Ma Lieven gestured to Gao Yaoyao.

"Sir, how can I help you?" Gao Yaoyao stepped forward immediately to inquire.

"Where is your boss? I'd like to see him," Ma Lieven said.

When Ma Lieven saw Qin霖 again, his attitude had turned exceptionally enthusiastic. "Boss Qin, do you have any more of this okra and yam? I'd like to buy some to take back with me."

Qin霖 still had quite a bit of Grade 2 okra left. Over the past month, he had stored a large quantity in the game, harvesting over ten jin daily, and still had about three hundred jin remaining.

Since these items were kept in the game's storage room and possessed the game's special properties, they would not spoil, so he was in no rush to take them all out.

Moments like this presented a perfect opportunity to do a favor.

However, seeing Ma Lieven's eager expression, he put on a troubled look and said, "Mr. Ma, this special grade of okra isn't easy to produce. It's still in the cultivation stage, and our daily yield is very limited. Even my resort can barely keep up with the supply."

He was keeping up the illusion of scarcity.

Having reaped plenty of benefits from President Chu, he naturally understood this principle even better now.

"Boss Qin, if you have any available, please help me spare some," Chen Shengfei chimed in as well.

Hearing Chen Shengfei speak up, Qin霖 smoothly went along with it and said, "Since Mr. Chen has asked, I'll see if I can get a few jin of okra. But you two will have to wait a little while. As for the yams and broccoli, we probably don't have any today, but I should be able to get a few jin by tomorrow."

"No problem, Old Ma and I can wait until tomorrow," Chen Shengfei said, clearly feeling a boost to his ego upon hearing Qin霖's response.

After all, when Old Ma asked if there was any, the answer was no, but when he, Old Chen, asked, there was a way.

"Right, we can wait until tomorrow," Ma Lieven nodded in agreement.

He and Chen Shengfei were originally here to discuss business cooperation and contract renewals. Having worked together for so long, it was basically just a matter of signing paperwork and discussing minor details; it could be done anywhere, and eventually, they would just sign the papers back in the city.

However, he definitely needed to bring some of these good things back with him. Since he was busy and couldn't come here every day, securing a supply was essential.

Suddenly recalling something, he asked, "Boss Qin, do you accept reservations here? Let me open a membership card first, and I'll deposit 500,000 yuan."

"..." Qin霖 was suddenly rendered completely speechless by this remark.

He didn't offer a reservation service, nor did he have a membership card system, let alone deposits of 500,000 yuan.

In all the places he had ever frequented in his life, he had never held a membership card where the stored balance exceeded a thousand yuan.