I Am Cultivating in the Apocalypse

Chapter 801 - 891: Damn, the Dim Sum in Yangcheng Is Just Too Delicious!

In the private room, there were already five or six people seated. Zhang Yicheng enthusiastically introduced, "President Wu, all esteemed bosses, this is Miss Jing Shu, the big boss of several cigarette factories nationwide."

At this moment, a middle-aged man wearing slippers, big shorts, and a tank top got up to greet her: "Come, come, take your seat. President Jing, it’s your first time here, you must stay for a few days so we can properly show you our hospitality."

Zhang Yicheng then excused himself to the factory to check on the goods.

Afterward, the casually dressed Wu Jiang introduced Jing Shu to the others. Among them, two were leaders in the fishery industry, two were representatives from the grain industry, and one was a shareholder of this place. It could be said that this seemingly ordinary table was actually full of industry giants.

"President Jing, it’s the apocalypse now, and many cuisines are gone. There are only a hundred or so types of dim sum for breakfast now, so make do."

Is that even humanly possible?

A breakfast with over a hundred types, and you’re complaining it’s not enough??

Jing Shu returned a polite smile.

As they took their seats, someone specially brought out a sanitized hot towel to wipe their hands.

A young server specializing in brewing tea demonstrated washing the tea, brewing it, and finally served the tea.

Each person had their own little teapot in front of them.

Exquisite, truly exquisite.

Wu Jiang from the cigarette factory began to chat with the others while drinking tea, mainly discussing the current economy and government policies.

Jing Shu took a tentative sip, hmm, it was just the taste of tea, but given the ceremonial vibe, she pretended to savor it for a moment.

And then, the main event arrived.

Shortly after, two waiters pushed carts in. The small plates, stacked high and just the size of a palm, were today’s dim sum!

Everyone got a small portion, with very high standards.

Yangcheng fresh shrimp dumplings, two per plate, with a thin skin and hefty filling. The shrimp meat was fresh and sweet. One bite released the delicious juice and the firm, springy shrimp meat, immediately awakening Jing Shu’s taste buds.

Ginger egg slices, shaped like fried mahua, yet not hard when bitten, melt in your mouth. Besides the rich aroma of eggs, there was a slight ginger flavor, which was the highlight of the dish. Before she could savor another bite, it was gone.

The seemingly ordinary steamed custard buns with yellow filling exploded with flavor. The runny yolk mixed with the fluffy, soft bun drenched in sauce gave a mouthful of creamy goodness.

The custard tart, with its layers crumbling and melting in your mouth, featured a smooth, fragrant, and slightly sweet baked custard that was just right — any sweeter would be cloying, any less and it would lack flavor. It was perfectly balanced.

Not to mention the fall-off-the-bone chicken feet, sweet and savory char siu buns, crispy outside and tender inside flaky pastries, wife cakes that were better than having a wife, and smooth, jelly-like double skin milk... and so on.

And things Jing Shu had never even heard of, like Fresh Cream Mango Rolls, Salmon Mustard Spring Rolls, Abalone tart, Hundred Truffle Shumai...

With things like Whole Abalone Roasted Goose Crispy Red Sausage Rice Noodles, so many delicious ingredients, even if paired with a shoe sole, they’d be tasty. Wrapped in a translucent, fragrant, and glutinous rice flour skin, it offered a flavorful experience with layers that lingered long after the meal.

Saying there are only a hundred kinds of dim sum here is humble. There are dozens of ways to make rice noodles alone, just like Chinese Pancakes, you can add anything. It’s really incredible. Combine them with varieties of pork, beef, shrimp, chicken, and all kinds of shiitake mushrooms, green vegetables, and ham, and the different fillings paired with different sauces created an entirely new and wondrous taste.

The only downside is the small portions, just a bite of each variety. Just when you taste the delicious flavor, it’s gone, and the next item is already enticing you. Trapped in a loop of deliciousness and departures, it’s truly a torturous tease for your taste buds.

Fortunately, this feeling didn’t last long, as Jing Shu had finished all her portions cleanly. Finally, her stomach gurgled, and the others turned their attention to her. For a moment, the air was peculiarly silent.

"Ahem! I just heard Mr. Long from the fishery industry speaking. Last year, Yangcheng and other cities exchanged resources, introducing most domestic fish varieties. Although I have fewer varieties, the quality is quite good for breeding stock, so I’d like to exchange some resources with you, Mr. Long. If there are no fish you want to exchange, I also have various quality grain resources at the Township Government."

The quickest way to resolve awkwardness was to change the subject.

Sure enough, as soon as Jing Shu spoke, the attention of Mr. Long from the fishery industry and the person from the grain industry shifted toward her.

Mr. Long said, "As long as it’s a missing variety or a particularly excellent type of fish, we can certainly exchange it..."

But actually, Mr. Long didn’t think Jing Shu had anything of interest to him. After all, individual strength compared to a city is still too small.

Even if it’s an excellent fish species, how excellent could it be?

Could it be better than theirs?

Moreover, are there really crayfish as thick as an arm, abalone as big as a face, or crabs as large as a basketball in this world?

Subsequently, Mr. Long and Jing Shu exchanged some fish species, revealing a Versailles-like pride. Although Mr. Long exuded a strong "my aquatic products are number one in the world, my fish rule the universe best" aura, Jing Shu was genuinely dazzled.

Come on, introducing the species is enough, why did you have to mention the cooking methods? Even if you do, why describe the taste, making Jing Shu drool all the way down three thousand feet?

As everyone knows, some of Jing Shu’s live seafood varieties were sourced from the wholesale market in Wu City before the apocalypse, a place in the Northwest with no sea, limited to common fish, shrimp, crab, and abalone... about a few dozen kinds.

Later, while in the United States, on a wealthy person’s ship, she took many precious frozen seafood from their cold storage, like a ton of bluefin tuna and sturgeon caviar.

The live seafood she acquired included king crabs, Boston lobsters, sea cucumbers, and sea urchins - these high-grade items, but that’s about it.

While Mr. Long spoke of what Yangcheng had:

"For example, dragon tongue fish, with few bones and much flesh, delicious when pan-fried or stewed."

"Also, red seabream, palm-sized, with tender, tasty flesh, commonly eaten around here."

"Mackerel is high in fat and exceptionally delicious when cooked with ’snow cabbage.’ It also makes a great soup."

Mr. Long then said, of course, he had dozens of fish types, but as for crabs, there are flying crabs, red armored crabs, squid flower covers, and more than a dozen kinds, some perfect for raw marination.

And various kinds of shrimp, like nine-section shrimp, red shrimp, Lougu shrimp, Shrimp Monster, raw edible Arctic sweet shrimp, Peony Shrimp, and Red Demon Shrimp, Mao Shrimp for making shrimp paste, as well as a variety of shells and all kinds of conchs, amounting to about a hundred.

An array of varieties, a multitude of choices, truly living up to its reputation as a place where the nation’s fresh fish converge.

"Ha, this only accounts for about one-third of Yangcheng’s pre-apocalypse variety." Mr. Long casually waved, not caring about boasting, with a touch of Versailles flair.