9 Special Dish, Encountering an Old Friend

When Su Zhen entered the restaurant area, he secretly inspected the entire place. There were not many guests in the entire restaurant, but the guests present all looked rich. The decoration was relatively simple but elegant, modern mixed with traditional. At first glance, it looked like a place handed down from generation to generation but also evolved with each era.

Su Zhen checked it on the internet and it was revealed that the current owner was an eighth-generation descendant. This restaurant got its fame because of the creation of a special dish called "Buddha Jumping Over the Wall" by its first ancestor. Now, this dish was a classic and also included in the state banquets.

Many restaurants even copied this dish and Su Zhen had also tried it, but he felt that there was nothing special. So today, he wanted to try the genuine Buddha Jumping Over the Wall.

The waitress greeted him politely as soon as she saw Su Zhen.

"Hello, sir, did you make a reservation? And how many companions do you have?"

"No, I didn't make any reservation, and I'm alone. Do I need to make a reservation first?"

"No sir, prior reservation is only exclusive to buffet lunch and dinner, but it's not necessary for plated meals."

"Is that so? Then do you have single private rooms here?"

"Of course, sir, please come with me."

The clean waitress led Su Zhen to the corridor and they soon came to a relatively small private room that could accommodate three to five people at most.

The menu was on the table, to begin with, so Su Zhen opened it and took a quick look at the food.

Each food had a picture and was briefly explained with how many portions of the ingredients were used, as well as the price of each serving and the size.

The first few dishes were the signature dishes of this restaurant, Buddha Jumping Over the Wall, Lychee Shrimp Balls, Tai Chi Taro Paste, and Sauteed Pork Chops. Su Zhen ordered one large serving each of the four dishes, two servings of different vegetable-based dishes, and a serving of mixed seafood.

Su Zhen noticed that there was a total of six levels of Buddha Jumping Over the Wall, but the last three levels required him to make an appointment beforehand. Su Zhen could only order the third level.

The waitress wrote down Su Zhen's order on the note and asked if there was any more thing he wanted. Su Zhen turned to the last few pages of the menu, ordered lemongrass juice, and closed the menu.

The waitress walked out of the room, closed the door carefully, and went to do her next job.

It didn't take long for a different waitress to walk into the room. She came with a service cart that held a set of clean and beautiful dining utensils. When Su Zhen looked over, this waitress smiled slightly and greeted him politely.

Su Zhen keenly noticed that the workers of this place mostly looked 'clean' and pleasing to the eyes. The female employees had no thick makeup on their faces, no complicated styles, no ambiguous winking at the customers, and the male employees all looked similarly bright, clean, and silent in general.

This five-star hotel and restaurant really lived up to its name. Su Zhen had entered a four-star restaurant once with his former manager, but everything was quite sloppy, and the food was expensive but tasted like paper. He didn't understand how that place became four-star and, despite its worse-than-street-stalls-standard, was still in business all these years.

Nearly thirty minutes later, all the dishes that Su Zhen ordered were delivered to his room and prepared on the table orderly.

Su Zhen first tried Buddha Jumping Over the Wall.

This dish was prepared in a big Chinese handle-less yellow clay cup, the lid of the cup was decorated with a fat Buddha's carving. As soon as the lid was lifted open, a strong aroma entered Su Zhen's nostrils instantly.

This cup of dish contained shark fin, abalone, sea cucumber, cuttlefish, fish maw, shiitake mushroom, pigeon egg, pork belly, and scallops. Each of the mentioned ingredients was of top quality.

So, this was the reason why the supply of this particular dish was always limited, and a person couldn't order more than three servings at all.

Su Zhen dug in without delay. Every ingredient was cooked in place, and the taste was just right.

After he finished this expensive dish, he continued to eat other dishes steadily.

Over half an hour later, Su Zhen put down the cup of lemongrass juice in a satisfied manner.

Su Zhen thought of something and rang the bell. The waitress came in and asked what he wanted.

"Is takeaway available?"

"Except for Buddha Jumping Over the Wall, other dishes can be packed, sir."

"Then pack me two servings of Lychee Shrimp Balls."

"Noted, sir."

The waitress left and Su Zhen waited patiently.

By the time he didn't feel bloated in his belly anymore, the waitress came in with a beautiful red paper bag and put it on the table.

"Thanks, where do I pay the bill?"

"Please come with me, sir."

Su Zhen got up, picked up the red paper bag, and followed the waitress all the way to the front desk of the restaurant.

Just as Su Zhen was about to scan the QR code, a surprised voice came from beside him, "Su Zhen?"

When Su Zhen heard his name, he turned his head to look. He saw a young man with a fat face and chubby body, with a huge gold chain around his neck, and a delicate and tender beauty in his arms.

He turned his attention to the face of the fat guy but felt that he didn't have any impression of this guy at all.

But since the other party called out his name, it indicated that he knew him.

The straight-faced Su Zhen looked at the opponent calmly and tilted his head slightly, "You are?"

"Ah Jin, Cheng Jinhai."

The fat young man smiled.

He could see at a glance at Su Zhen didn't recognize him. He had changed a lot over the years, so it was normal to not recognize him.

"Cheng Jinhai?"

As soon as Su Zhen heard this name, the impression of a tall, thin, and slightly weak boy directly appeared in his mind. It was his best friend in junior high school.

But looking at this fat guy, Su Zhen felt that they were completely two different people. Anyhow, when he took a closer look at the facial features of the fat young man, there were indeed some resemblances.

Su Zen's straight face changed, he looked at the fat guy in amazement, "So you're really Cheng Jinhai? Nicknamed Ah Jin?"

"Haha, you really don't recognize me!" Cheng Jinhai let go of the girl in his arms, came over with a laugh, and slapped Su Zhen's shoulder.

"Tell me you didn't take hormones, did you?" Su Zhen said softly and reached out to pat Cheng Jinhai's 8-month pregnant belly.

Although Cheng Jinhai was in a good mood, hearing Su Zhen said this, he couldn't help but twitch his mouth helplessly. He knew that this guy was joking, but that straight face was really too unsuitable for making a joke. "Only you would take hormones, I'm fat but delicate, alright!"

"You've changed so much; I really wouldn't have recognized you if you didn't tell me." Su Zhen looked at Cheng Jinhai in front of him and said with emotion.

Cheng Jinhai took out a cigarette and was about to light it, but when he saw Su Zhen staring at the cigarette intensely, he gave up and smiled, "I also didn't want to become so fat, but I couldn't help it, I just ate casually and became like this helplessly." While saying this, he patted his bulging belly.

"I didn't expect to meet you here. Back then, you dropped out of school quietly, and I couldn't find anyone when I went to your house either. Only when I asked your neighbors did I find out that you and your mother went abroad."

Su Zhen said slowly. He really didn't expect to meet his best friend at this restaurant.

"I'm sorry, I didn't have time to say goodbye to you back then." Cheng Jinhai said apologetically.

"By the way, why did you and your mother suddenly go abroad back then? You didn't tell me anything in advance."

Su Zhen was very curious when it came to this. He remembered Cheng Jinhai told him that his father went fishing in the early years and was in a shipwreck, his grandparents passed away long ago, and only his mother raised him alone.

Su Zhen knew that Cheng Jinhai's family was very difficult at that time, so why did he suddenly go abroad?

"This is going to be a long story." Cheng Jinhai was quite entangled when it came to this matter, and was worried that Su Zhen would not believe him, after all, it was a bit unbelievable. But when he thought of Su Zhen's eccentric personality, he felt that it was fine.

In the past few years, there had been no one to talk to; now that there was someone to talk to, Cheng Jinhai naturally wanted to raise a glass with Su Zhen and chat slowly. "Why don't we find a place to have a drink? I will tell you the story slowly."

Su Zhen was about to agree when he suddenly remembered that he forgot to put food for Lele at home. Therefore, he blinked his eyes and changed his words, "I can't do it now, I forgot to feed my cat when I came out. I have to go back first. Don't worry, I will come back after I feed my cat."

Cheng Jinhai felt helpless when it came to this best friend of his. Su Zhen's head was always full of unpredictable thoughts. He understood that he couldn't change Su Zhen's mind either, so he could only agree, "Fine."

Su Zhen nodded. He knew that Cheng Jinhai was very grateful to him. After all, Cheng Jinhai's mother was hospitalized for surgery. At that time, Su Zhen took the initiative to help him by working as a sale at a bar.

He earned 4,000 yuan in two months, coupled with another 4,000 yuan given by the dean of the orphanage, Su Zhen managed to raise 8,000 yuan, which was enough for medical expenses.