Chapter 132 Feast

The Shenzhou people's traditional customs dictate that when entertaining guests, how can one not enjoy a good meal?

No one had ever entertained these alien guests before, but there was already a plan in place for how to accommodate visitors from Xinghe.

So Gao Yuan was to attend a state banquet—yes, a state banquet!

How much the Shenzhou people respected you could be seen in the delicacy of the food, for it represented the etiquette of an ancient civilization, as well as confidence.

Of course, the conditions definitely couldn't compare to the past, the dining environment couldn't compare, and the food couldn't compare, even if this banquet was the highest standard of hospitality.

There were a lot of fresh things missing.

But just looking at the menu, Gao Yuan knew he was in for a treat today.

The soup was Matsutake Delicacies Soup.

The cold dish was wealthy beef and fragrant pea shoots.

The hot dishes included braised lion's head meatballs, roast duck, scallion-braised sea cucumber, and chestnut rapeseed.

The dessert was candied ear fruit with lotus seed soup.

There were also snacks.

The menu looks quite ordinary, doesn't it?

But don't forget, this is the apocalypse, the apocalypse!

Two large round tables; everyone present had basically taken their seats, as for Gao Yuan, he was, of course, sitting next to Xinghe.

"This is chopsticks."

"Isn't it called 'zhu'?"

"Er, it's called 'zhu' in classical terms, but commonly known as chopsticks. If you can't use chopsticks, you can use a knife and fork; this is simple."

Xinghe looked at the dishes in front of him, and since it was a state banquet, individual serving was the norm—meaning each person had their own portion, and dishes were served one by one.

Eating is all about the ceremonial feeling.

The first course was the soup, fragrant and inviting. Gao Yuan took a spoonful to taste, then he realized that it was indeed good, but it seemed a bit too light.

"What is this?"

"Fungus, mushrooms. You understand what that means, right?"

"I know."

After asking Gao Yuan, Xinghe took a sip of the soup with a spoon, then he frowned, pondered for a moment, and suddenly said, "The sensation of eating is strange, but I need to adapt."

After speaking, Xinghe finished his soup, and as soon as his soup was done, the waitstaff immediately cleared away the soup and served the cold dish.

"What is this?"

"This is beef."

"Meat, beef, hmm…"

Xinghe furrowed his brow, and Li Wen, sitting opposite him, noticed Xinghe's expression seemed off and immediately asked with concern, "What's wrong? Can you not eat meat?"

Xinghe, still frowning, said, "We stopped killing other life forms for food a very long time ago; in our view, it's cruel and entirely unnecessary."

Li Wen immediately said, "Remove the meat dishes, change them all to vegetarian."

No one knew how to entertain these aliens, so everything had to be figured out step by step. The menu had also been personally overseen by Li Wen, who now only felt relieved that there was a backup plan: they could still cope by switching to an all-vegetarian menu.

The waitstaff were about to come and remove the cold dish, but Gao Yuan hurriedly said, "Wait a moment, just wait a moment."

For Gao Yuan, it was not easy to be invited to a state banquet, to eat vegetarian? That was a joke!

"I think you should give it a try. Look, your mother planet has been destroyed, hasn't it, and your civilization... well, that's the situation. I think you should try experiencing a different civilization, like our culinary culture."

Xinghe hesitated for a moment, then he nodded and said, "Okay, consider it an exchange between civilizations."

Xinghe lifted a piece of beef with a fork and put it in his mouth.

Aliens of high standing no longer eat meals; Xinghe's eating motion looked very unfamiliar, but soon, he quickened the pace of his chewing.

He swiftly consumed both slices of beef, then sat there in silence.

"Tasty? Not bad, right?"

Xinghe remained silent as if he hadn't heard Gao Yuan's words.

The next dish, a cold appetizer, was served, and Xinghe took a bite of the fresh vegetables that were precious in the apocalypse; then he immediately said, "I don't need this, please bring me another serving of the beef from before, thank you."

Gao Yuan paused for a moment, and Li Wen also looked at Xinghe in surprise; then Gao Yuan hurriedly said, "No, no, that was just an appetizer, the good stuff is coming up."

Xinghe picked up the fork with his right hand, but he quickly put it down and, imitating Gao Yuan, picked up a pair of chopsticks instead.

The hot dish arrived—braised lion's head meatballs.

Xinghe grabbed one with his chopsticks and tasted it; then, he discreetly stuffed the entire meatball into his mouth.

After putting down the chopsticks, Xinghe looked at Gao Yuan.

"What is this?"

"Pork."

"Is there more?"

Gao Yuan looked back at the waiter.

The waiter promptly served the scallion-braised sea cucumber.

Xinghe took a bite, frowned slightly, but still ate the whole sea cucumber.

Xinghe didn't ask, indicating he wasn't particularly interested in this dish.

The third dish was roast duck, served wrapped and ready, with just one roll, and Xinghe, copying Gao Yuan, put the duck roll in his mouth, then he gently nodded and asked, "What is this?"

"Duck."

"Oh, a perfect combination of duck and wheat flour; is there more?"

Chestnut oil bok choy was served next, and after a bite, Xinghe set his chopsticks aside.

After a moment of silence, Xinghe looked at Gao Yuan and asked, "What's the next dish?"

Gao Yuan immediately looked at the waiter; the waiter quickly removed the bok choy that had only been tasted and then presented a sweet syrup white fungus and lotus seed soup.

Xinghe finished it, showing a very satisfied expression, then looked at Gao Yuan.

Gao Yuan looked at the waiter, and the waiter brought out the dessert.

Once Xinghe had finished the dessert, he continued to look at Gao Yuan, who was at a loss. In this setting, it wasn't easy to say much, so he turned to Li Wen.

Li Wen immediately told the waiter, "Keep serving our guest."

This time Xinghe didn't hold back; he immediately said, "I want beef, pork, duck."

After saying this, Xinghe's expression suddenly became a bit peculiar; he looked at Gao Yuan and asked, "According to your ancient customs, one should not speak while eating, and, am I being very rude by eating this way?"

"You mentioned they are ancient customs; now we can talk, and the more you eat, the happier we are, really."

Xinghe nodded and then said solemnly, "I now have a new understanding of the meaning of life, a new understanding of animals, and a new approach to showing care for animals."

As he spoke, Xinghe suddenly looked up, then seemed to choke up a bit as he said, "What have I missed out on..."

Gao Yuan spoke gravely, "I believe that in the long journey of life, if you eat nothing... then what's the point of living? No wonder some people go insane; if it were me, I would have gone mad long ago."

Li Wen frowned and shook his head slightly at Gao Yuan; Gao Yuan immediately realized his lapse and misspeak, so he quickly said to Xinghe, "I'm sorry..."

But Xinghe nodded firmly and said, "I was thinking, when our ancestors decided to stop eating and rely on nutrient fluids to meet their energy needs, they had already gone mad."