"General Manager Jiang, hello. I am the President of the Chamber of Commerce of May Province..."
"I am the Vice President of the Human Resources Association of Daughter Star..."
"Director Cen, hello. I am the rotating mayor of Miaoyao City, the third largest city on Daughter Star..."
"I am the newly appointed governor of Liedong Province..."
The officials introduced themselves in a rush.
Jiang Ye and Cen Yemeng received business cards until their hands were sore, nodding and thanking them repeatedly.
A waiter ran back and placed two bottle-like items on the table, resembling hand sanitizer.
The surrounding officials, being perceptive, bowed in unison and dispersed.
The waiter quickly lowered the surrounding curtain again and hung up a "Do Not Disturb" sign. The surroundings immediately became quiet.
Cen Yemeng handed all the business cards in her hand to Jiang Ye.
Jiang Ye tapped the business cards on the table, like sorting a deck of poker cards. Then he stuffed them into his pocket.
After the meal, they returned to their hotel rooms to rest.
It was mainly Cen Yemeng who rested. After showering, she lay on the bed, letting the water droplets dry, her back lines as graceful as a white dolphin just out of the water.
Jiang Ye reviewed the business cards one by one. Most of the officials appeared to be valuable. He sent the corresponding contact information to the delegation members, tasking them with follow-up discussions.
That evening, the delegation members became busy, meeting with Daughter Star officials in the hotel restaurant to discuss various matters.
Any projects that were successfully concluded or important news were sent to Jiang Ye's phone.
"Report, we've signed a contract with the May Province Police Equipment Group. They've agreed to donate a complete set of new equipment worth forty million to the Petroleum City Police Force as advertising."
"Report, Daughter Star's special forces are willing to send some retired officers to teach on Jiang Ye Star. The list will be confirmed in a few days."
"Report, we've signed with twelve daily necessities companies. They've decided to open branches on Jiang Ye Star. Detailed information will be sent to you in a file shortly."
Messages came in intermittently, with some still arriving as late as two in the morning.
Jiang Ye was already fast asleep, like a dead pig.
...
The next morning.
Jiang Ye and Cen Yemeng arrived at the restaurant, where Fu Qiuyan was already waiting. Her attire today was completely casual, with loose-fitting yellow linen wide-leg pants and an oversized top, resembling a white-collar worker out shopping on a weekend.
"Today's itinerary includes a visit to Liuye Cao Company in the morning, Machine City in the afternoon, and a celebration banquet in the evening," Fu Qiuyan said with a smile, her tone like that of a private tour guide. "Please dine first."
A waiter approached and looked at Jiang Ye and Cen Yemeng, "What would the two of you like to eat?"
"Whatever Ms. Fu eats, we'll eat," Jiang Ye said, turning to look at Fu Qiuyan.
"Are you sure? You might regret it," Fu Qiuyan smiled. "My tastes are different from most people."
"We discussed it last night and decided to experience it," Cen Yemeng nodded. "We are very curious about what Daughter Star's Planetary Governor's meals taste like."
"Understood, then three set meals," the waiter said and walked away.
In less than half a minute, the dishes began to be served.
It was indeed a serving of dishes: Fa Cai, winter mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, fresh mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, bok choy, cauliflower, carrots, tomatoes, okra, green beans, bean sprouts...
A table full of vegetarian dishes. Jiang Ye searched for a long time but couldn't find a single piece of meat. Cen Yemeng was also dumbfounded.
Fu Qiuyan smiled with a hint of schadenfreude and picked up her chopsticks to start eating.
"Are you a vegetarian?" Jiang Ye also picked up his chopsticks.
"Not necessarily. My tastes change every few weeks. Currently, I just happen to like eating vegetarian food," Fu Qiuyan said. "Last time my taste changed, I ate meat for all three meals. In the morning, it was Dongpo pork, braised pork knuckles, pig intestines, beef tripe, sheep tripe, and the like, quite greasy. Before that, my taste was for sweets. In the morning, it was various donuts, macarons, brittle candies, shaqima, and rose cakes. During meetings, I would have a plate of rock sugar in front of me and grab a couple to suck on when I had nothing to do."
Jiang Ye and Cen Yemeng were both full of surprise.
These tastes were indeed unique.
"Does eating like this not make your body uncomfortable?" Cen Yemeng asked.
"I've had surgery. My entire digestive system has been modified," Fu Qiuyan said. "Excess nutrients and energy are not absorbed, so I don't gain weight. As for the lacking nutrients, I supplement them with tonics before bed. I have over sixty bottles of health supplements on my nightstand."
Jiang Ye was secretly amazed. There was such a surgery.
Such a digestive system must be something only the privileged class could have. For ordinary people, their bodies would quickly collapse.
The vegetarian dishes here were quite well-prepared, and both Jiang Ye and Cen Yemeng found them palatable.
Some dishes were particularly delicious, but they couldn't identify them.
Cen Yemeng pointed at those dishes with her chopsticks, "What are these dishes?"
"I don't know either. I've forgotten what wheat and rice look like," Fu Qiuyan said, reaching out to lift the curtain.
A waiter in the distance immediately hurried over.
"Introduce the dishes in the middle," Fu Qiuyan instructed.
"This dish is wild Mobius greens. This type of vegetable takes root and grows in humid areas. During droughts, it breaks its roots and rolls along like a Mobius strip, migrating with the wind. Its structure allows its entire body to rub against the ground evenly, increasing its ability for long-distance migration and also making its texture chewier and richer in dietary fiber. The collection method involves digging an artificial lake in a dry area. After about two weeks, Mobius greens from elsewhere will grow around the lake."
"This dish is orange moss. It's essentially a symbiotic combination of fungus and moss, growing on the surface of oranges and feeding on their juice, thus being rich in vitamin C. It has a sweet taste and a relatively high sugar content."
"This dish is penguin greens. It's a wild vegetable variety imported from NFC planet. This vegetable grows in the crevices of underwater reefs, making it difficult to collect manually. Many collectors get stuck in the narrow reef crevices and drown. However, during their breeding season, penguins collect this vegetable in large quantities, dry it on the shore, and use it for nesting, serving as a warm cushion for their eggs."
"This dish is ginseng root grass, also an imported vegetable. It's made from a new variety of ginseng, 'Eight-Bearded Ginseng,' cultivated ten years ago. The tender shoots of the ginseng root are plucked, processed using the method of stir-frying tea, and then steeped in water for cooking."
Jiang Ye nodded continuously. He had already seen many strange alien foods, and no matter how strange, he remained expressionless. Earth alone had hundreds of thousands of vegetable varieties. Now that humans had occupied countless planets, an increase in the number of vegetable varieties was not surprising.
Moreover, after so many years, many varieties had evolved to be unrecognizable. For example, carrots. Jiang Ye had never seen an adult carrot weighing less than ten pounds. Previously, in a restaurant on Jiedian Star, he had glimpsed a dining cart in the kitchen filled with giant carrots like little pigs, each as large as an aerial bomb, almost a different species from their ancestors, which were the size of beverage bottles years ago.
They ate more than half of the table full of vegetarian dishes, and the three of them got up to leave.
At the hotel entrance, Fu Qiuyan's car was already waiting.