"Brother, it's getting late, why don't we start serving the food?" Little Six sidled up to Fu Honglang and said with a smile.
"Right, right, serve the food. Look at my brain." Fu Honglang patted his head and said, "Remember to bring out the wine."
It was better for him not to mention serving the food, as soon as he did, my stomach couldn't help but growl.
Fatty and I were originally preparing to eat at the hotel when he called us over, and now we hadn't had a sip of water.
Before long, dish after dish was served.
I didn't expect the restaurant to be small, but the chef's skill was extraordinary. The first dish served was "Peony Swallow Nest," a golden peony carved lifelike in a large bowl, with shredded radish and hot and sour soup underneath.
Next was the second dish, "Tiger Skin Pork Belly." This was made from pork belly with skin, pan-fried, and then seasoned and steamed for several hours until it set.
As for the rest of the dishes, they were mostly specialty dishes from Shangdu, such as Stir-fried Eggs with Locust Flowers, Yuzhou Thirteen Bowls, and Braised Sea Cucumber with Scallions.
Soon, except for the space in front of my seat, every place on the table was filled with dishes.
I looked at the empty space in front of me, feeling a bit confused.
Before long, a braised big carp was placed in front of me, its head facing me.
"Brother Xiang, you rarely come to Shangdu, you are a distinguished guest. You can't avoid the fish head wine." Fu Honglang said with a smile.
As soon as he finished speaking, I noticed everyone else at the table looking at me with smiles.
I immediately felt something was wrong, and suddenly remembered the rules of drinking in Shangdu that my father had told me.
"Fish head wine" is a specialty of Shangdu. It is usually served to distinguished guests, symbolizing abundance year after year.
In a fish head wine ceremony, the fish head is usually pointed at the guest, and then the host will toast the guest, and it requires drinking one hundred and eight cups!
Of course, I heard this from my father. He had visited Shangdu before and said that he had never been sober from the day he arrived until he left.
Looking at the situation, was I going to follow in his footsteps?
Before I could think further, Fu Honglang stood up with a cup of wine and said, "We have a rule for our fish head wine: three for the head, four for the tail, five for the belly, and six for the back. Whoever the fish head is facing has to drink three cups, whoever the tail is facing has to drink four cups, whoever the belly is facing drinks five cups, and whoever the back is facing drinks six cups."
Hearing him say this, I looked in those directions. A sturdy young man was sitting at the tail of the fish, and the person at the belly of the fish clearly had a good capacity for alcohol. As for the back of the fish, it was Little Six.
Fu Honglang had perfectly avoided all the drinking positions. Looking at the wine in his hand, I felt a bit bitter.
My alcohol tolerance is not very good. According to their way of drinking, I would probably collapse before I even ate.
Glancing at Fatty, I gently kicked him with my foot, wanting him to help me think of a way.
Fatty quickly reacted, stood up and said, "Boss Fu, we appreciate your kind intentions, but we can only accept them in spirit today... It's not that we don't give you face, but drinking will cause delays, and we still have important matters to attend to."
Fu Honglang waved his hand and said, "What important matters are more important than drinking? We rarely drink together. If we don't get drunk tonight, no one is leaving."
Fatty's eyes rolled, and he said, "Doesn't Boss Fu want to find his wife anymore?"
Fu Honglang was stunned and looked at Fatty with confusion, "What does drinking have to do with finding my wife?"
"Of course, it's related. The important matter I mentioned just now is that I want to help you find your sister-in-law!"
Fatty's words were clearly nonsense, but Fu Honglang actually believed him. He was stunned and said, "You can help me find my wife?"
Fatty said, "As the saying goes, three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang. Let's eat first, and after we've had our fill, we'll naturally be able to come up with a solution."
Fu Honglang raised his eyebrows and said, "Right, right! Finding people is important, and drinking can be done anytime."
With that, he even had the wine taken away.
Fatty pretended to be profound and said, "Boss Fu, is your sister-in-law also a local of Shangdu?"
"Of course, she is a local of Shangdu."
"Then has she gone back to her maiden home?" Fatty asked.
Fu Honglang's expression turned a bit unpleasant when he heard the word "maiden home." He pursed his lips and fell silent.
Seeing his reaction, I knew there must be a story behind it.
I winked at Fatty, signaling him to drop it.
Fatty picked up his chopsticks and took a bite of a dish. When Fu Honglang looked at him, he immediately put down his chopsticks and said, "Boss Fu, you don't know what our Master Xiang does, do you?"
Fu Honglang looked at me curiously. Fatty said, "The biggest antique shop in Guangling is owned by our Master Xiang. In the antique industry in Guangling, he's this good."
Fatty made a thumbs-up gesture, "It's not me boasting, this is universally acknowledged."
I glared at him speechlessly and quickly smiled, "Brother Fu, don't listen to his nonsense. There are many people in Guangling more capable than me."
"How can that be nonsense?" Fatty said, "Boss Fu, you haven't seen Master Xiang's appraisal skills. He's never made a mistake when he's on a job."
Just as I was wondering why this damned Fatty was flattering me so much, I noticed that while he was talking, he kept stuffing food into his mouth. In a short while, half of the fish in front of us was gone.
The problem was that even with all this, no one present seemed to focus on him; they were all looking at me.
Good for you, you damned Fatty, this diversionary tactic is quite skillful!
"Is Brother Xiang's appraisal skill really that superb?" Fu Honglang asked me.
I gave a wry smile, not knowing how to answer.
Just then, Little Six, who was beside Fu Honglang, suddenly said, "Boss! I have a way to find sister-in-law!"
Fu Honglang glanced at him and said impatiently, "What bad idea are you going to come up with now?"
Little Six smiled sheepishly and shrunk his neck.
Fu Honglang hesitated for a moment and said, "If you have something to say, say it quickly!"
Little Six glanced at me and Fatty, then leaned in and whispered something in Fu Honglang's ear.
Fu Honglang looked thoughtful, and as he listened, the corners of his mouth kept turning upwards.
"This method is good!" Fu Honglang suddenly slapped the table.
I was about to take advantage of the situation to eat something, but the meat I had just picked up fell back into the bowl with his slap.
"Brother Xiang, this time we really have to rely on you!"
Fu Honglang said out of the blue, and I was startled. I put down my chopsticks and asked, "Brother Fu, why do you say that?"
"Just now, I heard Brother Fatty say that Brother Xiang is a treasure appraiser?" he asked.
I nodded.
"Then it's most appropriate to have you handle this matter!"
Fu Honglang started to laugh as he spoke. Looking at the smile on his face, I was completely bewildered.