Translator: Xiong_Guoqi Editor: DesTheSloth
“Excuse me, sir. What can I do for you?” Shen Min immediately stood up and asked.
“You surprisingly give four people only two cups and moreover, one of them is even not matching!” Mr. Qin pointed at the white porcelain cup which was obviously different from the other one in front of him and asked.
“Sir, we actually only provide one pot of liquor and one cup. The side dishes have to be ordered separately. Except for the Drunkard’s Spiced Peanut and Oil Fried Chili, the remaining several dishes that go with the liquor are provided by Boss Fang.” Shen Min wasn’t good at talking like Zhou Jia, thus she only explained politely.
“The dishes with liquor provided by Boss Fang are ordered by Sister Yin.” Shen Min thought for a while and added.
“Mr. Qin, now that the liquor is served, why don’t you taste it first?” It was the director that proposed first rather than Yin Ya this time.
What do you mean?” Seeing the director staring at the liquor pot without even blinking, Mr. Qin asked with puzzlement.
“It’s like this. I know you are fond of drinking, but you probably don’t know much about porcelain. Anyway, this liquor pot and cup are really good stuff, very good.” The director refrained himself from reaching out his hand to take it and admire it. He just complimented them with a fervent complexion.
“Do you mean this small pot painted with flower patterns that looks beautiful?” Mr. Qin was only interested in the liquor, thus he naturally knew little about other things.
“Yes. The liquor pot is even more expensive than the wine bottle of Bordeaux wine we drank the other day.” The director nodded seriously.
“Okay. In this case, let me taste it now.” On hearing that, Mr. Qin felt that he wasn’t disgraced and thus said reluctantly.
After all, in his opinion, nice bottles didn’t necessarily mean good liquor. However, it was qualified to be tasted at least.
That’s right. Once Mr. Qin reached here, he became unhappy and was reluctant to drink. Actually, he didn’t really drink whatever liquor. But since it was a business activity between companies, he couldn’t walk away as it was definitely an offensive move against his business partners.
“I am to blame. Once I heard there was good liquor, I couldn’t move my feet.” Mr. Qin sighed inwardly and then he reached out his hand and prepared to open the pot lid to pour liquor.
“Let me do it for you.” The director took the pot and prepared to open it himself.
Seeing everything was fine, Shen Min walked away consciously.
Customers that came to drink in Yuan Zhou’s restaurant usually chatted with Yuan Zhou when he was here. Some other people normally savored the liquor slowly and carefully while some familiar customers would play some games to swindle more liquor from others.
“Okay.” Instead of refusing him, Mr. Qin agreed readily.
After he nodded, the director took the liquor pot and prepared to open it.
“It really feels fine and smooth when I touch it, like a fine jade.” The director sighed with emotion.
The other three people just looked at the director and didn’t get a word in. After all, they were just the laymen in terms of admiring porcelain. Even if it was an antique, they couldn’t distinguish it, not to mention this was nothing but a piece of excellent porcelain.
If Yuan Zhou’s restaurant provided the delicacies, the containers were naturally good stuff. Only in that way could the delicacies and the containers bring out the best in each other. However, Yuan Zhou himself didn’t really know about the price and preciousness of the good stuff.
“Bo.” The director opened the pot lid, which emitted a light sound.
In a flash, the fragrance of the liquor filled the air.
“Um?” Mr. Qin immediately sat up straight and kept a close watch on the liquor pot in the hand of the director.
“Mr. Qin, the scent is really good.” Even the director could smell some difference from the lingering fragrance of the liquor.
“Indeed. Very… good.” Mr. Qin nodded. He even began to stutter with his eyes fixed to the liquor pot.
The director raised up the liquor pot and slowly poured the liquor into the matching cup painted with plum blossoms, filling it to 70% full.
The liquor in the cup was so clear and colorless that even the bottom of the cup could be seen. As the cup was very thin, the bright red plum blossoms appeared to imprint itself on the cup. Soaked by the liquor, it was like a plum blossom growing in the liquor, emitting a penetrative delicate fragrance.
“Good, good. The fragrance stays and doesn’t disperse. A lingering flavor but not overwhelming. At least, it’s a liquor that has been kept for a decade.” While he was still smelling the scent, Mr. Qin started to savor the liquor.
As soon as Mr. Qin said that, the three people let out a sigh of relief.
The director raised his head and took a look at Yin Ya. Meanwhile, the head secretary Jolie also looked at her and then turned her head back.
“As long as you like it.” The director answered smilingly.
“Of course.” Mr. Qin received the liquor cup with a graceful movement and brought it close to him to observe carefully.
“I’ll drink some with you shortly.” The director suddenly became relieved and said happily.
“No, no need. Old Cheng, let me taste the liquor first. You wait for a while.” Seeing the director intend to pour the liquor for himself, Mr. Qin immediately stopped him.
What a joke! Judging from the flavor, he clearly knew it was a rare good liquor. The liquor pot is too small, thus the amount of the liquor probably isn’t even enough for a mouthful. How could he allow others to drink his liquor?
Before he came here, he had heard that the boss was very stubborn. He only provided each customer with only one pot of the liquor without a single drop more. Naturally, he had to treasure it.
“Er…” The director was quite speechless.
He had heard that Mr. Qin was truly quite protective of good liquor, but was it really necessary not to let others taste just a little bit?
“I heard the dishes with liquor are very delicious. Old Cheng, why not taste them?” Mr. Qin might feel he behaved a little anxiously, therefore, he pointed at the dishes on the table and said.
“Let’s eat together.” After Mr. Qin said that, he also invited Yin Ya and Julie.
“Okay. Let me eat some dishes with liquor.” Without saying anything else, the director just prepared to eat the side dishes with happiness on his face.
“Mr. Qin, this is called Bamboo Liquor. Inside of the bamboos over there is the liquor. It is brewed with living bamboos.” Instead of taking her chopsticks to eat, Yin Ya started to introduce the background of the liquor considerately and timely.
“Really? Bamboo Liquor?” When Mr. Qin answered her, he didn’t even raise his head.
“Yes, it is. The literary giant Su Shi once said, ‘It is a pity we didn’t meet in Daba Mountains; I hope we can get drunk together one day.’ in his literary work. Actually, he was mentioning about the Bamboo Liquor.” Yin Ya’s cultural literacy was fairly good, thus she could use Su Shi’s poems to make the introduction.
“Then, I have to have a good taste of it.” Mr. Qin drank up a mouthful of the liquor instantly after he said that.
When the liquor entered his throat, it felt just a little heavier than the water. For a moment, Mr. Qin felt he wasn’t drinking spicy liquor but the throat-soothing pear juice or sugarcane juice.
“Um.” Mr. Qin snorted lightly with a contented and agreeable expression.
Then, the director general and Jolie became confident concerning the matter of the signing of the agreement in their hearts. After all, Mr. Qin was quite easy to get along with as long as there was good liquor for him.
“Sweet, mellow, beautiful and fragrant. It’s really a good liquor.” Mr. Qin suddenly opened his eyes and praised loudly.
“As long as you like it.” Yin Ya refilled another cup for him considerately.
“Yes, I like it. It’s the very first time that I tasted such a kind of liquor. It’s incomparably wonderful, marvelous.” Mr. Qin shook his head and became quite gentle as if he were another person.
“Please have another cup. There’s another way of drinking the liquor.” Yin Ya handed the liquor to him smilingly.
“Really? There is another way of drinking it?” Mr. Qin asked in surprise.
“Yes. With that way of drinking, it feels like hard liquor.” Yin Ya nodded her head.
“Hard liquor? This liquor apparently tastes soft and smooth. How can it become the burning hard liquor?” Mr. Qin took the liquor cup and asked with puzzlement.
“You’ll know that in a while.” Yin Ya prepared to tell a story bit by bit.
“Okay. I must have a taste of it later.” Mr. Qin didn’t really care about that. In his opinion, the liquor in front of him was the most important liquor.
