Transmigrator meets Reincarnator

Ch. 52 Yuehong Restaurant's Roast Duck

Royal Princess Duanjia rested her chin on one hand while her clever eyes were fixed onto Chu Lian. “Chu Liu, you’ve never been to a place like this?”

Chu Lian hadn’t expected Royal Princess Duanjia to be so direct. She simply smiled and shook her head. “I’ve never been to a place like this before. It’s my first time!”

The original ‘Chu Lian’ hadn’t been on very good terms with the other ladies in her family. She had also been suppressed by her stepmother, so she didn’t have much money. Setting aside the question of whether she would even have the chance to leave the estate, she couldn’t even afford to tip the servants if she went out, nevermind dine at a luxurious restaurant like Yuehong.

When Royal Princess Duanjia heard her honest confession, she could guess that her days at the Ying Estate hadn’t been too great. However, seeing that her eyes were bright and clear, without a hint of darkness or resentment, the princess admired her carefree personality even more.

“Then eat more today. When we’re done, let’s go to Defeng Teahouse for a bit. I heard that someone will be performing ‘The Phoenix Seeks His Soulmate’ there today.”

It was rare for her to find someone she could get along with to go out and play. Chu Lian wasn’t too bothered about things like differences in social status either. The two of them were just like two best friends on a shopping trip, so Chu Lian agreed without thinking too much.

When all the dishes were served, the hopeful Chu Lian couldn’t hold back the twitch at the corners of her mouth.

There were over ten signature dishes on the table, but only the roast duck looked passable. The rest of the dishes were about the same as what she had in the Jing’an Estate.

On the other hand, Royal Princess Duanjia’s eyes were alight as she took in this poor spread. Her handmaid had already started placing pieces of roast duck in Royal Princess Duanjia’s personal dish, as well as Chu Lian’s.

There were two other small dishes placed in front of them. One of them was filled with a dark soy sauce, while fine salt crystals were piled on top of the other.

Royal Princess Duanjia pointed at the two white dishes and said, “Chu Liu, you have to dip the roast duck into the dark soy sauce and the fine salt. It’s delicious! Try it out!”

As she finished speaking, she quickly picked up a piece of roast duck on her plate, dipped it into the sauce, and then stuffed it right into her mouth. Royal Princess Duanjia closed her eyes as she savoured it.

Upon finishing that one single piece, she smacked her lips like she was recording the flavour into her memory. Then she turned her expectant eyes towards Chu Lian.

Faced with that waiting gaze, Chu Lian could only follow Royal Princess Duanjia’s instructions, dipping the duck into the sauce, and then putting it into her mouth.

Chu Lian: ……

Although the roast duck was so crisp that the surface was covered in oil, the inside was completely devoid of flavour! No wonder they had to dip it in soy sauce and salt.

The soy sauce and salt combo could add some taste to the meat, but that was only on the outermost layer.  It was worth noting that even the most finely ground salt here was coarser than the table salt of the modern world. She could clearly see every single grain of salt, and the larger crystals arguably made the crispy skin it coated even saltier. The meat on the inside was the complete opposite: utterly tasteless. While biting down was like eating a mouthful of salt, chewing was equally horrid. She couldn’t taste any duck at all. With this sort of uneven flavour distribution, how could anyone consider this delicious?