A Dinner Laden with Hidden Meaning

Night had fallen, and the residence in Douglas Town was brightly lit.

The dinner was about to begin. Lin Yuan and GAKKI-chan came to the kitchen to inspect the preparations.

Tonight's dinner was being handled by three Chinese master chefs GAKKI-chan had specially hired from Chinatown in New York.

The three chefs specialized in Huaiyang cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, and Fujian cuisine respectively. The dishes from these different culinary traditions could satisfy the guests' varied tastes while ensuring that every dish presented the essence of Chinese food culture as fully as possible.

Lin Yuan and GAKKI-chan merely stood at the kitchen entrance, watching from afar through the glass window without going over to disrupt the chefs' work.

The floor-to-ceiling glass windows revealed the chefs' busy figures. Rising steam condensed into fine Water Pearls on the glass before sliding down its surface.

"Everything's going smoothly. They've already started preparing the final cold dish, 'Moonlit Lotus Pond,'" GAKKI-chan said.

Master Zhang, the head chef, was carefully placing the final winter melon slice carved into the shape of a lotus root onto a blue-and-white porcelain plate.

Upon the white porcelain plate patterned in blue, the ingredients had been meticulously assembled into a nighttime scene of a Jiangnan water town—cucumber peel formed veined lotus leaves, carrot lotuses soaked in ice water slowly unfurled their petals, and translucent slices of winter melon were arranged like ripples.

This dish tested not only knife skills, but also embodied the poetic realm pursued by Chinese literati.

Lin Yuan nodded. Exquisite cuisine was not merely delicious; its appearance was often art as well.

"Looks like there's nothing to worry about. Let's go to the dining room and wait for the guests."

Lin Yuan raised his wrist and glanced at his Patek Philippe watch—it was exactly seven o'clock. The guests should