The beef balls looked quite light. Their pale color, together with some green chopped scallions and a few beads of oil, made them look rather appetizing, so Zhātǎn picked one up with his chopsticks, put it in his mouth, and took a bite. Immediately afterward, however, his eyes widened in surprise.
Zhātǎn had originally thought the beef balls he was eating would be the mass-produced kind sold on the market. Some shops often used those beef balls, with their soft, tender surfaces and fluffy, juicy centers, as though one bite would send juices spraying into his mouth. That was why Zhātǎn had been fairly careful. What he had not expected was how distinctive these beef balls tasted. They did not burst with juice at all when he bit into them, nor did they have that soft texture of meat scraps. The moment he ate one, he tasted firm, unmistakable beef, and it had a wonderfully springy bite.
Paired with the light scallion broth, the flavor was simply superb.
And so, without realizing it, Zhātǎn ate another, then another. By the time he stopped, the bowl in front of him was empty. He could not help rubbing his stomach. He was not full. He had not been particularly hungry to begin with, but after eating those delicious beef balls, Zhātǎn felt as though his taste buds had suddenly been activated. He counted them up. He had eaten six beef balls in total, which worked out to two League Coins per beef ball. That was quite expensive, but the ingredients were substantial, and they tasted good enough. That springy bite was hard to forget after trying it once.
He had expected the rip-off, juice-bursting beef balls sold on the market, but they turned out to be solid beef balls instead. That left