Chapter 173 (continued)

Yan Kexing: "Smaller pigeons are more fragrant and tender; if they were bigger, they wouldn't have the same effect. Try dipping them in ketchup; it'll taste different again."

Shi Wen his advice and picked up another piece of pigeon meat, dipped it in ketchup, and ate it.

The tomato sauce is made from tomatoes grown on ranches; it's tangy, flavorful, and rich, a perfect match for meat.

Pigeon meat dipped in tomato sauce has a completely different flavor.

The three men, Gong Jiang and his companions, didn't have time to speak or listen to what the other two were saying. They just picked up the pigeon meat and focused on eating.

At this moment, there's no need to say much; just focus on eating the meat.

There were other dishes on the table, but they were just to add variety; the pigeon meat was the real main dish.

Everyone ate like silkworms that had just been released, munching away with gusto and focusing intently on enjoying the delicious food.

I only understood the meaning of "not speaking while Shi Wen" today.

The food was so delicious that I couldn't concentrate on talking at all.

After they had almost finished eating, everyone started drinking the pigeon soup.

Pigeon soup is clear, sweet, and delicious, perfect for a relaxing after-meal meal.

Lin Chengqian took a sip of pigeon soup and said with emotion, "I only tasted this flavor once when I was five or six years old, when I went with my grandfather to eat roast pigeon prepared by a master chef at a state banquet."

Ge Yue: "Senior Brother Lin, do you still remember what happened when you were five or six years old?"

"Of course I remember," Lin Chengqian said. "Delicious food is etched into the soul. I'll remember that taste for the rest of my life. It's a pity that after the master chef who made the roast pigeon passed away, I never tasted such a delicacy again. I never thought I'd get to eat it again today."

Gong Jiang: "Back then, the dishes prepared by the master chefs who hosted state banquets weren't cheap."

Lin Chengqian: "I don't remember anything else, but I do remember that the roast pigeon cost 180 yuan. Back then, my dad's salary was only 800 yuan."

Shi Wen to their idle chatter without saying a word.

He wants to drink soup right now.

Ge Yue chatted, he said, "This braised pigeon is really delicious. It would be perfect to have some wine with it."

Lin Chengqian: "Yes, yes, I want a wine that's quite ripe and a little sweet; it would be so refreshing to drink."

Shi Wen said lazily, "Let your teacher buy it; he'll definitely be able to get the best wine."

Yan Kexing hadn't spoken until Shi Wen he hummed in response.

Lin Chengqian: "To be honest, the wines you buy outside are just so-so. Brother Shi, don't you want to grow some grapes? The fruits and vegetables on the ranch are of such excellent quality. If you grow some grapes, you can pick them and make wine. It will definitely taste great."

Shi Wen 've never really considered growing grapes.

If we're talking about planting, they certainly can. There's so much land on the mountain; planting some grapes wouldn't be too much trouble.

Thinking of this, Shi Wen said, "I'll go ask around in a couple of days to see if there are any grape varieties suitable for this area. If so, I'll buy a few vines."

Gong Jiang chimed in, "No need to buy. Brother Shi, if you're interested in growing grapes, I know a friend whose grapes are of exceptionally high quality. They live nearby, so growing their grapes shouldn't be a problem."

Lin Chengqian immediately recognized him. "Is it Cai Mingjing? His grapes are indeed excellent, very sweet, and have a unique aroma. I heard that the aroma is even retained after the wine is made."

Gong Jiang: "That's his house."

Lin Chengqian: "Isn't it true that they don't sell grapes? I wanted to ask them for a grapevine before, but they said they weren't selling, so I had to give up in the end."

Gong Jiang: "He owes me a favor."

Ge Yue: "If we really manage to grow grapes and make wine, wouldn't it be delicious to cook pigeon in wine? I once heard of a famous dish called 'Red Wine Braised Pigeon'."

Shi Wen looked at Yan Kexing again, a little hungry.

Yan Kexing: "There are indeed similar dishes, and they taste quite good."

Upon Shi Wen this, Shi Wen said to Gong Jiang, "Then could you introduce me to your friend sometime? I'd like to see when we can plant some grapes."

They talked about various ways to eat pigeons.

As they talked, Ge Yue mentioned, "This corn and pigeon soup is delicious. It would probably be good too if you used other ingredients."

Shi Wen casually asked, "What other soup would you like to drink?"

Ge Yue: "For example, old pigeon and winter melon soup? Old pigeon and yam soup? Speaking of which, when I went to inspect the area a couple of days ago, I saw a whole field of yams. If you go there to dig, you're sure to find some good ones."

Shi Wen: "What kind of yam?"

"Is it iron yam?" Ge Yue said, unsure himself, and asked Gong Jiang, "When we went out to investigate a couple of days ago, we definitely saw yams, right?"

Gong Jiang nodded. "It's yam."

Shi Wen, "We actually have yams here? Aren't yams supposed to grow in the south?"

Ge Yue disagreed. "Yams are grown all over the country. Our area is a major yam producing region. They're called desert yams, and they're quite different from the yams outside. They taste much better."

Shi Wen, intrigued by her words, asked, "Since these are such good yams, why didn't you dig some up?"

"I had research work to do at the time, so it wasn't easy to leave my job to dig for yams," Ge Yue said enthusiastically. "If we had actually gone to dig, we definitely would have found a lot of yams. I think the yam vines have almost covered an entire hillside."

Shi Wen, "Give me the location, I'll bring the dogs over to see it when I have time."

They've been quite bored on the ranch lately, with nothing fun to do.

If there really are yams to dig up on the mountain, it would be nice to take the dogs to dig some up and bring them back; it'll be a fun trip too.

Ge Yue also wanted to go out and have fun. "We can go on the weekend! I'll personally lead the way."

Shi Wen Yan Kexing, "Are you free this weekend?"

Yan Kexing: "We can arrange it in advance. It's just that the place where the long yam is grown is quite far; it takes more than two hours to drive there."

Shi Wen waved his hand dismissively. "What's two hours? We can get up two hours earlier and drive there."