The Spirit of Gourmet

Chapter 306 Broken Jade by the Bedside

"Be careful on the road~"

Watching Qin Lang and the others get into the car, Ren Qiu waved his arm vigorously until the taxi carrying the five people disappeared from sight before slowly lowering his hand.

"What an outstanding group of young people," Ren Qiu sighed softly, a smile still lingering on his face.

After the meal, Ren Qiu gained a better understanding of Qin Lang and the others, and his appreciation for them grew even stronger.

"Xixi, you should learn more from them."

"Alright." Ren Xi sighed. "Although you always use other people's children to make me learn from them, Qin Lang and the others are indeed very capable."

“Travel…” A look of longing appeared in her eyes.

She, who was attached to her home, originally did not plan to leave the Donghu Crab Farm, but after hearing about Qin Lang and others' experiences on their journey, she still felt a bit curious and expectant about the outside world.

"Maybe I can give it a try when my cooking skills improve a bit more." With that, Ren Xi vigorously waved her arm.

This crab battle made her realize her shortcomings, and she needs to work harder to study cooking techniques.

"Haha~" Seeing the fighting spirit surging in Ren Xi's eyes, Ren Qiu laughed heartily, "You and your grandma are really alike."

"Back then, she was usually quite lazy, but if she encountered a goal that interested her, she would do her best to try to catch up."

As he spoke, Ren Qiu's face showed a touch of emotion.

"grandmother…"

Ren Xi was stunned for a moment, and a complicated look appeared in her eyes.

Ren Xi doesn't have a deep impression of her grandmother because her grandmother passed away when she was three years old.

Her only impression of her grandmother was that her grandmother was a very capable person. She was the one who built the Donghu Crab Farm and cultivated the top-quality Yuehu Crab that was famous throughout the Dongyun area.

Although her father, Ren Qiu, inherited his mother's business and became the new owner of the Donghu Crab Farm, and was about to cultivate Yunhu Crab, which was even better than Yuehu Crab, and even served as a first-class food recommender in Yuehu City, in Ren Xi's memory, her father lamented more than once that he was still far inferior to her grandmother.

"Dad, do I really look a lot like Grandma?"

"Of course." Ren Qiu's face showed a touch of emotion as he gently patted Ren Xi's head. "Not only that, you are the person she loves the most."

"They say grandparents love their grandchildren more, and my grandmother was the same way. She was very strict with me, her son, but she doted on you."

"Although you may not remember, after you were born, Grandma couldn't stop smiling every time she saw you."

"Even your name was chosen by her."

"Do you remember that jade pendant? It was put on your head by your grandmother when you were a month old. It was something that was extremely important to her, but she gave it to you without hesitation."

"Is that so..." Ren Xi was stunned for a moment. Just as she was about to ask her father to talk more about her grandmother, she saw Ren Qiu pick up the phone.

"Hello, it's me... Hmm?" Ren Qiu's smile quickly vanished, and his expression turned serious. "Okay, I'll be right there."

He quickly put down the phone and turned to look at Ren Xi.

"The association has some urgent matters that require my attention. You stay at the crab farm and notify me immediately if any problems arise."

"Okay." Ren Xi nodded sensibly.

Under Ren Qiu's tutelage, she had gradually become involved in the affairs of the Donghu Crab Farm, and she was able to handle most things on her own with ease.

Ren Qiu gently patted Ren Xi's head, then jogged to the garage and quickly drove away from the crab farm.

Watching her father's departing figure, Ren Xi turned and went back home, entering her room and lying down, staring blankly at the ceiling light. "Grandma..."

"Today, Dad told me some things about your past."

"Unfortunately, I remember very little about you."

"So, I was once loved by you so much...?"

She murmured softly, then suddenly remembered something, turned around and reached for the bedside table. After rummaging through it, she found a broken jade pendant with a red string hanging from the corner of the drawer.

The jade pendant is of excellent quality, so clear and pure under light that it has no impurities. The edges of the crack are not sharp even after years of handling. It can be roughly seen that it is about one-third of a complete jade pendant.

This jade pendant accompanied all of her childhood memories. She wore it almost as long as she could remember. After growing up, because she disliked that it was an incomplete jade pendant, Ren Xi put it in her bedside table and stopped wearing it.

"Is this something very important to Grandma?"

Ren Xi stared intently at the jade pendant, then put it back around her neck and tucked it into her clothes, letting it rest close to her heart.
-

"I didn't expect to make a profit from this trip to the East Lake Crab Farm." Cao Dongdong excitedly rubbed the gift card in his hand. "Qin Lang, do you think we could combine the Leap Lake crabs with desserts?"

“You can give it a try.” Qin Lang smiled. “Actually, desserts don’t just have a sweet taste. For example, egg yolk pastry has a sweet and salty flavor because it contains salted egg yolk.”

"So crabs and desserts are not necessarily incompatible."

"Now that you mention it, I feel more at ease." Cao Dongdong chuckled. "Don't come looking for me anymore. I'm going into seclusion for a few days to properly research the combination of crab and dessert."

"I don't believe you can go into seclusion." Zhao Qian covered her mouth and laughed. "With your personality, you can't help but react at the slightest disturbance."

"Tch! Don't underestimate me!" Cao Dongdong snorted, which made the others unable to help but smile.

Amidst their conversation, the taxi came to a stop.

The Tianzhou Hotel is not far from the parking space.

"Finally back." Zuo Ge, who had dozed off in the car, rubbed his cheek vigorously. "Now that I've filled my stomach, I can fall asleep the moment my head hits the pillow."

"You're already so sleepy in the afternoon? Didn't you sleep well last night?" Qin Lang couldn't help but ask with concern.

“He didn’t sleep at all,” Fatima pushed up her glasses and said quietly, “He came knocking on my door in the middle of the night last night…”

Upon hearing this, Qin Lang and the other two couldn't help but gasp. They glanced at Zuo Ge and then at Fatima, their eyes filled with the excitement of watching a spectacle unfold.

"...Come to me for the stone inscriptions from the ancient ruins."

Oh…

Qin Lang and the other two sighed in disappointment at the same time.

"Come on, that's an ancient ruin related to two legendary creatures!" Zoge couldn't help but mutter. "Every piece of information inside could contain a huge new discovery in the study of the legends."

"Who can bear this?"

"Is it really that powerful?" Cao Dongdong looked skeptical. "No matter how powerful the ruins are, can they compare to the main body?"

Upon hearing this, all five of them turned their gaze to the small fish tank that Qin Lang had been holding the whole time.

Just as a flicker of interest appeared in Zuo Ge's eyes, a stream of water splashed onto his face.

"...Never mind, I'll just study the stone inscriptions instead."

(End of this chapter)