The Spirit of Gourmet

Chapter 506 Contacting Meng Chang
"Of course, this is just my opinion."

Tang Yu then explained, "Everyone has a different personality and things they need to uphold, so you don't have to be influenced by my thoughts."

Trust your choices.

"Do you trust your choice...?" Qin Lang turned his gaze to Zhao Qian, "Zhao Qian, if it were you, what would you do?"

“I think I will make the same choice as Sister Tang Yu.” Zhao Qian thought for a moment and answered seriously, “My dream is to become a powerful spirit chef, and a powerful spirit chef is not only strong, but also has the courage to stand up in the face of danger and enemies!”

Qin Lang nodded slightly, then turned his gaze to Cao Dongdong.

"Why are you looking at me? I'm so weak. I should just stick to being a dedicated spirit chef who focuses on desserts." Cao Dongdong shrank back. "If all else fails, I can always go home and inherit the family business."

Qin Lang chuckled upon hearing this.

Cao Dongdong's answer was exactly what he expected.

So, are you going?
Qin Lang subconsciously reached into his pocket and touched something icy cold.

It was a gleaming gold medal.

It wasn't a token obtained by passing the examinations for Spirit Bearers and Food Recommenders; it was simply a commemorative medal won at the Magnolia Food Festival in Lanqiu City, a medal symbolizing courage and fearlessness.

As he stroked the surface of the medal, Qin Lang's gaze gradually hardened.

He wants to go.

It wasn't because I had the conviction that being the protagonist of the Traveler's Book meant I had to save the world, nor was it because Tang Yu and Zhao Qian made such a decision that I wanted to emulate them.

Simply because at this moment, he wanted to do this.

There might be danger, and it might be somewhat irrational.

But courage is a young man's best weapon.

"Let's discuss how to proceed."

Upon hearing this, Tang Yu and Zhao Qian exchanged a smile, while Cao Dongdong shrugged, revealing an expression that said, "I knew this would happen."
-
"beep--"

After a short ring, an unfamiliar voice came from the other end of the phone, "Hello? Who is this?"

Qin Lang compared the phone number with the one Meng Chang had given him, then nodded slightly to the others beside him before speaking in an expectant yet nervous voice, "Hello, is this Mr. Meng Chang?"

"I am Qin Lang, the winner of the cooking competition. Do you remember me?"

"I am very interested in the mutual aid organization you mentioned earlier. After thinking about it for the past few days, I would like to join it."

"So, are your words still valid?"

As Qin Lang finished speaking, the other end of the phone fell silent.

Tang Yu quickly wrote on the prepared paper and pen, 'Wait quietly and see how they respond.'

Qin Lang nodded and said nothing more.

Soon there was some noise on the other end of the phone, and soon a voice came through again. This time, the voice was no longer that of the stranger, but Meng Chang, a voice that Qin Lang was familiar with.

"Hello, is this Qin Lang?" The voice carried a hint of amusement. "Sorry, I was a bit busy just now, so a friend answered the phone."

"It's alright, I came here to..." Qin Lang hurriedly began, about to repeat his purpose, but Meng Chang interrupted him.

“My friend just told me why you're here.” “What I said before still stands.”

"However, as I mentioned before, this mutual aid organization has a very strict vetting process, and it's not something you can just join if you want to."

"I understand!" Qin Lang's tone was firm. "I'm willing to undergo the review process, as long as I can join the organization and obtain rare ingredients through it!"

"In that case, let's meet first," Meng Chang said with a smile, offering an address. "Three o'clock this afternoon, how about this location?"

Tang Yu, who was standing to the side, had already quickly located the address given by Meng Chang, and then nodded slightly to Qin Lang.

"Sure! I'll be there on time," Qin Lang quickly replied.

Meng Chang smiled and exchanged a few polite words before hanging up the phone.

Once the call ended, Cao Dongdong and Zhao Qian, who had been holding back their words, breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally, we can talk."

"Sister Tang Yu, where is that address?" Qin Lang asked.

“Not far from the city center.” Tang Yu’s eyes became more serious as she said this. “I thought they would choose to meet in a more remote place, but I didn’t expect them to choose a place like this.”

"This should be considered a good thing, right?" Zhao Qian couldn't help but ask. "A place with many people will be safer for Qin Lang."

“That’s true, but four members of the hunting team have just been arrested. Under these circumstances, how could the other party be so bold as to show up?” Tang Yu pondered for a moment. “I have a feeling that the other party is unlikely to show up.”

"At least, I won't show up at the agreed location."
-
At this very moment, in another hidden underground base, two people stood side by side, one looking at the other with concern.

"Mr. Meng, are you really going to leave the base?"

"Now that Meng Yan and the others have been captured, we can let the other three go. But Meng Yan knows the location of our base; what if he exposes it to the association..."

“Meng Yan wouldn’t do that.” Meng Chang interrupted him in a deep voice, then changed the subject, “However, given what has happened, Xianyu City will intensify its search efforts against us, and they will find us here sooner or later.”

"Therefore, we need to move the base location as soon as possible."

"As for the base relocation, I need to oversee it personally."

Hearing this, the other person next to him breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as Mengchang doesn't leave the base at this time, everything will be fine.

“Mr. Mengchang, if you ask me, shouldn’t we just give up on that Qin Lang?” he couldn’t help but say. “Once we get to a new place and find new partners, we’ll have a chance to recruit some new spirit chefs.”

"No, we can't give up."

Meng Chang shook his head, as if recalling the amazing taste of that chopped chili fish head he had just savored. "The organization has given us the task of secretly recruiting members. The higher the potential of the recruited members, the greater our merit and reward will be."

"Qin Lang is a very talented young man. Right now, the treasure hunting team is short of people. Recruiting Qin Lang is equivalent to recruiting more than a dozen people."

“More importantly…” Meng Chang paused slightly, a thoughtful glint in his eyes, “His appearance at this time is just right to bring some new assistance to our mission of relocating the base.”

"Long Yu, go and meet him this afternoon."

"Me?" The person standing next to Meng Chang was somewhat surprised.

"What should I say when I meet him?"

“Give him a task, say it’s an assessment for the mutual aid organization.” Meng Chang’s eyes flickered slightly. “Find a suitable excuse and have him find out about Meng Yan and the others in the public security management team.”

(End of this chapter)