Chapter 83: Insatiable and Black hole
Translator: AstralGhost Editor: Kurisu
"Great, I'll pick you up from the hotel later."
Wang Jian put down the phone excitedly.
Although he appeared full of confidence, Wang Jian was still a little worried that even Bei Feng's food might not be able to satisfy the taste buds of that old fellow.
'I'm still fairly confident in regards to the taste department. The presentation, on the other hand...'
Wang Jian pondered deeply. To be honest, during his first trip to Bei Feng's restaurant, if he hadn't been lured in by the smell of the food and decided to give it a try, he probably would not have tasted it at all!
"Xiao Liu, ready a helicopter for me."
Wang Jian turned to Liu Ziyun on the side.
With a curt nod, Liu Ziyun hurried off.
Half an hour later, a helicopter lifted off from the roof of Qingshan Corporation's building.
After landing on the most luxurious hotel in Qingcheng, Wang Jian went to receive Huang Lin and escorted him personally into the helicopter.
"Chairman Huang, may I know who this gentlemen is?"
Wang Jian looked at the aged man accompanying Huang Lin and asked.
"This is an old associate of mine. We can be considered like-minded friends."
Huang Lin did not reveal the old man's identity, and only briefly introduced him with a tiny smile.
'F*ck me, it's fine if there's just one old fellow, but another one had actually appeared!'
Wang Jian thought gloomily.
Like-minded friends? That means that they must have the same interests. That old fellow must also have a sharp mouth!
"Where are we going now?"
Huang Lin asked with interest.
"Mt. Qingling. It's a pretty popular tourist spot in the area."
Wang Jian replied distractedly.
"Hoho, you aren't planning on bringing us two piles of old bones up Mt. Qingling to suffer from cold and hunger, right?"
Huang Lin asked teasingly.
Each person had their own thoughts, and neither brought up the matter of the proposal on the way, only engaging in leisure conversation.
***
Bei Feng was currently at a loss as to what to prepare for Wang Jian's party. After much thought, he finally decided to take out the medicinal cauldron and make them some medicinal Giant Salamander meat.
Looking at the clock, lunchtime was approaching. Bei Feng immediately told Mystic Two and Mystic Three to start a fire.
About an hour later, the meat was done cooking and Bei Feng had just extinguished the fire.
At that exact moment, the whirling noise of helicopter blades sounded out in the distance, causing Bei Feng to look up in surprise. They arrived so quickly?
"Woof, woof!"
The guts of the two little wolfdogs had soared immensely in recent days. They ran out into the yard, barking wildly before the helicopter even landed.
"Insatiable, Black hole, come back!"
Bei Feng called out at the two little dogs.
"Wuu, wuu!"
The two little wolfdogs hurriedly turned around and ran back to Bei Feng, their tiny butts bouncing cutely and their tails wagging affectionately.
That's right, he'd named the two little wolfdogs Insatiable and Black Hole.
It was very easy to tell the two little wolfdogs apart as well. Insatiable had two comma-like marks between its eyebrows, and Black hole had a coat of black with white limbs.
As for the names, it was naturally in reference to the crazy appetite of these pups. They could easily eat 3-5 jin of Grade 1 Demonic Beast meat like the Variant Giant Salamander a day!
Luckily, they grew as fast as they ate. The two 'little' wolfdogs were already tall enough to reach an adult's kneecaps.
Their muscles were large and solid, their fur smooth and luxuriant. Even their limbs were as strong as a full-grown wolfdog's!
They already showed signs of extraordinariness at such a young age!
A row of pearly white, dagger-like teeth lined the insides of their mouths, causing any who saw them to shrink back in apprehension. The thing that Bei Feng was most pleased with was that, unlike other dogs, they were not a slobbering mess with saliva all over their mouths.
Furthermore, they were extremely intelligent, and could understand simple commands perfectly.
Patting them on their heads affectionately, he ushered them to play on the side.
Bei Feng walked over and opened the door. Wang Jian's group had also walked over at the same time.
"Wow, Boss Wang, you're certainly a rare guest! How come you haven't visited in so long? Could it be that this little establishment was lacking in our treatment of you in some way?"
Bei Feng asked with a surprised expression, as though he had just seen a rare Pokemon.
"Ahaha... I've been so busy lately that I can hardly tell what's going on around me anymore. Where would I find the time to think about food?"
Wang Jian lamented with emotion before turning to the old man beside him. "This is Chairman Huang, my business partner. He's here today after hearing about the fame of your restaurant, so you must bring out your true skill this time!"
"En. You guys are just in time, I've just finished preparing... please come in first!"
Bei Feng was extremely calm despite the high expectations of his customers. He simply maintained a polite expression as he ushered the guests in.
'Hmm, that youngster has quite a bit of character. Only, does he have the ability to match that character?'
Huang Lin evaluated Bei Feng silently. His first thought was that Bei Feng was a youngster with some healthy attitude.
"Hmm? That fragrance?!"
Huang Lin and the rest exclaimed as soon as they walked into the yard.
Huang Lin's nose was not unused to top delicacies. However, even he could not help but swallow a mouthful of saliva as he smelled the food!
The old man beside Huang Lin completely ignored the smell though, and instead focused his gaze on the large medicinal cauldron in the yard!
'Ah! What a waste of a heavenly item!'
Zhang Bao Jun did not reveal his shock, but his heart was bleeding with pain!
Although he couldn't determine which dynasty and era this cauldron came from, he could tell with just a single look that it was not something crafted in modern times!
Zhang Bao Jun was not a simple person. He was actually quite renowned among antique collectors, globally. He especially specialized in the appraisal of ancient bronze artifacts.
The instant he laid eyes on the large cauldron, Zhang Bao Jun could feel the bountiful history behind it!
That was not him talking irresponsibly or mere fanciful thoughts. Instead, this was the intuition he'd gained from a lifetime of appraising antiques and artifacts!
The layman follows the way to do something, while the professionals follow their own experience and judgment!
The cauldron before him was around 1.5 meters tall. Various runes were carved into its sides, and protruding patterns of flowers, birds and fishes also surrounded it.
The patterns were extremely exquisite and lifelike, unlike any he'd ever seen before.
'The largest piece of bronzeware in China is the Houmuwu Rectangle Cauldron from the Shang Dynasty. It is 1.33 meters tall, its mouth measures 1.1 meter long and 0.79 meter wide, and it weighs 832.84 kilograms! [1]
But this cauldron here had already surpassed the Houmuwu Rectangle Cauldron in size! It either has a value that is equal to several cities, or is a fake created by a counterfeit master! But even if it were fake, this old man would still be unable to prove it and can only admit defeat willingly!'
Zhang Bao Jun could not tear his eyes away from Bei Feng's medicinal cauldron.
Even if it was a fake, to be able to design such a marvelous creation excelling nature made it a rare treasure with a similarly great collector's value!
Zhang Bao Jun's mind was completely filled with thoughts about how to buy this cauldron!
'This young man is probably someone who couldn't recognize the treasure before him. But it's also possible that this is a professionally set up trap!'
Zhang Bao Jun thought seriously. If the kid knew how precious the cauldron was, he wouldn't be using it to cook meat. But what he was worried about was that this decent-looking youngster might actually be a profound schemer, playing mind games by letting the prey off in order to catch him later, and was preparing a trap for him to fall into! [2]
"Old Zhang... Old Zhang! What are you thinking about? It's rare to see you so deep in thought."
Huang Lin turned back and called out.
"Coming!"
Zhang Bao Jun hurriedly caught up.
"Please remain seated for a moment. The food will be served soon."
Bei Feng brought the four to the dining room and quickly left.
"I gotta hand it to you! How did you manage to find such a remote place like this?"
Huang Lin was in a pretty good mood. He hadn't even tasted the food, but the fragrance was enough to whet his appetite.
"I found it by luck..."
Wang Jian was hatching a strategy in secret. Meanwhile, Zhang Bao Jun was also extremely distracted and edgy as he ran through all the possible methods to obtain the large cauldron in his mind, and place it as the centerpiece of his personal museum!
[1] ED/N: Also known as Houmuwu ding, and formerly as Simuwu ding; the author apparently doesn't seem to realize the change in naming, or perhaps it's a recent and incompletely introduced change. It's apparently the largest bronze artifact ever found; some sources claim its weight is 875 kg, though I don't know what they base it on.
[2] ED/N: To give an example of what he means: a thief catches a multimillionaire with 100,000 USD in his wallet off-guard, but doesn't steal it and befriends the 'little sheep' instead, plotting to be invited into his house and steal the antiques inside--antiques which are worth a million or even more.