Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe

"Have a sip of this."

Seeing his cautious expression after being burned, John handed over the bag he was holding, which contained a drink of unknown contents.

The bearded man didn’t stand on ceremony, grabbed the plastic cup, and took a look. Through the transparent cup, he could clearly see many red beans settled at the bottom.

"Is this... bean soup?"

"It’s red bean soup, the most popular common drink in Great Xia, equivalent to our cola, but more nutritious."

"Red beans, huh, good stuff."

Maurice breathed a sigh of relief, picked up a straw from the bag, pierced the seal on the cup, and began to drink eagerly.

The cool and sweet red bean soup instantly soothed the pain and numbness on the roof of his mouth as it flowed down his esophagus into his stomach. Maurice felt invigorated and not sleepy at all.

Most importantly, although the red bean soup was sweet, it wasn’t cloyingly sweet like many carbonated drinks, but had a perfectly balanced taste.

With a few sips of the cool sweet drink, a few red beans were sucked up through the straw.

There was no need to chew; just a gentle press with the tongue caused the beans to dissolve, releasing a rich bean fragrance.

"This is surprisingly tasty. Who knew boiling red beans in sugar water could be this good?"

Maurice’s eyes widened in amazement, unable to believe that ordinary beans could make such a delicious drink.

With a refreshing coating in his mouth, he confidently finished the rest of the bun and even licked the leftover pork fat off his fingers.

"Why hasn’t something this delicious become popular?"

"You ask me, who do I ask?"

Raphael, rubbing his chin, glanced back and forth between the two of them: "You two know each other well?"

"Not well!"

"Who’s close with him? Stop talking nonsense!"

"If you’re not close to me, why are you snatching my buns and drinking my drink? Pay up!"

"Fine, fine, I’ll pay. I was just so hungry, nearly got low blood sugar! Here’s ten euros, take it, is that enough? Use the rest to buy me some more food."

"Damn, are you treating me like a servant???"

After their noisy squabbling, they finally got the new food they wanted.

Lin Chen curiously glanced a few more times at this bearded guy who seemed to know Raphael and John, and from him, sensed a unique air of a farmer.

He couldn’t quite explain what specific quality farmers had, but with his fully evolved keen senses, he could distinguish it quickly.

From the sunburn marks, facial wrinkles, callused palms, walking posture, all were significantly different from ordinary people.

Most importantly, farmers had a faint scent of grass and were often marked with the smell of animals, characteristics that city dwellers lacked.

"Nice to meet you. I’m Chris. Pleased to meet you, young chef from Great Xia."

"Just call me Lin. Nice to meet you too, but I’m not in a convenient position to shake hands right now."

"Haha, that’s okay. I understand, work comes first."

The three of them stood in front of the waist-high stove, watching Lin Chen make savory pancakes, each holding a hot bun, with three cups of iced red bean soup placed on the edge of the stove, the cups covered in tiny droplets of water.

Two bites of a bun, one sip of red bean soup; it was truly delightful. Maurice, tasting Great Xia’s breakfast for the first time, couldn’t stop smiling the entire time.

"Crack, crack, crack."

With a few crisp sounds, three boxes of freshly baked savory pancakes were placed in front of them.

Watching Lin Chen tirelessly start to make another batch of pancakes, Maurice was full of feelings: "I didn’t expect being a chef would be hard work, even busier than us farming."

"Won’t you be exhausted after a day?"

"It’s okay. Once you get used to it, it’s not too tiring, just a fulfilling life. In fact, when I’m idle, it feels uncomfortable."

Lin Chen replied simply without looking up, and Maurice chuckled: "Exactly! I’m the same. Although I don’t want to work every day, I can’t stay lying in bed knowing there’s so much to do."

"By the way, speaking of which, I almost forgot. I have a lot of activities to pass the time here. I wonder if you guys are interested?"

"Hmm?"

John raised an eyebrow, "Don’t tell me it’s those guys again?"

"Yeah! And some big ones with marks on them escaped from your mountain. Why else would I come looking for you?"

"What the...?!" John gaped, "Escaped from my territory? That’s impossible."

"When was the last time you maintained that mountain of yours?"

"Uh..."

He thought for a long time with a frown, looking a bit embarrassed: "Seems like I haven’t patrolled for more than half a month, mainly because I’ve been busy hosting tourists on the farm with no time to apply for a license."

"See!?"

Lin Chen perked up his ears to eavesdrop, finding something amiss the more he listened.

What mountain, escape, marks — it sounded like some animals had run away?

"But that’s a minor issue. The main problem is a group of big guys broke through my wire fence to get in, and by the time I found out, two cornfields were destroyed."

"Also, a large bunch of creatures that dig holes got inside, making the ground full of pits. You take two steps and fall. It took me half a month to heal my ankle!"

"As soon as I can walk, I came here to ask for your help. You have a few employed hunters, right? Plus, you can take some guests to have fun. Wild ones are more interesting than farmed ones."

"Hmm... sounds good."

John nodded, rubbing his chin in thought, while Raphael secretly went over to Lin Chen, whispering: "Lin, you haven’t hunted before, have you?"

Hunt?

Lin Chen shook his head: "No."

"Handled a gun?"

"Neither."

At the mention of this taboo subject, Lin Chen’s breathing quickened.

Not to mention regular firearms, even hunting rifles or air guns are not allowed to circulate in Great Xia. Only with police filing can one legally own them, and usually, it’s impossible.

Additionally, hunting wild animals is illegal, apart from the occasional farmers in remote areas using slingshots to shoot birds for taste. Few Great Xia People have hunting experience.

Seeing his interest, Raphael winked: "I never told you, did I? I also have a Hunter’s License."

"What?!"

"Haha, don’t be surprised. At my level of chef, it’s common to carry a Hunter’s License. After all, the abundance of resources in the wild greatly inspires a chef’s creativity."

"Most importantly, when you hunt the prey yourself, the moment the gun fires, inspiration seems to explode in your mind. It’s a very unique experience."