Chapter 892 - 624: Boiling
But the guy was eating with such obvious enjoyment right now, it was hard for them to believe their eyes.
Did Lu Rui'an make some kind of deal with the Dragon Country people and put on an act just for them?
The moment this thought popped up, everyone shook their heads.
Last year, a three-star restaurant had spent a fortune to invite him over to review their food, also for promotion.
But it turned out the food they served didn't even come close to satisfying Lu Rui'an. It was a live broadcast, and he started nitpicking on the spot, showing the restaurant absolutely no mercy.
It was exactly because of that incident that Lu Rui'an jumped from a one‑million‑follower Anchor to a ten‑million‑follower Anchor in one go, directly moving up a whole tier.
Everyone knew Lu Rui'an dared to get mad and dared to speak his mind. No matter how much money you gave him, if the food didn't meet his standards, he would flip the table on the spot and not give you the slightest shred of face.
Which only made it harder for everyone to accept. They had always believed that Dragon Country was a poor nation, that its people went hungry every day, some even gnawing on tree bark and eating grass roots, so there couldn't possibly be any "cuisine" to speak of.
But Lu Rui'an's performance now completely overturned their previous perception.
Not only did Dragon Country have good food, there was a lot of it; otherwise how could it make Lu Rui'an show such a blissful expression?
"Actually, that's not so strange. Dragon Country is huge and has such a big population. It's normal to have a few decent dishes."
"Yeah, didn't the video say there's a food street in Dragon Country? But there's no way every single place on that street meets Lu Rui'an's standards, right?"
"A whole street of great food? Are you kidding me? Even we in America don't have a place like that."
"..."
Everyone started scrambling for excuses to soothe their shocked hearts. They just did not want to admit Dragon Country had countless delicacies.
And that harmonious scene on the street also made them suspicious.
"What if Dragon Country knew the gourmet was coming, so they purposely set up that whole street? The people on that street could all be actors."
"That's actually possible. After all, if Dragon Country lacks anything, it's not people. How many people are there on that one street? To Dragon Country that's nothing at all."
"The gourmet's face must be too big. The Dragon Country people actually put on such a big show just for him. I bet they've brought out every bit of good food they've got."
"..."
As this line of thinking spread, more and more people started to agree. They refused to believe Dragon Country had such a prosperous place, and they didn't want to believe it either. They'd rather believe their own country's media.
[Everyone, same old rules, it's time for me to rate the dishes I tried today.]
At the same time, the video cut back to the hotel again, and Lu Rui'an's voice came through.
Every time after tasting the food, Lu Rui'an would do a rating, and many fans would pick dishes to try based on those ratings.
The rating system wasn't just "the tastier it is, the higher the score." Lu Rui'an would factor in taste, price, and a whole series of things. Of course, the most crucial factor was how much he personally liked it.
[First is the spicy pepper soup. I'm giving it level eight. The flavor is delicious, the price is cheap, and as a breakfast item it's really great—way better than bread and milk.]
"Level eight? Oh my god, has the gourmet lost his mind? A breakfast dish can actually hit level eight?"
"I remember among all the breakfasts Lu Rui'an has rated so far, the highest was only level seven, right? Didn't expect this spicy pepper soup to reach level eight."
"..."
Hearing Lu Rui'an's words, all the fans cried out in surprise. There were only ten levels in total, and hitting level eight was already extremely high.
That also made a bunch of foreigners curious—what on earth did that spicy pepper soup taste like, to make Lu Rui'an rate it level eight?
[The second dish is mutton in a big bowl. I have to say, this is one of the few dishes among all the food I've tasted so far that truly made me gasp in amazement. It made me wish I had a few more stomachs so I could eat several more bowls. So this dish gets a level ten rating!]
Hiss…
Seeing Lu Rui'an's face full of lingering aftertaste as he talked about the mutton in a big bowl, all the fans were in disbelief.
All these years he'd roamed all over the world, tasting not a thousand but at least eight hundred different foods. Yet the ones that managed to reach level ten definitely numbered no more than five.
No one expected that on his very first day in Dragon Country, he'd already give a dish a level ten rating—the highest evaluation possible.
"What does that mutton in a big bowl even taste like, to make the gourmet give it such a high score?"
"Now I really want to try it. If it leaves the gourmet this obsessed, it has to be amazing."
"..."
Meanwhile, in the video, Lu Rui'an didn't stop and kept rating the dishes he'd tried. Even the lowest one, the date cake, got a level seven—already very high among desserts.
[Next is the pita bread soaked in mutton soup. This is a specialty of Qingyun. I won't even talk about the taste—you only know once you've tried it. I'm giving it level nine. The main reason it's not higher is that tearing the bread into pieces feels too troublesome to me. Maybe I still don't quite get what Dragon Country people mean by 'do it yourself and you'll be well fed and clothed'.]
Even though it was "only" a level nine rating, all the fans were still shocked. Over the years, there hadn't even been twenty dishes that got a level nine from Lu Rui'an, and now Dragon Country had produced one.
But what really stunned all the fans were his next words.
[My friends, you might not believe this, but today I'm giving out a second level ten rating—and that goes to the soup‑filled buns!]
As they listened to Lu Rui'an, all the fans showed shocked expressions again.
All these years, he'd given fewer than five level ten ratings in total, yet today he'd handed out two tens in one go.
[Soup‑filled buns are the best noodles or flour‑based food I've had so far, bar none. The savory broth is wrapped inside the dough skin, and when you dip it and pop one in your mouth, the soup explodes in your mouth like a beautiful fairy dancing on your tongue.
The skin is thin yet chewy, the meat filling is tender, and I can hardly imagine that a food like this even exists in this world.
The only thing I regret is that I went too late today and only managed to snatch two soup‑filled buns from my Dragon Country friends. Tomorrow I have to go early; there's no way I'm missing out on something this good…]
Listening to Lu Rui'an and seeing the close‑up shots of the soup‑filled buns, all the fans couldn't help swallowing their saliva.
Especially when they saw the broth dripping from the corner of his mouth as he ate one in a single bite—they felt like they could taste that rich, savory flavor right through the screen.