1465 Roast Shop (1/2)
Chinese people at home and abroad often had the same obsession with ”wild”. Everyone thought that whether the animal flew in the sky, ran on the ground, or swam in the water, it was healthier to eat it if it was wild, so the finished products are more ”fresh.” Take chickens, for example. Chickens advertised as being free-range in rural areas were much more expensive and more sought after than those from farms. People preferred to buy the former for two or three times more. Some people even bought or poached them from national protected wildlife areas, but usually wound up in jail.
Butcher shops in San Francisco's Chinatown weren't exempt from this phenomenon, using wild mountain pork and venison meats as gimmicks to solicit customers.
Mountain pigs were wild boars, but different places called them by different names.
The fragrant smell in the meat shop was a bit sweet and reminiscent of the chicken and duck skin being roasted to a crisp.
The plump roasted turkey and duck hang naked from the hooks like a seductive mistress, luring customers in to commit a crime.
There were also freshly roasted suckling pigs and barbecued pork. With one glance, anyone could tell that they were roasted just nicely.
These cooked products were caramel in different shades, and the light in the store was bright warm yellow. The two colors combined to make this place a carnivore's paradise.
To be precise, this kind of shop was called a local roast shop but had different production methods and a business scope from the domestic roast shop of Cantonese cuisine. It was improved to suit a wider range of tastes. Domestic roasted turkeys that were hardly available in Chinese roast shops were available here.
This shop mainly sold cooked food but also sold raw meat to expand the variety of its business.
The elves were drooling the whole time. Fortunately, they were invisible. Besides, pets weren't allowed in such shops. What if they grabbed the roast turkey and ran away?
There were several customers in the shop, mainly middle-aged and elderly Chinese. At a glance, they all had black hair and yellow skin. There were only a few foreigners that occasionally come in, so Zhang Zian wasn't entirely outstanding when he entered.
Most of the customers and shop assistants spoke to each other in Cantonese. If they didn't know they were in San Francisco Chinatown, they would've almost thought that they came to Hong Kong or Macao.
Richard rubbed his shoulder hard as if he were saying, ”Hurry up and let me open my mouth. It's time for me to show my face.”
Zhang Zian didn't respond. The staff here should've also been able to speak Mandarin and English, so there should have been no problems communicating with them.
The other elves were dazzled by all kinds of cooked food. Only Snowy Lionet stuck her face to the glass of the refrigerator and kept swallowing hard whilst staring at the various raw meats inside.
The shop assistants were behind the counter busy collecting money, weighing, chopping meat, and responding to customers' bargains; since they couldn't come to greet guests, Zhang Zian could spend as much time as he wanted in the shop.
Just then, a short white-haired Chinese lady holding a vegetable basket walked into the shop with her hands on her back and went straight to the meat counter like a customer normally would.
”Ah Jian, is this venison really wild? I've lived for a very long time, so don't lie to me! My son-in-law and grandson are visiting me with my grandson. I want to cook the venison with garlic for them to eat!” She went straight for the young male teller, opening her mouth and asking him in thick old-fashioned Cantonese. Zhang Zian could hardly understand what she, and only guessed based on her expression and tone.