643 Crispy (2/2)

Ling Ran had ordered his food and looked around with a judgmental look.

The old and ancient decoration was not too outstanding, but it did not make people feel uncomfortable.

The small restaurant's door was not big, but the amount of space on the first and second floors was not too small. A total of six tables were placed with a huge space in between, and there were also four enclosed rooms. A screen was used to separate the tables. Now, they had sat by a table for around half an hour, so the business was not too bad.

Ling Ran and Tian Qi sat by a small table. Li Xuechao turned down his colleagues' offer and went to the noodle shop that was not far away. Two bodyguards with black shirts stood at both sides of the screen with an imposing manner.

Tian Qi sat politely across the table. She only looked around with the corner of her eyes and whispered with a guilty conscience, ”My family insisted on arranging those bodyguards for me. If I get rid of them, my family will be worried about me. If you do not like somebody following you…”

”It's okay,” Ling Ran said with a calm tone, ”Public areas will always have many people who like to stare at others. I'm used to it already.”

”It's good that you think in this way.” Tian Qi suddenly burst into laughter.

The two men in black who stood not too far away stared at each other and looked away in a very awkward manner. 'How did this weird conversation start?'

But neither wanted to talk to each other about it.

Soon, the roast duck was served.

As a small restaurant, the roast duck was not cut into pieces in front of the customer, and hence, it lacked a ceremonial air. The duck meat was well roasted, and the crispy skin layer was thick. When it was picked up, the shining, as well as oily layer, made it look very tasty.

When it was placed in a person's mouth, it made the person lose himself, and he would just keep nodding.

When Ling Ran saw Tian Qi nodding with him at the same time, he could not help but smile faintly.

Tian Qi was even happier. She felt that the duck meat in front of her was shining brightly.

”So crispy.” Tian Qi praised in a reserved manner and ate the duck skin in two bites.

”The skin of the roast duck is indeed crispy.” Ling Ran praised and nodded.

Crispy duck skin did not have the traditional taste of roast duck. If Quanjude's roast duck was treated as the authentic roast duck, then soft duck skin should be the standard of Quanjude-style roast duck.

However, authentic did not mean good taste. So, under the great opposition of the country's citizens, particularly Beijing citizens, modern roast duck skin became crispier. The roast duck that had a thick skin, and had a crispy, oily and tender taste received attention from many foodies and were highly welcomed by them. Da Dong and Duck De Chine were hence built and became famous.

Meanwhile, Quanjude, which was held back by its traditional mindset, had to increasingly rely on stories to survive. This was one of the most difficult questions faced by the famous foods in Beijing. The foodies would come for the reputation of the 'authentic taste', but the people in modern society had a great difference in taste with the people in the old days. The market that praised food once it had extra lard in it had now disappeared. Whether or not the cooks should change the flavor of their food had become a marketing problem that was hard to decide.

Ling Ran did not care about this. When he smelled something good, he just wanted to come in and taste it.

Tian Qi did not even care. The chef at her home might make a better dish, however, a meal was more than just eating.

When it was about time, Academician Du laid on the hospital bed. He was so bored that he became a bit annoyed and kept looking around.

The single room was specially meant for the academician. But the white and blue colored walls would not make anyone become more cheerful. The white-colored bed sheets, modernized multifunction nursing bed, and the complicated calling system would make one feel sense how feeble they were.

”Academician Du, we're here to give you an injection.” The head nurse brought another two nurses with her and entered.

”Sorry for the trouble.” Academician Du tried to be polite.

”It's our duty. Associate Hospital Director Wang told us that you are a pillar in our country, so he wants us to do our best.” The head nurse tried to joke around and pointed at the two nurses beside her. She smiled and said, ”I have brought the best I have over here.”

The two nurses smiled faintly, and they did not want to grab the limelight from the head nurse. They continued to do things quietly. One of them performed disinfection and bound Academician Du's arm while the other held the syringe and injected it into Academician Du's vein.

”So brittle.”

”Academician Du's vessels are indeed brittle.”

”The skin is quite fragile too.”