Chapter 388: Hand-Beaten Beef Balls
Among the three junior sisters Yue Lengxin had brought along, two were Yan Xi and Yun Xi, both of whom had previously gone with her to Star Luo City for the tournament. The last one was Su Qianyue, who had always stayed in the inner academy and was quite close to Yue Lengxin.
Unlike the other three, who moved about with practiced ease, Su Qianyue was still staring blankly at the recommended dipping sauce recipes on the last page of the menu even after Yue Lengxin had finished mixing her sauce and returned to her seat.
"What's the matter, Qianyue?" Seeing that she seemed to be stuck on something, Yue Lengxin asked gently.
"Senior Sister…" Su Qianyue lowered the menu, her beautiful face scrunched in growing distress. "I don't know which dipping sauce to choose."
'Just as I thought.'
Yue Lengxin gave a helpless smile.
Her junior sister had a wonderful temperament, but her one weakness was her severe indecisiveness.
She had hesitated plenty earlier when choosing the broth and ingredients as well.
"It's alright, Qianyue." Yue Lengxin smiled softly. "You can always try the ones you don't choose today next time. It's really just a matter of order. Or… you could simply pick the one that looks nicest to you?"
"The one that looks nicest…" Su Qianyue blinked, glancing over the dozen recommended sauces until her eyes landed on one of the paste dips.
It was a smooth, light reddish-brown sauce. Its color was bright yet gentle—and coincidentally, that shade of reddish-brown was her favorite color.
That's it!
Such a pretty sauce—if it were used for dipping, the food would look beautiful too!
Having made her decision, Su Qianyue beamed, showing her cute little tiger teeth. "Senior Sister, I've chosen! I'll go mix it now!"
"Go on." Yue Lengxin's smile deepened as she watched her adorable junior sister, a trace of fondness welling in her heart.
"Huh? Little Miss Indecisive actually went to mix her sauce?" Not long after Su Qianyue left, Yan Xi and Yun Xi returned together. Seeing the empty seat beside Yue Lengxin, Yan Xi raised her brows in surprise. "I thought she'd be stuck debating for ages again."
"Little Indecisive" was Su Qianyue's nickname in the inner academy. It carried no malice—in fact, most of the female students found the silly, lovable girl quite endearing.
"Yes, Qianyue just went." Yue Lengxin nodded, then glanced at the two of them and smiled. "You both grabbed sterilized eggs for your sauces?"
"Of course!" Yan Xi laughed. "Sukiyaki broth with snowflake beef—without raw egg, it's got no soul!"
Yun Xi didn't speak, but she nodded firmly in agreement.
"Indeed. When snowflake beef simmers in the sukiyaki broth, then gets coated in raw egg… it becomes especially smooth and delicious." Yue Lengxin spoke with full approval.
"Your broth is here, please make a little space~"
Mo Ran came over carrying a large pot, his voice cutting gently into their conversation as he motioned for them to move aside. Carefully, he set the broth into the recessed center of their table and activated the heating device. "The ingredients will be here shortly. Please wait a moment."
With those instructions, Mo Ran turned away, heading off to deliver another table's broth.
It was his first time working as a server, and it was clear he lacked the polish and fluid ease of someone like Fu Ya.
Still, compared to the first floor, the hotpot setup on the second floor was much easier to manage.
One table only needed one pot, after all.
And not long after Mo Ran left, Su Qianyue returned, carefully carrying her dipping sauce.
"I'm back— huh?" Su Xianyue blinked when she noticed the big pot on the table that hadn't been there before. A spark of delight lit up her face, dimples showing as she exclaimed, "The soup base is here!"
"So this is what the base looks like." She quickened her pace, set down the dipping sauce in her hands, then leaned closer to the hotpot, curiosity written all over her features. "It smells amazing. I bet anything cooked in this will taste incredible."
She could already imagine the beautiful dishes from the menu being swished through the boiling broth, filling her mouth with exquisite flavors.
"Meow~"
The soft call of Pururu pulled Su Xianyue back from her daydream.
Ah! Pururu's here!
Though she hadn't visited Han Shi as many times as Yue Lengxin, Su Xianyue was no stranger to the restaurant's star attraction—Pururu.
The sight of Pururu's soft, silver-gray and dark-silver fur made her heart thump wildly. She couldn't resist stretching out her hand, careful as if handling a treasure.
Pururu, having set down the tray balanced on its head, rubbed affectionately against Yue Lengxin's arms. Just as it was about to leave, the cat sensed a small hand reaching toward it.
"Meow?"
Tilting its head curiously, Pururu found the hand belonged to a rather adorable young girl.
Hmm… well, since you're cute, I'll indulge you just this once.
Pururu brushed its fur lightly against her fingers before darting away from the second floor.
This lord has work to do today!
"Ahhh~ I touched Pururu!" Su Xianyue giggled, her heart soaring with joy.
Yue Lengxin could only sigh at her silly junior before her gaze shifted to the dish Pururu had just delivered. At that sight, her eyes widened slightly.
Wait… are those hand-beaten beef balls?
Back in Star Luo City, Yue Lengxin had enjoyed hotpot many times, but with hundreds of side dishes to choose from, she hadn't tried them all.
This was one of the few she had never gotten around to ordering.
Honestly, the gray, unappealing look of the beef balls had made her pass them over more than once.
"Who ordered this?" she asked, curious.
"Um… I think that was me." Su Xianyue pointed at herself. "I thought they looked kind of fun—so round and bouncy."
"Then let's give them a try. I've never eaten hand-beaten beef balls either." Yue Lengxin smiled, while Yun XI and Yan XI both nodded in agreement.
Apparently, neither of them had tried it before either.
According to the menu, the beef balls needed to boil for about five minutes.
There were sixteen in total, so the four of them decided to split them evenly among the four different broths—four each.
Perfectly divided.
As they waited the five minutes, more dishes kept arriving, until finally, an exhausted Qi Han staggered over with the last plates of snowflake beef. Now every single order was complete, stacked high on the side rack until it was packed full.
"Shall we… start with the beef balls in the spicy pot?" Estimating the time to be just right, Yue Lengxin caught the scent of rich, spicy fragrance wafting up from the broth, her mouth watering despite herself as she made the suggestion.
Naturally, the other three had no objections. She took the slotted ladle and carefully fished out the four round, bouncing beef balls, placing one in each of their dipping saucers.
The moment the ball dropped into her dish and gave a tiny bounce, Yue Lengxin's eyes widened in surprise.
Such elasticity!
It didn't even feel like food—it was just like the bouncy balls she used to play with as a child.
Though the surface still looked dull gray, only now darker than before, the aroma rising from it was incredible: the numbing spice of the broth blended perfectly with the meaty fragrance of beef. Taking a deep breath, Yue Lengxin rolled the ball in her dipping sauce, then lifted it gingerly with her chopsticks.
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