Chapter 2323: Chapter 2226: Encountering the Golden Softshell Turtle Again

Huo Sining is a foodie. Even before her rebirth when she was just a poor, low-status individual, she would often wander through the streets and alleys of any place she visited, seeking out delicious food. After her rebirth, with improved financial conditions over the years, her indulgence became even more pronounced, especially since she acquired the magical ring space ability. She often buys a lot of gourmet food and stores it away, ready to eat whenever she wants.

Due to this, Huo Sining is now somewhat of a gourmet expert. Ordinary dishes rarely catch her eye. For instance, when Zhao Guotian brought out a bottle of thirty-year-old Lafite, Huo Sining had even better ones stored in the basement of her villa, so she was naturally casual about it.

But she was indeed curious about what was in the pot being stewed. Especially since the few people in the room couldn’t take their eyes off the pot as soon as it was brought in and eagerly picked up their chopsticks as soon as it was served.

Huo Sining followed suit and gestured to Jiang Chao before picking up a piece to try.

The meat in the pot was white, with bones and skin, the skin slightly tinged with a golden hue, yet so tender and smooth. Just from the look, Huo Sining couldn’t tell what kind of wild game it was.

She had to taste it with her mouth. As she put the meat in her mouth, a special fresh aroma filled her taste buds. The culinary skills of a state banquet chef truly live up to their reputation; the dish was indeed delicious. The rich broth combined with the tender meat was on a completely different level from common meats like chicken, duck, fish, and pork. Even Huo Sining almost swallowed her tongue.

After a few bites, Huo Sining was still puzzled, unable to guess what it was. She had some vague guesses and couldn’t help but ask:

"What kind of meat is this, snake meat? Crocodile meat? Surely not pangolin?"

Upon hearing the word "snake meat" from Huo Sining, Jiang Chao’s expression changed multiple times, and upon hearing "pangolin," he was even more shocked, dropping his chopsticks onto the table and turning red, almost spitting out the meat in his mouth:

"Pan... pangolin? That’s a protected animal, you can’t eat it!"

Before Huo Sining could say anything, Hu Yongyuan couldn’t help but roll his eyes: "Of course we know pangolins are protected animals, but haven’t people in Guangcheng eaten plenty of them? They’re near extinction!"

Jiang Chao’s expression was on the verge of tears: "Really... really pangolin?"

Chen Qiankun, seeing Jiang Chao’s silly look, couldn’t bear it: "Don’t listen to Huo Sining’s nonsense about snake or crocodile or pangolin meat. If it were something common like that, Boss Zhao wouldn’t bother cooking it himself. His standards are so high, such things surely wouldn’t catch his interest."

Upon hearing Chen Qiankun’s words, Huo Sining suddenly realized.

Indeed, if it were those ordinary wild meats, they would surely be available on the market, and Zhao Guotian wouldn’t specially cook such things. Although Yan Xuesong and his pals weren’t extremely wealthy, they certainly had some status, and they would have tasted crocodile or snake meat before. They wouldn’t be so eager when the pot was brought in.

So her guesses had to be wrong.

Yet this left Huo Sining somewhat at a loss. She truly couldn’t guess what she had just tasted; she only knew it was incredibly delicious, making her want more.

"Have you ever tried turtle or softshell turtle?" Zhao Guotian, seeing Huo Sining racking her brains to guess, couldn’t help but smile and asked slowly.

Huo Sining nodded: "Of course I’ve eaten them, you’re saying this is turtle or softshell turtle? But although the taste is somewhat similar, it’s not the same as the turtles and softshell turtles I usually eat! Besides, even if these are wild, they’re fairly common, right? No reason for Boss Zhao to cook them personally."

Zhao Guotian smiled, nodding and shaking his head: "Yes and no, you see the difference in taste is partly due to the ingredient itself and partly due to my special treatment methods."

"Xiao Hu brought this one, it is a softshell turtle, but it’s quite special, a very rare type among softshell turtles, once offered to the royal family. My ancestors served as royal chefs and left behind many royal kitchen recipes, one of which includes special ways to handle such ingredients. However, during my thirty-plus years cooking for state banquets, I never encountered this ingredient. Unexpectedly, after retirement, I stumbled upon it."

Upon hearing Zhao Guotian mention the royal tribute related to softshell turtles, Huo Sining was stunned, recalling the slightly yellow skin on the meat she had just picked up, a light bulb went off in her mind, hinting at a guess.

She looked at the pot bubbling in front of her and couldn’t help but say: "Could it be this is Golden Softshell Turtle?"

Zhao Guotian was momentarily taken aback, and even the other people at the table looked over at Huo Sining in surprise. Yan Xuesong said in astonishment: "How did you figure it out, have you heard of Golden Softshell Turtles?"

Chen Qiankun laughed: "She majored in biology, it’s normal to have heard of Golden Softshell Turtles. But this thing hasn’t been seen for decades, if it weren’t for Xiao Hu bringing this one back, I would think it was extinct. But unfortunately, by the time Xiao Hu got his hands on it, it was already dead. Otherwise, it would have been an amazing biological specimen!"

Chen Qiankun’s occupational habit kicked in again, he couldn’t help but mention his profession.

Huo Sining showed a ’so it is’ expression, her gaze on the boiling pot in front of her, with a look of nostalgia mixed with complex emotions.

After reminiscing for a while, Huo Sining smiled, shook her head, and said: "It’s not just hearsay, I’ve actually seen it, a living Golden Softshell Turtle."

Upon hearing this, everyone was even more shocked, especially Chen Qiankun and Yan Xuesong; they lifted their heads and instinctively asked: "You’ve seen a living one, when?"

Huo Sining knew what exactly their questioning meant, she smiled wryly: "Three years ago, I was fishing for river mussels in the reservoir of my old home in Bashu and by chance caught a Golden Softshell Turtle. Back then, my family wasn’t well-off, I had just finished high school entrance exams and was short of money. I met a chef from a restaurant who helped me find a buyer, and I sold that Golden Turtle directly."

"Thanks to that money, I was able to go to S City for college. Without that initial capital, I might have dropped out long ago, and there wouldn’t be the current Huo Sining sitting here."

Huo Sining didn’t detail the process of catching the Golden Softshell Turtle, but indeed, Hu Yongyuan being able to encounter one Golden Softshell Turtle was already lucky. The Golden Softshell Turtle itself is fierce, so Huo Sining had already guessed that when Hu Yongyuan bought it, it was likely dead, which wasn’t surprising. She herself knew that back at Baiyun Reservoir, had she not had spiritual energy assistance, she might have been seriously harmed by the Golden Softshell Turtle.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.