I Have a Countryside Gourmet Restaurant

Chapter 363: Chapter 334: The World’s Best Wine? Such an Exaggeration

”What’s a river crab? Is it the same as a mitten crab?” another customer asked.

Li You said, ”More or less. Mitten crabs are a type of river crab.”

The customers all nodded. That was good news; mitten crabs were meaty and delicious.

A dish from the owner featuring river crabs was definitely something to look forward to!

After the burst of excitement, the customers started ordering and eating. Li You went into the kitchen and got busy.

Ling Xiaoru and Chu Yiwei went upstairs.

As for the crabs, they would eat them for dinner.

Today, Chu Yiwei was treating Li You and Ling Xiaoru to lunch.

At first, Li You didn’t want to let Chu Yiwei pay. He knew her salary wasn’t high.

But Chu Yiwei insisted, saying that he and Ling Xiaoru had already treated her many times. She would feel terrible if she didn’t treat them back at least once.

After hearing that, Li You and Ling Xiaoru didn’t refuse again.

So, Chu Yiwei would be picking up the tab for lunch today.

More and more customers came to eat at the restaurant. By 12:30 PM, the massive dining hall was almost completely full.

There were also some customers in the arcade game area.

At that moment, Lin Dequan, Tang Ning, and their group of eight were walking toward the restaurant.

They had said they would come to the restaurant for lunch, and they were true to their word.

They were in high spirits. The scenery in the canyon was truly beautiful.

The group chatted and laughed as they walked. When they were not far from the restaurant, they heard a hubbub of voices.

There were a lot of people up ahead, and it was very lively.

Just around the bend should be the young owner’s Mountain Restaurant.

’Is the restaurant really that busy right now?’

The group was very surprised. They couldn’t help but quicken their pace. They rounded a bend, passed through a garden, and got a clear look.

It was indeed the restaurant that was bustling with activity.

They saw quite a few people standing outside the entrance, and some were even playing arcade games.

There were four arcade cabinets outside the restaurant, which they had seen when they first arrived that morning.

At the time, they had remarked that the owner had good business sense, placing four arcade cabinets by the entrance. That way, if any customers wanted to play, he could earn a little extra cash.

Even though arcade games had long been phased out of the mainstream market, some people would probably still play them.

Many arcade games had strong staying power.

And sure enough, customers were playing them now.

’But isn’t this a few too many people?’

Putting aside the people outside for a moment, the crucial thing was that the restaurant inside seemed to be completely full.

’How is such a spacious area completely full?’

Lin Dequan, Tang Ning, and the others were no longer just surprised; they were utterly astonished.

This was completely beyond their expectations. It was vastly different from what they had imagined.

In their minds, the place should have been deserted. They would have considered it a success if there were just one or two people eating.

So how were there so many people now? Where did they all come from? They had spent the whole morning wandering the canyon and hadn’t seen a single person besides Li You and his two friends!

Before, they had assumed the young owner invited them for lunch as a way to drum up business.

But now, it was clear that wasn’t the case at all.

’How bizarre.’

”Come on, let’s go ask what’s going on,” Lin Dequan said.

The others all nodded.

The group walked up to the entrance. Lin Dequan said to a customer who was watching someone play a game, ”Excuse me. Sorry to bother you, but could you tell me why this place is suddenly so lively? Why are so many people eating here?”

The person he addressed happened to be Lu Xiangyun, the runner-up of the last ”The King of Fighters ’97” tournament. He looked Lin Dequan’s group over for a moment, then asked quizzically, ”Why do you ask?”

Lin Dequan then realized his question must have sounded strange and quickly explained, ”Well, you see, when we first came here this morning, there wasn’t a single person. It was completely deserted. Then we spent the morning in the canyon and barely saw any other tourists. So...”

After hearing Lin Dequan’s explanation, Lu Xiangyun understood. He smiled slightly and said, ”You must be from out of town, visiting for the first time, right?”

Lin Dequan nodded. ”We’re from Xingshui City. And yes, it’s our first time here.”

Lu Xiangyun continued, ”That explains it. Most of the customers here are from Wenxian Town—myself included, of course. We only come around mealtimes, specifically to eat, not to tour the area. That’s why you don’t see us at other times or in other places.”

It dawned on Lin Dequan, Tang Ning, and the others, but at the same time, a new question arose.

So, these people were all from Wenxian Town and only showed up at mealtimes.

But why would people from Wenxian Town come all the way out here to eat?

It wasn’t that far from Wenxian Town, but it was still several kilometers, right?

There were so many restaurants in town, yet they traveled several kilometers to eat in the middle of nowhere. Wasn’t that a bit too strange?

Lin Dequan voiced his confusion.

Lu Xiangyun said, ”It’s not just people from Wenxian Town. A lot of people from the county seat, and even people from the Xingshui City District, like you, make a special trip here just to eat...”

Lin Dequan, Tang Ning, and the others found it more and more puzzling the more they heard. They waited for Lu Xiangyun to continue.

They heard Lu Xiangyun add, ”As for the reason... you haven’t eaten yet, have you? Once you go inside and have a meal, you’ll understand why.”

’We’ll know the reason after one meal? Is it because the food here is exceptionally good?’

’But even if the food is amazing, it wouldn’t be enough to draw this many customers, would it?’