“... important guests.”

Most of the guests sitting at nearby tables stopped eating and listened with great interest as Lang Ya continued, “These two are Fu Chen and Fu Lian. Fu Chen is the owner of a restaurant and Fu Lian is an employee of his.”

Confusion spread throughout the banquet hall as others heard Lang Ya. The fox woman next to her bewilderedly asked, “What’s the name of the restaurant?”

Lang Ya replied, “It’s called, Abyss Bar & Restaurant.”

Lang Yu and Lang Yuan were busy drowning their sorrows with alcohol until they heard Lang Ya mention Fu Chen’s restaurant. They put down their cups and stared in shock when they finally recognized Fu Chen and Fu Lian. Meanwhile, a wolf man and woman sitting at a different table glanced at each other with grim expressions. 

The fox woman decided not to ask anymore questions and messaged one of her assistants to gather information about the unknown guests. 

Lang Ya gestured for Fu Chen and Fu Lian to sit down. After they were seated, two servers came by with trays of food and placed them in front of Fu Chen and Fu Lian. Fu Lian began to devour her food since she hadn’t eaten anything before the party. Fu Chen focused on a plate of rice with a fish fillet. Clear flakes of coarse salt could be seen scattered on top of the white fish flesh that was glistening.

He picked up a fork and separated a small piece of the fish fillet. The fish flaked apart when Fu Chen touched it with his fork. Slightly more force was used to cut off a piece of the fish skin. A grill mark could be seen on the silver and white fish skin. He placed the small piece of fish flesh and skin into his mouth and slowly ate, savoring the flavor and texture. 

The fish was soft and flaky with a slightly sweet flavor. The flakes of coarse salt added some saltiness to the dish and helped bring out the natural fish flavors. There was also some acidity from the citrus juice that the chefs had added. As Fu Chen continued chewing, he managed to taste a piney flavor that was from ground pepper. The normally sharp flavor from the ground pepper was balanced by the acidic citrus juice to create a pleasant flavor that didn’t overpower the dish.

Fu Chen finally finished his bite and took a larger piece of the fish fillet with some of the rice. The rice was a short-grain rice that was colored slightly red. Specks of green aromatic herbs could be seen dotting the reddish-yellow rice.

He placed the food into his mouth. The rice gave off a sweet and floral flavor with the specks of herbs adding some freshness. The flavor and texture of the fish combined with the fluffy rice created an enjoyable experience. Fu Chen slowly ate the rest of the dish while Lang Ya stared at him intently. 

After Fu Chen finished eating the plate of food, he cleaned his mouth and moved onto the next dish. The plate had a medium sized bird thigh with a white cream sauce in a separate serving container. Fu Chen picked up a knife and cut through the brown skin that had been charred (blackened) to reveal pinkish brown meat with juices flowing out of the cut. 

He stabbed the piece of chicken with his knife and put it into his mouth. The crispy chicken skin made a crackling sound as he bit into it. Fat and juice leaked onto his tongue and gave off a strong flavor that enhanced the slightly gamey poultry meat. The poultry meat itself was moist and tender with a strong umami flavor (savory). 

The chefs had used some salt, garlic, and lemon to season the bird. These aromatics helped balance the rich and fatty poultry meat which created a harmonious taste.
“click”

Fu Chen placed his knife and fork down after he consumed the rest of the bird thigh. Meanwhile, Fu Lian had already finished her first tray of food and was eating her second tray at a slower pace. The last dish of the tray was a plate of vegetables. 

It consisted of several different types of root vegetables that were roasted in an oven. The outer layer of the root vegetables were shining slightly from a glaze that had been brushed on. All of the vegetables had been cut into bite sized pieces which allowed Fu Chen to easily eat them. 

He bit upwards (Since humans can only move their bottom jaw, people don’t actually bite down into food. Instead, they’re moving their bottom jaw up towards their top jaw.) and the tender cube of root vegetable easily split apart. As he continued to move his bottom jaw, he tasted a multitude of flavors burst in his mouth. It was savory, salty, sweet, sour, and slightly nutty. The explosion of flavor mellowed down to a very sweet and earthy flavor with hints of umami that coated his tongue. 

The root vegetable itself was sweet and earthy with the explosion of flavor originating from the glaze that had coated it. Fu Chen managed to differentiate the different ingredients used from the glaze. Miso had been used to give the dish some umami and saltiness. Vinegar added some sourness to the sweet and earthy root vegetable. The nuttiness was from a paste made of ground sesame seeds which also added some creaminess to the tender vegetables. To balance all of the other flavors, a type of honey was used to add some extra sweetness.

Fu Chen finished the root vegetables after eating at a constant rate. A server came by to bring the next tray of food which also consisted of two main dishes and a side dish of vegetables. This tray of food was finished in nearly the same amount of time Fu Chen took to consume the first tray. 

………..

Several hours had passed since Fu Chen and Fu Lian began eating. Fu Lian had eaten 9 trays of food which was 27 dishes and Fu Chen had eaten 24 trays of food which was 72 dishes. The other guests glanced at the pair in amazement since most of them had only eaten around 4 trays of food. Fu Chen finally placed down his eating utensils after finishing the final dish of his 73rd tray and didn’t appear to be asking for more food. 

A few minutes later, Lang Ya got everyone’s attention and spoke through a microphone, “Thank you for attending this celebration today. I’d like to especially thank the main guests that I held the celebration for, the Hu Clan’s matriarch and heiress. I hope that all of you enjoyed the food we provided. Our servers will now bring out the desserts.” After Lang Ya finished, guests gave a large round of applause towards the table Lang Ya and the Hu Clan was sitting at. 

Fu Lian’s eyes glittered when she saw servers walking towards the table with platters of desserts.