The natural empire of ocean dragons

Chapter 124 What, soy sauce is black gold?

Looking at the two pieces of white bread, three pieces of fruity wood-flavored charcoal-grilled saury in front of him, and a large glass of pure-flavored, bright-colored wine, it was hard for the halfling to imagine that these were just for casual consumption.

How delicious is the carefully prepared food?

No longer able to think about it, the halfling grabbed a saury and bit into it. The skin was golden and crispy, but the inside was tender and sweet, mixed with the aroma of apple wood.

Awesome!

The halfling wiped out the saury in his hand as quickly as possible, putting even the meatless fish head into his mouth and chewing it. The fishman guard frowned at the way he devoured it.

Because he recalled the time when the Dragon Lord had not protected them, and they lived a hungry, hungry life, and they still looked like this when they finally got food.

"Just wait here, and I'll get you some vegetarian food to fill your stomach."

"Thank you so much!"

The halfling was so moved that he almost shed tears. If he had such a meal outside, although it wouldn't fill his stomach, the deliciousness would be worth seven or eight silver coins.

Try the taste of white bread again.

After taking a sip, it was very soft, as gentle as a cloud, and the halfling's eyes suddenly widened.

"Why is it so much fluffier than the bread made by Aunt Mary? And I seem to taste the taste of black beans. Can bread made from black beans ground into powder be so fluffy?"

The halfling seemed to recall some nightmare. He once ate a kind of black bread made from various miscellaneous materials and ground into powder in a human town.

The main ingredient is black beans, which still makes him feel stuck in his throat.

He couldn't swallow it at all. This was the first time he knew of such unpalatable bread.

After returning home, he tried to improve the black bean bread, but he failed without any surprise. The black bean bread produced was slightly softer than humans.

But it tastes like chewing gum and cannot be compared with white bread made from wheat.

Brown bread refers to bread that is unleavened and as hard as obsidian, while white bread refers to bread that is as soft as clouds after carefully sifting flour and fermenting.

When the fishman first brought the bread, he poked it and it was very soft, which meant that it was white bread. Serving people with white bread was already a very luxurious level.

Halflings use mastiffs to grind the flour. It is not easy to grind flour for making white bread. In addition to the first grinding by mastiffs, halflings also push small hand mills for secondary grinding.

In fact, halflings don't often eat white bread. What they eat is gray bread, which is between white flour and black flour. It is soft and not soft enough, but at least it is not unpalatable.

But just now he walked through Qinglin Town and came to this cafeteria. He roughly observed and calculated the population of Qinglin Town based on the appetites of fish, snake, tauren, centaurs and other races.

The amount of white bread consumed every day is not small. Making so much white bread that requires fine grinding requires a lot of manpower.

Recalling the astonishing number of halflings queuing up outside the Black Ox Mill to grind flour, and the men and horses pulling the millstones all day long without feeling tired, the halflings seemed to understand why.

Just then, the fishman came in with a basin of fresh grass, and then brought him a bowl of soy sauce.

"I don't know how to cook, so I boiled it in water. The dish is very tender and tastes a little sweet. It's delicious when dipped in soy sauce."

Looking at a large bowl of soy sauce in front of him, the halfling stared directly at the soy sauce.

"Is this for me?"

"correct."

"Such a big bowl of soy sauce?"

"Yes, I just finished a bowl of vegetables dipped in soy sauce."

"Thank you! This is my second time eating soy sauce. I'm so touched."

"Then you will be lucky. You can eat soy sauce every day from now on. There are a lot of low-grade soy sauces like this. As long as you work hard, everyone can get a big jar."

"I've also tasted higher-level ones. That's the real delicacy. I'm just a guard and don't contribute enough, so I can only use some of my cousin's mid-level soy sauce."

"I heard that there is also high-end soy sauce, but that is the soy sauce that the Dragon Master uses when entertaining guests. I am afraid that only the chefs in the kitchen can eat it. Unfortunately, the chefs do not dare to bring out the soy sauce."

chef! The halfling's eyes lit up, I'm not the chef!

"Can I stay here and work?"

The fishman looked at him suspiciously.

"You are so small, what can you do?"

"I am a chef!"

The halfling's face was full of pride.

"That's okay. I'll take you to see the elder tomorrow and ask the elder to arrange for you to take the kitchen assessment. If you pass, don't forget about me. If you have the chance, let me taste the taste of high-end soy sauce."

The fishman is also happy. He knows that the Dragon Lord will not value halflings in vain. He heard from his cousin, and his cousin heard from Commander Fisher. The commander heard from the elders that the reason why the Dragon Lord values ​​halflings is because of halflings. Good cooking skills.

"Don't lie to me. If you don't know how to cook, you can buy high-grade soy sauce with gold coins. But you lied to me. When you go to the elder's place tomorrow, be careful to lose your life."

The halfling waved his hand confidently and pulled out a knife from the side of his backpack.

"This is the chef's knife I made with a dwarf blacksmith three years ago. It has been with me for three years. It has processed countless ingredients and made countless delicacies. I will definitely be fine for tomorrow's assessment!"

"That's good. The cafeteria is unoccupied. If you want to sleep after dinner, go to the hotel opposite. Remember, don't mess with the hotel proprietress. I'm leaving first."

"understood."

The green vegetables were dipped in soy sauce and put into his mouth. It was indeed lighter than the soy sauce he had last time, but the aroma was more mellow. It seemed that the technology of making soy sauce was still improving.

After stuffing all the vegetables, saury, and white bread into his stomach, and taking a sip of wine, the halfling couldn't bear to continue drinking, and drank all the wine he had put in the flask in one go.

Then he cleaned the jug with clean water and then put the wine in it. He was going to savor such a good wine slowly while dreaming.

After drinking and eating, the halfling walked towards the hotel across the street with a full belly.

Although they are all of the same architectural style, the hotel is much more exquisite than other buildings, especially the cloud patterns on the eaves, which halflings find very artistic.

After pushing open the door and going in, the halfling saw that no one was there and shouted:

"Lady boss, I need a room."

I saw a snake man swimming over with a cold face, dragging the snake's tail.

"The boss lady is asleep. If you go to the hotel late at night, remember to keep your voice down, or I will cut your tongue."

Even though the snake-man was beautiful, the halfling had no idea.

"The upper room costs one gold coin per night, the middle room costs five silver coins per night, and the lower room costs one copper coin per night."

"Is it so cheap to have sex?"

<divclass="contentadv">The cold snake man glanced at him.

"Okay, a lower room."

"No, no, no, I just want to ask why the lower house is so cheap. The middle house, I want the middle house."

"Five silver coins."

The snake man looked at him coldly, as if he regarded him as prey. The halfling's vest was sweating, and he quickly took out five silver coins and placed them gently on the table.

The snake man swept the silver coins into the drawer.

"The first room on the second floor, go by yourself."

"Where's the key?"

"If you don't have a key, you can lock the door from the inside. If you want to go out, remember to take your valuables with you. If there is any loss, the store will not be responsible."

"But if you find the thief, our store can take care of it."

Listening to the snake-man's tone, the halfling felt that she might enjoy the job of killing people more than being a hotel waiter.

Just as the halfling stepped up the stairs, a stunning beauty walked in from the back door of the hotel. She was none other than the snake-man princess Oppa in a purple brocade dress.

"Are there any guests?"

"Yes, princess."

Princess! The proprietress of the hotel is actually a snake princess? No wonder the fishman brother told him not to mess with the princess.

It is indeed the territory of a giant dragon, and everyone is indeed special.

"I told you not to call me princess. Since Lord Dragon has entrusted us with the management of the hotel, we must be serious. At least in the hotel, you must call me boss lady. Do you understand?"

"Yes, princess."

"Forget it, you go down first."

Opea waved the fan in her hand, then looked at the halfling with a smile.

"Guest, do you need any help?"

The halfling waved his hands quickly.

"No more, no more."

Then he ran into his room as fast as he could and looked at the simple design on the back of the door. As a qualified wanderer, the halfling bolted the door first.

He picked up the wooden stick on the side and pressed it against the door panel. This was the first time the halfling had seen this door bolt design. It was indeed the dragon's territory, and there were new things everywhere.

The bed was not soft, but the wine was enough. As soon as the halfling woke up at dawn, he opened the window and saw the citizens of Qinglin walking out of their rooms one after another to eat in the cafeteria.

Rubbing his belly, the halfling decided to go to the cafeteria and finish breakfast first.

As a result, as soon as he came downstairs, he found that the landlady from last night was already waiting for him at the counter.

"Guest, do you want breakfast?"

"No, I'll just go to the cafeteria to eat."

"The cafeteria does not entertain outsiders. Yesterday was just an exception. The place where outsiders eat is my hotel. As you can see, there are many tables and chairs here."

"So guests can order whatever they want."

As she spoke, Opea handed a menu to the halfling.

"Charcoal-grilled pork chops, one gold! Sauce-roasted pork trotters, one gold,... one gold! One gold! Are there no dishes at other price points?"

The halfling asked with a forced smile, feeling like his wallet was going to cry.

“On the back are dishes in other price ranges.”

The halfling turned over the menu and looked at Opea bitterly.

"So, one gold is already the cheapest dish?"

Opelia smiled and said:

"It doesn't matter. If you can't afford it, you can go out and go right into the forest to hunt. Customers can handle it themselves, or our store can process it."

"We have the most professional chefs here."

"Have this white bread and soy sauce chicken, that's all. Boss lady, I'm also a chef. Are you still hiring here? How's the salary?"

"The chef's salary consists of some ingredients, wine, and soy sauce. It depends on the chef's needs. On the other hand, gold coins are not commonly used here."

"Then can I specify premium soy sauce?"

Oppa asked curiously:

"Isn't it enough soy sauce? Why do you need soy sauce for everything?"

The halfling explained:

"Soy sauce is worth a lot of money in my town. After soy sauce was transported to the human kingdom and sold, it was called black gold by the nobles. Some nobles were even willing to buy it with gold coins of the same weight as soy sauce."

"In addition to eating for myself, I also want to make a little money."

Oppa covered her mouth with a fan.

"Is soy sauce so valuable outside? Then should I suggest that Dragon Master transport more high-grade soy sauce to sell outside?"

At this moment, the fishman hurried to the hotel.

"I just received a notice. The Dragon Lord came back and heard that a halfling came to Qinglin Town. He wants to see you. Come with me quickly!"

"Ah! Lord Dragon, see me? This...I...this..."

Oppa covered her mouth with a fan and said with a smile:

"Don't worry, Dragon Lord doesn't eat people."