Chapter 2104: Reputation and Nostalgia for the Homeland

Next, neither of them touched the earthy pumpkin soup, which carried the radiation unique to the Underdark, but they did not spare the other dishes; even Xia Duo, despite his incomplete Perception avatar, tasted them as much as he could.

Combining this with Niya's reaction, although Xia Duo was somewhat surprised by the quality of the meal, he still held to his own view: the so-called Easterners here among the Elves possessed nothing more than the title of "Easterner."

He could say with certainty that this was typical Elf food! Perhaps it incorporated the chef's brilliant culinary techniques and rich life experience, but it was still vastly different from the hometown food he had expected.

Perhaps this was what was called Eastern cuisine; after all, he was not a true Easterner, and he was on Earth! Naturally, one could not demand that the Eastern Kingdom of the magical world possess the same "taste" as his homeland.

After dinner, a young Wood Elf waitress appeared from nowhere, handed Xia Duo a bill, and deliberately imitating the manner of her Gold Elf counterparts in the Upper City, said to Xia Duo with a cold face:

"Guest, your total consumption is 520 Silmeir!"

Only 500-plus Gold Coins?

Xia Duo felt quite surprised. He had originally thought this Shifeng Restaurant would gouge him, but he had not expected it to cost so little. Although 500 Gold Coins for a meal was considered luxurious for most people, for Xia Duo, it was nothing.

Coming here occasionally was something he could fully afford.

Of course, Xia Duo did not believe that these 500-plus Gold Coins were entirely without a markup, but it did not matter. It was not the first time he had encountered high-priced dining at tourist attractions; as long as Niya was happy, he did not care about this small amount of money.

He took the Cormanthor Gold Coins he had prepared for the trip out of his Personal Space, filled a money bag (totaling about the volume of a teacup of water), tossed it casually to the Wood Elf waitress, and then proposed to meet the chef.

At this moment, the Wood Elf could no longer keep up the act; she revealed a sly and wild smile, hid the money bag under her apron, and then skipped toward the back kitchen, replying to Xia Duo as she ran:

"Guest, wait a moment, I'll go call Old Shifeng out right now!"

Xia Duo could not help but smile, and Niya also asked curiously, "Could it be that this shop wasn't opened by an Easterner?"

"I don't know either, but I have a guess. Perhaps when that Chef Shifeng comes out, you will understand!"

At the moment, there were not many guests in the shop. Besides the table of Xia Duo and Niya, there was only a table of Dwarves drinking and gesturing, but it was clearly focused on drinking, as they had not even been served a single dish for a long time.

Perhaps because of the expensive prices, or perhaps because the residents of the underground district were not accustomed to being active at night—although the underground was also a city that never sleeps, compared to the bustle above ground, there was still a distinct difference.

Just as the Wood Elf waitress left, an Easterner dressed as a chef walked out from the back kitchen, followed by the gesticulating waitress, who only calmed down when she reached Xia Duo's table.

"Guest, I heard from Mulian that you were looking for me. Are you dissatisfied with the dishes?"

Mulian must be that Wood Elf. Xia Duo glanced at the now-quiet Mulian and, suppressing a laugh, said to Shifeng:

"No, we are very satisfied with the dishes; we just wanted to see the chef who made them and, incidentally, discuss a deal."

"A deal? What kind of deal?"

Shifeng immediately became vigilant, reached out to push away Mulian, who was listening with her ears pricked up behind him, and Mulian then very obediently ran toward the back kitchen.

Seeing this, Xia Duo could not help but lift his Illusion and return to his true form. "Chef Shifeng, there is no need to be nervous. I am very serious about wanting to discuss a deal."

"You are an Easterner?"

Shifeng widened his eyes, looked Xia Duo up and down, then looked at Niya with much suspicion, and finally said:

"Are you thinking of settling down here? I can't help you with that! For the sake of you being an Easterner, this meal is on me; as for anything else, please don't bring it up again!"

"No, Chef Shifeng, you have misunderstood. I am here for travel, not to settle down."

"Then what deal do you want to discuss?"

Although Shifeng did not quite believe that Xia Duo had such a simple purpose, thinking of the generosity the other party had shown when ordering and paying, he still patiently listened on.

"I am currently a Lord in Netheril, and I want to promote Eastern cuisine in my Territory. Therefore, what I want is your recipes, Chef Shifeng. Of course, if you are willing to settle in my Territory or provide short-term guidance, I would also be very welcoming."

Xia Duo stated his request. After hearing it, Shifeng's mouth was already wide open, and after a long time, he said somewhat nervously: "You are the Lord Xia Duo who purified the Abyss a while ago?!"

"It is me, though the purification of the Abyss was not my credit, but that of a Divine Envoy from the Kingdom of Radiance."

"Isn't that the same thing!"

Perhaps seeing that Xia Duo had an Easterner appearance similar to his own, Shifeng's speech became more and more fluent. "I heard that you, Lord Xia Duo, have a fortress that can fly in the sky. Is that true?"

"You've heard of that here?" Xia Duo was somewhat surprised.

It was not that Cormanthor should be poorly informed, but if an ordinary Easterner in an underground city like Shifeng had heard of a Floating City, it must have spread even further elsewhere.

"From what I know, many Easterners here in the Andalite Community are following your deeds!"

Shifeng's words made Xia Duo feel surprised again. "Why? Why do they want to follow me?"

"Because among us Easterners, there are few Spellcasters as outstanding as you. Although we do not live in the same city or the same country, we Easterners share the same nature."

"I see!"

Xia Duo could not help but sigh. It turned out that the Easterners of the Main Plane still retained some of the nostalgia for their homeland that he was familiar with and had not been completely assimilated by the Elves. However—

"Chef Shifeng, do you, as a Half-Elf, also identify as an Easterner?"

The moment Shifeng appeared, Xia Duo had already discovered that the other party was not a pure human, but carried some subtle Elf characteristics, such as hair color, pupils, and even his posture while walking, which reflected certain physical structures.

And that Wood Elf girl, Mulian, was a Half-Elf with even more Elf characteristics; perhaps she really was Shifeng's daughter.

Seeing that Xia Duo had discovered his identity, Shifeng did not feel surprised at all. He knew that Spellcasters always had many methods he did not understand to know everything, but in his heart, he still felt some sadness.

"Lord Xia Duo, of course I wish I were a pure Easterner, rather than a mixed-blood mongrel who doesn't even have the qualifications to go to the Upper City. But there are simply too few Easterners in this world, so few that our chances of finding another Easterner partner are extremely slim."

Speaking of this, Shifeng suddenly asked Xia Duo a question: "I wonder if Lord Xia Duo has noticed the ratio of male to female Easterners in the Andalite Community?"