"Wan Hua Lou!" Caihong read the name tag that was stored above the front door of the locale before she turned to Lantian and asked, "What is this place?"
"It's a happy place," Lantian said.
Head of the colleen from the province was blank as she heard the meme 'happy place.' Although she followed Lantian crossing the hall filled with males and females, she had no ability to sense the type of campus that she was staying in.
"Yang Ying," Lantian called as she arrived upstairs.
"Young lady Wu." With a sweet smile, Yang Ying strolled to welcome her big female customer. But as her eyes caught the new face, her lips seemed to be frozen. Even though she could sense this was a woman.
"Her surname is Yang," Lantian introduced.
"Young lady Yang." Yang Ying softened her knees.
"Call me Caihong," Caihong said.
Hearing the name, Yang Ying unlocked her pair of eyes, and her facial expression seemed changed. She vocalized, "Caihong!" then threw a glance at Lantian.
"I take her to taste the sea corals and the snow river," Lantian claimed, and her eyes pointed straight at the eyes of Yang Ying. Without asking for more information, the female entertainer quickly caught the meaning. She said softly to both women, "Please wait for a minute. I tell the chef to prepare for you."
"Get in," Lantian said and pulled Caihong's hand into the room.
Not long after, the food was served on the table. Eyes of Caihong opened wide as she saw the meal.
"It's the sea corals and the snow rive, isn't it?"
"Uh huh," Lantian said.
Caihong looked again as she didn't believe her eyes. When she heard the name of the food, she expected it to be a very special food that she had never seen or eaten. But before her was a plate of pickles such as cucumber, mustard green, and dried shrimp, and next to it was a large bowl of rice porridge.
Just seeing the expression of her new client, Yang Ying understood what she was thinking, and because she experienced a lot with the customers, she knew how to deal with it. With a beautiful voice, she spoke to Caihong, "It's a popular food on our list. The guests who come into our place usually order this food." Then she dipped a small ladle into the bowl of congee and then carried some of it to pour into a tiny bowl; afterwards, she placed it in front of Lantian.
"Thanks," Lantian said, picking up chopsticks between her fingers to catch a piece of pickles to put into her mouth. This action made Caihong feel so eager to know how special these congee and pickles were, so she took one piece to taste.
"Um," she popped her eyes. "It's really good."
Yang Ying smiled sweetly, then she prepared the congee for Caihong and continued, "Our place is open after sunset. The weather is cool; eating hot congee can warm the body. Furthermore, most of our customers are old age; their tongues seem to decline in taste sensitivity, so we organize this menu to help boost it."
"But why is it named the sea corals, and where is the snow river?"
"Actually, it's just a way to attract the customers." Yang Ying pointed to the plate of pickles. "They are pickles, so they are salty; we name them sea corals. And the congee," she pointed to the bowl of rice porridge, "is the snow river because it is white."
"I see." Caihong wagged her head. It might be a little fictional, but it made her mind joyful, plus the taste was really good; she didn't pull her hands off the bowl.
Turn to Lantian; it looked like she was focusing only on eating, but actually her ears paid attention to the talking between the two younger ladies. Especially as she noticed Caihong was full of appetite towards the food she recommended, her mind was full of please. During the five years, it was the first time she felt her dinner was very blissful.
"How do you get this food?" Caihong asked.
"It was brought to Wan Hau Lou by sister Caihong," Yang Ying said.
"Her name is like mine," Caihong said with eyes open. "Who is she?"