Why bother with dating when you already have a cat?

“The sea is much bigger than this,” Ai Qing chuckled. “It’s called West Lake, so of course it’s a lake.”

"But if a lake is this big, how big must the sea be?" the little fish couldn't help but ask.

"It's probably more than several thousand or even tens of thousands of times," Ai Qing said, patting the back of her head. "If possible in the future, I will definitely take you to see the sea."

"Okay~" Little Fish looked forward to it, her eyes still fixed on the lake view in front of her. She felt refreshed and her mind and body felt much clearer.

"Take this." Ai Qing took out a piece of bread that she had prepared in advance from her backpack and handed it to Xiao Yu. Then she pointed to the passersby feeding pigeons next to her and said, "Like them, crush the bread and throw it on the ground, and the pigeons will come to eat it."

"Or you can just put it in your palm, as long as you're not ticklish."

"Some pigeons are quite bold and will land directly on your hand to eat your bread. When they peck at the bread crumbs, your palms can get itchy."

Ai Qing has visited West Lake countless times since she was a child, and the initial excitement she felt when she first saw it as a child is long gone.

For him, it was just an ordinary tourist attraction.

However, in order to ensure that Xiaoyu had a good experience, he did some research.

The little fish held bread in its hand and tried to feed the pigeons. Finding it interesting, it then put the bread in its palm as Ai Qing had instructed.

Sure enough, some bold pigeons flew over to peck at the food, allowing the small fish to experience the joy of being fed.

"Brother, last time you said that online novel authors are all like pigeons, is this the kind of bird they are?" Xiaoyu asked curiously.

"Ah."

"Then why compare lazy authors to pigeons? They eat quite diligently, don't they?"

"I really don't know much about that." Ai Qing was momentarily speechless, as if she couldn't recall any stories about releasing pigeons. "Maybe online novel authors are quite diligent about eating."

Chapter 131 West Lake Fish in Vinegar Sauce

In the morning, Ai Qing took Xiao Yu for a stroll around West Lake and visited two or three scenic spots.

When it was almost noon, I took her to the restaurant that Xiao Youqian had recommended.

"Hangzhou Restaurant... Hangzhou Restaurant... Hmm... It's over there!" Xiaoyu followed Ai Qing, still holding his arm. With her sharp eyes, she spotted the restaurant's sign from several hundred meters away.

Ai Qing glanced at the navigation instructions and nodded, saying, "Yes, that should be it."

It must be said that even on weekdays, the area around West Lake is still bustling with people, just not as crowded as during holidays.

Of course, Children's Day is a holiday, but unfortunately, without parents to accompany them, primary school students cannot come to West Lake to play on their own.

In Ai Qing's memory, after entering junior high school, she basically lost touch with Children's Day.

"What good food does this restaurant have?" Xiaoyu asked curiously.

"They said the local Shanghai cuisine was pretty good," Ai Qing said, recalling her conversation with Sister Qian.

Since we're here in West Lake, we should at least bring Xiaoyu to eat some Hangzhou cuisine.

Although Ai Qing herself couldn't quite name all the famous dishes in Hangzhou cuisine.

The only dishes he could readily name were probably West Lake Fish in Vinegar Sauce and Longjing Shrimp.

Uh... this dish has a somewhat infamous reputation.

To be honest, Ai Qing had never seen these two dishes in most restaurants in Hangzhou.

In any case, he seemed to have only eaten these two dishes when he was a child and came to West Lake with his parents. He hadn't tasted them since he started school.

Perhaps it's because I wasn't picky about food when I was a child. Although it didn't leave me with any particularly amazing memories, at least I don't remember it being bad.

I was chatting with Xiao Youqian on WeChat when Ai Qing mentioned that a friend of hers was coming to Hangzhou and asked her if there were any restaurants around West Lake that she could recommend.

Since we were visiting Hangzhou, we naturally wanted to treat ourselves to local cuisine, so Xiao Youqian recommended this restaurant.

Ai Qing led Xiao Yu to the entrance of Hangzhou Restaurant, a quaint four-story wooden building that looked rather quiet and elegant from the outside.

There were many guests coming and going, both inside and outside the door.

To Ai Qing's surprise, this store seemed to be quite popular with middle-aged and elderly people.

After entering, I received a seat ticket from the waiter and followed their instructions to take the elevator to the third floor.

As Ai Qing walked along, she noticed that most of the people sitting there were elderly.

Moreover, Ai Qing could tell from their accents that they were speaking authentic local dialect.

Judging from this, Xiao Youqian definitely didn't recommend the wrong place to him.

The fact that this restaurant can attract such a large group of elderly people means that the food must be quite good.

Guided by the waiter, the two sat down at a window seat.

To their surprise, the window seat offered a view of half of West Lake.

Just for the view from this window, Ai Qing felt it was worth the trip.

"You also order food by scanning a QR code here, Xiaoyu, you should know that, right?"

"Of course." Xiaoyu is now a member of the new internet age. She took out her phone, opened WeChat, and skillfully scanned the QR code to enter the ordering page.

However, looking at the dazzling array of dishes, Xiaoyu was at a loss for words.

"Brother, what should we order? What's good to eat?"

“If you’d like to try some local cuisine, I can order a few dishes for you,” Ai Qing said thoughtfully. “However, some of these dishes have a bad reputation, so I’m not sure if they’ll taste good.”

"Then let's try it. How do you know it won't taste good if you haven't tried it?" Little Fish said without any hesitation. "Little Fish thinks everything tastes delicious."

It's not that I think everything tastes good... I guess Little Fish won't say that anymore once her tastes become more discerning.

With that in mind, Ai Qing ordered a few dishes for Xiao Yu.

A dish of West Lake Vinegar Fish, a dish of Longjing Shrimp, a local Hangzhou Beggar's Chicken, and a piece of Dongpo Pork.

These four dishes are a bit too much for two people.

So Ai Qing only ordered one bowl of rice, which the two of them would share.

Even if West Lake Fish in Vinegar Sauce and Longjing Shrimp are just average, Beggar's Chicken and Dongpo Pork can't be too bad.

It's definitely good enough to eat with rice and fill you up.

"What would you like to drink?" Ai Qing asked again after turning to the beverage menu.

"What did you drink, brother?" Xiaoyu leaned over and glanced at his phone.

"You can see it on your phone, why are you looking at mine?" Ai Qing could smell the delicate fragrance of her hair as soon as she got close.

"Just looking." Little Fish saw that he had ordered plum juice and said, "Brother, this is such a big glass, can you finish it? Why don't we drink it together?"

"I'll order you another drink."

"That's quite expensive."

"We're not short of money."

Save money wherever you can.

"Okay, then I won't drink it. You can have this one."

In the end, I still ordered two glasses of plum juice.

The first dish served was beggar's chicken. The waiter also brought a small hammer and handed it to Xiaoyu, asking her to gently tap the outer shell of the beggar's chicken three times.

With each tap, the waiter would offer a blessing in the local dialect.

Xiao Yu listened and watched with great interest, while Ai Qing next to her seemed a bit socially awkward, making the conversation rather embarrassing.

When the beggar's chicken was finally served and the waiter peeled off the shell to reveal the tender chicken inside, Ai Qing knew that ordering this dish was worthwhile.

Especially when you pick up a piece of lean meat from the side, dip it in the broth, and take a bite with the thin skin, the tender and not dry texture truly shows that this dish is done perfectly.

After the waiter brought out a full bowl of rice, Ai Qing shared half of it with Xiao Yu, and the two began to enjoy the meal.

"This chicken is so delicious." Xiaoyu said to Aiqing while chewing rice and chicken. "The meat on the side looks just as tender as the chicken leg meat."

"As long as it tastes good." Ai Qing watched Xiao Yu eat a chicken leg, then picked up another chicken leg and put it in Xiao Yu's bowl. "Eat more if you think it's good."

"Huh?" Xiaoyu looked at the second chicken leg in her bowl, picked it up without hesitation, and handed it to Aiqing's bowl. "Brother, you can have one too, one for each of you."

"Okay." Ai Qing smiled as she looked at the chicken leg in her bowl, feeling warm and gratified.

Even the chicken leg meat you bite into tastes even better.

Just as we were halfway through our beggar's chicken meal, Longjing shrimp and Dongpo pork were served.

Ai Qing picked up a shrimp and put it in her mouth, but she couldn't taste much flavor. The taste was very bland, although the shrimp itself was quite tender.

The little fish ate two and found the taste quite good, so it couldn't help but eat more like beans.

"Try this Dongpo pork too." Ai Qing said, reaching in with her chopsticks to break the fist-sized piece of Dongpo pork into smaller pieces.

But to his surprise, the Dongpo pork was cooked so tender that it could be easily pierced with a gentle poke, like a warm jelly that could be easily separated.

The little fish curiously stretched out its chopsticks, but almost couldn't pick it up. After carefully picking up a small piece, it put it into its little mouth and immediately felt a sweet taste.

"This meat is sweet."

"Yes, that's right." Ai Qing nodded. "There are indeed more sweet dishes here."

This is one of the few characteristics of Hangzhou cuisine that Ai Qing can barely describe.

Many of the local specialties are sweet and sour, with few known for their spicy flavor, or rather, none at all.

After the two of them had enjoyed three dishes, they were about 70% full.

At this moment, the waiter came again, carrying the famous West Lake Vinegar Fish.

A whole fish lay quietly on the plate, soaked in a deep red, scalding sauce.

It's garnished with chopped green onions, and in terms of appearance, it actually looks quite nice.

But when Ai Qing picked up a piece of fish and put it in her mouth to taste, besides the tenderness of the fish itself and the sweet and sour taste of the sauce, she could still taste a bit of fishy smell.

Removing the fishy smell from fish has always been a major challenge.

In this respect, West Lake Fish in Vinegar Sauce does indeed have significant shortcomings.

Generally speaking, fish need to be kept in clean water for a period of time before they can be used.

In addition, it is necessary to remove the tooth membrane; scallions, ginger, and cooking wine are essential.