章節 3: Who Can Resist the Temptation of Hotpot?
Hu Liena sat across from Bibi Dong and explained:
"When I arrived just now, I overheard villagers saying that Ye Tian's rise began three years ago."
"Before that, his family was very poor, to the point where they couldn't even afford food."
Upon hearing this, Bibi Dong narrowed her eyes slightly, surprised that Ye Tian was someone capable of such accomplishments.
Achieving such great success within three years was no small feat, something beyond the abilities of ordinary people.
Hu Liena covered her mouth and chuckled softly, whispering, "Ye Tian probably doesn't know that you're the Pope of the Spirit Hall, which is why such a big misunderstanding happened. You've tasted the finest foods the Spirit Hall has to offer—how could you be tempted by the delicacies he brought?"
"We should just have him check if he can cure your headache, then leave."
Bibi Dong raised her beautiful eyes slightly and said calmly, "No rush."
Not long after, Ye Tian came over carrying a steaming hotpot and placed it on the small table in the hall.
He smiled lightly, "I guarantee you've never had this before."
Hu Liena leaned in, catching a whiff of the spicy aroma, which instantly awakened her taste buds.
There was even a fire burning underneath the pot—something she'd never seen before.
Curious, she asked Ye Tian, "What is this?"
"Hotpot!" Ye Tian responded with a mysterious smile.
He had gone through great efforts to recreate this Earth delicacy in the world of Douluo!
No one could resist the flavor of hotpot.
He had a hotpot restaurant in Donghai City that was always packed with people. If you arrived a little late, you'd miss out.
Hu Liena stared at the hotpot. "It just looks like a pot of soup."
"How can you be full from drinking soup?"
Ye Tian chuckled.
Spicy hotpot broth isn't meant to be drunk.
"Hotpot is eaten by dipping food in it. This is just the base. I'll go get the ingredients, and you'll see."
With that, Ye Tian hurried back to the kitchen.
Hu Liena looked at Bibi Dong in amazement and said, "Hotpot! It seems we've never eaten anything like this before. Ye Tian is interesting—he always knows things we've never heard of."
Bibi Dong smiled, her eyes narrowing. "That's why I stayed."
She instructed Hu Liena, "For now, don't reveal anything. Let's see what other surprises are in store."
Hu Liena nodded solemnly.
Before long, a variety of ingredients—sashimi, tripe, fresh black chicken slices, beef slices—covered the wooden table in the hall.
Ye Tian brought three pairs of chopsticks, handed them to the two women, and sat down next to Bibi Dong.
He smiled and said, "Let me show you how to eat hotpot."
Hu Liena was shocked that Ye Tian dared to sit next to Bibi Dong.
That was the Pope of the Spirit Hall!
No boy had ever dared to sit beside her!
"How dare you sit next to my teacher!" she said, her expression displeased.
Ye Tian shot Hu Liena a glance.
"Why wouldn't I sit next to my sister? Should I sit next to you instead?"
This blonde girl named Nana was meddling too much!
His sister had been gone for three years—wasn't it normal for him to sit next to her?
Bibi Dong cast a calm glance at Hu Liena, her serene face signaling that it was no big deal.
With her teacher's approval, Hu Liena puffed her cheeks in frustration and stopped bothering Ye Tian.
She mimicked him by picking up a piece of beef, as thin as a cicada's wing, and dipping it into the hotpot.
She placed it into her small mouth.
Suddenly...
Hu Liena's eyes widened.
Spicy, yet savory...
Tender, with a hint of stickiness...
Her pupils dilated.
This was unbelievably delicious!
She never expected that a simple piece of beef, dipped a few times in hotpot, could taste so incredible!
"Not bad!" Hu Liena praised.
But Ye Tian, after tasting the food himself, cast a disdainful look at her.
"I forgot to add salt, and you still think it's good."
He was so excited by his sister's return that he had forgotten to add salt.
Ye Tian went to the kitchen, picked up a transparent glass bottle filled with snowflake salt, and returned to the hall.
He opened the bottle and sprinkled some salt into the hotpot base.
Seeing the snow-white salt, Bibi Dong couldn't help but ask curiously:
"Is that salt? Isn't salt supposed to be green?"
"Of course it's salt," Ye Tian replied seriously.
It was only natural for his sister to be curious.
In the Douluo Continent, there was no technology to refine salt.
All salt was mined directly from salt mines or seawater and then sold. It was full of impurities and heavy metals, causing diarrhea if consumed in large amounts.
But without salt, people would die quickly from lack of sodium.
The upper-class nobles ate slightly better salt, which came from brine deep in salt wells.
Brine salt contained fewer heavy metals but still had impurities.
After crystallization, well-brine salt had a light green color.
Thus, in the minds of most nobles, the best salt was always green.
White salt was something they had never seen.
"This salt has been refined," Ye Tian explained with a light smile.
Bibi Dong frowned slightly. "It must be very expensive, right?"
As the Pope, she had always eaten green salt.
Green salt was already costly, affordable only to mid-to-high-level nobles and soul masters.
Refining green salt into snow-white salt would likely cost as much as gold.
Seeing his sister's disapproval, Ye Tian smiled even more.
He knew his sister had lived a frugal life and couldn't bear to see him spending lavishly.
So he explained, "Sister, this is refined from sea salt."
Hearing Ye Tian's excuse, Bibi Dong's delicate nose wrinkled.
"Are you trying to fool me? Sea salt isn't edible."
Sea salt had more heavy metals than some mined salts.
Eating it would almost certainly cause diarrhea.
This was why, despite the abundance of salt in the sea, salt remained expensive on the continent.
If sea salt were edible, there would be no salt shortage.
Seeing his sister's disbelief, Ye Tian immediately stood up and opened a door on the east side of the villa.
This was Ye Tian's laboratory, where he conducted his experiments.
It was filled with jars and containers.
"Refining pure salt is easy! If you don't believe me, sister, I'll show you."
Under the watchful eyes of the two women, Ye Tian put on a white lab coat, grabbed some glass containers, and quickly set up a salt refining experiment.
He poured some coarse salt into a container, lit an alcohol lamp, and began the process.
Soon, snow-white salt appeared in the evaporated crucible.
Ye Tian grabbed a pinch of salt, scattered it in the air, and smiled.
"Sister, see? By going through the processes of dissolving, filtering, removing impurities, and refining, you can get pure snowflake salt."
"And believe it or not, the entire East Sea region is now using salt from our workshop."
"Even islands on the sea come to buy snowflake salt from us. And the price of snowflake salt is on par with regular salt."
"Half of the money that built this villa came from selling salt."
Upon hearing this, Bibi Dong was astonished.
As the Pope of the Spirit Hall, she understood all too well what the ability to refine pure salt meant.
If the entire continent started using affordable snowflake salt, and only Ye Tian knew how to make it...
How much money could he earn in a year?
It was unimaginable!
Even for someone as powerful as her, the profits were beyond comprehension.
If this wealth were used to purchase arms and recruit soul masters...
The Spirit Hall would undoubtedly grow even stronger!
Those snowflakes before her were not just salt—they were mountains of gold and silver!
(End of Chapter)
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