"That's right, that's right," Jiang Ye stood up.
He felt the driver's quality wasn't great, casually littering from a height, but since the person had already been called, it wasn't convenient to change.
"Get in," the driver nodded. "Where to?"
Jiang Ye slid into the car. The glass behind him automatically closed, returning to the smooth surface of the building.
"I'm an alien, and it's my first time here. I want to experience the local cuisine. Are there any food streets or places like that?" Jiang Ye sat down.
"Yes, plenty. What kind of level are you looking for?" The driver crossed his legs and tapped the control screen. "Bondarev Street is the 'poor ghost' food street, Ginkgo Street is the affordable food street, Ni Yang Street is of a higher grade, and the most luxurious is Dukang Street, with top-tier restaurants on both sides."
Jiang Ye hesitated. Based on his childhood experience, high-end places weren't necessarily delicious, while roadside stalls might be very flavorful, but hygiene wasn't guaranteed.
"Ni Yang Street," Jiang Ye said.
The driver immediately tapped the screen, and the flying car swerved sharply, speeding east.
The city was vast. It took over twenty minutes to arrive, landing at an intersection.
The fare was 600 yuan, more expensive than expected. It might have been overcharging an outsider, but Jiang Ye didn't care about the money and paid to get out.
The street was brightly lit, with hundred-story buildings on both sides, making it feel like being in a luminous valley. Various food aromas rushed forward, carried by the wind throughout the entire street. There was also music, hundreds or thousands of sound sources, so chaotic that no complete melody could be heard.
The street was lined with restaurants, selling everything imaginable: meat specialty shops, vegetarian restaurants, seafood places, mushroom soup shops, bird meat restaurants... Countless people entered and exited, wearing all sorts of clothing, with bizarre hairstyles, bathed in the steam emanating from the restaurants. It was more lively than a large stage play. Each restaurant's lights had a dominant color, and seven colors flashed randomly down the street.
Jiang Ye wandered the street for a few minutes, feeling as though his sense of smell, hearing, and sight had been overwhelmed.
But his sense of touch was still intact when a hand suddenly grabbed his elbow.
Jiang Ye spun around, his soul nearly flying out of his body!
The person grabbing him was none other than Yue Qilan, who had a smile like a cat catching a mouse.
"Looking for food? My treat!" Yue Qilan pulled Jiang Ye and ran, acting like a restaurant employee aggressively soliciting customers.
Before Jiang Ye could react, he was already seated at a window table in a restaurant.
There was a small table with two chairs. The wooden table had a sheen from years of use, and a scratched screen was inlaid in the center.
"Let me tell you, the fish at this place is amazing! But we have to wait a bit." Yue Qilan gave a thumbs-up and glanced at the other people in the restaurant.
The entire restaurant was almost full, but everyone was waiting, and no table had food on it. What puzzled Jiang Ye was that everyone was staring expectantly at one place:
A huge white wall in the center of the restaurant, with water flowing down it.
Jiang Ye stared for a long time but couldn't find anything special about the wall. It looked like ordinary decoration.
"In a moment, a big fish will appear on the wall," Yue Qilan said, patting Jiang Ye's hand. "When the fish appears, help me tap the screen! You have to grab the fish here; if your hand is too slow..."
"Crack!" A sharp sound like a whip.
A large, dark creature suddenly appeared on the white wall, splashing water everywhere.
The restaurant erupted with the sound of tables being slammed. All the diners frantically tapped the screens on their tables, creating a deafening roar!
Jiang Ye reacted instinctively. The moment he heard the sound, he quickly tapped the screen in the center of the table.
Yue Qilan's hand was a beat slower. With a "snap," she also tapped his hand, causing her to wince in pain and pull her hand back, shaking it.
Jiang Ye's face was a picture of exasperation as he raised his reddened hand.
On the scratched screen, a notification popped up:
[Fish Grab Successful! You have secured 1 jin of fish. Please wait for the fish selection page.]
The restaurant simultaneously echoed with groans and cheers. The slots were filled in less than a second, with only a few people managing to grab one. Others had to keep waiting.
Jiang Ye then looked up at the white wall.
In the center of the wall was a large fish, possibly ejected from an opening below the wall. For some unknown reason, it was fixed to the wall.
The fish was at least three meters long, its body covered in black scales, shiny as if cast from fine iron. It was bathed in the water pouring down the wall, its tail continuously thrashing against the wall, splashing water all over the floor. It looked ferocious.
Over a dozen chefs in white arrived in formation in front of the wall, all robust young men, holding short knives.
"The first fish! The first one today, weighing 370 jin! Please make your selections, esteemed patrons!" shouted the lead chef.
Jiang Ye looked down at the screen. An identical black fish appeared.
Before he could make a selection, the fish on the screen changed. Its scales neatly peeled off, and pieces of fish meat flew away.
Yue Qilan directly reached out and tapped the fish's back, then selected the "soup" and "roasted" cooking methods.
[Selection complete. Please wait patiently.]
"Trust me, trust me, the back meat of this fish is the best," Yue Qilan said, her expression beaming.
The chefs got busy. Over a dozen short knives worked in unison, prying off scales, deftly scooping out pieces of fish meat, as quick as picking grapes, placing them on white plates, and rushing them away.
As one batch of chefs left, another batch immediately arrived. Within seconds, they finished scooping out a round of meat, plating it, and taking it to the back kitchen.
Chefs came and went in rounds, and the fish on the wall was gradually dissected. Its eyes seemed to bulge out, and its bones were exposed, yet it continued to thrash, splashing blood.
Jiang Ye understood. This restaurant's specialty was this: live fish, freshly butchered. The first pieces of meat to be scooped out were already being prepared, and the entire fish was not yet dead.
A chef soon arrived, carrying a plate of roasted fish slices and a bowl of fish soup.
The speed was incredible. From selection to serving, it took at most five minutes.
But there was no doubt it was cooked. Jiang Ye picked up a slice of fish from the soup with his chopsticks. It was astonishingly thin, each slice almost transparent, somewhere between paper and cicada wings. Such thin slices of meat would cook instantly in boiling water. It was likely some machine that could quickly slice the fish, as it was unrealistic for it to be done by hand, unless it was a top-tier Chinese chef. But even with a master chef, the time was too short.
Yue Qilan was already devouring a piece of roasted fish, nodding vigorously, her expression ecstatic, conveying "It's f***ing delicious."
Jiang Ye drank a few sips of the fish soup with a spoon. It was indeed incredibly fragrant.
"Why are you here?" Jiang Ye finally had the chance to ask.
"I was following you," Yue Qilan said frankly.
Jiang Ye was taken aback. He had expected her to be a bit hesitant, but he didn't expect her to confess so readily.
"I really don't have anything, so following me is useless." Jiang Ye frowned, picking up a piece of roasted fish and chewing. "Damn, it's so thin, yet so chewy?"
"Let me tell you, in my life, I've never misjudged a person. You can think of it as me having mind-reading abilities," Yue Qilan said casually, her cheeks moving as she spoke. "You definitely have something that other classmates in the class don't have. It might be questions, it might be key points, but you definitely have something."
Jiang Ye spread his hands. "Do you see any writing on them?"
"Don't struggle anymore, just admit it," Yue Qilan smiled. "The terms are good. Name your price, I need your questions."
"I guarantee with my reputation, I really don't have any questions. Why don't you believe me?" Jiang Ye had a bitter expression.
"I guarantee with my life that you definitely do! If you don't have the questions, I'll strip naked right now and lie on that wall, to be cut up and cooked like a fish, and served to everyone at every table," Yue Qilan said, turning to look at the white wall in the center of the restaurant.
Jiang Ye also turned to look. The fish on the wall was reduced to just its bones. The fish head had a layer stripped off, but its eyeballs were still rotating slightly.
This way of eating was indeed quite cruel, dissecting a live fish, similar to slow slicing. Only the cruelty of stewing live octopus could compare.
"Are you sick? Why don't you go to a hospital to get treated? My dear ancestor, I beg you, I'll treat you to this meal, just please stop mentioning the questions." Jiang Ye was helpless.
"Let me tell you, if I don't get the questions, I won't give up. I'm capable of anything. Believe it or not, I'll strip naked and accuse you of assault right now? Public indecency is a serious crime in Yongye Star, punishable by twenty years in prison, regardless of your status," Yue Qilan said, tilting her head to look at him with a crazed expression.
Jiang Ye met her gaze, his expression grim, and remained silent.
Yue Qilan suddenly reached out and grabbed the button of her collar.
"Stop!" Jiang Ye quickly said, sighing heavily. "Damn it, you're a scoundrel. I do have the questions."
Yue Qilan burst into laughter, slapping the table repeatedly. The nearby diners turned to look at her in surprise.
Jiang Ye looked at her helplessly. The fish in front of him suddenly lost its appeal.
This person was mentally ill.
She was so erratic, it was entirely possible she would do something, and he was afraid of her.
"Okay, I won again. I always win. It's not that Lady Luck is behind me, it's that Lady Luck is me," Yue Qilan stopped laughing, wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes, and said with a smile, "Name your price. What do I need to give you to get the questions?"
"Two conditions, you must adhere to them," Jiang Ye said sternly. "First, strict confidentiality."
"Nonsense. I'm a bit crazy, but I'm not stupid," Yue Qilan pouted. "If I cheat and then leak it myself, wouldn't that be shooting myself in the foot? We're in the same boat, sharing life and death, prosperity and ruin. I'll even have to urge you not to leak anything."
"Second, I won't give you all the questions, because I'll definitely take first place. At most, I'll give you eighty percent of the questions, which should be enough for you to get into the top ten," Jiang Ye said.
"Second place," Yue Qilan stated confidently. "Everyone in our class is an idiot. If you give me eighty percent of the questions, I'll definitely get second place."
"Alright, since you've agreed, after we succeed, half of your prize money will be mine," Jiang Ye said.
"Hey, you said two conditions just now, this is the third one!" Yue Qilan glared.
"Those two are cooperation conditions; this is the price. Questions are for sale, how could I give them to you for free?" Jiang Ye didn't back down. "I'm already being very generous. After the exam, when the prize money is awarded, I'll ask you for the money. If you're truly an idiot and don't make it into the top ten, you won't owe me a cent."
Yue Qilan tilted her head and stared at him for a few seconds, then burst into laughter again.
Jiang Ye was annoyed. What was so funny? She seemed to have a serious mental illness; he could practically see her throat bobbing.
"Take out your phone," Yue Qilan said.
Jiang Ye took out his phone, and she took out hers. They touched, and a message to add to contacts immediately popped up.
Immediately after, Jiang Ye received a transfer of 2.5 billion.
"I'm very generous. I'll give you the money first. Give me the questions and answers before the exam," Yue Qilan said with a smile, standing up and walking over to Jiang Ye. She suddenly reached out and playfully messed up his hair.
"My dorm is room 1 on the 116th floor. Come anytime, but knock three short and one long, otherwise, I won't open."
She whispered this in Jiang Ye's ear with a grin, patted his shoulder forcefully, and turned to leave.
Jiang Ye watched her go, sighing helplessly.
If Isabel met her, the two lunatics might hit it off immediately.