Chapter 787: Chapter 786: A Completely Different Chinese Realm

Rumble rumble.

The airplane unfolded its landing gear, and the wheels under the belly made severe friction with the runway, filling the entire cabin with a huge noise.

The in-flight announcement echoed repeatedly:

“The flight XXX has landed at Shanghai International Airport. Please passengers pack your belongings…”

Xia Yu had removed her eye mask and peered out of the small window while the plane circled above the airport preparing to land, scanning the urban landscape of Great Shanghai.

From high above, the towering buildings were so familiar to her, yet, as the plane slowly approached the terminal, the small decorative details on the ground buildings were far different from Xia Yu’s past memories of Great Shanghai.

What was supposed to be a classic modern-style international airport changed drastically out of plane mediocrity as Xia Yu stepped out to the terminal after the crew’s “thank you for flying with us.”

The passage was spacious and bright, adorned with an abundance of subtle Chinese-inspired details.

Zhu Qing dragged her onto a ground level escalator, prompting Xia Yu to pat the escalator’s handrail and stomp on its steps, wondering, “Isn’t it supposed to be wooden?”

“Who told you that because it looks like wood, it must be wood?” Zhu Qing rolled her eyes fiercely.

From the airport’s waiting hall.

Standing at the railing, looking up and down at the large shopping center inside the airport, Xia Yu glanced repeatedly at several elaborately decorated small restaurants bustling with patrons, including quite a few blond-haired, blue-eyed foreigners.

Passing by one of the restaurants, Xia Yu glanced at the poster on the door and couldn’t help but mutter, “Damn, no matter which time-space plane, the food prices at the airport are still horrifying!”

She followed Zhu Qing to collect their luggage. The checked culinary utensils were already being handled by the IGO. Oh, Wise Man Karl had already gone out through the VIP channel, surrounded by reporters, allowing them to stealthily blend into the airport crowd with that distraction.

“Mm-hmm, I’m on my way!”

Zhu Qing put down her phone and gestured to Xia Yu, “Let’s go, my friend is waiting outside the airport. Make sure to act sweetly when we meet, call her ‘sister’ a few times to preserve your Aunt Qing’s face.”

Xia Yu replied with a waterfall of sweat.

Leaving the airport, in the parking lot in front of the building, Xia Yu met the friend Zhu Qing had mentioned.

A gentle woman in her thirties stepped out of a white sedan, wearing a blue-green dress with a crossed collar, featuring exquisite plum blossom embroidery on the chest and waist, and a tassel tied around the waist, fluttering with the hem of her dress.

Strong Chinese cultural elements combined with a modern elegance and grace.

It wasn’t just this woman.

This phrase was also Xia Yu’s first impression of the Chinese Land in this time-space.

When getting into the car, Xia Yu couldn’t help but mutter, “Speaking of which, did this plane’s China really experience the Qingshi dynasty? Why does even an international metropolis like Great Shanghai exude such a strong Chinese vibe, as if the tradition has never been interrupted?”

The white sedan started and slowly drove away from the airport.

From the front seat came the laughter and chatter of Zhu Qing and her best friend. Xia Yu couldn’t join in and only took out her phone to quickly brush up on this plane’s five thousand years of Chinese history to see what went wrong.

Originally, he thought there was just a turning point on the eve of a war, but from what he observed upon returning, there were certainly more than one such moments.

“Aqing, is this your nephew?”

The female driver kept glancing at the rearview mirror, her eyes filled with curiosity.

“How about that, quite handsome, isn’t he!” Zhu Qing giggled, “Ah, I need to remind him to hold back a bit this time returning to the country; he’ll probably dazzle too many girls!”

“Pfft!”

Zhao Tong laughed at her close friend’s humorous comment.

“By the way!” After laughing for a while, Zhao Tong’s expression turned slightly serious, “The Chinese Realm is different from Japan. You two can stay at my vineyard for as long as you need, but…”

“I understand!”

Zhu Qing waved her hand, promising, “We won’t affect your business as a winemaking Xishi, nor will we cause any trouble for you!”

“Whew!”

Zhao Tong sighed in relief, “You know, the Talent Hunt is being held in Shanghai this year, organized with the help of the Tang Family. My vineyard was already fully booked by elites from various places half a month ago.”

“Is that so?” Zhu Qing’s eyes flashed.

About an hour later.

Click!

The white sedan abruptly stopped, and the car shook tremendously, waking Xia Yu. He swayed along with the car.

“What’s the matter?”

Xia Yu hurriedly asked, fearing there had been a car accident.

Zhu Qing turned her head, “No harm? That’s good. Someone’s blocking the way!”

“Blocking the way?”

Xia Yu was stunned for a moment. Her gaze passed over the car’s front mirror. She hadn’t expected the so-called suburban area to be bustling. In her field of vision, there were many low houses, and even nearby, there was a large-scaled estate that looked exquisitely like a suburban resort.

The key wasn’t the scenery outside the window. A few meters from the car, a pair of muscle-bound brothers stood shoulder to shoulder, obviously the culprits of the roadblock.

These two men wore tank tops, their thick arms comparable to small tree trunks. Xia Yu’s brows twitched as she watched, “Robbers daring to block the road in broad daylight? Tsk tsk, something’s off here, this is modern society!”

However, Zhao Tong recognized the muscle-bound brothers blocking the car.

“Ah, it’s them!” Zhao Tong explained helplessly, “These brothers, from the North Border, one named Zhou Hu and the other Zhou Li. Don’t be fooled by their mature looks, they’re just over eighteen years old.”

After he spoke, he leaned out the car window and shouted, “Hey, you two, find somewhere else to stay. Zhao’s Vineyard doesn’t have spare rooms to host outsiders!”

While shouting, she lightly pressed on the gas, and the muscle brothers did not stop them, letting the car pass.

The car stopped about twenty meters away, outside the estate that resembled a vacation resort.

“Get out—”

Zhu Qing called to Xia Yu.

After getting out of the car, Xia Yu looked around and couldn’t help but admire, “With water and woods, such antique charm!”

There’s no need to elaborate on the surrounding hedges and courtyard settings. Entering the vineyard through the large archway at the entrance, inside were scattered small houses. Looking at their shapes, some were wooden houses, some bamboo houses, some standalone, others grouped around trees.

Walking on the bluestone pathway of the vineyard, Xia Yu suddenly stopped, her nose sniffing non-stop, chasing a tempting scent of wine in the wind.

“No wonder it’s a vineyard, not just some resort!”

Xia Yu thought to herself.

With Zhu Qing, in a courtyard with no residents, they set down their luggage. Just as Xia Yu was about to visit the professional kitchen set next to the bedroom cottages, she heard a burst of arguing.

She couldn’t help but follow the sound.

It was Zhou Li and Zhou Hu, the muscle brothers, arguing fiercely with several men from the estate.

“We want to stay here!”

“Our master said, when in Shanghai, stay at Zhao’s Vineyard!”

“Nowhere else!”

“Only here!”

After listening for a while, Xia Yu rolled her eyes, thinking to herself, Geez, these are two big simpletons who can’t think straight.

She hadn’t planned on bothering with other people’s problems. But since their stay seemed to include free food and drink, and seeing the estate men struggling to stop the sweaty, muscle-bound brothers, Xia Yu stepped forward.

“Manager Zhao has already said, the vineyard has no spare rooms for outsiders. Shanghai is so big, why not just find any motel?”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Li and Zhou Hu, the brothers, glared at him in unison.

“No way!” Zhou Li grumbled.

“Ordinary hotels and inns don’t have professional kitchens!” Zhou Hu added.

“Our master said, if we don’t break into the top 20 this time, we can’t return to the North Border! We must stay somewhere with a professional kitchen!” Zhou Li asserted emphatically.

Ugh!

Xia Yu also choked.

That’s right.

It’s easy to find a place to sleep, but professional kitchens are scarce.

On the eve of the annual hunting conference, it’s likely places like Zhao’s Vineyard are fully booked.

“There’s nothing I can do!”

Just as he shrugged and was about to leave, a voice came through:

“If you didn’t reserve a place to stay and a kitchen to rent before setting out, who is to blame? But, well, there is still a way to salvage this—you two blockheads, can’t you be a little smarter?”

“Go and compete in the culinary battle!”

Laughter filled with schadenfreude.