The young Chinese, who presumably was the waiter, said with a smile, “Of course. It’s a cobra, no less.”
Jeff was petrified. “What?”
Luke sipped the wine again.
Thankfully, Tim hadn’t crossed a line. This was regular wine, and wasn’t drugged.
He smiled. “It’s fine. Drinking snake wine occasionally is good for men.”
Both Tim and Jeff were lost for words.
“As married middle-aged men, you need this.” Luke winked.
Jeff was too naive, and still at a loss.
Tim looked conflicted. “It has this effect?” He looked at the young Chinese.
The young Chinese’s eyes sparkled. “You know that?”
Luke was amused. “Yes. However, do you have the legendary Five Venom wine here?”
The young man was stunned. “What?”
“From snake, centipede, scorpion, spider, and gecko,” Luke explained with a smile.
With each word he said, the faces of the other two men turned whiter and whiter.
By the time he was finished, Jeff already looked like he was about to vomit.
Tim didn’t seem very comfortable either, but he could still endure it.
The young Chinese, however, was shocked. “You know that, too?”
That was only a concept in wuxia novels. How did this young American know about it?
In reality, it was impossible to make Five Venom wine. After all, adding so many toxins into the wine could be lethal.
He didn’t want anybody to die in his restaurant.
Looking at their faces, Luke suddenly laughed. “I only saw it in a kung fu movie. I don’t think it’s real. It’s just a joke, please don’t mind me!”
The other two were immensely relieved.
Even Tim wouldn’t want to drink such a wine, to say nothing of Jeff. The young Chinese, on the other hand, felt like he had met a master who was demonstrating his skills, and he promptly left to fetch something.
A moment later, the young man returned with something that was pitch black.
Luke wasn’t surprised at all.
sold in this place.
Jeff had just drunk another mouthful of wine, when he saw what the young man was holding, and he was frightened into jumping up and scrambling away. “Dear god, is that a live snake?”
Luke chuckled to himself. It was just a Cantonese specialty, it was nothing to be surprised about.
At that moment, another young man came over to Jeff with a tray of… mice.
Of course, these weren’t the type that could be fished out of the gutter, but were used in another legendary dish called “three squeaking mice.” Jeff’s eyes widened. “They can be eaten as well?”
Luke waved his hand. “Jeff, a lot of people in this world eat everything. If you don’t like them, just don’t order them.” His gaze fell on the mice.
Jeff quickly shook his head. “I don’t want that. Definitely not.”
Luke smiled at the snake that the young man was holding. “Actually, you can try that. Snake meat actually tastes good. A lot of people eat it.”
Jeff swallowed. “Really?”
Luke nodded. “Really.”
He then asked the young man, “Are we going to eat the snake raw?”
The young Chinese replied, “It can be eaten raw or made into a soup.”
Luke quickly made the call. “Let’s make it into a soup.”
Snakes had parasites which might be passed on to humans if they were eaten raw, which could be fatal.
Jeff finally crept back to his seat. He looked at the snake in the young man’s hand with lingering trepidation.
Another young man pushed over a cart with a chopping block on it.
The first young Chinese picked up the knife on the chopping block and brought it down. Duang! The head of the snake was cut off. It wriggled on the block with its mouth wide open.
Jeff swallowed hard.
Luke however, said with a smile, “Don’t worry, the snake has been defanged; it can’t bite you.”
If the fangs weren’t removed, a snake head was still capable of biting and injecting venom for a long while after it was cut off. Many cooks in China had been bitten and killed this way.
Jeff calmed down, and had another cup of wine to soothe his nerves.
Tim topped up his glass. Just like that, they started drinking together.
This was clearly a more authentic Cantonese restaurant, considering that it served snakes.
Luke had a massive appetite, and ordered a lot of specialties.
Looking at Tim’s dumbstruck expression, Luke smiled brilliantly. “I like Chinese food, and the Chinese like to treat others. Since you brought us to such a great place today, let’s do the Chinese thing; order whatever you want, everything’s on me.”
Tim was lost for words. Why hadn’t he heard of such a Chinese custom?
After Luke said that, Tim didn’t dare bring up the Chinese things that he had researched before.
Since this young man was familiar with Five Venom wine and Chinese cuisine, Tim wasn’t confident that he could fool him with secondhand information.
When the dishes were served, Jeff remembered something and took out his phone. “I need to call Karen and tell her that I won’t be home for lunch.”
Jeff then left his seat and made the call. “Karen, there’s no need to prepare lunch for me today. What? You’re eating with the neighbors too? Who are they? Well, I’m with Tim and Luke. Okay, bye.”
On the other side, Karen glanced at Natalie and Selina suspiciously after she hung up.
Natalie’s actions were graceful as she ate unhurriedly, which made for a pleasant sight, while Selina was quick but not crude at all, which was in line with her candid personality.
But did they plan this? How come Tim and Luke happened to be having lunch with Jeff too?
The paranoid housewife fell into deep thought once again.
On the men’s side, they finished lunch, and following Jeff’s suggestion, they went to his company to play with the indoor skydiving machine.
When they set off, Luke made a note to add skydiving to his and Selina’s training regiment.
Also, they would definitely go skydiving for real, which would be a lot more fun than a skydiving simulation. It would also enhance their survival skills.
Luke said to Jeff casually, “Why don’t we try real skydiving some time? Does your company have a program like that?”
Jeff was stunned. “I don’t think so.” This indoor skydiving was meant to help stressed employees relax.
Skydiving was a very dangerous extreme sport that few people dared to try out. While MBI Inc. did make planes, it certainly wouldn’t offer such a dangerous activity as a benefit.
Luke clicked his tongue and said, “Okay, then I’ll see what I can find. I’ll tell you if I find anything.”
Jeff said, “That… I’m not exactly a sports person.”
Luke laughed and laid one hand on his shoulder. “Jeff, a man should never chicken out! You must work out more; otherwise, you won’t be able to last with just the snake wine alone.”