The Seasoned Foodie

In an instant, Lin Mo appeared in a deserted alley near the school.

He then ran towards the school.

The morning light spilled onto the road, and the streets were already bustling with people.

At the school gate, Xu Haoming was pacing back and forth anxiously. He kept unscrewing and closing the lid of his thermos, making faint clicking sounds.

When Lin Mo's figure finally appeared at the street corner, his tense shoulders suddenly relaxed.

"You're finally here!" Xu Haoming's voice carried an uncontrollable urgency, but it was mostly filled with relief.

Director Huang, standing to the side, was quite cheerful. Wearing a standard veteran cadre smile, he reached out and patted Xu Haoming on the shoulder.

"See, I told you. Lin Mo has a great sense of time."

Lin Mo ran up to them, his breathing perfectly even. He glanced at the time on his phone screen and looked up with an innocent expression. "Uh, aren't there still five minutes left?"

"You..." Xu Haoming felt a breath catch in his chest. The words reached the tip of his tongue but were swallowed back down.

What could he say? Facing this face, facing the school's ultimate trump card, he couldn't bring himself to lose his temper.

In the end, all his emotions melted into a frustrated, muffled snort.

"Get on the bus! Everyone, hurry up and get on!"

The group boarded a small tourist minibus. The space inside wasn't large, but it was more than enough for their small team.

"We head over in the morning, eat lunch, and come back after the competition ends in the afternoon."

It was a one-day competition format.

Lin Mo familiarly found the empty seat next to Tong Dong and sat down.

"Here."

Tong Dong didn't even look up, as if he knew Lin Mo would sit there, and casually handed over a copy of Legend of Divine Weapons that was already opened to a few pages in.

Lin Mo took it naturally and flipped through it out of sheer boredom.

The bus started and headed toward Dongguan City.

Speaking of this place, in this era, its nights were far more legendary than its days.

But those were stories for after dark. In the early morning, Dongguan City, bathed in sunlight, looked orderly and ordinary.

The minibus stopped outside a highly modern science and technology exhibition hall in Dongguan.

The competition venue was inside the hall. According to the schedule, the students from Guangba High School could freely roam the exhibition hall after registering their personal information, right up until the competition officially started in the afternoon.

Registration complete, the group dispersed.

Tong Dong eagerly studied a clunky robotic arm, but Lin Mo completely lost interest after just one glance.

These things, which looked like ancient antiques in his eyes, couldn't arouse even a shred of his curiosity.

In contrast, his taste buds were already getting restless.

Roast Goose Lai Fun!

Authentic, handmade Roast Goose Lai Fun!

He remembered clearly that in this era, there were still many old shops hidden in the streets and alleys of Dongguan that stuck to traditional craftsmanship.

In a few years, the kind of Lai Fun made by grinding rice batter with stone mills and crafting it by hand would be completely replaced by machine-made products, losing half of its soul in the process.

"Let's go, we're going to get something to eat." Lin Mo grabbed Tong Dong, who was still wrestling with the robotic arm.

Tong Dong stumbled from the pull, his face full of astonishment. "Eat? Didn't you have breakfast this morning?"

"I did, but since we're already here, wouldn't it be a wasted trip if we didn't taste Dongguan's most authentic Roast Goose Lai Fun?" Lin Mo said with absolute justification.

Tong Dong's face was written all over with hesitation. "But... Mr. Xu said we could move around freely, he didn't say we could go outside."

Tong Dong originally wanted to refuse, but remembering that Lin Mo had accompanied him to find the jade pendant, he thought about it and said, "Alright then, but we have to be back before the afternoon."

"Relax."

Lin Mo's lips curled up as he dragged him toward the exhibition hall's exit. "For this kind of authentic local snack, you can find a decades-old shop just by ducking into any random alley. Trust me."

It was only a dozen years later that they wouldn't be so easy to find.

Besides, within his divine sense, the teachers from the various schools were currently gathered together for a meeting.

Just as they stepped out of the science museum's doors, a wave of heat mixed with the noise of the city rushed at them.

By the street, an old man pushing a battered tricycle piled high with scrap cardboard boxes was slowly inching forward.

Lin Mo's eyes lit up, and he walked straight up to him.

"Uncle!"

The old man stopped his cart and turned around with a booming voice, "Hey! What do you want!"

With a voice that loud, he was clearly one of those old folks with plenty of vigor.

"I wanted to ask, is there any good Roast Goose Lai Fun around here?"

"What? Selling roast goose?" The old man frowned and turned his ear, clearly not having heard properly.

Lin Mo had to raise his volume and repeat it word by word.

"Hey, why are you yelling so loud."

The old man shuddered from his shout and dug at his ear in dissatisfaction. "I can hear you! You want to eat Lai Fun, right? Should have just said so!"

Tong Dong held back his laughter on the side, his shoulders shaking.

The old man's cloudy eyes looked Lin Mo up and down, then glanced at Tong Dong behind him. He chuckled, revealing a few yellow teeth.

"See this road? Walk straight ahead, count to the third intersection, and take a left turn.

There's a shop there, the signboard is all faded, but their Roast Goose Lai Fun is absolutely delicious!"

As the old man spoke, he smacked his lips, as if he could already taste it.

"Especially their goose intestines, so crisp! And their homemade char siu, perfectly marbled with fat and lean meat, the honey glaze seeps right into the flesh!"

He suddenly lowered his voice, crooked a finger at Lin Mo, and leaned in mysteriously.

"Young man, let your uncle tell you about something good."

"After you finish eating that Roast Goose Lai Fun, don't be in a rush to leave. The club right across from them, go inside and loosen up your bones. Get a massage, a foot wash, and come out when you're all relaxed."

The old man winked playfully and patted Lin Mo on the shoulder.

"After you come out, eat a second round of Roast Goose Lai Fun, ah... that feeling..."

A true veteran foodie.

Lin Mo listened expressionlessly, his heart completely calm.

This old man, just enjoy the rest of your life well, you really don't have many years left.

Having gotten the specific location, Lin Mo didn't even bother looking with his eyes. His divine sense instantly spread out like an invisible net.

An inconspicuous storefront with an old sign for authentic Roast Goose Lai Fun hanging at the door, complete with a phone number on the back.

In the kitchen, a freshly baked roast goose was being hung up by the chef. It was gleaming with oil, and its aroma seemed to pierce through space, rushing straight into his mind.

And directly opposite that shop stood a luxuriously decorated building in silence, exactly the club the old man had mentioned.

"Let's go, we're going to eat Roast Goose Lai Fun." Lin Mo withdrew his divine sense and waved his hand decisively.

Tong Dong also breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, it wasn't very far; getting back after eating wouldn't be a problem at all.

He actually wasn't hungry in the slightest and was purely tagging along for Lin Mo's antics, but the old man's words just now still left his cheeks feeling a bit hot.

"That... that old man..." Tong Dong said softly.

"Just a man who loves life." Lin Mo commented casually and said no more.

The two bid farewell to the old man, who was still standing there reminiscing about that feeling, and walked toward their destination.