You're Sure to Get a Gift If You Go Up

Su Yang and Meng Wenzhou were the first to walk in.

The private dining room was quite spacious, decorated in an antique style, covering about 40 square meters. It contained a large round table that could seat fifteen people, a mahjong table, a small tea lounge area for guests to rest, and a separate washroom.

After everyone entered the room, they all went and sat down around the table. A waiter approached with two menus and handed them to Zhang Ziming and Liu Bo, who were closest to him.

Zhang Ziming took the menu, flipped through it, and asked, "What are the signature dishes here, man?"

The young waiter pointed to a wild mushroom hotpot on the second page of the menu and said, "Sir, our restaurant's main recommendations are this Wild Mushroom Hotpot and this Clay Pot Eel with Crispy Skin. For ten people, I'd suggest ordering a medium-sized hotpot and then adding some stir-fried dishes. That should be enough."

Zhang Ziming nodded and looked at Su Yang and the others. "What do you guys think?"

"You decide, it's fine."

"Alright."

With that, Zhang Ziming ordered the Wild Mushroom Hotpot, a Tianchi Spiced Pressed Duck, the Clay Pot Eel, a Wuliang Mountain Black-bone Chicken, and six other specialty dishes.

After confirming the order, the waiter asked, "Very good, sir. Would you like anything to drink?"

"Sure, do you have any local specialty drinks here?"

The waiter turned the menu to the last two pages and said, "Sir, I recommend you try this specialty liquor from our Dian Province."

Zhang Ziming looked at it and said, "Gudu Wine?"

"That's right. It's a traditional liquor of the Nu ethnic group, handmade. It has a clear, sweet taste that's very easy to drink, though it might have a bit of a delayed kick."

"Oh, okay. We can give that a try. Let's have five pots of that then."

"Certainly. Would you like anything else?"

"Also, five bottles of this special Rose Flower Wine. The alcohol content isn't high for this one, right?"

"No, it's not high at all."

"That'll be all then."

"Okay, please wait a moment." The waiter took the menus and left the room.

While everyone chatted waiting for the food, singing began to drift up from downstairs.

Curious, Ji Bo walked over to the window and opened it. Looking down, he saw four or five men and women dressed in local ethnic costumes singing cheerfully in a minority language in the small courtyard by the entrance to the restaurant's first floor.

Although no one could understand the words, the lively, festive ethnic vibe was palpable as soon as the singing started.

"What are they singing?" Meng Qianyu asked curiously, walking over to the window to look down.

Ji Bo laughed. "No idea, can't understand it."

"But having some music is quite nice, adds to the atmosphere," Meng Wenzhou said with a smile.

"Exactly. Traveling lets you experience so many different cultures and customs."

As the group chatted, Su Yang listened carefully. He could actually understand it, as he now possessed the Language Master skill, allowing him to comprehend and speak any language on the planet.

Listening to the singing downstairs, the general theme was a love story about young men and women from the local ethnic minority.

Soon, as they enjoyed the music, the dishes they ordered began arriving at the table one after another.

The large table was filled with dishes that were a feast for the eyes, smelling and looking delicious, featuring both mountain delicacies and seafood.

Once all the food was served, everyone sat down and began eating heartily.

Almost none of the dishes Zhang Ziming had ordered were familiar to the group. Compared to Lincheng, the local characteristics in Ercheng were much more pronounced.

After all, Lincheng was a provincial capital, not much different from Haicheng, and more integrated.

Ercheng leaned more towards being a pure tourist destination, with a stronger local cultural flavor.

Over an hour later, everyone was full and satisfied.

However, not everyone found the food to their taste. Tang Ziyun and Su Qingci mentioned they weren't quite used to it.

It's true that heavily regional dishes aren't for everyone.

This would become even more apparent when they reached Tibet, where many dietary habits would be quite different.

At nine in the evening, the group left the restaurant and stepped onto the street.

They weren't far from the ancient town, and everyone agreed to go for a stroll there.

Walking leisurely, they soon found themselves outside one of the gates of the ancient town.

From a distance, they could hear beautiful singing coming from the gate area, with a crowd gathered around.

The square outside the city gate was bustling with people coming and going, mostly tourists visiting Ercheng.

Although this ancient town wasn't as large or lively as the one in Licheng, it was still impressive.

Su Yang and the others walked towards the source of the singing. They squeezed into the crowd and saw that it was an unknown folk band singing live on a stream.

The band had five members: three men and two women.

One man played the guitar, another played the drums, and one woman played the bass.

The remaining man and woman stood at the front as the lead vocalists.

In front of them was a phone stand set up for the live stream.

To their left was a wooden table with what looked like gift items on it.

Just then, the two lead singers finished a song, and the surrounding crowd immediately applauded and cheered.

"Sounds great!!"

"Another one!"

"Encore!"

One of the male singers raised his hand, gesturing for everyone to quiet down. Once the crowd settled, he smiled and said, "Hey everyone, we have a little activity. Would you like to join in?"

"What activity?"

"Yeah, tell us about it."

"Alright, first, let us introduce ourselves. We are the Dream Chasers Band. We mainly do irregular live-streaming performances singing at the gates of the ancient towns in Ercheng and Licheng."

"Right now, we're running a small activity. Do you see the things on this table here?" The guy walked over to the table and pointed. He continued, looking at the crowd, "These are some local specialties from our Dian Province: flower pastries, Pu'er tea, wild mushrooms, ham, tie-dye fabrics, and some other small gifts with local characteristics."

"Here's the deal. We'd like to invite friends who enjoy singing to come up and sing a song. It's really just about having fun together and livening up the atmosphere. If someone sings really well and gets a big cheer from the audience, they can choose a gift to take home."

"Are you guys willing to join in??" the guy shouted.

"Yes!!"

"I will, I will!!"

"What if you don't sing well?" someone asked.

The guy laughed. "That's fine too. After singing, we'll let the crowd be the judge. As long as you get a big enough cheer, you can pick something you like to take home~"

"Is it free?"

"Of course~"

"Oh? Nice, nice!!"

Hearing this, Meng Qianyu, who was standing next to Su Yang, looked up and said, "Brother Su Yang, you should go up!"

"Me?"

"Yeah! You sing so well. You'll definitely get everyone cheering and can pick a gift~"

Before Su Yang could respond, Tang Ziyun, who was nearby, also smiled and said, "Yeah, Su Yang, if you go up, you'll definitely get a gift."

Su Yang looked at Tang Ziyun. "You could go up too, no problem."

"There are too many people, I won't go. I'd be too embarrassed~" Tang Ziyun stuck out her tongue playfully.

"Back in Lucheng, there were plenty of people too, and you weren't embarrassed then?"

Tang Ziyun pursed her lips. "It felt different then~ Being stared at by a whole crowd now, I'm still a bit shy."

A few meters away, Liu Bo and Zhang Ziming squeezed through the crowd. Liu Bo patted Su Yang's shoulder and said, "Brother Yang, go on! Go for it!!"

Su Yang gave a faint smile. "No rush. Let's watch a little longer."