What surprised Li Guangzhi was that after the four of them drank the first round of wine during the banquet, Toshihiko Inoue, as the host, did not talk to them about business, but instead pulled the topic to the aspect of the wind and snow.

He started by talking about the sake that several people drank, and talked to them about the taste, origin, brewing method, and some allusions and interesting facts about Japanese sake culture.

Then, he began with the topic of the courtyard scenery outside the lattice window, and introduced Li Guangzhi and the others to the design characteristics of traditional Japanese gardens and several different genre styles.

For Li Guangzhi, what Toshihiko Inoue is saying now cannot attract his interest at all. What he had been thinking about was why the Inoue group had invited them tonight, and why the Inoue team leader had been so enthusiastic about the two little people.

He originally wanted to take the initiative to clarify the words after the first round of drinking, and directly ask Toshihiko Inoue to understand. However, after the leader of Inoue pulled the topic away, he was quite interested, and all kinds of allusions, interesting stories and historical materials of traditional Japanese culture kept popping up from his mouth, so that Li Guangzhi had no chance to interject at all.

After chatting for more than ten minutes, Toshihiko Inoue then talked about the traditional geisha and customs of Japan, the grand occasion of Tokyo's Yoshiwara Happy Street during the Taisho period, and finally talked about the current situation of Kabukicho Street.

Hearing this, Li Guangzhi's mood began to get nervous. He felt that if Toshihiko Inoue's purpose tonight was really to control or take a stake in their unsuspecting office, then now should be the best time for him. Because he can change the topic from the current situation of Kabukicho Street, which he is talking about, to himself and others.

However, to Li Guangzhi's surprise again, Toshihiko Inoue kept talking about this topic to the end without mentioning anything about Li Guangzhi and others.

Just when Li Guangzhi was confused by this, Toshihiko Inoue suddenly stopped talking at this time, and whispered a few words to the mixed-race beauty sitting next to him. Then the half-breed beauty got up and walked out the door.

Inoue Toshihiko raised his wine glass and saluted Li Guangzhi and the two of them, and said with a smile: "Li Jun, you are Chinese, Li Jun, you also have half Chinese blood. I heard that there is a very famous saying in your China, called 'Eat puffer fish even if you fight to the death', which shows that you Chinese should also like the delicious dish of puffer fish. ”

"This is the season when the fugu is at its fattest, so tonight I specially asked the fugu chef from Asakusa 'Oyutei' to make a full set of fugu dishes for us. Hehe, there is such a delicious food waiting in the back, and the two of you need to save a little stomach now. ”

As she spoke, the mixed-race beauty who had just gone out pulled the door in again, walked to Toshihiko Inoue's side, leaned over and whispered a few words to him. Toshihiko Inoue raised his voice with some joy and asked, "Oh? Is Master Inoki ready? Yo Xi, then Maiko, go and invite them in. ”

The mixed-race beauty named Maiko walked out of the room again. A short time later, she walked in with two men wearing chef's hats and traditional sushi clothes. Behind the two men, there was also a group of staff carrying charcoal stoves, desks and other utensils.

After the staff quietly and quickly set up the desk and charcoal stove, the fatter of the two cooks stood behind the desk. It seems that this should be the Inoue's master Inoki.

Li Guangzhi has heard a lot about the notoriously delicious and poisonous puffer fish, but he has never tasted it once. As for the scene of concocting puffer fish at the scene, I haven't even seen it on TV. Therefore, although he still had a lot of things on his mind at this time, he couldn't help but be curious and walked to the desk with everyone to pay attention to the actions of this master of Pig Wood.

At this time, Toshihiko Inoue explained, "In other fugu restaurants in Tokyo, the fugu meat prepared for customers is washed and soaked in water for several hours because the chef is afraid that the chef will not be able to clean up the fugu when it is slaughtered. Although the taste is not bad, the freshness of the meat is not comparable to that of slaughtered on the spot. ”

"Chef Inoki's family has opened the 'Big Fish Feed Pavilion' in Asakusa for three generations, and only the chef of the Inoki family in the whole of Tokyo has the skills to take on this kind of order to cook fugu on the spot for customers. Moreover, the puffer fish sashimi they cook on the spot is truly delicious! ”

"Hehe, however, I still have to remind the two of you here, although I am very confident about Master Inoki's craftsmanship, there is still a risk of just in case. I wonder if the two of you have the courage to pursue this supreme delicacy? ”

As he spoke, Master Inoki and his assistant behind the desk had already completed their preparations. Holding a sharp knife in one hand and an elbow-high rubber glove in the other, Inoki fished out a black and white tiger puffer fish about a foot long from the bucket next to him.

I don't know how he fiddled with it twice, the puffer fish suddenly began to slowly expand in his hand, and after a while, it turned into a black ball with a white top, the eyes of the two fish bulged outward, and the spines on the body were also erected one by one.

Inoki held the rather cartoonish ball and stayed in front of everyone for a while, and then, under everyone's gaze, he cut off the head of the puffer fish with a deft flick of the thin knife in his hand.

He then inserted the tip of the knife from the black and white of the back and belly of the fish, and the wrist rotated slowly and steadily in a suspended manner, and in a short time a whole puffer fish skin was peeled off.

Further down, his movements suddenly became cautious and gentle. He first carefully inserted the knife into the jawbone of the fish's body and cut through the gills. Then, bending down and holding his breath, as if he were doing a surgical operation, he slowly but carefully dragged all the entrails out of the fish's belly.

Inoki's series of actions just now made everyone who watched a little nervous. It wasn't until he saw him pull the entire internal organs out of the fish's belly intact that a few long gasps sounded in the room, which was originally so quiet that pins fell.

Li Guangzhi was so nervous just now that he couldn't help but hold his breath. Although he had never eaten a puffer fish before, he also learned from books and television that the poison of puffer fish was hidden in the internal organs. If the film on the surface of the internal organs is damaged by the slightest carelessness in this process, the toxicity is likely to contaminate the entire fish.

After this most crucial process was completed, Master Araki seemed to be much more relaxed. He handed over the cut fins and skin to his assistant, replaced himself with a sharp sashimi knife, and began to expertly slice sashimi from the puffer fish.

At this time, Li Xiaomu walked up to Li Guangzhi and whispered: "Guangzhi, do you dare to eat this freshly slaughtered thing, why do I feel a little suspenseful when I look at it?" It has been reported in the newspapers that hundreds of people in Japan die every year from eating pufferfish! ”

Li Guangzhi smiled bitterly, and replied softly: "People have already squeezed us with words just now, and asked us if we have the guts." You say, can we admit this cowardice in front of this little Japan? Besides, we didn't just come here to eat today. If he loses momentum in eating such a trivial matter, what should he do when he wants to talk to us about business later? ”

Li Xiaomu blinked his eyes with a sad expression, but did not speak again. Then, at the beckoning of Toshihiko Inoue, everyone sat back in their seats and waited for the fugu dish that would be served later.

After a short time, the prepared dishes began to be delivered one by one. The first thing that was brought to each person was a wide-mouthed sake glass with a few burnt fins soaked in hot sake. Li Guangzhi took a sip from the cup, and then couldn't help frowning.

It smells like burnt fish, and it seems to taste good when it mixes with the aroma of sake. But when I drank it in my mouth, it felt bitter and sweet, and the taste was extremely strange. After Li Guangzhi took a sip, he was no longer interested in tasting the second sip.

The next second course is cold shredded fish skin. This fish skin should be the inner tank after removing the thorny layer on the outside, so there is no black and white, it is a flesh-colored slender silk, and some black sesame seeds and ginger shreds are sprinkled on it. It tastes crunchy and refreshing. After tasting it, Li Guangzhi felt that this thing was really much better than cold jellyfish skin.

The third course is the main course. A bamboo boat with ice cubes on the bottom was placed in the middle of the table, and a layer of thinly flaked and crystal-clear yusheng was placed on top of the ice.

Li Guangzhi has eaten very few Japanese-style sashimi before, and this puffer fish sashimi has never been eaten. Therefore, in order to prevent Lu from being timid, he didn't take the initiative to do it himself at this time, but sat on his seat and pouted at the bamboo boat in the middle of the table.

The beautiful woman sitting on his right hand picked up a piece of trembling yusheng with chopsticks, dipped it slightly in the soy sauce dish in front of him, dipped a little mustard paste in another saucer, and then held it under a small white porcelain dish and brought it to his mouth.