"Can you taste the difference between these two skewers?"

After Grandpa Zhao left, Wang Fan stayed busy at the barbecue stall.

His grill always had nine skewers of meat, divided into three portions with different levels of salt, for the three staff members in the shop to taste.

This tasting session was always Zhuo Qianqian's favorite.

"Owwww..."

She devoured a skewer, chewed a little, and swallowed it whole. After finishing all three skewers, she frowned and began to ponder.

Li Wei and Feng Haoyu did about the same, frowning after eating all three skewers.

Wang Fan just watched them quietly, waiting for their genuine feedback.

Zhuo Qianqian raised her hand first and said, "Boss, boss, all three skewers are delicious, but if I must point out a difference, there seems to be a difference in saltiness?"

Wang Fan nodded with a smile: "Exactly, looks like your taste buds are quite sharp. So, which one did you find tastiest?"

Zhuo Qianqian replied without hesitation: "The first one!"

As expected.

Wang Fan nodded. The first skewer had the most salt, while the next two had progressively less.

Li Wei and Feng Haoyu, however, couldn't tell any difference at all.

Wang Fan grilled another three skewers, again with varying salt levels, this time making the least salty one as salty as the saltiest from the last round.

Zhuo Qianqian was still ecstatic with the second skewer, but when she reached the third, she noticeably grimaced.

So salty!

Zhuo Qianqian could clearly feel that the third skewer exceeded her salt tolerance; her face scrunched up from the saltiness, yet she stubbornly didn't spit the meat out.

Wang Fan, amused, handed her a bottle of water: "If it's too salty, just spit it out. I did add a bit too much salt to that one."

Zhuo Qianqian took several big gulps, "glug glug glug," to dilute the salty taste in her mouth.

"Waste is shameful!"

She mumbled and then excitedly said, "Boss, boss, I think this time the second skewer's flavor suits me best."

Li Wei and Feng Haoyu, however, unanimously thought the third skewer tasted the best, which left Wang Fan scratching his head.

Looks like tailoring tastes to the place and the people still has a long way to go.

At that moment, Shen Teng and Cong Fu, with big panda eyes full of resentment, walked over. They started ranting at Wang Fan as soon as they reached the shop door.

"Boss Wang, you're so sneaky! Closing at eight is one thing, but grilling skewers in the middle of the night? That's too much! Your barbecue aroma even woke me up from my dreams!"

"And yesterday, you swore there wouldn't be any business before 8 AM, but couldn't you at least grill without that aroma waking me again in the early morning? What kind of operation is this?"

"Exactly! I was so hungry last night I almost chewed on toilet paper!"

"This is a serious problem. Until I eat 50 skewers, no amount can quell my resentment!"

Wang Fan apologized, "Alright, alright, my bad, my bad. I'll grill for you now. By the way, do you guys find the meat skewers a bit bland sometimes?"

Cong Fu thought about it and said, "Yesterday tasted just right to me, perfect for my palate. But right after climbing up, it did feel like the flavor was just a tad off."

Shen Teng also said: "I felt the same way; I thought it was just my imagination."

Wang Fan nodded, wondering if climbing up the mountain made tastes change.

Li Wei updated today's menu sign, adding potato slices that weren't there yesterday. Besides the usual offerings, there were leeks, chili peppers, and "see you tomorrow," which is enoki mushrooms.

This small item got its name because it's hard to chew through due to its toughness and it's not easily digested. After a full cycle in the body, it often comes out looking the same.

The sign was hung on the door, facing outward, with "Not in business" written on the back.

Cong Fu and Shen Teng didn't eat at the shop. They grabbed what they wanted and strutted back to the hotel, frequently taking photos from various angles and posting them in the group, making everyone else envious.

Huang Canglong looked at the lamb skewers on his phone with a cold smile, put down the phone, and looked up at the mountain top.

"Just you wait, in three hours at most, I'll be at the summit, and nobody will be able to make me drool with envy!"

"Bro Long, you're that good? You can climb Mount Tai in three hours?"

He was accompanied by several people from the group who agreed to reach the summit this morning.

Huang Canglong chuckled: "I'm from Guangxi, man. We have lots of mountains there back home. I have to find my ancestors every year, and those mountain roads are even tougher than this."

Liu Ren was puzzled: "Find your ancestors? What are they doing? Is it hard to locate them?"

Huang Canglong explained, "Ancestors refer to our deceased relatives. Around the Qingming Festival, we go to the graves to pay respects, hoping for their blessings. But where we live, vegetation grows fast, and after a rain, sometimes you have to swim there, and you might even find the wrong ancestor, needing to change direction to locate them again. That's how our stamina gets built."

Liu Ren heard the explanation but felt more confused.

Does paying respects involve mountain climbing and swimming? Can you even find the wrong ancestor?

Huang Canglong didn't explain further: "It's hard to describe. You'll understand when you visit Guangxi. Let's go, start climbing! We must check in at the summit before lunchtime."

"Let's go."

"Charge! I came all the way from Sichuan Province just for this."

"Come on, nobody lag behind."

"Don't worry, we've trained regularly. Climbing Mount Tai is a piece of cake, right?"

"Let's go!"

The group of five hoisted their bags and started the climb.

Ten minutes later, this is easy.

Thirty minutes later, this is a bit tough.

After an hour, can we still go back down now?

Mount Tai cures every stubborn person, though some still think they can be more stubborn than others.

Huang Canglong wanted to act tough again, but his aching leg muscles advised him otherwise.

He couldn't understand why looking for his ancestors often took two or three hours, but after just one hour of climbing, he was worn out.

He took out his phone and directly searched on Baidu, "Why does Mount Tai cure every stubborn person."

Looking at the results, Huang Canglong was at a loss for words.

"I'm so frustrated! I used to think the ancestor search was hard on us descendants, but now it feels way easier compared to this mountaineering!"

"Let's go, guys. We've come this far; we have to make it to the top. Can't embarrass ourselves in front of our group buddies."

"Let's move, buddy. No stopping."

"What did you just call me?"

"Buddy."

"Come on, whoever stops is a turtle!"

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