Chapter 1691 - 1610: The First Guests (Part 2)

The first batch of guests arrived in the afternoon. Over the past couple of days, Uncle Irving had been busy purchasing a lot of chickens and ducks from the village, while A-tan was helping to hang all the cured bacon on the bamboo poles in the open space behind the canteen. Just then, she saw three or four fashionable young men with their female companions strolling around the Holiday Village.

"Little girl, what are you hanging there?" These young men had never seen such a countryside scene before. Usually, they couldn’t be bothered to eat chicken, duck, goose, and fish, but seeing them hanging in rows like this somehow felt refreshingly novel.

A-tan noticed the speaker was a handsome and charming young man, dressed coolly in a leather jacket and ripped jeans, seemingly the leader of the group.

"It’s cured bacon. First, you air-dry it for a while, then smoke it overnight with cypress twigs and pomelo peels to make smoked bacon," A-tan replied, turning her head, squinting slightly against the sunlight, and smiling sweetly.

When she turned, the group of indulgent young men heading over finally saw her face clearly. Her skin was as clear as jade, flawless under the warm sun, with features that were sweet, pure, and beautiful. They inwardly exclaimed, they couldn’t believe there was such a pretty girl in a place as remote as this — far superior to the ladies they had brought along.

This group had seen the place through another’s social media post, reportedly posted by Constantine Stewart. Since they had both money and time, they decided to come play together. They brought companions who were beautiful, sweet, and petite — all considered beauties in the Imperial City. But upon arriving in this rural place, a random local girl surpassed the lot they brought along?

What kind of enchanted place is this?

"Little girl, could you be our guide and show us around the Holiday Village?" the young men asked, their eyes shining brightly.

"Are you staying over today? There’s a scenic area next door, and a temple up the mountain. Behind the Holiday Village is a forest plantation area and a lake, where cars are not allowed to protect the vegetation. There are cattle and sheep raised on the mountain. You can take a walk on the boardwalk and come back down, and you’ll have basically toured around the Holiday Village. If you get lost, just call the front desk," A-tan refused to act as their guide.

For the past two days, Marcus Quinn had been feasting on rich food, making it hard for A-tan at night. Even doing a bit of work left her with a sore back, and joining a group of young men to hike and explore was more than she could handle, especially with the female companions watching her with sharp eyes. She wasn’t interested in getting involved in such matters.

A-tan clapped her hands and gracefully returned to the canteen.

The young men from the Imperial City were left speechless by her refusal.

"Julian, this chick seems a bit difficult," said a slightly chubby young man with a buzz cut.

The handsome young man called Julian took a drag from a cigarette, squinted, and said, "Maybe you’re just too ugly and scared her off. Come on, let’s go eat at the canteen, I’m hungry."

"Bro, now that you mention it, I’m feeling hungry too," the chubby one said with a fawning smile.

Immediately, the group of girls around them sweetly started to complain of hunger too.

Julian Leighton’s family was the wealthiest among them, so the group usually followed his lead.

The group entered the canteen, and from afar, the chubby one shouted, "Hey, little girl, does your Holiday Village canteen have a menu? Bring it over quickly."

A-tan saw the group enter the canteen. Although their words were a bit forward, they were still decent and didn’t cause trouble. She brought over the Holiday Village’s menu for the month and with a sweet smile said, "We don’t use a menu system here; the canteen only offers set meals. Two meat dishes, two vegetarian dishes, a soup, and a fruit platter. If a big portion isn’t enough, you can order a double portion."

"Wow, you folks are so poor you don’t even let us choose our dishes?" a tall, skinny guy shouted, "So does that mean no coffee or dessert either?"

"Julian, someone wants to have French cuisine."

"Bro, this place is really too lacking; should we drive to Suton to eat?"

A group of charming, pretty girls all began clamoring to eat elsewhere, causing a commotion.

"Eat if you want; if not, leave," Julian said coolly, smoking slowly, his voice icy.

The group immediately fell silent, as quiet as chickens.

A-tan smiled sweetly, noting down who wanted the large set meals and who wanted the small ones, then handed the order to Mrs. Spencer.

Uncle Irving had gone to the village to get more poultry. Irving Spencer and Marcus Quinn were off in the woods picking fruit, so it was just Mrs. Spencer left to cook.

Fortunately, lunch was well-prepared. Knowing there had been many guests this half-month, Marcus had prepared extra sets during lunch. Recently, they had acquired more black pork and ribs, so one of the meat dishes was lotus leaf glutinous rice ribs, basically pre-made. The entire lotus leaf wrapped fragrant glutinous rice ribs, needing just a quick heat-up. The other meat dish was spicy beef soup; the vegetarian dishes were mushrooms with greens and Mapo tofu. The soup was a crockpot-brewed chicken soup, and the fruit platter consisted of fresh fruits from the trees, including an ugly tangerine, an apple, and several winter jujubes.