A long table made of North American black walnut was covered with a white linen tablecloth that gracefully hung down 15 inches, gently brushing against the upper knees.
Above, a high - lead - content crystal chandelier refracted its light onto the delicate porcelain placed on the table. Brand - new, polished silver cutlery was carefully arranged in front of each guest, and every piece clearly reflected the guests' faces.
The men and women were seated on opposite sides. The entire Lowell family was present, and this was when the differences in dining etiquette between the East and the West became apparent.
— In Chinese dining culture, there are many variations. It is common to consider the seats facing the door, against the wall, or in the center as the most honorable.
The East emphasizes the respect for guests over hosts, so the best seats are usually reserved for guests. Western dining etiquette, however, is different.
It centers around the host, and the most honorable seat is the one on the right of the hostess.
Holly invited Zhu Ning to sit on her right and said with an intimate smile, "We're very grateful that you could come, Miss Zhu. Knowing you were coming, we specially prepared Chinese cuisine for you."
Zhu Ning smiled and replied, "Really? I'm looking forward to it."
John, sitting opposite, clapped his hands. Then the servants wheeled in a food trolley across the marble floor. The silver food covers reflected the figures of all the guests at the table. As the trolley approached, the young maid took a casual glance and then looked away. The servants served the dishes, and Holly said with a smile, "Miss Zhu, these are the dishes we specially prepared for you."
Then the covers were lifted, and Zhu Ning's lips curled into a mocking arc at what she saw.
It was neither fish nor fowl, utterly out of place.
The steaming Mapo Tofu had been frozen and then topped with caviar and gold leaf.
Without even speculating about their motives, which Chinese banquet would ever use this dish to entertain distinguished guests?
It didn't even deserve to be on the table.
But Holly said with a smile, "Our family members all love Chinese cuisine, especially this Mapo Tofu."
"Really?"
"Of course. This dish is our family's favorite." As she said this, she motioned for someone to serve Zhu Ning. It was extremely annoying, yet she still smiled and said, "This is our chef's creative fusion. The caviar on top is the top - grade Almas caviar from Iran, and the tofu was specially imported from China."
"It means using the essence to adorn the dross. Miss Zhu, please taste it and see if it suits your palate."
Everyone at the table looked over in unison. Holly had been smiling cordially and amicably all along, while the young maid's gaze was as cold as iron.
Zhu Ning also let out a laugh. She picked up her cutlery, took a small pinch, and put it in her mouth to taste. Then she calmly swallowed it, picked up the napkin, and elegantly wiped the corners of her mouth. Under the hidden malicious looks of everyone, she smiled and commented, "The tofu is good, but the caviar is a bit lacking."
The expressions of everyone at the table immediately darkened.
The smile on Holly's face faded a bit. "Really?"
A young female family member at the table spoke up. "Has Miss Zhu ever eaten caviar? Isn't the Almas from Iran good enough? Does your country, China, even have caviar?" She murmured softly, "Can you afford it?"
"Alice," Holly warned.
There was a faint smile on Zhu Ning's lips. "It's okay. It's not her fault that a child doesn't know better. Holly, don't feel guilty."
The young maid translated for her. Holly smiled but tightened her grip on the knife and fork in her hand. "I'm sorry to make you laugh, Miss Zhu. Alise, hurry up and apologize to Miss Zhu!"
The young girl angrily pushed her chair back a bit. "Why should I apologize to her? We were kind enough to entertain her. We used caviar to elevate the value of the cheap tofu made from soybeans in their country, but she not only didn't appreciate it but also commented that our caviar was not good. Does her country even have caviar? Can they afford caviar? Fine, you said the Almas caviar is not good. Then what kind of caviar is good?"
"Alice!"
Zhu Ning raised her hand and smiled in the direction of the young girl. "Alice?"
"It's me."
The young girl crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes full of arrogance and provocation.
Zhu Ning said, "I think you may have misunderstood. I didn't say the Almas caviar was not good."
"What, do you want to take it back?"
Zhu Ning let out a soft sigh and helplessly turned to ask, "Sorry, Holly. Is it the style of your family to interrupt others? It doesn't seem to match this elegant dinner, does it?"
'Ill - mannered.'
The young maid opened her mouth and silently mouthed these words.
Everyone at the table immediately stopped what they were doing.
The smile on Holly's face completely froze and looked ugly, while the young girl put down her arms, her face flushed red.
The woman said憋屈ly, "Sorry, Miss Zhu. Please continue."
The young girl's face was flushed red as she clenched her fists, looking at Zhu Ning angrily and hatefully.
Zhu Ning smiled and nodded to the embarrassed people at the table, then continued, "Miss Alice, I'm not taking it back. I just want to tell you that although the Almas caviar is good, it's already out of date."
Afraid of being scolded again, Alice waited for two seconds before speaking. "Sorry, Ms. Zhu Ning. Saying that the Almas caviar is out of date is the biggest joke I've heard this year!"
Zhu Ning said compassionately, "It's not your fault."
Alice was speechless again. She was fed up with Zhu Ning's condescending attitude, which made her feel like a clown.
"What do you mean it's not my fault! Ms. Zhu, if you can't explain it, I really have to doubt if you're just whitewashing your beautiful country!"
She said, "If I remember correctly, your country's Western - style dining system was introduced from the West."
"You admitted that our cuisine is high - class, elegant, and sophisticated and promoted it vigorously in your country. Now, after pretending to be noble and elegant, you suddenly say our caviar is out of date? Ms. Zhu, this is ridiculous!"
Zhu Ning said, "Miss Alice, you're young, and I don't blame you for not learning some etiquette. Since you want to talk to me about caviar and Chinese and Western cuisine, I'll give it a try."
"The Almas caviar is taken from the wild albino Baikal sturgeon over 60 years old in the Caspian Sea. It's easy to find a sturgeon, not difficult to find a wild one, and possible to find a 60 - year - old one. But it's very difficult to find a 60 - year - old, albino, and wild sturgeon all at once. This is the key reason why the Almas caviar is so expensive. In the early years, it had to be sold in a 24 - karat pure gold box to match its value. During the millennium, it was at the peak of its glory."
Alice snorted a few times in disdain from her nose, as if to say, 'I know all this, yet you still say it.'
"But after the millennium, with the awakening of ecological and environmental protection awareness, the wild origin of the Almas caviar, which was once its selling point, has become a flaw, a moral stain. Its lofty status began to shake, and the market gradually closed its doors to it. People began to think that eating Almas caviar was a selfish, outdated, rude, barbaric, and irresponsible act."
With every word Zhu Ning said, Alice's face paled a bit.
It was as if she had been stabbed in the flesh with a sword, but Zhu Ning's words were even more piercing.
"Some newly - rich people who can't keep up with the signals of the upper class and are excluded from the aristocratic circle by the old - money families think that by collecting a box of the endangered Almas caviar, they can grasp the genetic code of the upper class. Little do they know that this is actually a natural barrier deliberately set up by the old - money families to distinguish themselves from them."
"It's a deliberate act to distinguish their genetic sequence."
"The real aristocrats have long stopped eating Almas."
"They," Zhu Ning parted her red lips and slowly uttered three words, "find it disgusting."