CHAPTER 554: CHAPTER 452: GEORGIAN RED WINE

If it were before the meteor impact, mentioning Lucia’s cuisine, many people would probably answer with caviar and rye bread.

These are indeed two very famous foods from Lucia, especially caviar, which has been a coveted delicacy on the tables of European nobility since the twelfth century, celebrated as one of the world’s three finest flavors.

However, few people knew that before the meteor impact, a third of the world’s caviar was already produced by Flame Country.

It can be said that the development of artificial breeding technology had brought caviar down from its pedestal, turning it into just a slightly expensive special ingredient.

Yet after the meteor impact, while rye bread, which can still be baked with wheat, did not vanish, caviar truly disappeared from sight.

But now, in front of Chen Xin, there was a box of fresh caviar.

"Being able to eat caviar in this environment now?" Chen Xin looked at the canister in front of him, still exuding cold air, with frost on its shell yet to melt completely, frowning as he looked at the Lucia person across from him.

This was an official banquet organized by Lucia to thank Flame Country for their aid during this period.

This was something Chen Xin originally was not willing to attend, but the person sent by Lucia repeatedly requested him to be present, and even stated that Lucia’s leader would personally attend to express gratitude, making it necessary for Chen Xin to come personally.

Chen Xin initially thought this was just a regular meal, after all, in a post-apocalyptic environment, there wouldn’t be the conditions to eat anything good.

However, he hadn’t anticipated that the Lucia people would wholeheartedly turn this into a formal banquet, displaying caviar, something he hadn’t even eaten before the disaster.

"In fact, as a traditional food with a long history in our country, we have kept a portion of caviar," seeing Chen Xin’s expression at the moment, the Lucia person hesitated but chose a relatively moderate explanation: "Moreover, the sturgeon, being a precious species, is part of our pre-disaster sample preservation plan, and today we are just processing some older fish."

Chen Xin was indifferent to this explanation, although he knew that fish used for caviar need to be bred for more than ten years, he had no positive view on such an extravagant action.

Thus, he had no interest in tasting those caviars either.

He simply took some regular food and moved aside with several Flame Country staff, discussing his matters.

This undoubtedly made the Lucia people feel embarrassed, but the purpose of today’s banquet was to thank the Flame Country people, making it impossible for Lucia to show any displeasure, only trying to make the situation less awkward as much as possible.

However, this awkwardness did not last too long. Shortly after Flame Country people arrived, Lucia’s leader appeared, resolving this awkwardness.

Chen Xin greeted Lucia’s leader, and after polite exchanges, they entered the formal part of the banquet.

Today, Lucia had prepared a traditional cocktail party and buffet, because under current circumstances, preparing a formal banquet was evidently beyond reach.

As formal banquet preparation was unattainable, a relatively casual buffet became the best choice.

Lucia’s leader seemed to be in high spirits today, and conversed with Chen Xin cordially. The topic naturally revolved around the issue of reconstructing the shelter.

Although Chen Xin nearly overturned Lucia’s original plan earlier, Lucia’s leader did not mind this.

After all, Lucia was still dependent on aid from Flame Country, and Flame Country would also provide technical support for the shelter reconstruction, modifications were "gladly" accepted by Lucia.

"Mr. Chen, regarding the shelter reconstruction plan, we still need more help from your Flame Country. Lucia indeed falls short in infrastructure strength," said an official next to the leader, showing a humble attitude towards Chen Xin, expressing some words that the leader wasn’t convenient to express.

Chen Xin responded positively: "Regarding technical assistance, as long as there is no domestic objection, this part is not a problem. After all, in the current environment, everyone should cooperate and unite.

If we choose confrontation over collaboration between our two countries, in this apocalyptic world, it would only lead to mutual destruction, wouldn’t it?"

"Well said, in the current environment, if humanity is still caught in internal conflict, it can only lead to our self-destruction." Lucia’s leader also nodded in agreement to Chen Xin’s words.

"For the specific assistance projects, you can send someone to discuss with domestic personnel. Although I’ve been granted the relevant permissions, I’m not very adept at these, discussing the specific terms directly with them might be better," Chen Xin did not want to haggle on the negotiating table with the Lucian, as discussing the shelter reconstruction with the person in charge has already given him a headache, so he simply let the Lucian discuss with domestic specialized diplomatic personnel, even though he had the authority to decide.

Lucia’s leader did not mind this either, just raised his glass and clinked it with Chen Xin’s.

The wine at the banquet was all vintage, including Lucia’s most traditional vodka, but to Chen Xin’s surprise, more of it was red wine.

"These red wines were left from the Suyia era." Lucia’s leader mentioned this topic with unusual excitement, pulling Chen Xin to talk, "The original production area of this batch of red wine is Georgia, the hometown of the second generation leader of Suyia, who loved his hometown’s wine when he governed Suyia and the Kremlin, storing many there.

A part of these has been sealed in a wine cellar in the underground air raid shelter of the Kremlin, perhaps forgotten by the original staff, so this batch of wine has been preserved until the disaster led us to reopen the Suyia era shelters, during the cleanup revealing these red wines to the world again."

"That’s truly legendary, if my friend were here, she would be overjoyed, she loves collecting these wines." Naturally thinking of Mo Qingyan, Chen Xin couldn’t help asking Lucia’s leader: "I wonder if I could have one bottle? I’d like to take it back for a friend."

"Certainly, it’s just a bottle of wine after all." Lucia’s leader appeared very generous, and after saying this, he leaned closer to Chen Xin and whispered: "Besides the wine, I also have an interesting message here, would Mr. Chen be interested?"