Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 317: I ate the pork belly skewers I had been dreaming about

Yu Cheng blinked his big eyes and said with some regret: "It's a pity that I have to go to school today."

"If I don't go to school, I'd like to follow my elder sister to burn firewood. Even if I can't eat these delicious foods, it's good to smell and see them."

"I haven't had the new dishes made by my eldest sister for a long time. Mom always keeps an eye on me and brother Dun Dun during dinner, not letting us eat too much meat."

After saying that, he sighed like a little adult, frowned and pursed his lips, with an expression that showed he had suffered a great loss.

The whole family couldn't help but laugh when they saw Yucheng's serious and emotional expression.

Shen Yu comforted her, "Okay, stop sighing. Mom is afraid that you and Dun Dun will go to bed after eating at night and get sick easily, so now I won't let you two eat at night when I try to cook new dishes."

"These dishes sound complicated, but in fact, the ingredients are common. It just takes some time to make them. When you have a day off, I will get up early and make them so that you can have a full meal at lunch."

Upon hearing this, Yu Cheng jumped up and said happily, "Mom, did you hear that? My eldest sister said that she will make us steamed meat in a casserole, boiled cabbage, and, and that..."

Yu Cheng scratched the back of his head, unable to remember the name of the other soup.

Yutao added with a smile: "It's chrysanthemum tofu soup. I saw the tofu that my elder sister cut that day. We cooked it in the soup and ate it at noon. You didn't see it because you were in school."

Yu Cheng raised his head and said contentedly, "We will have a day off in a few days, and I can eat chrysanthemum tofu soup then."

"And I heard from Mr. Yang yesterday that he found a suitable house."

"If we can negotiate the rent, our college will move from the outskirts of the city to the county seat. Then we won't have to walk so far to go to school every day."

"Tell me, is this a good thing?"

When Mrs. Li and Mrs. Jiang heard this, they both looked overjoyed.

Winter is coming soon, and I have to wear thick clothes. I sweat easily when I walk. When I sit down to study at college, I feel cold again after the sweat disappears. If I catch a cold, it will be difficult to recover.

If the college was moved closer, the two children could get up a little later for school, and wouldn't have to come back until dark every day.

Here, Shen Yu's family chatted and laughed, spending the time after dinner.

Over there, the two adults in the county government were like children, almost quarreling over a few pieces of steamed meat.

Anping County Government Office, in the small kitchen at the back of the government office.

After Lu Lang, Shen Yu and others left, only Lu Zheng and Yang Chi were left sitting opposite each other at the table in the small kitchen.

Both of them come from scholarly families and have studied for many years.

One was a fourth-rank prefect, and the other was a seventh-rank county magistrate. Both of them were capable of making the common people kneel down with just a stomp of their feet.

When in public, his official dignity and demeanor are impeccable, and he can be described as steady and mature.

But when they were alone facing each other, they suddenly turned into two naughty old boys, laughing and teasing each other, neither of them giving in to the other.

Boiled cabbage and chrysanthemum tofu soup are two extremely elegant dishes. They are delicious, but unfortunately they also have their shortcomings. For a hungry person, a small bowl of them is simply a torture.

Yang Chi tasted two dishes of clear soup and even ate up all the soft and glutinous cabbage that was stewed to look like lotus flowers.

However, the delicious taste not only failed to fill people up, but instead aroused the appetite in their stomachs, making them feel even hungrier.

At noon, Lu Zheng ate steamed meat in a casserole at the strong recommendation of Lu Lang.

At first, I just tasted it reluctantly, but I didn't expect that after the first bite of the crispy, soft, fat but not greasy steamed meat, I could not stop eating two big pieces before I was full.

The advantage of eating two large pieces of steamed meat in the afternoon is that although it is almost dinner time, I am not hungry at all. I am calmly sipping the clear soup in front of me.

Seeing Yang Chi's starving look, he quickly pushed the large tray of meat skewers and said with a smile: "Come here, this is the pork belly skewers you've been dreaming of."

"Try it and see if it's what you want."

"Come to think of it, you've only been in office for a short time, and you haven't been to Anping County before. How do you know which restaurant sells pork belly skewers here?"

Yang Chi attacked with both hands, holding a skewer of sizzling pork belly in one hand and biting into it.

Hearing Lu Zheng's question, he swallowed the meat in his mouth, raised the skewer in his hand to Lu Zheng, and said vaguely: "This skewer tastes really good, no wonder Huang Shisan praised it so much and couldn't forget it."

"Why don't you eat it? It's so delicious, why don't you have two skewers?"

Lu Zheng had an expression that said 'since you've said that, I'll just eat something with you', his hand hovering over the tray, picking and choosing, not knowing which skewer to take.

People who love to eat can't stand this, so Yang Chi simply picked up a string of crispy bone skewers and handed them over: "Try this first, you always like to eat light food, this one has less oil, and it's crispy and tender."

He has a good appetite, everything he eats tastes sweet, and he enjoys eating. When he sees something delicious, he wants to share it with everyone around him.

As for Lu Zheng, he was a little weak when he was young and has always been picky about food. He believes that if the food is delivered to me, I will eat it, and if not, then I don’t eat it. He seems to have no desire for food.

Whenever the two met, Yang Chi would always arrange where to eat and what to eat.

I love to eat and share. I will be happier if you are satisfied with your meal.

One person will eat anything and will eat whatever is given to him, and after finishing it he will spare no effort to praise the food for being delicious.

So when Yang Chi returned to Beijing, whenever he had the chance, he would always take Lu Zheng out to find delicious food. The atmosphere during the meal was harmonious and they had a tacit understanding.

This time was the same. Lu Zheng saved himself the trouble of choosing. He took the meat skewer handed to him by Yang Chi very smoothly, took a bite, and nodded with satisfaction: "This tastes good, and it's a bit crispy."

Yang Chi saw Lu Zheng start eating, then continued eating and said, "Huang Shisan is a merchant from Ji'an Prefecture, doing silk and satin business."

"When he went to the government office to apply for documents a few days ago, a piece of promotional paper accidentally fell out from a stack of account books."

"I happened to be visiting my master for something, and when I saw he had dropped something, I helped him pick it up. Seeing the colorful things on it, I was curious about what it was, so I went over to take a look."

"Huang Shisan said that he was shopping at the Anping County market and had lunch at a street restaurant over there. The owner of the restaurant gave it to him."

"Because the paper is thick, it is perfect for using it as a pad for bills to write on, so I kept it in the account book and couldn't bear to throw it away."

"I saw pictures of cakes, meat skewers, fish, chicken and other things on it, and I thought this snack shop was quite interesting, so I asked what kind of food they sold and whether it was delicious."

"Huang Shisan recommended the signature pork belly skewers, saying that although they are made of pork, they taste really good and are different from those fried pork skewers sold outside."