Chapter 5 The Dusty Kitten: Do you want to bring your friend along first...?

“There are so many people ahead. Let’s hold hands and walk together so we don’t get lost, okay?” Lou Lan squatted down and asked the children.

The children nodded: "Okay."

Lou Lan gently rubbed Fourteen's head: "Does your head hurt?"

Fourteen nodded, then shook his head: "It doesn't hurt."

"Wear it a little longer, then take it off and let it rest when you get home, okay?"

"good."

“Come on, Xinglin, hold Fourteen’s hand, and Fourteen will hold your sister’s hand.”

The children held hands in order, with Wen Xinglin leading the way and Lou Lan holding Wen Xingmou's little hand at the very back.

The group walked along the bustling snack street like a string of candied hawthorns.

"Oh, I finally bought it."

A middle-aged man excitedly carried two servings of "wolf tooth" potatoes out of the crowd.

The man wasn't paying attention behind him and almost stepped on Wen Xingmou. Lou Lan reacted quickly and stretched out her arm to stop him: "Be careful, don't step on the child."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't notice."

The middle-aged man turned around and noticed three little radish heads on the ground. The little radish heads were looking up at him with wide eyes.

He took a few steps back, embarrassed. "Did you step on it?"

"No." Lou Lan quickly pulled the children to the other side: "Come over here, there are too many people over there."

Wen Xingmou looked curiously at the huge crowd and asked Lou Lan, "What are they doing?"

"Buy junk food," Lou Lan said. "It will give the kids a stomachache."

“Wolf, Fang, Soil, Bean.” An Shisi stood on tiptoe and craned his neck to finally see the sign, then read it out word by word.

"Wolf's teeth?" Wen Xingmou hid behind An Shisi, her voice trembling as she asked, "Are they the teeth of a big bad wolf?"

"No, it's a potato," Wen Xinglin, who had been walking ahead with his head down, said. "It just looks like a big bad wolf's teeth, and it's super delicious."

"Delicious?" Wen Xingmou wanted to eat anything that tasted good, but she also found the wolf's teeth a bit scary.

"Can't it not look like a wolf's teeth?" Wen Xingmou asked.

“Then it won’t be wolf tooth potatoes anymore,” Wen Xinglin said.

"Why do potatoes look like the teeth of a big bad wolf? What do they look like?" An Shisi asked.

"I don't know either," Wen Xinglin said.

He had only heard his classmates talk about it, but he had never actually seen it. Anyway, they all said it was delicious.

Wen Xinglin glanced at the stall surrounded by a crowd, swallowed hard, and thought how wonderful it would be to eat there once in a while, but unfortunately, his mother, Lou, would not agree.

...

Shen Xinan made plans with her best friend He Xi to see the latest movie today.

After entrusting the last child in the class to Teacher Zhang, she quickly ran to her dormitory to do her makeup.

Watching a movie with your best girlfriends is definitely not just about watching the movie; afterwards, you'll go shopping or something. And how can you go shopping without looking beautiful?

So, an hour later, Shen Xinan appeared at the kindergarten gate with exquisite makeup, wearing a little dress and high heels.

Shen Xinan sent a WeChat message to her best friend: 【Xi'er, where are you?】

The other end replied quickly: [It will take at least another hour~~]

【No way, you left half an hour ago, how come it's still an hour away!】

The other party sent a voice message, which Chen Xinan opened: "[The road around your school is completely red for five kilometers, ughhh!!! I wish I could fly over it!]"

It seems they've gone mad...

There's a school on each side of Qingfeng Road, and during dismissal time, it's packed with parents and vehicles picking up and dropping off their children. The roads in the old town are narrow, so it's no wonder there's traffic congestion.

Chen Xinan replied via voice message: 【Don't take this road. Go around to the road behind. I'll just go through the food street.】

Then she sent He Xi her location, saying, "Just wait for me here."

The other party sent a frantically nodding emoji, and then a screenshot of the navigation, which showed that they were expected to arrive in 23 minutes.

Shen Xinan walked towards the snack street.

The snack street was just as crowded as the school gate. Shen Xinan weaved through the crowd, and a mother and son walked past her talking.

Little boy: "Mom, why are you so late picking me up today?"

The little boy's mother said, "Oh dear, there's so much housework at home. I didn't even finish my chores before I came back to pick you up, and I was still late. So you need to help Mom with more chores so that Mom can make sure she picks you up on time next time, okay?"

Little boy: "Really? You really didn't sneak off to eat something delicious at the food street and forget to pick me up?"

The little boy's mother was clearly guilty, and her voice rose a few decibels: "How could that be? Do you think I'm that kind of person?"

The little boy said, "But last Friday, you didn't come to pick me up even though it was dark. Dad said it was because you were eating snail rice noodles at the food street and forgot about me."

"Oh no, don't listen to your dad's nonsense. How could Mom secretly eat something and forget about her most important son? Impossible."

Why do you smell so delicious?

"No."

"Then let me smell it."

"No way, are you a puppy?"

...

The mother and son walked away arguing. Shen Xinan found it a bit funny; kids these days are really clever and mischievous.

Hmm? Shen Xinan sniffed, and it really did smell delicious?

Following the aroma, Shen Xinan arrived at a stall and found it completely surrounded by people.

Something's not right!

There's something delicious!

Shen Xinan glanced at the time; there were still eighteen minutes left. He had enough time!

So, Shen Xinan plunged into the crowd.

Holy crap! These wolf tooth potatoes look so delicious!

I want two!

Holy crap! The boss is a handsome guy!

Shen Xinan secretly took a picture with her phone and sent it to her best friend.

The young man in the photo is wearing a beige casual shirt and black trousers. He is frying potatoes with his head down. He has fair skin and a long neck. Because of sweat, his dark hair is messy and falls on his forehead. He looks very youthful.

The other party replied instantly: 【Handsome guy!!!】

Shen Xinan deliberately said, "Look at the potatoes!"

He Xi: [Drooling profusely.jpg]

Shen Xinan: [Arranged!]

Twenty minutes later, Shen Xinan emerged from the crowd, carrying a plate of wolf-tooth potatoes in each hand. He shook his disheveled curly hair, looked at the two plates of potatoes in his hands, and exuded a smug expression.

"Buzz buzz buzz—", the phone in the bag rang.

Shen Xinan knew her best friend had arrived, but she didn't have a hand to answer the phone.

She could only carry two servings of potatoes and run frantically…

Seeing He Xi's red sports car parked on the side of the road with its hazard lights flashing from afar, Shen Xinan ran to the driver's side and knocked on the window.

He Xi rolled down the car window and took the paper bowl that Shen Xinan handed over. "Wow, it smells so good, it looks delicious."

Panting, Shen Xinan ran to the other side, opened the passenger door, and plopped down. "See? I've been drooling the whole way. Try it now. You have no idea how many people have bought it."

While Shen Xinan was still panting, He Xi had already put a potato strip into his mouth. The aroma of chili powder and seasoning spread across his tongue. With a gentle bite, two different aromas rushed into every crevice of his mouth.

"Wow, so delicious! Crispy and fragrant, this chili is so good, it's very fragrant but not spicy."

Shen Xinan quickly picked up a potato and put it in his mouth: "Mmm, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, so delicious!"

The two of them then started eating "wolf tooth potatoes" inside the luxury car.

A serving of potatoes wasn't much, and He Xi finished it in less than three minutes. He grabbed a tissue to wipe his mouth and said, "I haven't had enough. My appetite has just been whetted. I could eat ten more servings."

Shen Xinan finished his food and smacked his lips, savoring the taste. "Indeed, I really wanted another serving, but unfortunately there wasn't much left when I bought it. There were still a lot of people in front of the stall, so I guess there won't be any left now. I'll buy a few more servings tomorrow."

He Xi said dejectedly, "I'm going home for dinner tomorrow night..."

...

The potatoes sold out very quickly today, before six o'clock.

"Come again tomorrow, Grandma will prepare more potatoes tomorrow."

While packing up her stall, Grandma Ao comforted several students who were yelling and complaining because they couldn't buy the wolf tooth potatoes.

The students knew that once it was gone, it was gone. No matter how unwilling they were, they could only wait until tomorrow. After crying for a while, they had to repeatedly tell Grandma Ao to save some for them tomorrow before reluctantly going to other stalls to find food.

Grandma Ao looked at An Fusheng, whose clothes were soaked with sweat, and said apologetically, "You must be exhausted."

An Fusheng shook his head. Although he was a little tired, he was happy to see that everyone liked the food he made.

Grandma Ao said, "We really owe you a lot today. We sold out so early. Usually, I don't sell until eight or nine o'clock and I'm not sure if we'll sell out. I didn't expect that we still wouldn't have enough today."

Grandma Ao smiled and continued, "But I've learned something from you today: fried potatoes need to be fried twice to make them crispy and give them a better color."

An Fusheng nodded: "Yes, fresh food usually needs to be fried twice because the oil temperature is too high. The first time you fry it, the outer layer of moisture is quickly dried out, but there is still a lot of moisture inside. Take it out and let it sit for a while, so that the moisture inside can run to the outside with the high temperature. This way, the inside dries out, and the outer layer absorbs moisture again. Fry it again to dry out the moisture on the outside. The inside is dry, and even if you leave it for a long time, the outside will still be crispy. But if you only fry it once, it will burn if you fry it for too long, and the moisture inside will not dry out if you don't fry it for long enough. It will become soft after a while and won't be fragrant."

"I never knew there was such a profound principle behind something as simple as frying something. I've learned something new," Grandma Ao exclaimed repeatedly.

The group packed up and went home.

"Why are there cats too?"

As soon as An Fusheng entered the house, he saw Ao Daiya take a grayish-white kitten out of her schoolbag.

Ao Daiya held the little white kitten in her arms and introduced it to An Fusheng: "Brother, this is my new friend."

"So you've made new friends so soon?" Grandma Ao said to An Fusheng, unsurprised, "He brings back some cat and dog friends every few days."

"Really?" An Fusheng asked, "I don't think I've seen him at home?"

Grandma Ao smiled and explained to An Fusheng, "Real stray cats and dogs are very unfamiliar with people, so they won't obediently let him pick them up. Almost all the ones he picks up are lost pets, and their owners come looking for them a few days later and take them back."

An Fusheng understood.

Grandma Ao went to cook, and An Fusheng went to help out.

An Fusheng went into the kitchen, then came back, kindly reminding Ao Daiya, "Why don't you take your friend to take a shower first?"

"Meow~"

The kitten struggled to jump out of Ao Daiya's arms, walked to An Fusheng's feet, looked up at him, and meowed again.

As soon as An Fusheng finished speaking, he met the kitten's watery eyes and thought the kitten was asking him to help it take a bath. An Fusheng thought for a moment and then said to the kitten solemnly, "I don't know how. Why don't you let him help you?"

After saying that, he went to the kitchen without looking back.

The kitten wanted to go in too, but Ao Daiya grabbed it and said, "Trust me, I can wash it for you."

Grandma Ao usually comes home late from her stall, so she just cooks whatever is convenient for dinner.

Sometimes they would just cook some rice and eat it with the leftover wolf-tooth potatoes.

She came home early today, and since there were guests at home, she planned to cook a nice dinner.

When Grandma Ao saw An Fusheng come in to help, she didn't stand on ceremony with him and instructed him to bring out the dishes to be made that night.

"Grandma Ao, what are you planning to do with these radishes?" An Fusheng asked, taking a bag of red radishes out of the refrigerator.

"I hadn't decided yet, but it looked new and I couldn't resist buying it," Grandma Ao said.

"Can I use it to make pickled radishes? These radishes are delicious when made into pickled vegetables," An Fusheng said.

"You do it," Grandma Ao said with a smile.

"Then I'll do it all."

An Fusheng washed the radish clean, cut it into slightly thick slices, and put it into a stainless steel bowl.

Grandma used to teach An Fusheng to pickle radishes by soaking them in the rice water from boiling water when cooking rice. However, Grandma Ao's family uses an electric rice cooker, so there is no rice water. An Fusheng can only use boiled rice water instead.

An Fusheng poured the boiled rice water into the basin containing the radishes until it covered all the radishes, and then quickly covered it with a pot lid.

"Is that all?" Grandma Ao asked.

“Hmm.” An Fusheng nodded and explained his actions to Grandma Ao: “You have to cover up the breath quickly so it will turn sour faster and won’t spoil.”

An Fusheng added, "Can I put it next to the stove? The heat from cooking will make it turn sour faster, so maybe we can eat it tomorrow. It will taste especially good when dipped in chili oil."

"Really? I really have to try it." Grandma Ao thought of the chili oil and looked forward to it.

After making the pickled radishes, An Fusheng said, "Let me cook some vegetables for you."

Grandma Ao: "Okay."

A note from the author:

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