Chapter 32 A Warm Breakfast

Next comes preparing the sauce.

Put the specially brewed soy sauce provided by the system, a little bit of dark soy sauce for color, and a little bit of white sugar into the bowl to enhance the flavor.

The freshly made, piping hot scallion oil was poured into the bowl with a sizzling sound, instantly releasing the rich and savory aroma of soy sauce and sugar.

Then it's time to cook the noodles.

The alkaline water surface used is thin and round.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add some salt, then add the noodles and cook until they are about 80% done, ideally with a slightly chewy texture.

After scooping them out, rinse them with cold boiled water to make them smoother and more chewy, then drain the water and put them in a bowl.

Finally, fry a perfect sunny-side-up egg.

Brush a thin layer of oil on a frying pan, heat it up, crack a sterile egg into it, and fry it on one side until the egg white solidifies and the edges are crispy, while the yolk remains perfectly runny.

I used the soy milk maker to set a timer before bed last night. It uses the top-quality non-GMO soybeans provided by the system. The soy milk is rich and creamy, with no beany smell, only the pure aroma of soybeans.

Place the drained noodles in a bowl, pour over the scallion oil sauce, and quickly stir to coat each noodle evenly with the glossy sauce.

Topped with crispy fried shallots, and then rested on a tempting runny poached egg.

Just as she was about to pick up the bowl and start eating—

"Knock, knock, knock." A clear and rhythmic knocking sound came from outside the door.

So early? Who could it be? Su Xiaonuan put down her bowl with some doubt, walked to the door, and looked out through the peephole.

Lu Zheng, dressed in a crisp police uniform, stood outside the door, his expression as serious as ever, but there seemed to be a hint of urgency between his brows.

Su Xiaonuan quickly opened the door: "Officer Lu? Why are you here so early?" She didn't expect that his "I'll come to see you tomorrow morning" meant so early.

"About the code you sent me last night," Lu Zheng said bluntly, his eyes sharp. "That was a disguised, internationally recognized distress signal."

"A distress signal?!" Su Xiaonuan's heart skipped a beat, and her eyes widened instantly. "How could this be..."

"When the other party called, did they say anything other than this string of numbers? Was there anything unusual in the background noise? For example, static, human voices, or other strange sounds?" Lu Zheng asked quickly, while his eyes swept across the room to make sure it was safe.

Su Xiaonuan tried hard to recall, then shook her head: "No, it was very quiet, eerily quiet. The person reciting the numbers spoke extremely fast, not like a normal person at all. They hung up as soon as they finished, without saying anything extra."

As she spoke, she quickly took out her phone and opened the call log: "This is the number that called yesterday."

Lu Zheng immediately took out his police mobile phone and wrote down the landline number.

“This number is very important. We will trace its origin immediately.” He put away his phone and looked at Su Xiaonuan with a serious expression. “This matter may be more complicated than we think. Until the police have further leads, you must remain vigilant, do not mention this to anyone, and do not try to respond to that number again. Contact me immediately if anything happens.”

His tone was solemn and unquestionable.

Su Xiaonuan could sense the seriousness of the situation and quickly nodded, "I understand, don't worry."

After the important matters were discussed, the atmosphere eased a bit.

Lu Zheng seemed to realize that his arrival so early in the morning, with his tense demeanor, might have frightened her, so he softened his expression and said, "I'll be going now, I have things to do at the bureau."

"Hey, wait a minute, Officer Lu!" Su Xiaonuan suddenly called out to him.

She glanced at the clock on the wall; it was just past 7:30. "You...you came so early, you probably haven't had breakfast yet, have you?"

Lu Zheng paused, about to habitually refuse, "No need, I..."

Before she could finish speaking, Su Xiaonuan had already turned around and jogged into the kitchen, quickly taking out a clean insulated lunchbox.

She carefully packed her untouched bowl of scallion oil noodles into the container, then put the runny poached egg into another small box, and finally poured a full cup of hot soy milk into the portable cup and closed it.

"Here you go!" She shoved the packed breakfast into Lu Zheng's hands with a genuine smile. "I made the scallion oil noodles and soy milk myself. They should taste alright. You police officers are so busy with your work, you often don't have time to eat. The canteen is probably not open at this hour, so take this with you to eat on the way!"

She did these things partly because she subconsciously felt that Lu Zheng was too dedicated and hardworking, and wanted to express her gratitude and respect;

On the other hand, there is indeed a little bit of a ulterior motive in "gaining recognition and merit points".

But she was innocent and didn't realize what her natural concern might mean to the other person.

Lu Zheng was stunned when he saw the warm breakfast that had suddenly appeared in his hand.

The words of refusal were on the tip of my tongue, but inexplicably I swallowed them back.

He thought of her worrying phone call last night, her calmness and courage in facing various things alone, and the pure, sparkling concern in her eyes right now.

He remained silent for a few seconds, but ultimately accepted the gift.

My fingers inadvertently touched the warm outer wall of the insulated box, and that warmth seemed to spread from my fingertips all the way to a corner of my heart.

"...Thank you," he said softly, his voice slightly gentler than usual.

He didn't say anything more, just nodded to her, then turned and quickly left.

His steps seemed slightly more hurried than when he arrived.

Su Xiaonuan watched his tall figure disappear into the elevator before she breathed a sigh of relief and closed the door.

My mood inexplicably improved, and I felt a great sense of accomplishment to be able to help others so early in the morning.

She hummed a song as she returned to the kitchen and made herself another bowl of noodles.

...

It was past 2 p.m., and the sun outside was still scorching.

Su Xiaonuan began preparing ingredients for today's stall task—extra spicy chicken wings.

Choose chicken wings that are uniform in size and fresh in color. After cleaning them, thoroughly pat them dry with kitchen paper. This is the key to making crispy skin. Then, make two deep cuts on both sides of the chicken wings to help them absorb the flavor and cook through.

Marinating is of utmost importance!

This time, Su Xiaonuan didn't plan to use the seasonings provided by the system. The seasonings given in the recipe in her mind seemed to have a bit more flavor than those from the system.

She plans to make the insanely spicy barbecue marinade from the recipe herself.

A generous amount of bird's eye chili powder is used as the main flavor, Erjingtiao chili powder is used to enhance the aroma, XJ line chili powder is used to add color, and a touch of Indian ghost pepper powder provides an extreme spiciness kick.

Add plenty of garlic powder, onion powder, cumin powder, freshly roasted and ground Sichuan peppercorn powder, black and white pepper powder, a little salt and sugar.

Use a suitable amount of cooking oil and a little bit of "spiciness enhancer" from the system store to mix all the powders into a thick, bright red spicy sauce.