Chapter 9: The New Neighbor is Ridiculously Delicious! Thai Pork Pad Thai...

When Ye Wan was buying clams at the harbor yesterday, the stall owner enthusiastically stuffed him with a lot of basil.

"They are all grown at home. If we don't pick them now, they will wilt in the sun." said the stall owner enthusiastically.

In the basil family, there are two more famous ones. One is Basil Kombucha, which smells like star anise; the other is Thai Basil, called Gapao Leaf, which tastes a bit sweet when chewed and the taste is not as strong as Basil Kombucha. This kind of leaves usually sells for 50 yuan per catty when the season comes.

The basil given by the stall owner looks very similar to gapao leaves.

"I made a fortune." Ye Wan thought happily, and then sneezed violently several times due to the stimulation of the aroma of basil.

In order to make authentic Dapao rice, Ye Wan went to the market early the next morning and bought a lot of fresh minced pork and a bottle of seasoning similar to fish sauce.

On the way back, she passed by a bakery and decided to buy some more toast.

You can make all kinds of delicious sandwiches by cutting off the edges of toast, and don’t waste the cut edges. Spread a layer of egg liquid with garlic and green onions on it, fry it in a pan, and then sprinkle a layer of coarse salt granules.

The edges of the fried toast just out of the pan are crispy and charred, and the salty and fragrant salt particles match the original mellow butter of the toast very well. The garlic aroma blends with the butter and milk aroma, making it a quick dish that is very suitable for drinking with beer.

"Can I leave some toast for you as dessert?" Ye Wan asked Muffin, who leaned on her shoulder and nodded vigorously.

There's only one bakery on Honey Lane. The owner, Ryan, is a kindly old man who always wears a black apron. All his bread is baked in an oven. Besides simple toast and baguettes, they also offer delicious blackcurrant and blueberry lodève, corn soup scones, and cashew brioche...

Occasionally, Grandpa Ryan would make some coffee. This coffee was free and could be drunk for free when one entered the store. The aroma of bread and coffee in the store could be smelled all the way out of the alley.

Ye Wan happily walked into the bakery with muffins. It was a dome-shaped stone house, and the temperature in the stone kiln was warm all year round.

The imagined fragrant smell of bread did not hit Ye Wan's nose. He only smelled a huge burnt smell.

The shelves that used to be full of bread were gone. Instead, there was a baking tray lying haphazardly on the counter, containing a few burnt croissants that looked rough and hard as stone.

Ye Wan was a little worried and pressed the bell on the counter: "Is Ryan here?"

Someone pulled aside the curtain and came out with a fierce look on his face and a rough voice: "Ryan has returned to his hometown. We are closed today!"

He was a middle-aged man with messy straw-like hair, a strong build, and a scar on his face that stretched from his forehead to the corner of his mouth.

Ye Wan recognized him as the scary old man who had taken on the task of catching the dragon lizard.

The pancakes exploded on the spot.

The man looked at Ye Wan, then at Songbing: "I remember you, the little girl from the East and her mouse."

Ye Wan was not happy to pay attention to him and ran away. Pancake was furious about the word "mouse" and sat on Ye Wan's shoulder with his paws in his arms, sulking.

"Don't be angry." Ye Wan squatted in the kitchen picking beans: "Come and help me quickly. Although the toast edges are gone, I can treat you to orange candy later."

Muffin then came over reluctantly, sat down and looked at the fire on the stove.

Ye Wan poured oil into the pot and fried the fresh, half-fat and half-lean minced meat until the moisture was dry. Soon the minced meat curled up into brown under the high temperature. He added a large amount of minced garlic and chili peppers to stir-fry, and the aroma of the stir-fried oil emerged from the pot.

Since he didn't buy any ready-made seasonings, Ye Wan only added soy sauce and fish sauce, then added beans and basil leaves and stir-fried them, cooking over high heat until the sauce thickened. Don't forget to fry a half-cooked soft-boiled sunny-side-up egg at the end.

The wind chimes on the door were ringing again.

Ye Wan opened the kitchen door and saw Dorothy from the candy store next door and Penny from the tailor shop. Both of them looked a little unhappy.

"Ladies, would you like a plate of Thai pork rice?"

Obviously, the two men came to see her not for lunch, but the plate of rice in Ye Wan's hand exuded an extremely tempting aroma. The minced meat and beans soaked in the thick soup gave off an oily luster, and the soft-boiled egg trembled slightly with Ye Wan's movements.

"Then have one."

First, poke the runny egg with a spoon to let the yellow liquid mix with the thick soup, then stir it to fully coat the beans, minced meat and rice. Then take a bite and you can feel the sour, spicy and salty flavor of the seasoning, the rich and smooth egg liquid, the oily and meaty aroma of the minced meat and the exotic flavor of the basil.

The two ladies became more and more addicted to the food, and they waved their spoons faster and faster. In the end, they ate up all the rice on the plates, leaving not a single grain.

Ye Wan considerately served two cups of Thai lime tea, which only added lemon and honey. It tasted very refreshing and could also relieve the spiciness.

"This is the most delicious meal I have ever eaten!" Penny wiped the sweat from her face. She was a plump middle-aged woman and a skilled seamstress. She always had a tape measure hanging around her neck and never took it off when she went out.

Dorothy realized she had lost her composure a bit, so she gracefully took out her handkerchief and wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Okay, now let's get down to business."

She put on a serious expression.

But before she could say anything, the wind chimes on the door rang again, and Grandma Katya walked in with an uneasy look on her face.

Ye Wan also handed her a cup of lemon tea: "Have you had lunch, mother-in-law?"

Grandma Katya nodded.

Dorothy cleared her throat. "Then let's begin the 231st Honey Lane Joint Meeting. Ye Wan, do you have a pen and paper?"

Ye Wan searched for a long time, tore a piece of white paper from the menu, and took out a ballpoint pen.

"The subject of the meeting is about the new man in the bakery." Dorothy twitched her nose as if there was a fly under her.

It can be seen that she dislikes that man even more than Ye Wan.

"A man who looks very dangerous, a dangerous person who has been in prison, is actually going to open a store on Honey Lane!"

Ye Wan quickly asked, "How do you know he's been in jail?"

The shop owner Ryan's granddaughter had just given birth to a child and sent a letter hoping that her grandfather would come to live with her for a while. Ryan handed the shop over to his distant nephew, the man with a scary scar on his face, to look after the shop.

Before leaving, Ryan chatted with Penny for a few words, saying that although his nephew had been in jail for some reason, he was actually a very good person. He hoped that the neighbors around him would take care of him. He also gave everyone some pineapple buns.

Penny took out Ye Wan's portion and said, "This is yours."

Ye Wan happily accepted the pineapple bun. Dorothy snorted coldly, "I don't need Ryan's gift. I can't tolerate a criminal who has been in prison living in Honey Alley. I think I need to write a letter to the relevant authorities."

"The relevant departments shouldn't take care of this kind of thing." Ye Wan's mouth was stuffed with bread.

Dorothy glared at her: "Don't talk while eating, this is basic etiquette, little girl!"

Dorothy said with confidence, "As long as we write a joint letter of complaint, we will definitely be able to drive this potential criminal away."

"I refuse," said Grandma Katya.

Everyone was shocked.

Grandma Katya is a gentle and kind person. She never refuses to give face to others and will try her best to agree to other people's requests. If she can't agree, she will create conditions to agree. She goes to church every weekend and donates money and jam to the orphanage. So her clothes are always patched up because she can't save much money.

Dorothy didn't expect her to refuse. She looked very surprised and stuttered, "But...Katya, you have to think it over."

"I think you are prejudiced against him. People who have been to jail are not necessarily bad people. People always have difficulties in life. Maybe we should give him a chance." Grandma Katya said sadly.

Ye Wan didn't comment on this statement, but she secretly thought that most people who had been in jail were probably bad guys.

Grandma Katya is still a little too kind.

Apparently, Dorothy thought so too. She said with a hint of sarcasm: "You are such a kind-hearted person."

In Dorothy's opinion, Grandma Katya should immediately take the Mermaid intercity bus, get off at the city center station, follow the crowd, or follow the signs for Alice's Greenhouse, walk about 15 minutes to Snow White Square, then follow the queue in the square, and enter the Church of the Tears of Forgetting an hour later. There is a portrait of Our Lady of Love hanging next to the rose window on the second floor.

Granny Katya should take down that painting and hang up her own selfie instead.

One was determined to kick the man out, the other was determined not to kick him out. Ye Wan was the youngest and she didn't like the man very much, but she didn't say she had to kick him out. The only one who could make the decision was Penny from the tailor shop.

Penny thought for a moment and said, "I think we should observe a little longer."

Dorothy said excitedly, "Still need to observe? He's obviously a bad guy. Look at that horrible scar on his face."

Penny glanced at her. "That man just caught a dragon lizard and went to the Adventurer's Guild in front of many people to collect the 1,000 silver coin bounty. I think... it's unwise for you to act like you dislike him."

Dorothy blanched.

This man easily killed a huge, fire-breathing dragon lizard in a short period of time without any help from others.

"Then I don't want to offend him easily." Ye Wan said quickly.

Dorothy sighed.

There was a rare silence in the restaurant.

Finally, it was Grandma Katya who persuaded them: "Believe me, from my intuition, that man should be a good person. Please don't be fooled by appearances."

There was even a hint of pleading in her voice. Ye Wan couldn't stand such a pleading from an elderly mother-in-law, so he was the first to nod and agree.

Dorothy sighed again: "Since you insist, then this is the only way."

But she still looked very unhappy, her thin lips were tightly pursed into a line, she stood up with her back straight, and left without saying a word.

Grandma Katya's purple eyes were filled with sadness. Ye Wan and Penny persuaded her for a long time before she forced a smile.

Soon some diners came into the restaurant. The two stood up, said goodbye to Ye Wan, and left.

Ye Wan was busy for half a day and found that the salt at home was used up. She was ready to go out to buy more. Honey Lane was a straight alley, and no matter how reluctant she was, she had to pass by the bakery.

There was still a burnt smell at the entrance of the store.

She saw Grandma Katya carrying a bamboo basket and hobbling into the bakery.

There were several jars of crystal clear jam in the bamboo basket.

Ye Wan was afraid that the scarred man would do something bad to bully the old man, so he quickly hid behind the sign at the bakery door and secretly put his ear close to listen.

Sure enough, I heard the man's metallic, low, and impatient voice: "Listen, old lady, I've never seen you anywhere before, and you're not a pastor. Don't give me that Madonna love story. I'm tired of it."

Grandma Katya spoke in a low voice and was still mumbling something.

Ye Wan curled his lips and thought to himself: "To treat an old man like this, he really isn't a good person!"

The noise in the store suddenly stopped.

While Ye Wan was still confused, a huge shadow loomed over her, and a big hand suddenly and forcefully pulled away the sign in front of her.