Chapter 64 Differences in Diet between North and South
Lin Sanqi looked at Mao Xiaotong in front of him in astonishment. Oh no, it was Pan Ye.
The little girl was seen holding a bowl of noodle tea in one hand, pouting her lips, and taking advantage of the heat, she slurped the tea along the edge of the bowl, drinking it in a loud gulp.
How could she make such a sound? Where's the ladylike demeanor she was supposed to be? This, this, this...
Lin Sanqi didn't dare to slurp it. Under the contemptuous eyes of the people around him, he took a spoon and took a bite.
Noodle tea is a traditional snack in old Beijing. It is made by boiling millet flour or sorghum flour into a paste. Sesame paste is then picked up, stretched into threads, and poured on the noodle tea in circles. The sesame paste has a strong flavor.
But Lin Sanqi was from the south and didn't like sesame paste very much, so he took two bites and decided to throw it away.
Pan Ye slurped up half a bowl of noodle tea, then sat up contentedly, blinking his big eyes at Lin Sanqi:
"You, why aren't you eating? I'm sorry, did my eating manner scare you? It's really been a while since I've had noodle soup."
Lin Sanqi burst out laughing:
"People in the South are particular about not making noises when eating, so I've never seen anyone make a slurping noise while eating porridge. If that happened in my house, my dad would definitely slap me in the face."
Pan Ye's face turned red when he heard this.
A saleswoman came over with five pancakes in a small bamboo basket, and she put it in front of Lin Sanqi and Pan Ye with a slam, looking very unhappy.
"Young man, are you still disgusted by the way other girls eat? Let me tell you, this is the authentic way our beautiful Peking girls eat. Look at you, eating noodles with a spoon and frowning all the time, you look like a country bumpkin."
Several diners nearby also laughed and cheered:
"That's right, this is the authentic way to drink noodle tea. This girl is great. She understands our old BJ's diet and doesn't think she's wasting food."
"Can the snacks in the south compare to those in our old city? This is right under the feet of the emperor."
Seeing that he had angered everyone, Lin Sanqi quickly stood up and begged for mercy:
"Dear uncles and aunts, I was just joking with my friends. I really didn't mean to make fun of them. I'm sorry, I'm sorry~~~"
Seeing that Lin Sanqi's apology was sincere, everyone stopped talking and just happily ate their breakfast.
The breakfast offered by this Xidan restaurant is quite rich in variety. In today's pre-commercialized world, all breakfasts are prepared in traditional ways, without any technology or hard work, and the taste is particularly authentic.
Lin Sanqi doesn't like sesame paste, nor does he like salty tofu pudding. He also doesn't like eating greasy fried liver and fried tripe early in the morning. He also can't stand the soy milk that tastes like rotten foot washing water.
So in the end I ordered a bowl of vegetarian noodles to get by.
When paying the bill, Lin Sanqi was not worried about the money, but about the food coupons. He only had 5 jin of food coupons given to him by Old Man Fu, and he used up 9 liang of them for breakfast.
Pan Ye ate breakfast very quickly. He ate a bowl of noodle soup in one breath and could not finish three pancakes. He looked at the remaining two pancakes reluctantly.
Lin Sanqi was not polite either. She wrapped the two pancakes in oil paper and stuffed them into her PLA bag without saying a word.
"Are you full?"
Pan Ye burped and covered his mouth embarrassedly: "I'm sorry for making you pay so much food coupons and money. Wait for me, I will pay you back later..."
If it were 2013, Lin Sanqi would definitely say something sweet: Don’t give it back, just give me your body.
But if someone said such words on the street in 1959, he would be taken to the police station by the crowd. Even before he saw the people in the breakfast shop, they already disliked him.
"Okay, after we finish eating, we'll go to your house. I'll go get acquainted with the place."
"Ah, going to my house, what for?"
Lin Sanqi rolled his eyes and said, "Stupid, didn't I say I wanted to buy your clock? I need to know where your home is so I can deliver the food."
Pan Ye secretly stuck out his tongue, not knowing why he particularly trusted this young man he had just met, so he smiled and nodded:
"My home is over there at the shipping warehouse..."
"Shipping warehouse? It's not far from my house. It's on the way. Let's go!"
What Lin Sanqi didn't know was that as soon as the two of them walked out of the restaurant, the remaining bowl of noodle tea he had was quickly snatched away by a few beggar-like children.
Seeing this, the diners and waiters nearby did not chase them away and sighed.
The two of them took the No. 3 bus from Xidan and staggered towards the shipping warehouse.
In the crowded car, Pan Ye was still holding tightly onto her broken clock, which made Lin Sanqi feel very sorry for her.
"Okay, stop holding it. It's broken. Just find a trash can and throw it away."
The little girl was very stubborn. "I can't throw it away. This is something my great-grandfather brought back from France. It's beautifully crafted. It not only tells time, but it can also be used as a home decoration. Even if it's broken, I can still use it after repairing it."
Lin Sanqi smirked, "Are you afraid that I'll turn against you and deny your clock and food?"
Pan Ye's face flushed again when his little thought was exposed, and he murmured:
"I'm sorry, my family really needs food..."
Lin Sanqi wanted to touch Pan Ye's head affectionately, but found that it was inappropriate to do so. He could only accept the package awkwardly:
"Then let me carry it. It's quite heavy. Don't be embarrassed. You study at Capital Medical College and I work at Kuanjie Chinese Medicine Hospital. If you are assigned to Kuanjie Chinese Medicine Hospital, maybe we can be colleagues in the future."
When Pan Ye heard Lin Sanqi's words, his guard dropped a lot, and he was even a little surprised.
"Really? You're from Kuanjie Chinese Medicine Hospital. We'll be colleagues in the future."
"Ahem, to be exact, I won't start until next month. I've already been assigned to the purchasing department, but my whole family works at the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital..."
If Lin Sanqi's identity was an unemployed vagrant or a black market gangster, no matter how much Pan Ye liked him, he would still be wary of him.
But if Lin Sanqi is also an employee of a regular unit and is in the same industry, then the sense of closeness will be even stronger.
The two chatted and laughed as they got off the train at Haiyun Warehouse Station. Pan Ye pointed to the entrance of an alley and said:
"My home is right here, in the front yard of Courtyard No. 15."
Lin Sanqi recognized the way and said goodbye with a smile: "Okay, I'll remember it. I have something to do later. When I'm done, I'll come over at noon and bring some food with me."
Pan Ye was relieved at this time and nodded gently: "Okay, thank you, Lin Sanqi."
Lin Sanqi was so touched by these words that her bones softened, and she waved her hands repeatedly:
"Okay, okay, why are you being so polite to me? Just go home. You've been busy all night. It's better to go to Chaoyang Park than to the black market."
The two men waved goodbye, and Lin Sanqi walked westward towards Daqudeng Hutong. The two places were only three miles apart and it was short to walk there.
Pan Ye still returned home holding the clock.
Mr. and Mrs. Pan had been waiting with their necks stretched out, and when they saw their daughter come back, the old couple breathed a sigh of relief.
But when they saw their daughter bringing back the clock, they looked at each other and sighed heavily at the same time.
If I didn't sell the clock, it meant I couldn't exchange it for food coupons. How would my family survive the rest of the year?
(End of this chapter)
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