Chapter 215 Help
The milk curd inside is very sour, with a strong milky flavor.
I can tolerate the sourness of milk tofu, but if someone doesn't like sour food, the sourness is neutralized by the syrup on the surface, and they will also like this dish.
Sweet with a hint of sourness, crispy texture, and rich milky flavor, if milk tofu weren't so precious, I would really like to have it as my daily snack.
After swallowing a piece of milk tofu, Mancang finally clumsily stuffed the milk tofu into his mouth.
He crunched on the syrup coating as he bit into it, and Mancang habitually gave him a thumbs up: "It's so delicious! It's sweet and sour, so good! This is the best food I've ever eaten in my life!"
I laughed as I dipped a piece of milk tofu into cold water, teasing Mancang: "You said the other day that hot pot was the best food you'd ever eaten."
Mancang picked up a dumpling and stuffed it into his mouth, grinning so wide his eyes were almost invisible: "I like them all, I like them all, they're all delicious!"
Fresh vegetables spoil if left out for too long, so I don't have to worry about saving them. I've been enjoying the deliciousness of fresh vegetables for several days in a row.
Nearly a month later, the fresh vegetables in the house were almost completely eaten up.
That day, Mancang returned from chopping firewood on the mountain, having worked up a lot of sweat.
Seeing him covered in sweat, I couldn't help but wonder, "Why are you sweating so much today?"
With her hair soaked through, Mancang said in confusion, "I don't know either, it's just a bit hot from working."
Could it be?
I went outside to check the temperature, and it seemed a bit warmer than a few days ago.
I lived with anticipation, and after another 10 days, the temperature settled at around 20 degrees Celsius.
For Mancang and me, who are used to going outside when the temperature drops to minus forty or fifty degrees Celsius, minus twenty degrees Celsius is nothing.
I can go out wearing the same cotton-padded coat as usual, without having to be completely covered up anymore.
I look forward to spring when the flowers bloom, so I can continue to grow vegetables, eat wild vegetables, and eat fruits.
But after waiting for several days, the temperature remained stuck at 20 degrees Celsius.
It seems we need to give the weather some time to warm up gradually.
I'm quite satisfied with the current temperature of -20 degrees Celsius. Wearing thick cotton-padded coats, Mancang and I are clearing the snow from the yard.
Just as I was sweeping away the last bit of snow with a large broom, Brother Liu arrived again in his familiar minivan.
"Brother Liu is here! How have you been lately? Have you been rescuing people?"
I spoke warmly with Brother Liu.
Brother Liu got out of the car, tugged at his cotton-padded coat, and said, "Oh dear, it's been a while since I've come out. I only came out a few times in the first few days, but there was no one there. So I stopped wasting gas coming out."
"So why did the base commander let you out today?"
I propped the broom against the wall and went up to talk to Brother Liu.
Mancang took the last basket of snow outside to empty it, without reacting to the person who came.
I know he must be unhappy inside. He doesn't like outsiders and is only comfortable when he's with me.
Brother Liu chuckled as if he had thought of something happy: "We didn't manage to rescue anyone back then, but now that the weather is warmer, quite a few refugees have gone to the base."
"Huh? Then why didn't I go with you back then? Why are you going by yourself now?"
Why bother walking all the way to the base yourself? Wouldn't it be better to just take a car?
Brother Liu said helplessly, "They're probably afraid we're bad guys. We drive a beat-up van, so we look like bad guys."
"That makes sense."
I nodded.
“They would walk towards the base on their own, and if it seemed safe, they would go in. If they felt it was not safe, they could walk back. They probably thought it was safer that way.”
After hearing what Brother Liu said, I felt that it made even more sense.
So why did you come to see me today?
"What does the fact that some refugees went there have to do with you coming to see me today?"
Brother Liu gave a mysterious smile, and I knew something was up.
"The base commander wants you to go help out. Are you available?"
I was a little confused: "Help? Help with what?"
“The roughnecks at the base only know how to work. They’re always running around the vegetable sheds and patrolling. Now that refugees have arrived, their backgrounds are unclear, and they might be difficult to manage. The base commander is worried that he hasn’t considered things thoroughly enough, so he wants you to come along and give him some advice.”
It means the base doesn't have enough manpower to do the work, and even less manpower to manage the staff. Plus, there might be some people with bad intentions among the refugees. So they asked me to run errands for the base and come up with some ideas.
It wasn't a bad thing, just a little troublesome.
Since I had helped the base chief, he couldn't treat me unfairly, so I got another batch of fresh vegetables to eat.
After thinking about it for a moment and deciding it was feasible, I nodded and said, "Okay, let's go."
I left enough food for the livestock to eat for a day, and then led Mancang, the cats and dogs, back to the Baizhen base with Brother Liu.
Upon arriving at the base entrance, I saw the patrol formation that I hadn't seen in a long time.
After the epidemic, there were far fewer patrol personnel, but now things have returned to normal, with several burly men standing guard solemnly, looking quite professional.
The van drove smoothly into the Baizhen base, where there weren't many people to be seen.
"Even if a lot of refugees have come, we can't see anyone here at all!"
I peered out the car window and asked Brother Liu.
Brother Liu gestured westward with his chin: "They're all living in those empty houses over there. They just arrived and didn't know who they were, so we didn't let them move around freely."
Locking them up together is definitely not an option.
"If we don't let them move around freely, they'll get angry. Can we keep someone locked up forever?"
Brother Liu sighed: "Well, that's why the base commander sent you here. Right now, we're just trying to appease them. We'll see how things go in a bit and see if you have any ideas."
No wonder they asked me to come and give them some advice; it seems this isn't just about doing odd jobs and running errands.
Brother Liu left Mancang and the cats and dogs at home with his wife, and then took me to the base center.
When I entered the base commander's office, he looked rather unwell.
"Base Commander, I've arrived."
"sit."
He got up from his desk and sat down on the sofa with me.
There was no need for formalities. I lowered my voice and got straight to the point: "What's going on with these refugees? Do you suspect that there are people among them with ill intentions?"
The base commander frowned and nodded.
"On the surface, they all look like refugees and honest farmers, but yesterday some people started clamoring for the base to distribute food to them. I guess someone was secretly instigating this."
I nodded, and the base commander continued, "Think about it, after being rescued from hunger for so long and finally getting food, you're probably thinking about how to stay here for a long time, not about being so eager for food."
I began to understand: "So, some of them stirred up trouble, demanding food from the base, which the base couldn't provide, leading to conflict between the refugees and the base. If the base had provided the food, its stored food might have been discovered and looted?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
