Chapter 253 Slurping Rice Noodles in Shashi
Qin Suisui made a long journey to Yunnan Province for two purposes. One was to find the production area of the *Lysimachia christinae* flower in Wenzhou City to trace the origin of an antidote she was currently developing. The second was to visit Yunshan, the tea supplier who had previously sent her tea, in Pucha City. She had already called Yunshan beforehand to inform him of her visit time, and Yunshan was very welcoming.
Qin Suisui's first purpose involved important secrets, so she naturally didn't reveal it to the outside world, but Liang Qi became interested when she said she was going to visit a tea supplier.
For someone like him who's in business, nothing is more cost-effective than sourcing directly from the production area. So he discussed a meeting time with Qin Suisui, planning to go to Pu Cha Market together after he finished his business in Kunming.
The train arrived in Shashi, Hunan Province, at around 5 a.m. the next day. Shashi is located much further north than Qiongtan Island, and the weather in October was already a bit chilly in the morning.
Pei Jiuyan took out some clothes from his bag and draped them over Qin Suisui. He then told her and Jia Zhenzhen, "You two sit here in the waiting room and wait for a while. I'll go buy the tickets and then we'll go out for breakfast."
Qin Suisui nodded, clutching her clothes tightly, looking a little listless.
The train tickets they bought in Guangzhou only went as far as Shashi; they would have to buy new tickets for the rest of the journey.
Liang Qi, Zhou Jianguo, and Hu Jue also went, leaving the bearded Liu here to accompany the two of them and watch their luggage.
These days, not many people travel, and since they bought sleeper carriages, they easily managed to get another carriage.
The earliest train from Shashi to Guishi departs at 10:00 AM, and it was only a little past 5:00 AM, so there were still more than four hours to go. After buying their tickets, the group carried their luggage out of the train station, intending to find a place to have breakfast and replenish their food supplies.
Shashi is very close to Qin Suisui's hometown, Jiangcheng, so Qin Suisui is quite familiar with the place. Moreover, after getting off the car and being exposed to the cold wind for so long, her motion sickness had almost disappeared, and instead, the feeling of hunger in her empty stomach took over.
"Comrades! Let's go eat Shashi rice noodles and sugar-coated fried dough sticks! I came to Shashi with my dad when I was a child and ate these two dishes. They tasted really good!"
"Really? It's so chilly here. It would be perfect to have a bowl of hot rice noodles!" Jia Zhenzhen was also starving, and her mouth watered when she heard Qin Suisui say that.
The two women made the decision, and the other men naturally had nothing to say. So the group carried their luggage and headed straight for the state-run restaurant near the train station.
They arrived early, and the state-run restaurant had plenty of food. Qin Suisui ordered a bowl of rice noodles with pickled cowpeas and shredded pork and a small portion of sugar-oil rice cakes. Jia Zhenzhen ordered a bowl of pork rib rice noodles and a large portion of sugar-oil rice cakes. The others also ordered noodles or other dishes.
Yesterday on the train, I only ate lunch. I felt so unwell last night that I only ate oranges and sweet potatoes. Now I'm starving and I'm slurping up the rice noodles with gusto.
Halfway through her meal, she suddenly remembered a very famous dish in Shashi: stir-fried pork with chili peppers! She had eaten it when she was a child. Although stir-fried pork with chili peppers is a very ordinary home-style dish, she didn't know why, but the stir-fried pork with chili peppers in Shashi was exceptionally delicious!
"Ayan, do you think we could order some lunch from the state-run restaurant this morning?"
Pei Jiuyan raised an eyebrow: "You want to eat stir-fried pork with chili peppers?"
Qin Suisui nodded like a chick pecking at rice: "Mmm!"
"I'm afraid that won't work. These days, state-run restaurants prepare ingredients according to a plan and supply them on time. The amount of ingredients is prepared according to a daily quota, and cooking only begins before lunch. But I can ask around. Some rice noodles also use stir-fried pork with chili as a topping, so maybe I can buy some."
After saying that, Pei Jiuyan quickly finished his noodles and went to queue at the window with his aluminum lunchbox.
A short while later, he returned carrying an aluminum lunchbox.
Seeing Qin Suisui's hopeful eyes, he nodded gently: "I bought it, but it's stir-fried pork with chili and dry noodles. I asked the waiter to pack the toppings and noodles separately. If you don't want noodles later, you can buy another meal on the train."
Qin Suisui's eyes crinkled with laughter; Pei Jiuyan was just so reliable!
After finishing their meal, the group bought some steamed buns and mantou from the window to take on the train as provisions. After all, their journey from Shashi to Guishi would take more than twenty hours by train.
Qin Suisui also went and bought a few scallion pancakes. These were made by frying rice flour batter with scallions. They were golden and crispy, with a wonderful aroma of scallions, and very satisfying. She also bought two fried dough sticks wrapped around mochi. The fried dough sticks were crispy, and the mochi was soft and chewy. The combination of the two was sweet and delicious.
After thinking for a moment, I also bought some steamed buns, mantou, and scallion pancakes for Liang Qi and Da Liu, who had just finished eating noodles and then disappeared. I don't know what they were busy with, they just said they would meet at the train station later.
After they finished eating, they sat in the state-run restaurant for a while. During this time, Hu Jue said he needed to buy something and went out first.
During the meal, Qin Suisui and Jia Zhenzhen each ordered a cup of sweet fermented rice with glutinous rice balls. This kind of fermented rice is usually made with sweet rice wine, and it tastes a little different from the one she brewed herself. She must have added something else to it, but it still tastes very good.
Qin Suisui and Jia Zhenzhen both enjoyed it very much, and after finishing theirs, they even packed another portion to go in their military water bottles. The further they went, the lower the temperature became, making the sweet fermented rice balls a very comforting treat.
When they arrived at the train station, it was already nine o'clock. Because the train was about to arrive, the area outside the station was packed with people seeing them off. Several people carrying large and small bags of luggage struggled to squeeze in, and the crowd thinned out a bit after they went through the ticket check and entered the station.
Qin Suisui, carrying her cloth bag and holding a military water bottle, frowned as she looked at the crowd outside: "With so many people, why haven't Brother Wen and Comrade Hu Jue returned yet? Could something have happened?"
Pei Jiuyan patted her head: "Don't worry, they are adults and know their own limits."
No sooner had she finished speaking than two officers in police uniforms walked over and stood in the crowd waiting for the bus. Their sharp eyes swept around the crowd before fixing their gaze on Qin Suisui.
"Excuse me, are you Comrade Qin Suisui?"
Qin Suisui was taken aback: "Yes...yes."
Upon receiving an affirmative answer, the police officer's expression relaxed: "Hello, Comrade Qin, do you know Comrade Hu Jue?"
Qin Suisui nodded hurriedly, "He's my colleague. Did something happen to him?" Hu Jue came out with her, and she was the project team leader. If something happened to Hu Jue, she would also be responsible. She frowned, regretting that she hadn't let Hu Jue go out alone.
"Well... there's something I need to do. He's at the police station at the train station right now, and I'll have to trouble you to come with us there."
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