fierce
He was a high-ranking police officer.
What Ye Jia remembered was a terrible incident that happened in her village when she was a child, in which someone was killed, and she was a witness.
The man who squatted down in front of her with a friendly smile and said, "Little sister, don't be afraid, just tell uncle what you saw," was said to be the bureau chief, and his demeanor was very similar to that of the man from before.
Ye Jia sat by the window, looking down at the two figures below. Why would Gu Anzhou be with someone like that?
His name is Gu Anzhou, you brat. We must be quite close. Are we relatives? Or is he his father?
But judging from Gu Anzhou's reaction and attitude, it didn't seem like it.
Ye Jia realized that she was being excessively curious about Gu Anzhou.
The food arrived, and as Ye Jia ate the fennel-roasted pork, her thoughts drifted back to her hometown. The air there was completely different from that on the island and from other places; it had a unique, rich aroma of various spices and herbs.
I suddenly have such a craving. Especially since I've been eating a lot of seafood lately, this craving just gets stronger.
Ye Jia really wanted to eat it right away.
Unfortunately, she didn't see any of her hometown dishes during her two visits to the main island. Ye Jia plans to go to a large supermarket later to see if she can buy them so she can cook them herself.
It's still a pity.
Ye Jia returned home disappointed, thinking that when she got back she could buy some more online and share it with Chu Nian.
As Ye Jia climbed the stairs to the second floor of the cruise ship, the first person she saw was Gu Anzhou, even though it was just his back.
I thought he had already gone back. It seems that after having dinner with that man, they went somewhere else.
Gu Anzhou turned around and saw Ye Jia.
She was looking at him, and as if she hadn't expected him to turn around, a look of surprise flashed across her face. Then she walked over and greeted him.
"The dish you recommended was delicious."
As Ye Jia spoke, she glanced at the paper bag beside her. There were empty seats on both sides, but she didn't sit down.
Gu Anzhou nodded: "I feel you'll like it."
"Why?"
"Judging from your drinking preferences, you like to drink alcohol with strong flavors."
Ye Jia hesitated for a moment, but still sat down next to him through the paper bag: "The food in my hometown has a strong flavor, so I like it this way."
Gu Anzhou turned his head, almost facing Ye Jia directly. After boarding the boat, he placed his things on his left side, thinking that if Ye Jia came aboard, she would sit on his right.
That was a miscalculation.
Although I don't know why I need to devise a strategy.
Gu Anzhou asked, "Where are you from?"
Ye Jia pursed her lips, a little nervous: "What do you think?"
In fact, Gu Anzhou had already identified her hometown from her accent; it was likely Qianzhou, specifically the southeastern part of Guizhou. However, he didn't want to arouse her suspicion. Li Ju's behavior earlier seemed a bit abrupt to him, and her accent wasn't strong, with a slight northern intonation that most people wouldn't notice.
"I don't know, but they're definitely from the South."
Ye Jia smiled relaxedly: "Yes, I'm from Qianzhou. You can tell from my accent, right?"
"Really? You don't have much of an accent."
"Really?" Ye Jia was a little incredulous. She still occasionally recalled the embarrassing memories of having her accent imitated when she was in college, and Gu Anzhou actually said that she didn't have an accent.
"real."
Indeed, starting from Ye Jia's junior year of college, no one made a fuss about her accent anymore, and this continued after she started working. It seems that her deliberate practice was effective.
Looking back now, it doesn't really matter whether she has an accent or not, but when she first arrived in a big city like Beicheng, it was hard for her not to care.
Gu Anzhou asked, "So you eat Litsea cubeba?"
Ye Jia snapped out of her daze, her eyes lighting up: "Of course!"
"Perfect timing! I recently bought a bottle of litsea cubeba oil for cocktails, but since nobody drinks it except me, I didn't put it on the menu. Would you like to try some?"
"Yes, yes!" Ye Jia was so excited! She had just been thinking about the taste of home!
Gu Anzhou felt like he could hear her voice in his left ear, and suddenly lowered his head and chuckled.
Ye Jia was taken aback: "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Gu Anzhou stopped smiling, turned his face away, and stopped looking at her. Then he realized what she was saying and quickly turned back to look at her.
I missed a few words.
"...But it must taste really good. In my hometown, people soak Litsea cubeba in alcohol, saying that it can stop coughing."
"Stop the cough?"
"right!"
"But shouldn't you avoid drinking alcohol when you're coughing?"
Ye Jiaxiao: "Yes!"
The boat started moving, and the engine was a bit noisy, so they stopped talking.
With a shake, the paper bag wobbled, and Gu Anzhou reached out to hold it down, looking towards the sea.
Ye Jia glanced curiously into the paper bag. On top was a book, "Chasing the Sun Island," but it was obvious that the ones below weren't books at all; they seemed to be just there to cover up what was underneath.
However, Ye Jia was still a little curious about the book; to her, Lingfeng Island was like Sunshine Island.
When Ye Jia looked up, she noticed someone staring in her direction; it was that aunt.
She was sitting to their right front, facing them in a somewhat awkward posture.
Ye Jia knew she was looking at Gu Anzhou. The sea view was nothing special; what was rare was this kind of chance encounter.
As they disembarked, the aunt waved to Gu Anzhou, saying, "I'm going out for drinks tonight!"
Gu Anzhou nodded: "Welcome."
It was a bit cold.
Ye Jia followed them off the boat and onto the road. Gu Anzhou stood next to an electric scooter, hanging a paper bag on the handlebars as he asked her, "Shall I give you a ride?"
Ye Jia looked at the light blue and brown car with some surprise. It was really hard to imagine Gu Anzhou riding such a car. She thought he would ride a heavy motorcycle.
"No need, I'll walk back."
"Okay, goodbye then. Remember to come back for some Litsea cubeba cocktails." Gu Anzhou said, then got on his bike and rode away.
Although it's hard to imagine, seeing him ride it is actually quite cute.
Ye Jia was startled by this sudden thought. At first, she thought Gu Anzhou was going to use her as a snack with drinks, but now she found him adorable.
No, no, no, the car is cute, not him.
She's going to blame Chu Nian again, always saying Xiao Bai is so cute...
-
That very evening, Ye Jia invited Chu Nian to go to the Fog Sea Lighthouse together to drink Litsea cubeba cocktails.
Seeing Gu Anzhou go to the back to get something, Chu Nian hurriedly asked Ye Jia, "How did you know about the hidden menu?"
"I ran into him on the main island while I was doing business, and we chatted for a bit," Ye Jia said frankly, even seeming to be deliberately keeping her tone calm.
But Chu Nian still tucked her chin in and narrowed her eyes, without saying a word, but Ye Jia felt that she had said a lot.
Seeing Ye Jia's "you're here again" expression, Chu Nian glared at her and said, "What's wrong? This kind of thing is just so exciting! You, a woman heartbroken, him, a mysterious handsome guy, and this island that doesn't belong to either of you—it's perfect for something to happen, okay!"
Gu Anzhou came out, and Ye Jia's knee suddenly bumped into Chu Nian under the bar.
"Aww!" Chu Nian shouted, and not only Gu Anzhou, but everyone in the entire bar looked over.
Gu Anzhou looked at Ye Jia and asked, "What's wrong?"
Ye Jia shook her head.
Chu Nian saw it all. "Well, you two are exchanging glances and still denying it."
A short while later, Gu Anzhou mixed the drinks and placed them on the bar.
"Would you like to try a bite?" Ye Jia asked Chu Nian.
"Well, I don't even know what Litsea cubeba tastes like, I've never tasted it before." Chu Nian picked up the cup, smelled it, and sensed something was wrong. After taking a small sip, she immediately made a face as if she had been punched.
Ye Jia couldn't help but laugh, thinking that the god of wood ginger had helped her punish Chu Nian.
Chu Nian wanted to throw her tongue away. The taste was so strange that she couldn't describe it. She could only feel that it was weird and a little spicy, but there was no other taste. Her mouth was full of that taste.
Ye Jia also took a sip and looked at Gu Anzhou with a look of surprise: "Delicious!" She was quite surprised. Although Litsea cubeba could be used to make wine, she had never drunk it before. She always used it to make cold dishes. She didn't expect it to taste so good in wine.
Gu Anzhou nodded and continued with his work.
Ye Jia waited a long time before finally finding an opportunity to ask him, "How did you come up with the idea of using Litsea cubeba to make cocktails? Where did you get this recipe from?"
“It was my own idea,” Gu Anzhou said. “I used to work there and really liked the flavor, so I thought it would be suitable for adding to wine.”
Ye Jia was surprised: "You worked in my hometown?"
"Yes." After saying that, Gu Anzhou lowered his head and went back to work, not giving her a chance to ask any more questions. He had already said too much.
-
Having satisfied her craving for hometown cuisine, Ye Jia focused on her work.
For several days in a row, I haven't left the house except for my morning run and grocery shopping.
She was busy building her own personal website and posting information on various tech social platforms to attract traffic. She quickly got jobs and was also busy fixing vulnerabilities and developing security strategies for people.
Ye Jia had stopped taking part-time classes, but the wealthy student who initially approached her still insisted on taking lessons, so she continued to teach him.
Ye Jia quite enjoyed teaching him. He paid a lot for the lessons, and the questions were very interesting, not just the content in the book.
The copy of "Chasing the Sun Island" that I ordered online arrived, but I haven't had time to watch it yet, so I've put it aside for now.
The various spices from my hometown, including but not limited to Litsea cubeba, also arrived. Ye Jia cooked some dishes herself, and they smelled amazing.
Chu Nian even got up an hour earlier to eat the food she cooked, just in time for noon.
"It smells so good!"
Chu Nian still couldn't accept Litsea cubeba. Just thinking about the smell from that day made her nauseous. She didn't want to touch it at all, and even the smell made her feel uncomfortable. She always pushed it far away.
But other dishes, like stir-fried cured pork with pickled chili peppers and pickled cabbage and bean soup, can be eaten for a week straight without getting tired of them.
After eating together for a few days, Ye Jia started to promote the dish: "Give it another try, maybe you can accept it. And the salad isn't as strong in flavor as the cocktails, it's really delicious!"
"don't want."
How will you know if you don't even try?
"don't want."
"..."
Chu Nian, clutching her bowl, said, "Why are you forcing me? You have a fellow enthusiast; you can just invite Boss Gu to eat with you. Speaking of which, he treated us to that drink last time. You've cooked, aren't you going to invite him back?"
Ye Jia was taken aback. Was she going to invite Gu Anzhou to eat the dishes she had made?
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