Open the lid, and inside is a large clod of earth.
"This is a famous dish from my hometown, but it's a bit complicated to make, so we usually eat the simplified version."
Xia Yu explained to Liv.
People from Jiangsu Province all have their hometowns specified down to the street and brigade level, but their tastes are generally the same.
So it was baked.
"To be precise, it should be simmering. The flames don't come into direct contact. Go to my room and get two bottles of beer."
Xia Yu said to Liv while dismantling the mud shell.
His captain installed a refrigerator in the cabin and filled it with beer and mineral water.
"I'll go right away."
Watching her disappear around the corner of the bridge, Xia Yu also removed the mud shell and the layer of flour covering it.
The glistening juice soaked through the withered lotus leaves. Because the pork caul fat used to wrap the lotus leaves was replaced with cotton thread, the flavor might be slightly diminished. But since it was a late-night snack and not a main meal, he didn't ask Lao Yu to go through the trouble of slaughtering another pig.
"Wow, this chicken looks so beautiful and smells so good, even better than the Tuerqi honey roasted chicken I've ever had."
Liv returned with a beer in her arms. In the lotus leaf that Xia Yu had unfolded, the stewed chicken was glossy and smelled incredibly tempting.
"The chicken wings are delicious, let's each have one."
Xia Yu tore off his left and right wings and handed one to Liv.
"It smells so good!"
Right? No one can resist a weasel's beggar's chicken. He only needed one chicken wing to win the other person over.
The distance between them was shortened through sharing, and in the following days, not many people noticed that Liv's appetite was gradually decreasing.
Every time Xia Yu returned from the branch base, she would bring back delicious food from the village. Sharing food under the night sky on the bridge became a secret between the two of them.
As for the leftover bones, they were all bribed to Big Yellow and Big Black, the couple who patrolled the ship.
"I can't eat anymore, I'm afraid I'll gain weight."
After finishing the second-to-last piece of steamed spare ribs with black bean sauce in her bowl, Liv said with a guilty conscience.
But your mother isn't fat!
Xia Yu had met Hannah, the mother of the brother and sister.
"But my grandma is a little overweight."
Liv gestured to her belly as she spoke.
"Her waist is two sizes thicker than my mother's, even though she was so slim in her old photos."
Russian girls are like this: their shelf life is too short, or they don't pay attention to their diet. When they are young, they can metabolize well, but as they get older, they will swell up.
Either adjust your diet or maintain a fixed daily calorie expenditure.
"Then you too..."
"No, no, I'm keeping it under control. It's just that the calories in these Chinese dishes are hard to convert."
Liv quickly shook her head.
She only inherited a quarter of her grandmother's bloodline, so it shouldn't be... It seems that Aunt Merkel wasn't very thin either.
She might have gained weight from overwork. Managing a country is exhausting, but thankfully she's just a doctor and doesn't have that many worries.
"There's no need to calculate too meticulously. If you feel you've eaten too much, just go to the gym to burn off the calories. You'll probably look good even if you're a little chubby."
Xia Yu began to comfort Liv.
He genuinely believed that one should be slim in their twenties, fuller in their thirties, and maintain that state to age gracefully.
Becoming a woman on Sherlock Weasel Island doesn't necessarily mean the end of her life after 30,000 days; she might even dream for a hundred years before being awakened again.
Of course, it's only a possibility.
The world changes, and who knows whether humanity will destroy itself a hundred years from now, or venture beyond Earth to colonize the Milky Way?
It's really hard for him and Liv, both born at the end of the 20th century, to imagine what the early 23rd century would be like.
However, if humanity stopped fighting amongst itself at that time, it must have been because the conflict had shifted outwards.
Xia Yu dragged Liv to the gym. Xia Yu first ran 5 kilometers to warm up, and then did some weight training.
To be fair, with his own foundation and the system's enhancements, he has a very robust physique and extremely sharp senses and reactions.
These factors are important on the battlefield, in operating war vehicles such as tanks and fighter jets.
After practicing for a while, the two went back to rest, and sure enough, they slept much better.
Time flies, and thanks to Xia Yu's hard work, the main engine room and fuel depot at the cave sub-base have been initially completed.
There was no time to deal with the details. With the São Paulo's voyage to Gineia more than halfway complete and the round trip distance exceeding the Gazelle's one-way limit, it was only after switching to a Mi-24V with a full set of auxiliary fuel tanks that it could survive.
This was his last trip. The shells to be delivered to the Bovington Tank Museum were unloaded at the port warehouse. Nothing special happened. Xia Yu estimated that he wouldn't be able to return until the end of the year, and then he would prepare to go back to China.
I hope everything goes well, so I can give my parents a surprise and show them that finding someone you meet yourself is better than going on a blind date.
"Boss, everything is here."
After a period of extreme busyness, Lao Yu finally got a short vacation. Xia Yu gave him a whole month to go back to China and reunite with his family.
There was no other way; Xia Yu could only eat, not cook, so someone had to shoulder the burden.
Thinking about dishes and variations, Lao Yu's already thinning hair fell out even more, so he simply shaved his head bald.
“Sure, Lao Yu, your son is taking the high school entrance exam this year, right? I don’t have any gifts for him, so you have to give him this red envelope for me.”
Xia Yu took the bags and packages from Lao Yu and placed them in the gunner's compartment of the female deer. Then, he turned around, took out a red envelope, and stuffed it into Lao Yu's hand.
There are ten Franklins inside; no gift is as practical as this.
If you get good grades, you can get into a good high school, then go on to get into a good university.
If his grades aren't good, he might as well learn a trade from his father and come work for him in Afica.
"Thank you, boss. I thank you on his behalf."
"Take it if the boss gives it to me," Lao Yu said with a smile, thanking him.
That year, he not only paid off his debts but also saved $10,000, which was much better than starting a business.
Earning money through a job is possible, but avoiding unnecessary risks is the key. Even someone as capable as Xia Yu learned from his mistakes before he finally made money.
If you say it's all thanks to the system, then you can only say that the system raised the ceiling. With his execution ability, he can achieve something after paying off his debts.
After all, as long as there is conflict and war, the engineering market in Afica will always be a blue ocean, plunging the boldest into oblivion.
Take Uncle Tai for example; when he was in the army, he had to see blood.
This is why he was able to stay and become a boss, while Lao Xia could only work for a few years before returning to China.
He's spirited and has a fighting spirit, but he's become a bit conservative as he's gotten older.
They wanted to send their son to join the army, but he couldn't handle the hardship because of the better conditions, and he was even less willing to come to Afica.
This is probably why Uncle Tai values Xia Yu so much!
They offered him better compensation than others, knew he wanted to start his own business, provided initial support, and shared their own experiences and lessons learned from the pitfalls they had encountered.
Each excavator was equipped with an AK-47. Xia Yu was influenced by him; when something happens, you have to make sure you don't get killed in the first wave so you have a chance to maneuver and maneuver later.
Therefore, even without a system, Xia Yu would most likely still make a name for himself and accumulate the wealth of seven or eight machines.
Of course, there is also a small chance that he will be buried alive in Afica. Without the system to prepare heavy machine guns, in the battle against the rebels in Blackhorn, he would only have a 50% chance of annihilating the enemy with the first wave of sneak attacks.
One wrong move and he could be killed by the enemy with a single shot, but if he did nothing, he and Lao Li would only face certain death.
"Splash splash"
I took off in the sunset in my Mi-24V and flew until I was almost out of fuel before the São Paulo came into view.
The landing lights were turned on, and Xia Yu landed steadily on the flight deck.
After handing the helicopter over to Andrei and Lyman, he finally felt a sense of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
Enjoy the last moments of tranquility before reaching the harbor!
Once ashore, you'll face an endless stream of jihadists.
You really have to be on high alert every moment, even at your post.
Because this group's activity area is nearby, they can't wait and wait as they did at Kenniya. Instead, they have to guard against them launching a preemptive attack and raiding the camp.
Xia Yu and his men were prepared for this. The desert is drier than the rainforest, but no one wanted to be left here in pieces, not even as good as a mummy.
Since they had just finished dinner on the ship, Xia Yu invited Liv to the hangar to pet the cats.
Mimi is carefree; she falls asleep as soon as she's full, and you can't even get her to do a somersault.
Sleep, and you'll grow up as you sleep. When you grow up, you can work for him, just like his foster father, foster mother, and all his foster brothers.
Scratching Mimi's chin, Xia Yu thought with a touch of "pampering".
"I prefer cheetahs to leopards."
He said to Liv beside him.
"Me too, especially after I learned that leopards prey on cheetahs."
Liv said, empathizing deeply.
Although one belongs to the genus *Panthera* and the other to the genus *Panthera*, they are not genetically related outside of the cat family. However, the fact that cheetahs appear on the leopard's menu gives the impression of humans eating monkeys or chimpanzees.
"It seems that Indian leopards also prey on guard dogs; their diet is so varied."
Xia Yu suddenly realized that, apart from the two donkeys, all the other animals that Ji Huo Defense was feeding were on the leopard's menu.
Can a Belgian Malinois really beat a leopard?
It seems a bit difficult; the size difference is too great. Even a hyena is no match for a leopard in a one-on-one fight.
The observant Liv suddenly noticed that Xia Yu was very interested in animals.
Yeah, I'm not interested in how the company has turned into a zoo, and with all the animals being rather small.
It's normal for Xia Yu to be interested in animals, given that he grew up watching nature documentaries and shows about humans and nature.
As for why they are fond of small mammals, it's probably because they like the low-key nature of small animals!
While some Chinese people may like to show off, the majority prefer to make a fortune quietly.
And in concentrated fire defense, lions, tigers, and brown bears will never appear.
Furthermore, small size does not mean non-lethal. Individual strength is ultimately insignificant, but when combined into a crew, a vehicle crew, or a combat team, it can unleash powerful combat capabilities.
"I see. You came to Afica thinking of legally keeping small animals."
Liv had a look on her face that said, "I knew it!"
"Oh, so you can read minds, can't you? You even knew that."
Xia Yu echoed this sentiment.
"Students in China are required to memorize some classical poems. There's one line that I like the most: 'Leading a yellow dog on the left, holding a falcon on the right, wearing a brocade hat and sable fur, a thousand horsemen sweep across the plain.'"
"The clothes and styles inside are out of fashion, and the once invincible cavalry have been eliminated by history. But walking a dog and carrying an eagle has always been a dream for many people, but most people can only keep a dog at most."
"If I had the chance, I would still like to keep an eagle as a pet."
Xia Yu has the financial means to raise one, and Afica's regulations also allow it, so why not have the chance to raise one?
He'd rather not spend money to buy it; he prefers "kidnapping" to buying and selling.
Mimi was kidnapped by Old Ke from the clutches of the hyenas. He must kidnap a cub of a biological flying vehicle if he gets the chance.
Carrying people might be a bit difficult, but Xia Yu really wants to test the bird head stabilization system and whether domesticated birds of prey can replace drones.
If possible, its flight time would be much longer than that of consumer-grade drones.
“There will be opportunities. If all else fails, I have a classmate who studies veterinary medicine. She also came to Afica specifically to rescue birds.”
This is the difference between having gone to university and not. Xia Yu doesn't have any classmates in Afica. That's impressive.
“It’s not compliant to keep them directly, but we can apply for a branch of a bird rescue center. I think there’s a document about that in the archives.”
Liv seemed to remember something, but she wasn't quite sure.
"That's true, we even have a sign that says 'Wildlife Conservation Association'!"
That was a loophole exploited for registering the Mi-24V; I never expected it would come in such a useful way.
However, after more than a year, only one wild animal was protected, and it was a cheetah from a neighboring country.
"Let's not talk about that now. The day after tomorrow morning, we will arrive at a location that is about 100 nautical miles from São Tomé and Príncipe."
Xia Yu brought up another matter.
How about we plan a two-day, one-night hike?
They won't be visiting the two main islands this time, but the dozen or so surrounding islands look small on the map. Exploring them on foot would be quite challenging, so two days would be more appropriate.
"Yes, or rather, it would be even better if we could camp for one night."
Liv agreed.
Whether it's mountain climbing or hiking, camping along the way is unavoidable, because the altitude to be conquered and the area to be explored are very high and very large. Fortunately, their equipment is readily available.
Military equipment may not be as lightweight as sports equipment.
That works too. Hiking isn't as dangerous as mountain climbing, and they have helicopters so they can evacuate at any time.
Meow meow
Suddenly, Mimi in my arms opened her eyes, twisted her body and stretched, but her voice was a little hoarse.
It's like a cheetah is a cat with a smoky voice, since it can't even "speak loudly (roar)," but isn't that what makes it cute?
The fact that the world's fastest predator is so vulnerable evokes a sense of pity and tenderness.
"Will you bring your boobs?"
Liv asked.
"No, we'll only take Big Black."
Since we're going to be camping overnight, bringing along vigilant military dogs is the safest option.
P.S.: I'm confessing my feelings tomorrow, and I've come up with a great idea that perfectly suits the protagonist's character.
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