Chapter 110 Unpalatable Tanghulu

In the winter in the north, the wind was chilly, but it could not blow away the excitement and warmth of the New Year.

Red lanterns were hung on both sides of the street, and the drooping tassels swayed gently in the wind. The hawkers' calls were one after another, and the atmosphere was very lively.

The sweet aroma of roasted sweet potatoes emanated from the deep alleys, and the warm firelight brought people a touch of warmth and comfort in the cold. The children chased each other and played in the snow, their laughter was crisp and pleasant.

This was the first time that Jiang Yunqi and his men experienced the joy of the upcoming Spring Festival. In the past, in the Star Interstellar, even on New Year's Day, they would just lie in their deserted homes and waste a day, and then rush to the front line to continue fighting the next morning.

Just a few steps out of the courtyard, at the corner of the street, an old man was sitting on a mat basking in the sun, holding a stick in his skinny hand. The stick was made of straw and was full of red, round things.

Long Yilan was a little curious and was about to ask, when she saw Tang Yichao's eyes light up, and he jumped into the circle of children, with a joyful tone: "Grandpa, I want a string of Tanghulu!"

So this thing is called Tanghulu?

"Can it be cheaper?"

Tang Yichao tried to bargain, but the old man just lifted half of his eyelids and waved at him.

"Young man, this is a small business, no bargaining."

He spoke with a Beijing accent, even disdaining Tang Yichao for blocking the warm sunlight.

"You don't know, the price of a string of Tanghulu is 30 crystal cores!" Tang Yichao walked back with his head down, stretched out three fingers, frowned, a little bit unbelievable.

It's not that he didn't have crystal cores in his pocket, but he still owed the boss a debt, and he really didn't want to spend too much.

"This thing...Tanghulu, is it delicious?"

Long Yilan likes red the most. Along the way, whether it was the red lanterns hanging on the treetops, or the couplets and paper-cuts posted on the doors of every household, they all made her feel novel and liked, so when she saw the crystal clear Tanghulu in the sun, she also wanted to taste it.

Tang Yichao: "It's delicious! It's delicious!"

"Then let's split it up, you pay half and I pay half." Long Yilan has good eyesight and can see the number of Tanghulu clearly from a distance. She counted and found that there were six Tanghulu on a string, just enough for the two of them to split in half.

Tang Yichao shouted happily: "That's great!"

Then, he took the crystal core that Long Yilan stuffed to him, squeezed in among the children, pointed to the largest, roundest and reddest string of Tanghulu and said: "Grandpa, I want this one!"

The old man finally opened his eyes and skillfully took a string of Tanghulu and handed it to Tang Yichao.

After exchanging the money for the goods, Tang Yizhao immediately put the crystal core into a small bamboo basket in the old man's arms. The basket was empty, so he must be the first customer of the Tanghulu stall today.

Tang Yizhao held up the Tanghulu under the envious eyes of a group of children and happily tore off the glutinous rice paper on it.

The bright red hawthorns were wrapped in crystal clear rock sugar and covered with a thin layer of icing sugar. They sparkled in the sunlight like rubies, and the air was filled with the unique sweet aroma of Tanghulu.

The sunlight at the corner of the street was a little thin. After the old man finished selling this order, he slowly stood up, picked up the saddle beside him, and ran away with big strides. He didn't look like a man in his sixties at all.

Tang Yichao didn't like eating rice paper, and he also thought it might be covered with dust, so he threw the rice paper into the trash can beside him, broke the candied haws neatly, and handed the intact half to Long Yilan.

Then he couldn't wait to take a bite.

The rock sugar was sweet, but the hawthorn was so sour and bitter.

As soon as he took a bite, he tasted a hint of bitterness, just like eating an unripe persimmon by mistake.

Then, the sourness of the hawthorn followed. This sourness was too direct and sharp, without any buffering or transition, piercing the taste buds directly, making people grimace, and

the aftertaste of bitterness and sourness lingered in the mouth, making it difficult to swallow.

Tang Yichao couldn't spit it out or swallow it. Thinking of the high price, he stiffened his neck, looked grim, and swallowed it with a painful look.

He felt his gums and tongue tip being stimulated and sour and numb.

"Don't eat it!"

Without waiting for him to stop her, Long Yilan took a big bite.

"How...how does it taste?"

Seeing that Long Yilan didn't even frown, Tang Yichao swallowed his saliva and asked curiously.

"It's okay, just a little sour."

Long Yilan ate all the cores of the hawthorn, pursed her lips, and said in confusion: "It doesn't seem to be as delicious as a lollipop."

Tang Yichao's mouth twitched twice.

Is it just a little sour?

You must be an alien, you can eat such a disgusting thing without changing your expression.

Long Yilan quickly finished three Tanghulu, wiped her mouth with a tissue, and threw the garbage into the trash can. Seeing that Tang Yichao hadn't finished eating yet, she asked, "Why haven't you finished yet? If Gu Bingchen saw it, your crystal core interest should go up again."

Tang Yichao looked at the two crystal clear Tanghulu left in his hand, laughed dryly, pursed his face, and changed the subject abruptly: "The old man closed his eyes, and he didn't worry that his Tanghulu would be stolen by the children."

Although the Tanghulu was very unpalatable.

"Who wants to steal his Tanghulu?"

"No, his mental strength is not lower than A level."

Two voices rang at the same time, the latter was Long Yilan, and the former was the leader of the group of children.

The little boy put his hand on his waist, pointed his chubby finger at the Tanghulu in Tang Yichao's hand, and laughed at him wantonly: "The old man usually buys some cheap hawthorns to make Tanghulu, and only a fool like you would buy them! You idiot!"

"That's right, we don't want them, we're just... just curious!"

The children chattered non-stop, but their round eyes still looked at the only two Tanghulu strings left from time to time.

Idiot...

You idiot...

I felt like I was stabbed in the heart.

No wonder the old man's bamboo basket was empty, it turned out that he was not the first customer, but the only one who was ripped off.

"I said, you ran so fast, I thought you were going back to eat!" Tang Yichao gritted his teeth and gritted his teeth.

From the children, I learned that the hawthorns were all grown by plant-based psychics in the laboratory. They tasted ordinary, bitter and sour, and the price was not low, so no one was willing to buy them in the redemption mall. When they were about to expire, some unscrupulous merchants would buy them at a low price and make them into other products for sale.

The old man was one of them.

Tang Yichao walked on the street, swearing, kicking the snow on the ground, staring at the last two candied haws fiercely. After several minutes, he calmed down, endured the sourness and bitterness, pinched his nose, chewed the candied haws and swallowed them.

"Here's a candy for you, slowly."

Although Long Yilan didn't know why Tang Yichao's expression could be so exaggerated when he was eating something, he still took out a hard candy from the space button.

Tang Yichao said "lifesaver", and the sweet taste of fruit candy diluted the indescribable aftertaste in his mouth. He muttered: "I don't know where the boss and Brother Yunqi are. They disappeared so early in the morning." "They went

to Song Shinan's place."

"You know?"

"I asked about it when I was exercising in the morning."

Well, in this team, he and Xu Huili are the only two who get up at noon.

However, it's strange.

I don't know what Xu Huili is busy with recently. He gets up earlier than the chicken and goes to bed later than the dog.

It seems that he follows Brother Xie and Sister Huan every day.

The people he was talking about were all visiting Song Shinan's home.

Here, he met an acquaintance.

A Jing came out of the kitchen with a kettle in her hand.

On the soft sofa, besides Song Shinan, there was a woman in red.

She looked young, but her pretty face was a little sad, her eyes were dark and bloodshot, as if she hadn't slept well for a long time.

"This is Dr. Jie's aunt Jie Lanhui." Song Shinan briefly introduced her while pouring tea.

Xie Lanhui seemed to be preoccupied, looking towards the second floor frequently, and said absentmindedly: "Just call me Sister Hui."

"Anan, I'll go up to see Xiaoyu." After saying that, she frowned, not caring whether she was neglecting the guests or not, and walked hurriedly towards the second floor without even taking a sip of tea.

Gu Bingchen raised his eyebrows slightly. This woman who acted in a hurry was just like the second Miss Xie in the legend.

"Is there anything you want to talk to us about?"

After drinking two pots of tea, Song Shinan didn't say a few useful words. Xu Huili was still young, and he couldn't sit still. After a while, he frowned and was a little impatient.

He drank too much tea and wanted to go to the restroom, but he was too embarrassed to ask. Jiang Yunqi saw his embarrassment, stood up and asked, "Where is the restroom?"

Song Shinan turned sideways and pointed to the other side of the corridor: "Turn right, go straight in, it's at the end."

"I want to wash my hands, do you want to come with me?" Jiang Yunqi looked at Xu Huili, whose face was red from holding back.

The tips of the handsome boy's ears were also covered with a thin layer of pink, and it was hard to tell whether it was because of embarrassment or holding back.

He raised his chin and pretended to be disdainful: "You are so old, do you still need someone to accompany you to the restroom? Then I... I will accompany you." As soon

as he finished speaking, he rushed out in a puff of smoke and rushed towards the restroom.

Xie Er at the side smiled gently: "Little boy, you are so shy."

"I didn't think it through." Song Shinan also noticed that there were not even the melon seeds snacks on the tea table. He turned around, called over the busy A Jing, and handed over a bag of crystal cores, "A Jing, please go to the store to exchange some things, and you can eat dinner here too."

A Jing just nodded, put on her coat and prepared to go out.

When she changed her shoes at the entrance, her eyes looked up at the second floor. Her overlong bangs slightly covered her eyebrows and eyes, and her eyelashes trembled slightly, making it difficult to see her expression.

"No one is here, tell me, what's the matter?"

Gu Bingchen leaned lazily on the sofa, looking like the host, which made Song Shinan jealous.

"The last matter has been resolved."

When talking about the big things, the two people who disliked each other put aside their seriousness and looked serious and solemn.