Lu Qiang took Su Yan to a guesthouse near the military compound, paid for three days' accommodation, and after arranging everything, he said, "Commander Lu said he would come to see you later. You can rest in your room first. If you need anything, just talk to the staff downstairs."
Su Yan nodded, took out some money from her pocket and said, "Here's eight yuan for three days' room fee, plus a two yuan deposit. Please keep it safe, thank you."
“How can I accept your money?” Lu Qiang refused. “I’ll ask Commander Jiang for reimbursement later. You can give him your money then.”
Jiang Jingxing definitely wouldn't accept it. If Su Yan could guess that, how could Lu Qiang not?
She said helplessly, "Alright then, thank you, Comrade Lu."
"Don't mention it, you should rest now, I'll head back first."
After Lu Qiang left, Su Yan closed the door and immediately went to take a shower.
After taking a shower, she felt like she had lost more than ten pounds.
After resting for a while, she changed her clothes and went out to buy dinner.
Steamed buns won't satisfy her hunger; she's starving right now.
When she got to the first floor, she went to the front desk and asked, "Excuse me, sir, where can I buy something to eat at this hour?"
Upon hearing this, the receptionist pointed to the door and said, "Go out and turn left, walk about 100 meters, but you should be careful at night, especially since you're a young woman."
"Okay, thank you."
Su Yan followed the direction of the staff and sure enough, she saw people selling late-night snacks at a stall not far away.
There were quite a few guests, and a small portion of them were wearing green uniforms, which Su Yan guessed meant they came from the military compound.
She turned around.
There were stalls selling noodles and stir-fries, and another stall selling barbecue.
barbecue!
Su Yan's eyes lit up instantly. Since arriving here, she hadn't eaten barbecue even once.
Because there are currently no barbecue stalls in Anping Town, she doesn't have the opportunity to eat barbecue even if she wants to, and making it herself is too much trouble, so she has never had the time.
Now that she sees it, her appetite has been whetted.
"What would you like to eat, young lady?" The owner enthusiastically recommended, "My grilled chives and eggs are the best, would you like some?"
Su Yan glanced at the dishes; there weren't many, only about ten items.
"Why isn't there any garlic-roasted eggplant?" she said regretfully.
"Garlic roasted eggplant? I do have eggplant and garlic here, and I'm planning to buy some to eat tomorrow, but can this thing even be roasted?" the shopkeeper questioned.
Even if it's baked perfectly, won't it taste strange?
"Then watch me make it. How much will you charge for the garlic-roasted eggplant?" Su Yan asked, looking eager to try.
The boss waved his hand generously upon hearing this, saying, "If it tastes good, I won't charge you. If it doesn't, you can give me 50 cents."
"make a deal!"
The customers at the barbecue stall became interested; it was the first time they had ever seen a customer grilling something himself, especially eggplant.
The boss chopped the garlic and chili peppers and went to grill other things, but his eyes never left Su Yan's hands.
Su Yan cut the eggplant open from the middle, stretched it into a rectangle, brushed it with oil, and put it on the oven to roast.
While she was grilling eggplants, she heated oil in a wok next to her. Once the oil was sizzling hot, she added minced garlic and chopped chili peppers and stir-fried them until fragrant. She then added soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and honey to season the dish. After the aroma was released, the entire food street was filled with the fragrance of garlic and chili peppers.
After stir-frying, Su Yan picked up a shovelful of minced garlic and poured it onto the eggplant, then continued to roast it for three minutes, quickly producing an enticing aroma.
"It's ready, boss, would you like to try some?" Su Yan invited.
The boss had been craving it for ages, and upon hearing this, he couldn't wait to put down his chopsticks. He stuffed it into his mouth without caring that it was hot, and he kept panting as it burned.
The fresh, spicy, and savory flavors exploded in my mouth, making the owner's eyes widen. He immediately gave a thumbs up, exclaiming, "Delicious! So delicious! Absolutely delicious!"
Upon seeing this, the customers at the stall immediately stood up and rushed forward, "Boss, how much are these eggplants? Buy me a portion to try, I want to see if they're really that delicious!"
"I want one too!"
"Two servings, please!"
The boss was dumbfounded and looked at Su Yan helplessly.
Su Yan shrugged. "I grilled all four eggplants. Except for one that's mine, you can do whatever you want with the others."
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper quickly asked, "Young lady, what price do you think is best for these eggplants? I'd like to pay four cents for four of them."
"Let's sell it for one yuan with the materials," Su Yan said casually.
"Alright then." The owner coughed lightly and said, "What would you like to eat? Take whatever you like, no need to pay. Consider it a thank you for teaching me how to make roasted eggplant, okay?"
"Sure, I'll bake it myself. You can go and do your other business."
The boss didn't say anything more. He was overwhelmed by the crowd of customers who were all there to grab the grilled eggplants.
Su Yan picked out chives, eggs, chicken feet, corn, baby bok choy, and three skewers of beef.
The owner's restaurant mainly serves vegetarian dishes, and the only meat options are pork, lamb, beef, and chicken legs.
The chicken legs were too hard to cook through, so she didn't want them.
She was grilling the eggplants leisurely on the side, while the owner, just two steps away, was in a panic, adjusting the distribution of the three portions of grilled eggplants.
"Brother Yu, that girl is quite interesting."
Sitting at one of the tables at the noodle soup stall, four men in green uniforms took in the scene at the barbecue stall.
The speaker was a young man in his early twenties, with a roguish smile on his fair face. His gaze remained fixed on Su Yan, his eyes filled with interest.
The man called Brother Yu sat to his right. He had a cold and hard demeanor. He was about 1.85 meters tall, and sitting on a low stool made his figure appear even taller and more imposing. His skin was a healthy black, and his features were handsome yet sharp. His black eyes were filled with coldness, to the extreme. Unfortunately, there was a hideous scar where his left eyebrow met his eye, which added a touch of ferocity to his face. Coupled with his cold face, he was the kind of person who would frighten children to tears and make girls run away.
That's the truth. Yu Ge isn't popular with girls. He's too cold, like an iceberg.
After a few seconds of silence, Brother Yu gave a faint "hmm".
"Should I go and chat her up? Look how graceful she is, even when she's grilling barbecue. We don't think we've ever seen her in the compound before," another new recruit said with a lovesick expression.
The fair-skinned man laughed upon hearing this, "Look at you, acting like you haven't seen a girl in eight hundred years."
The greenhorn chuckled, "I've seen her before, but none of the girls in the performing arts troupe are as pretty as her. Shall I take a look?"
As he spoke, he tentatively got up.
Brother Yu banged on the table and coldly reprimanded, "Mind your manners, don't act like thugs, sit down!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than the fair-skinned man, who was looking in Su Yan's direction, suddenly grabbed the man excitedly: "Brother Yu, look, that person just passed by!"
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