Lu Qingyang ate another egg tart leisurely: "When in Rome, do as the Romans do. It's good to try something new. Hong Kong's hot pot emphasizes the freshness of the soup base and ingredients. It's different from our northern hot pot."
In the evening, the two of them followed Secretary Lu's notice and came to a Hong Kong-style hot pot restaurant near the hotel.
The store is not big, but it is bustling with noise and bustling with life.
There were gas stoves embedded between the round tables, with casseroles or metal pots on top, steaming.
Secretary Lu and several colleagues from the group had already arrived and were sitting around the table chatting and laughing.
Captain Li sat in the main seat with a peaceful smile on his face.
Seeing Lu Qingyang and Zhou Fang coming in, Secretary Lu waved: "Comrade Lu, Comrade Zhou, this way! Come quickly!"
"Hello, Captain Li! Hello, Secretary Lu! Hello, everyone!" Zhou Fang hurriedly greeted them. Lu Qingyang also smiled and nodded in greeting, and sat down in the seat arranged by Secretary Lu.
The location is good, diagonally opposite to Captain Li.
The pot was already cooked, with a milky white pork bone soup, bubbling and emitting a rich bone aroma, with a few red dates and a few pieces of corn floating in it.
The table was filled with a wide variety of ingredients: thinly sliced, beautifully textured marbled beef, fresh and springy hand-beaten beef balls and fish balls.
Prawns, fresh squid, crispy and tender watercress, lettuce, fried dough sticks, tofu puffs...
And plates of various condiments: satay sauce, garlic chili sauce, seafood soy sauce, chopped green onions, coriander, and fried garlic.
Zhou Fang was a little dumbfounded when he saw this scene. "Wow! This... this is really different from our hot pot! The soup looks watery, how can it be delicious? Why is the meat so thin? And these fried dough sticks... hot pot?"
A colleague who had been here several times explained with a smile: "Comrade Zhou, this 'hot pot' requires the original flavor of the soup base and fresh ingredients. The beef slices are thin and cooked immediately after boiling. They are tender and smooth when eaten. The fried dough sticks absorb the soup and taste great! Try the soup first."
As he spoke, he served Zhou Fang a small bowl of milky white bone soup.
Zhou Fang took a sip with some doubt, and his eyes suddenly lit up: "Hey! Fresh! Really fresh! It looks light, but it tastes quite good!"
He was instantly interested.
Secretary Lu was busy: "Come on, come on, don't be polite, order whatever you want to eat. Captain, try this beef, it's very fresh."
Captain Li smiled and nodded, picked up a piece of beef as thin as a cicada's wing, and gently dipped it in the boiling bone soup. It changed color in a few seconds, and then he skillfully dipped it in the satay sauce he had prepared, put it in his mouth, chewed slowly, and showed a satisfied look on his face: "Well, the meat is tender and the soup is mellow, not bad."
Everyone started eating.
Zhou Fang is like a curious baby and wants to try everything.
He followed others and put the bean curd rolls into the soup, watching them absorb the soup and become soft and sticky in an instant. Then he couldn't wait to pick it up and take a bite. He gasped because it was so hot, but he didn't forget to praise: "This is good! It absorbs the flavor!"
He picked up another fish ball, but used too much force and the fish ball slipped from between the chopsticks and fell into the soup with a plop, splashing a small piece of soup, a few drops of which just happened to splash onto the sleeve of a colleague next to him.
"Ouch! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Zhou Fang apologized frantically, his face turning red with embarrassment.
"Hahaha!" Everyone laughed good-naturedly.
The colleague who was splashed waved his hands nonchalantly: "It's okay, Comrade Zhou, this shows that the fish balls are fresh."
This little episode actually made the atmosphere more relaxed and harmonious.
Captain Li took the initiative to pick up a cooked fish ball with a serving chopstick and put it in Zhou Fang's bowl, saying gently: "Comrade Xiao Zhou, don't be anxious, eat slowly, try this fish ball, it's very elastic."
Secretary Lu raised his glass filled with local beer at the right time, smiling: "Come on, comrades! Tomorrow we will finish our investigation and go back. Today we will use the pot of Gangcheng to drink soup instead of wine. Thank you for your guidance along the way. I also wish you all good work after you go back, and use the harvest of this investigation well! Cheers!"
"Cheers!" Everyone raised their glasses, and the collision of glasses and porcelain bowls made crisp sounds.
After eating, Captain Li saw that most people had left, so he sat next to Lu Qingyang.
"Comrade Xiao Lu, today's trip to Hong Kong City is an eye-opener, right?"
Lu Qingyang nodded: "Yes, Captain, I did see a lot of different things and was deeply touched."
"Well, after you go back, what do you think? I see that you are so good at English, and you are very eloquent and courageous. You are not at all stage-frightened in such occasions. It's a pity for such a talented person to stay in the same place as before."
He vaguely knew that he was a "relative", but he didn't expect that the so-called "relative" would have such strong abilities.
"Comrade Xiao Lu, what do you think after you go back?"
He paused, then extended an olive branch:
"How about it? Would you like to consider following me to Suicheng? The Statistics Department is short of people, especially young comrades like you who can take on some responsibilities. This is a good opportunity to train yourself. The platform is bigger and you can be exposed to more things."
"Captain, thank you for your kindness, but I have other tasks now. If I have the chance in the future, I will definitely come to you. I hope you won't despise me then."
This was politely rejected, but it also made me feel comfortable.
Captain Li increasingly felt that he was a rare talent.
"Then I'll wait for you to come find me."
"Of course, of course."
After returning home, Zhou Fang fell asleep immediately.
When they woke up the next day, Lu Qingyang and the several bags of clothes they bought were nowhere to be seen.
Lu Qingyang came in carrying a few bags and drink cups.
"Are you awake? Good, I just bought breakfast, eat it while it's hot."
"Qingyang, clothes, where are the clothes we bought?" Zhou Fang didn't care about breakfast and pointed at the empty corner and asked anxiously.
"Oh," Lu Qingyang said without looking up as he untied the paper bag, "I've found it and mailed it back. Don't worry."
He made up an excuse casually, and Zhou Fang couldn't see any flaws in it.
"You're pretty fast."
"Stop mumbling and come and try our delicious Hong Kong-style breakfast." Lu Qingyang asked him to sit down and took out the things in the bag one by one.
The aroma of the food immediately dispelled Zhou Fang's doubts.
Rice rolls, fish porridge, pineapple buns, Hong Kong-style milk tea and coffee.
"Wow! This breakfast is quite sumptuous!" Zhou Fang's eyes lit up, his attention completely attracted by the delicious food.
"What is this thin skin wrapped with meat? It looks like our rice noodle skin, but it's a little different."
"This is rice noodle roll." Lu Qingyang picked up the chopsticks and picked up a piece of beef rice noodle roll. "Try it, the taste is very special."
"Mmm! Delicious! So smooth and tasty! The porridge is fragrant too!"
He immediately scooped up another large portion of fish fillet porridge. It was so hot that he gasped but couldn't bear to spit it out. "Delicious! Really delicious!"
"Actually, there are some in Suicheng as well, but we have never had the chance to try them."
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