Chapter 1778: Unpalatable Hometown Dishes
After clinking glasses with Xiao Peng, Usmanov said, "Considering my contributions and the dangers of Europe, the FSB transferred me back to China and assigned me to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This is also to protect my personal safety. They appointed me to the city of Tornok in Tver Oblast as the head of the local Ministry of Internal Affairs."
Xiao Peng nodded. Tornok is located in the central part of the East European Plain, right between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Although it's small, with only a few tens of thousands of people, it's a strategically important city. For an FSB expatriate to head the city's Ministry of Internal Affairs was definitely a promotion.
Usmanov said: "Of course I thought about it, this is also a good thing, even in a small city I can restore order, so I stayed there."
Xiao Peng interrupted and asked, "Did you do it?"
Usmanov shook his head. "Russia back then was very different from today. Public security was chaotic, and oligarchs were above the law. Let me put it this way: Russia five years ago and Russia today are two completely different countries... I said I loved this land, and my dedicated work there irked some powerful people. And what happened? I was transferred from Torzhok to Tenda, then to Ussuriysk, then to First Uralsk, and finally here."
Xiao Peng thought for a moment and said, "I understand what you said. The situation in our country ten years ago is completely different from the situation now."
Usmanov said: "I have been to so many cities, and each city has its own mayor and its own powerful people. My wife and children follow me everywhere, and the former bandits are now in the State Duma. To be honest, I have had enough and I am tired."
Xiao Peng nodded in understanding.
Usmanov said, "But I'm also grateful for coming here, because it's here that I met Nov. If I hadn't met him, I'm afraid I... I know you find it disdainful to hear me say this. After all, we are doing something very uncivilized and illegal here!"
"I'll take care of the rest." Novov walked in carrying a plate. "Mr. Xiao, my family is from southern Russia. We moved here 53 years ago. I've made a few home-cooked dishes. I hope you'll enjoy them. Usmanov, please go to the kitchen and bring up the rest."
The whole family came here 53 years ago? So they were the prisoners back then?
However, Xiao Peng did not say much about this matter. After the few people sat down, Xiao Peng looked at the food on the table and felt...
Fortunately, I was full!
The food here is too southern Russian: Xiao Peng couldn’t even see any black bread!
It can be seen that the food of Southern Russia is deeply influenced by Daxia, which should be related to the Mongolian invasion. However, when you really see it in front of you, you will find that it is a hybrid with the appearance of Chinese food.
The staple food is a few fried pie-like things, with noodles on the outside and leeks and eggs on the inside. It is similar to the leek boxes in China, but the leeks they use here are different from the leeks in China. They use bear onions, commonly known as wild leeks. The leaves are relatively wide and similar to spinach, and are much spicier than leeks!
Xiao Peng felt a huge shock to his taste buds after taking a bite of this leek dumpling!
The southern Russians are incredibly fond of wild leeks: there's even wild leek sauce on the table. It's a bear onion version of the "leek flower sauce" you'd find in northern China. They even spread a layer of wild leek sauce on their wild leek and egg pies. Xiao Peng only took one sniff and decided to give up on this "delicacy."
Just wild leek sauce? Of course not, there were also pickled wild leeks on the table, and Xiao Peng didn't know what to say about them.
Xiao Peng also said that he couldn't accept the dill borscht. Xiao Peng actually likes drinking borscht very much, but he really can't stand the taste after adding dill!
I also want to mention refried beans, which is cooked lentils pressed into a paste and seasoned with mashed potatoes, salt, and the like. What is this? Mashed potatoes on steroids?
As for the fish that Novuf had just stewed, it was a highlight: it looked very similar to the sweet and sour carp in Daxia, but they did not add sugar or vinegar, but poured a lot of tomato sauce into it.
Although it doesn’t look very good, the taste is...still ok.
Paired with the must-have 'salo' - lard marinated in salt and pepper, that's it for dinner.
Faced with this table of "delicious food," Xiao Peng felt the urge to cook for himself. Fortunately, he had eaten dinner today. Otherwise, Xiao Peng would have been completely ruined by this table of food: the whole house smelled like chives!
"Sorry, Mr. Xiao, it seems that these dishes are not to your taste." said Nouf.
Xiao Peng smiled bitterly and said, "You know I have eaten dinner."
Nouf shook his head and said, "I can tell from the looks of it that you're not a good liar."
"Okay, I admit, I really can't get used to these dishes." Xiao Peng said, "But I have no problem having a couple of drinks with you. Nouw, what did you come to see me about?"
Nouf said, "Mr. Xiao, I can see that you don't like to beat around the bush. I'm not one to beat around the bush either. I know you're a powerful person, the kind we can't afford to offend, but I still hope you can keep what you saw confidential."
Xiao Peng raised his glass, gestured to Novuf twice, then took a sip himself. "Novuf, I can tell you clearly that I didn't intend to get involved in this matter at first. I feel that even though this is wrong, if the vast majority of people in a city support it, it means that your approach is beneficial to the people. And this isn't my home country, after all, so I don't want to meddle in other people's business."
Hearing this, Novov and Usmanov looked at each other, with a look of relaxation in their eyes.
Xiao Peng continued, "I discovered that what I did was wrong! My friends and compatriots were all put on display here and turned into commodities. I saw this with my own eyes. What if I hadn't? People are like this. Only when you experience it firsthand can you understand the pain. So I'm afraid I really can't just stand by and watch this happen."
After hearing what Xiao Peng said, Noufu was silent for a while, then suddenly looked up and said, "Mr. Xiao, how about we make a deal?"
"What deal?" Xiao Peng was still disdainful when he heard this, thinking that Novak was trying to bribe him.
Then, Novuf suddenly said, "I will take responsibility for this matter with my life. I will ensure that no Daxia people will appear in this bride market in the future. But this bride market cannot be stopped."
Usmanov wanted to speak, but Novov waved his hand and said, "Don't try to persuade me. If you do something wrong, you must take responsibility. But you must carry on my legacy and keep going!"
Now Xiao Peng was completely confused.
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