Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 60

"I never expected you could cook, Sister Yang. I always thought that rich people like you wouldn't cook for yourselves and would hire maids instead."

These past few days, Ye Yixin has been impressed by Yang Xueli's cooking skills. This Sister Yang is not only super rich, but she can also cook, do laundry, and is incredibly knowledgeable, knowing a lot of things.

She's so different from those rich heiresses!

“You have to rely on yourself for everything. Money isn’t everything. You can’t learn skills like those of the Hu brothers no matter how much money you have.” Yang Xueli said as she took a bag out of her luggage.

At this point, everyone gathered around the fire, as it was warmer there.

After all, it was getting dark, the temperature had dropped, and it was a bit cold.

"Miss Yang, what is this?"

Seeing Yang Xueli tear open the bag and take out small black things to put into the pot, An Liman moved closer and stared curiously at the things that swelled up as they fell into the boiling water. They stretched out and looked a lot like vegetables.

He was so surprised.

Before Yang Shirley could speak, the fat man interjected, "Americans make all sorts of weird things, old man, you didn't know that, did you?"

“…I don’t know.” Anliman shook his head.

The fat man gave him a disdainful look and said, "Give me a bag of your hidden stash of horse mare's liquor, and I'll tell you what it is so you can broaden your horizons."

Everyone looked at the fat man, then at Anliman, and couldn't help but smile.

"Fatty, tell me what this is!"

Hu Bayi noticed that Fatty was always eyeing Anliman's horse-shaped liquor and felt he was taking advantage of the old man, so he confronted him, saying, "Who doesn't know Fatty's tricks?"
"Hey Lao Hu, you're behind the times. These are dried vegetables. Back in our day in the countryside, the old Party Secretary used to put vegetables out in the sun to dry." The fat man glanced into the pot and thought, "Hmm, they really do smell delicious."

"Is mine right, Miss Yang?" he asked, looking at Yang Xueli again, his tone seemingly somewhat unsure.

I have a feeling that there's a significant difference between these and the dried vegetables. Don't embarrass Fatty!
He has no talent, but he likes to pretend! This fat guy is hilarious.

Yang Xueli gently stirred the vegetable soup in the pot with a spoon, put down the spoon, and looked at the fat man with a hint of amusement in her beautiful eyes. "Fatty, I'm not trying to be mean, but you're actually right, this is vegetables."

Fat guy?
The fat man was stunned. Why did his nickname sound so awkward coming from Shirley Yang's mouth?
"but…"

Yang Xueli pondered for a moment and decided that she should add some ingredients to the fat man's food.

"This is a dehydrated vegetable, not the kind you're talking about that's sun-dried. Sun-drying vegetables will cause them to lose their original color, and strong sunlight will also cause them to lose their nutrients."

The fat man realized he had misunderstood. "Then Miss Yang, could you tell me what method you used? I'd like to broaden my horizons."

"This is a high-tech method that removes water from vegetables while preserving their color and nutrients, making it perfect for fieldwork!" Shirley Yang said, then saw Anliman leaning over, his head practically hanging over the pot.

She was somewhat speechless. It wasn't like she was looking at anything special; did it have to be like this?
"Is this expensive, Miss Yang?" An Liman stepped back a little. The aroma of the vegetables wafting from the pot was too tempting. He swallowed hard, thinking he would drink more later and taste it.

Looking at Anliman's expression, Yang Xueli seemed to want to buy some to take into the desert later. After all, meat and water are readily available in the desert, but these kinds of fresh, unprocessed vegetables are hard to come by.

I had never seen Anliman before; this was the first time I had met him.

He thought it was good; this vegetable suited him perfectly.

Yang Xueli paused for a moment and said, "Uncle Anliman, this was invented by NASA so that astronauts could eat vegetables to supplement their vitamins in space, so the price is a bit higher."

Yang Xueli spoke very subtly, leaving An Liman completely confused. "I asked you if it's expensive, and you're giving me all this rambling?"
He scratched his head helplessly, looking at Shirley Yang with a hint of complaint, "Talking to you is such a hassle. If you don't want to talk, then don't."

Me~
Yang Xueli was both amused and exasperated. She glanced apologetically at An Liman, realizing that all her explanations had been for nothing; the uncle simply didn't understand.

"Miss Yang always speaks in circles, Anliman, you old man, you probably can't understand her either. Let me explain." The fat man chuckled a few times, and Anliman nodded at him. He continued, "Miss Yang means that this vegetable hasn't been invented in our country yet, and it's not popular here either, so it's almost impossible to buy. We have to buy it from the United States."

"Just tell me if it's expensive or not!" Anliman was finally exasperated. He only had one question to ask today, so why were these two kids beating around the bush? He had already lost his patience, so he walked over and sat down, munching on a flatbread.

Seeing that Anliman was somewhat disappointed, Yang Xueli had no choice but to speak frankly: "Uncle Anliman, this kind of vegetable sells for more than thirty US dollars a bag in the United States, which is equivalent to more than one hundred and eighty yuan. With shipping costs, it would cost more than a thousand yuan."

So expensive? Anliman was shocked, looking at Shirley Yang with some skepticism. Was this girl just spouting nonsense? Was she afraid I, an old man, would ask her for some vegetables?
"Over a thousand RMB?" The fat man ate his flatbread, glanced at Yang Xueli indifferently, and then said smugly to Hu Bayi beside him, "Old Hu, how rich is our country? We even use these vegetables to feed pigs. Do you think Americans are envious?"

After thinking for a moment, he added insult to injury: "What would American astronauts think if they knew they were eating these expensive vegetables, which are the kind pigs eat in our country?"

This little fatso is really something.
Upon hearing the fat man's words, Professor Chen was speechless and didn't know how to interject.

So, how are you supposed to communicate with someone who's completely uncultured?
He shook his head helplessly, looked down at the desert map, which was marked with some circles. It seemed that he was worried about the route Anliman was leading and wanted to be prepared so that he wouldn't be left with nowhere to go.

Yang Xueli frowned slightly, seemingly displeased with the fat man's words. After all, in her heart, astronauts were great, exploring space for humanity and embarking on great human journeys, and were worthy of respect.

But their values ​​are different; what do the fat man think about American astronauts?
Hu Ming couldn't stand it anymore and said, "Alright, Fatty, stop bragging. If you don't know anything, don't say anything more. Eat something and get some rest. We have to travel tomorrow!"

Hu Ming had just heard Yang Xueli's words and felt that she had indeed exaggerated a bit. However, dehydrated vegetables were not as common as they would be in the future, so they were not something that ordinary people could afford.

"Okay, okay, let's not talk about this anymore!"

(End of this chapter)