I'm incredibly ambitious after being reborn.

Chapter 44 Strangely Good

Finally, after Wang Yulu emphasized that she was a relative, Li Jiaqing was relieved. But once they entered the elevator, she said again, "Lulu, I wrote down the license plate number, you know~"

"..."

Wang Yulu rolled her eyes slightly, sighed helplessly, and stopped talking to Li Jiaqing about the topic.

That's right, Zhang Daxiang is a relative of theirs, their cousin's husband.

No problem.

Zhang Daxiang and Sang Yuke, who left, did not go straight back to Jiyang. Instead, they went to visit some restaurants and teahouses. Some of the old streets were quite nice, with wooden doorways and glass display cases in front shops and back courtyards. Stove was placed facing the street with a large aluminum pot on top, in which tea eggs and dried orchids were soaked in soy sauce.

It smells delicious.

Some hardworking local grandmothers would even hawk "toothpaste water," which Zhang Daxiang didn't like to drink, but Sang Yuke really loved this thing called "mung bean soup."

Zhang Daxiang brought a bottle of mineral water and then strolled around with Sang Yuke.

Large gardens aren't really that interesting. It's not that they're unattractive, but when there are too many people, they're not as appealing as parks.

If you get up early and come in when there aren't many people, spending ten or twenty yuan is definitely worth it. The feeling of birdsong and fragrant flowers is genuine, and there are surprises everywhere. Anyone with a little money in their pocket is thinking about having one of these in the future.

It makes you feel classy and comfortable.

The only downside is...it's expensive.

The most affordable Chinese aesthetics are those from the eight major cuisines that are relatively close to the lives of ordinary people.

Sometimes Zhang Daxiang is quite puzzled. How did the ancestors of Chinese aesthetics come up with these ideas?

"Wow, this is beautiful! The grapevines look like waves..."

Occasionally, you might find some ingenious families living in the alley, but Zhang Daxiang dared to guess that none of them had a private bathroom.

Construction in this area required numerous signatures and seals from various government departments, followed by thorough inspections and checks. It was a process of mutual harm between ordinary citizens and government officials.

"If you think it looks good, you can create a front yard and back yard for your new house, or you can fill in that reed bed and turn it into a garden."

"Then forget it. It's fine to plant a few flowers and plants casually, but to go through so much trouble just to plant flowers and plants, I might as well plant a couple more rounds of green beans and eggplants."

"Then I ate 'Di San Xian' (a dish of potatoes, eggplant, and green peppers) every day."

"Haha. My mom told me that when she was a child, back in her hometown of Wuhui County, she ate green beans and eggplants with her grandma and aunt for half a year straight. She was really tired of it. As far back as I can remember, I've never seen my mom eat green beans, though she does occasionally eat eggplant with minced garlic."

"Wuhui County? Isn't that Anbian County?"

“Our family lives in Anbian County, Hedong Road. If you take the Feihu Road provincial highway south, you'll see Feihu County on the banks of the Lai River. From there, continue east to Wuhui Mountain, which is Hebei North Road. It takes about ten or twenty minutes to reach the county seat of Wuhui County. However, my maternal grandparents didn't live in the county seat; they lived in Sanjiagou, in the mountains to the west. But even though it's called Sanjiagou, everyone there is surnamed Li. I heard that there used to be people surnamed Ding and Hu, but they all fled there, I think, because of war or refugees.”

"So, is Mom still going to marry someone from far away?"

"Huh? What kind of marriage is this? It's just across Wuhui Mountain, only an hour or so by car."

"Given the prevailing attitude in Jiangnan East Circuit, crossing a county is no different from crossing the ends of the earth, let alone the fact that you've already traveled from Hebei North Circuit to Hedong Circuit."

"Haha, I found out when I was chatting with my aunt and sister-in-law that they are basically all from Jiyang City. They can't be that far away. It's about the same as my trip to the Sang family's old house."

Zhang Daxiang laughed and said, "The fish and rice in this land of fish and rice may not be the best, but there's always plenty. Who wouldn't want to move here? So, while some locals do business and venture out to make their way in the world, very few actually do; most stay put and work locally."

This is still the difference between "itinerant merchants" and "stationary merchants." People from all over who stay here for too long will lack a spirit of adventure.

The reason why Old Master Zhang Zhixu was able to accumulate so many "incense offerings" was essentially because he was an outlier, and one of the few who didn't go out to make a living because he was so poor that he had nothing.

The relative decline of the "Zheng" generation is mainly due to their fearlessness of starvation.

The two chatted casually, just wandering around and talking. Normally, there's no need to wander around outside in the middle of summer, but after yesterday's high temperature of over 30 degrees Celsius, there was a downpour today, followed by showers.

So while shopping, Zhang Daxiang also bought a traditional red umbrella.

Bamboo that was meant for walking sticks has become umbrella handles and ribs, and the price won't be low.

However, Zhang Daxiang quickly became even more handsome in Sang Yuke's eyes because the way he took out money was really stylish!
Unlike the handicrafts sold in tourist areas, this could perhaps be considered an "intangible cultural heritage" crafted by an old bamboo craftsman. It's a bit pricey, but not much more—just eighty yuan. If this were on Earth before its rebirth, the livestreamer would be blindfolded and just talking about fate…

During the start of the school season, some of the old canals along the inner canal will host events, such as lanterns and flower boats, and there will also be rare nighttime teahouse performances, which can be quite pleasant for passing the time.

They chose a noodle shop with long chopsticks hanging on the wall. Sang Yuke ordered braised pork noodles, while Zhang Daxiang ordered a bowl of fried fish noodles and six servings of xiaolongbao (soup dumplings).

The proprietress at the counter, suspecting she hadn't heard clearly, stood up and asked, "Six customers? One customer is nine small steamed buns."

"I have a big appetite."

Zhang Daxiang stated very seriously that it was his own idea to eat it, and that it had nothing to do with his wife's steamed buns.

As for why my wife blushed, it's because she's shy.

Therefore, xiaolongbao must be eaten cooked.

What does "one customer" mean?

"One serving is the amount that one person can eat, which is generally nine small steamed buns... small steamed dumplings. Six servings is fifty-four."

"I'll sit inside in a bit."

"Don't worry, Sister Yu, I'm tall enough to cover you."

Even with the elephant in the picture as a cover, the local diners were still curious to see if the big guy could really eat fifty-four xiaolongbao.

Soon, those who were peeking out of the corner of their eye noticed that this big guy was eating fried fish noodles the whole time.

What's so special about this fried fish noodle soup?

Hurry up and eat your steamed buns!

Then the big guy disappointed them again, because the first person to pick up the steamed bun was actually the woman sitting opposite him.

Sang Yuke, as usual, gave the xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) a vinegar bath. Her skill in pouring vinegar into them was comparable to torture, leaving the local residents dumbfounded.

However, this is nothing more than a drop in the ocean.

When Sang Yuke ate the first serving of xiaolongbao, they didn't think anything of it; when she ate the second serving, they were slightly surprised; when she ate the third serving, they were suddenly startled; when she ate the fourth serving, they vaguely felt that something was wrong...

"The fifth customer! The fifth customer, please!"

"Oh my god, what's wrong with the sixth customer? What's she doing? Eating big meat noodles again?!"

The counter owner, who was holding a ballpoint pen, perked up at this moment and laughed, "Just eat, just eat, I'll give you a free meal! Oh my... you really ate six servings of steamed buns, impressive."

The proprietress gave Sang Yuke a thumbs-up repeatedly, and finally refunded Zhang Daxiang's bill, saying that she would charge him next time he came.

After they finished eating and drinking, the two figures disappeared at the alley entrance. Only then did someone in the noodle shop exclaim, "Fifty-four! My goodness!"

After finishing her meal and taking a walk outside to digest, Sang Yuke suddenly asked, "Shopkeeper, why did you choose this shop? The proprietress is quite nice."

"Didn't you see the really long chopsticks hanging on the wall in her shop?"

"What's that for?"

"It's something you only use when making noodles or fried dough sticks. Now that it's hanging on the wall, it must have been used for at least 50,000 bowls of noodles, if not 100,000. For a neighborhood business to have that many bowls, I don't know if it's delicious or not, but it's definitely honest and reliable."

"It was still quite delicious."

"Of course! How could something that's free not taste good? If it doesn't, I'll blame myself for being so cheap."

"Haha."

Sang Yuke immediately burst into laughter, grabbed Zhang Daxiang's arm, and was in an exceptionally good mood.

(End of this chapter)