I really didn't intend to make a living based on my looks.

Jiang Chen glanced at the menu, which was handwritten with crooked handwriting, but the prices weren't expensive: lamb skewers for 50 cents, chicken wings for 1 yuan, beef tendon for 30 cents, and grilled mantou slices for 20 cents.

Next to it, a line was added in ballpoint pen: "Newly arrived grilled oysters, two yuan each."

The proprietress brought over a pot of tea, a plastic pot, filled with complimentary jasmine tea, which was still steaming when poured out.

"Have you ordered yet?"

Li Xue didn't even look up: "Thirty skewers of mutton, twenty skewers of pork with garlic cloves, ten skewers of chicken wings, ten skewers of beef tendon, five grilled buns, a serving of grilled chives, and two more skewers of grilled chicken gizzards..."

She looked up at Jiang Chen: "Do you eat spicy food?"

"eat."

"Add extra spice," Li Xue said, closing the menu. "And two bottles of Baotu Spring water, iced."

"Okay."

After the proprietress finished writing it down, she glanced at Jiang Chen, smiled, and left.

"Did you order too much?" Jiang Chen asked.

"Not much," Li Xue broke the chopsticks apart, rubbed them together to remove the splinters, and handed them to Jiang Chen. "Don't worry, I can eat it."

"I can tell."

"What do you mean?"

"It's nothing, praising your appetite is a blessing."

Li Xue glanced at him suspiciously but didn't reply.

The skewers came out pretty quickly.

The iron plate was placed on the table, sizzling with oil, and the aroma of cumin and chili powder immediately wafted up.

The lamb skewers are a perfect balance of lean and fatty meat. The fatty meat is grilled until crispy and juicy, and the lean meat is tender and satisfying to chew.

Garlic-clove meat is a specialty of Jinan. A piece of chicken leg meat is sandwiched with a clove of garlic and roasted until the garlic is soft and the meat is cooked. The spiciness of the garlic turns into a soft sweetness, which is absolutely delicious when paired with chicken.

The chicken wings are their signature dish. They're marinated thoroughly with a few cuts, and the skin is roasted until crispy. When you tear them open, the inside is still juicy.

The beef tendon is sliced ​​thinly so it won't get stuck in your teeth, and it's brushed with a layer of sauce that's both sweet and salty.

Li Xue ate a skewer of mutton in her left hand and a skewer of chicken wings in her right, using both hands simultaneously. Her eating style was unrestrained, but surprisingly not annoying.

With its cheeks bulging like a hamster, it chewed and mumbled, "Try this garlic clove meat, it's really delicious."

Jiang Chen took a skewer, took a bite, and found it to be quite good.

"How was it?" Li Xue looked at him with bright eyes.

"good."

"Not bad? You call this not bad? Where did you used to eat barbecue?"

"At the entrance of the construction site."

Li Xue was stunned: "Construction site?"

"Yeah, I'm a construction worker. I eat right outside the door after get off work."

Li Xue looked him up and down. He had fair skin and long, slender fingers. These hands were used for carrying bricks.

fraud.

You're lying.

"Fine, don't believe me then."

"So what are you doing now?"

"Unemployed".

"Unemployed?"

"Yeah, I just got fired from my last company."

"Why were you fired?"

"My boss said I'm too handsome and that it affects my female colleagues' work efficiency."

Li Xue burst out laughing: "How can you be so shameless?"

"Is telling the truth considered shameless?"

Li Xue smiled and shook her head, then picked up another skewer of chicken wings: "So what are you going to do next?"

"Find a factory job."

"What factory?"

"Electronics factory, meals and accommodation provided."

Li Xue, munching on a chicken wing, rolled her eyes and said, "If someone like you went to an electronics factory, wouldn't the girls on the assembly line start fighting?"

"So I'm unemployed."

Li Xue smiled again, her eyes crinkling into crescents.

"And you?" Jiang Chen asked, "Are you really a dance teacher?"

Li Xue paused for a moment, then puffed out her chest: "Of course, would I lie to you?"

"I think you're still a student, studying dance, right?"

Li Xue's little secret was exposed, and the tips of her ears turned slightly red, but she glared at him with her neck stiff and her cheeks still bulging with uneaten meat.

"I teach folk dance to children at an arts school, and I'm properly licensed and certified!"

Jiang Chen, still chewing on his kebab, didn't expose her.

"Oh, it's Teacher Li. My apologies for not recognizing you sooner. I'll have to trouble you to give me some pointers later. My arms and legs are as stiff as steel, and I'm really in need of a private tutor."

Li Xue's eyes crinkled with amusement at his words. She picked up the ice-cold Baotu Spring water from the table and poured half a cup into his empty glass. "I can teach you, but the price won't be low. A barbecue won't be enough to satisfy you."

"That's easy," Jiang Chen said, raising his glass to clink it lightly against hers. "From now on, come to Old Fatty's every day. You can have as much lamb skewers and garlic cloves as you want. Consider it tuition."

Li Xue took a sip of ice-cold beer, the coolness of the alcohol quenching the summer night's heat.

"By the way, the song you sang on stage today was really good. Did you learn it before?"

"Exceptionally gifted, self-taught."

Li Xue rolled her eyes at him, but couldn't help but smile: "You're so vain! But seriously, it's a shame you don't use your voice to sing. You're much better than those pretentious singers on stage."

Jiang Chen picked up a skewer of grilled chives and handed it to her: "Whether it's popular or not doesn't matter, just eat the skewer in front of you first. Teacher Li's voice must be strained from teaching, so she should eat more."

Li Xue took the chives, glanced at Jiang Chen, and suddenly smiled slyly: "Alright, then I won't be polite. By the way, I've written down your QQ number. Remember to accept it later. I'll water your farm every day, don't you dare steal mine!"

"Don't worry," Jiang Chen nodded with a smile, "I'll only steal Fu Longfei's, I'll never touch yours."

Li Xue laughed out loud at his joke. The aroma of barbecue mingled with the smoke in the alley, and the evening breeze carried their laughter into the distance.

The guy at the next table was already quite drunk, and he was singing "In the Spring" with his arm around his friend's shoulder, and he was yelling the line "If one day, I am old and have no one to rely on."

The road was wider than Jingshi Road, and his wife rolled her eyes at him, wishing she could slap him across the face.

Li Xue had almost finished eating. She leaned back in her chair, patted her stomach, and sighed with satisfaction.

He's alive.

"Do you say that every time you finish eating?"

"Yes," Li Xue nodded seriously, "It's good to be alive, and even better to be able to eat."

She glanced at Jiang Chen and suddenly fell silent for a moment.

"Actually, I love to eat."

"But I study dance, and my mom has been very strict with me since I was little. She told me I couldn't eat this or that. Every time I saw other kids eating snacks, I was so envious."

She looked up, and Chong Jiangchen smiled, his eyes bright.

"So thank you for taking me out for barbecue today."

Jiang Chen looked at her and smiled.

"You're welcome. Feel free to ask me for it next time you want some."

"real?"

"real."

"I'll remember that," Li Xue said, extending her hand. "Pinky promise."

Jiang Chen stared at her hand, momentarily stunned.

"What? You're afraid?"

Jiang Chen reached out his hand and made a pinky promise with her.

It's not that I'm afraid... it's that I feel a little ashamed...

Li Xue's fingers were slender and soft, yet strong. She hooked her little finger around his and shook it, muttering, "Pinky promise, never to change for a hundred years."

She let go of his hand and rushed to pay the bill first.

She turned around and smiled exceptionally brightly.

"Little brother, are you still a student? This meal is on me."

She patted his shoulder, picked up her bag, tossed her ponytail, and walked gracefully towards the alley entrance.

After taking a few steps, he turned back and called out again.

"Don't steal my vegetables!"

He waved and skipped away into the night.