Doomsday Traveler

Chapter 346 Pork Soup and Seasonings

"okay!"

The owner, Lao Hao, immediately agreed, and then asked, "Would you like some flatbread? It would be delicious to dip the flatbread in the pork soup."

Lu Xi'an, bursting with pride, declared, "A perfect match!"

"okay!"

Old Hao agreed again, and soon brought out the flatbread and three bowls of pork soup.

The pork soup is milky white, mostly made of offal with only a tiny bit of meat. Steam rises from the soup, carrying a fragrant aroma that whets the appetite.

Lu Xi'an immediately scooped up a spoonful with the ceramic spoon, put the pork offal and soup into his mouth, and the fresh and slightly spicy taste spread in his mouth.

Pork offal has a complex texture and a unique flavor when chewed.

But now, no matter what flavor it is, it can't compare to the uniquely fragrant spiciness that spreads in your mouth.

It has no fishy smell.

Lu Xi'an's heart skipped a beat: "Is there pepper in this?"

He turned to look at Yao Wei, who had already begun to savor the food with large bites.

The slight spiciness was no problem for Yao Wei at all; on the contrary, it made her taste so delicious that it whetted her appetite. As Yao Wei ate the meat and drank the soup, her eyes lit up.

Hu Xiaodong couldn't bear to drink as much as Yao Wei. He was scooping up a small spoonful of soup and carefully putting it into his mouth to savor it when he suddenly heard Lu Xi'an's question. He subconsciously swallowed quickly and accidentally choked.

"Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough!"

Hu Xiaodong choked and coughed several times, tears welling up in his eyes. He quickly wiped away his tears with his sleeve and replied to Lu Xi'an, "Yes, I heard that if you don't put pepper in the pork soup, it will be a bit fishy and won't taste good."

"That's why Lao Hao's pork soup always has pepper in it. Pepper is very expensive, and most people here can't afford to buy it."

"I never expected that Mr. Lu and Mr. Yao would both have eaten pepper."

Yao Wei had never eaten this before. She was still eating and thinking, "So this is pepper."

However, she did not refute Hu Xiaodong, feeling that there was no point in doing so.

Lu Xi'an didn't dwell on these trivial matters and asked Hu Xiaodong, "Where can I buy pepper? How come you still have pepper that you saved up a long time ago?"

Hu Xiaodong said, "Then Mr. Lu, you can just ask Lao Hao. He has some. But it's not the kind you saved up before. He has pepper seeds, which I heard were picked at sea a long time ago."

"A long time ago, Lao Hao's great-grandfather secretly went overseas and picked this stuff. Because he didn't report it, he gave a lot of pepper seeds to the committee member in charge of reporting at the time to settle the matter."

"So now only the Hao family and the Yuan family on the mountaintop have them on the island—they are not the same family as Yuan Laotie, but they all share the surname Yuan."

"Back in the day, when Lao Hao's great-grandfather was a member of the Yuan family on the mountaintop, he was in charge of reporting to the authorities."

"That's it."

Lu Xi'an understood and immediately called out, "Boss!"

Old Hao jogged out of the house and asked, "What else would you like to eat?"

Just then, Yao Wei finished her bowl, so Lu Xi'an pushed his bowl to her and said to Lao Hao, "Another bowl, please."

Yao Wei naturally didn't stand on ceremony with Lu Xi'an and continued eating.

"okay."

Old Hao agreed and turned to go back inside.

Lu Xi'an called out, "Wait a minute."

Old Hao stopped and turned around.

Lu Xi'an asked, "Do you have pepper? Could you sell me some?"

Old Hao said, "I can sell it, but it's not cheap. To be honest, the pepper powder here is all for making soup, and I don't usually sell it separately."

Lu Xi'an took out a cigarette and asked, "Is this enough?"

Old Hao's eyes widened slightly, but he quickly shook his head with an embarrassed smile.

Lu Xi'an took out another cigarette.

The smirk on Lao Hao's face froze.

Then, as Lu Xi'an pulled out the third one, Lao Hao finally said, "Wait a moment, I'll go get you a can."

However, Lu Xi'an called out to him again: "Wait."

"More...more?! One can isn't enough? How many more do you want?"

Old Hao asked in surprise, unsure how many cigarettes Lu Xi'an still had.

Lu Xi'an never imagined that one day he would be able to indulge in the lavish spending habits of a tycoon by picking up cigarettes.

But since he was going to have a good time, he wanted to indulge himself fully. He continued, "Besides the pepper powder, could you also have some seeds?"

"This one……"

Old Hao was somewhat reluctant and was trying to figure out what to say when he saw Lu Xi'an grab another handful of cigarettes and put them on the table. The cigarettes instantly spread out and covered the table, making it impossible to count how many there were.

Old Hao's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth but couldn't say a word.

Not only him, but Hu Xiaodong also had the same expression. For a moment, he didn't even care about drinking the pork soup. His spoon was hanging in mid-air, and he looked a little dazed.

People nearby noticed the situation and couldn't help but look over. Some who liked to watch the excitement gathered around, whispering among themselves.

Lu Xi'an felt like he was Guo Jing from "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," fresh out of the desert, flaunting his wealth and attracting attention with Huang Rong's choice of dishes. However, while Guo Jing relied on a table full of delicacies that most people would never even hear of, Lu Xi'an used cigarettes, which, when placed on the table, created a significantly less impressive effect.

He noticed that Yao Wei had eaten more than half of her second bowl of pork soup. She stopped, frowned, and seemed to dislike the atmosphere. So she stood up and said, "Shall we talk somewhere else?"

Seeing this, Yao Wei quickly finished the remaining pork soup and the flatbread, which she also dipped in the soup. She then got up with Lu Xi'an.

Both Lao Hao and Hu Xiaodong were in a dilemma.

Old Hao really didn't want to sell the seeds, while Hu Xiaodong felt it was a real waste to leave so much pork soup because he couldn't eat as quickly as Yao Wei.

Lu Xi'an glanced at Hu Xiaodong and said, "You can drink here slowly. We'll go inside and talk to the boss."

After saying that, he said to Lao Hao, "Boss, no matter what, let's go in first. I'll show you our sincerity, okay?"

Old Hao hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded and agreed. Lu Xi'an then picked up the rattan trunk and went into the shop with Yao Wei and Old Hao.

There were two tables in the shop, but no customers were seated there.

However, the three of them did not talk there. Lao Hao led Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei directly through the kitchen to the backyard.

A faint fishy smell wafted from the backyard. Pig offal was soaking in a ceramic basin, and a stove was set up under the pergola with a pot on top, simmering pork bone soup.

Lu Xi'an guessed that their pork soup was this pork bone soup, with pork, offal, and seasonings added.

He didn't care about the other seasonings; he just wanted some pepper powder and peppercorns.

Old Hao stood in the courtyard and said, "Gentlemen, the pepper I have here is all from the past. There are some pepper seeds, but not many."

“If I sell it to you, I'll have less for myself. After I run out of pepper, I'll have to take time to plant more pepper. I can't plant a lot at once, and I have to plant them in batches, which is a waste of time.”

Without saying a word, Lu Xi'an slightly lifted the top of the wicker trunk, reached inside, and pulled out two packs of cigarettes, saying, "Two packs of cigarettes, is that alright?"

Old Hao opened his mouth, but couldn't come up with any more reasons.

Lu Xi'an said, "And you can rest assured, I don't intend to grow these things on your East Island. I don't come to the island much, so what I grow has nothing to do with you and won't steal your business."

Old Hao was still hesitating.

Seeing this, Lu Xi'an decided not to say anything more, put away his cigarette, and turned to leave.

Anyway, Hu Xiaodong said that there are other places that have pepper in this area, so we can just ask others for it.

Yao Wei then followed.

However, just as he reached the backyard gate, Old Hao suddenly called out, "Wait."

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei stopped and turned around.

Old Hao was still hesitating, but after a moment of hesitation, he gritted his teeth and said, "I have no problem selling to you. But once you leave this door, say you never sold to me."

"When my ancestors brought back pepper, most of the pepper seeds were confiscated, and the committee even issued a regulation for my family—"

"They asked that my family could grow some pepper for our own use, but we couldn't expand the planting. We could sell some pepper, but we couldn't sell the pepper seeds to others."

Is that why the pepper on the island is now monopolized?

Previously, Hu Xiaodong said that when Lao Hao's ancestors made up posters for the future, they gave pepper seeds as gifts, while Lao Hao said that they were confiscated. It's unclear which is true.

But it doesn't matter which one is true or not.

In any case, it seems that the Hao family really doesn't dare to grow too much pepper, while the Yuan family on the mountaintop has turned pepper into a monopoly product.

They're really awful.

Lu Xi'an agreed, "Okay, no problem."

Old Hao then went back and took out two small earthenware bottles, one containing pepper powder and the other containing pepper seeds.

Lu Xi'an put both items away and said, "Keep these two packs of cigarettes safe. I'll pay for the pepper and pork soup separately. You still owe me a bowl of pork soup. I'll wait outside."

Old Hao carefully took the cigarette, nodded repeatedly, and said, "Good! Good!"

Lu Xi'an returned outside. Many people had already dispersed, but some were still gathered around, chatting with Hu Xiaodong intermittently, asking about Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei's background.

They already knew from Hu Xiaodong how formidable Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei, these two new humans, were, so they scattered as soon as they saw them come out.

So Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei were able to sit down and drink the pork soup in peace.

After Lao Hao brought up a bowl, Lu Xi'an asked Yao Wei if she wanted to eat more, and Yao Wei nodded.

So Lu Xi'an gave Yao Wei half a bowl, and told Lao Hao to continue serving, along with some pancakes.

The pork soup with pepper powder quickly warmed people up and made them sweat a little.

It's also extremely delicious when eaten with flatbread.

The pancakes were different from those at Hu Xiaodong's house; the barley was ground into flour and made with flour.

Although the texture is rough and dry due to the raw materials, it's still not bad.

Do you still have a mill here?

Lu Xi'an asked casually.

Hu Xiaodong nodded and said, "Yes. It's up there, a bit far from my house. Otherwise, my family would make these pancakes too."

Lu Xi'an said, "After we've finished exploring this place, take us to see it."

(End of this chapter)