Elder brother's garrison

As Xiaobai and Changchun walked along the street, discussing the matter of the female Kitchen Goddess in hushed tones, a person on a small cart parked by the roadside, just a few steps away from them, seemed to have overheard their conversation.

This is a small cart selling hand-pulled pancakes.

The boss was a middle-aged woman in her forties or fifties with a somewhat stout build.

The woman was making a scallion pancake, but after hearing the conversation between Xiaobai and Changchun, she stopped using her spatula and squinted at Xiaobai.

"Young ladies, are you here to see the young lady known as the Kitchen Goddess who lives nearby?" the old woman called out to Xiaobai and Changchun.

"Eh?"

Xiao Bai and Chang Chun turned around in surprise when they heard the old lady calling them.

Xiao Bai was stunned when he saw that the person who called out to him was the auntie from the hand-pulled pancake stall.

"Auntie, do you... know Miss Stove Goddess?"

"Ha—you really did come to see her." The older woman nodded with a smile. She put down her spatula, picked up a damp towel from the side, wiped her slightly oily hands, and said to Xiaobai with a smile, "Young lady, I didn't mean to eavesdrop on your conversation. I just thought you accidentally called out 'the female kitchen god'."

"Ah...it's okay." Xiaobai glanced at Changchun and walked to the scallion pancake stall. "Um...Auntie, you also know about the Kitchen Goddess, right?"

"Me? Of course I know. That girl from the Kitchen Goddess stall is a regular customer of ours." Upon hearing Xiaobai's words, the older woman laughed heartily, seemingly recalling some amusing memories. She then told Xiaobai, "That girl comes to my stall twice a week, once on Friday and once on Sunday. And every time, she's clutching her stomach, her eyes are wide open, looking like she's about to starve to death. When I finish making her a scallion pancake, her expression is like she's received some divine gift—I've been selling scallion pancakes for over ten years, and this is the first time I've met someone as amusing as that girl."

"I see, thank you, Auntie." Xiaobai nodded, gazing thoughtfully at the scallion pancakes in front of the woman's stall. "So... does that mean you and the Kitchen God's daughter have a pretty good relationship?"

"Well... well, even if she doesn't buy any scallion pancakes, she always greets me when she passes by. When she does buy scallion pancakes, I often sneak a grilled sausage into her pancake. We sometimes chat about everyday things when we're free." The older woman said to Xiaobai with a smile, "That's about it. It's not exactly a great relationship, but it's definitely not bad either."

"That's it..."

"You two young ladies are also looking for the Goddess of the Kitchen God, right? There are many alleys around here, and they are all winding and twisting. It's easy for outsiders to get lost. If you can't find the Goddess of the Kitchen God, would you like me to give you directions?" the old lady asked Xiaobai with enthusiasm.

"Eh...is that okay?" Xiaobai looked at the old lady in surprise.

Although Xiaobai wouldn't get lost in the alleys and didn't need anyone to give him directions... the pancake vendor was much more enthusiastic than Xiaobai had imagined, at least more enthusiastic than the security guard at the ship equipment research center.

"Anyway, this isn't the first time I've done this job," the woman said with a smile. "The girl who is the female stove god also told me that if anyone is looking for her, she should ask me to help them with directions or something."

"Eh..." Xiaobai stared blankly at the old lady, then her gaze suddenly turned strange. "I see... Hmm? Wait... Auntie, what do you mean by 'this isn't the first time'? Does that mean that before today, someone else came to see the Goddess of the Kitchen God?"

"Hmm." The middle-aged woman nodded and clicked her tongue, saying, "People usually come here, a lot of them. Today alone, I pointed out three groups of people, and they are all girls like you, who are both cute and have beautiful figures."

"Huh?! Is that so?" Xiaobai exclaimed in surprise.

"Of course," the woman nodded.

"Are those people ship girls?" Xiaobai asked in surprise.

"...What ship girls?" the older woman asked curiously.

"……"noob.

Oh wow.

It seems this older woman isn't familiar with the existence of ship girls, and doesn't know that Vestal is a supply ship girl...

"No...nothing."

Xiao Bai waved his hand, then looked at the old lady and fell into deep thought.

Judging from the description given by the pancake vendor...

The phrase "cute and beautiful girls" combined with "many" strongly suggests that those searching for the female hearth goddess are ship girls.

Moreover, according to the pancake vendor, people like herself often come to see the Goddess of the Hearth, so this shouldn't be the first time the ship girls have visited her.

Ok……

The goddess of the hearth... who knows, she might be quite popular with the ship girls?

and many more.

wrong.

The question now is, where are all these ship girls coming from that want to find Vestal?

What is the purpose of those ship girls seeking out the goddess of the hearth?

Could it be that, like me, she also wants to recruit the female hearth goddess into the garrison?

Think of this.

Xiao Bai suddenly became a little nervous.

I used to think the Kitchen Goddess was like a wild, unattended white radish, but now I realize she's actually quite a sought-after figure.

The goddess of the hearth is so popular...

Looks like I need to speed things up a bit...

"Thank you, Auntie." Thinking of this, Xiaobai bowed to the pancake vendor. "Then I'll go find the Goddess of the Kitchen Goddess now, and I won't bother you any longer, Auntie."

"Okay, go ahead. The house of the female stove goddess is right across the alley, the fourth door, it's very obvious." The pancake vendor smiled at Xiaobai, holding her small shovel and saying, "Remember to ask her for me after you find the female stove goddess, since yesterday was Friday, why didn't she come to my stall to buy pancakes?"

"Uh..." Xiaobai smiled awkwardly.

Given the female kitchen goddess's financial situation, she probably relies on scallion pancakes as her daily food source. The reason she didn't buy scallion pancakes from the auntie yesterday is most likely because I told her yesterday that I'd treat her to dinner today...

Thinking about this, Xiaobai felt even more embarrassed.

"Changchun, let's hurry up and go," Xiaobai said, taking Changchun's hand.

"Okay! Admiral... cough cough, Sister Xiaobai!" Changchun almost blurted out the word "Admiral" in front of the pancake vendor, but she quickly swallowed it and gave Xiaobai an awkward smile.

Xiaobai and Changchun turned around and took a few steps.

suddenly.

Xiao Bai stopped, seemingly lost in thought.

"Hmm? Admiral, what's wrong?" Changchun looked at Xiaobai curiously.

"Hmm..." Xiaobai didn't speak. She just turned her head back to the old lady's stall, staring at the sizzling scallion pancakes on the griddle. After a moment of silence, she quietly walked back to the stall.

"Aunt!"

"Oh? Little girl, you're back again. What's wrong? Have you forgotten where the Kitchen Goddess lives?"

"Ah...it's not about that...well, I just wanted to ask, what flavor of hand-pulled pancake does Miss Kitchen Goddess usually buy from you?" Xiaobai asked the old lady curiously, clinging to the stall railing and standing on tiptoe.

"What flavor..." The middle-aged woman skillfully spread a scallion pancake flat with a spatula, then took a deep breath, "It's the original flavor, of course. It's the kind with some ketchup and salad dressing, and some lettuce. But I always secretly add two sausages for her."

"Oh..." Xiaobai nodded, her gaze shifting to the price list on the scallion pancake stall.

The price list for the scallion pancakes is just like any other street vendor's scallion pancakes. The cheapest one, the original flavor, is at the top and costs only two yuan. Then, as the fillings increase, the price goes down and it gets more expensive, such as sausage scallion pancakes, pork floss scallion pancakes, Chinese sausage scallion pancakes, and so on. Xiaobai looked at the scallion pancakes at the bottom and found that the bottom one actually cost fifty yuan.

She truly deserves to be called the Goddess of the Kitchen.

Even the hand-pulled pancakes are now sold at the budget price.

Xiao Bai thought to himself.

"What's wrong? Little girl, do you want one too?" The pancake vendor asked Xiaobai when she saw her staring at the price list.

“…Mm.” Xiaobai nodded.

"Alright~ It's good that I didn't waste my time telling you all that! I've been pointing you girls out for so long, and you're the only one who knows to give me feedback!" The older woman smiled broadly, rolled up her sleeves, pointed to the price list beside her, and said to Xiaobai, "Little girl, tell me what flavor you want? I'll add two extra sausages for you!"

"Thank you, Auntie!" Xiaobai nodded with a smile, then touched her lips with her finger, her gaze lingering on the price list for the scallion pancakes for a moment. "Hmm... I'll take that one then!"

Little White stretched out his finger.

Points to the bottom of the price list.

"Give me a family-style hand-pulled pancake!"

Steamed Egg Custard

Chapter 1674 Wet Nurse

Family-style hand-pulled pancake.

As the name suggests.

It's an extra-large scallion pancake that has all the ingredients that can be added to a pancake from a scallion pancake stall all at once.

This bold and straightforward type of hand-pulled pancake not only effectively solves the core problem of customers with decision-making difficulties lingering at the stall entrance, thus affecting customer traffic, but also allows customers to achieve a sense of psychological satisfaction of "I want them all" to some extent, making it the ultimate dream hand-pulled pancake.

However, even the most delicious hand-pulled pancake has its drawbacks.

That is the price

After all, it costs fifty yuan.

Aside from die-hard fans of scallion pancakes, most people wouldn't spend that much money at a street food stall just to buy an extra-large scallion pancake.

Say goodbye to the pancake stall run by the kind-hearted auntie.

Xiao Bai, carrying the packaged "Family Portrait" hand-pulled pancakes, walked with Chang Chun into the alley where the Kitchen Goddess resided.

"This...it's really big." Changchun said with some surprise, looking at the large bag Xiaobai was carrying.

"Yeah, it really is big."

Xiao Bai nodded and picked up the bag in his hand to examine it for a moment.

Hand-pulled pancakes are not a rare commodity.

When Xiaobai was in junior high and high school, there were many stalls selling this around the school. Occasionally, when Xiaobai was feeling a bit craving something sweet on his way home from school, he would stop by a roadside stall and buy a scallion pancake for a few yuan to try.

However... this is the first time in Xiaobai's life that he has bought a large hand-pulled pancake worth fifty yuan.

The large scallion pancake, priced at fifty yuan, was several times larger than the small one due to the large amount of ingredients it was stuffed with. Xiaobai couldn't even hold it in both hands, so she had to ask the kind lady at the stall to pack it up and put it in a plastic bag before she could barely carry it away.

Just as Xiaobai was staring at the plastic bag in his hand.

A sweet, sour, and spicy aroma, mixed with the grilled scent of sausages, eggs, meat floss, and other side dishes, wafted from the bag, carrying a faint warmth.

"This... is it for Miss Stove Goddess?" Changchun asked Xiaobai, looking at the bag in her hand.

"Hmm. Changchun, you noticed it too?"

"After all, that kind auntie just said that the Goddess of the Kitchen Goddess really likes the hand-pulled pancakes from this shop..." Changchun said.

"Yeah... Hopefully, seeing this will calm Miss Vestal down a bit..." Xiaobai sighed, looked around, and when no one was in the alley, she stuffed the bag containing the family-style hand-pulled pancakes into her ship equipment space.

Walking further into the narrow alley, you can vaguely see a few small courtyards.

Each courtyard contains several houses. These courtyards are not privately owned but shared by several families. You can see wells for drawing water in the courtyards, and the bricks and tiles on the walls look somewhat dilapidated, indicating that they have been around for many years.

"This place is bigger than I imagined..." Xiaobai murmured softly, looking at the courtyard beside her.

Xiao Bai was sighing over this.

suddenly.

The sound of girls talking could be heard coming from several courtyards in the distance.

Upon hearing the girl's voice, Xiaobai and Changchun paused slightly, then exchanged a knowing glance before quickening their pace and heading towards the courtyard from which the girl's voice was coming.

really.

Just as Xiaobai and Changchun arrived at the gate of the fourth courtyard, through the open gate, Xiaobai could see many young and beautiful girls standing inside.

There are quite a few of these girls.

The girls stood in front of one of the closed doors in the courtyard, forming a long line like they were queuing to buy tickets, completely blocking the small courtyard.

"Huh... what are these...?"

Xiao Bai stood at the door, looking at the girls in the yard with some surprise.

"Two more sisters have arrived!" Just as Xiaobai and Changchun arrived at the courtyard gate, the girls in the courtyard also saw them. These girls didn't seem surprised by Xiaobai and Changchun's arrival. They waved to Xiaobai and Changchun enthusiastically, pointed to the back of the line, and said with a smile, "Sisters, come here, come here! The line is now up to number thirty-eight! Remember to keep order!"

"Huh? Uh..." Before Xiaobai and Changchun could speak, they felt a fragrant breeze and Xiaobai was pulled into the line by enthusiastic girls.

I just joined the team.

The girls who were near Xiaobai and Changchun gathered around.

"These two young ladies look unfamiliar. Is this your first time here?"

"Wow, you're dressed so beautifully! Which ship girl are you from?"

"Did you all come here after hearing the rumors? I've come three times already, so if you have any questions later, feel free to ask me."

"..."

Most of the girls who approached Xiaobai and Changchun had kind and friendly smiles on their faces, as if they had found a small group, and they were very concerned about Xiaobai and Changchun.