Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

"Let's listen to the surroundings first?"

"Then maybe everyone doesn't care. Almost all the residents in our grid area are military craftsmen of the Wugong Zuowei, which means that almost everyone works for the court. Everyone has a job passed down from their ancestors, uses land passed down from their ancestors, and lives in a house passed down from their ancestors. Everyone here knows something about the inside story of the court."

"So everyone knows, right?"

"I think even if we don't know everything, we know most of it. Wugong Zuowei is under the management of both the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Industry. The positions here are related to the military industry. This includes the nearby Longjiang Shipyard, and the armory and arsenal on Qingliang Mountain. Almost everyone's work involves confidentiality to some extent. In addition, there are other colleagues, classmates, friends, etc. that everyone knows. Everyone has their own set of intelligence channels just by listening to gossip." As she spoke, her voice was lowered a little:

"After all, there are quite a few Jinyiwei. There are hundreds of imperial guards, right? Ordinary imperial spies are even more numerous. Everyone here knows a few Jinyiwei and can more or less know some news about the court."

"What about you, Director?"

"I don't know. I'm not from here."

"Ah, where is your home, Director?"

"You may not know this, but my hometown is Digang. Digang Industrial City. It is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry, not the Ministry of Households. It is located a little upstream of the Yangtze River in Yingtian, about an hour or two by tram. The entire city is a big steel plant, with chimneys everywhere on the streets. Every day, big ships bring in iron ore, and big ships and trucks take away steel coils."

"So what's something you're not used to living here?"

"It's about the same." She thought for a moment. "Because it's right next to Yingtian, the life here is not exactly the same, but at least 80% similar. They are all long-term, stable residential areas, and there are not many outsiders. Everyone receives a salary inherited from their ancestors, and as long as they study hard and inherit the position, they won't have to worry about anything else for the rest of their lives."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because I can't make beads. Some people have a natural fear and aversion to industrial machinery, like me. Since I can't find a job near my home, coming to Beijing is also a good choice - the salary is the same anyway, and the cost of living is about the same. It's just that there are fewer high-rise buildings."

She thought about it and said, "But the density of McDonald's stores is about the same. Yeah, basically, they are all about the same."

Chapter 1048 Going out

"Is that so?"

"You are collecting folk songs for him, right?" the director suddenly asked.

"Oh yes, Director, you have discovered it?"

"Who would ask about someone's hometown for no reason? As soon as I heard you, I knew you were collecting information for him - he is actually a very big shot, right?"

Phaethon nodded.

"Could it be that he is... he is the emperor's illegitimate son?!"

"Tianzi is only 12 years older than him, Sister Director."

"Could it be... could it be the emperor's secret brother? Is it the crown prince?"

"No, no. I have no blood relationship with the emperor. But it is indeed very important."

"No wonder." She nodded. "Then I won't ask any more questions. My thirst for knowledge is not that strong, so I won't ask too many questions about the court. On the other hand, if you have anything else you want to ask, just ask more."

"I have another question - are you happy?"

"???" She was stunned for a moment. "If you ask this, it's really hard to answer. Although the expenses are not too high, the salary has not increased significantly in many years. The work every day is almost the same. My father is about to retire and my brother can't take over. My family asked me if I have considered changing jobs and returning home. But my child is already in kindergarten here. Will the sudden change of environment have an impact on preschool education? In short, there are still many things to consider."

"Then let me ask it another way: Do you want to continue to live here? I mean Kinai."

"Of course!" Director Huang answered without hesitation, "Even cats and dogs are different when they are reborn in the capital. Every cat here has a roster, and every dog ​​has a duty. Although I do have a lot of troubles, these are also the troubles of modern people. If you want to ask me if I want to be an ancient person in the modern world, then I definitely don't want to."

"Oh, that's right." Phaethon nodded, "I understand."

She also looked back - she could feel that Shang Luo seemed to be looking at him from behind.

"Then I'll go back first. See you later. We will probably be back in ten days or half a month. There may be other Romans coming in and out of the house these days, please don't be offended."

"It's okay. I know all the registered ones." She waved her hand. "Go ahead. I wish you all the best."

After watching Phaethon return home, she stroked the black dog's forehead and said, "Oh my, even the look in his eyes is different after he's full. Let's go, don't look inside, you want to be their dog, right? You wish, you are a police dog, you have to work. We don't keep idle dogs here."

Holding the dog leash, she was going to the police station to take over from the officer who was on night shift last night.

"Excuse me" a strange voice suddenly appeared in my ears.

The police dog subconsciously turned its head and grinned, but after recognizing the man's attire, it straightened its mouth back to normal.

The director also looked back - the man was wearing a set of autumn military uniform of the Northern Army.

The uniforms of the Union and Confederate armies were similar. The most notable difference was in the caps. The Confederate caps had earflaps and a neck guard, but they were not usually used and were folded upward. The Union caps had only earflaps, which were not facing upward but were folded forward under the cap badge and had decorative buttons. Both caps had high or pointed tops.

"Um, what's up, brother?" She wanted to see his rank, but it was covered by his burqa, so she asked, "What's the matter with you?"

"I want to ask if Shangluo lives here." He looked down at the business card.

"I need to check your ID first."

"Oh sorry, I should have shown that first."

He took out his officer's ID and handed it over.

"Fang Jie. Second Lieutenant of the Army Aviation?" She saluted. "Theoretically I can tell you. After all, you can look it up in the phone directory. But as a local police officer, I would like to ask you why you are here first."

"I don't know why I came. It was a very powerful man named Fu Yuanshan who told me to come to Yingtian to find Shangluo."

"Did he give you his contact information?"

"It just gave me a business card with a phone number on it. But that number was not reachable. But... I seemed to have seen him yesterday?"

"Good fellow, it turns out you didn't even know where he was. Did you find him here by force?"

Fang Jie nodded: "Does he really live nearby? My leave is almost over. If I can't find him, I'll have to go back first."

"Wait, stand here and don't move. I'll go ask him if he's willing to see you."

Director Huang took her police dog and knocked on Shangluo's door.

Before I could knock, the door opened.

A Roman with black hair and eyes, but slightly curly hair, opened the door: "Excuse me?"

"You are Titus?"

"Yes, it's me. I remember I should have registered with you."

"Someone is looking for Shangluo, is he here?"

"That's unfortunate! He just went out 5 seconds ago. How about you wait for him to come back?"

"Okay." Holding the dog, she went back to convey the situation of the Shangluo family.

"Ah, this... If he really goes out, then I'll have made a wasted trip this time! This... This is so unlucky. Is it really that we are not destined to be together?"

"What on earth did you come to see him for?"

He thought for a moment and said, "Do you believe in immortal fate? That person should be an immortal. It was the immortal who asked me to find him. I know this may be outrageous, but I..."

"I believe."

"what?"

"Yes, I believe in immortals." Director Huang replied.

"I know you guys have been trained and this may be funny, but there may really be immortals out there!"

"I'm not joking." She lowered her head to check the time. "I can't say anything else. But I do believe in immortals. I can't say anything about immortal fate either - how about you wait a little longer?"

He shook his head: "Maybe I don't have the fate to be an immortal. Never mind, let's just treat it as a dream. By the way, can I ask you one thing - where can I eat authentic wontons?"

"Wontons?" The director was stunned for a moment, "Why did you suddenly jump to wontons?"

"Ah, I'm still thinking, since I'm unlucky and can't meet the people I'm supposed to meet, I might as well treat it as a trip to Yingtian. I want to eat some authentic wontons before I go back."

"But wontons are everywhere. I don't know how to recommend them to you. How about this: go to Confucius Temple, where all the tourists go. Remember, don't buy things in the shops on the main street that cater to tourists. Go to the alleys and eat in the shops frequented by locals. You should be able to eat wontons there. I wanted to recommend some nearby, but unfortunately, we don't sell them here."

"Oh, thank you. Confucius Temple, right? I'll go take a look."

"Senior Fu, we're already out." Shangluo said on the phone, "We're heading to Nanyang and are expected to arrive in 40 minutes. We'll contact you again after we get there."

"Yeah, I'm almost done, and I'll be going to the navy soon." Fu Yuanshan was eating wontons, "Let me finish this bowl of wontons. This time I'm away for ten days or half a month before I can come back to play, so I have to eat the amount for ten days or half a month. Boss! Five more bowls, please."

Chapter 1049 Wontons

"Boss, check out." Sitting on a bench, Fu Yuanshan took out a few old-fashioned copper coins with a face value of 10 wen and placed them on the table. This type of copper coin was out of circulation decades ago, but it was the only way to pay for wontons here.

Although he was very hungry today, he was almost full after eating two bowls. He also packed a few bowls before.

The boss, with a white towel on his shoulder, came over to settle the bill in silence. Although he didn't say anything, he still bowed to Fu Yuanshan, and his gesture of welcoming and seeing off was standard.

"Boss, what kind of wontons do you have?" Another customer sat down at the other end of the bench.

The boss looked back at him, pointed to his mouth and waved his hand.

"Oh, sorry, sorry." The person sitting opposite asked again, "Do you have a menu? Let me see the menu."

The boss looked at him in confusion, obviously not understanding what he meant. There was never such a thing as a menu. There was only one dish, wonton, so of course there was no need for a menu.

"I say," Fu Yuanshan turned around and said, "You've come here to eat, why don't you know the rules? Who asked you to come?"

"That's me! You're not."

Before he finished speaking, Fu Yuanshan recognized him: "Ah, it's you, kid. Interesting."

He looked at the other person and said, "I remember your name is Fang Jie? The guy who chased me in a plane, right? Your name is quite auspicious."

"Yes, yes, it's me! You are the immortal, right?"

"How did you find me here?"

Fu Yuanshan knew that this wonton stall was both here and not here. To get in here, one had to use the same method as the Qinghua Cave where the Master of the Kingdom of Bhikkhu hid in Journey to the West, that is, "turn left three times, turn right three times" to get in. Not only Fu Yuanshan was taking care of the business here, but Master Sa also often came here to eat, and he also brought Shangluo here.

Fu Yuanshan did prepare a test for him, he just asked Fang Jie to find Shangluo. I didn't expect that he could find this place directly, this place is not difficult for the test.

This is a small gap hidden in the city, and it is considered as the public lounge of Fuyuan Road. Logically speaking, no one should come in casually - if someone comes in, then he is blessed. Fuyuan Road accepts people with good fortune.

"Come here? No, no. I just walked in and sat down. Someone told me not to look for wonton stalls on the street, but to walk around in the alleys, so that I can find good ones."

"You came at a great time. If you were two or three seconds late, I would have left." After saying that, he looked at Fang Jie meaningfully, "You are really lucky, kid."

He sat back down and took out another copper coin: "Boss, give him a bowl too."

The boss bowed again, wiped the table, put the towel on his shoulder, and collected the coins first.

Back behind his window, he put a little soy sauce, a little vinegar, a little salt, and a small amount of dried shrimp, seaweed, chopped green onion, egg skin and the like in a bowl, and scooped a spoonful of lard, and used the lard on the stove to make a bowl of clear wonton soup.

The wontons are freshly made. When he is not entertaining customers, he makes them behind the counter. The wrapped wontons are placed in a small ventilated drawer. When they are ready to be cooked, he gently sweeps them into the hot pot with a small bamboo board.

Wontons cook very quickly. When the skin becomes translucent, he picks up the wontons and puts them into the soup he prepared earlier. After wiping his hands, he brings up a bowl of wontons in just a minute. The wontons floating in the soup bowl are small, with only a little filling, and the main thing is to drink the soup and eat the skin.

"The wontons here are not made by hand. They are not divided by fillings, but by number. Besides, this is not a specialty of Yingtian. Isn't this thing available everywhere?"

"The wontons we have there are more like chain stores. I've never seen a small stall like this."

"That's true. Breakfast is a regional thing. If you're a few dozen kilometers away, you'll eat it differently. Then let me ask you, do you think these wontons are delicious?"

He took a bite.

Another taste.

He took another bite.

"." He stared at the wonton for a while, "It feels like I haven't eaten anything. It feels like I'm drinking soup, but I can't feel full."

"How many bowls do you need to eat to feel full?"

"No matter how much you eat this, it's just water. At least two bowls and four or five fried dough sticks."

"???" Fu Yuanshan was stunned for a moment. He looked at Fang Jie's figure. As a pilot, he looked very capable. "So you eat so much in the morning?"

"Yeah. Our squadron has unlimited large meat buns in the morning. They are as big as casserole dishes. I can eat 8 of them."

"Oh my goodness, he can eat so much." He calculated secretly.

He hesitated.

"Come on! Come on! Come on!" He waved his hand violently, and six cups the size of a fingernail flew out of his sleeves. The cups that fell to the ground were arranged in three rows, two by two, all facing up and one facing down.

"Okay, it's you. When I eat for free, I can just eat a few bites less. Your name is Fang Jie, right? Let me ask you, do you want to become an immortal?"

"I think!"

"Then from now on, you are my apprentice."