Chapter 20 Hand in Hand Strolling Through Snack Street

  He stopped the car, locked it up, and when he turned around, he saw that Xiying was still chewing on a lollipop, but her gaze was scanning the vast square, clearly shocked by what she saw. Xiang felt secretly pleased in his heart. With the lively scene of Chenghuang Temple's snack street, even if you weren't scared by the crowds, you'd be scared by the eating scene.

  Originally thought that when Shifu returns, she must have someone to accompany her to stroll around the night scene of Lu Zhou, so I made an appointment with her. Unexpectedly, we ended up in this place. Other places are unfamiliar, but coming to this place is even more familiar than returning home. Walking forward, I hinted at Zuo Xiying: "Shifu, how's the taste of the sugar cane?"

  "Hmm... it's quite delicious and fun." Zuo Xiying nodded, only then realizing that she had unknowingly chewed on two of them, and smiled awkwardly.

  "What's this? There are better things to eat and have fun, go take a look." Dan Yong pointed at the crowded crowd, tempting her, Zuo Xiying wiped her hands with a tissue paper, wrapped up the remaining sugar cane, and nodded heavily.

  It's no surprise, Shanyong said and took a step forward, pulling his master sister's small hand into the crowd.

  Zuo Xiying let out a soft exclamation, slightly awkward, but this rough and tumble guy was quite something. However, as soon as he saw Shuang Yong's high spirits and colorful appearance, purely here to have fun, that awkwardness flashed by, and with a big smile, he followed Shuang Yong through the crowd, taking great interest in looking at the long benches and low tables. Those men and women were all eating with gusto, some sipping delicately, others shouting and cheering, some wolfing down their food, and some sweating profusely. The way they ate was quite varied, but even those who chewed slowly and elegantly probably wouldn't dare sit here, it made people's appetite grow.

  "What is that?"

  Stir-fried liangpi.

  "Can liangfen be stir-fried?"

  "Of course, there's also stir-fried noodles, but that stuff is too hard, I'm afraid you won't be able to digest it."

  A stall selling stir-fried liangfen, the owner loudly shouted out, and indeed it was stir-fried liangfen. Another rare thing appeared before his eyes, Zuo Xiying subconsciously pulled Xian Yong's finger and asked: "What... what is that, big jiaozi?"

  "Shh, that's a mantou. Speak softly, don't let others laugh at us." Dan Yong said with a smile as he turned his head back.

  Zuo Xiying was a bit shy, and with a slight frown, she lightly punched Shan Yong in the arm. However, when she saw the small, flower-like steamed buns that resembled open peonies, she couldn't help but praise them nonstop. Shan Yong smiled and explained, "These are Snowflake Steamed Buns, a famous dessert from our hometown of Lu Zhou. Although these ones are slightly subpar, the 'King of Steamed Buns' in our city won an award for this dish. The skin is made with egg yolks, and cornstarch is sprinkled on top before steaming. After shaping them into a closed peony bud, they're steamed until they open up like flowers. There are seven petals, and the shape and color resemble snowflakes."

  "Is that so? You're being too particular." Zuo Xiying said, puzzled, the already quite good shaomai in her eyes was still far from enough. Shan Yong pointed to a nearby place: "You're being too particular, look at that one, it's called skill, you can't practice it out in three or five years."

  Zuo Xiying took a glance and suddenly saw a stout aunt with a round face in front of her, holding a basin with both hands, quickly pinching out white noodles from the edge of the basin. The noodles flew out in a visible arc, straight into the pot more than a meter away, without any noodles falling or soup splashing. Before Shanyong could point it out, there was another noodle stall not far away, where the noodles were also amazing to watch. A large board was piled with long, bar-shaped dough, and the right hand held a knife to shave off the noodles. The shaved noodles flew out like snowflakes, drawing a curved arc that went straight into the pot.

  "That... what is that pancake? It's really pretty." Zuo Xiying said in surprise, pointing at the unfamiliar food.

  "Butterfly face, fluttering like a butterfly." Shanyong said, suddenly becoming elegant.

  "Oh, I think my dad said that before, this doesn't need to be eaten, just looking at it is a pleasure, it's too beautiful." Zuo Xiying praised, anything done to the extreme has "Tao", the Tao of this dish seems not shallow.

  "It's not that mysterious, even my mom can make something at this level." Yun said skeptically.

  Zuo Xiying found the place full of novelty and fun, but to Shan Yong, it was all too familiar. He walked with his head turned back three times, weaving through the crowd and chairs, a few steps away from where an old man was eating, when he suddenly bumped into him, causing the old man to scald himself with hot soup. The old man's body jerked up, and he cursed loudly: "You blind fool! Scald your father to death!"

  Zuo Xiying was startled, realizing she had made a mistake. Just as she was about to apologize, La Yong pulled her back and said, "What's going on? Are you looking for excitement? You eat someone's food but don't speak their language, who do you think you are?"

  Dan Yong shielded Zuo Xiying behind him, scowling and glaring, his ferocious appearance on full display. He reached out and grabbed the other person's collar, looking like he was about to start a fight at any moment. The other person took one look at Dan Yong's intimidating demeanor and softened, waving his hand in surrender: "Alright alright, I'll admit defeat, sorry is enough, right?"

  "This doesn't sound like human language, alright, next time I'll treat you to a drink." Danyong patted the man's shoulder and pushed him down. Zuo Xiyin, however, pulled Danyong away, scolding him in a low voice for being too meddlesome. It was just an accidental collision with someone, after all. Danyong also said in a low voice: "The people of Shangdang have always been cunning and the people of Luzhou are born to be **, you dare to pretend to be humble and soft, they will bully you as if you were their grandson."

  This local dialect made Xi Ying frown, and her father often said that the heroic culture in Lanzhou was very strong, but more often than not, it had a hint of banditry. At this time, Shan Yong suddenly realized he had misspoken and quickly pulled Xi Ying to walk faster, shifting the topic.

  After passing by several houses, donkey meat pie, black fungus, oil sprinkles, steamed dumplings, stir-fried pancakes... The variety of dishes was dazzling, and Zuo Xihui finally got to taste many of the famous local delicacies that she had read about. It's true that the local soil breeds local people, and in this city where wheat-based food is the main staple, there were already over a dozen varieties of wheat-based dishes on display, with countless variations. At this moment, Zuo Xihui really felt like it was worth coming here. The only slight regret was not bringing her camera, and she could only take a few random photos with her phone.

  After circling around, they arrived at the northwest corner. Zuo Xiying was looking but not asking many questions, not because she didn't want to ask, but because she felt embarrassed to do so. The more she asked, the more evidence she would provide that she had never seen the world before. They walked straight to the back of a small square, and the city god temple gate was already not far away. In front of a steaming hot pot, they stopped. Although Zuo Xiying knew a bit about Luoyang's food, looking at these two pots made her feel somewhat familiar yet unable to name it.

  They stood still, and Dan Yong waited for Zuo Xiying to ask questions. However, Zuo Xiying was watching the stall owner with white hair and a greasy apron, who quickly threw noodles into the pot, then scooped them out with a large ladle into a bowl. There were not many noodles, but more of some kind of meat cut into thin strips from another pot, mixed with scallions, garlic, fragrant herbs, and soup. The customer stirred in vinegar and chili peppers, eating with relish, his eyes closed in enjoyment, sweat beading on his forehead.

  "This is the finale, sister. We don't just talk about it, let's try it out... The gold medal for small eats at the provincial noodle food festival... You've definitely never had it before."

  Shan Yong sold a gimmick and turned around to look at Zuo Xiying, who looked for a long time without figuring out what was going on. The work was simple, but the customers were endless, eating and leaving immediately. Those who came later couldn't even find a seat, and some people just squatted down with a big bowl, scooping up food and drinking soup. Shan Yong knew it wasn't easy to get his sister to speak up, so he continued to prompt her: "This thing is special, only sold for two hours every day, not necessarily every day... You smell the aroma, it's very enticing, no one who has tried it doesn't praise it. How about we try it..."

  "Hmm." Zuo Xiying finally nodded, clearly moved. With so many people eating, it's probably not bad, and the fragrance that keeps floating over is indeed tempting.

  It's really true that you can't always get what you want to eat right away, the two of them waited for a while, watching as a family of three left their table. Shuang Yu pulled Zuo Xiying over and quickly sat down in the seat, shouting "come on, bring us two bowls!" As he shouted, he also started wiping down the table with his own hands, afraid that this dirty place would give Zuo Xiying a bad impression. Sneaking a peek at her, fortunately she didn't seem to have any discomfort, still looking at the stall owner's every move with a puzzled expression.

  Dan Yong didn't dare to explain what this thing was and closed his mouth like a thief, as if there was still some secret in this delicious food that he couldn't tell his sister.

  The next chapter will be updated at midnight. Continue running naked next week.