Charcoal-grilled sand rat was a New Jade Gate specialty. It had to be tried.
Well, all right, the dish actually had only a few years of history. The early settlers who came to New Jade Gate discovered that the sand rats they dug out of the endless sea of dunes were huge and deliciously fatty. You could eat them after removing the heads, and they supposedly had more than six times the protein of beef. They were excellent stewed, but even better coated in spices and charcoal-grilled.
Yu Lian and his senior both loved the taste. They tucked in heartily, and before long had polished off more than half of one.
After a few rounds of drinks and several dishes, his senior held a slender cigarette delicately between two fingers, while idly swirling half a glass of beer in her other hand. Her phoenix eyes had grown a little languid.
Today she was dressed casually, in fitted breeches, a shirt, and a denim jacket. She didn't have to put on the airs of a senior officer. Or rather, this was how she usually looked.
"This counts as a farewell dinner for you, then. I've also prepared your internship certificate from the Security Forces Headquarters. Needless to say, it's an A+."
"Thanks so much." Yu Lian raised his glass to her.
"You earned it. I'm still here for now, so I can at least get a few things done." His senior said, "But, Yuli, even with an A+ from me and the governor's office, that only counts as the grades for two major courses. Your GPA would still be less than 3.5. That's only above average! And after what you did, the special merit points are almost certainly out of the question. There's no chance you'll get the Tiger Tally!"
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