Taifu Temple

At noon, Liu Chang'an and An Nuan went to eat near the pedestrian street in River East. In most cities, locals rarely go to the so-called snack streets, but because Junsha's traditional snack and late-night food gathering place has been developed into a so-called food center, many Junsha locals go there. They just know better than tourists which "century-old shops" are truly authentic and which ones specialize in "humanistic sentiment".

The "Water Palace" brand is very well-known, and it also sells braised pork, a favorite of great men, and its so-called signature stinky tofu. However, apart from entertaining relatives and friends who come from afar, locals rarely go there.

"In 1973, Hua Luogeng conducted an optimization experiment here for more than a month. The experiment concluded that small fried dough sticks were fried at an oil temperature of 224 degrees Celsius, medium fried dough sticks at 155 degrees Celsius, and large fried dough sticks at 195 to 200 degrees Celsius, resulting in the largest volume, best taste, and least oil consumption," Liu Chang'an said, looking at the archway of the Water Palace.

"The Water Palace was built during the Wanli era, but like many old buildings, it has been destroyed and repaired several times. The large bronze tripod from the Wanli era was lost after the Wenxi Fire, and the carvings on the archway were removed during the campaign to eliminate the Four Olds a few decades ago."

"Why do you always remember these things that few people have heard of?" An Nuan doesn't like fried dough sticks. When she was little, she often ate De Garden's big steamed buns. Her mother said that De Garden's steamed buns were very popular when she was a child. When her monthly salary was only a few dozen yuan, De Garden's big meat steamed buns cost 50 cents each. One year, they sold 170,000 of them during the Dragon Boat Festival.

"Isn't that something everyone knows? Back then, the optimization method was promoted nationwide... It allowed us to save raw materials to the greatest extent possible in production practice. It was an era when every penny was used as if it were a dime." Liu Chang'an waved his hand. "Let's go. The past can't be undone. What shall we eat today?"

"Let's eat giant fried dough sticks made at 200 degrees Celsius," An Nuan said with a smile.

Liu Chang'an smiled as he watched An Nuan walk ahead of him, her ponytail bouncing. The girl's ponytail and bangs were so adorable.

The two arrived at a newly opened food plaza named Taifu Temple. This was because Junsha was where Jia Yi was exiled, and there was also a "Jia Mansion" nearby. Many people even thought that Jia Yi was from Junsha, or they confused the Jia Mansion in "Dream of the Dream of the Red Chamber" with it, which often led to them making fools of themselves.

"Later generations often refer to Qu Yuan and Jia Yi together. Regardless of Jia Yi's career setbacks, being mentioned alongside Qu Yuan is enough to demonstrate Jia Yi's status in the hearts of later generations of literati... It should be noted that Qu Yuan was the idol of great literary figures such as Li Bai, Du Fu, Ouyang Xiu, and Su Shi..."

Before Liu Chang'an could finish speaking, a piece of stinky tofu was stuffed into his mouth.

"Can you shut your mouth?" An Nuan proudly held up a small plate of stinky tofu. If only Liu Chang'an could be this long-winded when he was spouting sweet nothings, it's a pity that he seems to use his eloquence mostly for idle chatter.

Not really... but even a few words here and there often make my heart flutter with a shy yet sweet feeling.

It used to be said that stinky tofu smelled bad but tasted good, but in fact, nowadays stinky tofu basically doesn't have that so-called "stinky smell" anymore. The first shop on the left at the entrance of Taifu Temple sells stinky tofu. Junsha's stinky tofu is basically black, fried until crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and a small bowl with sauce costs between five and fifteen yuan. Actually, stinky tofu is like instant noodles. You might crave it when you haven't had it for a long time, but after eating a little, you'll get tired of it.

After eating stinky tofu, the second shop we entered was a fruit self-service platter. An Nuan picked out a colorful platter of cherries, yellow peaches, dragon fruit, kiwis, honeydew melons, and more.

The third shop was a barbecue stall, selling giant octopus tentacles, turkey wings, lamb leg bones, and various fried scorpions, centipedes, cicada pupae, small snakes, silkworms, aphids, ants, and so on.

"Your favorite centipede..." An Nuan seemed startled and hid behind Liu Chang'an, giggling, "Do you want to eat it? I won't stop you."

An Nuan suddenly recalled many scenes from movies and TV dramas, and immediately felt somewhat defeated, because in those scenes, the reason girlfriends used to stop their boyfriends from eating certain strange things was. "If you eat it, you're not allowed to kiss me!"

The key is that she and Liu Chang'an haven't reached that point yet. An Nuan looked at Liu Chang'an expectantly, hoping that he could understand what she was thinking from her eyes.

"You want to eat it? It's best not to." Liu Chang'an waved his hand. "If it's fresh, whether grilled or fried, it tastes delicious. But these street stalls don't get many customers, so they keep for a long time. To prevent it from spoiling, they often fry these things until they're almost dry, making them taste very dry and bitter... If you want to eat it..."

An Nuan went upstairs and ordered spicy hot pot.

Liu Chang'an also ordered a radish stew with lamb tripe, An Nuan ordered a spicy hot pot with both meat and vegetables. Then the two of them went upstairs where there were fewer people and found seats.

"Guess who I saw?" An Nuan said excitedly to Liu Chang'an after washing her hands.

"Grandma Qi."

An Nuan nudged Liu Chang'an and pointed to his right, "Bai Hui and Zhao Wuqiang are sitting over there!"

"It seems Zhao Wuqiang's hand injury has stabilized." Liu Chang'an said with great relief but also a hint of regret. After all, Zhao Wuqiang was unable to take the college entrance examination; it was truly a matter of timing, fate, and luck.

"Bai Hui and Zhao Wuqiang!" An Nuan reminded Liu Chang'an to focus on the key points, while continuing to observe his expression. If he showed even the slightest sign of jealousy, An Nuan would skip lunch today.

"An Nuan and Liu Chang'an!"

"Ugh! I'm talking to you about something serious. Guess if they're on a date?" An Nuan stirred the cilantro and spicy spices in the hot pot. She couldn't tell if Liu Chang'an was jealous yet, so An Nuan decided to eat first. Once she was full, she could decide to not eat to express her anger.

"So, guess what they think we're on a date?"

An Nuan looked around, slightly raised her chin, and gave a soft hum, "This is just our daily routine."

"Just a casual date," Liu Chang'an said with a smile.

An Nuan didn't refute him; Liu Chang'an's statement made her unwilling to argue with him.

An Nuan was still somewhat concerned about what Bai Hui and Zhao Wuqiang were saying. She ate while peeking at them, sensing that Zhao Wuqiang was a little agitated, but she couldn't hear their conversation clearly.

"Zhao Wuqiang said he hopes Bai Hui will give him a chance. He'll repeat a year to catch up with Bai Hui. He doesn't mind if Bai Hui maintains her current relationship with Qian Ning and Lu Yuan in college, but when he enters university next year, he'll try his best to pursue Bai Hui and show her his sincerity." Liu Chang'an relayed Zhao Wuqiang's words to reassure Bai Hui An Nuan so she could eat in peace. "These are what he just said. He was probably confessing his feelings, explaining his feelings about his crush on Bai Hui during high school."

"How did you know!" An Nuan was taken aback.

I can hear some things from this direction.

An Nuan quickly arranged for Liu Chang'an to sit down, but then realized she still couldn't hear clearly. So she asked Liu Chang'an to continue repeating what she heard, wondering why Liu Chang'an could hear her clearly while she couldn't.

Bai Hui said she came today to wish him good luck in his repeat year, hoping he wouldn't be defeated by setbacks, but would pick himself up and treat this unexpected event as a test in life. She added that once he entered university, he would naturally meet more beautiful girls, or perhaps someone more suitable for him. As for herself, she wouldn't date in university, and regardless of whether he followed her to the same university, she would only treat him as a friend, like Qian Ning and Lu Yuan.

An Nuan was biting into a cherry, listening intently with a thoughtful expression.

Liu Chang'an found girls really strange. When they listened to gossip, they seemed much more focused than when they listened to problem-solving explanations. They even showed a kind of analytical shrewdness. Gao Dewei said that when he explained problems to Miao Yingying always looked dull and lifeless, like various animals kept in a zoo. Sometimes he would describe her as a bear, sometimes as a giraffe.

An Nuan, you're always like a beautiful Cygnus, but now you're like a beautiful Cygnus who's bored out of her mind, swimming with mandarin ducks next door, preparing to mate.

"I can't hear you at all, did you make it up?" An Nuan finally made her judgment, and sat down opposite Liu Chang'an again. It was inconvenient for the two of them to pick up food when they sat side by side.

"Eat it, it's getting cold."

At this moment, An Nuan saw Bai Hui suddenly become angry, pick up the water on the table and splash it at Zhao Wuqiang, while Zhao Wuqiang's expression showed a bit of rage and loss of control.

"Bai Hui!" An Nuan quickly stood up and called out.

Zhao Wuqiang and Bai Hui were both stunned for a moment, then turned to look at An Nuan and Liu Chang'an, who was sitting there slowly eating spicy hot pot.

Zhao Wuqiang was quite surprised. He sneered at Bai Hui, pointed at An Nuan Liu Chang'an, then turned and went downstairs without looking back.

The commotion was quite loud, and many people gathered around to watch the excitement, but they dispersed quickly, which was rather boring, and the whole building didn't have a chance to create a cheerful atmosphere.

Bai Hui brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and sat down apologetically. Since An Nuan had just helped her out of a tight spot, she felt she had to come and say hello.

Bai Hui was about to sit down next to Liu Chang'an when she quickly stood up and sat down next to An Nuan, saying, "Sorry, I'm used to sitting at school."

An Nuan felt that Bai Hui was no longer in the mood to do this on purpose, and she didn't care anymore. She was more concerned about what had just happened between Bai Hui and Zhao Wuqiang.