Chapter 1619: Rice Noodle Rolls

After the armored car's door closed and it drove down the passage toward Territory Three, Xia Qing leaned back against the not-particularly-soft seat inside and began puzzling over why her idol had bolded something that couldn't even last three seconds.

Zhang San glanced at Xia Qing beside him and drawled, "Yang Jin is in Territory Three?"

Xia Qing nodded at once. "Yeah, he's wrapping dumplings, bok choy and pork filling."

Zhang Jingwu...

Zhang San said unhurriedly, "Wrap some up and bring them to Territory Seven."

Yan Long suddenly understood. "Third Brother had Zheng Chen and me spar in Territory Seven so I could take the chance to beat up Yang Jin?"

Zhang Jingwu...

Xia Qing!!!

Zhang San rolled his eyes at Yan Long. "The guy's a top-tier speed Evolver. You think you can take him?"

Yan Long clenched her fist. "Won't know till I try."

"Jin-ge, Third Brother and Qing-jie already got in the car and left Territory Seven, heading west." Hearing Zhu Li's voice came through the walkie-talkie.

Tang Huai followed right after. "Jin-ge, you can get the water boiling. Third Brother likes it sour. Is that green-light vinegar of yours still good? Want me to bring you a bottle?"

Because Xia Qing had switched on the walkie-talkie, the allies' idle chatter immediately filled the armored car.

Yan Long glanced at the boss. Likes vinegar?

Xia Qing silently lit a candle for Tang Huai and said nothing.

Yang Jin's voice came through. "Plenty left. Thanks, everyone."

Wen Nengjie immediately made his presence known. "Jin-ge, you're too kind. Just give a shout in the group whenever you need anything."

Zhao Ze followed right after. "Does Jin-ge need me to roast a yellow-light rabbit to add a dish? I'll bring it over."

Yang Jin didn't refuse. "I'll ask once Third Brother and Xia Qing get back. Thanks."

"Jin-ge, you're too kind." Zhao Ze was over the moon.

Zhang San reached over, took Xia Qing's walkie-talkie, pressed the button. "Zhao Ze, how heavy is that rabbit now?"

The boss was on the line, and everyone pricked up their ears. Zhao Ze answered at once. "The biggest buck has grown to eight jin, with a qiang element content of 5.9‰—it's almost green-light quality. Want me to kill it now and bring it over?"

Last spring, the one buck and one doe yellow-light rabbits Xia Qing was raising produced a litter of kits. Because the doe showed signs of cannibalism, Xia Qing didn't have the energy to care for them, so she traded the rabbits to Territory Four. Under the careful nurturing of the mother-and-son team in Territory Four, those two rabbits produced three litters of kits last year in total, and the best-quality one among them was this buck with a qiang element content of 5.9‰.

If the boss weren't in a bad mood today, they really couldn't bear to take out this little treasure just to add a dish for him.

Zhang San replied, "No need. Raise it well. I'll eat it once you've bred one to green-light quality."

"Got it!" Zhao Ze answered immediately. "Third Brother, by testing the soil from the wild rabbits' native habitat, I've worked out three feed formulas. If all goes well, we should be able to breed green-light quality by the second half of this year!"

As they talked, the armored car arrived outside the south gate of Territory Three. Zhang San glanced at Yang Jin, whose face was perfectly clean, and gave a cold snort.

After passing through the security check at Center Nine, Yao Yuanxing returned to the eight shabby staff dormitories they had rented for thirty thousand credits a day, knocked on the door of the best-conditioned one, and reported upward. "Professor Guo, after my junior brother came back, he went straight to Territory Three of Hui Three's top sniper, Xia Qing."

Guo Qingbin looked up, his smile warm and kindly. "He's doing well here. Have his food and lodging been arranged?"

Yao Yuanxing complained, "I followed the person in charge here to look at the other dormitories. These really are the living conditions they have. There's no way to improve the lodging. As for food, we can take our ration coupons to the cafeteria at set times, or we can cook for ourselves in the dormitory. They can provide green-light vegetables and staples, but we have to pay for them at market price!"

Before Guo Qingbin could say anything, Hu Guangdong beside him laughed. "Being able to buy green-light vegetables and staples is already much better than I expected."

Guo Qingbin nodded. "This territory is a demonstration zone for the new model of 'public-run planting center, privately-run territory.' There's a lot here worth our learning..."

Inside Territory Three, the armored car's door opened. Zhang Jingwu and Yan Long stepped out first, followed by Zhang San. Yang Jin, standing beside the car, greeted Zhang Jingwu and Yan Long, then asked, "Third Brother, I've ground the green-light rice flour..."

Before he could finish, Yang Jin saw the wound on Xia Qing's face. After a three-second pause, reason regained control of his brain, and he went on, "... the sauce is already made. Want to have a bowl of rice noodle rolls first before heading to the lab?"

Zhang San didn't miss the change in Yang Jin's expression. Though his voice sounded listless, his temper had eased a little. "There's equipment here for steaming rice noodle rolls?"

Yang Jin answered, "I just brought a brand-new steaming tray. Does Third Brother want egg, egg and meat, or plain vegetarian?"

Zhang San didn't refuse. "Plain vegetarian. Is the chili sauce freshly made too?"

"The chili sauce and the sauce are both freshly made, and the pork filling was just minced." Yang Jin invited Zhang San to walk toward the small hut by the fields, then asked Yan Long, "Yan-jie still having egg and meat with scallion and onion?"

That one sentence from Yang Jin pulled Yan Long back to the day after their training exercise before the Catastrophe Year, when she had treated a bunch of rookie soldiers to rice noodle rolls. She nodded in reply.

Zhang Jingwu spoke up at once. "Jin-ge, can I have one of each?"

"Sure." Yang Jin walked forward alongside Xia Qing and asked quietly, "What kind does Qing-jie want?"

Xia Qing asked, "What's a rice noodle roll?"

"You grind rice into a slurry, then pour it into a steaming tray to steam into a sheet of rice noodle. It can wrap all kinds of fillings. Because it looks like intestines, it's called rice noodle roll. The method is very simple and quick..." Without asking about the wound on Xia Qing's face, Yang Jin quietly introduced to her what rice noodle rolls were, along with the merits of this food.

Xia Qing wasn't much of a cook and was busy every day, so she liked foods that were simple to prepare, nutritious, and tasty. Yang Jin had previously wrapped a lot of dumplings and frozen them in the fridge, so when she didn't have time to cook, she'd just boil dumplings.

No matter how good dumplings were, eating them every day would grow tiresome, so Yang Jin had searched for another breakfast recipe that was simple to make and suited Xia Qing's taste.

Soak the rice the night before, blend it into a slurry with a grinder the next morning, pour it into the steaming tray, and it's done in five minutes. Take it out, slice it, drizzle on the sauce and the chili sauce Xia Qing likes, and you've got a nutritious, refreshing breakfast.

Xia Qing understood. "I'll have one of each too. What vegetables do you need? I'll go pull them from the greenhouse."

Yang Jin answered, "Scallions and onions are enough, I've already chopped them. The chickens and cattle have been fed, everything in the territory is normal, and the grass shoots in the fig field have been hoed out. Can the oil sunflowers in the valley be harvested?"

Yan Long up ahead glanced back at the two people murmuring behind her. Who would have thought that Yang Jin, who every day put on an air of "I'm number one under heaven, I don't give a damn about anyone," would turn into this once he started dating.