Chapter 173: The Steamed Bun in Hand Is No Longer Fragrant

Bai Wei bought a large pile of vegetables and food, adopting a strategy of dispersed purchasing to avoid arousing suspicion.

Buying one thousand jin at this shop and two thousand jin at that one did not attract anyone's attention.

Yanjing is the capital of Huaxia; there are several vegetable wholesale markets alone, and they are ridiculously large.

The wholesale bosses ship over a dozen tons of produce across the country every day, so Bai Wei buying one or two thousand jin of vegetables was child's play in their eyes; they were too lazy to even ask.

After buying the vegetables, Bai Wei called the boss who sold frozen food.

"Boss, I need three thousand frozen chickens and two thousand jin of frozen meat; send them all to the warehouse for me."

The farms in Yanjing are too far away, making it very inconvenient to buy freshly slaughtered chickens and pigs, but there are plenty of bosses selling frozen poultry and meat.

The boss also does big business, so after Bai Wei's one phone call, the other party didn't even ask much and readily completed the transaction.

Bai Wei then ordered two tons of rice and two thousand barrels of water, all delivered directly by the bosses.

No one paid attention to her buying so many things, and Bai Wei was very happy about that.

Small towns have the convenience of small towns, and big cities have the convenience of big cities.

But all things considered, home is still the best.

There is a saying: a golden nest or a silver nest is not as good as one's own dog kennel.

The vegetables and meat she bought were delivered to the warehouse in batches.

Bai Wei took out the Jade Pendant, focused her Mental Power, and transmitted them all to Xiao Moting.

Just as she was about to leave the warehouse, she suddenly remembered something.

There is a type of delicacy that the people of Daliang have absolutely never eaten, and have not even seen!

Bai Wei curled her lips into a smile, a bright glint flashing in her eyes!

Today, she would use this modern item to open the eyes of the people of Daliang!

And incidentally, make that coward Guo Gui drool with envy!

……

Whoosh!

A large pile of fresh vegetables and meat appeared out of thin air before the Beijiang Army.

"Shennü Daren has sent food!"

The Beijiang Army erupted in cheers and immediately began to light fires and cook.

The supplies sent today included flour, chicken, pork, green onions, and potatoes!

The soldiers of the Cook Battalion ran over happily, carrying the supplies away.

The menu for today was decided just like that.

Green onion and pork dumplings for lunch, and potato braised chicken for dinner!

This meal was truly full of fish and meat; it couldn't be any better!

The whole army was filled with joy.

When they were at the Beijiang Camp, Xiao Moting would not allow waste and required them to conserve supplies, so everyone usually ate simply; only during festivals would the Cook Battalion have so much meat.

The happiest person of all was Xiao Dabao.

He carried his Sniper Rifle, pacing around the stove, licking his lips in anticipation.

"Shennü Daren is truly good to us."

Bai Wei was specifically cooking a special meal for them.

The weather in Yannan was sweltering, and the Beijiang Army had been marching for so many days that they were long since exhausted.

They needed to regain their strength early so they could take Shiya City.

"The dumplings are going in!"

The iron pots in the army were all extra large, with each pot wider than a tabletop.

The large pots were lined up, the water boiling, with dumplings floating inside, the fragrance overflowing.

The Beijiang Army lined up in over a dozen long queues, taking turns to scoop up dumplings.

Xiao Moting had always eaten and lived with the soldiers, so he also took a bowl of dumplings; he took a bite, and the piping hot, savory juice instantly burst in his mouth.

His tightly knitted brows relaxed, and his narrow eyes curved slightly.

Cang Yun also received ten dumplings, placed in its feeding bowl.

It ate one per gulp, very happily, flapping its wings incessantly.

……

Inside the city.

Guo Gui was also eating with several generals, discussing countermeasures while they ate.

Their lunch was laid out on the table.

Steamed white buns, coarse grain buns, a basin of plain boiled radish soup, and a plate of cured meat.

Guo Gui grabbed a coarse grain bun and took a bite with great satisfaction.

"... Just let Xiao Moting take his hundred thousand troops and starve outside the city; let's see how long they can last!"

The Military Advisor picked up a piece of dried salted fish and laughed, "Yannan has been in a drought for so long, and the surrounding villagers have all fled as refugees; they won't be able to find anything to eat at all!"

"Let them go chew on tree bark." Guo Gui took a sip of soup, forced down the hard bun, pointed at the steamed white buns on the table, and laughed triumphantly, "Look, can the Beijiang Army eat such good white flour? I'll make them die of envy!"

"There is famine everywhere in Yannan; that we can eat steamed white buns and cured meat is all thanks to Prefect Guo," the Military Advisor flattered. "If you hadn't killed the wealthy families in the city and seized their grain, where would we find white flour and cured meat in such a famine year?"

After saying this, he took a bite of the cured meat, which was as hard as a stone, a look of intoxication appearing on his face.

"To be able to eat meat in a famine year, what a good life we have!"

The several generals at the table hurriedly flattered him.

"Only by following Prefect Guo can we have meat and buns to eat."

"Toss a steamed corn bun to the Beijiang Army, and believe me, they'd fight tooth and nail for it."

"If the Prefect rewards the Beijiang Army with a piece of fatty meat, they'd lick it off the ground like dogs."

The crowd erupted into a burst of cheerful laughter.

Guo Gui felt thoroughly gratified by the flattery, and the frustration he had suffered earlier at the hands of Xiao Moting dissipated quite a bit.

He took a bite of a steamed bun, felt somewhat full, and asked in a drawn-out voice.

"Go see how things are with that bunch of Beijiang Army soldiers outside the city. We've cut off their water supply; are they crying of thirst yet?"

"Yes."

The soldier went out.

Guo Gui ladled a bowl of radish soup, blew on it, and drank it with great satisfaction.

A tiny speck of oil floated on the soup, and inside was a small piece of pork fat.

In this drought-stricken year where corpses of the starved littered the fields, this was already a rare delicacy.

He had just taken a sip when the soldier suddenly ran back in a panic, panting for breath.

With a hint of smugness, Guo Gui asked leisurely, "Well, is the Beijiang Army so hungry they're gnawing on grass roots?"

"Prefect, the Beijiang Army isn't gnawing on grass roots; they, they are eating dumplings outside the city."

Guo Gui was stunned for a long moment, then suddenly became furious.

"What did you say?"

The soldier replied, "The Beijiang Army is boiling dumplings to eat, and they're pork and green onion filling, too."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but swallow hard.

How long had it been since he had eaten fragrant dumplings?

"Nonsense! Where would they get meat?" Guo Gui flew into a rage, stood up, and headed straight outside.

He wanted to see for himself!

Soon, Guo Gui arrived at the city wall and, in a fit of anger, snatched the Telescope from the hand of a soldier beside him.

He raised the Binoculars and looked down at the city.

In an instant!

Guo Gui froze.

Within the Beijiang Army, dozens of large pots were lined up, with steam curling up from them.

Faintly, one could see large white dumplings floating in the pots, rolling in the water.

The Beijiang Army soldiers were either squatting or standing, holding bowls, and eating dumplings.

The soldiers in the army were rough men; their table manners were far from elegant, but they ate with great relish, stuffing whole dumplings into their mouths as broth ran down the corners of their lips.

Watching through the Telescope, Guo Gui's mouth subconsciously secreted saliva, and he couldn't help but swallow hard.

Beside his ear came the Military Advisor's exclamation.

"There really are dumplings! Where on earth did they get dumplings!"

Guo Gui's expression darkened to the extreme.

He had left in such a hurry that he was still clutching half a steamed bun in his hand, having had no time to put it down.

Suddenly, this steamed bun didn't taste good anymore!

Beside his ear, a general's roar rang out again.

"There's chicken, they have chicken!"

"And it's whole chickens, so many chickens! The Beijiang Army is eating so well!"

"The Prince of the Northern Garrison is truly wealthy to actually feed his soldiers chicken!"

The surrounding soldiers and generals all revealed expressions of envy, swallowing their saliva in unison.

Guo Gui's complexion turned a few shades darker.

Here he was, bitterly gnawing on steamed buns and corn buns, thinking it was incredibly delicious... yet, the Beijiang Army outside the city was feasting on meat and fish, not only eating dumplings but having whole chickens too!