Chapter 68: Delicious Food

  It's probably not meal time now, so there aren't many people in the store, and what they ordered came up quickly. It was brought by an elderly Uyghur man with a face full of wrinkles, wearing a large coat and a flower hat. Qiu Ye thought it was no wonder that Uncle Chen called him "old dad" as soon as he came in - this waiter is really old, judging from the wrinkles on his face, he must be over 70 years old. Their family's dishes should also have some age, it's that kind of old brand, she has to taste it carefully.

  Qiu Feng and Qiu Ye were educated by their father to be very polite, when the skewers came up, they just looked at them, and if the host didn't say they could eat, they wouldn't touch them even if they were starving.

  Chen Jianjun was very satisfied with the performance of the two children, and he secretly nodded to Zhao Shuyan. Zhao Shuyan's head was proudly held high, their family's children were all well-educated.

  "Come on, kids, don't be polite to Uncle Chen, eat quickly, it won't taste good if it gets cold." Zhao Shuyan first handed a string of lamb skewers to Qiu Ye.

  Qiu Ye looked at the iron skewers of lamb meat in her hand, each piece of lamb was much larger than the diced meat of later generations. The outer skin was charred from being roasted, and on top were sprinkled seasonings that weren't just anything, emitting a fragrant aroma that assailed her nostrils. Upon closer sniffing, she detected the flavor of cumin within.

  "Don't just look at it, eat quickly! This is lamb skewer, all the meat on top is lamb. It's roasted over charcoal and has to be eaten while hot, or else the smell will get stronger when it cools down." Chen Jianjun saw that the little girl was only holding the lamb skewer and looking at it, not eating, and thought she had never had it before and didn't dare to eat it.

  Qiu Ye heard Chen Jianjun's words and knew he had misunderstood, but she didn't explain either. To think about it, this was actually the first time in her life that she saw such a lamb skewer, besides, a nine-year-old child. It was normal to be afraid of unknown food.

  Qiu Ye carefully took a bite of the meat skewer in her hand, hmm, hmm, hmm, it's so delicious! The meat is red and juicy, with a crispy outside and tender inside, salty, fresh, slightly spicy, and has a unique cumin flavor.

  Qiu Ye savored the moment slowly. Qiu Feng had already started to devour his food, like a storm sweeping away fallen leaves. His two hands held chopsticks, working on both sides of his bowl, while his eyes remained fixed on the contents of the plate.

  Chen Jianjun didn't think there was anything wrong with Qiu Feng eating like that, thinking about the pot while he ate. He praised Qiu Feng as he ate, saying he was tiger-like and that boys should be like that.

  His boastful words further inflated Qiu Feng's arrogance, and he almost buried his head in the plate.

  The size of this lamb skewer is almost the same as the meat skewers that cost five yuan a string in later generations. Think about it, fifty strings would be a huge pile, but they were all gone in less than ten minutes. It was really wiped out by the two big and two small on the table.

  Qiu Ye held the last string and ate it while feeling incredulous. Although he had also contributed a lot of strength in the middle, such combat power was still too terrifying.

  Chen Jianjun looked at Qiu Feng, who still seemed unsatisfied with the small amount of food he had eaten. He laughed and said: "Wait a minute, Uncle has ordered some other delicious dishes. If you can finish all of them, I'll give you 50 more strings to eat as much as you want."

  While he was speaking, the old Uyghur man brought another large plate and put it on the table. Everyone looked at it and saw that it was a plate of rice with several buns on top, surrounded by a circle of roasted yellow mutton chops around the edge of the plate.

  "This is a dish called Polao in Uyghur, it's made with mutton, rice, carrots and vegetable oil. When eating this, we always use our hands to grab it like this." As he said that, he grabbed a small handful of oily rice with his big hand and threw it into his mouth to chew.

  Just as Qiu Feng was about to dig in, Qiu Ye hastily pulled him back. "Brother, you haven't washed your hands yet! You have to wash them before eating." Qiu Ye clearly remembered that her brother hadn't even taken a bath since they were at the reception center, so his hands must be covered in dirt and grime accumulated over many days. How many bacteria must be on them?! And he was about to eat with those unwashed hands - how unsanitary!

  Chen Jianjun on the side was very dismissive: "No big deal, who makes such a fuss? In the past when we went to the battlefield, in the deep mountains and old forests, our hands were all muddy, and when eating, weren't we all using our hands to grab food?"

  Qiu Feng had been influenced by his sister for more than a year and had become very obedient. Just now, when his sister said she wanted to wash her hands, he didn't think twice about it and just let her do it. But as soon as Chen Jianjun spoke up, he suddenly became inspired and thought that as a soldier and a man, he couldn't wash his hands during meals.

  So he just lifted his butt and put it back down, still staring at his sister with a sullen look on his face, as if to say that since he's the man of the house, he doesn't need to go wash his hands.

  Qiu Ye's authority was provoked, but he didn't get angry. He just said: "What Uncle Chen said must have been under unavoidable circumstances, right? In your army, don't soldiers brush their teeth and wash their faces every day? When eating, do they use muddy hands to grab food? I think that's impossible. If it were true, you wouldn't be called soldiers, but savages."

  Zhao Shuyan couldn't help but laugh at Hehe's words, and Chen Jianjun had no words to refute her. What Qiu Ye said was indeed true - in the army, everything is about discipline, even personal hygiene has its own rules to follow. So it seems that what he said would only happen in unavoidable situations.

  "Brother, think about it, what have you done today? Which places have your hands touched? How many bacteria are on your hands? You've seen those lectures on TV, right? Those bacteria might contain insect eggs. Once they're in your stomach, they'll hatch into worms that absorb your nutrients and grow. Then they'll lay eggs and become little insects... Oh my god, I don't even dare to think about what you'll look like in the future! Can you imagine having a conversation with me while a worm crawls out of your nose or ears? Or maybe there are so many worms that your stomach gets all bloated?"

  Qiu Ye exaggeratedly gestured with his hands and feet as he spoke, causing Qiu Feng's face to change color, and Chen Jianjun also looked unnatural.

  Qiu Ye observed her brother's expression, and when the timing was about right, she changed the subject and said: "Brother, I'm really afraid of little bugs, so I need to wash my hands. Ah, in this unfamiliar place, I'd be scared on my own, will you accompany me?"

  Qiu Feng quickly nodded and stood up, "Alright, Father said so. When we're outside, you can't act on your own, I have to follow you wherever you go."

  Then Qiu Feng happily went to wash his hands with Qiu Ye, while Zhao Shuyan sat in her seat looking at Chen Jianjun who was a bit worried and said: "Don't you also need to go wash your hands with me? I'm afraid of getting worms in my stomach too."

  Chen Jianjun suddenly stood up and said, "What's the relationship between us two? Why are you still being polite with me? Come on, let's go wash our hands and then come back to eat."

  Everyone went outside to wash their hands clean before coming back to taste the specialty dish hand-pulled noodles.

  Everyone was full and round after this meal, and just as they were about to stop eating, Qiu Ye also discovered a good thing - the mares' milk wine brought up by the Uyghur old man.

  Although it is wine, it tastes like a drink when drunk, and there is no hint of alcohol flavor when savored, with a clear color and sweet taste.

  Chen Jianjun watched Qiu Ye drink cup after cup of kumis, laughing and saying: "I knew you'd like this kind of kumis, little girl. It's good, isn't it?"

  Qiu Ye hastily nodded, she discovered a business opportunity here, if she could produce such kumis in her hometown, then she would make another fortune. "Uncle Chen, how is this made?"

  "You drink well, actually it's made from horse milk. Fresh horse milk is put into a container and stirred constantly, after a few days, it becomes the horse milk wine you're drinking." He didn't say that there are many types of horse milk wine, the one we have now is suitable for children and women to drink, and there's also high-proof horse milk wine, which is what men drink. It's just that in his current situation, he's not suited to drink alcohol, so he only wants this beverage.

  Qiu Ye was discouraged as soon as he heard the method, there are many horses here, so there is a lot of horse milk, but the Oil City horse is not many, so this road is impassable.

  Next to Zhao Shuyan saw Qiu Ye's lack of energy, she knew that her dry aunt was thinking about her small business in her heart, so she asked Chen Jianjun: "Jianjun, is there still Hetian jade in the Uyghur family you took me to last time?"

  Qiu Ye's ears perked up as she heard her godmother ask about the important matter, and her morale, which had just subsided, surged again.

  Chen Jianjun looked at Zhao Shuyan in surprise, "What's wrong with you, you still want to buy it? Didn't you say before that you didn't like these things?"

  "When you're asked if you have something, just say yes or no, why so much nonsense." Zhao Shuyan was never polite to her childhood friend, she would always speak her mind.

  "Haha, how did you get out these years, your temper has grown longer, is it old Fang who spoiled you?" He habitually joked with his childhood friend, but seeing Zhao Shuyan's angry eyes, Qiu Ye with a gossiping gaze, and Qiu Feng's curious eyes, he surrendered and said: "Okay okay, let's talk seriously. I really don't know if that family still has any Hetian jade or not, he often travels back and forth between Hetian and Urumqi as an intermediary for those bosses who come here to buy Hetian jade, but I really don't know if he is at home now, or if there are goods at home. If you want to buy, we can go to his house tomorrow to take a look."

  Zhao Shuyan asked with her eyes what Qiu Ye meant, and when she saw Qiu Ye nodding, she said: "Okay, I'll trouble you tomorrow to take us there for a look."

  "We're being too polite with each other, if we keep this up it'll be awkward."

  After they had finalized their itinerary for the next day, Chen Jianjun sent the three of them back to the guest house. After all, the three of them had just gotten off the train today and were supposed to rest early tonight to recharge.