Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 258

Borrowing Fire

Neither of them played much, but the smell on their bodies was truly hard to endure. The loving couple, who were just extremely affectionate a moment ago, now began to mutually “attack the other party.”

“Miaomiao is smellier!”

“Blind talk! Susu-jie is smellier!”

In order to make it so neither of them was smelly, they could only “beat the path back to the residence”¹ early, returning to the hotel to wash up clean. Su Ruixi had always felt that the hotels over here essentially did not have five stars; even the presidential suite was just average. However, this was indeed the best hotel one could book in the vicinity.

Moreover, there was one point that made Su Ruixi reasonably satisfied: it was very close to the desert, and the surroundings had campsites where one could build their own bonfires. She had originally prepared to pick up the rented car the next day, take Sun Miao to find a place to camp, and directly stay in the desert at night to watch the stars.

As a result, this plan was directly advanced to the first day.

Sun Miao was rarely this nervous. “But I haven’t learned how to make roasted lamb skewers with the System yet.”

Su Ruixi had abnormal confidence in Sun Miao. She waved her large hand and directly said, “Why learn from it? Miaomiao is very formidable. Even if you use the seasoning from making fried skewers before to make roasted lamb skewers, it will definitely be delicious.”

“It’s not the same.”

Sun Miao shook her head. Precisely because she was a chef, Sun Miao was particularly clear on this. Once the method changed even a little bit, one would have to drill into it for several years to find the trick within. She could make roasted skewers very tasty, but wanting to reach the level of utmost perfection was somewhat difficult.

Sun Miao wanted to give Su Ruixi the best, so she wanted to learn with the System first. But the System also said: 【To a certain extent, I also approve of the Host’s girlfriend’s opinion. Fledgling birds must always fly. Host, you can also attempt to carry out learning on your own. She is your girlfriend; even if what you make is not delicious, she will accommodate you. Why not take this opportunity to learn a bit yourself.】

Finally, under the encouragement of both the System and Su Ruixi, Sun Miao also pumped herself up², finally deciding to do something big tonight—roasted lamb chops.

The preparatory work was done very quickly. With the help of the guide Su Ruixi found, all the necessary items for camping were soon prepared. Su Ruixi even directly rented a camping car. At four-thirty in the afternoon, Su Ruixi drove Sun Miao and set off directly, not even bringing the guide, going straight to a relatively remote place in the camping grounds.

This time, there actually wasn’t a traffic jam. Everyone preferred riding camels and sand sliding. Today was only the first day of the holiday; not many people were like Sun Miao and Su Ruixi, choosing to camp directly at night. After playing for a day, everyone was already physically and mentally exhausted, preparing to eat some delicious Xin Province³ cuisine and then go rest.

Only Sun Miao and Su Ruixi were this full of drive, even after blocking camels⁴ in the desert during the day, they still wanted to go out and play in the afternoon.

This time point was considered quite late in their original city, where everyone would be preparing to make dinner, but for Xin Province, it had only just begun. The sunset time in the desert was extremely late; when they set off, a large sun was still hanging in the sky. After arriving at the camping location, Sun Miao got off the car “one horse leading first”⁵ and began to set up camp.

They wanted to watch the stars, so they prepared tents and sleeping bags. The guide had also prepared a “sky curtain”⁶ and a series of other things needed for camping.

Sun Miao wasn’t very skilled with these, but Su Ruixi was full of drive, even commanding Sun Miao on what to do. The two people bustled about until past six o’clock before finally setting up their small campsite.

There weren’t many people at this campsite, but Sun Miao climbed up a sand dune to look. In a place neither far nor near, there were also two or three tents. This made Sun Miao, camping in the wild for the first time, feel quite a bit more at ease.

The tent was finished; next was preparing the bonfire and getting the lamb chops roasting.

There was a lot of prep work Sun Miao had already done inside the hotel, such as marinating the lamb chops.

The guide had taken Sun Miao to run through two markets before they bought the lamb chops Sun Miao fancied. It was a whole fan of lamb ribs; horizontally, it was as long as Sun Miao’s small arm, particularly fresh, looking as if it had just been slaughtered in the last two days. After staying in the refrigerator for a period of time, the lamb chops were covered with beautiful ice flowers.

Sun Miao took a fancy to it at first glance. She didn’t even “pull and mutter”⁷ back and forth with the boss a few times, but directly bought it, deeply afraid of missing out.

After the lamb chops were bought and brought back, they were first thawed, and then came the knife modification. The back needed to be scored horizontally with a few cuts; the goal of this was to destroy the lamb chop’s fascia, avoiding the fascia curling up after receiving heat, which would make it impossible for people to chew. The front side was cut open following the grain of the ribs, delving deep but not cutting it apart, in order to let the flavor enter more fully.

Next was preparing the seasoning. Sun Miao wasn’t considered a skilled hand with lamb meat, but at the moment she touched the lamb chops, she had already thought well on how to season it.

Salt, black pepper, cumin, garlic powder, cooking wine, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar—these were all essential. After the seasoning was sprinkled on, a layer of minced onion was spread over it, pressed and rubbed in evenly. Next, it was handed over to time, letting it marinate to absorb the flavor.

Right at this moment, those lamb chops were already marinated to a fragrant spray.

Sun Miao was starting the fire. This wasn’t any difficult matter for her. Added with the tools prepared by the guide, in not even half an hour, a small fire pile was raised by Sun Miao. She prepared the barbecue rack, wiped the rack for skewering the lamb chops clean, and then skewered the entire lamb chop onto it.

This work wasn’t simple. Su Ruixi sat in the camping chair to the side, watching Sun Miao holding that large rack, and reminded her in a small voice from over there, “Miaomiao, be careful, don’t poke yourself.”

“It’s nothing, this is still considered simple.”

Sun Miao chatted with Su Ruixi while she poked. “When I was little, I skewered way more than this. Back then we weren’t particular; we’d directly take a tree branch, grope around in the fields, and eat whatever there was. At the best times, there would be sweet potatoes or potatoes to eat.”

“Orphanages, you know, are generally in the suburbs. The land there is cheap, so the surroundings are rural villages with lots of fields. The Daye and Daniang⁸ in the village felt quite a bit of heartache for us little cubs, otherwise where would there be extra things left in the fields? The village also had small children about our age who would even bring us corn to eat.”

Saying this, Sun Miao threw a corn cob wrapped in tin foil directly into the bonfire.

She finished skewering the lamb chops and hung them on the roasting rack, looking at them every now and then. Roasted lamb chops required a long time, so she simultaneously busied herself with some other things. Sweet potatoes, potatoes, she had prepared them all. She also prepared some vegetables placed in a tin foil box, directly racked on top of the roasting net.

The sky gradually darkened, and the temperature also dropped fiercely.

Sun Miao unconsciously pulled her clothes tighter, yet her face was cheerful. “When I was in school, I saw in books saying the desert’s day and night temperature difference was particularly large. I wondered how large it could be; I didn’t expect it could be large to this degree. It really got cold all of a sudden.”

“You were busy skewering lamb chops just now and didn’t even see the sunset. It was so beautiful.”

Su Ruixi nestled in the sofa chair, her hands holding the milk tea Sun Miao had warmed up for her to cover her hands. The bonfire was reflected inside her eyes; she looked glowing with spirits, diametrically opposite to that appearance of being smoked by the camel stench during the day.

Compared to that appearance, Sun Miao still liked looking at the current Su Ruixi more.

“It’s okay, there’s still tomorrow. We’ll watch it again tomorrow. And tomorrow morning, we can even climb to the top of the sand dune to watch the sunrise.”

“Okay.” Su Ruixi narrowed her eyes and agreed.

Not much later, the sweet potatoes and potatoes were ready first. Sun Miao brought a sweet potato over. That sweet potato was actually scalding hot, but as a chef, Sun Miao naturally possessed some ability of the “Ruthless Iron Hand”⁹. Holding the sweet potato in her hand, it was as if she couldn’t feel the heat at all.

When it arrived in Su Ruixi’s hands, however, she began to cry out, “So hot! Really so hot!”

“You slow down!”

Sun Miao hurriedly leaned over, grabbed a plate for her to hold it, and passed her a spoon, letting her slowly dig at it to eat.

Just when the atmosphere between the two of them was just right, the sound of a car suddenly rang out. Sun Miao and Su Ruixi both stood up, looking over toward that side, only to see an off-road vehicle stop not far in front of them. The high beams hit their faces, causing Su Ruixi to narrow her eyes in discomfort.

Fortunately, that side also knew their behavior of using high beams was somewhat impolite, and very quickly switched to low beams. Then, a person got down from the car. Looking at the appearance, it was an Auntie around forty years old. She walked over with quick steps, and by the time she reached Sun Miao and the others, she was still panting a bit.

This patch of camping ground had relatively solid sandy soil underfoot, not that kind of flowing desert sand, otherwise one couldn’t run that fast. Even so, the sandy ground was pitted and uneven, making running somewhat difficult.

Once the person arrived close by, the Auntie said, “Ah, Little Girl… do you have tools for starting a fire? Over on our side, we can’t start the fire no matter what. Could we ask to borrow from you guys?”

Sun Miao paused for a moment and exchanged a glance with Su Ruixi. Because Su Ruixi had just been dazzled by the light, she was somewhat indifferent. However, Sun Miao was a person with a warm intestine¹⁰. “Sure, I’ll get them for you.” Their fire-starting tools were very complete, and the fire pile was already raised, so Sun Miao lent them out very generously.

In order to prevent the Auntie from not knowing how to use them due to her age, Sun Miao even specially taught her for a moment.

The Auntie left with a thousand gratitudes and ten thousand thanks. Sun Miao returned and continued watching the lamb chops. She was still somewhat worried; every now and then she would use her hand to poke or press the lamb chops. Those movements made Su Ruixi watch with trembling fear. “Careful you don’t get burned.”

“I won’t, I have a number in my heart¹¹.”

After a while, that off-road vehicle came again. Sun Miao thought they were coming to return the tools, but the Auntie got out of the car with a face full of an expression of wanting to cry but having no tears. “Little Girl, truly sorry. We still can’t get it started. Can you help us? Help us get the fire started?”

Sun Miao turned her head to look at the lamb chops, then looked at Su Ruixi.

Su Ruixi exchanged glances with Sun Miao for a while, and could only nod. Her family’s Miaomiao was just optimistic, cheerful, and aggressively upward-moving; she liked helping others within the scope of her ability. She also liked this point about Sun Miao very much, so how could she possibly stop her because of a small matter?

Having obtained Su Ruixi’s permission, Sun Miao also nodded. “Okay, no problem.” However, Sun Miao also had a requirement. “You have another person come down from the car to accompany my friend, otherwise leaving her alone, I’m not at ease leaving.”

From the car, another Auntie around forty years old came down. After handing over with the previous Auntie, she said, “Then I’ll stay here. Little Girl, you be at ease, we truly aren’t any bad people.”

Sun Miao had also decided to help only after weighing the situation. If she hadn’t seen that the car was full of Aunties aged forty or fifty, Sun Miao wouldn’t have said she would go over to help. Before Sun Miao left, Su Ruixi made a gesture of making a phone call, meaning to keep in contact at any time. But the true difficult problem did not lie here.

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