"Are they your friends?"
After a short silence and awkwardness, Lin Luo took the initiative to ask.
Yan Su touched the tip of his nose in embarrassment. "Yes."
"You have quite a lot of friends." Lin Luo took off the basket on her back and smoothed her hair as she asked, "How much seafood porridge do you guys need me to cook?"
As Yan Su looked at his incompetent subordinates, he gritted his teeth and said, "Just a two-person serving!"
"Thank you for your hard work."
Lin Luo shrugged.
It was just being one more serving, so it wasn't difficult for her.
Lin Luo slept too much during the day and ate very little, so she became hungry at night. That was why Lin Luo went into the sea to catch crabs.
The subordinates led by Lin Herong looked regretful when they heard Yan Su's words.
If they had known, they wouldn't have come to eavesdrop!
They heard that Miss Lin's culinary skills were superb. Even when she cooked seafood, the food was so delicious that Yan Su ate three bowls!
Miss Lin's seafood porridge must be delicious as well!
"Who was the one who said that we shouldn't bring chefs down south? Stand up and let me beat you up to vent my anger!"
"It's no big deal. It's just that there isn't any flatbread or warm seafood porridge. It's nothing. Boohoo, flatbread, seafood porridge…"
Qi Zhou said in exasperation, "Behave yourselves!"
Lin Luo didn't ask Yan Su to stay and help, but Yan Su took the initiative to stay.
The two of them cleaned the crab and squid together.
During this period, there were commotions next door from time to time. Lin Luo looked up and said, "Your friends are quite close and get along quite well."
"Yeah."
Yan Su rolled up his sleeves, revealing his fair but muscular forearm. With a slash, he cut the crab in half.
"We've been friends for many years and have saved each other's lives before."
It was rare for him to be talkative, so Lin Luo glanced at him.
"Shouldn't we send them some?"
Yan Su looked away and said firmly, "No need!"
His subordinates who waited under the wall in the middle of the night to eavesdrop wanted to eat porridge?
Yan Su sneered.
Lin Luo grunted and poured out the remaining crabs in the basket. "Let's clean these as well. I'll go see if the porridge is ready."
Someone who never cooked wouldn't know that the amount of these crabs far exceeded two servings.
After Yan Su cleaned up the crabs dilligently, he gave them to Lin Luo, along with squid and fresh prawns.
Lin Luo poured them into the boiling porridge.
She covered it with a lid and stewed it for a period of time. Then, she threw cabbage into it and added a suitable amount of salt and oil. Next, she cut the onions and celery and mixed them in. Now, the seafood porridge was ready.
After Lin Luo found a clean wooden basin, she filled two basins with porridge for Yan Su to bring back.
"Since your friends have come, you guys should spend some time together."
Yan Su opened his mouth to say something, but he hesitated and didn't say anything in the end.
"Go quickly. The weather is cold, so the porridge will cool down soon." Lin Luo sat at her door with her bowl as she gazed at the moon. "I'm going to eat now."
After a moment of silence, Yan Su moved.
He left with a basin of seafood porridge. After a while, Qi Zhou came to take another basin of seafood porridge.
Qi Zhou hesitated to say something a few times, but Lin Luo didn't notice him at all. In the end, he left silently.
The cold wind didn't feel chilling, but it made Lin Luo feel unnerved for some reason.
"This porridge is too delicious!"
"This porridge tastes like my mother's. I miss my mother so much!"
"Shut up. How can there be a mother in the Central Plains who makes seafood porridge?!"
Things were still very lively next door.
The more, the merrier.
After Lin Luo raised her head and gulped down a big mouthful of seafood porridge, the heat made her stick out her tongue.
When footsteps sounded beside Lin Luo, she tilted her head slightly and looked at Yan Su, who was sitting beside her with a bowl and chopsticks. "Why are you here?"
The porridge was so hot that she could barely speak coherently.
"They're too noisy. It's quieter here."
Yan Su carried the bowls and chopsticks into the kitchen. Not long after, he returned with a bowl of water and handed it to Lin Luo in silence.
Lin Luo beamed. "You're really a taciturn person. Can't you just say that you're worried about me? If I didn't look at you, how would I know that you poured water for me?"
She took the water and drank it all in one gulp.
The two of them sat on the sill as they finished their supper together.
Lin Luo sat on the sill as she watched Yan Su return. Just as she was about to get up and return, she accidentall kicked a bag at her feet.
She picked it up and weighed it in her hand. It was quite heavy.
After she opened it, she saw a bag full of silver.
"He's quite sensible."
Lin Luo muttered to herself as she closed the door.
-
The next morning, Lin Luo entered the farmer's market.
She met Zhang Wei at the entrance of the farmer's market.
"Were you beaten up?" Lin Luo asked aloofly.
Zhang Wei smiled bitterly.
If he had only been beaten up, he would have been happier.
But that wasn't the case!
He had suffered from insomnia the entire night because of Lin Luo's request for a fake identity card!
Unable to fall asleep, Zhang Wei ran to the entrance of the farmer's market to wait for Lin Luo.
"Boss, let me tell you something," Zhang Wei said with a sigh.
It was really difficult to be a dealer, but thinking of how Wang Shuai and his ex-girlfriend had been slapped in the face, Zhang Wei didn't regret being Lin Luo's dealer at all.
When Lin Luo passed by the meat-filling flatbread stall that she had bought from yesterday, she stopped in her tracks.
She had eaten it yesterday, so she didn't want to eat it again today.
"Tell me."
She replied to Zhang Wei aloofly as she continued walking.
Zhang Wei took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself before saying slowly, "Boss, it's illegal to get a fake identity card."
He finally said it! Zhang Wei felt much better after he got it off his chest.
He had been a law-abiding citizen for more than twenty years. He really couldn't bring himself to do anything illegal!
But soon, Zhang Wei became anxious again.
"You were conflicted for the entire night and stayed up just for this?" Lin Luo stopped in front of the pancake stall. After ordering two pancakes, she gave Zhang Wei a look. Zhang Wei immediately paid for them.
"So be it," Lin Luo said.
Zhang Wei was a little shocked. "You're really letting it go?"
Lin Luo played with a strand of hair. "If you don't want to do it, so be it. But if you want to…"
A fake identity card wasn't a necessity for Lin Luo to begin with. She only wanted one in case of emergencies.
"No, no, no. Don't do it."
Zhang Wei heaved a sigh of relief.
He took out a phone. "By the way, Boss, I saw that you didn't even have a phone, so I bought one for you. I've also gotten your SIM card."
"The first number in there is mine. Just call me if you need anything."
After Lin Luo took the phone, she looked at it. Zhang Wei was quite considerate. He even registered a payment app for her. There were at least seven zeros in the balance column.
"Do me one more favor."
When he heard this sentence again, Zhang Wei shuddered.
Half an hour later, Lin Luo returned to the house with two pancakes in her left hand and a bag of flatbread in her right hand.
As soon as she returned, she heard someone knocking on the door.