Luo Qingqing thought about it again and again, and decided to meet him in the wing outside the bedroom.
This time was not the right time to receive guests, not to mention that the visitor was a young man, but she had her own considerations - the other party would understand this, and even for the reason of avoiding suspicion, he should not appear in her vicinity. Within ten steps. But he knew this but still acted like this. It can only be said that he must have something in mind.
As a talented child in the new generation of the Luo family, she has seen a lot of unpredictable people. Xia Fan's initial attitude was good, but that doesn't mean he will always be like that. Changing her mind in less than two days was a little too quick, but it didn't go beyond her worst-case scenario.
If the other party's attitude changes drastically and they want to use what happened last night as a bargaining chip to get something from her, she must let the other party know that this is nothing more than a dream.
And he has to pay the price for his wanton violation of promises.
Under Luo Youer's "surveillance", Xia Fan walked in with a porcelain basin and said, "Good evening. Fortunately, you are not asleep yet."
What kind of greeting is this? Luo Qingqing couldn't tell for a moment whether he was joking or really saying hello. "I don't think this is a suitable time for a visit. Why don't you come tomorrow..."
She suddenly stopped mid-sentence because a tempting smell of food attracted her attention.
This has nothing to do with concentration, but an instinctive reaction - due to the evacuation of the town residents, the supply of three meals a day has been completely interrupted. Although the Luo family usually buys some extra food as a reserve, the reserve food is only for emergencies and is not at all Not enough for everyone’s daily needs. Considering that he still had to hold on for two more days, Luo Fengqing had already gathered the food and planned to distribute it to those who stayed on the last night.
In other words, she hasn't eaten in almost a day.
It was okay when she was busy, but once she stopped and the strong fragrance hit her face, her body gave the most appropriate response.
Gulu…
Luo's stomach growled slightly.
As soon as this sound came out, the momentum she had built up suddenly disappeared.
The source of the fragrance is undoubtedly the porcelain basin in the other party's hand.
"Why are you… "
"I guess you haven't had dinner yet, so you just made some more." Xia Fan put the basin on the table and opened the lid, "This is suitable for talking while eating. If you think it's good, you can share it with everyone." Call me over and try it.”
Luo Qingqing wanted to question him about his intention, but when the lid was lifted, the words that came to his lips suddenly changed.
"Is this... a crab?"
"Have you eaten it before?" Xia Fan was a little surprised.
"No, but I have heard of it." Luo Qingqing carefully looked at the angular and golden crabs in the basin and said, "It is said that the upper class of Yongguo once had a popular method of eating crabs. Northern blue crabs should be mashed and mixed with sugar to make crab sauce; The southern lake crabs are larger and more suitable for steaming. As far as I know, there are three ancient books that mention this. However, because of their ugly and terrible shapes, they were mostly used as seasonings or seafood accompaniments, and they have not been spread since. .”
"You'd better not call me Luo Qingqing, just call me Luo Encyclopedia from now on." Xia Fan muttered softly.
"what are you saying?"
"Ahem... I said that the Luo family is indeed knowledgeable about all things. They even know exactly what crabs do."
"But there is no record of your doing this in those books." Luo Qingqing said with great interest, "It's neither a lake crab nor a blue crab, but more like a small mountain crab that is common by the stream... Is this thing really edible?"
Hey, that's not what your throat is saying.
Xia Fan didn't answer, but directly picked up a crab and put it into his mouth.
Just chew it lightly, and the crispy shell will break into pieces.
Anyone who hears the crackling sound can imagine how crispy it is.
Luo Youer couldn't hold back at all, and followed Xia Fan's example and stuffed a whole crab into her mouth, and then her eyes lit up.
"Sister, it's delicious!"
Once junior sister started, Luo Qingqing couldn't stop her anymore. She silently recited that this was to verify the history books, not to satisfy her personal desires, while she reached out to the porcelain basin.
When half of the crab was put into her mouth, a strong aroma of oil instantly bloomed and filled her entire mouth. After the golden crab shell is broken, the juice inside pours out, presenting a completely different taste. The last thing that is felt by the tongue is the crab meat. After the impact of the salty aroma, it still maintains its original sweetness. The delicate shreds of meat can be said to melt in the mouth. The mixture of three tastes brings the deliciousness of crab to a new level.
Although the junior sister's statement is simple, it expresses her feelings about this dish most intuitively.
"This method...could it be deep-frying?"
Although food cooked with hot oil was rare, Luo Qingqing happened to have eaten one or two kinds - in the entire Qi Kingdom, only large shops in Gyeonggi Province sold similar meals. However, whether it was spring rolls or fried noodles, they were essentially vegetarian dishes. It was the first time she had ever seen a living thing like crab cooked in oil.
Xia Fan nodded in approval and said, "Exactly. Although the rice jars in the back kitchen of the hotel have been moved cleanly, there are still some seasonings left. Probably because these things are not enough to fill the stomach, the townspeople did not take them away. I went there before When we were in the back of the mountain, we found a live stream with a lot of crabs in it, and I happened to find a can of vegetable oil in the kitchen, so I used it to make this."
Not only a lot of them, he tied a basket with vines and easily caught nearly a hundred of them - the crabs of this era had obviously not tasted the beatings of the terrifying erect ape, so they turned over a hidden stone and swarmed into the basket. He was so busy that he put together today's dinner without much effort.
Compared with the steaming method that emphasizes the original flavor, this kind of small crab can be caught several times with one slap, not to mention the crab roe, not even much meat, so when I was a child, mobile vendors on the street would skewer it and sell it fried. . However, the high-fat and high-calorie recipes that were despised at that time were now delicacies that ordinary people flocked to in ancient times. Driven by genes, the satisfaction brought by rich fats and oils can be said to be far better than the taste of the ingredients themselves.
As for some modern cooking techniques, such as high-temperature water locking and double frying, they are just the icing on the cake for this already tempting dish.
Luo Youer's exaggerated praise quickly attracted the attention of others. After a while, all the female disciples of the Luo family who were guarding the large wing gathered over. After not eating for a day, they had no resistance to this golden dish, and one after another they became captives of fried crabs.
Luo Qingqing was surprised to find that in less than a quarter of an hour, the senior sisters who had previously treated Xia Fan coldly were now talking to him without a word.
This greatly increased the pressure in her heart. Judging from the current situation, he should be overly worried about threatening her with his reputation and innocence. After all, that matter itself is the biggest bargaining chip, and whether he brings food or not, it will not help to completely break up the relationship. However, the other party's visit late at night was obviously not to give them free food. It is said that eating people is soft-spoken and short-handed. If the other party took the opportunity to make some gentler requests, such as asking the Luo family to take him with them to survive the wild night, she refused. I'm afraid it will take a little more effort to get up.
"Okay, tell me your reason for coming." Luo cleared his throat gently and said seriously to Xia Fan, "Your fried crab is indeed good, but compared to the interests of the Luo family, the latter is more important. , I believe you won’t make it too difficult for me.”
"Unless you make crabs for us to eat every day." Luo Youer added immediately.
Without saying anything, Luo Qingqing gave her a blow with his hand.
"Hey..." the latter said aggrievedly, holding his head, "Isn't negotiation just about bargaining? I think Master and the others all negotiate like this."
"Some things cannot be compromised, please step aside!"
"Oh..." Luo Youer squatted in the corner of the room with a crab leg in her mouth.
Xia Fan couldn't help laughing. He spread his hands and said, "I have said before that because I caught too many, I brought you one, so I didn't show up empty-handed. As for what I want to talk about, It has nothing to do with crabs. The main reason I came here is to tell you that letting most people evacuate is not the best choice. In fact, I have a better way to deal with the Great Desolate Night."
"You?" Luo frowned slightly in confusion. She really didn't expect the conversation to unfold like this.
"That's right, but that method requires everyone to stay in Qingshan Town - the strength of every candidate is crucial. Rather than dividing into families or small teams to fight, uniting as a group can bring out the strength close to the upper limit of everyone."
Typical of talking on paper, Luo Qingqing didn't even want to ask what his method was. Ten people are naturally better than one, but the prerequisite is how to make the interests of the ten people consistent - this is why the children of the aristocratic family can take the upper hand. "What you say makes sense, but others may not listen to you. The candidates' choice to stay or leave is not at all what the Luo family means, but based on their own wishes. I'm afraid I can't help you with anything."
"I know. I don't intend to convince them," Xia Fan said calmly, "I just want to give them no choice."
This straightforward answer surprised Luo Qingqing. She had thought that the other person was the kind of person who liked to make plans based on wishful thinking, but these words seemed to mean that he was not like that.
For some reason, she suddenly felt uneasy.
"What exactly do you want to discuss with me?"
"It's not a discussion, it's a telling." Xia Fan slowly shook his head, "Because the evacuation plan was inspired by the Luo family, I think you should be the first to know."
“…”
Should I know
This even seemed a bit arrogant.
She had imagined the situation where the other party was threatening her without knowing the heights of the world, and she had also considered whether the Luo family really had the energy to bring in one more disciple to pass the exam, but no matter what kind of imagination she had, it did not include the current situation.
Luo Qingqing didn't know how to answer the question for a moment, and there was a strange silence between the two.
What broke the silence was the hurried footsteps outside the wing and the panicked shouts of the Luo family disciples.
"It's not good, Senior Sister Luo, it's not good!"
The door was opened, and the female disciple who rushed in looked at a room full of people chewing crabs and having fragrant mouths. She couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, but she soon remembered her mission, looked at Luo Qingqing and said, "Senior sister, let go." Both the platform and the wooden kite are on fire!"
"What?" After hearing the news, everyone involuntarily slowed down their swallowing movements.
"How did it start a fire? There shouldn't be any ignition point there?"
"How's the burning going? Where's the person in charge of guarding?"
"Is anyone putting out the fire?"
"I don't know... I only realized something was wrong when I saw the fire from a distance!" The disciple who reported the news said anxiously, "Judging from the intensity of the fire, I'm afraid I can't save him!"
The room suddenly exploded. Only Luo Qingqing remained motionless, feeling cold in his heart.
Xia Fan's words suddenly rang in her ears.
"I'm not trying to convince them, I just want to give them no choice."
"It's not about discussing, it's about telling."
With disbelief, she slowly looked at Xia Fan.
The latter gave an affirmative answer, "I put it there."