After a simple rebirth

Fu Ying was interested in another snack, grilled tofu.

This grilled tofu is vegan. The tofu is ordinary tofu, but it is made in smaller pieces, in square shapes, without any edges or corners. It is rounder and its size and shape are similar to the dried tofu sold on the market.

The tofu was also roasted over charcoal until it was a little burnt, but the oven was custom-made. Coal could be put in the bottom, and the top was like a special oven, shaped like an umbrella, with only a hole left for watching the fire, and the rest of the room was sealed.

The tofu is slowly roasted right on the edge of the umbrella.

Bake until both sides are golden brown, then make a cut in the middle without breaking it, stuff some chili powder in it, and take a bite to enjoy the aroma of chili and tofu. A more vivid metaphor is the Roujiamo in the north.

Fu Ying and Fu Zhe each ordered one and ate while looking at other items.

There were also fried potatoes and roasted yellow cakes that you would see at the Gumang market, but Fu Ying didn't try them.

Fu Ying bought some roasted glutinous rice cakes. This kind of glutinous rice cake is similar to the Sichuan and Chongqing brown sugar glutinous rice cakes sold on the market, and the cooking method is also similar.

Soak the glutinous rice first, then use a tool to mash it into a paste after steaming it. Grab a little and knead it into a round shape, flatten it, and sprinkle it with glutinous rice flour.

This kind of food can be eaten directly or you can keep it and bake it when you want to eat it. It will become soft when baked and tastes better when you eat it.

The glutinous rice cakes here are not dipped in red sugar syrup or mung bean powder, but are eaten with white sugar. However, Fu Ying likes to eat them in their original flavor without any dipping sauce.

When we were young and had no snacks, our grandmother would bake some glutinous rice cakes, cut them into two halves, and Fu Ying and Fu Zhe would eat them slowly.

For the rest, Fu Ying just had to watch Fu Zhe buy them, and then wait for Fu Zhe to give her some to eat.

The prices in the county town have not risen to the point where everyone is cursing at the price, so the things they buy now are only 50 cents or 1 yuan, which is still acceptable to both of them.

Fu Ying remembered that the intersection where she bought glutinous rice cakes was the same intersection where she went to see a Chinese doctor.

The first time she went to the hospital for a check-up, she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome. The doctor required long-term follow-up treatment. Fu Ying later gave up the treatment for various reasons. Fu's mother also thought that it was not a big problem. She said that she was the same when she was young.

In the following years, her menstruation was still irregular, and Fu's mother began to worry. She was only 18 years old at that time. Maybe Fu's mother thought that if she started working, she would be old enough to get married, but she had this problem, so she began to want to take her to see a Chinese medicine doctor for treatment.

When she came back to apply for her ID card, Fu's mother asked Fu's second aunt to take her to the county to see a Chinese doctor. Fu's second aunt heard from her relatives that this old Chinese doctor was very accurate, so she brought her here to have her pulse checked.

In fact, the diagnosis results were all similar, that is, qi and blood deficiency, and uterine coldness. Then they prescribed Chinese medicine for one month, which was extended to three months with Fu Ying's efforts.

But Fu Ying did not come back for a follow-up visit because the outcome was always the same, and she did not come back to celebrate the New Year in the following years, which means she never returned to Gumang.

Now I can only try my best to control my weight, exercise more, and wait and see what happens in the future.

When they were almost at the end of the street, Fu Ying bought one last snack, fried potatoes, which are called "potato crust potatoes" outside.

This snack is made from locally grown small potatoes. After washing them, use a porcelain piece to scrape off the outer skin (not peeling it), and then fry them in oil.

The potatoes grown locally are all large with yellow hearts, but there are always smaller ones. The small ones are not easy to preserve, so they are eaten first.

Potatoes are freshest when they are just out of the ground, and the skin is very thin, so you can just scrape off the thin skin with your fingernails or a bowl.

There were no pieces of ceramic bowls at home before, and Fu Ying almost broke a bowl and used it, but was scolded by her mother, who then asked her to go to her second aunt's house to get a piece as her family had extra pieces.

This potato, which is smaller than an egg, has a specific way of being eaten, which is stewing, and is called "kong" in the local dialect.

First, pour the prepared dipping water into the pot, which contains soy sauce and MSG, then add half a pot of water, pour the washed potatoes in and cover with a lid. As long as they are not mushy, you don't need to open the lid, and simmer until the water is basically dry, add some oil, and start stir-frying appropriately, so that the potatoes are golden but not mushy, and finally add chili powder and mix well before serving.

These small potatoes, which are crispy and easy to eat, are Fu Ying's favorite.

When she was in Guangdong, she had a Sichuan-Chongqing chain noodle restaurant. Although it was a little expensive, she would always order the pot-crusted potatoes. The small potatoes were crispy and the sauce was salty and fragrant, which was very much in line with her appetite and also had the taste of her childhood.

Although the mini potatoes we eat in the county snack street are fried, they are also crispy and delicious.

Fu Ying and Fu Zhe were eating one each when they reached the T-shaped fork.

Fu Zhe finally stopped shopping because he saw an Internet cafe. Fu Ying looked in the direction he pointed, toward the street garden, and on the second floor across the street was a sign saying "Meet the Internet Cafe".

Fu Ying asked him, "You need an ID card to enter the Internet cafe. We don't have any ID cards with us, and we are not even 18 years old. How can we get in?"

"No, Internet cafes in Guangdong Province don't require ID cards. Yang Jie and I have been there several times, and they don't even check." Fu Zhe replied affirmatively.

Fu Ying gave him a glare. Even though she knew that he must have secretly gone to the Internet cafe before, he would be scolded if Fu Ying knew about it.

Fu Zhe shut up belatedly, but still used his eyes to ask Fu Ying whether she wanted to go or not.

Fu Ying thought about it and made an agreement with him.

“This time the National Day holiday is long and we happen to be in the county so we can’t go again before the end of this semester.

If you can be in the top three in the final exam, I will take you there a few times during the holidays if I have the chance. I will protect you even if my parents say otherwise. If you are not even in the top ten, you will not be allowed to go to the Internet cafe for the entire winter vacation.

You decide for yourself, can you do it?"

Fu Zhe hesitated and said, "The top three is too difficult. How about the top five? I have some hope for the top five."

"No doubt about it. You are only in junior high school now. There are so many classes in total, and you are not in a key class. It is really not difficult for you to be in the top three.

You are asked to be in the top three in the class, not the top three in the grade. Of course, if you are in the top three in the grade, your parents will definitely give you a reward. I will also help you ask your parents for internet fees!"

Fu Ying thought that if Fu Zhe was in the top three in the grade, she could also be in the top three. Then it would be easy to tell Fu's mother that she could go to the Internet cafe to watch learning videos and ask her for money.

Although Fu's mother would definitely doubt their real purpose, she would still let them go because their academic performance made her proud.

As expected, Fu Zhe was even more moved. The two of them stayed at the intersection for a while, and Fu Zhe finally agreed to Fu Ying's conditions.

There was a small shopping mall across the street, and Fu Ying went in to buy some paper and pens because she didn't bring anything with her. If she really had to spend money to watch movies or play games in an Internet cafe, she would be so nervous that she couldn't sit still, and she might as well study.

When she went to the Internet cafe, she didn't need her ID card. The guy asked how long it would take. Fu Zhe looked at her, and Fu Ying thought about it and said two hours first.

One hour would not be enough for Fu Zhe, and Fu Ying's learning state would be easily interrupted. Three hours would be too long, and the budget would be wasted, so let's go for two hours and see how things go.

Because they were full after the snacks, they didn't eat lunch. They bought a bottle of drink, found two computers, sat down, turned on the computers, and started surfing the Internet.