[Infrastructure] Rose kissed Barcelona

"Aha, I smell the fragrance!"

Vincent's cry of surprise came from the other side of the corner.

A young man holding a portfolio appeared on the edge of the wall.

The first moment he saw Antonio, he burst into an extremely excited smile: "Ah, brother, you came back alive!"

Vincent is usually in the hospital, but today is a rare case of illness, so Joey specially called him back.

Whether in the headquarters, or the castle, or the hospital, the food was bland and tasteless.

After drinking bean porridge for many days, people will soon find that the taste of kidney bean porridge, pea porridge and miscellaneous bean porridge is actually the same after cooking for a long time.

If there is a difference, it is only because the cook accidentally put too much salt.

Thankfully, the coastal city at least has no shortage of salt—as the cooks have proven to them many times.

The first second you walk into the house, you will be hit by the aroma of stewed meat in the air, and you can't help swallowing.

This is an alluring taste they haven't smelled for a long time.

The bright red ham, emerald green pea shoots and silvery cod are vaguely exposed in the milky white soup, as bright as a painting—Vincent thought that it should be his responsibility to measure everything with aesthetic standards first.

But this responsibility immediately fell apart in the fragrant steam.

Appetite is the most primitive and authentic beauty.

In the steaming mist, the silvery skin of the cod is tender and shiny, and the milky white flesh is covered with translucent gelatin, lying on the spoon and trembling.

Vincent was so frightened that he quickly put it into his mouth, for fear of accidentally feeding the tablecloth.

The pungentness of the pepper stimulated the mouth warmly, and the thick fish meat was wrapped in the thick and fragrant soup, which rolled hotly between the lips and teeth, causing him to inhale.

The salted cod that has been soaked for three days has regained its soft and tender flesh, and it melts in the mouth, but it still carries the warm wind and waves of the Mediterranean Sea, which is almost fresh off the tongue.

Joey couldn't help but scoop up more pea shoots.

The translucent off-white buds are covered with emerald green bud tips, and when you scoop them up with a spoon, they stick to them in a charming way.

The freshly harvested pea sprouts are full of juice, and when the teeth and tongue are squeezed slightly, the unique sweet juice of young sprouts will overflow, making people unable to help but take a sip and be reluctant to swallow it.

Ah, praise the first crop of pea shoots.It's so fresh that people think it's spring!

Happiness is nothing but tender vegetables that are fresh, deliciously cooked and soft.

Joey let out a long sigh.

"Joy said there was something delicious, so I ran back quickly," Vincent said with his tongue out. "It's so delicious, I've never eaten such delicious food in my life!"

Even Mary hugged the soup bowl and nodded heartily.

"Oh..." Antonio glanced at them, lowered his eyelashes and blew on the fish soup in the spoon, "So you have all been invited."

He did not.

Antonio's tone was flat, but for some reason, Joey felt something was wrong.

"Hehe, drink the soup, drink the soup!" She laughed a few times, suppressing the habitual urge to almost scoop up food for others, "By the way, each person has a slice of ham!"

Few slices of ham floated in the soup.

The paper-thin ham reveals a bright rose red, and delicate white and pale pink fat textures grow in it, shining with a warm waxy oily luster.

In the state of siege, seafood can occasionally be supplied from fishing boats that venture out to sea, but meat on land will only become more and more rare.

Joey looked at his piece of ham against the light with emotion,

This extravagant meat is almost transparent under the sun, like a glistening icicle, so beautiful that it is almost unbearable to eat it.

The proper way to eat ham should be sliced ​​and eaten raw, but now as a scarce resource, a few thin slices are cut in order to add a little rare oil to the light soup.

Together with the sweet taste of pea sprouts and the soft and delicate taste of cod meat, the mellow and rich aroma of ham is the essence of this pot of soup.

Catalans call this combination of seafood and meat "sea and mountain".

The more common combination of this dish is chicken and lobster, but now the conditions are limited, and shelf-stable ham and salt cod are enough luxury.

The four of them can probably reach an agreement - in this life, they have never eaten anything more delicious than this.

……

After autumn, it gets cold very quickly.

The war still has no end in sight.

Although the strength of Carlos was several times that of Barcelona, ​​the city was surrounded, and the people in the city had no chance of winning if they took the initiative to attack, but the people of Barcelona seemed to get used to this new normal life quickly.

The militiamen, who are familiar with the city, hide and disappear among the vacant buildings in the fringe areas. With the help of the solid buildings made of reinforced concrete, they carry out street battles with the foreign Carlos army, and can often kill a large group of people on the opposite side with a very low casualty rate.

The defense of Montjuic Castle is also very tenacious-on those nights when the enemy attacked, the sound of guns and artillery from the top of the mountain could be heard in the city, and the looming fire could be seen.

The headquarters has always maintained communication with the castle, and for ordinary people, looking up and seeing the standing castle is like seeing an obelisk that symbolizes battle.

Near the core living area, no one is shocked by the green crops of kale, lettuce and spinach on the roadside anymore.

More and more people are enthusiastically joining the ranks of growing vegetables, gradually adding more colorful garden cress, cherry radish and other dishes to the menu. Romanian traditional grilled scallions.

Peel off the burnt black skin to reveal the tender scallion white, dip it in a hot and sour dipping sauce containing sweet paprika, chili powder and almonds, and put it in your mouth.

After eating scallions, the greatest pleasure is to sneak up on others with hands that are stained with carbon gray and black, and then have someone wipe your face abruptly.

Back and forth, everyone's noses and faces were smeared with blackened charcoal, and they pointed at each other's funny painted faces and laughed.

After the basic vegetable supply is guaranteed, even potatoes with a longer growing cycle are planted in the ground and put on people's table waiting lists.

Of course, given that it takes months for potatoes to grow, it was hoped that this crop of ripe potatoes would be used to celebrate the end of the war.

"At that time, we can invent a dish called 'Joy Mashed Potatoes'!" They said happily to Joey.

Joey: "..." Forget it, it seems to sound good.

After all, this represents people's goodwill towards her.

Although there is camera technology, it is still a rare thing after all.Although Joy was also famous in the past, most people did not recognize her.

But now, most people gather in the core area to live, and because people have unrealistic fantasies about her, they often call her for help. Joy often appears in front of people, so most people in Barcelona now know her. she is gone.

Thanks to the honorable Miss Gordy, people no longer have to worry about suffering from the dreaded Columbus-like vegetable deficiency.Of course, Miss Gordy explained to them that it is because of a very useful substance called C in fresh fruits and vegetables.

what is that?Nobody knows.

But that's okay.Everyone is now in good health and full of energy, and the people in charge of logistics have taken care of everything in an orderly manner. The only inconvenience is probably that wine is still a centralized control material.

But this way there are fewer drunkards on the street, and people who have been kept awake all night because of drunkards crying and laughing and breaking wine bottles are very happy.

There is such a legend among the people that Miss Gordy is not only as kind as an angel, but also extremely intelligent.

"I'll tell you, I saw it with my own eyes! Command got a new batch of typewriter keyboards - one of the weirdest designs anyone's ever seen, with 'QWERTY' in the upper left corner. Let me say, That's really an anti-human|human design, and people who have used it say it's not easy to use!"

"At that time, there was an urgent telegram to be sent, and the typist was struggling to press the keys one by one with his fingers upright. Miss Gordy sighed, patted the typist's shoulder and said she would come, and then sat down with the typist. position."

"And then a miracle happened - she didn't even seem to look at the keyboard, her fingers were as light as if she were playing the piano, and the telegram was sent in a few seconds. We were all dumbfounded at the time!"

Of course, they didn't know the follow-up—Joy found out after a while that Antonio could also be proficient in typing.

She was so frightened that she almost suspected that Antonio had also traveled through time like herself. With complex and extremely surprised emotions, she asked in a trembling voice: "Antonio, how did you memorize the keyboard position so quickly? It's amazing!"

Is this still human?

Antonio raised his eyebrows and studied her for a moment inquiringly.

"Maybe I can understand that this is you praising yourself?"

The war severed some important links in the city, but it seemed to connect others.

Urban people who did not know their neighbors in the densely populated apartment buildings began to help each other more, knowing whether the neighbors living next door to them were named Perez or Garcia, what vegetables they planted, and what they might need to install. Helping facilities.

There are always people watching and applauding the football games played by children, and even occasionally a naughty little girl puts on her pants to join in, and she will no longer be scolded by adults.

Maybe people don't realize it, but the war is slowly changing them - not just in the quality of life.

In November, the temperature in Barcelona dropped rapidly.

The rain that fell from time to time began to be frequently mixed with hail, and this year seemed to be colder than usual.

Barcelona people will put their hands to their mouths and sigh, then point to the clouds gathered in the sky and laugh: "Look, God loves us Barcelona the most, and always rushes to bring us water!"

In the blink of an eye, two months had passed since the siege.

The city still stands proudly on the shores of the Mediterranean, neither falling nor surrendering.

In mid-November, the good news finally reached Barcelona.

The king's army has defeated all the Carlos forces in the south, and is about to lead the army north to rescue Barcelona.

As soon as the news spread, people in the streets and alleys excitedly waved the red and yellow striped flags, and pulled everyone passing by to dance to the cheerful melody of the accordion running out of tune.

For the people of Barcelona, ​​this is probably the first time they really celebrated the arrival of the king.

And Ada found Joey and Antonio with some hesitation.

"Your Highness, in a few days at most, Carlos will definitely know the news."

"His army has basically arrived now. Our reinforcement army had to retreat to the southwest under his active attack before, and our ammunition reserves are indeed not enough..."

Ada said with a sullen face: "Although everyone is very happy now and the morale is very high, I am actually scared. Carlos made it clear that he intends to occupy Barcelona, ​​and then entrenched here to fight against the royal family! He will definitely arrive when His Majesty the King arrives. They attacked the city recklessly before."

"Ah," Joey was a little worried when she said it, "Can we help?"

Ada glanced at Antonio hesitantly, "According to the previous situation, Mr. Gaudi played a big role in the defense of the castle..."

According to him, although he did not personally participate in the castle renovation project, he has studied the entire renovation project drawing because of his interest, so he knows almost all the complex structures and mechanisms of the castle.

Since Mr. Gaudí returned from the defense of the castle, it seems that there is a missing brain in the castle.

There is no problem with the smooth battle situation this month, but if the battle situation is tight later, any advantage may determine the rapidly changing battlefield direction.

For the commanding height of Montjuic Castle, it only has two states of "holding" and "unable to hold"-which one it is in almost determines the life and death of the whole city.

"I see." Antonio nodded calmly, "The next defense will be in three days, right? I'll go to the castle."

For Joey, these three days seemed to pass too quickly.

She didn't even have time to wait for the latest crop of spinach to grow edible leaves, and some emergencies added to it, and finally she had to send Antonio off with a pot of salted cod porridge.

"It's okay," Antonio couldn't help laughing at her nervous appearance, "Don't worry, I will definitely come back alive."

"Hush—" Joey was startled, and covered his mouth.

Antonio smiled and watched the girl muttering some difficult words angrily, such as "don't set the flag" and "bah bah bah", he shook his head amidst a series of wonderful onomatopoeia, and took a sip of the porridge in a leisurely manner.

"..." Antonio swallowed the porridge with all his self-control.

Joey was probably worried that he would not be able to eat salt for the next month, so he made up for it all at once.

"When I come back," he looked at her helplessly, "let me cook, Your Highness."

Joey was about to turn pale in shock again when he was suddenly interrupted by a hasty knock on the door.

"Miss Gordy! There is a patient in the hospital who has a serious wound infection and is about to die. Dean Wall said that they really can't help it. I would like to ask you to go and see if it is possible to use the cultivated penicillin..."

"Ah, I'll be right there!"

Joey wrapped his coat hastily like a gust of wind, and turned around before stepping out the door: "I'm sorry, Antonio, you can go by yourself after finishing the porridge, it's too urgent here!"

Her figure quickly disappeared outside the door.

Antonio poured a glass of hot water and sat down drinking the steaming water.

He stared at the salted fish in the porridge bowl for a long time.

Then I also wrapped my coat and walked into the biting cold wind.

The author has something to say: So, don't set a flag.

Thanks to Drizzle Wet Streamer Little Angel's Landmines!Thanks to Xianying, Suiling, Sea Breeze, Scenery, and Xiao D for their nutrient solution!