After all, since she had accepted Chen Feng’s money, Lin Yujiao found herself unable to act tough in front of him subconsciously.
Chen Feng stood up and walked towards the door, and she quickly obediently followed behind him.
"Do we take my car or yours?" Chen Feng turned and asked her as they reached the doorway.
Lin Yujiao replied offhandedly, "Whichever."
"Then let’s take mine."
Chen Feng went ahead to greet the car wash guy, telling him that he wouldn’t be coming ho for lunch, and then got into his car with Lin Yujiao, who was sowhat evasive with her gaze, and drove off.
When Chen Rui saw this scene, he was stunned for a good while before he couldn’t help but smile enviously.
He was aware that his younger brother already had a girlfriend. However, both he and his wife sowhat hoped that their future sister-in-law wouldn’t be an outsider, so after running into Lin Yujiao at the car wash by chance, he had pulled his brother out to et her on a trial basis.
But now, in just a short while, the two of them had driven off in the sa car to hang out.
You could only say that his younger brother still had quite the charm. Just like his ex-sister-in-law—an exceptional woman who, back in the day, insisted on marrying him against all odds.
In this regard, he, as an elder brother, really couldn’t compare to his younger brother.
The only thing was, Chen Feng already had a girlfriend, but it seed he was also developing sothing with Lin Yujiao, which might create a tricky situation given this two-timing approach.
In fact, Chen Rui had undoubtedly misunderstood his younger brother, Chen Feng.
He wasn’t two-timing at all; first of all, Sun Xiaorui wasn’t his girlfriend, and he wasn’t dating anyone right now; secondly, Chen Feng had made it clear to Lin Yujiao from the very beginning that he wasn’t interested in blind dates, let alone remarrying.
As for taking her out, Chen Feng had paid her, and for now, he just wanted her to accompany him for so fun and to keep him company, to alleviate so boredom.
As the car entered the national highway, Chen Feng asked, "Is there anywhere fun in the county town?"
"Huh? You don’t know?" Lin Yujiao asked back, puzzled.
"I’m really not that familiar with the county town. I only studied at First Middle School during high school, knowing it slightly better, but I haven’t lived here for university or work, and it’s been several years, so certainly, you know it better than I do. After all, you used to run a store in the county town for a few years."
"In that case, let’s start by checking out the malls. Baida Square, over in the new town area, was built just two years ago. It’s just a few minutes away from here."
Chen Feng was sowhat speechless; won truly are born with a love for shopping.
"Shopping malls are boring, let’s first go find so food in the alleys of the old county town. You know Jiefang Street, right? There are lots of snack shops in those alleys. My favorite back in the day was Old Yang’s pickled vegetable pancakes; I wonder if it’s still open."
"Old Yang’s pickled vegetable pancakes? Of course, it’s still open, business is booming, and there’s always a line every day. I used to go there often, it’s really quite delicious."
Lin Yujiao’s expression suddenly beca more animated; people really do love to eat.
"Then let’s head to Jiefang Street first."
"Sure."
The car drove on the national highway for a while before turning left at an intersection and onto the newly constructed four-lane road that led straight to the county town, a re ten-minute drive.
Upon reaching Jiefang Street—an old street teeming with shops and bustling with pedestrians in its heyday—it was starting to decline now.
The buildings were the sa as before, as were the shops, but the open doors were few and far between, with scant vehicles and pedestrians, no longer as prosperous as in years past.
However, in the alleyways beside this once-busy street, now in the old residential areas, there were still quite a few snack shops open.
There were wonton shops, fried noodle bars, "dengzhan" cakes, pickled vegetable pancakes, noodle restaurants, and rice stands that had been there before, along with many new ones from elsewhere, such as "roujiamo" (at-filled buns), "luosifen" (river snail rice noodles) shops, and "zongzi" stead sticky rice wrapped in leaves.
There were many more than when Chen Feng was a student.
The alleyway snacks here are definitely a local specialty.
Old Yang’s pickled vegetable pancakes, which used to be a roadside stand, now had its own shop; under Lin Yujiao’s guidance, Chen Feng arrived at the storefront to find indeed about a dozen people queuing.
"It’s not too bad, not many people. Co noon and afternoon, it gets much busier."
Lin Yujiao comnted as such.
Chen Feng could only remark that there were indeed a lot of foodies in the world. Delicious things are irresistible to most, even if queueing is required. They had to wait in line for about fifteen minutes before their turn ca; back when he was a student, it was two yuan each, two and a half with an egg. Now it was five yuan apiece, six with an egg.
The egg was a fresh chicken egg, which Chen Feng didn’t want; in the past, it was to save money, but now it was for the sake of his health.
The pickled vegetable pancakes were tasty, but now, seeing the way they were fried in the dark roiling oil at the stall, one had to question how sanitary and healthy they were.
Plus, pickled vegetables aren’t exactly health food.
Before Chen Feng was diagnosed with a terminal illness, he naturally wouldn’t care about these things.
But now that he had a terminal illness, he obviously did.
He ate one, the familiar taste bringing back mories of his youth. After silently reflecting on how ti flies, he resolved that in the future, he truly wouldn’t dare to eat these pickled vegetable pancakes anymore.
Lin Yujiao also ate with relish, her mouth shiny with oil, walking and eating alongside Chen Feng. They passed by a "zongzi" shop—which was one among several in a row, indicating it must be quite tasty, given the brisk business.
They tried two types, one with at filling and one with salted egg, both quite delicious. As a result, Chen Feng simply bought twenty of them, planning to bring them ho for his family to try.
Finally, the two had wonton soup at a shop claid to be a century-old brand, which was quite expensive at eighteen yuan a bowl. The flavor, however, could only be described as less satisfying than expected, not even as good as the wontons his mother used to make.
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