Chapter 14
Helping more people within the limits of one’s ability.
This was the principle Jiang Qingyu had learned from the two elderly people who had raised him.
Speaking of which, the old couple were quite adorable. In some respects, they were a little contradictory. If someone tried to take advantage of them, they would argue with reason and refuse to yield even an inch. When buying things, they were merciless about bargaining. If conditions allowed, they would not mind clapping their hands, stomping their feet, and having an argument at the village entrance with unreasonable old men and women back home.
But at certain times, such as when they encountered people who were truly in difficulty, they would not be stingy about offering a full meal and hot soup, sharing warm clothes, or even giving money without asking for anything in return.
Of course, their abilities were limited, so they could not give too much.
In any case, it was only a matter of moving his lips. As long as they did not find him annoying yet, Jiang Qingyu did not mind reminding them a few more times.
The RV had very good sound insulation. In addition, he had been driving during the day the whole time, so fatigue was inevitable. After Jiang Qingyu ate and drank his fill, he washed up and went to sleep. He did not even have the strength to browse Taobao and buy things anymore. Wrapped in a soft blanket, he slept a very sweet sleep.
The next morning, he woke up and was dazed for quite a while before finally coming back to himself and reaching for his phone to check the messages. He had thought his own daily routine counted as regular, but clearly, some people had gotten up even earlier than him and had already started setting things up outside.
Meimei circled him twice and lightly swatted his arm with her tail. Jiang Qingyu happened to scoop her into his arms, burying his chin in her soft fur as he typed on his phone.
Little Fish Little Fish: Is there anything else missing? I can bring it over.
Someone @ed him: Do you have fruit?
Little Fish Little Fish: I have mangoes and strawberries I just bought.
The group responded enthusiastically: Bring them, bring them.
Someone else asked: Who has yogurt and pomelo?
Jiang Qingyu was confused, but he still sent another message: I do.
The group chat instantly filled with a long string of “yay,” making Jiang Qingyu even more bewildered. Still, he did not ask further. He quickly washed up, tidied himself, took out the things, got out of the RV, and went to find them.
Sure enough, the long table from last night had been spread out again. He did not know who had changed the tablecloth, but the color scheme was rather fresh and clean. There was even a floral arrangement in the center of the long table. The lily petals stretched open, and the stamens looked fresh and dewy.
All kinds of bread and desserts had already been laid out on the table. Someone had set up a small pot to cook noodles and wontons. The coffee machine was slowly operating, and the rich aroma was extremely domineering. Jiang Qingyu sniffed hard and really did feel a little hungry.
This kind of scene felt like playing house to some of them, fun in a childlike way. They participated very actively in every part of it. After last night’s gathering, many people had already remembered Jiang Qingyu’s face and matched it to his ID in the group. Someone came forward to help him carry things and said, “What a coincidence, you know? I only just saw this video last night. I’ll let you try something tasty later.”
Jiang Qingyu asked, “What?”
Before he could ask clearly, the person who took his things had already started moving skillfully. Some washed the fruit, some peeled the pomelo, and Jiang Qingyu could not even get a hand in.
As the supplier of the ingredients, Jiang Qingyu was very honored to enjoy the first finished product.
A solid version of mango pomelo sago.
The pomelo was peeled, and the pulp was broken into individual little grains. The mango was cut in half, coated with a layer of thick, strained yogurt, and then covered with a full layer of pomelo pulp.
He did not know who had added popping boba, but each one was crystal clear and translucent. Just looking at it was enough to make his mouth water.
Jiang Qingyu had tasted this mango when he bought it. The flesh was thick and sweet, the pit was thin, and each one was much larger than his palm. Even before peeling the skin, one could smell a faint fresh fragrance. It was an excellent variety.
The thick strained yogurt was plain-flavored, perfectly neutralizing the mango’s excessive sweetness. Together with the rich texture of the pomelo, then flash-frozen a little with dry ice, the texture was truly beyond words.
When Jiang Qingyu took it, he could clearly feel the few people surrounding him simultaneously swallowing their saliva.
Mm… no matter what, it could not taste too bad, right?
Jiang Qingyu very obligingly took a big bite.
Mm. Mm?? Mm!!!!!
How was it this delicious?
When everyone saw his expression, they immediately knew this initial attempt had been very successful. They did not bother asking for his evaluation and instantly scattered, each grabbing things and starting to make the next solid mango pomelo sago.
Bread, wontons, and noodles could all be thrown aside for now. They had to hurry up and get this first bite.
A few minutes later, slurping sounds and humming praises rose one after another around Jiang Qingyu.
The scene was a little childish and funny. Jiang Qingyu was amused for a while before leisurely finishing what he held in his hands. Then he got up to help cook wontons.
The bubble wonton wrappers were extremely thin, floating in the clear soup like the hem of a gauzy skirt. With a little chopped scallion, seaweed, and dried shrimp, the soup was fresh and delicious. After eating half a small bowl, even his stomach felt comfortable.
After breakfast, everyone went their separate ways. Jiang Qingyu had no plans to stay here for several more days, so he had to tidy up and prepare to set off.
At the dining table, he had mentioned stockpiling supplies, seemingly intentionally and unintentionally. Seeing him so persistent, everyone could not help laughing. They all found him adorable, trying so hard to persuade them with his round eyes wide open, while also pretending he had only brought it up casually.
These days, there were too many people who looked ordinary on the surface but actually had special backgrounds. This kid had a good personality and looked obedient. Perhaps he had heard some information from an elder and could not directly tell them, so he had no choice but to remind them in this subtle way.
Thinking they had guessed the truth, they very tacitly did not expose him directly. Holding back their laughter, they cooperated with him by pretending they might change their minds.
In any case, they were not short of money. So what if they bought some extra things to keep in their vehicles?
Jiang Qingyu even had the honor of visiting a certain beautiful older sister’s super luxurious RV.
He had originally thought his own upgraded RV was quite high-end, but compared to hers, it was still somewhat inferior.
Her RV even had space to park a car inside, let alone simply buying some food and drink supplies.
Seeing that everyone’s attitudes had loosened, Jiang Qingyu said goodbye to them in satisfaction and drove toward the oversized cat litter box—no, the desert.
Speaking of which, he was the earliest among them to set off. After breakfast, they yawned and returned to their RVs to catch up on sleep. Some had even stayed awake until that hour and truly could not hold on any longer.
Jiang Qingyu drove for several hours and finally saw the edge of the desert. There were almost no buildings around. From afar, he could only see a few lonely road signs standing by the roadside. After being exposed to wind and sun, the numbers on them had become somewhat blurry.
Along the highway, there was an already abandoned temporary work station. Beside it was a large empty lot, which happened to be a suitable place for Jiang Qingyu to park.
A little farther ahead was an uninhabited area. Even if people passed by, they would probably just drive past and would not stop to greet him, a stranger.
Still, Jiang Qingyu parked the vehicle behind the work station. This three-part building just happened to block his little RV. Although it could still be seen from both sides, at least it was not so conspicuous. It was a bit like covering one’s ears while stealing a bell.
At this hour, the sun was still a little strong, not suitable for letting a little cat step on the sand. Jiang Qingyu also happened to be a little hungry, so he planned to eat something, rest for a while, and then take Meimei out to play after the sun set.
To be honest, the noon temperature here was indeed rather high. The blazing sun baked the desert, and invisible waves of heat rolled through the air. Jiang Qingyu lay by the vehicle window and looked out for a few moments, then could not help sighing. A few days ago, he had still needed to wear thick clothes, but now he had to turn on the RV’s air-conditioning.
With this temperature, if he went for a walk in the desert, never mind half an hour—he was afraid he would not even last ten minutes.
No wonder so many people had previously tried and failed to cross the desert.
There was indeed not much to admire in this bare desert. Jiang Qingyu’s attention quickly shifted to the kitchen. He rolled up his sleeves and prepared to cook.
He made a dish of tiger-skin green peppers stuffed with shrimp paste. He used those not-too-spicy crunchy green peppers, fat and long, cut away the white membranes inside with long scissors, squeezed the shrimp paste into them, and then cut them into sections.
The shrimp paste was made by peeling fresh whiteleg shrimp, removing the veins, and dicing the shrimp, then mixing it with starch and pepper. Because he liked a more obvious grainy texture, he did not blend it into a puree.
This dish was very simple to make. Once both sides of the green peppers were pan-fried until they developed tiger-skin blistering, he could add the seasonings, a little minced garlic, simmer it over low heat for a few minutes, and sprinkle a handful of sesame seeds before taking it out of the pot.
It was delicious eaten on its own or mixed with rice. The sauce was fresh and sweet, and the shrimp meat was springy. Jiang Qingyu liked it very much and ate the entire plate of stuffed shrimp paste clean.
In addition, there was also a pot of braised rice with pumpkin, chestnuts, and Chinese sausage, as well as century egg mixed with tofu.
Before braising the rice, he first stir-fried the ingredients in a shima pot, added mushrooms and various seasonings, and used slightly less water than usual for the rice. Rice cooked with meat juices was very tasty.
Because it was far too hot and dry right now, Jiang Qingyu also made a glass of pomegranate sparkling water, adding plenty of ice. Mist gathered on the glass, while the deep red color spread between the ice cubes and sparkling water like ink. The color was especially beautiful, and he could not resist refilling it twice.
Delicious. Loved it!
Especially the pumpkin, chestnut, and sausage braised rice—it was so fragrant it could make one’s nose fall off. Meimei had her head buried in the small bowl beside him, eating with smacking sounds without raising her head. Jiang Qingyu used a spoon to scoop up a heaping spoonful of braised rice full of ingredients and stuffed it into his mouth, making his cheeks bulge. His eyes unconsciously narrowed. It was truly super satisfying.
Food was the heaven of the people—this saying really was not wrong.
There was nothing particularly special about this meal, and the ingredients were also very simple, but Jiang Qingyu still took his time and enjoyed it for a long while before cleaning up the bowls and chopsticks and putting them into the dishwasher.
As expected, he was a little carb-dizzy.
Since that was the case, then he should take a late afternoon nap!
Meimei was scooped over without any resistance. She slept beside Jiang Qingyu’s arm with all four paws facing the sky, her tail occasionally swishing and brushing against the skin on the back of his hand.
One person and one cat comfortably drifted into dreamland while the air-conditioning blew. Jiang Qingyu set it to turn off automatically, because the temperature difference between day and night here was very large. By the time they woke up, they might feel cold.
Not only that, Jiang Qingyu even shared one corner of the little blanket over his stomach with Meimei. Everyone got a little blanket coverage. Very fair.
However, Jiang Qingyu was quite lucky. He woke up leisurely just before the sun had completely set, and he could still see orange-red light slowly sinking beneath the golden horizon. Under this kind of scenery, even the heat waves became much gentler.
Holding the cat, he lay by the rear window of the RV and spaced out for more than ten minutes. Then he suddenly remembered that if he did not move soon, he would have to accompany Meimei to play in the dark with a flashlight.
The temperature had indeed dropped somewhat by now. Jiang Qingyu quickly grabbed a hardshell jacket and put it on, put Meimei into her harness, and took her out of the vehicle.
There was no one around. No buildings, no plants. If he spread his arms and simply fell backward like this, it felt as if only he and Meimei remained between heaven and earth.
That feeling was very nice.
Of course, there was also a tiny bit of loneliness.
Meimei really liked it here. It was her first time stepping on sand. At first, she reacted for a while before realizing what her paw pads were stepping on. She tentatively scratched twice, then began crazily digging all around nearby.
Jiang Qingyu let the leash out a little, allowing Meimei to run farther while following her and expanding their activity range.
He did not know whether it was his imagination, but the sand still felt a little hot underfoot.
The cat did not disappoint. She relieved herself in this gigantic litter box. Jiang Qingyu laughed while taking photos. He had originally wanted to help bury it, but clearly, Meimei was an extremely clean and clever little cat. She did not give him the chance at all. With both front paws digging wildly, she quickly filled in the hole she had dug.
Meimei obtained the first photo of her cat life in the desert, together with her owner.
Seeing that the sky was getting darker and darker, and the rise and fall of the dunes looked like the broken remnants of ancient city walls, even a little like overlapping ghostly shadows, Meimei turned her back to him and meowed a few times at those shadows. Jiang Qingyu hurriedly picked her up and returned to the vehicle.
As soon as he got in and closed the door, Jiang Qingyu heard what seemed to be the sound of a vehicle driving past. Out of curiosity, he did not even take off his coat and first pounced to the window to take a look, confirming whether a vehicle had indeed passed by.
A medium-sized silver-white RV drove away within his line of sight. Dust mixed with exhaust fumes slowly disappeared into the air. Clearly, he had not heard wrong just now.
But what Jiang Qingyu could not quite understand was this: ahead of them was an uninhabited area. The drive would take at least five to six hours, and in another half hour, the sky would be completely dark.
No matter what, they would not reach a safe place until tomorrow morning. Although the advantage of an RV was that one could stop and rest at any time, the area ahead was still uninhabited. If he remembered correctly, when he had searched the map route before, this uninhabited area had even been in the news.
There were stories like a hiking team mistakenly entering and disappearing, with rescue teams searching for days to no avail; an exploration team trying to go deep into the uninhabited area only to be attacked by wild beasts; and all sorts of strange folk rumors on top of that. At the time, Jiang Qingyu had read them until his back felt chilly, and he had firmly decided that he must cross this uninhabited area in one go during a bright, sunny, auspicious time.
The other party dared to cross the uninhabited area at this hour. Jiang Qingyu truly admired them.
At some point, the wind had picked up outside, stirring up sheets of dust and sand. From a distance, everything looked hazy, making this RV seem even more like a tiny island in the desert.
Meimei pawed at him from the side. Jiang Qingyu lowered his head to look at her. Her round cat eyes seemed to be accusing him.
Hungry. Want food!
All right, all right. Jiang Qingyu bent down and picked up the chubby, soft little cat. “I’ll make you food. You eat first. After eating, we’ll wash your face and paws, then brush your fur, okay?”
This child had just rolled around in the desert, after all. She needed to be cleaned up.
Meimei seemed to understand his words and cooperatively meowed.
“Mm. So good.”
