Chapter 7: Fermented Rice Milk Ice

The second floor of the restaurant also belonged to Nan Tu. It was slightly smaller than the first floor, and since there weren’t enough customers to open the second floor, it was always used as a storage space and for resting at night.

Previously, when the noodle shop couple was renting it, their business stayed open very late, so they used to sleep upstairs.

Nan Tu usually stayed at the house her grandfather left behind and rarely slept in the restaurant. It just so happened she could clean it up for Xin Huan to live in.

Even though Xin Huan said she could just push some chairs together downstairs and lie on them, that it wouldn’t affect her sleep at all, Nan Tu still prepared soft sheets and bedding for her.

She was a bit curious whether someone like Xin Huan, who came from another plane, could live in her world. The system told her that as long as she stayed within the restaurant, Xin Huan could stay for as long as Nan Tu allowed.

But once she stepped out of the door, within less than half an hour, she would be rejected by this plane and return to her original world. And passing through the space barrier could very likely injure her.

That was a little stifling for Xin Huan. She could only stay within the confined space of Nanlai Restaurant.

But it did solve a worry Nan Tu had always had — if a guest from another plane sneaked out the front door while she wasn’t paying attention, wouldn’t this world end up with a bunch of illegal intruders? And once they were tracked, they’d all be traced back to Nanlai Restaurant. Without realizing it, she would have gotten into serious trouble.

It wasn’t that Nan Tu was overthinking. People who wanted to escape the apocalypse plane and come here — even just to be a homeless wanderer — were far from few. Who would want to live their whole life dancing on the edge of a blade, constantly fighting savage beasts, until they were finally buried by the yellow sand?

She told Xin Huan about her activity range. “I’m afraid you can’t leave here. If you get bored, I’ll try to think of something.”

Xin Huan shook her head. “I’ve always been running around, but I was only doing one thing and seeing the same scenery over and over. This place is great.”

She had already rested for two days. That was Nan Tu’s insistence. Originally, Xin Huan was going to start working the very next day, but Nan Tu closed the restaurant for a day and used the excuse of going to buy her some daily necessities to make her take a proper rest.

What she saw through the transparent glass door at the front left her deeply shocked. She had already guessed this wasn’t her original world. This place looked like an ordinary street where no disaster had ever occurred. There were snack shops, pharmacies, fruit stands…

The long-ago memories were already vague, but she vaguely remembered that it looked like this.

Then where exactly did Nanlai Restaurant exist? In the cracks between different worlds? In overlapping zones? To achieve something like that would require power no less than that of a god. And Nan Tu, who possessed such power, why would she choose to open a restaurant?

Xin Huan twisted the rag in her hands and started daydreaming.

She glanced at the busy figure in the kitchen and confirmed something — Nan Tu really liked running this restaurant.

Then, Xin Huan thought, as the restaurant’s employee, the only one who could help lighten Nan Tu’s burdens, the only thing she could do was not let any troubling matters come near her.

———

After a while, Nan Tu waved at Xin Huan. “How’s your recovery going?”

Xin Huan immediately replied, “I’m completely better! Do you have anything for me to do?”

Nan Tu shook her head. “I made a little dessert. It’s cold, so I wanted to ask if you can eat it.”

“I can eat too?” She was excited at first, then remembered something and hesitated. “But it’s work hours now…”

“There aren’t that many rules, and there are no customers now.” Nan Tu straightforwardly shoved a bowl into Xin Huan’s hand. The surface of the bowl was beaded with fine droplets of water.

“Fermented rice milk ice. Try it.”

Though she verbally declined, the moment the bowl of fermented rice milk ice was handed to her, the faintly sweet aroma in the air made Xin Huan smile with anticipation.

She stirred it with a spoon. Aside from the creamy scent of milk, a delicate osmanthus fragrance also emerged — that was thanks to the osmanthus honey Nan Tu had added.

She eagerly scooped up a spoonful and put it in her mouth. The milk was smooth and silky, and the faint wine fragrance of the fermented rice spread through her mouth. It was both cool and sweet.

There were also many small round glutinous balls, about the size of fingernails, that were soft and bouncy, playfully dancing between her teeth.

The fermented rice was made by Nan Tu herself. The brewing method was simple, but the fermentation had to be well controlled. Otherwise, if the alcohol content was too strong, the flavor would be too harsh. Making it herself also reduced the chance of curdling when the milk and rice wine mixed. The finished fermented rice had a sweet taste. Not only did it pair well with milk, it could also be made into rice wine with egg drops, rice wine and white fungus soup, and more.

When making today’s dessert, Nan Tu deliberately added some light cream to make the milk taste richer and more fragrant. She also scooped in a spoonful of osmanthus honey, allowing the different kinds of sweetness to intertwine bit by bit, making the flavor more layered.

Spoonful after spoonful, Xin Huan ate until her eyes narrowed in delight.

As she ate, a wave of memories swept her away.

Cool and sweet. In her childhood imagination, the glistening snowflakes that fell every winter should taste just like this, sweet and delightful. But snow actually has no taste, and it had not snowed in Tianling City for many years.

A trace of sadness flashed through her heart.

But being naturally cheerful, Xin Huan quickly thought, if one could eat such a bowl of icy dessert while trekking in the desert, what a luxury that would be.

On a sudden whim, she carried the half-finished bowl of fermented rice and milk ice to the back door and asked Nan Tu, “Sister Nan Tu, if I open this door, is the Anjin Desert right behind it?”

Nan Tu had long noticed that sometimes Xin Huan would stare at the back door she always entered from. Sometimes with great curiosity, sometimes avoiding it like the plague, as if she feared that the door might suddenly unleash a great suction force and pull her back into the world she came from.

Seeing that she was no longer afraid, Nan Tu nodded, “That’s right, you can open it and take a look. It’s fine even if you step outside. You can come back anytime. The restaurant is always here.”

Sure enough, Xin Huan happily opened the door. She didn’t go far, just squatted by the doorway, gently kicking at the sand under her feet, feeling the scorching air wrap around her.

Then she took another bite of the fermented rice milk ice.

That felt just right.

So happy!

———

That noon, Yu Qing and her friend appeared outside the Nanlai Restaurant.

A few days ago, her husband brought her some beef sauce from a roadside shop. Yu Qing frowned when she saw it.

“Which roadside stall did you buy this unbranded product from?”

It wasn’t that she was picky, but the packaging was too crude. Not even in a proper jar. It was just packed in a shallow catering container. If one didn’t look closely, they might think it was leftovers packed to-go.

Yang Xinzhi remained calm and shook his head, “What unbranded product? This is freshly made beef sauce from a proper place. Don’t be put off by the ugly packaging. I even had to come up with a sneaky plan to bring it back. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have had the chance to taste it.”

Yu Qing originally wanted to say she didn’t care for it anyway. But then Yang Xinzhi opened the lid and waved it near her nose.

Why did it smell so good? 

“I mean… since you’ve already brought it, I might as well try it.” She looked at Yang Xinzhi’s teasing expression and stiffly added, “Wasting food is shameful!”

She hadn’t eaten yet, so she quickly boiled some noodles, rinsed them in cold water, and scooped in two generous spoonfuls of beef sauce. The fragrance she had just smelled grew several times stronger, making Yu Qing swallow involuntarily.

By the time she realized it, the bowl in front of her was already empty.

With this beef sauce, Yu Qing’s appetite, which had been dulled by the heat, greatly improved. In the morning she mixed a bit into her congee. When her lunch delivery didn’t taste quite right, adding some beef sauce made all the difference. Even with plain white rice, it was delicious.

The result of this was that the ten servings of beef sauce Yang Xinzhi had brought back were finished in just two days.

Yang Xinzhi had been busy lately and couldn’t go get more beef sauce for her. He said with some regret, “It’s a pity that the restaurant isn’t near our place, or I’d go every day. I’ll bring some again when I have the chance.”

Yu Qing glanced at him, “Bring what? I’ve got two legs. That’s what walking is for. Send me the address. I’ll go with a friend tomorrow.”

And so, here she was today.

However, standing at the entrance, Yu Qing hesitated a little.

Because her friend said, “This is the amazing restaurant you mentioned? It’s the middle of the day, and there’s barely anyone here. Doesn’t seem promising.”

Yu Qing suddenly felt uncertain for no reason and quickly contacted Yang Xinzhi, “Honey, I’m at the restaurant you said had that super tasty beef sauce. But something feels off. Did I go to the wrong place?”

Yang Xinzhi answered quickly, “Isn’t it the Nanlai Restaurant?”

Yu Qing replied hesitantly, “It is called Nanlai Restaurant, but there are too few customers. Just two or three. I’m afraid I got the wrong one.” With skills that good, shouldn’t the restaurant be swamped with people?

“Haha.” Yang Xinzhi actually laughed, “That just means their business has gotten better. When I went, there weren’t any customers at all!”

“That doesn’t make sense!” As a devoted fan of the beef sauce, Yu Qing firmly defended its appeal to diners.

“It’s probably because the restaurant is in a remote location. Also, the owner is very young, so people who haven’t tried it might not trust her cooking. Just give it a try and you’ll see.”

That was true. Yu Qing thought back to the route she took to find the restaurant. It had been a maze of twists and turns, passing by many eateries. Each time she’d approach one with hope, only to find the wrong sign. It wasn’t until she reached the far end of the street that she finally found Nanlai Restaurant.

If she hadn’t been specifically looking for Nanlai Restaurant, she might have just picked any random place to eat along the way. She would never have discovered this seemingly ordinary little shop.

The two walked straight into the restaurant. One customer happened to be leaving with a takeout container. As she passed by, a faintly sweet and refreshing scent wafted through the air.

“What would you two like to order? Here’s today’s menu.” Xin Huan immediately came forward.

Yu Qing quickly asked, “What was that customer just now taking out?”

“It was fermented rice milk ice,” Xin Huan said.

“Is it good?” Yu Qing’s friend asked casually.

“It’s delicious!” Xin Huan wasn’t great with fancy words to describe food. She just said honestly, “I ate three bowls in a row. In the end, the owner wouldn’t let me have any more and kicked me out of the kitchen.”

Yu Qing and her friend looked at Xin Huan and immediately laughed. She was just a half-grown child.

“Then we’ll have two fermented rice milk ices, two cold noodles with meat sauce, and one lemon chicken. Oh,” Yu Qing lowered her voice mysteriously, as if saying some kind of secret code, “and ten extra portions of beef sauce, packed separately.”