175: Familiar Girl

"Ah, alright, alright, I'm busy enough as it is! You're a girl, why on earth do you like fishing so much?"

"I'm going to become someone like Gao Xiaofan!!"

"All you talk about day in and day out is Gao Xiaofan. You're just a dummy!"

"I can't be bothered to talk to you, I'm off~"

As soon as she finished speaking, the sound of the girl's footsteps rang out as she quickly darted from the kitchen out of the house. Standing at the corner of the stairs, Gao Xiaofan watched the flashing figure, feeling that she looked a bit familiar, as if he had seen her somewhere before. And that voice...

"Don't run off, come back and help! You haven't even had dinner yet!"

Holding a large iron ladle and wearing an apron, the boss chased after her, but seeing that the girl had already run out, he had no choice but to give up.

Just as he was about to return to the kitchen to keep busy, he spotted Gao Xiaofan standing in a daze on the stairs and greeted him with a smile.

"The rooms look alright, don't they? I just set them up this year, they're very new."

Gao Xiaofan set aside his doubts, nodded, and smiled.

"Mhm, they're indeed very nice. Boss, how are the meals calculated? My online booking said it includes food and lodging."

Gao Xiaofan glanced at the kitchen; there weren't many ingredients, but they were all very fresh.

"Online? I'm not sure about the online stuff. My sister handles that, and she just ran out to play. But online bookings usually just get box lunches, which seem to be prepared for the Anglers."

The boss said after a moment's thought, and he didn't seem to be lying.

"See if there's anything you want to eat, and I'll cook it for you. Don't worry, my place doesn't rip people off."

Gao Xiaofan nodded with a smile and continued to look over the ingredients.

"Let's have Braised Pig Trotters, Shredded Pork with Pickled Greens, and an order of Yipin Pot."

Yipin Pot is quite famous in Anhui Cuisine. Before the Xiushui Mingshan Program Group started broadcasting, Gao Xiaofan had seen them eating it. At that time, he was gnawing on a Steamed Bun. However, looking at the Yipin Pot in the freezer, it seemed to be a basic version; he didn't see any abalone or sea cucumber.

Although there were box lunches, after traveling for so long and having nothing to do in the evening, it wouldn't feel right not to eat something better.

He and Qiu Gu didn't mind, but it was mainly for Li Yuer. The weather had turned cold, so she probably wanted a hot meal.

"Alright, I'll call you when it's ready. If you don't want to eat in the hall, I'll bring it up to you later."

"No need, we'll just eat in the hall. Sorry for the trouble."

After Gao Xiaofan finished speaking, he strolled around the Lakeside Cottage. He was a bit curious about who that girl was. From what she said, it sounded like she knew him. If she were a fan, she would only call him Brother Wo Zi.

However, he still held back the urge to ask the boss. Asking about someone's sister out of the blue would make him seem like a pervert.

Unable to figure it out, Gao Xiaofan shook his head. He was probably overthinking it. As such a pure boy, the number of girls he knew could be counted on one hand.

Originally, he had planned to ask the boss about the fishing conditions in Taiping Lake, but he hadn't expected the boss to be the only one busy in the whole hotel. He could only wait until after dinner to see if the boss would be free.

After walking around, he saw some chairs and small tables next to the guesthouse. If one came here in the summer, it would be nice to enjoy the breeze while having beer and food. Unfortunately, it was almost winter now.

In the back was a vegetable garden filled with Wucai and cilantro. In a while, the Wucai should be ready to eat. Cilantro should be at its tastiest right now; it was so tender.

After his stroll, Gao Xiaofan went upstairs. Qiu Gu was charging the power banks. He glanced at Li Yuer's room and saw the door was tightly shut; she had likely gone to take a shower.

Although Li Yuer was carefree and had a bit of a tough personality, she was still a girl. After camping outside for a night, now that they had settled in, her first thought was definitely to have a good wash.

Half an hour later, Li Yuer finished her shower and came over from the adjacent room. The two men waiting in the room quickly got up and headed downstairs together, ready to eat.

For lunch, they had only eaten some instant noodles and shared a few Mandarin Fish, so their stomachs were already empty by now.

"Oh, I was just about to call you. The Shredded Pork with Pickled Greens and the Yipin Pot are ready. I'll use the pressure cooker to press the pig trotters for a bit longer; they'll taste better that way."

As the three arrived in the hall, the boss happened to walk out of the kitchen carrying two basins of food.

"It's fine, we're in no hurry. By the way, Brother Gu, do you want a drink?"

After finding an empty table and sitting down, Gao Xiaofan looked toward Qiu Gu.

Qiu Gu shook his head. He was a bit tired after driving all afternoon and planned to go up to sleep after eating.

"Alright then. Boss, please bring us some rice."

Gao Xiaofan called out to the boss and glanced around the hall. The previous table of guests had already left, leaving the dishes and chopsticks scattered all over the table in a mess.

It seemed this boss wasn't very experienced. Including his own group, there were only two tables of people, yet he had been busy until now.

After a large basin of rice was brought out, Qiu Gu served two bowls for the men. As for Li Yuer, she was still eating the dishes and wasn't in a hurry for rice.

"Is it because it tastes good, or am I just too hungry?"

Gao Xiaofan picked up a mouthful of pickled greens mixed with white rice and shoveled it in.

"I also think it tastes pretty good, but this pot is quite strange. Is this bamboo shoot?"

Qiu Gu picked up a piece of dried bamboo shoot from the Yipin Pot with a curious look.

Before Gao Xiaofan could explain, Li Yuer spoke up first.

"This is Yipin Pot, a traditional famous dish from Annan. To put it simply, it's a stew. Although Yipin Pot is supposed to have things like abalone and sea cucumber, I personally feel this home-style version tastes better."

Hearing Li Yuer say this, Gao Xiaofan remembered that she was originally from T City, which was right next to Annan. She probably came to Annan to play often.

"Usually, chicken or duck is used as the soup base, paired with ham, dried bamboo shoots, Egg Dumplings, meatballs, and Tofu Puffs—well, some places call them 'tofu fruit'."

By the time Gao Xiaofan finished a bowl of rice, Qiu Gu had also quickly finished his. The two looked up and met each other's eyes, both understanding the other's thoughts.

"Boss, bring up the pig trotters. We're almost full!"

Gao Xiaofan called out with a smile. If they didn't come soon, he wouldn't be able to eat any after another bowl of rice.

"Coming, coming!" The boss hurriedly brought out a basin of brightly colored pig trotters. When the basin hit the table, the skin on the trotters visibly quivered, showing how tenderly they had been stewed.

"I usually like to eat pig trotters too, so I always keep some braising liquid ready. If a guest orders them, I use the pressure cooker; if no one orders, I eat them myself."

The boss wiped his hands on his apron and said with a chuckle.

"Then doesn't that mean you won't get to eat pig trotters today, Boss?"

Gao Xiaofan said with a smile, and the boss waved his hand.

"Hahaha, it's the same no matter which day I eat them. How's the taste?"

The three of them gave a thumbs-up in unison.

Hearing this, the boss beamed with joy. He gave a greeting and happily walked over to the next table to start clearing the leftover dishes and mess from the previous guests.