Siheyuan: The romantic and suave Xu Damao

Xu Damao got up from the bed, stretched his body, and went into the kitchen to get busy. He turned on the stove skillfully and poured a little peanut oil into the pot. As the oil temperature gradually increased, a "sizzling" sound was heard.

Then, he took out a handful of pre-cut lamb chops that he had bought this afternoon from the basket next to him.

These lamb chops weighed about half a pound and exuded an enticing aroma. Xu Damao put them all into the pot without hesitation, then quickly picked up the spatula and started stir-frying them.

Under the action of high temperature, the lamb chops were quickly fried until both sides were golden brown, emitting bursts of burnt aroma.

At this time, Xu Damao carefully poured the hot water that had been boiling on the stove on the other side into the pot. The reason why the lamb chops should be fried first and then stewed with water is that this will make the soup appear milky white, which is not only attractive in color, but also more delicious and rich in taste.

Then, Xu Damao covered the pot, turned down the heat and simmered it slowly.

As time passed, the soup in the pot began to bubble and the aroma of mutton filled the entire room.

About half an hour later, Xu Damao estimated that the time was about right, so he opened the lid of the pot, took out some fresh noodles and put them into the pot.

The long noodles danced happily in the boiling soup. Xu Damao directly put in some salt, then took a large bowl and put a little MSG and chopped green onions in it.

After the noodles were cooked, Xu Damao directly scooped the lamb chops and noodles into a large bowl.

A bowl of simple lamb chop noodles is ready.

Xu Damao took a sip of the mutton soup happily, praised his cooking skills, and started to eat.

Xu Damao was eating heartily and happily when he suddenly heard a clear sound of footsteps coming from outside the door. Just by the sound, he could conclude that the person coming was Yan Bugui.

"Da Mao, open the door quickly!" Yan Bugui's voice floated into the house through the crack in the door.

Xu Damao stood up quickly upon hearing the voice, walked to the door in two steps, opened it, and said with a smile on his face: "Teacher Yan, you are here! Have you eaten? I have a lot of mutton soup that I just cooked. It's very cold today, how about you have a bowl? I guarantee you will feel warm after drinking it!"

After that, he stepped aside to let Yan Bugui in. As soon as Yan Bugui entered the room, he immediately smelled a strong aroma of mutton filling the entire room, and he couldn't help swallowing his saliva.

"Da Mao, I've already eaten at home. But I haven't had mutton soup for a long time, so I'll just have a little taste to satisfy my craving."

Upon hearing this, Xu Damao quickly put down the bowl in his hand, made a gesture to take the bowl, and said enthusiastically: "Okay, I'll serve you a bowl right away!"

However, Yan Bugui waved his hands and said, "Oh, no need to trouble you, Damao, I can do it myself, just continue eating your food."

Before he finished speaking, Yan Bugui walked quickly to the table beside him, picked up a clean porcelain bowl, and turned to walk towards the pot.

At this time, the pot was steaming and the soup was boiling. Yan Bugui took a closer look and found that there seemed to be two pieces of tender and plump lamb chops and some sparse noodles hidden in the pot.

His eyes lit up and he scooped them up and put them into the bowl without hesitation.

"Slurp! Damao, I spent a lot of effort to talk to my friend about this matter this afternoon. Fortunately, he finally nodded and agreed to your request."

As Yan Bugui spoke, he picked up the bowl and took another big sip of the steaming, fragrant mutton soup. Then he continued in a voice so quiet that only the two of them could hear, "But my friends have said that this transaction can only be arranged in the evening. What do you think?"

As he spoke, his eyes flickered and his expression was a little uneasy. He was really worried that Xu Damao would refuse the deal because of time issues.

After all, Xu Damao would feel afraid even when dealing with these people during the day, let alone in the middle of the night.

Hearing this, Xu Damao frowned tightly, deliberately showing a very embarrassed look on his face, and asked: "Teacher Yan, do we really have to wait until the evening? Is there no other way?"

Yan Bugui shook his head helplessly, sighed heavily and explained: "Oh, I have worn out my lips and said all the nice things, but the other party is very determined and insists on completing the deal tonight. I really have no choice."

After a pause, he seemed to remember something and added, "And according to my observation, Damao, I feel that the tone of the people over there sounds like they are worried about you. They may be worried that there is a trap or something, so they deliberately chose this time period in the evening to conduct the transaction."

Xu Damao was silent for a moment, and after thinking for a while, he finally nodded and said, "Okay, in that case, let's go at night. I just don't know when is the best time to go?"

"Tonight or tomorrow night is fine, but tonight is better! My friend said that this matter must not be postponed any longer, lest something unexpected happens." Yan Bugui said anxiously, as if the matter was imminent.

"Da Mao, what exactly did you say to your friend?"

After Yan Bugui finished speaking, he was thinking to himself that he was afraid that he had reached an agreement with his friend, but Xu Damao failed to make a deal. If something went wrong, he would not be able to report to his friend.

Xu Damao waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "Teacher Yan, just relax! My friend trusts me 100%."

"Look, they handed the money to me a long time ago. Moreover, when I explained to him the details of those people and said they were engaged in the business of moving mountains and robbing tombs, he immediately became interested and said that these guys must have a lot of good stuff in their hands."

"So, not only did he readily give me some extra money, he also specifically told me to look around and see if I could find any treasures worth buying."

Xu Damao's words slipped out lightly, and Yan Bugui was overjoyed when he heard them.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that now things were almost certain to go well, and his share of the introduction fee would probably be safely in his pocket soon.

So, he couldn't hold back his excitement and asked cautiously, "Da Mao, if that's the case, why don't we go over and take a look tonight? What do you think?"