allendalepharm Chapter 416 Even in the Arctic, there are still Chinese people setting up stalls.
Chapter 416 Even in the Arctic, there are still Chinese people setting up stalls.
Chapter 416 Even in the Arctic, there are still Chinese people setting up stalls.
After making a solemn promise with Nanuk, he took Noah's hand and slowly left the area that belonged to "legend".
At that moment, a cold wind blew by, and he realized that his stomach was empty, and a hot, craving rose from his stomach.
"Are you hungry?" Noah looked up at him and asked softly.
"Hmm, a little." Lin Yu'an smiled. "I feel like I could eat a whole musk ox right now."
"Let's go get something to eat," Noah said, pointing to the bustling public rest area in the distance. "I saw they were selling barbecue and hot soup over there."
The two walked side by side back to the bustling "ice market".
The roar of snowmobiles, the laughter of children, and the aroma of various foods mingled together, creating a grand market unique to the Arctic.
Lin Yu'an's gaze swept over the stalls selling roasted reindeer sausages, seal soup, and Danish hot dogs, but he suddenly stopped in front of a small stall in the far corner of the market.
It was an extremely simple stall, with only a small folding table and a huge pot of boiling water.
The things on the table made Lin Yu'an's pupils dilate instantly: braised beef noodles, mushroom and chicken noodle soup, and pickled cabbage noodles...
Rows of familiar packages printed with Chinese characters stand out so incongruously, yet so dearly, in this foreign land covered in ice and snow.
"Brothers," he said, pointing his phone camera at the small stall, his voice filled with the surprise of discovering a new world.
"Look what I found! In the heart of the World Natural Heritage site within the Arctic Circle, at the Greenland Halibut Ice Fishing Open—there's someone selling instant noodles!"
The viewers in the live stream went crazy.
[Holy crap?! Am I seeing things? Those are Master Kong and Uni-President?!]
[Outrageous! Absolutely outrageous! Has it already reached Greenland?!]
This business acumen is unparalleled! In the freezing cold of minus twenty degrees Celsius, what could be more irresistible than a steaming bowl of instant noodles?
"Hey! Hey! My friend! Look here!"
A stall owner, completely covered up except for his eyes, was enthusiastically gesturing to the names of the blond, blue-eyed tourists passing by.
"Try this! Food from China!"
"Hot! Spicy! Delicious! Change your world in just five minutes!"
His confident demeanor, as if he were selling some priceless treasure, attracted many tourists to stop and watch, eliciting good-natured laughter.
Lin Yu'an watched this scene, his smile growing wider. The stall owner's confident yet humble demeanor was 100% that of a true Northeasterner.
If it were a Japanese person, they would most likely be bowing and scraping to every potential white customer at this moment. That ingrained sense of hierarchy and excessive politeness is a hallmark of their service industry.
If it were a Korean, they might be even more eager, their eyes filled with a desire for recognition, as they diligently hand the instant noodles to the tourists, afraid of missing any opportunity.
But this man in front of me was different. Although he was shouting, he stood up straight and his eyes swept over the tall white tourists around him. There was no awe or flattery in his eyes.
Chinese people don't care about your system; if they're buying from you, we're all equal. His "little words" are not only for doing business, but also more like a confident cultural export.
"Boss," Lin Yu'an said with a smile, stepping forward and asking in fluent Chinese, "How much are the instant noodles?"
"5 yuan, 5 yuan, everything is 5 yuan... Holy crap?"
The man who was enthusiastically promoting his product paused for two seconds, then slowly turned his head away.
"Holy crap?!" A voice filled with surprise and disbelief in a Northeastern accent burst from his mouth. "A Chinese person? Dude, you're here for tourism?"
"I guess so." Lin Yu'an was amused by his dramatic reaction.
"Holy crap! Bro!" The stall owner slapped his thigh excitedly, ripped off his mask, revealing a square face red from the cold.
He looked Lin Yu'an up and down, so excited he was almost incoherent, racking his brains for a suitable poem to express his feelings: "This is truly—'West of Yangguan, no old friends remain'—oh no, I urge you to drink another cup of wine—no, that's not quite right either—however, it's the gist of it!"
"Oh my god, when fellow villagers meet, their eyes well up with tears!"
After hesitating for a while, he finally gave up on using fancy words and summarized in the simplest Northeastern dialect: "Anyway, looking at you, I feel incredibly close to you!"
As he spoke, he deftly took two buckets of braised beef noodles from the box, quickly tore open the packaging, and prepared to add hot water.
"Brother, you're amazing!" Lin Yu'an exclaimed, looking at his impressive inventory. "I really can't believe there's anywhere in the world where Chinese people aren't doing business. Where did you get all this stock?"
"Ugh! Don't even mention it!" The older brother poured out his grievances while adding hot water to the bucket.
"We carried them all over by hand! My wife, my brother-in-law, and I took several flights."
"One person checked in two large suitcases, both crammed full of this stuff! All for today!"
"This ice fishing competition attracts a lot of tourists, so we came months in advance to scout the location! We were hoping to pull off a big score!"
Lin Yu'an listened, half believing him. Human flesh was definitely being transported, but such a large quantity likely meant it had been transported through some special freight channel. However, he didn't point it out.
"Here you go, bro!" The older brother handed over two buckets of already soaked instant noodles and even stuck some forks in them.
Lin Yu'an took the instant noodles, then took out his wallet from his pocket, pulled out a brand new 100 Danish kroner and handed it over.
Upon seeing the banknote, the man's face instantly fell. His previous enthusiasm vanished, replaced by annoyance at being offended.
"Hey, what's wrong with you, bro?" He shoved Lin Yu'an's hand back.
"Aren't you just slapping me in the face? Huh? Right here in the middle of nowhere, you're letting a fellow villager eat two bowls of instant noodles and you're even paying for it? Who do you think you are?"
"Take it and eat it! Hurry up and take it and eat it!" He shoved the money back into Lin Yu'an's pocket without saying a word. "Put it away quickly, don't tear it. You're delaying my business with those foreigners."
"Let me tell you, these naive folks, after their first sip, they'll be coming back for more! My 'mysterious Eastern power' is going to teach them a lesson today!"
Lin Yu'an was both amused and exasperated. He knew that if he insisted on giving money any more, he would be disrespecting this man from Northeast China.
"Alright then," he said, no longer being coy, and smiled as he took the money back. "Thanks, brother. Here's what you'll do: after you've sold your goods, head to the bottom of that biggest iceberg."
"I saw a dog that looks like a red husky squatting in front of a tent; that's my fishing spot. I just caught a fish; we'll stew it and have a couple of drinks!"
The live stream chat instantly filled with gloating and sarcastic comments.
[Hahaha! The streamer is so mischievous! He casually mentioned "catching a fish"!]
[I can't wait to see the look on the older brother's face when he carries the box of instant noodles over and sees the 68.5-kilogram fish!]
[A red husky, seriously? It's enraging Mars!]
Upon hearing this, the older brother's eyes lit up instantly, and his smile became even brighter than before: "Holy crap? Really? Bro, you caught a fish? How big was it?"
"It's alright, the weight is alright," Lin Yu'an said casually.
The older brother assumed that Lin Yu'an had just caught a common flounder weighing a dozen kilograms since he didn't specify the details.
But his enthusiasm remained undiminished: "That's great! Brother, wait for me, I'll come over to you after I sell these few boxes! I absolutely have to try the fish caught by our fellow Chinese!"
He suddenly paused, looked Lin Yu'an up and down with a mysterious look in his eyes, then lowered his voice and leaned closer: "Brother, I can tell you're an honest guy. Tell me the truth, do you think these foreigners' bait isn't working well? Not really hooking them?"
Lin Yu'an was taken aback for a moment, then smiled: "What brilliant idea do you have, brother?"
"I wouldn't call it a brilliant idea, it's just some old-fashioned methods passed down from our ancestors."
At the very bottom of his enormous insulated box, he pulled out a dark brown object that was wrapped tightly in a plastic bag and frozen solid.
He tore open a small opening, and an extremely domineering and intense smell, a mixture of fishy stench and soy sauce aroma, instantly exploded in the cold air!
The flavor was even more intoxicating than the finest stinky tofu, and more pungent than the purest shrimp paste, yet it also contained a rich, fermented aroma.
When Noah smelled the scent, she instinctively wrinkled her nose and took a half step back.
"Big brother, what is this—" Lin Yu'an was also startled by the smell, but he immediately recognized that beneath the smell was a highly concentrated amino acid signal.
"Shh!" The older brother made a shushing gesture, rewrapped the ice block, stuffed it into Lin Yu'an's arms, and whispered quickly, "This is my secret recipe aged shrimp paste and wheat bran block!" He originally intended to use it himself, but he didn't expect the instant noodles to sell so well that he had no time to go fishing.
"It's really heavy to hand back. Here, take it and use it. It's not anything valuable, but you might catch a big fish with it."
"This stuff, the main ingredient is shrimp paste, and it has to be fermented, aged paste for the flavor to be truly pungent!"
"Then I mixed in roasted wheat bran and cornmeal, and added fish scraps that I had salted all winter. Finally, I pressed it into blocks and froze it."
"Don't let its stench fool you," the older brother said smugly. "At depths of several hundred meters, the smell dissipates very slowly and from very far!"
"For a lazy fish like a flounder that eats by its nose, this is the ultimate seafood Buddha Jumps Over the Wall!"
"A hundred times better than their pathetic squid chunks!"
Lin Yu'an looked at the bio-weapon in his arms, a glint of light flashing in his eyes. He instantly understood the principle behind it.
This is a fermentation process used to create an unparalleled "olfactory bomb" underwater!
"Big brother, is this in accordance with the competition rules?" Lin Yu'an asked.
"Don't worry!" the older brother patted his chest confidently. "When I get things done, I'm meticulous! The rules say no chemical additives, but is this considered chemistry? No!"
"Shrimp, fish, grains—all natural! This is called bio-fermentation," a Chinese craft! Foreigners don't understand!
"You should break it up and use it for baiting; I'm telling you, it'll work wonders!"
Just then, a tall white man walked over curiously.
He sniffed the air and asked in English, "Excuse me, what's that smell? It smells wonderful."
When the man from Northeast China saw business coming his way, the mysterious expression on his face instantly switched to that of an enthusiastic businessman.
He immediately shielded Lin Yu'an behind him, then picked up a bucket of freshly made braised beef noodles from the table and drank it down with great gusto: "Ah ha! My friend! You have a good nose!"
"This is magical food from the East!"
"He added traditional Eastern spices to bring you good luck! Guaranteed to help you catch big fish! Huge fish!"
The German looked at the red broth and beef chunks in the instant noodles, then at the cold sandwich in his hand, and swallowed hard.
On this icy plain where temperatures drop to minus twenty degrees Celsius, the temptation of a bowl of hot soup is deadly.
Lin Yu'an, who was standing to the side, could no longer hold back when she heard this.
He quickly lowered his head to hide his mouth, which was twitching violently from trying to suppress his laughter. If he had been a second later, he would have burst out laughing on the spot.
Hahahaha! I can't take it anymore! Instant noodles bring good luck~~
[The Mysterious Power of the East: Lucky Instant Noodles! Eating them will bring you a big fish! This guy's got some talent!]
However, it might be true! After all, you've all seen that video of catching fish with a lollipop, right?
[That's ridiculous. I'm right by the reservoir. If instant noodles are useful, why would we need bait? Anyway, I'm getting bloated from all the noodles.]
The white man clearly didn't believe this explanation; he just smiled politely, thinking it was nothing more than an exaggerated sales tactic.
"How much?"
The eldest brother held up his hand and shouted out the price: "Fifty crowns! Fifty for a bowl! Magical food, of course, has magical prices!"
Fifty Danish kroner, which is roughly equivalent to fifty yuan. For a bowl of instant noodles, that's an astronomical price.
But in this special setting at the ends of the earth, for a shivering European tourist, the price seems to be within an acceptable range.
Lin Yu'an spoke with a serious expression: "What he didn't say is true."
He pointed to himself, then to the fishing spot sheltered by the iceberg in the distance, "I'm the angler at spot A-1."
Upon hearing the word "A-1", the white man's eyes widened instantly. He had just heard on the radio that a 68.5-kilogram giant had been caught in less than an hour of the competition!
Lin Yu'an didn't give him time to think and continued to provide divine assistance.
He held up the instant noodles in his hand and said in a low voice, "And this—is the breakfast I ate before the game started."
"Good luck." After saying that, he winked meaningfully at the white man.
The white man was completely stunned.
His mind raced: A-1 fishing spot — Chinese angler — 68.5 kg — the magical food of the East — luck —
All the clues miraculously came together at that moment!
In his meticulous and rational blue eyes, an unprecedentedly blazing light suddenly burst forth—a flame of extreme desire for victory!
He suddenly turned his head and shouted at the man from Northeast China, "I'll have one bowl! No, give me two bowls!"
Double the luck!
Northeastern Brother: ————
Lin Yu'an watched this scene, smiled and shook his head, "Big brother, then I won't disturb your fortune-making."
"Alright! You go ahead and get busy, bro!" the older brother shouted to him without turning his head as he collected the money.
"Remember," Lin Yu'an added before leaving, "come back as soon as you're done selling! I'll be waiting for you under that iceberg!"
"Don't worry! Absolutely!" the older brother replied cheerfully.
After saying goodbye to their warm and hospitable Northeastern friend, Lin Yu'an and Nuoya each carried a steaming bucket of instant noodles and then bought two reindeer sausages from a nearby stall.
When they returned to their orange-red tent and lifted the curtain, the sight they saw made them both burst into laughter.
Mars doesn't sleep face down like they imagined.
It sat upright in the center of the tent, like a most loyal guard, facing the entrance.
Its chest was held high, its head slightly raised, and its eyes were watching the front warily, its posture just like a sentry waiting for inspection.
The dog looks majestic and full of a sense of mission.
But its wildly wagging tail, almost leaving a blur, and the string of glistening saliva hanging from the corner of its mouth, completely betrayed its true thoughts.
Noah was amused by its adorable appearance and chuckled, then went over and patted its big head.
"Awoo~" Mars let out a joyful cry, unable to hold back any longer, and buried its head in Noah's arms, rubbing its big head against her and acting cute.
"Good boy, you've worked hard." Noah rubbed its head and held the still-steaming sausage to its mouth.
Mars squinted its eyes happily, snatched the sausage, ran to its little mat, and began to enjoy its reward with relish.
Outside the tent lies the frigid polar world and a fierce battle for the championship.
Inside the tent, however, was the aroma of instant noodles, the smile of a loved one, and the company of a loyal dog.
Noah slurped up a mouthful of hot instant noodles, her dark eyes sparkling with curiosity.
Looking at Lin Yu'an beside him, he couldn't help but ask, "An, does this food—really have some kind of lucky charm?"
Lin Yu'an put down his fork mysteriously and said in a very serious tone, "Noya, there's a secret I've never told you."
Seeing his serious expression, Noah couldn't help but feel nervous and held her breath.
Lin Yu'an slowly said, "I am actually—the reincarnation of Emperor Canute."
Noah froze instantly, her black eyes widening suddenly, her mouth opening slightly, her whole body stiffening.
Canute the Great? The legendary Viking monarch who unified Denmark, Norway, and England, and established the vast "North Sea Empire"?
If someone else had said that, Noah would have just taken it as a cheesy joke.
But the person who said this was Lin Yu-an.
A person who has truly experienced the incredible thing of rebirth.
Her heart skipped a beat, and her mind went blank.
Reason told her it was impossible, but emotionally she felt—judging from the miracles that had happened to him—it seemed—not entirely impossible.
"How—how is this possible?" she stammered, her eyes filled with shock and disbelief. "You—"
"You must be lying to me! Right?"
Seeing her adorable, bewildered expression as she earnestly considered the possibilities, Lin Yu'an could no longer hold back and burst into hearty laughter.
"So instead of believing that a bowl of noodles can bring you good luck, you should believe that I am the reincarnation of Emperor Canute."
Noah then realized she had been tricked, and her pretty face instantly turned bright red with embarrassment.
She was both ashamed and angry, so she grabbed a soft cushion next to her and threw it at Lin Yu'an.