Chapter 1441 - Dining Table of Three Women
Just as she was pulling on her coat to leave, the morgue duty officer called. The corpse transport carriage had arrived and was about to collect the "disposable cadavers." He asked whether Corpse No. 1633090107001 should be sent for cremation.
"No. Not yet," Su Wan said. "There may be additional examinations."
"Understood, Comrade Regional Director."
"Keep it safe. Without my written order, no one is to inspect it, let alone transfer or dispose of it. No one. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Comrade Regional Director."
The Farm Tea House was Su Wan's favorite dining spot. It was a bit of a journey, but it had booths and private rooms, offering more privacy. Her good friends in the Army and colleagues from internal affairs also liked coming here, so she could often find someone to share a table and conversation. She had a quirk: she disliked formally inviting people to dinner but loved chance encounters. This seemed to place no burden on either party, and she could leave whenever she wished. So she regularly made the tedious commute on that crude little train out to the Farm.
Su Wan's diet had always been spartan. At the cafeteria, she typically had rice with several kinds of boiled vegetables plus a bowl of sauerkraut potato soup utterly devoid of oil—her standard lunch and dinner. Even at banquets, she ate little, sticking to simple vegetables.
Her eating habits had drawn criticism from Chen Sigen: severely insufficient protein and fat intake. As a forensic doctor, she understood perfectly what long-term continuation of this diet would mean—sooner or later, she would wither from malnutrition. The work intensity in Lingao was nothing like the old time-space. For this reason, she forced herself to eat properly once a week, coming to the Farm Tea House for a real meal.
She had no access to the various rationed delicacies here—being lazy by nature, she never bothered to call ahead and reserve, nor did she track the weekly limited menu. She simply ate whatever was available that day.
Vegetables and fruits were openly supplied, but meat was somewhat monotonous. Aside from aquatic products and poultry, mutton was currently the meat the General Affairs Office could supply in relative abundance. Every week, dozens of sheep arrived from Changhua under the label "General Affairs Office Special Use." The best lamb chops, tenderloin, and legs were always claimed quickly—naturally, Su Wan never got them. Fortunately, few Elders had any interest in roasted sheep heads, so she could always get one when she wanted.
The Farm's roasted sheep head was taught to the cooks by an Elder with a chef's certificate, following a Ningxia method. Rapid fire, flames leaping more than a foot high from the oven. The head was first boiled until half-done, then cleaved in two with a single stroke. When the cook brushed sheep fat over it, it sizzled. The whole process was elaborate: brushing oil, soy sauce, vinegar, cumin, chili oil, sprinkling fennel powder, pepper powder, sesame seeds, adding chopped green onions, minced cilantro, and minced onion.
Su Wan felt that merely looking at it was enough to whet the appetite, never mind the aroma. Unfortunately, most people in the Council of Elders had no appreciation for quality. Pretentious vanilla-roasted lamb chops became the hot item instead. Though only a few sheep heads were roasted each day, she could always claim one.
"Half a sheep head first, extra cumin and chili," Su Wan told the waiter. "A large vegetable salad. And a liter of draft beer."
While waiting with nothing to do, she spotted Salina sitting in a booth not far away. She wore a black uniform identical to Su Wan's, and beside her sat a young woman Su Wan didn't recognize. Judging from dress and bearing, she too was clearly an Elder.
Noticing Su Wan's gaze, Salina smiled and waved, beckoning her over.
"Su, how are you? Come sit with us."
Su Wan nodded, walked to their table, and sat down. The waiter hurried over to relocate her cups and plates, then refilled the lemon water.
"Let me introduce you—this is Cheng Yongxin from the Great Library," Salina said. "And this is our Chief Forensic Doctor, Su Wan."
"A pleasure," both women said, exchanging polite greetings.
In that brief moment, Su Wan caught a glint of keen interest in Cheng Yongxin's eyes.
What's this woman's background? she wondered.
"You don't look well. Was this trip very tiring? You went straight back to work today?"
"There's a new case. Bureau Chief Ran insisted I produce a report immediately." Su Wan sipped her lemon water.
"That's too hard. You should tell them you need proper rest."
"Sigh, Salina—everyone who came to this time-space works hard. Should I alone claim I need rest? Even if I could say it, I'd feel guilty." Su Wan set down her cup with a sigh.
Probably thanks to Xue Ziliang's long-term "nourishment," Salina looked radiant. Her sunset-blonde hair always carried an attractive sheen; her lake-green eyes and alluring curves exuded the unique charm of a white woman. The occasional flush on her moon-pale face made her look incomparably beautiful.
Then there was Cheng Yongxin—jeans hugging her long legs, a flowing white long-sleeved blouse with sleeves casually rolled up, black silk-like hair cascading over her shoulders. Light makeup framed an exquisite face.
Thinking of her own dry black hair, thin frame, and pallid features, Su Wan couldn't help feeling dim.
Perhaps she too needed to find a man to "nourish" her soon? There were quite a few candidates; maybe she should break her virginity sooner rather than later...
"The Council of Elders truly is a group of workaholics," Salina observed.
"Isn't that a good thing?" Cheng Yongxin smiled leisurely. "Fortunately, work keeps them so busy that it consumes most of the men's energy. Otherwise, who knows what crooked schemes they'd dream up."
"True enough." Su Wan heard the implication and nodded.
"You're right." Though Sister-in-law Qian had worked to temper her, Salina still hadn't entirely shed her original temperament. "Sometimes I truly can't understand how they think." She suddenly mentioned the white slave auction, her voice rising with indignation: "That was the most shameful crime I've personally witnessed in my entire life."
Though the auction had passed long ago, Salina's abrupt mention of it caught Su Wan off guard. Still, she had her own complaints about that affair—wasn't it a naked display of contempt for female Elders? Her desire to speak surged:
"What can be done, Salina? Don't forget what those people came to this time-space for. Whether it's communism, democracy and freedom, or national dignity and rejuvenation—those are all covers. All bullshit! At the end of the day, they just want to do all the vulgar, sordid, and cruel things that weren't allowed—or weren't possible—in the old time-space. Playing with heavy weapons. Looting wealth. Living a corrupt life no one could have imagined. Here, whether it's twenty-first-century morality or seventeenth-century morality, it all has to make way for their cannons. What they think is right becomes the truth. Isn't that so?" Su Wan's voice had risen considerably. "Sorry—I may be a little agitated."
"Yes, everyone carries more or less terrible thoughts inside," Cheng Yongxin said lightly, as though she were the protagonist of a Hollywood blockbuster. "If they lacked the power to overturn the world, it wouldn't matter. But once they have that capability and are indulged—that is the most terrifying thing in existence. This is the downside of democracy."
Just then, the waiter arrived with their food. A sizable venison steak sizzled on a heated iron plate, accompanied by golden fried potato strips and a few green broccoli florets.
"Mushroom sauce?" Cheng Yongxin said. "Matches the venison well."
"Right—they finally managed to make a sauce besides pepper sauce." Salina's appetite was whetted. "Wu is very capable."
"It's his wife who's very capable," Cheng Yongxin corrected. "Of course, no one ever remembers who his wife is."
"Mm." Salina had no intention of asking and was already slicing into the venison.
Cheng Yongxin was having a chicken fried rice noodle set meal—lighter in flavor and considerably smaller in portion.
"You eat too little, Cheng Cheng, darling," Salina said between bites.
"Most of my work is sedentary. Eating less is healthier."
The roasted sheep head arrived, purplish-black and fragrant.
"God, what is that?"
"Roasted sheep head."
"Sheep head!" Salina made an exaggerated face. "Is there anything... um, edible on that?"
"Everything except the bones. And it's delicious." Su Wan rinsed her hands in a small bowl of water. "A delicacy of this world." As she spoke, she dug the roasted golden sheep eye from the head, smiled, and popped it into her mouth. Crunch. Crisp and juicy—delicious as expected.
She broke open the skull, exposing the brain, and ate it with a small spoon: soft, tender, smooth as tofu. She tore off a strip of roasted skin and tossed it into her mouth—slightly charred, growing more fragrant the longer she chewed.
"Waiter! Garlic!" she called out. She gulped down a large mouthful of draft beer, wiped her mouth, and said:
"Really excellent. Want to try? The cheek meat tastes like the best surf clam."
Salina shook her head repeatedly. Cheng Yongxin also waved a smiling hand: "I don't like mutton—the smell is too strong. Besides, the cholesterol in that thing must be sky-high. Unhealthy."
"Pity." Su Wan ate heartily by herself, the carrots and onion slices in her salad crunching loudly between her teeth.
Salina and Cheng Yongxin couldn't quite hide their looks of disgust. Su Wan sneered inwardly. She devoured the sheep head on her own, chewing raw garlic clove after clove, washing it down with cold draft beer. The more she ate, the more she wanted. She finished a full liter along the way.