4: Chapter 4 Drinking the Supreme Budweiser, Enjoying the Upper Class Life

Hejia Avenue was the hottest late-night snack street in Jianning City during the 2000s. After 2015, due to economic development, the nightlife hub gradually migrated to the riverbanks on both sides of the Xiang River, and Hejia Avenue began its slow decline.

In 2007, the late-night snack economy on Hejia Avenue was still booming.

It was already 9 o'clock when the three of them arrived. It was the peak time for late-night snacks; between the cars parked along both sides of Hejia Avenue, motorcycles, e-scooters, and bicycles were lined up row by row.

The air was filled with the clamor of various snack shops and stalls calling out to customers. Yang Shiguang pushed the cart while looking for an open spot.

"Fried skewers, chicken drumsticks, chicken tenders, scallion pancakes!" Hmm, childhood memories.

"Duck frames, duck feet, duck king!" Hmm, eat too much and your bottom will catch fire.

"Come, come, come, teppanyaki chives!" Hmm, eat too much of this and you'll need to go get a foot massage.

"Lamb skewers! Lamb skewers! Xinjiang lamb skewers!" Hmm, don't think you're from Xinjiang just because you stuck on a couple of big mustaches; you've got a thick Southern Xiang accent.

"Cool, thirst-quenching watermelon! What? Is it ripe? Do you think I'd sell you an unripe melon when I run a fruit stall?" Hmm, no comment.

"Handsome, want a disc?" Yang Shiguang's eyelid twitched.

He looked at the guy wearing a long trench coat and sunglasses in the middle of summer, who opened his coat to reveal shiny discs hanging inside.

Forget it, I can't even roast this; this kind of scene really has a sense of the era, it's understandable.

Finally, the three of them found an open spot and began setting up their position.

They set up two folding tables and chairs, lit the liquefied gas stove, and set up a large bucket to heat the braised shrimp.

They were the only stall selling crayfish on the entire street. This was normal; crayfish only entered a period of rapid development nationwide after 2010. Currently, only the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions had the "Thirteen Spice" preparation method, and that flavor didn't have a large audience nationwide, paling in comparison to the braised shrimp that would later become a huge hit.

In 2007, there probably weren't many people in a place like Jianning who had eaten this stuff.

But precisely because of that, half an hour passed, and Yang Shiguang's stall hadn't received a single customer yet; the few interested guests were just in a wait-and-see state.

After all, the price of 35 per jin wasn't cheap. If it turned out to be bad, wouldn't that be a huge loss? Everyone was waiting for someone to test the waters first.

You Ge was so anxious he was almost jumping up and down.

In contrast, Yang Shiguang was very calm, muttering softly to himself.

"No, Shiguang, is this thing actually reliable?" "Don't panic, just wait."

Yang Shiguang really wasn't in a rush. As long as one person tried it, it would break the deadlock. He was also waiting for that fated person. After all, this was copied homework.

Afterward, he looked at the passersby in front of the stall and continued his soft muttering. "+ 1" "+ 1" "+ 1" ...

An Miaomiao listened to his muttering and asked curiously, "Brother Shiguang, what are you mumbling about?"

"Oh, the Goldbach conjecture."

An Miaomiao's eyes immediately sparkled with little stars. "As expected of Brother Shiguang, even though I don't understand it, I think it's so impressive!"

Only You Ge rolled his eyes at him and thought to himself: Conjecture my ass. Yang Shiguang doesn't know the first thing about the Goldbach conjecture. Actually, what he was thinking in his heart right now was:

Short skirt + 1, that's 18. Hot pants + 1, that's 25. Leggings + 1, that's 12 ...

Not long after, two boys who looked like college students walked over. "Boss, what is this stuff? Is it good?"

Here it comes! The first sucker! Yang Shiguang thought, then patted his butt and stood up.

"I won't say whether it's good or not, but I guarantee that once you eat it, you'll want more!"

The two boys looked at each other, expressing doubt. The tall boy said, "Why don't we try it?"

"Don't, it's 35 a jin. We could buy a lot of lamb skewers with that. I don't have much living money left this month." The slightly shorter, chubby boy touched his pocket and retorted.

Just as Yang Shiguang was about to say something, a pretty figure flashed to the side of the chubby boy. "Don't be like that, Big Brother! This is delicious, much better than lamb skewers!"

The chubby boy looked down at the little cutie who was acting cute and was momentarily dazed. After snapping out of it, he turned to look at his buddy and said, "Emmm, buy a jin to try?"

Just as the tall boy was about to speak, the sweet, soft voice drifted over like a celestial melody. "Oh my, oh my, you two big brothers are so tall and handsome, how is one jin enough? How about two jin?"

The tall boy spread his hands and said to the chubby boy, "You're treating anyway, I don't care, it's up to you."

The chubby boy looked down at An Miaomiao, seemingly still hesitating. "Buy it? Buy it? If you want it, I'll go pack it for you Big Brothers right away."

An Miaomiao's fluttering peach-blossom eyes sparkled with little stars, and her long eyelashes, tipped with a hint of moisture, trembled slightly, leaving the chubby boy in a trance.

"Buy, buy, buy! Give me 2 jin, oh no, give me 4 jin!"

Hearing this, the tall boy looked astonished, then helplessly rested his hand on his forehead and sighed. In contrast, An Miaomiao was already skipping over, having collected the money and gone to scoop up the shrimp for them.

The two had already sat down and started eating, and people around them had gathered. Seeing this, Yang Shiguang walked over and taught the two how to peel the shrimp. "Here, like this. The main thing is to eat the meat inside the shrimp tail. Give it a try."

After watching, the two followed suit, each peeled a shrimp, and put it in their mouths to savor it. "Young man, how does it taste?" "Bro, is it good?" The onlookers asked one after another.

The two suddenly's eyes lit up. "Oh, this is not bad!" "This is really good! Soft on the palate, a line of..." "A line of your head, a line of... but it is indeed delicious, everyone can try it!"

Hearing the feedback, the onlookers no longer hesitated. "Give me 2 jin!" "I want 3 jin!" "I want 5 jin, damn it!"

Business exploded instantly. Yang Shiguang nodded with satisfaction, instructed You Ge to pack shrimp for the customers, and then looked at An Miaomiao who had run over to smile and claim credit. He patted her head. "Miaomiao is the best!"

The booming business made it impossible for the three of them to keep up; the two tables were packed with people, many were packing to go, and some even ran to the curb to sit and peel shrimp.

Suddenly someone called out, "Boss, do you have beer? To help with the spice." "Yes, yes, yes! Of course!"

Yang Shiguang opened the foam box inside the tricycle, which contained various types of pre-chilled beer. "Give us two bottles of Tsingtao!" That was what the two college students shouted.

Yang Shiguang, however, said with a smile, "Why are you two drinking Tsingtao? You should be drinking Budweiser!"

At this moment, besides the two college students, other people who were devouring shrimp also looked over in confusion. "Is there some sort of saying behind this?" The tall college student was very confused.

"Of course, Lu Xun once said..." "When you drink, you have to drink this specific flavor!" (Star City and Jianning dialect, meaning when drinking alcohol, you have to drink this taste; 'bie' is an adjective, and 'biewei' sounds like Budweiser).

"So, Budweiser is high-class! Drink Supreme Budweiser, enjoy a high-class life!"

While speaking, Yang Shiguang held a bottle of Budweiser above his head, looking at the bottle with eyes full of faith.

Most of the older people took these words as a joke, but the young people seemed to believe it for the most part. And indeed, Budweiser sold more than the other beers.

After things had calmed down, An Miaomiao and You Ge walked to Yang Shiguang's sides, and An Miaomiao asked in a low voice, "Brother Shiguang, do high-class people all drink Budweiser?"

Shiguang looked at the two and shook his head. "Not at all, I made it up."

You Ge was stunned. "Then you still..." Yang Shiguang didn't wait for him to finish and interrupted him. "The main thing is that Budweiser is more expensive."