Chapter 656: An Old Friend Comes

On the evening of the second day of the new year, Vermilion Bird Avenue was ablaze with lights, the festival atmosphere at its peak. At this moment, the decadent Qinhuai and the splendid Chang'an, with their Golden Gates and Silver Terraces, all paled in comparison to the radiant lights of You Prefecture this year.

A youth dressed in noble attire stood silently at the entrance of Vermilion Bird Avenue, accompanied by three or five attendants, for a long time.

The desolate beacon smoke he had known since childhood was gradually dispelled by the bustling red lanterns, the endless flow of pedestrians, and the noisy clamor of vendors. Having traveled all the way, the Northern Border had repeatedly shattered his expectations, and You Prefecture City was no exception.

The young boy led the way into the pedestrian street; although everything seemed novel to him, his face still bore an arrogant disdain.

Soon they realized that this extraordinarily prosperous street was full of contradictions: in front of the splendid, obviously expensive shops stood little stalls, whose owners, though clean and tidy even with their hair wrapped, were clearly ordinary folk selling only snacks, and they had nothing to do with the respectable shops further down.

"…They haven't been driven away yet?" How can they coexist harmoniously on this street!

He muttered to himself, not expecting the tense attendants behind him to answer, and after just a few steps he caught a whiff of a strong, fresh fragrance in the air.

"Harmony Seafood Noodle Shop is open now～Three days before opening, enjoy half‑price noodles～"

The clerk shouted at the top of his lungs, and that youngster—namely Bai Li Hu—without hesitation led his hungry party around the corner.

"Please come in, sir～Five of you～"

Inside, a seat‑assigning clerk immediately ran out, saying, "Welcome to Harmony! Five people, right? Good, we just cleared a big table on the second floor…" Before he could finish, the attendant behind him interrupted, "Two tables, a private room."

Upon hearing that, the clerk was quite embarrassed. "We're a budget noodle shop; we have no private rooms, turnover is extremely fast, and we only have one large table."

The attendant immediately asked the master whether they should change shops, but Bai Li Hu, having found the aroma of this place extremely tempting and already hungry, had no desire to go elsewhere.

"Just the large table!"

They followed the clerk through the noisy first‑floor hall, went up to the second floor without hesitation. The attendant frowned, but Bai Li Hu was full of enthusiasm.

He curiously watched the clerk take out a little notebook and pencil to take orders, feeling a bit surprised—could the shop's clerk actually be literate?!

Moreover, the so‑called menu placed on this table was quite interesting—a carved wooden board with characters and pictures, the artwork delicate and cute. He glanced at the neighboring table and saw an identical one. He had no idea that You Prefecture now had many wood‑block carvers; carving a menu on a small wooden board posed no challenge at all, since they usually practiced by carving the illustrations of Chief Editor Xie.

What is this seafood noodle dish? Bai Li Hu didn't know, but anyway he didn't have it in Jing Prefecture. Still, he knew how to order at a restaurant—he'd never go wrong picking the most expensive item, and the priciest thing here cost at most one tael of silver.

"Sir, you want five servings of the supreme seafood family feast, right? Please wait a moment; it'll be up within fifteen minutes."

Bai Li Hu nodded, curiously glancing at the neighboring table where a person was slurping from a large white porcelain bowl, eyes fixed on the fragrant steam. The attendant only frowned, finding the sight amusing.

"Don't frown—we don't have seafood noodles at home, let's try something fresh." He thought to himself: although the shop was cheap, it was rather interesting; for such a low price they used top‑grade flawless white porcelain. Seeing the shop's name fired onto it, he knew that porcelain with this technique was not cheap in the south.

The person next to them had just finished a bowl of clam noodle soup to celebrate the New Year, while this table's supreme seafood family feast was obviously well‑stocked, piled high with a full layer of seafood.

"Guest, the supreme seafood family feast is ready! These side dishes are complimentary gifts from the shop during its opening period; please enjoy at your leisure."

Bai Li Hu called out to him, "We've come from western Vast Han; this is our first time in You Prefecture, and we hardly recognize any of these seafoods—could you introduce them to us?"

Upon hearing they were from the far reaches of Great Jin, the clerk's enthusiasm grew even more. "The supreme family feast contains five precious seafoods: this black one is sea cucumber, that yellow‑spotted one is yellow croaker, these are shrimp, sea snails, and clams! Each of these is top‑grade, expensive and nutritious—nothing like them can be found inland."

Bai Li Hu picked up a strand of the fine white noodles with his chopsticks. "…What is this again?" Anyway, such food is not found in the palace or in Jing Prefecture.

"These are noodles made from high‑quality flour. Our shop's flour is ground to the finest smoothness in Great Jin; you won't find it anywhere else."

"... And what exactly is flour?"

"Sir, it's the powder made by husking and grinding wheat grains."

Bai Li Hu curled his lip. "It's actually wheat rice." He had never eaten wheat rice in all his years, though he had heard of it. After being out so long, he was no longer the naive Prince of Jing he once was; he had seen much of local customs and endured too much sorrow and misery.

The scholar‑styled attendant beside him, upon hearing it was wheat, also frowned and said, "Sir, let's change shops."

Wheat rice is a coarse peasant food; in Great Jin the way to eat wheat is to boil it directly with the bran still attached, like cooking rice. The texture is rough, and it's called the food of rustic farmers.

Merchants from other places might come to You Prefecture to procure novelties, but the fief of the Prince of Jing is an exception—being mutual enemies, the popular food and utensils of You Prefecture rarely spread to Jing territory.

Bai Li Hu ignored him, picked up a mouthful with his chopsticks and shoved it into his mouth. A dish costing one tael of silver surely couldn't be inedible.

Who would have guessed that a single bite would taste astonishingly splendid.

The brown wheat grains turned into fine white noodles, and he finally realized that wheat wasn't hard to eat. Fresh, fragrant, and smooth, with a hint of subtle spice, the texture was so special that he kept eating mouthful after mouthful without stopping. This is what human food should be like! On this journey he had gone long without a decent meal; coming from Yi Prefecture, they had never had such food there.

"... Old Three, these years you've been doing all right."

Attendant: "... The food is not bad."

When settling the bill for five bowls of noodles, the discount was truly applied—total came to two and a half taels of silver, and His Highness the Prince of Jing, after savoring it, felt it was well worth it.

Leaving the noodle shop, night had already fallen, and there was still a queue waiting for seats at the door. After walking a stretch he turned back to glance at the shop: "The cheapest bowl costs only five cash, and you can get the same white noodles—looks like the city's common folk can all afford it."

The scholar beside him nodded, and Bai Li Hu, lost in thought, in the very next moment fortunately witnessed the lighting ceremony on Vermilion Bird Avenue.

The uniform lanterns in front of the shop lit up one by one from north to south; if he had a phone he would surely have raised it to record the beautiful moment, but he didn't. His Highness the Prince of Jing, like every first‑time visitor to You Prefecture from elsewhere, opened his mouth wide at the gradually blazing splendid lights.

"... How did they manage to keep the order so neat, guaranteeing a north‑to‑south sequence?"

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【Thanks to the big shot Shanyu Liulian, King of Gifts! Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you for your support! I saw this too late; I'll add an extra chapter tomorrow at home!

Thanks to everyone for voting and supporting! Thanks thanks thanks!】