Chapter 109

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Protagonist:

Lu Feng

"Holy crap! I just saw it — how is it only open for one hour this week?!"

"Only one hour? What is Boss Lu thinking?"

"Protest! Strongly demand Boss Lu extend the hours!"

"I live far from Food Street; the bus takes an hour and a half. Can I still make it now?"

"Why take the bus? Call a cab, bro!"

"Closes at seven, damn it — I've gotta get out the door and grab a cab right now!"

"No more talking, I've gotta head out too! If I don't go now I won't get to eat Boss Lu's food today!"

……

The diners gathered at the entrance of Lu Feng's shop saw the messages in the group and only then remembered they should complain a bit; when they looked up they discovered Lu Feng had already left at some unknown time.

The crowd stared at each other in silence for a while, then tacitly began lining up at the shop entrance.

……

Lu Feng walked into the shop and entered the Kitchen, propping his chin on his hand as he started pondering what soup noodles to make tonight.

He glanced at the cupboard — the big tub of lard he'd bought last week when making Crab Roe Fried Noodles still had plenty left — and his eyes lit up instantly.

He planned to make a lighter soup noodle tonight to refresh his palate a bit.

For the first soup noodle of this week's business, he'd make Yangchun Noodles.

Yangchun Noodles are also called plain noodles or Clear Soup Noodles — clear broth, fresh taste, light and refreshing, a traditional noodle dish of the Nanfang region.

When Lu Feng was little, his mother often made Yangchun Noodles for him, mainly because it was convenient.

As a child he didn't think Yangchun Noodles tasted good; he found the flavor too light.

After his parents passed away, the taste of Yangchun Noodles became a memory buried deep in his heart.

Lu Feng opened the System Mall, preparing to buy the ingredients for Yangchun Noodles.

In a prominent spot on the mall's front page was a pot that looked a bit like a convenience store oden pot, labeled "Noodle Cooking Pot" underneath.

Lu Feng's shop didn't have a suitable pot for boiling noodles, so he bought it without the slightest hesitation.

After buying the other ingredients, Lu Feng closed the System Interface, went to the Storage Room, and took out the pot and ingredients he'd purchased.

The noodle pot has three rows, five compartments per row; each compartment is quite large and deep — more than enough for boiling two liang of noodles.

Lu Feng nodded with some satisfaction; with this noodle pot his noodle-boiling efficiency would increase greatly.

As a soup noodle that can be made quickly, many people use dried noodles for Yangchun Noodles; Lu Feng's mother used to use them too.

Dried noodles are the kind of thing you can skip eating, but the house must never be without.

But when someone at home pulls out a pack of dried noodles, it actually means the house has nothing else edible left — not even instant noodles.

Now Lu Feng is making them for customers, so of course he won't use dried noodles; the best choice is naturally handmade noodles.

Lu Feng opened the bag of wheat flour bought from the mall; a fresh fragrance unique to wheat immediately drifted into his nose.

He took out a mixing bowl, poured the wheat flour in, then added two bowls of water, cracked in a few eggs, sprinkled in a small amount of salt, and started kneading the dough.

For Lu Feng, who had made Steamed Buns many times already, kneading dough was now a skill he had mastered to perfection.

Every bit of force in kneading, every technique of arm exertion — these details were already deeply engraved in his mind.

The dough quickly became smooth and fine under Lu Feng's hands, its surface seeming to carry a faint oily sheen.

After finishing the dough, Lu Feng dusted off his hands, leaned in to sniff — the flour's aroma was restrained, almost undetectable now.

Making noodles differs from making buns; it uses unleavened dough, no fermentation needed.

Lu Feng sprinkled some flour on the Chopping Board, placed the dough on it, took out the Rolling Pin, and began rolling.

The pale-yellow dough, under the Rolling Pin's rolling, quickly turned into an evenly thick sheet.

Then Lu Feng stacked the rolled sheet into three layers, took out a noodle knife, and started cutting.

Accompanied by the "clang-clang-dang" sound of the knife hitting the board, the sheet was swiftly cut into strands of equal thickness and length.

Though hand-cut with a knife, the noodles' thickness was exactly the same as dried noodles.

Lu Feng added water to about seven-tenths full in the noodle pot, then flipped the switch.

In under a minute, the water in the noodle pot began to bubble gently.

Lu Feng checked the time — still over half an hour until opening — plenty of time to eat a bowl himself first.

He grabbed a handful of noodles from the Chopping Board and tossed them into one compartment; the noodles danced up and down in the boiling water.

Taking advantage of the cooking time, Lu Feng took out a large bowl and began seasoning.

He put a lump of lard in the bowl, added some salt, then poured in soy sauce — the seasoning was done.

Yangchun Noodles emphasize a clear-soup base with soy sauce as the finishing touch; the soy sauce's flavor is the key that determines the whole bowl's taste.

The soy sauce Lu Feng used was a special blend bought from the mall, mixed from light and dark soy sauce in a fixed ratio.

This soy sauce balances savory saltiness and returning sweetness — it neither steals the lard's fragrance nor muddies the clear broth's clarity.

The noodles were done; Lu Feng ladled a spoonful of noodle broth and placed it in the seasoned large bowl together with the noodles.

As the hot broth poured in, the snow-white lard melted rapidly; a wave of heat mixed with the lard's aroma rushed straight into the nose.

Finally Lu Feng grabbed a handful of chopped scallions and sprinkled them evenly over the bowl — a bowl of fragrant, refreshing Yangchun Noodles was complete.

Lu Feng carried the finished Yangchun Noodles to the Hall, randomly picked a Table, sat down, and prepared to eat.

Blended by the special soy sauce, the broth wasn't clear as water; the bowl was just right eight-tenths full — pale-yellow noodles paired with emerald-green scallions, visually very comforting.

Smelling the waves of aroma rising from the bowl, Lu Feng did not rush to eat the noodles.

He lifted the bowl, blew into it twice, then gently sipped a mouthful of noodle soup.

As soon as the soup entered his mouth, Lu Feng immediately felt the aroma of lard mixed with wheat fragrance spreading throughout his mouth.

Although the seasoning of this bowl of noodles was very simple, the taste upon entering his mouth was in no way inferior to the steamed buns and fried noodles he had made before.

The noodle soup tasted incomparably fresh and delicious; the richness of the lard, the salty freshness of the soy sauce with a faint, barely perceptible sweetness, plus the fresh fragrance of chopped scallions—all flavors perfectly blended together, making Lu Feng involuntarily narrow his eyes.

He picked up his chopsticks, clamped a mouthful of noodles, and sent them into his mouth; with this bite, the flavor became even more complete.

Although the noodles were very thin, they did not lack chewiness; a light bite down, and they felt springy and smooth.

The wheat fragrance, restrained during the kneading of the dough just now, burst forth in his mouth at this moment; one bite down made one feel as if they were in a golden wheat field.

Lu Feng often ate Yangchun Noodles when he was young, and occasionally ate them at different shops after growing up.

But this bowl of Yangchun Noodles before his eyes was absolutely the most delicious bowl he had ever eaten, without exception!

Although this bowl of Yangchun Noodles looked ordinary, eating it made one feel unable to stop, as if it had magic.

The chopsticks in Lu Feng's hand did not stop for a moment, constantly sending noodles into his mouth; the sound of him eating noodles in large mouthfuls echoed in the quiet hall.

After a few minutes, a bowl of Yangchun Noodles had all entered Lu Feng's stomach.

After swallowing the last bite of noodles, Lu Feng did not hesitate at all; he lifted the large bowl in front of him and drank the soup in the bowl clean in one breath, not a drop left.

"It's really too delicious!"

Lu Feng let out a satisfied burp, looking at the empty bowl in front of him, touched his stomach with some lingering desire, feeling he could eat another bowl.

But the time was now approaching business hours, and he had to prepare to welcome customers.

Lu Feng sat on the chair and savored the aftertaste for a while, then stood up, holding the empty bowl, and walked toward the kitchen.

……

At the same time, Jiangcheng University Girls' Dormitory Building.

Lin Meimei ran into the dormitory at top speed, hastily threw the book in her hand onto the bed, turned around, and was about to run out.

She had also learned of Lu Feng's business hours this week from the group chat, and after class she planned to go directly to Food Street.

But the Counselor happened to have something to ask of her; this delay meant that by the time she returned to the dormitory, it was already five-thirty.

Lin Meimei was just about to go out when she discovered her roommate Hu Xiaoyun sitting on the lower bunk in a daze, her eyes red, looking as if she had just cried.