Chapter 23: Sorry, I’ve Won 4 Matches in a Row
A short while later, Li You brought a small bowl of Yangchun Noodles to the old man.
The old man looked at it and said, "Young man, these noodles look delicious!"
Li You smiled. "They taste pretty good, too."
The old man started eating.
After one bite, he said in disbelief, "This is incredible! I’ve been eating noodles my whole life, and I’ve never had anything this good. Young man, can I get these noodles to go?"
"To go?" Li You said. "Sir, you’d like an order to go?"
The old man nodded. "If it’s possible. Before I leave, could you make me a large bowl? I want to take it back for my wife to try. She’s definitely never had noodles this delicious either."
’So that’s why.’ Li You said, "Of course, you can. But sir, if you take it home to eat, the texture might not be as good since it’ll be sitting for a while."
The old man said, "That’s fine. Even if the texture isn’t quite as good, I’m sure it will still be delicious."
Li You nodded. "Alright, I’ll make you a large bowl before you leave."
"Thank you, young man," the old man said gratefully before continuing to eat his noodles.
Li You said, "You’re welcome, sir. Please, enjoy your meal. I need to step out for a moment, but I’ll be right back."
Li You was going to the town to buy some takeout containers.
He hadn’t expected customers to ask for takeout, so he hadn’t prepared any containers.
Now that the old man wanted to bring a serving back for his wife, Li You was determined to accommodate him.
Without a proper container, even if Li You let the old man take the bowl, it would be difficult to carry without a lid.
Just as Li You was about to get on his motorcycle to head to town, the system’s voice suddenly rang out.
"Host has triggered a random reward for being willing to provide takeout service to a customer.
Reward: 1,000 takeout containers.
A random mission has also been triggered: Fulfill takeout orders for ten customers within two days.
Mission Reward: One lottery draw."
Li You was pleasantly surprised. He hadn’t expected such a windfall.
Now he didn’t have to go buy containers, which not only saved him some money.
More importantly, the containers from the system were sure to be environmentally friendly and food-safe. There would be no issues with contamination from the packaging.
He would feel much more at ease packing food for his customers this way.
The random mission was also a pleasant surprise. The thought of a lottery draw as a reward was exciting.
However, given his current situation, the mission wouldn’t be easy.
"System, what happens if I don’t complete the mission?"
"The reward will not be granted. The mission will be canceled and will not be repeated."
’In other words, it just means I’ll lose the chance to do this random mission.’
’That’s not so bad. Nothing to worry about.’
Of course, he still had to do his best to complete it.
’A chance at the lottery is just too tempting.’
Afterward, Li You told the old man he wasn’t going out after all.
The old man didn’t think much of it.
He just kept eating his noodles.
...
「Changxi County Town.」
「Mianwei Jia Noodle House.」
"Boss, your Yangchun Noodles seem even better than before!"
Over the past two days, many customers had said this to the owner, Jiang Caidong.
Jiang Caidong was overjoyed to hear it. He walked into the kitchen and said to Liang Heng, "Master Liang, our Yangchun Noodles have improved a lot in flavor. The customers are giving them unanimous praise. You’ve worked hard these past few days."
But Liang Heng sighed and said, "They’ve improved, yes. But compared to that restaurant in Jiulong Gorge, the gap is still huge."
Jiang Caidong said, "The owner of that restaurant in Jiulong Gorge is just too skilled at making Yangchun Noodles. It’s normal that we can’t compare. As long as he doesn’t open a shop in the city, it will have almost no impact on us."
Liang Heng sighed again. "That may be true, but it’s still disheartening. Besides, he’s clearly several years younger than me."
Jiang Caidong said, "Master Liang, you improved this much after tasting his noodles just once. That’s already incredible. We can go back to Jiulong Gorge another day. If you try his noodles again, you might have another breakthrough."
Liang Heng nodded. He was thinking the same thing.
Just then, someone walked into the kitchen and said to Jiang Caidong, "Boss, someone’s here to see you."
Jiang Caidong nodded and said to Liang Heng, "Master Liang, I’ll head out then."
Liang Heng nodded. "Go on, Boss. Take care of your business."
Jiang Caidong returned to the dining area and saw the person looking for him was a stranger, a man in his thirties.
Jiang Caidong asked, puzzled, "Sir, you were looking for me?"
The man looked at Jiang Caidong and said, "Excuse me, are you the owner of this restaurant?"
Jiang Caidong nodded. "I am."
The man continued, "Hello, Boss. My name is Qu Feng, from Heyang City. I heard that here in Changxi County Town, your Yangchun Noodles are famous—the best in the entire city. That means your chef can make the best Yangchun Noodles in all of Changxi County Town. Is that correct?"
Jiang Caidong frowned slightly. He was sure he didn’t know this man.
Heyang City was a neighboring city to Xingshui City. The competition between the two cities was fierce in all aspects.
He wondered what this man named Qu Feng was really up to.
But Jiang Caidong still nodded and said, "That should be correct."
Generally speaking, "the entire city" referred to the county town itself, not including the surrounding villages and townships.
Therefore, it wasn’t wrong to say that Liang Heng could make the best Yangchun Noodles in the city.
Qu Feng nodded. "Good. Boss, it’s like this. I’m also a chef, a nationally certified Intermediate Pastry Chef. I specialize in making Yangchun Noodles and work at a restaurant in Heyang City.
"Recently, I’ve heard customers saying that the Yangchun Noodles from your Xingshui City are better than ours in Heyang City.
"I strongly disagree with that sentiment.
"Therefore, I’d like to have a friendly competition with the most skilled Yangchun Noodle masters in Xingshui City to prove that Heyang City’s noodles are superior.
"Xingshui City has two districts and three counties. I’ve already visited two districts and two counties. Now, only your Changxi County is left.
"In those places, I’ve competed against their best Yangchun Noodle masters.
"And the results? Well, pardon my saying so, but I won all four matches.
"Now, I wonder if your master chef here dares to compete against me?"
’So that’s what this is about.’
Jiang Caidong finally understood the man’s identity and his purpose for coming here.
An Intermediate Pastry Chef who had won four consecutive matches in the other two districts and two counties. He was indeed highly skilled.
If he also won in Changxi County, he could confidently declare that Heyang City’s Yangchun Noodles were better than Xingshui City’s.
As for Qu Feng coming all the way to Xingshui City to challenge people just because he heard a customer’s comment, Jiang Caidong wasn’t surprised.
The rivalry between the two cities was so intense in every aspect that their citizens couldn’t stand hearing that the other city was better at anything.
This was especially true for the chefs in the culinary world.
In fact, it was very common for chefs to compete against each other for various reasons.
Now that Qu Feng had come here to challenge Liang Heng, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
If Liang Heng won, it would help boost Mianwei Jia’s reputation.
’But this guy must be really strong. Can Liang Heng win?’
Jiang Caidong pondered the question.
A few days ago, Liang Heng’s chances of losing would have been very high.
But now, with the great improvement in his Yangchun Noodles, his chances of winning should be much better.
’It’s a good thing this guy only showed up today.’
’I should go ask what Master Liang thinks.’
So, Jiang Caidong said, "That’s a decision our Master Liang will have to make himself. Please have a seat for a moment while I go talk to him about this."
Qu Feng nodded. "Of course."
...