Chapter 35: He Wasn’t Being Modest, Just Stating a Fact
The two men got out of the car and walked toward the restaurant.
Meanwhile, Li You had just about finished clearing away the stones and weeds.
There were a few mulberry trees nearby.
The trees were laden with mulberries. Some were still reddish-green, while others were fully ripe and black.
’I wonder if mulberries count as a type of fruit?’
’They probably should.’
Li You had forgotten about the mulberries during his last calculation.
If he included the mulberries, he would only need to plant six more types of fruit to complete his current side quest.
He picked a black mulberry and popped it into his mouth.
It was very sweet, with a wonderful texture.
Just then, Li You saw Huang Liangwen and He Wenjie walking toward the restaurant.
’Are those customers?’
A flicker of joy went through Li You. He picked up his hand hammer and chisel, shouldered his hoe, and walked toward the restaurant entrance.
When Huang Liangwen and He Wenjie arrived at the entrance, they didn’t see anyone. But they did see the "Today’s Menu" sign outside the door.
They really did have Yangchun Noodles.
Besides that, there was only beef noodle soup and stir-fried shredded potatoes. With only three items in total, the menu was too small.
However, for a restaurant like this, having even three dishes was already quite impressive.
The two were just about to call out and ask if anyone was there when they turned and saw Li You walking toward them, carrying a hand hammer, a chisel, and a hoe on his shoulder.
Both men were taken aback. ’What does this young man do?’
’A stonemason? A farmer? But we didn’t see any houses nearby!’
While they were still puzzled, Li You reached the entrance, set down his hammer, chisel, and hoe, and said, "Hello, gentlemen. Are you here for a bite to eat?"
Huang Liangwen and He Wenjie were stunned once again.
’Could this young man be the owner of this restaurant?’
’So the owner runs a restaurant, farms his own land, and moonlights as a stonemason?’
’Qu Feng lost to a young man like this?’
Besides, this young man didn’t look like a chef at all!
The two of them were getting more and more confused.
Huang Liangwen asked, "Excuse me, are you the owner of this restaurant?"
Li You nodded. "I am."
"This..." Huang Liangwen and He Wenjie were becoming increasingly bewildered, but they kept their expressions neutral.
After a moment, Huang Liangwen said, "We’ll have two small bowls of Yangchun Noodles."
Li You nodded. "Of course. Please, have a seat inside. The noodles will be ready shortly."
After showing the two to a table, Li You turned and went into the kitchen.
Once seated, Huang Liangwen and He Wenjie began whispering to each other.
Before long, Li You brought out two bowls of Yangchun Noodles.
"Gentlemen, please enjoy."
Huang Liangwen and He Wenjie had been about to politely say "thank you," but they froze the moment they saw the Yangchun Noodles in the bowls. The words never left their lips.
They were truly stunned.
Although they didn’t specialize in Yangchun Noodles, they were very familiar with the dish and had seen many with impressive presentations.
But they had never seen one this impressive.
And the aroma was extraordinary as well.
"Is Master Qu’s Yangchun Noodles this well-presented?" Huang Liangwen asked in a low voice.
"I’ve never seen it, but I doubt it. This owner is clearly no simple character. Maybe we were just overthinking things. There’s probably no hidden story here. And Master Qu didn’t just have an off day," He Wenjie replied, also in a whisper.
Huang Liangwen slowly nodded.
The bowl of Yangchun Noodles was served, and before they had even taken a bite, their initial assumptions were almost completely overturned.
Then, they picked up their chopsticks and began to eat.
With that first bite, they were completely certain. What hidden story? What off day?
Master Qu had simply lost, and lost thoroughly.
Although they had never tasted Qu Feng’s Yangchun Noodles, they were 100% certain that his could not win. It wasn’t even close.
Forget Qu Feng; even those few Special-Level Pastry Chefs would probably have a tough time competing.
The texture of these noodles was absolutely sublime.
No wonder Qu Feng had said that the skill of the Jiulong Gorge Restaurant’s owner was far superior to his own.
It turned out Qu Feng wasn’t being humble at all.
He was simply stating a fact.
Although Huang Liangwen and He Wenjie didn’t know the exact level of Qu Feng’s Yangchun Noodles, they were now certain the gap between him and this young owner was quite large.
It was unbelievable, something hard to accept.
And yet, it was undeniably the truth.
Of course, even though it was the truth, it was perfectly normal for people on the outside not to believe it.
Only after tasting the Yangchun Noodles here for oneself could one believe it—could one dare to believe it.
Before tasting it firsthand, you would absolutely never believe it.
Huang Liangwen and He Wenjie knew that even if they spread the news in the Heyang Chef World that Master Qu had been telling the truth—that he wasn’t just being humble and the Jiulong Gorge Restaurant owner’s Yangchun Noodles were genuinely far superior to his own—none of the other chefs would believe them.
At the same time, both men felt fortunate.
They were glad they had come and found out the truth. They now knew that Changxi County truly had its share of crouching tigers and hidden dragons.
Otherwise, they might have never known that someone could make Yangchun Noodles taste so incredible.
For a chef, that would have been an immense regret.
The two continued to eat their noodles.
At this point, they were no longer investigating; they were purely savoring a delicacy.
When they finished the noodles and drank all the broth, both men were completely satisfied.
As chefs who worked in a grand hotel, they had plenty of opportunities to eat all sorts of exotic delicacies.
Eating those delicacies also brought a sense of satisfaction.
But the satisfaction from this one bowl of noodles was in no way inferior to the satisfaction from those exotic meals.
It was unbelievable. If they told anyone, no one would believe it, yet it was the truth.
And besides Yangchun Noodles, this place also had beef noodle soup and stir-fried shredded potatoes.
He Wenjie whispered, "Should we try the beef noodle soup and stir-fried shredded potatoes too?"
Huang Liangwen replied, "Yes, we definitely should. Let’s see if this owner only specializes in Yangchun Noodles, or if he’s just as skilled with other dishes."
He Wenjie nodded. "That’s what I was thinking too."
Then, He Wenjie called out to Li You again, "Boss, we’ll have two small bowls of beef noodle soup and an order of stir-fried shredded potatoes, please."
Li You smiled and nodded. "Of course. Please wait a moment."
With that, he went into the kitchen.
A short while later, the two small bowls of beef noodle soup were ready. After serving them to his customers, he went back into the kitchen to stir-fry the shredded potatoes.
When Huang Liangwen and He Wenjie saw the beef noodle soup, they were once again astonished.
The presentation of this beef noodle soup was also exceptional.
And the aroma was simply rich and overwhelming.
They didn’t even need to taste it to know it would be incredibly delicious.
As one of the most common noodle dishes in the country, beef noodle soup was far more widespread than Yangchun Noodles.
You could find beef noodle soup almost everywhere.
Therefore, there were far more chefs who studied beef noodle soup than those who studied Yangchun Noodles.
As a pastry chef, He Wenjie’s main focus was on desserts rather than noodles. However, he was still quite skilled at making beef noodle soup.
But now, looking at this bowl, he felt that his own beef noodle soup skills didn’t even qualify him as an apprentice.
So, it turned out the owner’s skills weren’t just exceptional with Yangchun Noodles, but with beef noodle soup as well.
Truly remarkable!
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