Free Web NovelChapter 9: Chapter 9: Taking the Guests to See the Fish Traps in the Canyon
「The next day.」
「In the morning.」
Li You carried a bucket to the spot in the gorge where he had placed the fish trap the day before.
An entire night had passed, so there should be a decent catch by now.
He picked up the fish trap.
Sure enough, he had a catch, and it was a pretty good one.
There were fish, and there were crabs.
He poured them all into the bucket, filling it nearly halfway.
It was a delightful sight.
The fish were stream stone bass and crucian carp. The crabs were mountain crabs.
Mountain crabs couldn’t compare to the plumpness of river crabs, but they were still a delicacy.
Moreover, they also had medicinal value.
Not only did they help reduce internal heat and improve circulation, but they were also miraculously effective for treating bruises and injuries from falls.
In folk medicine, they were considered an excellent remedy for mending broken bones.
He placed the fish trap back in the water. After a while, there would be a new catch.
He then picked out the fish and crabs that were too small and released them.
In the end, he was left with over twenty stream stone bass. There were also five crucian carp, each weighing around a third of a pound.
There were more than a dozen crabs.
A very nice haul.
He’d have fish for lunch again today.
Carrying the bucket, he returned to the restaurant entrance and opened for business.
He took advantage of the lack of customers to clean the fish and crabs.
Once they were prepared, he put them in the Storage Pavilion for later use.
Living ingredients couldn’t be placed directly into the Storage Pavilion.
As he was cleaning them, a car drove into the parking lot.
Seeing this car, Li You’s eyes lit up.
’This looks like the car from those two art students yesterday.’
’Are they back again today?’
The car door opened, but five girls got out.
The girl driving was indeed that tall, very beautiful girl from yesterday, named Xia Xiaoyue.
Li You had learned their names the day before.
However, the other one, Yu Wei, didn’t come today.
Four other girls had come instead.
The five girls walked straight over.
As they approached, Xia Xiaoyue smiled faintly and said, "Boss, we’re back."
Li You smiled. "A warm welcome to you all. Are these ladies your classmates?"
Xia Xiaoyue nodded. "After Yu Wei and I told them how delicious your Yangchun Noodles are, they didn’t believe us and insisted on coming to try for themselves. So I brought them. I can also show them the beautiful scenery of our Jiulong Gorge while we’re here."
Xia Xiaoyue and Yu Wei were both from Changxi County; the other four girls were not.
’So that’s why they’re here.’
Li You said, "You’re all very welcome to try the noodles. And you’re also very welcome to see the beautiful scenery."
At that moment, the girls, including Xia Xiaoyue, were all captivated by the fish and crabs Li You was cleaning.
Xia Xiaoyue said, "Boss, did you catch all of these in the fish trap you set yesterday?"
Li You nodded. "That’s right! I just brought it in a little while ago."
Xia Xiaoyue said with a hint of regret, "If we had come a little earlier, we might have been able to see you pull up the trap."
"A fish trap? What fish trap? You caught all these with a fish trap? How does that work?" the other four girls chimed in.
They were all very curious.
Li You briefly explained the process of catching fish with a trap.
After he finished, all four girls looked fascinated.
They had grown up in the city.
They had never heard of, let alone seen, what Li You was describing.
"Boss, can you take us to see the fish trap you set?" all four girls asked.
Li You nodded. "Of course! There should be a small catch in it again by now."
"That’s great! Thank you, Boss," the four girls said happily.
Xia Xiaoyue was also very pleased.
She had lived in the countryside for a while as a child and knew how fish traps worked, but she was still very interested.
Li You told the girls not to stand on ceremony, then put down his work, washed his hands, and led them toward the gorge.
All five girls had confirmed they wanted noodles, which made them customers.
Li You was happy to satisfy this small request from his customers.
Along the way, the four girls other than Xia Xiaoyue kept exclaiming how truly beautiful the scenery was.
They also kept taking pictures to post on their Moments.
Eventually, they arrived at the spot in the gorge where the fish trap was placed.
The four girls found it all very novel. They took pictures and recorded videos of the fish trap.
"Are there any fish and crabs in there now?" the four girls asked expectantly.
Xia Xiaoyue was also looking on in anticipation.
Li You said, "There should be a few. I’ll pull it up and see."
With that, he lifted the fish trap.
The girls, including Xia Xiaoyue, all stared intently at the trap.
"We’ve got a catch!" Li You said happily.
’With so many girls watching, it would’ve been awkward to come up empty-handed.’
’Thankfully, there was something inside.’
When the girls heard there was a catch, they were all delighted.
They moved closer to the fish trap to get a better look.
Sure enough, they saw fish and crabs inside.
Overjoyed, the four girls started taking another flurry of pictures of the fish and crabs in the trap.
After a good while, Li You finally put the fish trap back down.
He didn’t take out the fish and crabs inside.
He would leave them to be collected next time.
After lingering nearby for a while longer, they started to head back.
By the time they slowly returned to the restaurant, it was already 11 AM.
It was time to eat noodles.
"Boss, five small bowls," one of the girls said.
"You got it! They’ll be ready soon."
’Another five bowls sold. Only twenty-nine more to go to complete the quest.’
’I’m almost halfway there.’
Li You was in a very cheerful mood.
Before long, five small bowls of Yangchun Noodles were ready.
He served them to the five girls.
The four girls, excluding Xia Xiaoyue, all felt their eyes light up.
The noodles really did look good.
And they did have a rather rich aroma.
They started to believe what Xia Xiaoyue and Yu Wei had said.
They eagerly took a bite.
After one taste, they all widened their eyes in disbelief.
’This is even better than how Xia Xiaoyue and Yu Wei described it!’
’Words can’t even begin to describe how wonderfully delicious this is.’ freēwēbηovel.c૦m
’How can noodles this delicious even exist?’
’If I hadn’t tasted it myself, I never would have believed it.’
’This boss doesn’t even look that old! How can he make noodles this good?’
’Unbelievable!’
Seeing their expressions, Xia Xiaoyue smiled and said, "So? Now you know we weren’t lying to you, right?"
The four of them nodded vigorously.
Too busy to talk, they continued to eat their noodles.
They slowly finished all the noodles and drank almost all of the soup as well.
"Boss, how on earth do you make these noodles? Why are they so delicious?" one of the girls asked Li You.
Li You smiled. "The secret is in the noodles and the broth. If you get both of those right, it’ll be delicious."
He answered, but didn’t really say anything.
The girl didn’t press the issue.
’It doesn’t matter how he does it. As long as I can eat them, that’s what counts.’
After scanning the code to pay, the girls said their goodbyes.
They didn’t drive away, but instead went back to the gorge.
They wanted to explore for a while longer before leaving.
...
「Meanwhile, in Changxi County Town.」
Liu Xu, Xie Yunfei, Xiao Yue, Zhang Rui’Er, and Ning Wan walked into Mianwei Jia Noodle House.
After returning to town, they couldn’t stop thinking about Li You’s Yangchun Noodles.
They dreamed of eating Li You’s Yangchun Noodles again.
But they had to work. It was impossible to run out to Jiulong Gorge for noodles after their shifts.
It was too far; it just wasn’t practical.
With no other choice, they wondered if they could find Yangchun Noodles in the county town.
Although the taste probably wouldn’t compare to Li You’s, it would be good enough to make do.
After asking around, they learned that there was a noodle house here that specialized in Yangchun Noodles, and its business was very good.
So, after getting off work at noon today, they eagerly rushed over.
"Boss, two large bowls of Yangchun Noodles and three small bowls of Yangchun Noodles."
"Alright. Please, have a seat anywhere," the owner, Jiang Caidong, greeted them warmly.
Jiang Caidong was in a good mood every day.
Business was good.
His signature Yangchun Noodles were very popular.
Every customer who ate his Yangchun Noodles said they were delicious.
Except for one.
Jiang Caidong couldn’t help but fume inwardly again. ’Saying some restaurant in Jiulong Gorge has Yangchun Noodles far better than mine? How is that possible?’
That was the first customer to say his Yangchun Noodles weren’t good.
So, the memory had left a deep impression on Jiang Caidong.
Even though he completely disbelieved what that customer had said.
...
