Chapter 10 Those Years, We Ate Stir-Fried Noodles Together

  "Taboo uncle, the person we sent has returned and brought back news of that young man..."

  A middle-aged fat man with a thick face walked up to Old Cao Lang, who was savoring his Kung Fu tea in the living room, and said in a low voice.

  "I hope he didn't find out?"

  Cao Lao looked at the fatty and said, "Although I've only met this little guy once, I can tell he's a very opinionated person. If he finds out that I sent someone to follow him, I'm afraid our acquaintance will be over, and it'll be even harder for me to recruit him as my apprentice later on..."

  "Don't worry, Uncle Biao, he didn't notice."

  The middle-aged fat man looked at Old Cao and said somewhat unfairly, "Brother-in-law, this kid actually refused your kindness, has he gone crazy? I think it's better to forget about it. You want to pass on the mantle, don't you still have me as a nephew? You also know that my greatest love in life is cooking, when I started my business, I chose the catering industry without hesitation...

  "Stop it, Xiao Wei! What are you thinking in your heart? I, your uncle, don't understand?"

  Cao Lao looked at him and shook his head, saying: "You like cooking, I know that. But with your talent, in this life, you can be at most a mid-level chef, wanting to become a high-level chef is absolutely impossible. Zhang Zhao, it's not that Uncle doesn't want to teach you, but the ancestors don't want to give you this opportunity..."

  "Table uncle..."

  "Needless to say, your uncle is a figure who holds the reins of Beijing's culinary world. If he really wants to take in disciples or find someone to pay respects to, there are people lining up from Chongwenmen to Baliqiao Bridge. Are you saying that among all the talented individuals in Beijing's food scene, none of them are better than you?"

  Old Cao struck his nephew: "This little guy named Zhou Yi is a born good cook, I'm determined to recognize him, whoever advises me is useless! You'd better tell me quickly, where did this little foodie go after leaving our place? The cinema?"

  "He didn't go to the movies at all, that's just cheating you old folks..."

  "He ran off to the snack street at the flea market."

  "What's going on? This kid went to Snack Street?"

  Old Cao's eyes lit up, and he slapped his thigh heavily: "I knew it! How could I, an old man, be wrong? This little guy just left the restaurant and went to the snack street. He's indeed a foodie among foodies, exactly my kind of person!"

  Zhang Zhuang rolled his eyes and thought to himself, "I've seen many foodies like you before. You just went to a small eatery street, no need to be so excited, okay?"

  "Come on, tell me, what did this little friend of mine buy to eat? It seems that the snack street in Chudu is hiding dragons and crouching tigers. Someone who eats so well actually has an interest in the snacks there? I'll have to go take a look another day."

  "Hmm... He just bought a serving of stir-fried liangfen, then said a few words to the girl running the stall, and helped her stir-fry the liangfen. Apparently, his stir-frying skills were so good that the waiting customers almost got into a fight..."

  "Stir-fried liangfen...... What did you say? Did Zhou Yi help the female stall owner stir-fry liangfen? Did our people buy a portion to bring back?" Old Cao asked hastily, taken aback.

  "Hehe, don't worry, Uncle Biao, I knew you'd ask that. Didn't you buy one?"

  Zhang Zhao looked silly, but he was actually a bit bad. He had asked Old Man Cao countless times over the years, but Old Man Cao refused to teach him his skills. This time when he returned home, he was in a particularly good mood and only taught him how to make one dish of fragrant sauce braised pork.

  So he just hid the rice box with fried noodles behind him and didn't take it out immediately, deliberately making Lao Shu anxious, which was also a way of venting his anger.

  "Good you little scamp, bring it here quickly!"

  Cao Lao Tou glared, walked over and snatched the lunchbox from him, then hastily opened it: "I want to see what this kid...hmm? Three sides are burnt, the highest level of stir-fried noodles!"

  "This powder is really... too good-looking!"

  Zhang Zhao didn't open the box to look inside, but now seeing Old Uncle's shocked expression, he curiously walked over. When he saw the pieces of liangfen that looked like gold wrapped in jade, he couldn't help but lick his lips, and said with some disbelief: "Uncle, can liangfen be stir-fried like this? This...this is simply a work of art! No! Each piece of liangfen looks like it has life."

  Don't look at Zhang Zhuang now being quite fat, he is also a businessman in people's eyes. When he was in college, he was actually a "poet", and had published poems on the school newspaper.

  This box of poetic fried noodles made him seem to have traversed time and space, returning to his university days, recalling 'those years, we ate fried noodles together'...

  Cao Lao didn't even bother with him, which wasn't because the old man was pretending to be cool, but rather his entire spirit had been drawn away by this box of stir-fried liangpi.

  His ancestral home is near Bianjing in Ying Tian, where he grew up eating stir-fried liangpi since childhood, and is absolutely an insider.

  At this moment, his hands began to tremble slightly, and a pair of old eyes that were originally half-closed suddenly widened, as if Captain Jack had found the treasure in the deep sea.

  "Golden inlaid jade, indeed it's golden inlaid jade... How many years has it been since I've seen such craftsmanship? Unbelievable..."

  Cao Lao Tou lightly pinched a piece of stir-fried noodles, his movements as gentle as those of a young boy in puberty caressing the face of his first love, gazing deeply for a long time before slowly putting it into his mouth.

  "Oh..."

  As soon as the liangfen entered his mouth, the tip of his tongue and the crispy liangfen block lightly touched, a burst of delicious sauce wrapped in the crispy shell suddenly splashed out. The sudden fresh fragrance made Old Cao almost pop out his old eyes!

  "My goodness, it's actually the best of the golden jade! With top-notch stir-frying skills and control over the fire, the hot sauce is completely wrapped in the crispy shell, even now, it still maintains a delicious temperature... Perfect, too perfect!"

  Old Cao didn't even care that there were younger people present, and excitedly blurted out a dirty word: "What a pity! The stir-frying skills and heat control have already reached the pinnacle! If only the sauce was a bit better, it would be even more perfect. It's not an exaggeration to call this the best stir-fried noodles in the world. Xiao Zhuan, is this sauce made by Zhou Yi himself?... Zhang Zhuan, you little scoundrel, wait till later and see if you can finish eating!"

  Just as he was indulging in his emotions, Zhang Zhuang had already eaten more than half a box of stir-fried noodles and was staring with wide eyes, still wanting to grab some. Fortunately, Old Man Cao reacted quickly and swiftly hid the noodles behind him.

  "Uh, let me have another piece, Uncle Biao, just one more... Ah, what did you say earlier, sauce?"

  Seeing the old man's angry face, Zhang Zuo barely 'woke up' from the temptation of the liangfen and smacked his lips, saying: "I heard that the woman stall owner's business was not good, and the noodles couldn't be sold out. It was Zhou Yi who helped to sell them all out, so the sauce should belong to the woman stall owner."

  "That's right..."

  Old Cao nodded: "I said so, a great master of the kitchen god level, how could he make such a low-level mistake in sauce?"

  "Kitchen god? Are you saying......"

  "Could it be that little brat?" Zhang Zhuang's eyes widened as he said.

  "Could it be him?"

  Cao Lao's face turned bitter as he sat back on the sofa, hugging the remaining half box of stir-fried noodles. He let out a long sigh and said: "How laughable that I still wanted to take in an apprentice, yet I didn't expect to encounter a true culinary god... How laughable, how laughable, this time my old face has been utterly lost."

  "Come on, old uncle, just because this kid can stir-fry liangpi well doesn't mean he can cook a good dish! China has eight major cuisines, with tens of thousands of famous dishes. Who dares to say they can master them all? Are you overpraising him?"

  "Haha, of course he can't make all the dishes in the world, but just this one stir-fried liangpi shows his superb stir-frying skills and fire control, I'm far from being able to do it, it's indeed the realm of a culinary god!"

  Cao Lao looked at Zhang Zuo and suddenly said seriously, "Zhang Zuo, remember that a strange person must have a weird habit. I think Zhou Yi is not fond of showing off, he's a great hidden talent. So this matter today, you just keep it in your belly, never tell anyone that I once gave him the evaluation of 'Kitchen God', got it?"

  However, you can try to find opportunities to get close to him and build a good relationship. Who knows, when the critical moment comes, he might be able to help you through the tough times.

  Cao Lao Tou smiled bitterly: "And the matter of me taking him as an apprentice, also has to be kept secret. This child will have a day of great success, and when that time comes, if those who are diligent find out, I Cao Lang once had the audacity to want to take him as an apprentice, where can this old face of mine be placed?"

  "Yes, Uncle. You can rest assured, I will keep this matter in my heart and never speak of it even if I were to die."

  Zhang Zhao's eyes had already begun to shine, and of course, the fewer people who knew about Zhou Yi's affairs, the better. He wasn't a fool...

  PS: Thanks for the reward from 'Gu A Gu A' brother, thank you so much, Old Gu:)

  Yeah, I'm already 18th on the new book chart. Before the first recommendation comes out, can't we do better? Hehe, books need to be written slowly and the flavor needs to come out slowly, just like cooking a small dish. Although it's not bright, this book will definitely bring you a unique feeling.

  So, seeking collection, seeking recommendation, seeking all support, foodies: )