"I made the fried noodles today, so please feel free to offer any advice, Chef Xie."
Xie Baomin didn’t stand on ceremony and immediately said, "Use a gentler flame when frying the noodles so they become more thoroughly cooked, and make sure to drain the grease properly afterward—too much oil can make them greasy. Also, the meat slices could do with a bit more frying."
Previously, Lin Xu had seen Wei Qian’s fried noodles, which were of Excellent Level.
The taste of Excellent Level fried noodles was already great. With a bit more attention to detail, they could basically reach Superior.
Wei Qian said gratefully, "Thank you for the advice. I’ll pay attention to that in the future."
Xie Baomin smiled. "There’s no real trick to it, just practice."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Dachun asked with some surprise, "Brother-in-law, you can make these fried noodles too?"
"Sure, they’re not that difficult."
"Then next time I come to your house, can you make a big pot? I really can’t get used to those fancy dishes you make; things like lobster don’t fill me up at all. A big pot of fried noodles is much better."
Xie Baomin: ??????
He actually expects a next time? In his dreams! He can forget about ever setting foot in my house again! Remembering that not a single Moringa Seed had been left, Chef Xie felt his heart bleed.
Dachun’s bowl of noodles quickly hit bottom.
Cheerfully, Chezai served him another bowl.
But that bowl didn’t last long either.
For those who came from a sports school, whether or not their physical strength was remarkable, their appetite was at least significantly higher than that of an ordinary person—and by quite a margin.
Dachun polished off three bowls of noodles in a row, so much that he started to feel a bit embarrassed.
Lin Xu said with a smile, "Don’t be shy, Chezai, bring him a small basin."
Watching him eat bowl after bowl, one really got the feeling of watching a live food stream. No, this is much better than watching those food streams. They’re all fake nowadays—they eat and then spit it out, or induce vomiting after eating. It’s a complete waste of food and downright fraudulent. Seeing Dachun still looking so eager for more, Lin Xu figured he’d probably need at least another small basin. I used to think Panda could eat a lot, but compared to Dachun, Panda is just a lightweight. As for the employees, Song Tiantian had eaten the most noodles in the store that morning; she’d had three big bowls, but Dachun, having consumed the same amount, was only half full.
It wasn’t long before Chezai came over with a small basin of noodles and said, "You eat this first, and if it’s not enough, I’ll get more."
Dachun smiled sheepishly. "This is about right, about right..."
After a couple of bites of fried noodles, he gave Wei Qian a thumbs up. "This chef’s skills are really good; the food is both delicious and filling. Back at the sports school, I could easily eat three small basins. But not anymore—now, three small basins would stuff me."
My goodness! I thought three small basins would be too much for him, but it turns out Dachun could finish them, though he’d be stuffed. What an appetite! Back in the day, an average family probably couldn’t afford to feed him, right?
Curiously, Lin Xu asked, "Dachun, have you ever considered doing live streaming?"
Dachun shook his head. "I’m not good at talking, I don’t have any special talents, and I’ve heard that you can lose money by singing the wrong song on a live stream. I can’t afford that with my salary as a physical education teacher..."
Su Peipei said, "Someone once approached Dachun about doing food streams, but we turned it down. Firstly, we were worried it might negatively affect his image as a teacher. Secondly, food streaming isn’t a sustainable career. Eating too much can lead to health problems, or you end up faking it, which is worse than just having an honest job."
For locals in Beijing, as long as they owned a house, daily living expenses weren’t too high; ordinary wage-earners could live quite comfortably.
The pressure for non-locals drifting in Beijing came mainly from housing costs.
I had originally planned to recruit another streamer for Su Peipei’s company. But on second thought, Dachun has a proper job, and food streaming has such a bad reputation now because of all the fakes. It’s better not to. I don’t want to lead him into a trap. However, when we shoot a promotional video for the store, I could give Dachun some screen time. With the way he eats, even people who aren’t hungry would feel the urge to grab a bite after watching him for a bit.
While everyone was watching the live food show, Shen Baobao came in for lunch.
She hadn’t had much appetite in the morning and had only had a small bowl of Pumpkin Soup. She was already starving well before noon and, remembering she had to deliver a meal to her dad, arrived at the store early.
Seeing everyone gathered around a man in sportswear, watching him eat, she too joined in.
But watching Dachun wolf down the fried noodles made her already empty stomach grow even hungrier.
"Xu Bao, I’m hungry..."
"I’ll make you fried noodles right away."
"I promised to bring a large serving for my dad too, so please make a little extra. And don’t forget the garlic; I want to make sure Dad eats his fill."
Lin Xu stood up and went to the kitchen to start making the fried noodles.
Once he started, he didn’t stop, because just as he got busy, the first batch of customers arrived.
As the customers came in, they began ordering fried noodles without a word. The employees, who had been standing around watching Dachun’s amazing eating, quickly dispersed and returned to their posts, officially entering work mode.
Soon after, Shen Baobao finished her fried noodles and left with the packed food for her father. The customers in the store finally got their hands on the fried noodles that had been hyped since the night before.
Uncle Shen, who had hurried over from the market, picked up a mouthful of noodles with his chopsticks and put them into his mouth. A look of delighted surprise instantly spread across his face. "It really is the fried noodles I ate when I was young! This method of first frying then simmering gives the noodles a bit of a crispy texture. It’s a shame this technique has disappeared from Beijing over the years."
The nostalgic Mr. Hu, who came with him, also said with emotion, "Lin Xu’s place is really good. From now on, whenever I want to eat traditional old dishes like this, I’ll come here."