Chapter 173 - 170: Bumping into Old Customers
Li You rode his motorcycle directly to the county town.
For one, a motorcycle was all he had.
For another, it was faster.
The road to the county town was narrow and had many curves, which greatly restricted the speed of cars. The drive usually took over two hours.
On a motorcycle, however, you could get there in about an hour and forty minutes.
Taking the bus was even slower, taking close to three hours.
So, riding the motorcycle was an excellent choice.
The scenery along the way was beautiful, and Li You was in a great mood the entire time. Before he knew it, he had reached the outskirts of the county town.
Changxi County Town was quite prosperous. It even had two high-speed rail stations.
A county town with two high-speed rail stations was a rare sight in the country.
Li You was quite familiar with the county town, having visited countless times.
However, this was his first time visiting since the system had arrived.
It was 11:00 AM.
’Right, should I go check out Boss Jiang’s Mianwei Jia Noodle House?’
Li You had promised Jiang Caidong before that if he ever came to the county town, he would definitely stop by his noodle house.
’Well then, I might as well go pay him a visit.’
’It’s almost noon, so I can have a bowl of Yangchun Noodles there for lunch.’
’It’s settled, then.’
The place was on Five Museums Pedestrian Street. Li You remembered it clearly.
He set off for Five Museums Pedestrian Street.
「Half an hour later.」
He arrived.
He found a parking lot and parked his motorcycle.
Five Museums Pedestrian Street was the commercial center of Changxi County Town’s new district and one of the most bustling areas in the entire county.
If you opened a noodle house here, you’d be guaranteed good business as long as the food wasn’t terrible.
Li You wasn’t sure of Mianwei Jia’s exact location.
’I’ll just take my time looking for it and stroll down the street while I’m at it.’
Li You walked along the street, which was packed with all kinds of shops, eateries, and food stalls, as well as a huge crowd of people.
He hadn’t been walking for long.
The name "Mianwei Jia" appeared in his line of sight, followed by the two smaller words "Noodle House."
He found it after all without having to walk much further.
’This is a pretty amazing spot! It’s prime real estate within a prime location.’
The storefront was also huge; Li You estimated it was at least 150 square meters.
It was very rare for a noodle house to be this large. And for it to be in such a prime location, Jiang Caidong must have had a lot of guts when he first opened it.
Li You mused to himself as he slowly walked up to the entrance.
The restaurant was packed with customers; it was almost a full house.
For such a large space to be nearly full, business must be exceptionally good.
"Boss Li? It really is Boss Li!"
Just as Li You was about to step inside, a pleasantly surprised voice called out from behind him.
The voice was familiar; it was Liu Xu.
’I ran into Liu Xu?’
’What a coincidence!’
Li You knew that Liu Xu, Xiao Yue, Zhang Rui’Er, and the others sometimes came here to eat noodles.
But even so, running into them was still an incredible coincidence.
This coincidence was a pleasant surprise for Li You as well.
He turned to look.
It was indeed Liu Xu. And he wasn’t alone.
Xiao Yue, Zhang Rui’Er, Ning Wan, Yang Jianfeng, and others were there too.
There were about ten people in total, all familiar faces.
Everyone looked at Li You with a mixture of shock and delight.
They had just come here for Yangchun Noodles, as they often did.
They never expected to run into Boss Li here today.
At first, they all thought their eyes were deceiving them.
’Why would Boss Li be here?’
But a closer look confirmed it was unmistakably Boss Li.
This left them both shocked and thrilled.
Li You was also pleasantly surprised. He smiled and said, "Hello, everyone! I didn’t expect to see you here. This is such a coincidence!"
Liu Xu, Xiao Yue, Zhang Rui’Er, and the others all replied joyfully, "It really is! We never thought we’d run into you today, Boss."
After a moment, Liu Xu asked, "By the way, Boss, what brings you here?"
Li You said, "I came to the county town to pick up some ingredients. I also wanted to stop by and see Boss Jiang. I promised him that whenever I came to town, I’d definitely visit."
’So that’s why.’
Liu Xu, Xiao Yue, Zhang Rui’Er, and the others all nodded in understanding.
Then, Xiao Yue asked, "Boss, you came to town to buy ingredients. Does that mean you’re launching a new dish?"
Li You nodded. "I’m planning to introduce some braised dishes."
"Braised dishes?"
Xiao Yue, Liu Xu, Zhang Rui’Er, and everyone else were once again thrilled.
Boss Li really was launching a new dish.
And it was braised dishes, no less.
Everyone loves braised dishes. Almost every kind is delicious.
And Boss Li’s braised dishes would undoubtedly be the best of the best.
Perhaps they would soon be eating the best braised dishes in the area.
They didn’t dare say in the whole country.
Because braised dishes from different parts of the country had different flavors, and people’s tastes varied.
People from other regions might not necessarily enjoy the best braised dishes from this locality.
So, calling it the best in the local area was a safe bet.
At this thought, Liu Xu, Xiao Yue, Zhang Rui’Er, and everyone else felt an inexplicable excitement and anticipation.
What’s more, the fact that they’d found out about Boss Li You’s new braised dishes ahead of time simply by bumping into him here was another wonderful surprise.
Their luck today was really good.
’Right, I should share this surprise in the foodie group chat immediately.’
Liu Xu took out his phone and posted in the foodie group chat he’d created: "Breaking news! Boss Li You is preparing to launch braised dishes. He’s in the county town right now buying ingredients for the braising liquid."
About a third of the people in the group had eaten at Li You Restaurant.
When this third of the group saw the message, they were just as surprised and excited.
Because they too quickly realized it was highly probable they would soon get to eat the best braised dishes in the local area.
Actually, it wasn’t just "highly probable"—it was a hundred percent certain.
Boss Li’s braised dishes would absolutely be the best in the local area.
The group chat quickly erupted with activity.
"Hahaha! Does this mean we’ll get to eat Boss Li’s braised dishes when we go to Jiulong Gorge Restaurant this Saturday? This is too exciting!"
"It’s only Monday, and Boss Li is already in the county town buying ingredients for the braising liquid. We’ll definitely be able to eat it by Saturday!"
"What will the pinnacle of local braised dishes taste like? We’ll find out this Saturday. I can’t contain my excitement!"
"This is a huge surprise! Today is a great day!"
"..."
Many of those who had been to Li You Restaurant were expressing their excitement and anticipation for his braised dishes!
Among them was Wei Ping.
He too expressed his delight and anticipation!
As for the other two-thirds of the group who had never been to Li You Restaurant, they were mostly just watching the show.
They all thought to themselves, ’These guys have a lot of faith in that Boss Li’s cooking skills!’
’Just because Boss Li is making braised dishes, does that automatically mean they’ll be the best in the area?’
’Isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration?’
’Even if Boss Li is an amazing stir-fry chef, braising is different from stir-frying.’
’You could even say they’re completely different.’
’So, being good at stir-frying doesn’t mean you’re good at making braised dishes, right?’
’Aren’t those guys being a little hasty?’
This was what the people who had never been to Li You Restaurant were thinking.
...
Meanwhile, inside Mianwei Jia Noodle House.
The owner, Jiang Caidong, was personally manning the cash register.
He often worked the register himself.
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his cashiers. He simply enjoyed using the opportunity to chat with customers about various issues related to the restaurant.
Or just to make small talk with them.
This was one of the reasons his restaurant’s business was so good.
He was also in the foodie group chat that Liu Xu had created.
At that moment, he too saw the news Liu Xu had shared in the group.
’Boss Li is in the county town right now?’
Jiang Caidong was overjoyed.
Then he thought to himself, ’I wonder if Boss Li remembers the promise we made?’
’Will he come to my restaurant?’
Jiang Caidong was filled with anticipation!
As for the braised dishes Li You was about to launch, Jiang Caidong was naturally looking forward to those as well!
’Oh, and how did Liu Xu know that Boss Li was in the county town buying ingredients for the braising liquid?’
’Could it be they ran into each other?’
...