Chapter 701 Dragon Beard Noodles

The shopkeeper didn't expect that someone would come here at this time.

He looked like a foreigner, and his noble attire and his aura were very unusual.

Even the boss can't compare with the girl in front of him.

Not to mention the twin boys, who looked noble and intelligent, and it was obvious that they were not the young masters of ordinary families.

The shopkeeper is very enthusiastic.

The shopkeeper also doesn't want his boss to close the store.

Once the owner closes the inn, they will have nowhere to go.

Xiao Yueyao looked around and found that although there was no one in the store, the environment inside the inn was well-maintained and looked very clean.

Xiao Yueyao said, "Let's stay in the hotel, two upper rooms!"

"How much?"

Xiao Yueyao deliberately did not ask the price directly, but first mentioned staying in a hotel.

The shopkeeper said, "The price is clearly marked here. One hundred coins a day for a room in the upper room."

Xiao Yueyao nodded secretly in her heart, the price was very fair and cheap.

Xiao Yueyao paid one or two taels of silver and said, "Stay for five days first."

“Yes, yes!”

The shopkeeper was so happy, this was one or two taels of silver!

And judging from what you have said, you may stay longer.

"By the way, the shopkeeper wants to ask you something."

"Dear guest, please speak!"

The shopkeeper was very respectful to Xiao Yueyao.

He felt that this woman must be very powerful.

Xiao Yueyao took out a cocoa fruit and showed it to the shopkeeper: "Have you ever seen something like this?"

The shopkeeper took one look and his expression changed. "This is a red fruit. There are many such red fruits on Hongluo Mountain."

"But my dear guest, this fruit is useless and cannot be eaten. It is full of seeds."

“The taste is also weird, and local people like us don’t know how to pick them.”

"Some people think such trees are troublesome, so many of them are cut down and burned as firewood. When I was a child, there were many of them in the valley, but now only Hongluo Mountain can produce such fruit."

When Xiao Yueyao heard this, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but twitch.

So many fruits that can be made into chocolate were cut down.

Just listening to it, Xiao Yueyao felt heartbroken.

Fortunately, there are still cocoa fruits.

It turns out that the local people call it Hongguo.

"How do I get to Hongluo Mountain?"

"From here, go to Luojia Village first. The area behind Luojia Village is Hongluo Mountain."

"But Luojia Village is more than 20 miles away from the county. It's a bit far and remote. People in Luoshan Village generally don't leave the village."

"The road from the village to the county is really not easy to travel. You have to climb over the mountains and cross a river."

Xiao Yueyao listened and asked, "Is the river deep?"

The shopkeeper said, "It's not deep, only about one meter deep, but that's when the river is still. If it rains heavily, the river will rise and no one will dare to pass by there."

"Nothing much on weekdays."

Xiao Yueyao nodded, "Is there a bridge?"

"Where's the bridge?"

"Doesn't the county magistrate repair it?"

The shopkeeper said, "Well, there are too many villages, and the county magistrate can't manage them all."

“Building roads and bridges is not that easy.”

Xiao Yueyao said she understood.

The officials here may not be doing much.

Although the emperor selected some talents last year and added fresh blood to the court, it was unable to cover many areas.

Some local officials do not oppress the people, but they do not do much either. Such people have no merits or faults, so naturally they will not be deprived of their official positions.

It cannot be said that such officials are wrong or have problems.

Moreover, the Ministry of Revenue of the imperial court had limited silver, and a lot of it had been squandered because of the actions of the previous emperor.

Even if the emperor wanted to govern the country well, it would not be done overnight.

The Ministry of Revenue also needs additional silver.

In the past two or three years, the emperor has reduced taxes to allow the country to recuperate, so the national treasury is naturally not full.

Moreover, fighting wars also required money and military pay.

The emperor can't do much alone.

After hearing this, Xiao Yueyao also understood.

After Xiao Yueyao asked some more questions, she took Su Ling, Su Yang, Xiao Yi and Xiao Ju upstairs.

The two upper private rooms are quite standard, nothing special nor bad. Although they are old, the mattresses, curtains, etc. are very clean, there is no peculiar smell in the room, and the quilts smell of sunshine, which shows that they are often exposed to the sun.

Xiao Yueyao nodded in her heart.

At night, she and Xiaoju shared a room, while Xiao Yi and Su Ling and Su Yang shared a room next to them. Since they were right next to each other, Xiao Yueyao would hear any movement.

And at night, Xiao Yueyao would release a few strands of mental power to protect Su Ling and Su Yang.

If there is any problem, Xiao Yueyao will find it immediately.

This ensures safety.

Of course, Xiao Yi is a secret guard, so he must be very vigilant.

It was such a remote place that Xiao Yueyao thought that generally no one would come here.

But still have to remain vigilant.

…

It was only mid-afternoon, and Dabao and Erbao were naturally not tired. The two little guys were very excited and came to Xiao Yueyao's room and said, "Mom, should we go out and take a look?"

Xiao Yueyao looked at their energetic and excited appearance and said, "Do you want to go out for a walk and take a look?"

"Uh-huh."

The two treasures nodded vigorously and seriously.

He looked very expectant.

Xiao Yueyao said, "You saw it on the way here. The road is even more remote than when we first arrived in Liuhe Village."

"Don't worry, take a look, it will help you write your travelogue."

"Uh-huh."

Xiao Yueyao found it funny that the two little guys wanted to write a travelogue.

It just so happened that Xiao Yueyao also wanted to take a look around, so she could go downstairs to take a look.

"Okay, let's go out for a walk and have dinner here tonight."

So Xiao Yueyao took Dabao and Erbao downstairs for a walk.

In fact, because the county looks relatively backward, there is nothing much to see.

Moreover, the entire county is relatively small, and it takes more than an hour to walk from one end to the other.

The variety of things sold in the market is not complete.

Of course, there were also some people in the county who were dressed very nicely and carried baskets to buy things.

There are not even bluestone slabs on the road, it is all dirt road, full of potholes and has never been repaired.

Some restaurants on the main street are small shops and small businesses.

Some people came in and out of the store one after another.

Xiao Yueyao didn't know how the food here tasted, so she looked at Dabao and Erbao and said, "Let's go in and have a bowl of noodles!"

At least it was piping hot and the noodles were edible even if they were average.

She carries seasonings with her.

Of course, there are many things stored in Xiao Yueyao's space.

Of course, it is also to experience the local customs and folkways.

Get a taste of local food.

Xiao Yi and Xiao Ju followed in and sat down quietly beside them.

Always keep an eye on your surroundings to protect your master.

Xiao Yueyao ordered five bowls of noodles.

Noodles in a very clear soup with a head of rapeseed and a poached egg on top.

Xiao Yueyao ate noodles first.

When actually eating the noodles, Xiao Yueyao's expression changed.

Even Su Yang couldn't help but say, "These noodles are so thin!"

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "This is our thin noodles. Please try it and see how it tastes."

Xiao Yueyao took a bite, nodded and said, "Very good."

The taste of hand-rolled noodles, and don’t be fooled by its thinness, it tastes very good.

The noodles in clear soup tasted good.

"The shop owner's craftsmanship is good, this kind of noodles should be very popular!"

The shop owner smiled and said, "It's our own cooking, so only customers come to try a bowl. People outside prefer Yangchun noodles."

Xiao Yueyao felt that these noodles were the dragon beard noodles of the technological age.

Calling it dragon beard noodles is more eye-catching.

This should be made of high-gluten noodles, so it can be pulled so thin to make noodles like this.

It's a test of skill.

In this era, transportation was underdeveloped and there was no internet, so it was naturally impossible to transport some local specialties to other places.

But Xiao Yueyao thinks these dragon beard noodles can become a local specialty food.

Even noodles can be eaten in different ways.

It’s a noodle shop run by my eldest brother and his wife. They serve many kinds of noodles, including wide noodles, but they don’t have noodles as thin as these.

Su Yang said happily: "Mom, it's delicious. It's different from the noodles we have eaten before."

Su Ling and Su Yang have eaten all kinds of noodles at home.

Sometimes Xiao Yueyao would take them to her eldest brother and sister-in-law's noodle shop to eat noodles.

So they have tried many different flavors of noodles, including eating noodles in various noodle restaurants in Beijing.

But it doesn’t taste like this.

If Su Ling and Su Yang say it’s delicious, then it’s really delicious.

The shop owner was very nervous at first, but when he saw the distinguished customer say the food was delicious, he smiled.

Xiao Yueyao looked at the old lady and said, "Old lady, your cooking skills are quite good. This is the first time we have eaten such thin noodles. You made them very delicious. I don't know how you came up with this."

The old lady smiled lovingly and said, "This is a skill passed down from our ancestors. They made it this way, and so we make it this way too."

"Then I thought about opening a noodle shop in the county. There aren't many people here now, but when it's cold most people come to eat noodles here."

"But there are very few outsiders coming here."

There was no one in the store at the moment, so the old lady liked to talk to Xiao Yueyao.

The main thing is that the girl looks really beautiful, as pretty as the fairy in the painting.

And the twin sons she takes care of are as cute as dolls in their youth.

The old lady felt happy just watching them eat noodles happily.

I couldn't help but smile when I felt that the noodles I made were recognized.

Xiao Yueyao said, "Old man, your ancestors' craftsmanship is quite good. These noodles are delicious. Even the taste of the clear soup is particularly fragrant."

The old lady explained, "People in our village also eat noodles like this thin noodles."

“But the taste of noodles made by different people is still a little different.”

"There are also certain rules for kneading the dough and stretching it into noodles..."

Xiao Yueyao asked, "Old man, are you opening a shop by yourself?"

The old lady said, "My son and daughter-in-law are running the shop and making noodles now. Today my son took his daughter-in-law to his father-in-law's house, so I stayed to run the shop."

"Our shop has been open for decades. When it was passed down to them, local people all knew about our noodle shop. When it was cold, they would come to the shop to eat a bowl of hot noodles. If the noodles were not enough, they could get more for free."

Xiao Yueyao felt it was really good.

A bowl of dragon beard noodles costs only thirteen cents, and you can get more noodles for free.

"Don't you usually eat rice here?"

"Everyone eats noodles, too. Many people like noodles. A bowl of rice makes you hungry quickly, so a bowl of noodles can fill your stomach."

Xiao Yueyao nodded, it was indeed true.

The noodles are very filling.

After chatting with the old lady, I learned that prices here are actually cheap and the pace of life is slow.

But we are indeed lagging behind, and many people are not getting enough food.

Although the old lady and her family opened a noodle shop, it was just a small business.

Fortunately, this store is their own. Although the store is small, they don’t have to pay rent, so they can live a little easier.

But they were reluctant to eat it.

They give the noodles to customers, but they themselves are reluctant to eat this white flour.

The adults were reluctant to eat white flour noodles, but gave them to their grandchildren.

The old lady thought of giving the store to her grandson in the future.

"My son and his wife have two sons, and we only have one noodle shop. We can't favor one over the other. So we want to make more money and find a way to buy another shop."

"Old man, how old is your grandson?"

"One is fourteen and the other is twelve."

"My eldest grandson is almost an adult and will soon be getting married, and my youngest grandson will be fifteen in the blink of an eye."

As the old lady kept muttering about these things, one could sense that she was worried about all of this, and the key was money.

I can’t bear to eat or use it.

But the price of noodles has always been this high, and they don't plan to raise the price.

Besides, this is how it is in the county, and we can’t raise the price.

The elderly feel that raising prices is unacceptable to them.

Xiao Yueyao asked, "How much would it cost to buy a store like this one?"

"About thirty or forty taels of silver!"

When Xiao Yueyao heard this, she was surprised to find that the price was so cheap.

She even wants to buy a shop here.

If there were plenty of cocoa fruits here, Xiao Yueyao would plan to build a chocolate workshop.

If you want to build a chocolate workshop, you should build it nearby.

Since we are building a chocolate workshop, we must build a road.

This bumpy road is not suitable for transporting goods.

If merchants from other places come to purchase goods, they can't even get through this road.

And there was only one inn, very small, with only a few rooms on the two floors combined.

The rooms above are very ordinary.

So Xiao Yueyao had an idea, that is, after building the road, she must also open an inn.

Xiao Yueyao said, "Old man, take advantage of the current low housing prices and buy a shop quickly. In the future, when the population of Nanye County increases, the prices of shops may go up."

If she builds a chocolate workshop, she also plans to set up a courier station here.

She was also thinking about pushing the dragon beard noodles out.

It tastes so good that she wants to bring it to Su Xueyi.

When I go back, I buy some uncooked noodles and put them in the space to take back for Su Xueyi to eat.

I also want to send some to my parents to try.

The old lady was stunned. "There haven't been many people coming here in all these years. Will there be many people coming to Nanye County in the future?"

The old lady couldn't believe it.

Xiao Yueyao said, "Don't worry, there will be a lot of people, so it's better to buy a shop early. It won't be cost-effective to buy it later when the price goes up."

Look at Hezhou now, the prices of houses and shops have doubled or tripled.

If Su Xueyi didn't control the market price, the price would be even higher.

The old lady looked at Xiao Yueyao, and for some reason, she couldn't help but believe what she said.

I think this girl is as beautiful as a fairy, and what she says must be true.

The old lady had an idea and thought that she could indeed discuss it with her son and daughter-in-law.

She still has two gold bracelets at home that can be pawned.

"Thank you, girl!"

In any case, the old man knew that the girl was giving a kind reminder.

After finishing their meal, Xiao Yueyao asked, "Old man, do you have those ready-made thin noodles here, the ones that are dried but not cooked yet?"

"Yes, yes, I have a lot of them drying in the yard at my hometown."

After making these noodles, they are dried first so that they are easier to store.