Liu Tong and his group headed towards the East Market, while Lu Qiqi headed towards the West Market. Yesterday, when they passed through Qingshui Town, Lu Qiqi had seen many restaurants in the East Market.

Lu Qiqi's ambitions weren't that great, and she didn't have enough money to buy a restaurant; at most, she could only afford a ground-floor shop.

But she doesn't plan to spend so much money on a shop. She also wants to buy land and build a house. Besides, once she buys the shop, all her money will be gone. What will she use to start her business?

So her initial target was the foot massage parlors in the West Market. Foot massage parlors are usually run by merchants, and there are many passersby, so the foot traffic is quite good.

Lu Qiqi plans to rent a shop in the West Market to make some simple and convenient food.

As Lu Qiqi walked towards the West Market, there were very few foot-serving shops open, let alone any shops for rent.

After walking all morning, Lu Qiqi was a little hungry, so she walked to a noodle stall that looked fairly clean and sat down.

The noodle stall owner saw a customer and immediately came over. "Young lady, what kind of noodles would you like?"

Lu Qiqi asked, "What kind of noodles do you have here?"

The noodle stall owner said, "Plain noodles are three coins, and meat soup noodles are five coins."

Lu Qiqi took out five coins and placed them on the table, "A bowl of meat soup noodles."

The noodle stall owner accepted the five coins and said with a smile, "Alright, please wait a moment."

Soon after, the noodle stall owner brought the meat soup noodles to the table, saying, "Young lady, please eat slowly, be careful it's hot."

"Thanks".

Lu Qiqi thanked him, and when she saw the noodles in the large bowl, she couldn't help but find it amusing.

The noodle stall owner said it was meat broth noodles, and indeed there wasn't a single speck of minced meat in it.

Lu Qiqi picked up her chopsticks and took a small bite. The noodles weren't particularly delicious, but they weren't bad either. The meat flavor was very mild, and you wouldn't even realize it was meat broth noodles unless you tasted it carefully.

Lu Qiqi finished the bowl of noodles and felt that she was a good baby who did not waste food.

Lu Qiqi ate a bowl of noodles and sat down for a while. She noticed that besides this noodle stall, there were also wonton stalls and steamed bun stalls around.

However, there were few pedestrians, and she was the only one sitting in the stall eating. No wonder the noodle stall owner was so enthusiastic when he saw her sit down.

Seeing the stall owner sitting in front of the pot in a daze, Lu Qiqi asked, "Uncle, why is the West Market so deserted?"

The noodle stall owner turned to Lu Qiqi and said, "The West Market used to be quite lively, but yesterday some vagrants came in and looted and smashed things. Today, many shops are closed. I don't know when it will be able to return to its former glory."

Lu Qiqi was also somewhat saddened. She originally thought that the refugees would be able to end their suffering once they arrived in Luzhou Prefecture, but she did not expect that some of them would harbor resentment and forcibly seize other people's things to satisfy themselves.

It is unknown whether Luzhou Prefecture will continue to accept refugees in the future.

Before leaving the noodle stall, Lu Qiqi asked the stall owner where she could buy pork.

The noodle stall owner pointed south and told her that chicken, duck, fish and meat were sold in Nanshi, and that she could buy meat in Nanshi.

Lu Qiqi went to the South Market and bought five catties of ginger, some for herself and some to plant.

She then asked the butcher to chop ten pounds of pork belly and ten pounds of fatty meat for her. Seeing that she bought so much meat at once, the butcher gave her a bone with a little meat on it for free.

Lu Qiqi put the meat into the basket, covered it with a cloth, and instantly stored it in her spatial storage.

She originally wanted to buy some daily necessities, but seeing that the shops were closed everywhere, she gave up.

Lu Qiqi waited for Zhu Zi at the city gate as planned to go home together. In ancient times, communication was underdeveloped, so she could only wait.

Lu Qiqi waited for about two hours before finally seeing the pillar.

Liu Tong and Dunzi also walked over together.

Seeing the three of them looking dejected, and thinking of the shops that were closed everywhere, Lu Qiqi guessed that their day might not have been smooth either.

Before Lu Qiqi could even speak, Liu Tong said with a pained expression, "What a waste of my money! These damned bastards, of all things to do, they had to rob and smash shops. They deserve to be in jail."

Lu Qiqi didn't reply to Liu Tong's words. She said, "Let's hurry back. It's getting dark and it's hard to travel."

Liu Tong came to his senses and saw that Lu Qiqi was carrying a bamboo basket, which was not there when they came. Could it be that he remembered wrong?

Liu Tong was so angry with the refugees that he didn't think much of it and followed Lu Qiqi out of the city.

It was still early when Lu Qiqi and the others returned, and Liu Tong and his apprentice thought they could help bring back some timber, so they went up the mountain.

Back in the tent, Lu Qiqi took out twenty catties of meat and a large bag of flour from her basket. The flour was taken from the small wooden house in her space.

When Mrs. Lu saw so many things, she complained that she was wasting money.

Lu Qiqi didn't think so. After finishing her bowl of meat soup noodles in the West Market, she thought about making noodles herself and selling them. She believed that her noodles would definitely taste better than those made by the noodle stall owner.

Lu Qiqi said that they would eat noodles today, and Lu Shi surprisingly did not refuse, and even helped her with the noodles.

Lu Yao helped start the fire, and Madam Lu helped knead the dough.

Lu Qiqi planned to make spicy noodles. When she came back, she took a big bag of dried red chilies from her space.

They also found Sichuan peppercorns, sesame seeds, and peanuts in the log cabin.

Lu Qiqi first ground the Sichuan peppercorns into powder using a mortar and pestle, and then stir-fried the chili peppers and peanuts.

Ask Li to help grind the chili peppers into powder using a mortar and pestle, and peel and chop the peanuts.

Then cut the pork belly into strips, stir-fry until cooked, and set aside.

Making spicy noodles requires a lot of oil, so Lu Qiqi specially bought ten catties of meat to render the oil.

While the oil was being rendered, Lu Qiqi stirred the Sichuan peppercorn powder, chili powder, and pepper powder together. After the hot oil simmered for a while, she poured it into the chili and other seasonings, instantly creating a rich and fragrant aroma.

When the Lu family smelled this aroma, their mouths watered uncontrollably.

Lu said, "It's a good thing we moved the tent to the foot of the mountain, otherwise the whole village would have come to join in the fun just because of the fragrance."

Li hadn't expected it to smell so good; just standing there and smelling the aroma was a pleasure.

Lu Yao stared intently at the bowl of bright red chili oil. She thought her sister was really amazing. She asked, "Sis, I've never seen this kind of noodle before. What's it called? Is it good?"

While it was still steaming hot, Lu Qiqi stirred the hot oil and chili peppers and other seasonings evenly. She smiled mysteriously and said, "This is called spicy noodles. Once you've tried it, I guarantee you'll never forget it."

Lu Qiqi set the chili oil aside, poured the stream water into the pot, and added a little spiritual spring water when no one was looking. Finally, she sprinkled in a few slices of ginger and put in the pork bones that the butcher had given her to make pork bone soup.

When Lu Dahai and the others returned, the pork bone soup had been simmering for an hour and a half.

Before Lu Dahai even got close to the tent, he smelled a rich aroma. He laughed and said, "What delicious food are you making? It smells so good!"

Xi Bao pounced on Lu Dahai and said in her childish voice, "Sister Qi Qi, make noodles for us."

Lu Dahai picked up Xibao and coaxed, "Let's go take a look. Daddy's stomach is rumbling from the smell."

Liu Tong was annoyed when he smelled the aroma. He should have stayed and helped out. Just by smelling it, he knew that this was not something an ordinary chef could make!