Chapter 22

Le Xinzhou is the second son of a musical family. He has a strict upbringing and rarely has the opportunity to eat instant noodles.

Although he admired Leng Zhi's money-saving idea for instant noodles, he had to admit that he really couldn't come up with such a way to save money.

Watching a large plate of fatty beef being pushed into the pot with chopsticks, Le Xinzhou couldn't help but swallow hard.

So much meat, it smells so good!

Leng Zhi raised an eyebrow: "You're so engrossed in watching, how about I offer you a slice of beef roll?"

Le Xinzhou held out his bowl: "Thank you!"

Leng Zhi: "..."

As if inspired, Le Xinzhou circled around each stove, asking for a bite of food from each one, and surprisingly, he ate it with relish along with his white rice.

He couldn't help but exclaim, "Is this what it feels like to grow up eating food from many families? It's wonderful. I'm going to write about this experience in my new song."

Instant noodles are the epitome of fast food. Jiang Mingzhe, who grew up eating delicacies from land and sea, was suddenly shocked by the food industry. The taste was so fresh that the little guy was speechless.

—Especially compared to the somewhat monotonous and repetitive nutritious meals served in the program's restaurant.

Jiang Mingzhe licked his lips and held out his bowl: "Another bowl, please! And lots of potato chips!"

The potato slices, soaked in tomato broth, were stewed until soft and tender, savory and delicious, just as tasty as potato chips.

Jiang Mingzhe buried his head in his food and ate three small bowls without realizing it.

Most of the instant noodles he crushed ended up in Leng Zhi's stomach, and most of the beef rolls ended up in Jiang Mingzhe's stomach.

This should be considered a work-related injury, Leng Zhi thought to himself.

So he opened his memo app and made another note:

9. Clean up Jiang Mingzhe's mess.

No, that's too impolite.

Backspace, rewrite:

9. When Jiang Mingzhe makes a mistake, help him overcome the difficulties and get back on the right track.

It's a bit strange, but let's just leave it at that.

Leng Zhi put his phone away with satisfaction.

The production team meticulously recorded the food chosen by each group of guests and posted a poll on Weibo.

#Come and pick your favorite chef!#

1. Braised Chicken with Vinegar by Lei Shen & Xi Xi

2. Lexinzhou & Duoduo's Hot Pot Potato Chips

3. Yun Jingcheng & Xiaoyu's Tomato Scrambled Eggs and Pan-Fried Fish Set Meal

4. Shaoqi & Youyou's Vegetarian Hot Pot

5. Lengzhi & Mingzhe's Beef Instant Noodle Hot Pot

[High EQ: Braised chicken with vinegar. Low EQ: Braised chicken with soy sauce but with vinegar instead.]

[Laughing so hard I almost passed out]

Of the ten people on the field, only Xiaoyu was seriously cooking.

[Youyou's face turned green from eating the vegetable leaves]

[I gave it to the potato chips, nothing in particular, I just thought it was funny]

[How could someone eat potato chips during the cooking segment, hahaha]

The onlookers quickly chose their answers.

The cold-cooked beef ramen hot pot won by a narrow margin over Xiaoyu's scrambled eggs with tomatoes and fried fish.

[Who knows, Jiang Mingzhe is eating with such relish]

[Me too, I opened a packet of instant noodles while watching him eat.]

[Hehe, I'm at the supermarket now, and I've perfectly replicated his instant noodle pot recipe—it's incredibly delicious!]

To be fair, Jiang Mingzhe perfectly avoided all the traps set by the production team.

[I vote for Xiaoyu! Being able to spot the soy sauce and vinegar trap is really impressive!]

The third-place result was also surprising.

It turned out to be a hot pot base and potato chip combo from Lexinzhou.

Regarding this result, viewers expressed the following opinions:

[Anyway, the remaining three are all outrageous]

[Why not choose the most outrageous one and debut with a landslide victory!]

[It's a pity Jiang Mingzhe and Xiaoyu are too popular; I feel sorry for Duoduo's potato chips.]

[Next time, we'll definitely make sure Chip Baby debuts!]

Lei Shen came in last place.

His actions perfectly fell into the show's trap; he lacked the bizarre and attention-grabbing qualities of Le Duoduo, and he didn't possess the skill of Xiao Yu or Leng Zhi.

Lei Shen: "..."

Haha, I can only hope for the games this afternoon.

He watched enviously as the host awarded stars to the top three winners.

Jiang Mingzhe's chest was almost overflowing with stars. He counted them on his fingers and exclaimed excitedly, "I have ten stars!"

He felt somewhat euphoric and asked everyone, "How many stars do you have?!"

Only Xiaoyu answered his question: "I have six."

Other kids: Pretend not to hear.

The difference is huge! I don't want to be asked that!

Duoduo is showing the camera the star badge in her palm.

"Eat potato chips and you'll become lucky!"

Le Xinzhou covered his face in anguish. Although he had unexpectedly received the star, he had a premonition that it would become an inescapable excuse for Duoduo to buy snacks in the future!

Li Chi clapped his hands and said, "Congratulations to all the children who received star rewards! Don't be discouraged if you didn't receive a reward, we have more activities this afternoon."

Lei Shen rubbed his hands together, eager to get started: "Are we cooking again this afternoon?"

I definitely won't put the wrong soy sauce and vinegar in this time!

Li Chi: "Yes, but not entirely. The specific rules will remain a secret for now. Guests, please take the children for a nap. The staff will set up the game venue for the afternoon later."

-

In the afternoon, under the bright sunshine, the guests were gathered in a glass villa.

The villa has been redecorated, with green plants and colorful stripes entwining the tables and chairs, and warm sunlight streaming through the glass onto the tablecloth, leaving dappled patterns of light.

"Wow, is this a converted gym? I didn't expect there to be such a beautiful house in the village."

"Huh, there's a sign here? Instant noodle cafeteria?"

"Let me see," Yun Jingcheng leaned closer and whispered the small print on the signboard, "Business hours: 15:00-19:00?"

"That's right!"

Li Chi's passionate voice rang out from the loudspeaker.

"Welcome to the instant noodle canteen, everyone."

"As you can see, this afternoon's game involves the five guests running the restaurant with the children."

"And our signature dish is the winning dish from this morning—Beef and Tomato Instant Noodles!"

It turns out that the winning dish from the morning will become the menu for the afternoon.

Xiao Yu patted his chest silently.

Luckily, it wasn't his own scrambled eggs with tomatoes that won first place, otherwise he would have had to carry the burden for ten people by himself—after all, these uncles, aunts, younger brothers and sisters didn't seem to know how to cook.

"To be fair, the assignment of tasks will still be done by lottery! I wish everyone the best of luck in getting their desired positions!"

"Hurry up! There's only half an hour left before the canteen opens!"

Leng Zhi glanced down at the time.

14:30.

There are 30 minutes left. In these 30 minutes, everyone must be in place and make sure the kids don't cause trouble.

The lottery process was quick, and Leng Zhi got the front desk position, which meant that he and Jiang Mingzhe would need to greet guests and handle the cashier duties after the meal.

Le Xinzhou was assigned to the kitchen, where he was responsible for four instant noodle pots by himself.

Duoduo is still young, and the production team is afraid of burning the child, so almost all the work in the kitchen is left to Le Xinzhou.

Le Xinzhou: "..." What a terrible job this is.

"Then will the customers still be able to appreciate my cooking skills?" he grumbled as he walked into the restaurant.

It really can.

Le Xinzhou was pleasantly surprised to find that the kitchen was open to the public, allowing diners to see every corner of the kitchen from their seats.

Shaoqi couldn't help but laugh out loud: "You have to appreciate it, Chef Le. If you're lazy, not only will the camera capture it, but the customers waiting for their food will also see it."

Le Xinzhou covered his face in pain again.

Waaah, why did I even have to come on a variety show? Wouldn't it have been better to just stay home and write more songs?!

Shaoqi and Youyou were in charge of serving dishes, while Yun Jingcheng and Xiaoyu were responsible for greeting the guests who were dining. Lei Shen was assigned a flexible position.

A "flexible position" sounds impressive, but it really just means filling in wherever there's a shortage of staff. When the restaurant gets busy, he'll be the most chaotic one.

After everyone was familiar with their roles, the first wave of guests arrived at the restaurant entrance.

The curtain was lifted by the wind, and then a group of female college students wearing floral dresses slipped in.

"Oh my god, it really is Yun Jingcheng!" one of them whispered, covering his mouth.

"Shh, we're just regular customers today, let's focus on ordering!"

The restaurant guests invited by the program team were ordinary fans recruited online. They were communicated with in advance and promised not to disrupt the order on site.

To prevent sasaeng fans from infiltrating, fans also need to provide their social media accounts to the production team for review. In short, this is a group of highly qualified fans.

Leng Zhi led the guests to their seats and presented them with a menu: "What would you like to eat?"

The female student didn't hear Leng Zhi's words at all. Her eyes were on the menu, but her attention was completely focused on Yun Jingcheng, who was pouring tea in her peripheral vision.

"Ahem." Leng Zhi coughed, pulling the girls back to reality.

They then noticed that there was another guest waiting to order.

The girl sitting in the middle couldn't help but hold her breath—this guest had such beautiful features.

When watching the live stream, the camera was scattered, and since Leng Zhi always wore a simple t-shirt, they didn't pay much attention to him.

Now, dressed in the uniform of a waiter, his broad shoulders, narrow waist, and tall stature are accentuated.

His gaze moved upwards, meeting Leng Zhi's slightly drooping, fan-like eyelashes and calm, watery pupils.

Damn it, if I keep looking, I'll have to climb over the wall! She dared not look any closer and quickly glanced at the menu.

The menu wasn't very extensive, probably because they were worried about keeping the guests busy, so they only offered two types of hot pot bases, as well as the option to add noodles, beef rolls, and potato slices.

The order was placed quickly; the three girls chose two servings of pickled cabbage and one serving of tomato and egg.

Plus five servings of potato chips.

Leng Zhi enters the order into the machine, and Jiang Mingzhe then delivers the receipt to Duoduo in the kitchen. The entire production line runs very smoothly.

Only Le Xinzhou's wailing came from the kitchen: "So many potato slices! We can't keep up! Lei Shen, come help!"

As more and more guests poured in, the front of house and the kitchen became bustling with activity, and even the little ones were running around non-stop.

Xiaoyu stood on tiptoe, wanting to add lemon tea for his aunts.

"Thank you, Xiaoyu, we'll pour it ourselves."

Xiaoyu gripped the kettle tightly without letting go, steadily filling four cups, and proudly said, "That won't do, this is Xiaoyu's job!"

The child's childish voice, yet attempting to mimic an adult's tone, caused the guests at the two nearby tables to laugh incessantly.

Lei Shen dragged Xixi to the kitchen, put him on a stool, and made him scrub potatoes one by one in front of the sink. Just like he was giving a kitten or puppy a bath, he wanted to scrub all the mud out of the potato crevices.

There were no camera positions set up in the kitchen yet. Lei Shen patted the back of Xixi's head and said in a low voice, "That's enough rubbing. I still have to peel it anyway."

Le Xinzhou quickly scooped the cooked noodles out of the strainer: "Old Lei, just let him rub it. It's a good thing that the child is serious about doing things. If it were our Duoduo doing it, she'd be lucky if she could even get the potatoes to roll around in the water."

Lei Shen choked for a moment, and looking at his fingers, which were swollen from being soaked in potatoes, his mood worsened.

"I've finished cutting this box of potato chips, you can use these for now, I'm going out for a walk."

Le Xinzhou: "Hey, don't go, Lao Lei, I can't live without you!"

Lei Shen pretended not to hear and rushed out – there wasn't a single camera angle in the kitchen, so he had to hurry and get a couple of shots.

Le Xinzhou sighed and resignedly tore open a new packet of instant noodles.

Before he could even open the bag, he heard the sound of the curtain being lifted again behind him.

Le Xinzhou didn't turn around, but laughed and said, "Haha, I knew you were good to your brothers, Lao Lei, and couldn't bear to leave me alone in the kitchen. Why did you come back so soon after you went out?"

There was no response from behind, so he turned around, feeling a little strange.

"Teacher Yue! Please give me your autograph! Please take a picture with me! I really like you! Please marry me!"

The man knelt down with a thud, and was about to reach out and hug Le Xinzhou's leg.

Le Xinzhou: "?!"

Holy crap? What's going on?!