Su Hua was somewhat surprised. "Don't all noodle soups taste pretty much the same? How can they be considered exactly the same?"
Although she had never eaten noodles at Meng's Noodle Shop before, she had tried quite a few noodles from Cangwu Town, Qingshui County, and even Tangshan Prefecture. They weren't particularly amazing, and the taste was pretty much the same for everyone, all being rather bland.
When she used to run a mala tang (spicy hot pot) stall at Baichuan Academy, the noodle stall owner next door would give them noodles, and she would always scoop a spoonful of mala tang broth to mix with them.
"No," Dong'er quickly shook her head. "My parents used to run a noodle shop. Their business was very good in town. They relied on cinnamon oil. My father found cinnamon when he went deep into the mountains to collect wild produce. Nobody in the surrounding area knew how to make it."
At this point, the little boy looked up at the Meng family's noodle shop again.
“This noodle shop used to be very popular, with many customers every day. Although the owner and his staff would chase us beggars away when they saw us, over time we could still get some leftover noodle soup from the customers.”
The soup had the aroma of cinnamon oil.
Moreover, the broth is the same as mine—a rich chicken bone broth, unlike regular pork bone broth.
Because of the exact same taste of the noodle soup, he has been begging near the noodle shop for years, only returning to the dilapidated temple in the west of the city to stay at night.
Finally, I met my boss's sister.
Therefore, he always believed that his parents were protecting him from heaven.
But the noodle shop had been closed for a long time, and he could no longer smell the familiar aroma.
Upon hearing this, Su Hua finally sensed that something was amiss.
She had never heard of this cinnamon oil before. When it comes to cooking, the principle is always that one person has something that is unique, that is, a secret recipe that is not easily told to others. Moreover, besides the cinnamon oil, the bones used to make the soup are also the same, which is too much of a coincidence.
Before opening the noodle shop, the Meng family was the poorest in the entire Shanghe Village. Otherwise, Meng Yun'er wouldn't have come to the Su family every few days asking for food and clothing. Suddenly, one day, they became rich and built houses, bought land, and opened shops.
Their speed was comparable to that of the Su family.
The villagers even gossiped privately, wondering if the Meng family had found money on the road.
Thinking of this, she suddenly remembered the day she brought Dong'er back from the dilapidated temple, and couldn't help but ask, "Dong'er, in what year did your parents pass away?"
The little one suddenly asked this for some reason, and simply closed his eyes gently, saying, "Three years ago, in the spring."
It was just an ordinary spring. My parents wanted to open a shop in Qingshui County again to earn more money, but they never came back.
When my mother died, she was pregnant with my younger sister.
Of the family of four, he was the only one left.
Su Hua felt a chill run down her spine. If she remembered correctly, the Meng family had started their fortune exactly three years ago.
The same cinnamon seeds, the same chicken bone broth, the same cooking time—combined together, it's hard not to be suspicious.
The girl pursed her lips, "Dong'er, could you tell me about your parents..."
Halfway through her sentence, a melodious voice interrupted from behind, "Miss Su, it's been a long time."
Su Hua paused, then turned her head and saw a tall figure walking towards her. The man had an ordinary face, but his peach blossom eyes beneath his brows were very eye-catching, and his eyes were shimmering with water.
“Young Master Yan.” Su Hua nodded with a light smile.
Even though it was only the second time we met, I felt a sense of familiarity with him, as if I had seen him before on the jade gambling street.
Especially those peach blossom eyes, they seemed out of place on such a face.
Jun Yan lowered his head, met the girl's clear almond eyes, and smiled slightly. "I heard about the unique dishes at Miss Su's restaurant in Tangshan Prefecture, so I came here because of its reputation. Your restaurant is truly extraordinary and is in no way inferior to Tianxianglou."
"Young Master Yan is too kind," Su Hua said with a smile.
"Su Ji Restaurant and Tianxianglou have different dishes and target audiences, so there is no comparison. Moreover, Tianxianglou has stood for decades, how can our restaurant compare?"
Jun Yan raised an eyebrow noncommittally, his smile deepening. "Miss Su is intelligent and her dishes are not only unforgettable, but also the first of their kind in Dayu."
Why not strike while the iron is hot and open one of Su's Restaurant in every county town in Dayu?
Su Hua's almond-shaped eyes flickered slightly, unsure of his intentions. This young master Yan was on good terms with the Liu siblings, and he had only met her once in Tangshan Prefecture without exchanging a single word. His current familiarity was rather strange.
She paused for a moment, then pursed her lips and said, "Su Ji's branch in Tangshan Prefecture is currently under preparation. As for other branches, we don't have any ideas yet."
Jun Yan's smile remained unchanged. "It just so happens that I have some business in various places. If Miss Su has any ideas in the future, she can talk to me. I would be happy to cooperate with you."
Su Hua's almond-shaped eyes flickered. Cooperate with him?
Almost instantly, he secretly shook his head.
She trusted her intuition; this person appeared harmless on the surface, but gave off a dangerous vibe.
She subconsciously didn't want to have too much contact with people who were on good terms with the Liu family.
By this time, it was almost lunchtime, and the queue outside the restaurant had expanded from a small line to half the front square.
The shouts of the waiters gradually grew louder.
Aside from the calls to customers, there were announcements about hot and sour noodles: "Hot and sour noodles! Hot and sour noodles for sale! Su Ji Restaurant's latest hot and sour noodles! Better than regular noodles, more flavorful than wontons!"
A bowl costs seven coins. For just seven coins, you can have a bowl of spicy and sour noodles.
Limited to 200 bowls per day, while supplies last, first come, first served!
Su Hua turned her head and saw three waiters holding several small bowls of hot and sour noodles, stirring the soup with chopsticks while loudly inviting customers to try them.
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