Chen Xu was originally busy in the kitchen, but when he heard Yan Qing's words, he suddenly realized something.

He had thought that the round-faced man was a little strange before. When he came to eat noodles for the first time, his behavior was not like that of an ordinary customer. It was no wonder that he turned out to be in the same industry.

In fact, the century-old soup generally does not mean that the soup has been boiled for a hundred years. Water and new ingredients are added every day.

After a while, you need to change to a new pot, discard the residue at the bottom, and add ingredients to cook a new pot. The key is to add some of the old soup from the previous pot. In this way, the flavor of the old soup can be retained in this pot of soup.

It is said that in the old days, in similar noodle shops, when an apprentice graduated, he could take away a pot of old soup, which would provide a foundation for him to stand on when he opened a shop in the future.

Of course, he saw these from online forums and had no idea whether they were true or not.

The round-faced man obviously had a crush on his old soup, so he packed up dozens of servings at once and added them to the newly boiled soup to improve the taste of his soup base. This was a tricky move.

"Chen Xu, why are you still standing there?"

Chen Ziqi turned around and saw Chen Xu standing there indifferent, and he was so anxious that he almost jumped up and down.

"How are you going to settle the score with him?" Chen Xu asked her, "Go to his store and make trouble? Or find someone to beat him up?"

"This..." Chen Ziqi paused. This was indeed inappropriate. He said indignantly, "Then expose him online and let everyone know that he is a thief and a liar. Make sure his store can't continue to operate."

Chen Xu shook his head and said, "This kind of news has no explosive point and will not go viral. Posting it online will not have any impact on his store. Besides, we have no evidence, and he might even bite us back and accuse us of spreading rumors."

"This is not okay, that is not okay, are we just going to let it go?" Chen Ziqi looked at him angrily, "Are you not angry at all?"

"Anyway, it doesn't affect us. We just need to do our own business." Chen Xu said, paused, and then continued, "In fact, the soup I make is different from other soups. The older it is, the better. If it's more than five days old, it's not fresh anymore."

Chen Ziqi's eyes lit up when he heard the last sentence, "What do you mean?"

"Just wait and see what happens to him." Chen Xu said.

Once the shelf life is over, the taste of the soup has changed, and it will be difficult for them to continue their business. Even if they make a new pot of soup temporarily, it will not be as good as the old soup, and they will lose many customers. Once the reputation is damaged, it will be difficult to recover.

Chen Ziqi immediately counted on his fingers, turned to look at Yan Qing, and said, "You should go over there more often in the next few days and observe the situation."

"No problem. I have to pass by there every day on my way to and from get off work anyway." Yan Qing agreed immediately. He had disliked that fat guy yesterday, and he didn't like him for doing such a thing. He wished that he would suffer misfortune.

…………

In the next few days, Chen Xu's life did not change much. He went for morning exercises in the morning and went to work during the day. Luo Xiyun still did not show up. After get off work, he cooked for Chen Ziqi, and then they went to open the store together. They closed the stall at around eleven o'clock in the evening.

Every day when he went jogging home, he would pass by that alley and would run into the girl in school uniform every time. She would always squat under the telephone pole and feed the cat, sometimes using noodle crumbs and sometimes using dried fish.

He was very curious about the girl and why she didn't go home until seven or eight o'clock every night, but would rather feed stray cats here.

However, he never approached her to chat with her. From the only contact they had, he could tell that she was very wary of strangers. He still remembered the way she looked at him at that time, cautious, with a hint of distrust and vigilance.

Of course, this was just a little curiosity. He knew that the two of them would probably never have any interactions. Even if they ran into each other every day, they wouldn't say hello to each other, and they wouldn't even make eye contact.

Before I knew it, it's already the weekend.

In the evening, Chen Xu and Chen Ziqi had just opened the noodle shop when Yan Qing came with his girlfriend. As soon as he came in, he couldn't wait to shout, "I have good news to tell you. That fat guy is in trouble."

"Tell me quickly, what's going on?" Chen Ziqi came forward with a pot of hot tea and for the first time took the initiative to pour him a glass of water.

"He deserves it." Chen Ziqi felt particularly relieved when she heard this. These past few days, she had been counting the days on her fingers, waiting to see when the fat man would get into trouble.

She asked excitedly, "What was the process like?"

"It was said that a customer tasted sour noodles and wanted the boss to give an explanation. The fat guy was also very arrogant, saying that he was just there to cause trouble, and a quarrel broke out on the spot."

"The fat guy has hit a wall. The customer is from a construction company. He brought his girlfriend to dinner and was humiliated. He was not willing to tolerate it. He immediately pulled over a dozen people over and blocked the door, demanding an explanation."

Chen Ziqi asked, "What happened next?"

"The fat guy finally got scared. He apologized and paid compensation. However, I think his troubles are more than just that. When I left, I saw people from the Industrial and Commercial Bureau and the Health Bureau. Someone must have complained. If they really find out what the problem is, they can suspend the business for rectification. That would be fun."

Chen Xu was listening in the kitchen and felt a little sorry for the fat man.

The soup he cooked would lose its freshness after a few days, and would have a little flavor, but would not go bad. But if he met a picky customer, he would be unlucky.

"By the way, I also took a video, take a look." Yan Qing took out his phone, opened the video, and handed it to Chen Ziqi, "Look, there are a lot of passers-by watching nearby. Anyway, the reputation of this store is completely stinking."

The three of them were chatting animatedly. A few minutes later, Chen Xu came over with two bowls of noodles.

Yan Qing asked curiously, "Hey, Boss, we haven't ordered yet."

"It's my treat." Chen Xu said with a smile. This man was so enthusiastic that he had to show his appreciation.

Yan Qing looked at the bowl in front of him and saw that it was filled with shrimps and clams. The amount was astonishing. He exclaimed, "Wow, it's so rich."

Chen Ziqi said proudly, "Seafood noodles, deluxe version, not something most people can eat. You are in for a treat."

"Thank you, boss." Yan Qing said to Chen Xu, picked up the chopsticks and said, "Then, we won't be polite."

Then, several more customers came over. These days, the noodle shop has gained a little reputation, with returning customers every day. When they saw the noodles Yanqing and the others were eating, they asked, "Boss, do you have a new flavor of noodles? Give me a bowl, too."

"Sorry, that's a special edition for friendship, not for sale to the public."

Other customers shouted, "This is not good, you are totally discriminating against us."

"Yes, we must treat everyone equally when doing business."

Chen Ziqi was unhappy and said, "It's not that we don't sell it, it's just too expensive. Fifty dollars a bowl, do you want it?"

"It's so expensive, are you guys robbing me?"

Chen Ziqi rolled his eyes at the man and said, "This is already the cost price. Do you know how much a pound of prawns costs?"

Someone couldn't help but complain, "Little sister, with your service attitude, it's no wonder the noodle shop's business is so bad."

"If you think my attitude is bad, why do you still come?"

The man was speechless, and everyone else laughed. In fact, many people come here to eat noodles, not only because the taste is good, but also because they like to watch her scold people. Who made her look cute? Even if she likes to scold people, it's hard to hate her.

(End of this chapter)