Chapter 498 Strange
The shop finally opened today, and the waiter was so happy that he couldn't help humming a little tune while clearing the dishes.
"Waiter, give me a bowl of noodles."
Someone else came into the noodle shop and found a new table to sit down.
The waiter put down his work and hurried to serve the customer, smiling, "What kind of noodles would you like? We have vegetarian noodles, chicken soup noodles, fish soup noodles, pork chop noodles, etc. Except for the vegetarian noodles which are six coins a bowl, the others are ten coins a bowl. Which kind of noodles would you like?"
"Six cents for a bowl of plain noodles?" The man's eyes widened when he heard the price. "The one selling shredded pork noodles outside only charges five cents. I think there's quite a lot of shredded pork in there. Are you running a shady shop?"
"No, no, no, sir, it's broad daylight and we're open for business honestly. How can we be running a shady shop..." the waiter explained hurriedly.
"It's not a shady shop. The noodles you sell here are more than twice as expensive as those sold outside?"
"This noodle is different from other noodles. You'll know when you taste it." The waiter tried hard to keep smiling.
"I'll definitely buy it after I've tasted it. You're really good at business. You trick people into eating first, and then after they eat, they have to pay for it anyway." The man stood up and walked out, cursing as he walked. "I've never seen a business like this. You said this noodle shop has fewer people and can be served faster, so people will hurry to do other things after eating. I never thought it was a place to rip people off!"
"What's the difference between noodles? After all, it's just noodles. Noodles made by adding water to white flour are not rare. How can they be different? Can it be made into something else? If you want to cheat people, you can cheat them. Why are you talking so much nonsense? Aren't you ashamed..."
The man had walked far away, but his words could still be vaguely heard.
It can be seen how much resentment he has and how loudly he complains.
The three customers just now were very easy to talk to. Not only that, they also ate five bowls of noodles in one go and praised the noodles for being well made. Business will definitely be good in the future...
He originally thought that the noodle shop's fortunes would turn around and business would pick up, but looking at the current situation, he was just overthinking.
It's still the same as always! The waiter sighed, lowered his head and cleaned up the dishes, looking worried.
"So dejected?" Shang Chengen lifted the curtain and came out from the backyard. Seeing the waiter's face wrinkled like an eggplant, he laughed, "You look more and more like your name."
The waiter's name was nothing else but Bitter Melon.
I heard that when she was pregnant with him, bitter melon mother had a food poisoning and wanted to eat this. However, it rained heavily the year he was born, and the fields were flooded. All the crops in the fields were destroyed, and life was miserable.
Bitter Melon's mother felt that the child was really unlucky and was afraid of any disaster in the future, so she simply gave him a bad name to suppress the bad luck, and thus the name Bitter Melon came into being.
Kugua's original surname was Jin, but after he became a slave, even his life belonged to his master, so he no longer needed this surname. He should have gotten a new name, but Shang Chengen thought the name was interesting, so he let him keep it.
"Boss." Kugua frowned, "Our noodle shop has been open for three days, and we've only sold five bowls of noodles. Aren't you in a hurry?"
"Why are you in such a hurry?" Shang Chengen laughed. "Business is always profitable. How can you expect to be full of customers and make a fortune right after opening? You should take your time. Good wine needs no bush, and good noodles need no repeat customers."
"Look, didn't someone come to eat noodles just now? He returned the bowl."
"Speaking of the guests just now..."
Kugua paused, "The three guests just now were also very strange, two officers and a young girl. I looked at the girl and estimated that she was about my age, or only one or two years older. She was also pretty. I don't know why she was with the two officers. She didn't look like a daughter of an official, nor did she look like someone who was caught by the officers. Anyway, it was very strange..."
"Oh, right, I just heard the two yamen runners calling that girl 'Zhuang Manager'. I guess she's a businessman. What's more, the 'Zhuang Manager' said the same thing as the shopkeeper, that good wine needs no bush."
"And, when I sent these three people out just now, I heard them talking about some dried noodles, and that Shopkeeper Zhuang was going to open a dried noodle workshop, and that the dried noodles were as delicious as the noodles we have here."
"I don't quite understand this. Shopkeeper, what is this dried noodles? I've only eaten noodles made by you, and your noodles are the best. Can anyone make noodles as delicious as yours?"
Shang Chengen was also stunned at this time, "You mean, noodles?"
"Yes, I heard it right. It's called dried noodles. This name is very strange. Dried noodles, dried noodles, could it be noodles that are hung up? If noodles can be hung up, then won't they be broken? Even if they are not broken, won't they be dried? Won't dried noodles be crispy and crunchy when touched?"
The more Bitter Melon thought about it, the more confused he became.
Shang Chengen laughed at Kugua's series of questions. "We don't make dried noodles here. You probably don't know that in Shaanxi and Gansu, many places make dried noodles. They stretch the noodles long, like silver threads, and hang them on poles to dry, hence the name dried noodles."
"This dried noodles, after being dried, can be stored for a long time. Whenever you want to eat it, just cook a handful. It's quite convenient. However, I have eaten some of this dried noodles. It is convenient, but the taste is not very good."
But just now, Bitter Melon said that those people said that the noodles made in the noodle workshop were just as delicious as the noodles he made...
Could it be that those people can make noodles with excellent taste?
Shang Chengen touched his chin and said, "Just now you said that among those three people, two were yamen runners. Do you know where they were runners from?"
"I don't know about that." Kugua shook his head. "But judging from his accent, he's probably not from another county. I guess he's from the county government?"
"If it's someone from the county government, it would be easier to handle..."
Next time he goes to the county town to buy seasoning, he can just ask about it. It’s not a very urgent matter.
"What did the shopkeeper say is easy to deal with?" Bitter Melon asked in surprise when he saw Shang Chengen's face changing constantly.
"There's nothing easy to do. Hurry up and clean up and wait for the guests to come." Shang Chengen reached out and knocked on Kugua's head.
I can tidy up, but as for waiting for guests...
Thinking of the guest who had just walked out cursing, Bitter Melon felt a little headache and even sighed.
It would be nice if the guests I meet in the future are the same as the three I met today. —— They walked slowly all the way. When they arrived at the town, Zhuang Qingning asked Shen Quan and Shi Bao to stay in the shop to eat a bowl of hot and sour noodles. When they returned home, it was already dark.
Thanks to "蝶豆花" for the 1,500-coin reward and the monthly ticket, thanks to "放飞历史，仰未来", "657muzi", "音竹念冰", "向太阳", "秒手的转转", "紫玥" for the monthly ticket, and thank you all for your support (end of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com