Chapter 49: Delicious Food You Have Never Tasted
Shi Xiaoai brought Cheng Yang to a small privately owned noodle shop, which she had never been to before.
I heard customers mention it when I was running a tea stall, saying that it tasted great.
Following the route map she heard, the two of them made many twists and turns, and finally even had to find a place to park the tricycle. The two of them walked through several small alleys before they finally found it.
It was an ordinary household hidden deep in the alley. From the outside, it looked similar to Shi Xiaoai's house, and was even smaller than their gate.
Standing at the door, staring at the house number and confirming it again, Shi Xiaoai finally knocked on the door.
Cheng Yang didn't say anything, but asked with his eyes: "Is this the right place? Are you sure this is a restaurant?"
When Xiao Ai answered, a voice soon came from inside: "Who is it?"
It was a slightly hoarse man's voice with a strong Sichuan accent.
Shi Xiaoai immediately confirmed that she had found the right place.
She immediately smiled and shouted inside: "Master Zhou, open the door!"
Soon, the gate was opened from the inside, and a tall and thin man appeared in the door.
He looked to be in his fifties, thin but very strong.
He was wearing a blue work suit that was old but very clean.
It might be because he had been immersed in the kitchen for a long time, but that person had a lingering smell of pepper and sesame oil on his body, which actually smelled quite pleasant.
Shi Xiaoai sniffed and said with a smile, "Wow, it smells so good! Master Zhou, do you have any extra oil? Can you sell me two bottles later?"
The man seemed to have not expected her to ask this. He looked at her in surprise and did not respond for a moment.
At this time, there was a tendency for self-employed business people to emerge, but most of them, like Master Zhou, were hiding among the people.
These people either only do business with people they know, or they secretly go from street to street to earn a hard-earned living.
People are naturally wary of people like Shi Xiaoai who come to the door on their own without any acquaintances to bring them.
Shi Xiaoai obviously knew this, so she introduced herself first: "Master Zhou, we are one of our own. Captain Li recommended us here. He said your noodles are especially good."
Hearing the name Captain Li, the man's alertness finally faded a little. He looked them both over, his gaze lingering on Cheng Yang's uniform for a long time before asking, "Just the two of you?"
"Well, Master Zhou, do you have any noodles left? I want to eat tofu pudding noodles. If you have sugar-coated rice cakes, give us one portion too."
Seeing that she was so skilled in ordering dishes, Master Zhou completely let down his guard.
He then opened the door and let the two of them in.
After the two entered the courtyard, Master Zhou closed the door again and pointed to a room at the back with a cotton curtain. He said, "Come in and sit down. You guys want to eat tofu noodles, right? How much do you want?"
"One bowl of 2 taels, one bowl of 4 taels, more spicy and less spicy, and two bowls of noodle soup." Shi Xiaoai ordered quickly.
"A large bowl costs 35 cents and 4 taels of grain coupons. A small bowl costs 25 cents and 2 taels of grain coupons. The noodle soup is free. Do you want some glutinous rice cakes? 50 cents, 4 taels of grain coupons each."
"Yes, both!" Shi Xiaoai answered without hesitation.
Then he took out the cloth bag that served as his wallet from his pocket, counted out the corresponding banknotes and handed them to Master Zhou.
Cheng Yang stood aside without saying a word, quietly acting as a transparent person.
After Master Zhou collected the money and left, they walked into the house and sat down at a table before he asked softly, "Have you been here before?"
"No, this store looks newly opened. How could I have been here before?" Shi Xiaoai shook her head.
Cheng Yang looked around and found that the room had obviously just been painted. Judging from the color of the wall paint, it was estimated that it was less than two months old.
The table in front of them was also freshly painted.
"Who is Captain Li?" he asked again.
"Who knows who it is?"
Shi Xiaoai suddenly lowered her voice, covered half of her mouth with her hand, and blinked at Cheng Yang: "I lied to him!"
Cheng Yang: "..."
Seeing Cheng Yang's shocked expression, Shi Xiaoai laughed.
She smiled smugly, “I heard it from the guests who came to drink tea.
I heard others calling that show-off Captain Li or Captain Lu, so I thought I'd try a little bluff and maybe let us in, and it actually worked."
The more she thought about it, the more proud she became, and the dimples at the corners of her lips appeared and disappeared with her smile.
Cheng Yang didn't expect to hear such an explanation, and he didn't expect his wife to have such a naughty side.
Looking at Shi Xiaoai's smiling face, he felt that he knew too little about her.
At the same time, he felt that as he got to know his wife better, his love for her would increase.
Just like now, sitting face to face with her, looking at her, this love would ferment and seem to be about to overflow. It made his body hot and his heart full to the point of wanting to explode.
Cheng Yang couldn't help but unbutton two buttons on his collar.
But even so, the heat did not dissipate at all. His Adam's apple rolled, and his big hand couldn't help but reach out to Shi Xiaoai's small hand on the table.
At this moment, there was a sudden crackling sound of something exploding outside.
Along with the sound, a unique aroma produced by the onions and garlic being put into the pot rushed in from outside the opened cotton curtain.
The fragrance was so intense that Shi Xiaoai quickly turned around, and Cheng Yang's hand fell into emptiness.
At this moment, Cheng Yang couldn't tell whether he was more disappointed or more relieved.
Soon Master Zhou came in carrying a large tray.
On the tray were two open-mouthed porcelain bowls that looked as big as small basins.
As he got closer, the tempting spicy and fresh aroma spread around the two of them, making them dizzy.
Cheng Yang stood up and took the noodles off the tray.
Then I was attracted to that side.
This was the first time he had ever seen such a face in his life!
The huge porcelain bowl was filled with half a bowl of hand-pulled noodles. It could be seen that the noodle-making skill was very good. The noodles were pulled thin and tough, and looked very chewy.
A thick layer of mixed bean and meat sauce is poured on the noodles. The soy milk is fried in red oil, which is not only oily and fragrant, but also contains a lot of fried green onions chopped into the size of rice grains and fragrantly fried.
The onions are chopped very finely and fried until they are golden brown. Their unique aroma is contained in the rich and fragrant meat sauce. Not to mention eating it, just looking at it can make people feel the ultimate fragrance.
Just with the mixed bean and meat sauce as a side dish, Cheng Yang could already feel that it would be incredibly delicious, but what happened was that there was also a thick layer of tofu pudding poured around the meat sauce.
Snow-white tofu pudding surrounds the big bowl, with red meat sauce in the middle.
The yellow of the beans and the red of the meat sauce complement the snow-white color, which is really eye-catching.
"The noodles are ready, the rice cake will be here soon." Master Zhou put down the bowl, said something and went out.
After he walked away, Cheng Yang lowered his voice and asked, "Is this tofu pudding noodles? Isn't this tofu pudding?"
"In the north it's called tofu pudding, and in the south it's called tofu pudding."
Shi Xiaoai explained as she brought the small bowl in front of her.
At the same time, he did not forget to instruct Cheng Yang: "Stir it in the middle first, don't mix the tofu pudding all over. This noodle is only delicious when you eat it with a mouthful of tofu pudding."
Cheng Yang agreed and imitated his wife in mixing the noodles and eating them, but he was surprised in his heart.
He couldn't help but ask, "Did you learn how to eat from Captain Li? Did he explain it in such detail?"
Shi Xiaoai stopped what she was doing.
She had eaten this noodle countless times in her previous life, so why should she learn how to eat it from others?
But this is not a specialty snack in Yuncheng, so it is normal for Cheng Yang to have doubts, but how should she explain it?
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