Chapter 239 (1/2)

Chapter 239: The Reward of Royal Jelly

“Just take it as filling the stomach. It doesn’t look bad,” the aged man stirred the noodles with the chopsticks and said indifferently. Anyway, they were all noodles and didn’t have much difference from others; therefore, the noodles eaten by them currently wasn’t supposed to be too bad.

“Ok, I’m gonna eat it, grandpa.” The little boy started to eat after saying that.

China had been a society of agricultural civilization and people laid much emphasis on cooked wheaten food. Moreover, noodles were one of the featured foods in China as there were always different noodles in different regions. For example, the noodles with thick gravy and noodles with ten side dishes in Shandong Region; the noodles with preserved vegetables and noodles with fried eel slices & shrimps in the Suhang Region.

The noodles were also popular in the aged man’s village where every family stocked up on flour. When Yuan Zhou first came to the village, he was fed with the noodles. Therefore, the grandpa and grandson were surprised once they swallowed the noodles cooked by Yuan Zhou.

“Grandpa, the noodles are so delicious,” said the little boy excitedly with a flushed face. After that, he began to eat the noodles quickly without stop following the sound of “Slurp Slurp”.

On the other hand, the aged man felt the difference to be even more conspicuous. Having eaten various noodles in his lifetime, he could well distinguish between good and bad. Unlike ordinary noodles that were directly swallowed into the stomach, the noodles cooked by Yuan Zhou needed to be carefully savored for its chewiness.

There was much broth in the bowl and it totally covered the noodles inside. This was just the way to eat noodles in Yangzhou region. Such a way of seeing only the broth but no noodles could be the best way to arouse people’s appetite.

The more they ate the noodles, the tastier they felt the noodles were. The texture became slightly different as the time progressed, but they didn’t feel any sense of softness at all. Instead, what filled their mouth was the rigid and smooth texture.

As for Mr. Ma, he wasn’t that easy-going at all. Even if the dish was very delicious, he wouldn’t say any good words, let alone that Yuan Zhou had demands for him.

“The culinary skills are truly not bad. The taste of the noodles, however, can’t match with this craftsmanship.” With only a few words, Mr. Ma cooled down Yuan Zhou’s eager desire of asking for his help.

Compared with the aged man, Yuan Zhou felt his character was undoubtedly pretty good and so was his temperament. Meanwhile, he also understood why Mr. Ma wasn’t liked by the villagers here. He really spoke in a special way that made people feel awkward.

“So would you like to cook that dish now?” without any expression, Yuan Zhou took a deep breath and then said calmly.

“Why would I do that? Just because of the imperfect noodle soup?” Mr. Ma revealed an expression of discontent.

“The food ingredients were unable to meet the requirements. However, my craftsmanship could completely make up for the disadvantage,” said Yuan Zhou confidently.

“What do you come here for?” Mr. Ma shifted the subject straightforwardly.

“What do you think I’m here for?” Yuan Zhou likewise didn’t answer him directly.

“Only two things are worth being remembered here. This old man and the royal jelly.” Mr. Ma was awfully confident.

“That’s right. Do you like to cook the dish personally?” Yuan Zhou was fairly courteous.

A person that had god-tier craftsmanship deserved people’s respect while an old man with god-tier craftsmanship was worthy of respect and careful treatment.

“I won’t cook,” Mr. Ma also answered firmly this time.

Then Yuan Zhou had only to take the empty bowl back to the host family. Despite the refusal, Yuan Zhou still sent to him another bowl of noodles in the evening. Of course, such petty favors weren’t that attractive to persuade Mr. Ma.

Another reason that made Yuan Zhou cook the noodles again in the evening was the request of the little boy.

“Uncle, can you cook the noodles again in the evening? I ate too fast at noon and didn’t leave any for my parents.” When the little boy found Yuan Zhou, he appeared pretty embarrassed. The little flushed face made the red spots appear more obvious.

“Humm,” Yuan Zhou answered without giving him any positive or negative answer.

“Mum told me good things should be shared. Thank you, elder brother.” The little boy was very smart. He directly called him elder brother when he found Yuan Zhou didn’t agree to his request.