NOVEL NEXT Chapter 30
Chapter 30 – 【Mutton Noodle Stall】
Chapter 30 [Mutton Noodle Stall]
“Have a bowl of mutton noodles.”
“Alright~!”
Hearing Fang Chang’s request, the stall owner happily responded, and his hands moved even more nimbly, kneading the dough, pulling the dough, and throwing it into the boiling cauldron. Flying flakes.
The stall owner said while doing it:
“Guest, you are so lucky, there will be no mutton noodles when you come later.”
Fang Chang also had nothing to do, he took off the gourd, took a sip of wine, and asked the stall owner, “How long has the old man been here?”
“It’s been more than 30 years.” The stall owner was lost in memory, but his hands didn’t stop. “This stall was actually set up by my father. At that time, I followed him and helped all the time.”
“In a few years, my father passed away, and I took over the stall by myself, making a living by making noodles for the customers who came from south to north every day. Alas, time flies so fast. In a blink of an eye, I also At the age of the father, the children have grown up.”
Hearing the stall owner’s exclamation, Fang Chang smiled and said: “It turns out that it is an old craft for decades, no wonder the business is booming.”
“That’s not true. I have a lot of repeat customers here, and some have come here for ten years. Many people who often take this official road, every time they pass by the town, they always buy a bowl of noodles from me.”
“My noodles are soft, tender, smooth, and fragrant. They are extremely smooth when eaten, warm and full. They are most suitable for those who have been working hard all day.”
Looking at the noodle eaters around, Guodu was full of travel and dust, eating one by one, fast and loud, each with a satisfied look on their faces.
The stall owner looked at the thin noodles rolling in the pot, and continued to laugh:
“However, I just said that you are lucky, guest officer, and it’s not a lie. I sell very good mutton noodles here, but I never dare to do more. A small business can’t stand the storm.”
“Meat is expensive. If you cook too much, one day the road is bad and there are fewer visitors, the taste will change the next day, so if you come later, guest officer, the mutton noodles will be gone, but the tofu noodles and sesame sauce noodles are good. How many.”
While talking, the stall owner scooped up the noodles with a large strainer, poured them smoothly into a large coarse porcelain bowl, and took out a few large slices of juicy, fat and thin mutton from the bucket next to him, covered the noodles, sprinkled some chopped green onions on top Two drops of sesame oil, and then a spoonful of noodle soup.
Then, he yelled like a shop waiter:
“Your face is here!”
“Thank you.”
Fang Chang took the noodles, and heard the stall owner continue: “There are seasonings and side dishes on the table, you can add according to your own taste.”
There are soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, chives, flower salt, chili and coriander on the table, which are placed in clay bottles and small wooden boxes for diners to take at will.
Fang Chang didn’t add anything, took out two bamboo chopsticks from the bamboo tube, and started tasting directly.
“It’s really delicious!” He took a few bites, and the noodles were as soft and smooth as the stall owner said. After entering his mouth, he couldn’t help but go down his throat, with endless aftertaste.
Hearing customers praise his work, the stall owner is a little proud:
“Everyone who eats my noodles will say that. In the past few decades, I have improved the noodles more than a dozen times. Maybe in a few years, I will make the noodles more delicious.”
“Everyone in this Huqiao town, from old to young, knows that I, Lao Xu, are good at making noodles. My reputation here is not much worse than Fuhu cake.”
Fang Chang ate his noodles and said with a smile: “Speaking of Huqiao Town, does the shopkeeper know what happened to Pang Yuanwai’s family?”
“Have a bowl of mutton noodles.” A customer came over and said to the stall owner, then turned around and sat down at Fang Chang’s table.
“Alright~!”
The stall owner responded quickly, and then continued to work on the dough.
While tearing the noodles, he turned his head and smiled at Fang Chang who was sitting at the table eating noodles: “I dare not call the shopkeeper, I don’t have a counter here, only an old noodle stall – everyone knows about the strange thing about Pang Yuanwai’s house.” , but don’t dare to say too much, it will be a disaster if it spreads to the ears of outsiders, and my big family will continue to live in this Huqiao Town.”
“Well, that’s right.”
Hearing that Fang Chang continued to eat the noodles, the noodles were very good, and he had already eaten more than half a bowl in just a short while.
The new customer next to him was waiting for his mutton noodles. He heard what Fang Chang had just said to the stall owner, and looked at Fang Chang.
Seeing that this person was wearing worn-out clothes and sitting on a street stall sucking dough, but he couldn’t hide his dusty temperament, so he felt good about him, bowed his hands in salute, and asked:
“This friend invited me, but I don’t know your name? Where did you come from?”
Fang Chang raised his head and looked at the other party. He was a dusty pedestrian, just like most of the diners at this noodle stall.
A shoulder pole was leaning against the table. Years of hard work had left thick calluses on his hands, and the daily exposure to the wind and cold had caused wrinkles to appear on the other party’s face, with a few gray strands interspersed between his beard.
Swallowing the dough in his mouth, he responded: “Your surname is Fang, it’s just a scattered person in the world.”
The person on the other side also introduced himself: “Xie Guang’an in Huaifeng Mansion, known as Huaifeng Lao Xie, I have heard about the strange things in Pang Yuanwai’s family, but I don’t know why Mr. Fang asked about it?”
“Just curious.”
Nodding his head, Xie Guangan smiled and said, “That’s good, don’t go into this matter too much. In my opinion, it’s just the retribution suffered by Pang Yuanwai.”
“Retribution?” Fang Chang picked up the dough, a little surprised.
“Well, I’m not a local, and I don’t have to be afraid of Pang Yuanwai’s influence like the people in Huqiao Town. I heard from my friends that this Pang Yuanwai has always acted brutally and cruelly. Recently, he even murdered a family.”
Hearing Xie Guangan’s words, Fang Chang stopped the bamboo chopsticks in his hand: “Damned a family? Why.”
“It is said that this family has two very good fields. Pang Yuanwai wanted to bid for them, and the family decided not to sell them for their livelihood. Then somehow, the owner of the family was arrested by the town guards, and the family broke up. Those two good fields naturally fell into Pang Yuanwai’s hands.”
“Does the government not care? The family didn’t sue?”
“Behind the guards, I heard that they are officials in the county government. This Huqiao town is easy to go to Long’an Mansion in Huaifeng Prefecture, but it is inconvenient to go to the government office of Ninghe Prefecture that governs this place.”
“And what’s the matter when we get there, it’s not the official reception, this is not the first time this kind of thing happened, there were people who were assassinated before, and some people were disabled, and in the end, they didn’t end up with nothing, oh…”
It’s a very clichéd story, but for the parties involved, it is not stingy with disaster.
Xie Guangan stirred the noodles in the bowl, and continued:
“But almost at the same time, strange things happened frequently in Pang Yuan’s house. Sometimes the items in the house disappeared and appeared in strange places. Sometimes the servants in the house were suddenly knocked down and appeared in the gutter on the roof. inside.”
“Because of this, this huge staff was unbearably disturbed and spent a lot of money to seek expert relief in the state capital. But after the experts came, they all said that this matter was difficult to solve. Gein didn’t even know the specific situation, so he could only do it simply. One method left after the incident, and the strange incidents have continued since then, and everyone privately said it was retribution.”
(end of this chapter)