Food: Starting with Wonton Noodles

At 2 PM,

Huifeng Yayuan in G City

Rooftop.

"So your mom forced you to go on another blind date today?" Lin Wenhui handed Zhou Yu a bottle of beer.

This afternoon, Zhou Yu tricked his nephew into eating his terrible cooking while everyone was taking a nap, and finally faced a collective scolding from his entire family.

After Zhou Xiaomei tearfully recounted her brother's terrible behavior to her mother and declared that she would not return to her parents' home unless Zhou Yu was dealt with, Zhou's mother issued Zhou Yu an ultimatum:

"If you don't go to work this week, I'll find you a wife to keep you in check. Otherwise, you can forget about staying at home. You're always causing trouble and never do anything productive. You'll break up the family."

"That's how it is." Zhou Yu recounted the events of the day to Lin Wenhui in detail.

Lin Wenhui was his college friend and also a native of G City.

Unlike Zhou Yu, who was a bachelor, Lin Wenhui got married right after graduation and had two sons within three years.

He was the ideal son in Zhou's mother's eyes.

"Then why the hell did you invite me for a drink? With so many ex-girlfriends, why don't you just find one and get married?"

This good son of someone else offered Zhou Yu a cigarette again.

The cigarettes were nine yuan worth of Baisha brand.

Being a good son comes at a price, especially having two sons who are both bankrupt.

Lin Wenhui's average daily expenses are a 5-yuan KFC latte (member price), a 9-yuan pack of Baisha cigarettes, and occasionally a fast food meal outside.

Then, just like today when Zhou Yu invited him to drink, he invited Zhou Yu to drink.

Two old men were drinking together on the rooftop of the house Zhou Yu had bought, lamenting that old men are no better than dogs.

Zhou Yu didn't smoke, but when he was with Lin Wenhui, he didn't mind smoking with him. He even smoked in a rather unruly way.

You should know that non-smokers never inhale the smoke into their lungs, and they smoke each cigarette extremely quickly.

On average, for every cigarette Lin Wenhui smoked, Zhou Yu had already smoked three.

"You know I'm afraid of marriage. I'm here to talk to you about something else." Zhou Yu pretended to exhale a smoke ring.

"Find me a traditional bamboo-pressed noodle shop, one where they still make noodles the old way, by sitting on a bamboo pole."

"What, you've started to like bamboo-pressed noodles now?" Lin Wenhui asked, somewhat puzzled.

Unlike Zhou Yu, Lin Wenhui returned to G City to inherit the family business immediately after graduation.

Lin's father was a Tanka fisherman who started a seafood wholesale business in the city a long time ago, so Lin Wenhui was naturally very familiar with the restaurants in the city.

"No, I'm planning to open a restaurant. I'll try selling wonton noodles at a street stall first. You know, the noodles are very important for making delicious wonton noodles."

Since unlocking the Chef System and gaining experience in making wonton noodles, Zhou Yu still has some plans, even though the system is still very rigid and its specific functions are not readily apparent.

First, you need to verify whether the noodles you make based on your experience are actually delicious.

Secondly, you also need to show your family that the noodles you make are indeed worthy of being sold in a shop.

Otherwise, even if you pay for it yourself, it's pointless if opening a shop means being ostracized by everyone.

"You? You? You can even make bamboo-pressed noodles?" Lin Wenhui looked at Zhou Yu with great disdain.

"Even a dog wouldn't eat what you cooked."

"Brother, times have changed. Don't underestimate a young man's potential," Zhou Yu said proudly.

"The problem is you're a greasy old man," Lin Wenhui said. "The spare ribs you cooked last time, you threw away and fed them to my dog, and it had diarrhea all day."

"So, will you help or not?"

"I won't help."

"If you don't cook pork ribs for me every day, I'll feed them to your dog."

Lin Wenhui snatched the cigarette from Zhou Yu's hand and turned to leave.

That bastard Zhou Yu, he's ruining his own cigarettes and now he wants to ruin his own dog.

"Hey, don't forget!" Zhou Yu shouted. "It has to be a shop with traditional bamboo pole equipment!"

Lin Wenhui didn't turn around, but simply raised his middle finger behind him.

Zhou Yu didn't chase after him, and continued smoking.

After finishing his cigarette, he went downstairs to his own apartment and lay down for a while.

This is a house he was forced to buy by his parents a few years ago, originally intended as his wedding home. But he hasn't gotten married yet, so it's been empty ever since.

It was originally rented out, but unfortunately, the unemployment rate seems to be quite high recently, and no one has rented it since the last tenant moved out.

The bed in the room was just a bed board, so Zhou Yu lay down on the sofa outside the living room.

Zhou Yu didn't have to wait long before Lin Wenhui called.

"Come to Zhongshan Road and try He Ji Bamboo Noodles, but the owner will only lend you an hour to make noodles so as not to affect their evening business."

That's enough.

......

City G is a small, third-tier coastal city in Lingnan.

Zhongshan Road is located in the old city and is a relatively old food street.

When Zhou Yu arrived at Zhongshan Road, Lin Wenhui was already waiting for him at the shop entrance.

He Ji Bamboo Noodles is a small shop, only about 60 square meters, with just over ten tables inside.

It was three o'clock in the afternoon, and the people in the shop were taking their lunch break.

Lin Wenhui led Zhou Yu into the kitchen.

"Uncle He, this is my friend. He came over to borrow some tools to make bamboo-pressed noodles."

In the kitchen, a middle-aged bald man with a beer belly looked at Zhou Yu with suspicion.

He pulled Lin Wenhui aside and said, "Wenhui, your friend doesn't seem like someone who can make bamboo-pressed noodles."

Lin Wenhui was also very guilty, but since he had promised Zhou Yu, he didn't want to break his promise: "Uncle He, please help me out. It definitely won't affect your business."

"Fine, for your dad's sake, but don't break my things."

The middle-aged man shook his head and walked out of the kitchen.

Lin Wenhui, not entirely trusting, went to the door to smoke.

Zhou Yu poured all the flour he had bought onto the cutting board, then made a well in the center with his hands. He then cracked open the duck eggs, poured them in one by one, and then scrambled the eggs. While scrambling, he poured in alkaline water and mixed it with the dough.

Having never made noodles before, he found himself feeling like a seasoned master chef with decades of experience in the art of pastry making, kneading with just the right amount of force.

The dough also changed into various shapes in his hands.

After kneading for about thirty minutes, Zhou Yu pressed the dough into a square piece.

He took a bamboo pole from the side, threaded it through the rattan ring on the table, straddled the bamboo pole, and began to use his own weight to press down on the dough with the bamboo pole.

The dough was continuously pressed thinner, and Zhou Yu sprinkled flour on it as he pressed the dough, pressing and folding it repeatedly.

At this moment, Lin Wenhui, who had heard the noise, also came in.

He stared at Zhou Yu in shock: "No, you really know how!"

Zhou Yu straddled the bamboo pole and kept jumping around, laughing, "I told you, I really can do it. Now you can't say that all I can do is make terrible food, right?"

Lin Wenhui nodded: "Your food looks pretty good now, but I still won't eat it."

Zhou Yu ignored him. After pressing the dough, he first cut half of the pressed dough into strips and rolled them into dough balls of one ounce each. He then cut the rest into square dumpling wrappers.