Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

"What?"

"Tired of it?"

Director Zhao asked in surprise.

The translator relayed Zhang Dabiao's words to Tatsunosuke with a puzzled expression, and then everyone looked at Zhang Dabiao in disbelief.

"Our Nissin Ramen was invented and launched in 1958, and it has been on the market for two years and is currently in the market expansion phase."

"As far as I know, we are the only instant ramen brand in the world right now. You could call it instant noodles... well, you could say that."

"But our Nissin Ramen is not exported to your country, may I ask—"

"Mr. Zhang Dabiao, where did you get this food from?"

Tatsunosuke was puzzled. He had tried every possible method to export Nissin Ramen, but China did not agree.

Zhang Dabiao—Sir, are you tired of eating this?

Where did he buy Nissin Ramen from?

Once the translator spoke, the nature of the matter became somewhat serious. Director Zhao and the others put down their chopsticks and looked at Zhang Dabiao with serious expressions.

"Da Biao, you're so tired of eating instant noodles, where did you get yours?"

Previously, we had obtained permission from the Ministry of Foreign Trade, so we sent samples to Hong Kong through official channels.

If you say instant noodles are available in Hong Kong, they'll believe you.

But if you say that Zhang Dabiao brought instant noodles from Hong Kong and got tired of them—that's a very serious problem; it's a crime of smuggling!

Even more serious offenses would be "disrupting the unified purchase and distribution system and the allocation of materials," "disrupting the economic order," "pursuing a lifestyle of asset hoarding," and "espionage activities."

If the Lou family did these things for him, then the problem is even bigger!

Punishments can range from confiscation of goods, hefty fines, and re-education through labor, to imprisonment or even life imprisonment!

Director Zhao's words nearly scared Zhang Dabiao so much that he slid under the table.

I only ate some instant noodles, why is it being blown out of proportion like this?

Tatsunosuke was also completely bewildered. He hadn't expected that Zhang Dabiao's single sentence would suddenly make everyone in the conference hall so serious, even murderous.

Zhang Dabiao immediately sat up straight and began to explain.

"Gentlemen, I absolutely did not engage in smuggling. Please let me explain this to you."

Director Zhao and others even called over the bodyguards. If Zhang Dabiao didn't have a reasonable explanation, he wouldn't be leaving the house today.

Zhang Dabiao was filled with regret—[Why did you call me here today...]

Why the hell did I have to say anything?

[But the chicken broth ramen was really bland; I really didn't like it.]

He cleared his throat and slowly said, "This instant noodles, whether you call it instant noodles or instant ramen, are essentially just deep-fried noodles that you can eat after rinsing them with boiling water. The ingredients are just a powder packet. Am I right, Mr. Tatsunosuke?"

Tatsunosuke was so surprised he stood up abruptly—"How do you know our Nissin Ramen's core secrets?!"

Zhang Dabiao directly revealed the core secret, which naturally made him nervous.

Zhang Dabiao, however, curled his lip indifferently: "How novel! You're saying this thing was invented by you Japanese?"

"But this has been around in our country for a long time. In our country, it's called Yi Mian or Yi Fu Mian. It's a kind of fried egg noodle dish and one of our traditional noodle dishes."

"It originated... let me think... it should be Ninghua, Fujian. It was created by a chef from Ninghua during the Qing Dynasty, a talented scholar named Yi... something, who served as the prefect of Huizhou. Later, it became popular in Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangsu, and other places. This noodle is made with eggs and flour, and after being cooked and fried, it is easy to store. When eating, it is softened in the soup, with a golden color and a smooth texture. It is often used as a staple food for Hakka people's birthday banquets. Yi Fu Noodles are the ancestor of instant noodles. During his time as an official, Yi Fu Noodles ordered his chef to develop fried egg noodles to make it convenient for entertaining guests. The poet Song Xiang suggested naming it 'Yi Fu Noodles.'"

"Furthermore, in 1914, Tao Tao Ju in Shanghai promoted Yi Mian (a type of noodle) in the Shen Bao newspaper, making it a popular staple food in both the north and south. During the War of Resistance against Japan, scholars from the north at the Southwest Associated University in Kunming often sought out this noodle, further expanding its consumption range. After being improved in various places, varieties such as Sanxian (three delicacies), Jisi (shredded chicken), and Xiaren (shrimp) were derived. When making it, the noodles need to be deep-fried until golden brown and served with broth and condiments such as meat, bamboo shoots, and mushrooms."

Zhang Dabiao majored in digital media in college, and product packaging was one of his professional courses, which required writing a thesis.

Instant noodle packaging is one of the most popular topics for college students to write about. In color composition and digital illustration courses, whenever color is discussed, instant noodle packaging is always mentioned; I remember it very clearly. And then there are logo design, IP character design, corporate identity (VI)... in many visual communication and digital media courses, whenever logos and packaging are involved, instant noodles, brands like Want Want, are always brought up; I know a little bit about them.

"I'm eating Yifu noodles, you can call them instant noodles too. I made them myself, and they're not difficult to make at all."

"What's core technology to you is, to me—"

"I'm sorry, the chicken soup flavor is too bland, I'm really tired of it."

Everyone was stunned when Zhang Dabiao said that.

The instant noodles invented by the Japanese actually originated here?

After hearing the translation, Tatsunosuke immediately launched into a tirade of angry words—which, in other words, meant that Zhang Dabiao was talking nonsense!

It was clearly invented by the Japanese!

Zhang Dabiao chuckled at this moment. Actually, there was something else he didn't say, nor dared to say it—the inventor of Nichishin Ramen, Momofuku Ando, ​​whose real name was Wu Baifu, was of Chinese descent.

But it would be a bit troublesome to say this out loud. How did you, Zhang Dabiao, know this? You could say you know something about Hong Kong, since you have a cooperative relationship with the Lou family, but what about Japan?

This is a bit unreasonable.

Director Zhao squinted and said to his subordinates, "Go and investigate, as Zhang Dabiao said."

Zhang Dabiao simply picked at his ear and blew out his earwax in response to Tatsunosuke's shouting.

Impotent rage: I'm telling you, what can you do if I say it's Yifu noodles?

Whether you argue about whether it was invented by you or by our countrymen is irrelevant to Zhang Dabiao.

The reality is that we don't have production lines and we don't have enough food, so we really can't produce it.

Production was only possible after the introduction of instant noodle production lines in the 70s.

It's truly impossible right now. We lack production lines, food supplies, and can't solve the plastic bag packaging problem. Even if you have the formula, it's useless.

Before long, someone delivered the investigation documents and literature, and it was exactly as Zhang Dabiao had said: Yifu noodles had been available for a long time.

Upon receiving the news, Director Zhao looked at Tatsunosuke, and then fell silent. He knew the origin of the instant noodles; now that the truth was out, there was no point in pretending anymore.

"Perhaps the Yi Fu noodles that Mr. Zhang Dabiao mentioned eating are different from our Nissin chicken ramen?"

While they can't guarantee that they were the first to create instant noodles, Tatsunosuke still wants to show that their chicken broth ramen is unique.

"Or, it's not impossible that Mr. Zhang Dabiao purchased his instant noodles from other sources."

"Isn't it impolite to dismiss our specialty noodles with a simple 'we're tired of them'?"

That's a bit harsh. Does it mean I'm smuggling? And that I have connections with other countries?

This is practically a case of using someone else to do your dirty work.