Starting from 1950

Over the loudspeaker, Wu Xinxue, her voice trembling with excitement and disbelief, relayed the news that 106727 jin of fried noodles had been produced ahead of schedule and exceeded the target, to every corner of the Limin Flour Factory.

The factory area was silent for a moment, then erupted into thunderous cheers!

Exhausted workers shook hands and hugged each other, many with red eyes, tears mingling with the flour on their faces as they streamed down.

At 10 p.m., 6727 catties of fried noodles from Limin Noodle Factory were loaded onto the train on time.

The loading location was a steel rolling mill a few miles away from the Limin Flour Factory.

The fried noodles filled just one train car.

Factory leaders, including Zhou Zheng and Zhang Zhenguo, stood beside the train with an officer.

Su Yang also came over; his task was to check if any rats had gotten into the carriage.

The officer gave Zhou Zheng a solemn military salute: "Director Zhou, and all the staff of Limin Flour Factory, thank you for your hard work! On behalf of the soldiers on the front lines, I thank you! We will definitely deliver this 100,000... no, 106,000 jin of life-saving grain safely!"

More than 100,000 jin of fried noodles is neither a lot nor a little; it's only enough to feed 10,000 soldiers for a week.

However, the bridge over the river has been blown up by the enemy, and the logistics supply line has been targeted by the enemy. Sending proper food supplies such as vegetables and meat there would be too much of a target.

The fried noodles were small and easy to carry, so the logistics team carried them by hand, with each person carrying an average of 30 to 40 kilograms, which was enough to supply a platoon for a day.

Zhou Zheng straightened his back, returned a standard military salute, and said in a loud and firm voice, "Please tell our comrades at the front that their home is in the rear! They have food at home! Let them fight the enemy with peace of mind and defend their country!"

Su Yang had already inspected all of the dozen or so carriages and killed more than 20 rats.

This train was carrying nothing but fried noodles, and its destination was Andong. The fried noodles on board were the result of two days of hard work by various units throughout Shenzhou.

He jumped off the train, walked to the crowd on the platform, and announced loudly, "Report! All the rats in the train carriages have been eradicated!"

Zhou Zheng nodded.

The officer gave Su Yang a strange look; he had seen how Su Yang had dealt with the rats in the carriage before.

This kid can pinpoint exactly which corner is hiding a mouse just by walking around the carriage once.

This is amazing!

Could he be a cat spirit reincarnated?

"Notify the locomotive to prepare to depart!" the officer ordered.

"Clang clang clang!"

"Ugh!"

The train began to move slowly.

"Salute—!" With Zhang Zhenguo's powerful command, all the cadres, security officers, and workers who could free their hands on both sides of the railway track raised their right hands in unison to salute the convoy that was about to head to the front line.

......

"Su Yang, get up right now!"

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Wu Xinxue came to call Su Yang.

"Let me sleep a little longer."

Su Yang covered his head with the blanket and made muffled sounds.

"If you don't get up, I'll pull off your blanket?" Wu Xinxue said with a grin.

Su Yang reached both hands out from under the covers and gripped the blankets tightly.

"You're not allowed to touch my blanket, I... I'm completely naked right now."

Wu Xinxue's eyes darted around, her face flushed, and she said, "Then I'll give you a kiss, okay? Get up, alright?"

"No! I'll get up now!"

Su Yang sat up abruptly, casually lifting the blanket to reveal that he wasn't naked, but rather wearing thermal underwear.

"You're such a jerk!" Wu Xinxue rolled her eyes at him and said irritably, "Get up and wash up quickly. We finally have a day off today. I talked to Aunt Mei yesterday, and we're going to the market together to buy some things."

Su Yang dressed unhurriedly. "You guys can buy things, why are you calling me? I have important business to attend to today."

After the fried noodles were loaded onto the truck last night, Zhou Zheng gave everyone a day off, since all the employees of Limin Noodle Factory had been working non-stop for more than 48 hours.

The main reason is that these 100,000 jin of fried noodles have emptied the entire flour mill's inventory. Currently, the supply of raw grain in Shenzhou and even the Northeast region is tight, and it will take time for new grain to be transported in.

Perhaps we should let everyone rest so they can better prepare for the battles to come.

"What important thing do you have to do? Why don't you come with me and Aunt Mei and help us carry some things?" Wu Xinxue asked, puzzled.

"No! You two can go, you can take the bicycle!"

Su Yang quickly shook his head. It wasn't that he hadn't accompanied Wu Xinxue shopping before; that experience was more tiring than working the night shift catching rats.

"I've been thinking about it for the past few days and I'm planning to try and see if I can improve the stir-fry noodle recipe."

"Alright then, this is indeed the important matter."

Wu Xinxue reluctantly nodded in agreement.

A few months ago, she would have been skeptical that Su Yang could improve the fried noodle recipe.

But recently, for some reason, Su Yang's cooking skills have improved dramatically, and his cooking is even better than what she, who learned from a chef in the Eight Great Hutongs, can make.

......

After Wu Xinxue left, Su Yang strolled around the family compound.

The entire residential compound was unusually quiet; it was clear that most people were sleeping in.

Since the start of the war, the flour mill has been operating night shifts and expanding its workshops. Almost all family members, except for the elderly, weak, sick and disabled, have been recruited to work at the flour mill.

In the past two days, in order to meet the 100,000-jin (50,000 kg) quota, each household has been forced to take on the task of making fried noodles, and even the children are no exception. Everyone is exhausted, and many people probably won't get up until noon.

"Coo coo coo~!"

Su Yang inspected each chicken coop, building by building.

The flour factory's residential compound has 10 buildings housing over 170 households. Previously, at least 100 households raised one or two chickens, but now only a dozen or so remain.

Logically speaking, people were starving in those days, so how could every household raise chickens?

This all started with the rats.

Previously, the flour mill was infested with rats, and a lot of grain was contaminated with rat urine and feces every day. So many workers raised chickens and bought the contaminated grain from the factory at a very low price to feed the chickens.

Unfortunately, after Su Yang arrived, 99% of the rats were wiped out!

With the loss of cheap food sources, the chickens in each household became fewer.

Nowadays, Su Yang can only catch a dozen or so rats a day. Originally, these rats were supposed to be buried, but later someone tried feeding the chickens with rat meat, so the family compound kept some chickens. They mainly eat rat meat, and the children from each family go out to the wild to collect some weeds and insects, which is enough to make ends meet.

"Hey! Little rascal! Trying to steal a chicken, huh?"

Su Yang arrived at Building 10 and was peering over a chicken coop when he heard a teasing voice.

"Brother Yu, why don't you sleep a little longer?"

A man wearing a coat came out of room 106; it was Yu Feng.

He waved his hand and laughed, "I wake up at this time every day; I can't fall back asleep. But what are you doing at my chicken coop so early in the morning?"

Su Yang stroked his chin, staring at the two old hens and an egg in the cage, and said, "I'm thinking about whether I can make the fried noodles more nutritious."

"Great idea, I support you!" Yu Feng gave a thumbs up and said with a casual smile.

He didn't take Su Yang's words seriously. The recipe for fried noodles was issued by his superiors, and all units had to prepare it according to the unified standard. How could Su Yang, a mere teenager, possibly change it?

However, having known Su Yang for almost a year, he understands the kid very well.

This kid is unusually lazy, but he likes to delve into things when he needs to.

And you know what? Both the rat-catching and the 100,000-jin task required his dedication and hard work.

"Then you can take your time to figure it out. I'll go back and add more ingredients to the pot."

Yu Feng waved to Su Yang, yawned, and went home.