And afterward, they were very happy.

Eating something delicious is always a joyous occasion, even if they hadn’t been fond of noodles before.

Slowly, they finished their bowls of noodles and drank most of the broth.

At that moment, both of them were glad they hadn’t chosen to skip the meal.

Otherwise, they might never have known that noodles could be so delicious.

"Boss, are Yangchun Noodles naturally this delicious? Or is it because of the way you make them?" Xia Xiaoyue asked.

Her question was the same as the one the first customer, Wei Yun, had asked.

This was also their first time eating Yangchun Noodles.

Li You gave the same reply: "It’s a bit of both."

Xia Xiaoyue nodded. Then she scanned the code and paid.

The two small bowls came to 18 yuan.

With another two bowls sold, he was only thirty-six bowls away from completing his quest.

Afterward, Li You asked, "Are you two art students?"

Xia Xiaoyue nodded. "We’re students at the Xingshui Academy of Fine Arts. The scenery here is beautiful, so we came to sketch. It’s for an assignment."

Li You said, "I hope you have no trouble finishing your assignment today."

Xia Xiaoyue and Yu Wei both said, "Thank you."

Then they took their leave, grabbed their equipment, and went back to their painting.

Li You washed the bowls and then started eating his own meal.

After eating, he continued weaving the fish trap.

Once it was finished, he would take it to the gorge and find a spot to set it.

An hour later, the job was done.

It wasn’t much to look at, but it would work just fine.

Time to set the fish trap.

It’s best to put some bait in the fish trap as a lure.

There were many options for bait. Chicken intestines, earthworms, river snails, and so on would all work.

Li You decided to dig up some earthworms.

After digging up the worms, he carried the fish trap toward the gorge.

When he reached the bank at the gorge entrance, he saw the two art students in the distance.

They were painting at their easels.

’I wonder how their paintings are coming along?’

So he walked over.

As he got closer, both of them saw him.

They also saw the fish trap in his hand.

Xia Xiaoyue said, "Boss, you finished your fish trap! Are you going to set it now?"

Li You smiled. "That’s right! I’ll set it now, and by tomorrow, I’ll have fish to eat."

Xia Xiaoyue smiled faintly and added, "Running a shop out here, far from the city, might not bring in a lot of business. But your life seems incredibly pleasant."

Li You laughed. "That’s very true. Am I disturbing you two?"

Xia Xiaoyue said, "Not at all. You’re not disturbing us."

"That’s good," Li You said.

By now, Li You was standing beside them.

When he saw the paintings on their easels, his eyes lit up.

They were fantastic! So beautiful!

He said with admiration, "You two paint really well!"

"Thank you, Boss!" they both said in unison.

Li You watched for a little while longer before taking his leave.

He then went to a shallow spot in the gorge.

’I’ll set the fish trap right here.’

Li You quickly chose a spot.

It was a narrow gap where the current flowed rather swiftly, making it perfect for a fish trap.

However, the gap was a bit too wide. He needed to use rocks to narrow it.

Just enough so the fish trap would fit snugly.

There were rocks everywhere.

Soon, he had blocked it off enough. He lowered the fish trap into the water.

He then weighed it down with two large rocks to keep it from being swept away by the current.

The bait was already inside the trap.

All that was left was to wait for tomorrow’s harvest.

...

「4:00 PM」

Xia Xiaoyue and Yu Wei finished their artwork.

They packed up their tools, ready to head back to school.

They made a point to stop by the entrance of Li You’s restaurant to say goodbye. "Boss, we’re leaving now. Heading back to school."

Li You nodded. "Drive safe."

"Okay, thank you, Boss."

Watching their little car slowly pull out of the parking lot, Li You felt that it had been another fulfilling day.

’There probably won’t be any more business today.’

That’s what Li You thought.

But not long after, a small pickup truck slowly drove into the parking lot.

The truck looked a little familiar, like it belonged to his first customer, Wei Ping.

The door opened, and the person who got out was indeed Wei Ping.

As soon as Wei Ping got out of the truck, he strode quickly toward the restaurant.

Before he even got close, he laughed and called out, "Boss, I’m back!"

Li You was delighted.

Wei Ping was his first customer. Now, he was also his first repeat customer.

After Wei Ping drew near, Li You smiled. "Master Wei, welcome, welcome!"

Wei Ping said, "Boss, you have no idea. Ever since I ate your Yangchun Noodles, no other noodles taste good to me anymore.

I’ve been hoping for a delivery in this direction every day just so I could come back and have your noodles again.

I finally got one this afternoon. A delivery to Longshan Village in your Wenxian Town, which passes through the town center.

After I finished the delivery, I headed straight for Wenxian Town’s main street and made a detour to come here.

Quick, quick, one large and one small bowl of Yangchun Noodles."

Li You smiled again. "Have a seat. They’ll be ready in a moment."

With that, he went into the kitchen.

He quickly prepared one large and one small bowl of Yangchun Noodles.

He served them to Wei Ping.

Wei Ping sighed in admiration. "Boss, your Yangchun Noodles are on another level, whether you’re looking at them or smelling them."

Then he took a sip of the broth.

This was the flavor. A flavor that was impossible to forget.

Just a single sip of the broth was enough to make Wei Ping feel completely satisfied.

A bite of the noodles made him even more so.

After a few bites, Wei Ping said to Li You, "Boss, there’s a noodle shop in the county seat that also specializes in Yangchun Noodles. Their business is pretty good. I went there yesterday. To be honest, their noodles are leagues behind yours. If you opened a shop in the county seat, you’d drive them out of business in a heartbeat."

Li You smiled. "The county seat is nice, I’m sure, but I still prefer it here."

Wei Ping shook his head, looking completely helpless.

He continued eating his noodles.

After a few more bites, he added, "I told that boss. I told him his Yangchun Noodles were nowhere near as good as yours. But he didn’t seem to believe me. He thought I was just bragging. Of course, I can understand why he wouldn’t believe it. Your noodles are so good, it’s hard to believe until you’ve tasted them yourself."

"Which shop is it?" Li You asked, a little curious.

Wei Ping said, "It’s called ’Noodle Flavor House.’ It’s on Five Museums Pedestrian Street. The location is excellent."

Li You nodded.

Wei Ping went back to his noodles. He quickly polished off the large bowl and then moved on to the small one.

After finishing the small bowl as well, he was completely full and utterly satisfied.

"That was so satisfying! Next time, I’ll bring my parents, my wife, and my kid here to try this. I want them to experience what noodles this good taste like," Wei Ping said.

"Of course!" Li You said. "They’re more than welcome. I’ll give you a twenty-percent discount when you do."

Wei Ping laughed. "Thanks a lot, Boss!"

"You’re too kind, Master Wei."

Wei Ping sat for a little while longer, then paid and took his leave.

Another two bowls sold. Only thirty-four more to go to complete the quest.

It had been a very fulfilling day.

Li You was very content.

As evening fell, Li You started preparing his own dinner.

Besides eggplant, the ingredients in his Storage Pavilion also included napa cabbage.

’I guess I’ll make some sweet and sour napa cabbage.’

After some work in the kitchen, a plate of sweet and sour napa cabbage was ready.

He took a bite. It was decent.

It wasn’t amazing, but it wasn’t bad either.

Night gradually deepened.

...