Soon, four big bowls of Tomato Cubes Noodles were brought over.
The stark white noodles were topped with a thick layer of richly fragrant diced tomato.
These diced tomatoes were enveloped in a thick, glistening sauce.
Mixed in were bits of crisply fried diced pork belly that made one unconsciously start salivating at the sight.
"Damn, this smells so good!"
"Yeah, it's like the eggplant pots we make in Guangdong."
"What eggplant pot? This is clearly our Northeastern stewed eggplant; the sauce aroma is so rich."
"Stop talking and let's eat! We can sleep after we finish up and get back to work for a bit."
Yue Liyue and his friends were college roommates.
During college, they all loved playing games and were skilled at them, so after graduating, they simply set up a studio to offer game boosting services.
Because they were efficient and coordinated well, they made a name for themselves in several games, and their income skyrocketed.
Unfortunately, their schedules were irregular. When they received large orders, they even needed to work around the clock.
For instance, the previous night, they had been busy with a large order until that morning.
And that afternoon, they had to start working on another small order.
Everyone had only slept for three or four hours and was severely sleep-deprived.
Sitting in the restaurant's chairs, they all felt like dozing off.
But when the noodles were served, the aroma of the Tomato Cubes Noodles topping seemed to chase away all sleepiness.
Everyone perked up.
Yue Liyue stopped chatting with his friends on social media.
Instead, he picked up his chopsticks and stirred the noodles.
Then, following the example of his Northern classmates, he added a spoonful of Chili Oil to his bowl.
After mixing it well, he couldn't wait to dig in.
The diced tomato was fragrant, soft, and delicious.
Each piece was enriched with meat juices.
Taking a bite, the aroma overflowed.
The fragrance contained both the intense aroma of pork and a pleasant savory scent from the sauce. The two melded together, making the aroma richer and the taste more delicious.
The diced pork was perfectly fried.
The lean meat wasn't dry, and the fatty meat wasn't greasy.
The pork skin even had a springy, toothsome texture.
Eating it piece by piece was incredibly satisfying.
He took a bite of meat, then picked up a chopstick-full of noodles coated in the golden sauce and slurped them down.
The firm and smooth noodles were enhanced by the rich meat fragrance.
It was so good he couldn't stop eating.
"Wow! Boss, your cooking is amazing!"
"Exactly, it's so delicious! I think I've fallen in love with hand-rolled noodles!"
"Absolutely fantastic! I'm going to have another bowl later."
"Me too, me too! Another bowl!"
"..."
「As everyone was enjoying their meal」
Panda and his buddies arrived.
Today, Panda had switched to a T-shirt and jeans, but he still had panda-themed elements on him, especially the panda embroidery on his pant leg, which looked just like a real giant panda clinging to his leg.
Yue Liyue saw him and quickly greeted him, "Hey, Panda bro, these Tomato Cubes Noodles taste so authentic! How many bowls can you eat?"
Panda modestly patted his stomach. "I'm not a competitive eater; my appetite is quite ordinary. I'll just start with two big bowls today and see how it goes."
Everyone burst into laughter upon hearing this.
An ordinary appetite can handle two big bowls? If he had a good appetite, wouldn't he eat four or five bowls?
After speaking, Panda began to order, "We'll each have a large bowl of the signature Tomato Cubes Noodles and a bottle of North Pole."
Having said that, he took out his phone and scanned a QR code to pay for the meal.
Then, he moved aside and started playing on his phone.
Panda Brother: At #Lin Ji's Food#, saw Yue Liyue and his bros. Although not as handsome as Boss Lin, they looked pretty sharp, just with somewhat heavy dark circles.
Genius Girl Loves Food: Isn't that just perfect for cross-dressing?
Trying Hard to Save Money for Hair Transplant: Why is it that every time you speak, no one knows how to respond?
Genius Girl Loves Food: Maybe it's because I get to go have noodles at Lin Ji's for lunch instead of eating lousy takeout.
「Inside a building in Xierqi」
Li Qiang, who had just ordered takeout rice, slammed his fist on the table.
Who on earth is this Genius Girl Loves Food? Why is she always so infuriatingly smug?
Several other employees in the company, also goofing off on social media, secretly covered their mouths and snickered.
Clearly, they had also seen the conversation.
「In the kitchen」
Lin Xu had just finished preparing the noodles for Panda and his friends when more new customers walked in.
"Boss, two large bowls of Tomato Egg Noodles and four large bowls of the signature Tomato Cubes Noodles."
"I want two large bowls of the signature Tomato Cubes Noodles, and a small bowl of Tomato Egg Noodles with extra soup for my daughter. She doesn't eat much, so just go easy on the noodles to avoid waste."
"Haha, the new topping is Tomato Cubes Noodles, as expected! Boss, give me four large bowls!"
"A large bowl of Tomato Cubes Noodles, a small bowl of Tomato Egg Noodles, and a bottle of beer for me. Nobody's home today, so I'm going to properly enjoy this deliciousness."
"..."
Everyone seemed worried about the noon queue, so they had all arrived early.
Among these customers were regulars who had visited several times before, as well as newcomers checking the place out.
Everyone sat at their tables, waiting for their ordered noodles.
Before long, bowl after bowl of noodles was brought out from the kitchen.
As the customers ate the delicious noodles, their moods also lifted.
The customer drinking beer said to Lin Xu, "Boss, you should add some bar snacks here. Right now, I can only have a couple of drinks with the noodle toppings, and it just isn't the same."
Lin Xu smiled and said, "At the latest, by the day after tomorrow, the shop will introduce a bar snack. I guarantee it'll make your drinks even more enjoyable!"
The main mission triggered on the opening day was to sell one thousand bowls of hand-rolled noodles by the weekend.
Back then, Lin Xu had thought it was absolutely impossible.
But he had already sold 430 bowls of noodles over the previous two days.
Selling another 570 bowls would complete the task and reward him with a Perfect Level Braised Snack raffle prize.
With three days left until the weekend, selling over five hundred bowls of hand-rolled noodles seemed easier than drinking water.
"Are you really adding bar snacks?"
"Boss, can you reveal what kind of bar snack it is? I'll get the drinks ready ahead of time."
"Me too, I really want to know what the bar snack is."
To be honest, this question was difficult to answer.
Because the reward for the task was a raffle for braised snacks, God knew what he might draw.
He laughed and said, "Announcing it beforehand would spoil the mystery. I'll just give you a hint—it's a braised snack. As for what exactly it is, you'll all know once it's introduced."
Having said that, Lin Xu returned to the kitchen to continue his work.
Meanwhile, the customers started buzzing with excitement, guessing what the new bar snack would be.
Even though Lin Xu had hinted it was a braised snack, the category was too broad. Duck heads, duck necks, chicken gizzards, Chicken Feet, pig tails, pig head meat, braised beef, and so on—all were braised snacks.
It was simply impossible to guess.
Panda immediately started a betting pool under the Lin Ji's Food topic.
Panda Brother: #Lin Ji's Food# will introduce a new braised snack the day after tomorrow or the day after that. Everyone can take a guess! Three chances per person, and a cash prize of five hundred yuan if you guess right. Lin Ji regulars don't rip off other Lin Ji regulars! I, Panda Bro, keep my word!
Trying Hard to Save Money for Hair Transplant: First offering to treat, now giving away money... Chang Wei, you still say you don't know martial arts... Pfft, wrong script! I mean, you still say you're not just trying to pick up girls?