Soon.
Four big bowls of Noodles with Braised Eggplant and Pork Sauce were served.
On top of the pale noodles, there was a thick layer of rich-smelling braised eggplant.
The eggplant cubes were coated in a thick sauce, glistening with oil.
Mixed in were golden-brown, fried cubes of pork belly—just looking at them made everyone subconsciously swallow their saliva.
"Damn, it smells amazing."
"Yeah, it's like the eggplant casserole we make in Guangdong."
"Eggplant casserole? This is clearly our Northeast-style braised eggplant. The sauce aroma is so intense!"
"Stop talking, hurry up and eat. Once we're done, we can work for a while and finally crash."
Yue Liyue and his crew were college roommates.
Back in school, they all loved gaming and were good at it, so after graduation, they just started a studio to boost people's ranks.
Because they were super efficient,
and worked really well together,
they made names for themselves in several games, and their income shot up.
Too bad their schedules were a mess.
When they landed big orders, they had to work round the clock sometimes.
Like last night, they hustled on a big project all the way till this morning.
And at noon, they already had a new small order to tackle.
Everyone only squeezed in three or four hours of sleep.
Major sleep deprivation.
Just sitting in the shop's chairs made them wanna doze off.
But once the noodles arrived,
the smell of the braised eggplant topping seemed to chase away all their fatigue.
Everyone perked up instantly.
Yue Liyue stopped chit-chatting on social media,
and picked up his chopsticks to stir the noodles.
Then, copying his Northern pals, he scooped a spoonful of chili oil into the bowl.
After mixing it all up,
he couldn't wait any longer and dug in.
The eggplant was soft and delicious.
Every piece was juicy with meat.
One bite,
the aroma spread everywhere.
The scent was part rich pork, part savory sauce—the two mingled, making the flavor even more intense and mouthwatering.
The meat cubes were fried just right.
The lean meat wasn't tough.
The fatty bits weren't greasy.
The pork skin was pleasantly springy.
Taking chunk after chunk was so satisfying.
A bite of meat,
then a chopstick full of noodles covered in golden sauce goes in your mouth.
The noodles were chewy and smooth, now packed with meaty flavor.
One bite and you couldn't stop.
"Wow! Boss, your cooking is next-level!"
"Seriously, it's so delicious! I think I've fallen in love with handmade noodles!"
"Insane, insane, I want another bowl after this!"
"Me too, me too, another bowl please!"
"..."
They were all busy eating when—
Panda and his gang showed up.
Panda was rocking a T-shirt and jeans today, but he still sported some panda swag—the panda embroidery on his leg made it look like a giant panda hugging his leg.
Yue Liyue saw him and quickly called out:
"Hey Panda bro, this Noodles with Braised Eggplant and Pork Sauce is legit. How many bowls could you down?"
Panda modestly patted his belly:
"I'm not a big eater, my appetite's pretty average. I'll just start with two big bowls today, and see after that."
Everyone burst out laughing.
Guess "average" means two big bowls.
If his appetite was above average,
wouldn't he scarf down four or five bowls?
After that, Panda started ordering:
"One big bowl of signature Noodles with Braised Eggplant and Pork Sauce each, and a North Pole soda for everyone."
He whipped out his phone and paid by QR code.
Then wandered off to play on his phone.
Panda Bro: Met Yue Liyue and his crew at #Lin Ji's Food#. Not as handsome as Boss Lin, but pretty good-looking. Just those dark circles are intense.
Genius Girl Loves Food: That's perfect for crossdressing, right?
Saving to Afford a Hair Transplant: Why does every time you speak, you shut down the conversation?
Genius Girl Loves Food: Maybe it's because I get to have noodles at Lin Ji for lunch instead of gross takeout. 🤔🤔🤔
In an office tower at Xierqi,
Li Qiang, who had just ordered a rice takeout, slammed the desk hard.
Just who is this Genius Girl Loves Food?
Why does every sentence have to be so savage?
The other coworkers scrolling social media were all trying not to laugh out loud.
Clearly,
they'd seen that chat too.
Back in the kitchen,
Lin Xu had just finished making noodles for Panda and his gang.
More customers walked in.
"Boss, two big bowls of tomato egg noodles, and four big bowls of the signature Noodles with Braised Eggplant and Pork Sauce."
"I want two big bowls of signature Noodles with Braised Eggplant and Pork Sauce, and a small bowl of tomato egg noodles with extra soup for my daughter. She doesn't eat much, so less noodles okay? Don't want to waste them."
"Haha, so the new topping is braised eggplant! Boss, give me four big bowls!"
"One big bowl of Noodles with Braised Eggplant and Pork Sauce, one small bowl of tomato egg noodles, and a bottle of beer. Nobody's home today, so I'm treating myself."
"..."
Looks like everyone's worried about lunch lines, so they all showed up early.
Some customers had been here several times.
Some were new, checking the place out.
Everyone sat,
waiting for their order.
Soon enough,
Bowl after bowl started coming out of the kitchen.
People chowed down on tasty noodles,
and their moods started to improve.
The beer guy called out to Lin Xu:
"Boss, you gotta serve something with the booze. Right now I can only drink with noodle topping, and honestly, it's a bit weird."
Lin Xu smiled and replied:
"We'll have a proper snack for drinks by the day after tomorrow, I guarantee you'll get your fill!"
The main task for the grand opening was to sell a thousand bowls of handmade noodles before the weekend.
Lin Xu thought that was impossible at first.
But yesterday and the day before, they'd already sold 430 bowls.
Just 570 more to complete the mission.
Then he'd earn a Perfect Level braised snack lottery reward.
With three days left to the weekend,
selling five hundred something bowls of noodles was easier than drinking cold water.
"Really going to put up a snack for drinks?"
"Boss, can you give us a sneak peek? I'll get my booze ready ahead of time."
"Same here, can't wait to know what it is."
Honestly, that's not an easy question to answer.
Because the reward is a braised snack lottery,
so who the heck knows what he'll get.
He chuckled and said,
"If I tell you early, it won't be a mystery. I'll just drop one hint: it's a braised snack. You'll know exactly what when we add it to the menu!"
With that,
Lin Xu headed back to the kitchen to keep busy.
The customers, meanwhile, were all fired up.
Everyone started guessing what kind of snack was coming to the menu.
Even though Lin Xu had hinted at a braised snack, that's way too broad: duck heads, duck necks, chicken gizzards, chicken feet, pig tails, pig head meat, braised beef—all of them could be braised snacks.
There really was no way to guess.
Panda was quick to open up bets under the Lin Ji's Food hashtag.
Panda Bro: #Lin Ji's Food# will launch a new braised snack in the next two days. Everyone gets three guesses—get it right and you win 500 yuan cash! Lin Ji doesn't scam Lin Ji people—Panda Bro always keeps his word!
Saving to Afford a Hair Transplant: If you're not buying us food, you're offering cash, Chang Wei. And you still say you can't fight—uh, wrong reference, you still say you're not just trying to pick up chicks?