"Our team is officially formed as of today. Stick with me and work hard, and if business is good, I’ll make sure you’re well taken care of."
"Got it, Brother Jiang."
Lin Jiang nodded. ’The pie I’m baking in the sky must taste pretty good.’
’If I can fool them, then tricking college students should be a piece of cake, right?’
"First, take care of whatever you have going on, then come back to work," Lin Jiang said to Yang Tao.
"Bro, this is the only job I’ve got today. What do you think I mean when I say the pay is low and unstable?"
"Alright then. Pack up your tools and follow me to the back kitchen."
"You got it."
With Zhang Guofu gone, the job of cooking noodles fell to Lin Jiang.
But this was a case of perfect timing.
Yang Tao had arrived, so the task now fell to him.
I have to say, Yang Tao’s fundamentals were really solid.
His technique for kneading dough was very professional. Even after working a job installing security cameras, he hadn’t lost his touch and quickly got back into the swing of things.
The noodles he cooked were perfectly al dente with an excellent texture. A skill like that was worth 4,000 yuan a month alone.
And since he already had a solid foundation, if Lin Jiang taught him how to prepare the broth, he’d probably be able to handle things on his own very soon.
But Lin Jiang also noticed something else—his own skills at kneading dough and preparing broth seemed to have improved a tiny bit as well.
’Could this be the benefit of my increased comprehension?’
The busy rush continued until, before they knew it, it was past two in the afternoon, and the number of customers in the shop had thinned out.
Yang Tao had also completely gotten the hang of it. He could do his job well with almost no supervision from Lin Jiang.
"Brother Jiang, Brother Jiang, something’s happened!"
Li Yuanyuan came running back in a panic. "I just saw Zhang Guofu working at Spring Harmony Noodle Shop! They poached him!"
"That’s normal."
Lin Jiang had already guessed this was a possibility.
If he hadn’t already found a new employer, he wouldn’t have just left without a word. After all, he’d worked for over a week, and Lin Jiang still owed him wages.
For him to not even want his wages, there had to be another reason.
"There are so many bad people in the city. Simple people like us can’t possibly outsmart them," Li Yuanyuan said.
"Are you saying I’m a schemer?"
"I feel like you’ve got eight hundred schemes in that head of yours. If you used them on me, I’d still be helping you count the money after you sold me. City people are so scary."
Lin Jiang took a hundred-yuan bill from the cash register.
"Go buy some ice cream."
"You city folk are real saints! Brother Jiang, I want two!"
Li Yuanyuan took the money and happily trotted off to buy ice cream.
At the not-so-distant Spring Harmony Noodle Shop, Zhou Chengrong sat by the entrance, his face turning foul as he watched a delighted Li Yuanyuan.
All morning, business at Lin Jiang’s place was still booming, while his own shop only had a few scattered customers, two of whom were from out of town.
His online platform had also been taken down due to complaints, and business hadn’t improved one bit.
Fuming, Zhou Chengrong stormed back into the shop.
"Master Zhang, what’s going on? Why is business still dead?"
"It’s mainly because I just got here. It needs a few days to build momentum, for word to get around, before our reputation can be established," Zhang Guofu said.
"That’s not what I’m talking about. The noodles you’re making don’t taste anything like they used to. I hope you can give me an explanation."
"This is exactly how I made them at their shop."
"But why does it taste different?"
Zhang Guofu didn’t know how to argue because he had also tasted the noodles he made, and the flavor was indeed different.
Every step was done according to the previous procedure. He couldn’t understand why there was such a big difference.
’Could it be because of those few Chinese herbs?’
"I know what it is! He has his own special recipe, which is why the flavor is so unique. But don’t worry, I’ve already learned it."
"Are you sure it’ll work?" Zhou Chengrong asked doubtfully.
"It’ll definitely work. I’m going to buy it now."
Since this involved a secret, he naturally couldn’t entrust it to someone else.
Zhang Guofu untied his apron, preparing to go to Xu Lin’s shop to buy the ingredients for the herbal formula.
But Xu Lin wasn’t there; a female clerk was minding the store.
"I need these herbs. Just prepare them for me according to the weights listed here."
Zhang Guofu handed over a photo of the recipe.
The clerk glanced at it. "Is the child here? We should check her pulse before preparing the medicine."
"Child? It’s for me. What does a child have to do with it? Just hurry up and get it," Zhang Guofu said impatiently.
"Uh... alright."
Not wanting to invite a rebuff, the clerk silently prepared the herbs for Zhang Guofu.
Once it was done, he paid and left with the medicine.
Watching Zhang Guofu’s departing back, the clerk muttered to herself.
’First time I’ve ever seen a man with menstrual cramps...’
In a mad rush, Zhang Guofu returned to the shop.
"Are you sure adding these few herbs will do the trick?" Zhou Chengrong asked.
"A lot of soup bases use Chinese herbs for seasoning. I happened to see him using them. We just need to add these things in."
Zhang Guofu went back to the kitchen. Following the instructions on the slip, he put the entire day’s dose of herbs into the soup base and boiled it again for another hour.
"Alright, you two have a taste. See if the flavor is much better now."
Zhou Chengrong and his wife leaned in and ladled out a spoonful.
They found that the flavor had indeed changed, but it still hadn’t reached the desired taste.
"It still seems to be missing something."
"The problem is the ingredients," Zhang Guofu said. "Tomorrow, buy a few old hens. The beef bones need to be fresh, too, don’t buy frozen ones."
"That’s what they use at their place. You can’t cut corners on this. As long as the ingredients are fresh and we let it simmer a bit longer for the flavors to fully meld and enhance each other, the taste will naturally be different."
"Why didn’t you say so earlier? I’ve been worried sick with no business all morning."
"This is a trade secret, after all. I wasn’t sure if it was right. But now that I see, it turns out my guess was correct."
Zhang Guofu lit a cigarette and said, full of confidence:
"You two don’t worry. You’re paying me such a high salary, I definitely won’t let you down. In a week at most, I’ll be able to steal all of their customers."
"That’s what I’ve been waiting to hear!"
"Quiet down, a customer’s here."
Before they knew it, they were busy until past eight in the evening.
Although Zhang Guofu’s departure had left the shop in a bit of a flurry, they were lucky to have met Yang Tao. He adapted to the work quickly, so Lin Jiang didn’t have to worry much.
Just as they were cleaning up and preparing to close, they suddenly heard shouting from outside.
Li Yuanyuan, ever the curious one, opened the door to see what the commotion was about, and the noisy shouts became clearer.
"Officer, it’s this place! There’s definitely something wrong with what they’re selling. My daughter and my son ate their noodles, and they’ve been throwing up and had diarrhea ever since they got home. The ingredients must not be fresh!"
A middle-aged woman stood next to a police officer, yelling loudly.
"I threw up too! Look how pale my face is, I feel like I’m about to puke up bile."
This time it was a young woman speaking, clutching her stomach and looking very weak.
Li Yuanyuan looked at Lin Jiang excitedly. "Brother Jiang, come quick and look! Something’s happened at Spring Harmony Noodle Shop, the police are here!"

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