I Have a Countryside Gourmet Restaurant

Chapter 93: Chapter 93: They Are Indeed All Beauties

Of course, Mu Qingye was welcome to watch.

Li You was happy to let her.

”Boss, how do you tell if the glutinous rice has soaked enough?” Mu Qingye asked.

”Test it with your hand,” Li You said. ”If you can crush it between your fingers, it means it’s ready.”

So that was it.

Mu Qingye nodded, indicating she understood.

Then, Xia Xiaoyue said, ”Sister Qingye, let’s go check out the boss’s orchard.”

Since they had to wait to watch the sweet fermented rice being made, the two of them weren’t in a hurry to eat dinner.

”Great!” Mu Qingye was very interested.

So, the two said goodbye to Li You, left the shop, and headed for the orchard.

One of the reasons Li You was developing the orchard was so his customers could visit it.

So, Li You was always delighted when customers went to see the orchard.

However, the orchard was still rather plain. ’It needs to be made much more beautiful.’

’Besides adding new types of fruit trees, maybe I could plant some flowers too?’

’That seems like a good idea.’

’I’ll just develop it slowly. I’m sure it will be beautiful in the end.’

Just then, a group of seven or eight people arrived in front of the shop.

Li You didn’t recognize any of them, but he had a feeling they were from town.

”Boss, we heard the food here is really delicious. We came to try it,” one of them said.

”Welcome,” Li You smiled. ”Are you all from town?”

”That’s right!” They all nodded.

”We were at the market, and a lot of the shopkeepers there were talking about this place. They said your food is incredible, that both the noodles and the stir-fries are more delicious than anything they’ve ever eaten. So we decided to come check it out together.”

”We didn’t believe it at first. We were like, ’There’s no restaurant out here!’ But we came to take a look, and sure enough, a new one has opened.”

”Boss, why’d you open the restaurant all the way out here?”

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From their overlapping chatter, Li You quickly understood what was happening.

’So they heard about it at the market.’

’Looks like word about my shop has already gotten around the market.’

’That’s a good thing.’

Li You invited the customers into the shop. After a bit of small talk and answering a few questions, he asked, ”What can I get for you all?”

”This is our first time. Another shopkeeper suggested we each get a large bowl of beef noodle soup and then order one of every stir-fry. Let’s go with that. Except for the Cabbage in Boiled Water. We’ll try the other dishes first. If they’re good, we’ll come back for the cabbage next time,” one of them said.

Li You nodded. ”Alright, no problem. Please have a seat. It’ll be out shortly.”

”Sorry to trouble you, Boss.”

”It’s no trouble at all.”

With that, Li You went into the kitchen and started cooking.

Soon, eight large bowls of beef noodle soup, followed by portions of Mapo Tofu, Twice-Cooked Pork with Garlic Sprouts, Twice-Cooked Pork with Green Peppers, and Stir-fried Shredded Potatoes, came out of the kitchen.

He served them to his customers.

The customers grew excited the moment they saw the food, even before taking a single bite.

”It’s just like the other shopkeepers said! It looks amazing just from the sight of it.”

”So this is what real, authentic Mapo Tofu is like? It feels so... alive.”

”This Twice-Cooked Pork smells incredible! With a fragrance like this, I could eat five bowls of rice and it still wouldn’t be enough.”

”Boss, your cooking skills are insane!”

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The customers were all thrilled and amazed.

They had only come intending to give it a try.

They never expected to be this blown away.

So what were they waiting for?

Time to dig in!

All eight of them eagerly began to eat.

And with the first bite, their excitement surged.

They had eaten beef noodle soup and all these other dishes countless times before. But what they were tasting now was a level of deliciousness they had never experienced.

It was far more delicious than they could have imagined.

Who knew that beef noodle soup and these simple dishes could taste this good?

If it weren’t for this place, they might have gone their whole lives without knowing beef noodle soup and these dishes could be so incredibly tasty.

How lucky were they that a restaurant like this had opened in Wenxian Town?

It was five kilometers away from town, sure.

And honestly, five kilometers was a fair distance.

But right now, all they could think was that five kilometers felt close.

Not far at all.

They’d be eating well from now on.

The more they thought about it, the more delighted they became.

Just then, another man in his thirties, wearing a white shirt, walked into the shop. He looked around and asked, ”Excuse me, is the owner here?”

Li You smiled faintly. ”That would be me. Welcome. Care for a bite?”

The man in the white shirt nodded. ”I’ll have a large bowl of beef noodle soup. I heard at the market that the food here is incredible, so I came to see for myself. I’ll start with a bowl of noodle soup to try.”

”No problem. It’ll just be a moment.”

With that, Li You headed back into the kitchen.

One of the original group of eight, a man in his thirties wearing a black T-shirt, smiled at the newcomer. ”Buddy, you definitely came to the right place. The beef noodle soup here is better than you can possibly imagine. We’re all in for a treat from now on.”

”Now that you say that, I’m even more excited! But aren’t you exaggerating a little?” the man in the white shirt replied with a laugh.

”Not at all. And it’s not just the noodle soup. The stir-fried dishes are mind-blowing too. Even if you don’t try them this time, you have to come back for them,” the man in the black T-shirt added.

”Alright. I’ll try the stir-fries next time,” the man in the white shirt said.

The two struck up a conversation.

After they had been chatting for a while, Li You brought out a large bowl of beef noodle soup.

”Enjoy your meal!”

”Thanks!”

The moment he saw the beef noodle soup, the man in the white shirt thought in pleasant surprise, ’Maybe this really will be better than I can imagine.’

He couldn’t wait to dig in.

The man in the black T-shirt had been watching him. The second the man in white took his first bite of noodles, he asked eagerly, ”Well? Is it better than you imagined?”

The man in the white shirt said excitedly, ”It really is. I never knew beef noodle soup could taste this good. You were right, we’re in for a real treat from now on.”

The man in the black T-shirt was thrilled. ”See? Everyone’s always trying to get to the city. But do they have beef noodle soup this good there? No way. I heard from the other shopkeepers that a lot of students from Xingshui Art College make a special trip all the way out here just to eat. Can you imagine how far that is for them?”

”I heard that too,” the man in the white shirt said. ”Back then, I thought it was unbelievable. I couldn’t imagine it; it seemed impossible. But now, I totally believe it’s true.”

”Of course it’s true!” the man in the black T-shirt said.

After a moment, he turned to Li You and said, ”Boss, is it true that students from Xingshui Academy of Fine Arts really make a special trip to eat here?”

Li You said, ”Sometimes they come just to eat, and sometimes they’re visiting Jiulong Gorge and stop by to eat.”

The men in the black T-shirt and white shirt both nodded. The fact that they sometimes came just for the food was enough for them.

After a moment, the man in the black T-shirt added, ”The students at Xingshui Art College are probably all beautiful, huh? You’re a lucky man, Boss!”

”Well, they are indeed all quite beautiful,” Li You said with a laugh. ”In fact, there are two of them outside right now.”

”Really?”

Whether it was the man in the black T-shirt, the man in the white shirt, or the other seven men, all of them grew excited in an instant, their eyes lighting up.

This excitement was entirely different from the kind they had felt over the food.

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