pjbooks Chapter 30 The Old Master
Chapter 30 The Old Master
"Lu Yuan, I'm so sorry. You helped me out of trouble, showed me the way, and now you want to treat me to noodles? Should I pay the bill?"
Zhao Yan verbally refused, but her mouth watered uncontrollably, and she secretly swallowed a few times while covering her mouth with her hand.
Seeing her cute little expression, Lu Yuan smiled and said:
"Teacher Xiao Zhao, compared to your coming to our village to teach, that's nothing. Come on, eat!"
These were Lu Yuan's honest thoughts. To make Zhao Yan stop being polite, Lu Yuan picked up his chopsticks and started slurping the noodles.
Zhao Yan paused for a few seconds, then, seeing that Lu Yuan was focused on the noodles in front of him, she followed suit and picked up her chopsticks to lift the noodles from the bottom of the bowl.
Then she picked up a few noodles and put them in her mouth. Zhao Yan's eyes lit up instantly, and she exclaimed in her heart: What chewy noodles!
The noodles are smooth and chewy, infused with the ultimate umami flavor of the broth, like a beautiful woman dancing in your mouth.
She then picked up a piece of mushroom and put it in her mouth. In an instant, the unique natural sweetness of the wild mushroom spread, and the mushroom aroma was rich and lingering.
The purple mushrooms have a thick, meaty texture that gives them a unique flavor, yet they also have a delicate aroma.
She picked up another lamb chop, and it easily fell off the bone with a gentle sip of her lips. The lamb was tender, flavorful, and savory without any gamey taste.
She picked up another mouthful of noodles and, imitating Lu Yuan, slurped it down in big gulps, savoring the fresh, fragrant, sweet, and smooth flavors all at once.
The aftertaste has a unique, refreshing quality from the mountains and fields, and the aroma of mushrooms lingers in your mouth long after you finish eating.
When she was in the capital, she didn't like eating noodles very much.
Whether it's fried sauce noodles or braised noodles, she always finds them too greasy, leaving a sticky feeling in her mouth afterward, not refreshing enough.
Lu Yuan's bowl of wild mushroom noodles completely overturned her understanding.
It looks oily and bright red, but tastes sweet and refreshing.
Before she knew it, she had finished a whole bowl of noodles, even drinking all the soup.
After finishing the delicious soup, Zhao Yan felt completely refreshed and even experienced a sense of comfort.
She ate too quickly, and fine beads of sweat appeared on the tip of her nose, and a blush appeared on Zhao Yan's cheeks.
She looked up and found Lu Yuan staring at her. She immediately covered her lips, which still had soup residue on them, and said:
"I'm sorry to have embarrassed you; did I look particularly disheveled while eating?"
Lu Yuan handed Zhao Yan a tissue, smiled and shook his head, saying, "This is how food should be eaten. Not wasting food is the greatest respect you can show to it."
Zhao Yan took the tissue, gently wiped her lips, and said, "Thank you, Lu Yuan, this is the best noodles I've ever eaten!"
Just then, Lu Changming arrived at the restaurant with his second uncle, Lu Changlin.
Lu Changlin was very excited to see Zhao Yan and immediately extended both hands to shake hers, saying:
"Teacher Zhaoyan, thank you so much for coming to Baiyang Primary School to teach. On behalf of the 500 students of Baiyang Primary School, I thank you!"
Lu Changlin was worried about the shortage of teachers after the start of the school year. He had been going to the county education bureau every day for the past few days to ask for more teachers, and unexpectedly, the teachers arrived today.
Lu Yuan put away the bowls and chopsticks, greeted his second uncle, and went to the kitchen to bring out a bowl of meat sauce, intending to make a serving for the old man while it was still hot.
As for Zhaoyan, her second uncle will definitely make proper arrangements, so he doesn't need to worry about it.
Luwangtan Village is quite large, and the branch of Lu Yuan's grandfather is located on the side closest to the national highway.
Most of the Lu family members actually live on the side away from the national highway, closer to the river.
The river doesn't have an official name; everyone just calls it the Poplar River.
There is a family temple of the Lu family by the Baiyang River, and the old master Lu's house is right next to the family temple.
Lu Yuan carried a bowl of meat sauce and knocked on the door knocker of the old man's house.
A short while later, the door opened, and a middle-aged man in his forties walked out, his features somewhat resembling Lu Yuan's.
"Xiao Yuan, come in quickly." The speaker was Lu Wen, the eldest of the younger generation of the Lu family.
"Hello, Brother Wen. I picked some mushrooms on the mountain this afternoon and made a meat sauce for the old man."
"Xiao Yuan, you're so kind. These mushrooms are not something that ordinary people can pick."
Lu Yuan followed him into the house, where the old man was lying on a rattan chair in the courtyard listening to the radio.
"Grandpa, what are you listening to?" Lu Yuan raised his voice, as the old man was already hard of hearing.
"Ah, Xiao Yuan is here."
The old man had an excellent memory; he could call out the names of all of the dozens of younger siblings in the Lu family.
Seeing that the old man was about to get up, Lu Yuan immediately stopped him:
"Grandpa, please lie down. I brought some mushroom sauce; I'll make you a bowl of noodles."
"Alright, then I'll have to try it!" The old man chuckled and lay down again.
The old man had his own separate courtyard and didn't want to live with the younger generation.
Lu Wen's branch of the family would come over to take care of the old man's daily life.
Lu Yuan went to the kitchen, put a pot of water on the stove to boil, picked up a dough ball, and started stretching it into noodles.
Minced meat noodles must be cooked fresh; if soaked for a while, they will become mushy.
Before long, Lu Yuan brought two bowls of noodles with minced meat sauce to the courtyard. He handed the large bowl to Lu Wen and placed the small bowl on the small table next to the old man.
"Xiao Yuan, I just ate, why did you make me another bowl?" Lu Wen said, but his eyes and nose were unconsciously drawn to it.
"Try your younger brother's cooking and give me some pointers!" Lu Yuan said as he helped the old man up.
The old man's face was already wrinkled and grimy. He sniffed hard and exclaimed, "It smells wonderful!"
The old man had a steady hand. He picked up the bowl, first peeled away the meat and mushrooms on the surface, and then slurped up a mouthful of soup.
"So bright and beautiful!"
"This meat has bones, sir, please be careful."
The old man snorted and said, "My teeth are still sharp. Back in the day, I bit off a Japanese soldier's ear!"
The old man never formally served in the army. When he was in the militia, he once captured a Japanese spy.
The Japanese soldier was so agile that the militiamen almost couldn't hold him down. In desperation, the old man bit the soldier's ear.
In the struggle, the Japanese soldier's ear was bitten off. The old man boasted about this battle his whole life.
The old man picked up a piece of mutton with his chopsticks, and with a gentle bite, the meat separated from the bone. He had to suck on the bone for a long time before spitting it out.
"Xiao Yuan, your cooking skills are truly exceptional!" The old man had only eaten one piece of meat when Lu Wen had already finished half a bowl.
The old man ate more like he savored the food, picking up a piece of mushroom and chewing it slowly.
"This is the taste. Back in the famine years, I used to go to the mountains to pick mushrooms all the time."
"Back then, there were stone leopards on the mountain. They were covered in white fur, and you call them snow leopards now. The stone leopards ate argali sheep, and when we were starving, we ate argali sheep too. Later, the argali sheep were almost wiped out, and the leopards disappeared."
The old man had lived through turbulent times, and when they were children, Lu Yuan and his friends always liked to gather around him and listen to his stories.
"It's a pity I didn't learn any of these mushroom-picking skills, but you, little guy, have taught yourself."
Picking mushrooms does require certain skills, but the learning curve is too steep.
Every year during mushroom season, we are busy with farm work, and when we are busy, we don't have time to pick mushrooms. Moreover, even if we go to pick mushrooms, we may not be able to find any.
Most importantly, most of the area has now been designated as a nature reserve, and picking mushrooms without permission is illegal.
In his previous life, Lu Yuan worked as a cook for a long time. After learning about various aspects of mushrooms, he learned how to pick them.
The old man calmly and leisurely finished his noodles and soup before reluctantly putting down his bowl.
When Lu Wenlai was collecting the bowls, he gave a thumbs up: "The old man hasn't had much of an appetite these past few days, it's rare to see him eat so happily."
"Then I'll have to come often," Lu Yuan readily agreed, and the old man immediately waved his hand and said:
"Don't come. You young people don't earn money easily. Just focus on your own business."
Lu Yuan immediately extended an invitation: "Grandpa, why don't you come to my shop tomorrow? Business has been quite good lately. Could you take a look and see what's wrong?"
The old man stroked his beard and said with a smile:
"You can see the flaws, but you can't. You young people are really something these days!"