"Damn, you haven't graduated yet?"
Panda gave Lin Xu a thumbs up, then asked:
"Need me to find you a sports car for Monday? Just holler if you want it, I can get you any fancy car you name."
Lin Xu was taken aback:
"What do I need a sports car for?"
"To flex! Make those who underestimated you, hurt you, and looked down on you regret it to their bones. Let the school bully want to be your bro, the school beauty throw herself at you, even the chairman's son following you around like a lackey…"
Lin Xu: ??????
What kind of braindead plot is this?
"Aren't all those web novels like this? Like 'The God of War Returns'. His daughter lives in a doghouse, then with one order, a hundred thousand soldiers turn it into a luxury villa or whatever."
Lin Xu: "…"
Bro, can't you read something less cringey?
He gave a helpless smile and said:
"I don't have any need to show off, I just want to make money right now. If things wrap up early that day, I'll open up in the afternoon as usual... Oh right, if I want to let everyone know to come eat, where do I make an announcement?"
Panda heard this.
He immediately put down his bowl.
Pulled up a short video social media app on his phone, then showed Lin Xu the Lin Ji's Food hashtag:
"Just post under this hashtag, we'll all see it. This hashtag is where our shop's fans hang out now—it's all Lin Ji boys and Lin Ji girls."
Lin Xu took a glance.
Decided to follow it with his own account when he got a break.
If Monday ends early.
Then business will go on as usual that night.
He'd notify customers here when it's time to eat.
Now, losing even one day is a ten-thousand-yuan hit.
If it weren't for graduation.
He really didn't want to close.
After chatting with Panda about it,
Lin Xu threw himself back into the rush of work.
The shop kept filling with customers.
The line stretched right out the door.
Everyone heard there was a new noodle topping today.
So everyone wanted a taste.
Lin Xu was busy as hell, not touching the ground.
The fresh noodles didn't even need to be brought out.
He just set them on the divider between kitchen and dining area,
The ones in line just picked them up themselves.
If you found a seat, you sat and ate;
If not, you squeezed in by the register and ate standing.
As long as the food's good,
customers can tolerate just about anything.
"I really hope Boss Lin has time to post a tutorial so we can try making it at home."
"Yeah, coming to the shop just once is already a hassle."
"Not just the noodles with braised eggplant and pork sauce—tomato egg noodles need a tutorial too. I've tried making it at home with lots of eggs, but it just doesn't taste right."
"For real, that unique freshness is just so spot on."
"…"
A little after one o'clock,
Lin Xu called out to the customers in line:
"There are only five bowls of noodles with braised eggplant and pork sauce left! The rest is all tomato egg noodles, so line up accordingly!"
As soon as he finished,
the customers waiting started wailing.
"No way! It's out already?"
"Aaaahhh… I've been waiting twenty minutes."
"Boss, can't you make more next time? It's only just after one and you're sold out. These sell too fast!"
Lin Xu was helpless too.
He'd prepped nearly two hundred bowls of noodles with braised eggplant and pork sauce and a hundred bowls of tomato egg noodles today.
He thought that would be enough.
Turns out, he sold out earlier than yesterday at noon.
Maybe there were just more customers today.
Yesterday at lunch,
after rolling out the dough, he had to cut the noodles to order.
He couldn't cut too much in advance.
When new customers came,
he'd have to roll the leftover dough out again.
Otherwise the noodles wouldn't be springy.
But today didn't need all that trouble.
He just cut it all in one go, then dumped it all into the pot.
The burner was powerful enough, the pot big enough for a dozen bowls at once—
Way more efficient than rolling and cooking one bowl at a time.
Half an hour later,
even the tomato egg noodle topping was all sold out.
Now he just had half a dough ball left,
maybe enough for seven or eight bowls of hand-pulled noodles.
"Boss, we came all this way. At least make us something, will ya?"
"Yeah, we've been waiting forever."
"Even just something to fill us up a little."
"Yeah, gotta head back to work soon. No time to go anywhere else!"
"…"
The customers waiting for seats were getting anxious.
Just a minute ago, they were griping about no more noodles with braised eggplant and pork sauce.
Now look,
even the tomato egg noodles are gone.
Lin Xu looked helplessly at the remaining half-dough ball.
There were still six customers waiting.
If he still had any topping,
he could have those noodles out in a snap.
But now...
Even if he boiled up the noodles, how the heck would they eat them?
The only thing left in the shop was chili oil.
He couldn't just tell them to mix noodles with chili oil, could he?
Wait a second…
Chili oil?
Lin Xu stared at the half-basin of chili oil on the workbench.
Then at the remaining dough and unused greens.
Suddenly, he had an idea.
How about…
Trying oil-poured noodles?
Oil-poured noodles are basically hand-pulled noodles with chili oil poured over them.
Back when "White Deer Plain" was a hit, this dish was all the rage nationwide.
Chen Meijuan loved making noodles and whipped up batch after batch at home—so Lin Xu really tasted the bold, spicy style of Shaanxi noodles.
Thinking of this,
he told the customers in line:
"Give me two minutes. There's no topping left, so I'll make you a new style. If you like it, I hope you come back often. If not, please forgive me—this is just an experiment."
The customers waiting to try Lin Xu's new noodles,
instantly set aside their earlier complaints.
Haha!
Who knew that waiting till the end would score you a bonus round?
They rubbed their hands in excitement.
Some even pulled out their phones,
starting to film Lin Xu at work.
A brand-new noodle variety!
No matter how it tasted, the buzz alone was worth it.
These days, the Lin Ji's Food hashtag was filled with Panda and the boys.
Now,
it was time for him to have his moment in the spotlight.
Lin Xu picked up the rolling pin, rolled out the dough, flattened it out, then folded it up and sliced it into one-inch-wide strips.
He shook out the strips,
then tossed them into the boiling pot.
Soon,
the noodles floated to the surface.
Lin Xu added in some greens,
then fished everything out and ladled it into bowls.
He sprinkled on salt, Chen vinegar, light soy sauce, and other seasonings.
Then a spoonful of dried chili oil went on top.
Then a pinch of minced garlic.
That's when the surrounding customers realized what it was.
"Whoa, is that oil-poured noodles?!"
"Man, we really lucked out, who knew waiting last gets the best perks."
"Exactly! I love oil-poured noodles—when that hot oil hits, my heart races every time."
"With oil-poured noodles, I bet I'll snag first place on the topic's likes board today!"
The customers were all chattering away.
Lin Xu fired up a wok for oil, then when it was hot, he scooped a ladle and poured it fiercely over the chili and noodles in the bowl.
Just as he finished,
a system prompt rang in his mind:
"Host bravely applies their skills and creates oil-poured noodles using available resources; hidden task [Generalization] completed; awarded: Excellent Level general mixed noodle sauce technique. Congratulations, host."
"Host made a new noodle dish for the first time, earning the Perfect Level oil-poured noodles branch technique—Oil-poured Hand-pulled Noodles. Congratulations, host."