The two children were ecstatic, and Wei Ping was happy too. He smiled and asked, "Boss, where did you catch this long-horned beetle?"

Li You pointed to the loquat tree. "Right on that loquat tree over there."

Wei Ping said, "Are there long-horned beetles on the loquat tree now? That’s not a good sign. You might want to buy some pesticide to spray them, Boss."

Li You nodded. "I’ll keep an eye on it."

The two children, however, looked at Li You with hopeful eyes. "Mister, are there any other long-horned beetles on the tree?"

Because Li You had successfully completed the game instance, there were definitely no more long-horned beetles on the loquat trees.

Li You said, "Probably not. I only saw this one."

The two children were very disappointed to hear that.

Li You smiled. "There are no more on these loquat trees, but you can find them in other places. It’s getting late now. The next time you come to visit, you can go have a proper search. Besides long-horned beetles, there are also bamboo grubs, rhinoceros beetles, and stag beetles. They’re all a lot of fun to find."

"Okay!" The two children quickly cheered up again.

At this point, Wei Ping said his goodbyes. "Well, Boss, we’ll be heading off. I’ll bring them over again next weekend."

Li You nodded. "Alright. Travel safely."

"Will do. Goodbye for now, Boss."

"Goodbye!"

"Goodbye, Mister!"

"Goodbye. Come visit again."

"We will."

...

Not long after Wei Ping and his family left, Liu Xu, Xiao Yue, and their group returned.

"Boss, thirteen large bowls! We’ve been out for so long that we’re starving. Time for more noodles! Hahaha!"

The moment he returned, Liu Xu ordered thirteen bowls of noodles—all large servings.

The others all wore looks of eager anticipation.

Li You chuckled. "Of course. It’ll just be a moment. They’ll be ready soon."

Once the noodles were ready, he served them to his customers.

Only after Liu Xu and his group had slowly finished their meal did they depart, fully satisfied.

A short while later, Ye Shengge returned as well.

Her delight was written all over her face.

"Boss, your place is truly stunning. Any picture you snap on your phone looks like a professional photograph. I’m convinced now that opening your restaurant here was absolutely the right decision."

Li You laughed. "You didn’t think so before?"

Ye Shengge said, "Of course I thought it was too remote at first. But not anymore. The scenery is gorgeous, you get to eat delicious food, enjoy beautiful views, and even have fun in the gorge. It’s wonderful!"

Li You gave her a thumbs-up. "Well said."

Ye Shengge added, "By the way, Boss, are you planning to introduce other dishes in the future?"

Li You nodded. "I am. I’ve been considering it and getting things ready. The preparations are nearly complete. I’m planning to launch two new dishes tomorrow."

"Really?" Ye Shengge’s eyes lit up. "It seems I came at the perfect time. What are the two new dishes? Can you say?"

Li You nodded. "One is another noodle dish: beef noodle soup. The other is a stir-fried dish: stir-fried shredded potatoes."

The beef broth was almost finished simmering. As for the noodles for the soup, he could make them tonight.

As for the stir-fried shredded potatoes... though he hadn’t gotten any potatoes, green peppers, or red peppers as drops from the previous game instance.

But that didn’t matter. They were very common ingredients, and he could just go buy them at the town market tomorrow.

Coincidentally, tomorrow was market day in town.

He probably wouldn’t be able to find any top-grade ones, but getting his hands on medium-grade ingredients shouldn’t be a problem.

And medium-grade was already quite good.

So, he would be able to launch both the beef noodle soup and the stir-fried shredded potatoes tomorrow.

Ye Shengge nodded, showing her anticipation.

Beef noodle soup and stir-fried shredded potatoes were both very common dishes. But Ye Shengge knew that even the most ordinary food could be delicious if prepared properly.

Just like his Yangchun Noodles.

Ye Shengge was very curious: could Li You make other dishes that were just as delicious as his Yangchun Noodles?

Then, she continued, "You can find beef noodle soup all over the country, but if you want the best, it has to be Lanzhou beef noodle soup. I made a special trip to Lanzhou just to eat it, and it was truly delicious. I even considered including it in my food compendium, but ultimately, I felt it was still missing something. I wonder, Boss, if your beef noodle soup will be even better?"

Li You smiled slightly. "That’s something you’ll only know after you’ve tried it."

Ye Shengge nodded. "That’s true. In that case, I’ll be back tomorrow."

Li You said, "A round trip for you is ten hours of driving. You’re coming back again tomorrow? Won’t you be tired of all the driving?"

Ye Shengge said, "I’m not going back tonight. I’ll just find an inn in your Wenxian Town and stay the night."

Li You nodded. "That’s a good idea. Plus, it’s market day in town tomorrow. If you wake up early, you could check it out. Have you ever been to a rural market like that?"

Ye Shengge replied, "I’m familiar with the concept of rural markets, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually visited one. I’ll see how I feel tomorrow morning. If I’m in the mood, I’ll go take a look."

Li You nodded.

Ye Shengge added, "Well, since I’m not heading back now, I think I’ll go spend a little more time at the gorge. I feel like I didn’t get enough earlier."

Li You said, "Alright, be safe."

"I will."

With that, Ye Shengge turned and headed back toward the gorge.

Li You lay back in his rocking chair and scrolled through his phone for a while.

He remained there until half-past five in the afternoon.

Ye Shengge returned, ate another large bowl of Yangchun Noodles, and then drove away.

She was headed to town to find an inn.

Although Wenxian Town was small, it still had a few inns.

The accommodations couldn’t compare to the grand hotels in the city, but they were perfectly safe.

...

「At six in the evening.」

The beef broth was finally done simmering.

Li You ladled a small amount to taste. The flavor was exceptionally rich and savory. He then tried a piece of beef; it was tender and succulent, equally delicious.

’With broth and beef like this, it would be hard for the noodle soup to taste bad!’

’I’ll make the noodles after I have dinner.’

’A bowl of Yangchun Noodles will do for tonight.’

After making and eating a bowl of Yangchun Noodles, Li You retrieved some flour from the Storage Pavilion—the flour he would use to make the beef noodles.

Once again, he began to knead dough.

’Kneading dough feels so much easier now.’

After the dough was ready, the process was the same as before: resting it, working it, and finally, pulling the noodles. The steps were not much different from when he made the noodles for the Yangchun Noodles.

When he was finally finished, Li You felt surprisingly refreshed.

’Having better physical stats really makes a world of difference.’

...

「The next day.」

At eight in the morning, Li You finished his breakfast, hopped on his motorcycle, and set off.

He was heading to town to buy potatoes, green peppers, and red peppers.

A little over ten minutes later, he arrived in town.

The town was noticeably livelier than usual on market days.

Villagers from all over the area would come for the market.

Some came to buy, others to set up stalls and sell their own goods.

They sold home-grown vegetables, poultry like chickens, ducks, and geese they had raised themselves, edible mushrooms found in the mountains, or various tools woven from bamboo strips. The atmosphere was bustling.

Li You made his way to the market. His goal was to find three ingredients: potatoes, green peppers, and red peppers.

All three were common ingredients that many villagers grew at home, and they were currently in season.

As a result, there were plenty of stalls selling them.

"Ingredient: Potato.

Quality: Low-grade."

"Ingredient: Red Pepper.

Quality: Medium-grade."

"Ingredient: Potato.

Quality: Medium-grade."

"..."

Li You did a lap around the market. The quality of the ingredients he found was either medium-grade or low-grade.

’It seems finding top-grade ingredients really isn’t easy.’

’Looks like I’ll have to settle for medium-grade.’

Li You had no intention of using low-grade ingredients, but medium-grade was acceptable.

"Excuse me, how much are the potatoes per pound?"

"Two."

"I’ll take some, then."

"Alright."

In the end, Li You bought a total of fifty-five pounds of potatoes, and eleven pounds each of green and red peppers.

’They won’t spoil in the Storage Pavilion no matter how long I keep them, so I might as well stock up.’

Of course, Li You didn’t put them into the Storage Pavilion right then and there. Instead, he tied them to the rear rack of his motorcycle.

’Can’t just make things disappear in plain sight, after all.’

’I wonder if Ye Shengge ended up visiting the market.’

’I didn’t see her when I was walking around earlier.’

Li You didn’t head back right away. He decided to wander around a bit more to see if anything else caught his eye.

Just then, a soft "Ah!" came from beside him.

Li You turned his head and saw a young woman walking past, her hands full of groceries.

The handle on a bag holding several potatoes had suddenly snapped.

Several potatoes tumbled out and rolled across the ground.

One of them happened to roll to a stop right at Li You’s feet.

Li You bent down to pick it up. While he was at it, he gathered the other potatoes that had fallen as well.

He handed them back to the young woman.

"Thank you, thank you! I’m so grateful."

The young woman thanked him profusely as she transferred the potatoes into another one of her grocery bags.

Li You gave a small smile and told her not to worry about it, that it was no trouble at all.

The young woman thanked him again. Then, her eyes landed on the large bag of potatoes tied to Li You’s motorcycle. "Oh?" she exclaimed in surprise. "You bought a lot of potatoes."

Li You replied, "I run a restaurant, so I need to buy in bulk."

"Oh, I see," the young woman said. "Where in town is your restaurant?"

Li You said, "It’s not in town. It’s out near Jiulong Gorge."

"Jiulong Gorge?" The young woman looked puzzled. "There’s a restaurant at Jiulong Gorge? I’ve been there a few times, but I’ve never seen one!"

...

To all my dear readers, Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Have you all eaten mooncakes?

And to all my friends who are teachers, Happy Teachers’ Day!

I wish you all good health and happiness every day.

...