I'm back in 1990

Chapter 735: Lamb Stew with Noodles

Huang Xiaochuan originally planned to have dinner with Chen Zhe and Zhang Gaolei during the Spring Festival.

But Chen Zhe, right after the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, took his men to conduct research in other cities.

Zhang Gaolei comforted Huang Xiaochuan, saying, "Forget it, Old Chen has been focusing all his energy on academics since his divorce. I'll ask him out once he's done with his work."

Huang Xiaochuan rolled his eyes at Zhang Gaolei: "Who said I blamed him?"

Then he said to Zhang Gaolei, "What do you want to eat for lunch? It's on me."

Zhang Gaolei thought for a moment: "I'll take you to a place where you can try authentic mutton stew noodles. Their side dishes are also quite good, perfect for pairing with drinks!"

Huang Xiaochuan parroted his words in a Henan accent, replying, "Great! Let's have braised noodles then, that's so satisfying!"

Zhang Gaolei took Huang Xiaochuan to a small restaurant run by people from Henan. It was a typical husband-and-wife business. Because it was a small business, they didn't have any employees. The man was in charge of the kitchen, and the woman served as a waitress and kitchen helper.

During the Spring Festival, the small restaurant had few customers.

As soon as the two entered, the owner recognized Zhang Gaolei and greeted him warmly: "Fellow villager!" He even took out a cigarette.

Zhang Gaolei quickly stopped him: "If you don't smoke, don't take it!"

The owner gestured for the two to sit down, then packed his cigarettes back up and asked, "What would you two like to eat for lunch today?"

Zhang Gaolei didn't rush to order food, but instead asked, "Why didn't you go back to your hometown for the Chinese New Year?"

Upon hearing this, the boss simply sat down and started chatting with Zhang Gaolei: "Go home? Going back means spending money everywhere. If you didn't make any money last year, work hard this year and make more money before going back."

Zhang Gaolei then asked, "What about the child? Should we leave him at home?"

The boss looked proud: "Those who spent the Lunar New Year with us will be sent back after the holiday. We'll just call my brother-in-law and have him pick them up at the station!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Gaolei looked around and asked, "Where's the child?"

The boss grinned: "Mo has never been to a big city before. He went to the zoo to see the giant pandas. He probably won't be back until the afternoon."

At this moment, the proprietress brought out two sets of clean tableware, along with a teapot and teacups, and placed them in front of the group.

The boss then remembered, "Oh! We've been chatting for so long, what would you two like to eat?"

Zhang Gaolei thought for a moment and finally said, "It's just the two of us. You can prepare a few dishes and drinks, and at the end, give each of us a bowl of mutton stew noodles."

The boss immediately stood up: "Great! You two sit down and have some tea. This is authentic Xinyang Maojian tea; I usually can't bear to drink it myself, but you two should try it!"

Huang Xiaochuan smiled and expressed his gratitude: "Thank you!"

The owner was very quick and efficient, and soon he had prepared several dishes and served them on the table. They were all Henan specialties, such as preserved eggs, which are made with eggs in Henan. They are golden and transparent in color, and after being cut into wedges, they are simply mixed with minced ginger, vinegar and sesame oil. There was also a plate of fried peanuts.

The main dish is a Henan-style stew, which combines pork belly, tofu, vermicelli, cabbage, fried meatballs, and crispy pork in one pot. The aroma is irresistible and makes one's mouth water.

The owner also stir-fried some pork skin, stir-fried some eggs, and served a large bowl of hot and sour soup.

After the preserved egg and peanuts were served, Zhang Gaolei took out a bottle of wine from his pocket and poured a glass for Huang Xiaochuan.

Huang Xiaochuan glanced at the wine glass in front of him, then at the empty bottle of liquor in Zhang Gaolei's hand, and asked, "What kind of liquor is this?"

Zhang Gaolei knew what Huang Xiaochuan meant: "Don't worry, drink it. Are you afraid I'll give you fake alcohol?"

Huang Xiaochuan was still not reassured, so he took a sniff first, and it smelled pretty good!

Only then did Zhang Gaolei say, "This is Lidu wine, produced from Yuan Dynasty cellars, and its production is very limited."

Huang Xiaochuan asked, puzzled, "Where did you get it?"

Zhang Gaolei slowly filled his glass before saying, "This was a gift from the locals when I went to Jiangxi for an inspection last year. I usually don't drink it, but I only took it out because of you."

Huang Xiaochuan picked up his glass, took a sip, and, finding it quite good, nodded: "Okay!"

Zhang Gaolei could tell at a glance that Huang Xiaochuan had no idea how to appreciate wine, and he laughed mockingly, "You! You're like Pigsy eating a ginseng fruit, how could you possibly taste it?"

Huang Xiaochuan scoffed at Li Du Wine's characteristics: "Pshaw, it's just a sip of four flavors!"

Now it was Zhang Gaolei's turn to be surprised: "You knew?"

Huang Xiaochuan said smugly, "Nonsense, my old man loves collecting wine and studying different types. I've known about Li Du wine since I was a kid. Do you need to show off in front of me?"

"Your old man is amazing!" Zhang Gaolei gave him a thumbs up.

Then Zhang Gaolei added, "Next time I'll bring a few bottles of good wine to go drink with the old man!"

Huang Xiaochuan quickly waved his hand: "I advise you to save your breath. My dad just likes to collect and study wine. Drinking? Forget it! He'll be drunk after three cups of those tiny, three-cent cups at most."

"Huh?" Zhang Gaolei was surprised again.

But Huang Xiaochuan added, "However, you can share some of your Li Du with me, and I'll drink it for my dad!"

Zhang Gaolei looked at Huang Xiaochuan with disdain: "You're so beautiful!"

Zhang Gaolei looked at Huang Xiaochuan with disdain: "You're so beautiful!"

"Hahaha!" Huang Xiaochuan burst into laughter. He was the one who taught this joke to 222 and the others.

After all the dishes were served, and no other customers came in, the restaurant owner took his wife to relax. He figured they could just call him if anything happened, so all that was left was to make two bowls of noodles.

After a few cups of Li Du soup, the two felt much warmer. After drinking a small bowl of spicy soup, Huang Xiaochuan even started to sweat slightly on his forehead.

"That feels so good!" Huang Xiaochuan said with a satisfied look. "Old Zhang, you know what, Henan cuisine is really delicious. It's really comforting to eat this in this weather."

Zhang Gaolei laughed smugly, "How could the place I brought you be bad?"

Huang Xiaochuan picked up another slice of preserved egg, put it in his mouth, chewed it a few times, swallowed it, and then casually asked, "How's it going on your end?"

Zhang Gaolei picked up his wine glass and took a sip: "During the Spring Festival, some production lines and R&D have been running non-stop, mainly because the order book is full. Even so, the pressure is immense! Those few giants have come up with new manufacturing processes, and it's really tough to keep up."

After drinking half a jin of Li Du liquor, Zhang Gaolei complained again: "Damn it, those Americans are really scoundrels, always causing trouble. You're right, we should focus our efforts on independent innovation and the integration of the domestic industrial chain, but it really is too expensive."

Huang Xiaochuan reassured Zhang Gaolei: "You don't need to worry about the money. Prepare a sum of money for use in the second half of this year. I will inform you of the specific details in advance."

Zhang Gaolei immediately understood. His old classmate had found another opportunity and wanted to take advantage of it, because this guy was particularly good at financial speculation.

Zhang Gaolei immediately perked up, excitedly rubbing his hands together: "No problem, I'll do everything I can to get the funds for you."

Then Zhang Gaolei opened a second bottle of Li Du liquor and poured some for Huang Xiaochuan.

Huang Xiaochuan quickly waved his hand, saying that was enough for lunch. He had to go to his second brother's house for dinner tonight, where he would drink, so he needed to save some for himself.

Upon learning of the situation, Zhang Gaolei stopped trying to persuade him and instead downed his drink in one gulp, shouting, "Boss, bring the braised noodles!"

A short while later, the proprietress brought out two bowls of stewed noodles and placed them in front of the two of them.

The milky white mutton soup, the perfectly tender braised noodles, topped with a layer of mutton and cilantro—it looked delicious!