Two slices of beef, thin as cicada wings, floated in broth generously sprinkled with chopped scallions. It was as if adding even one more slice of beef would profane the bowl of noodles. The whole point was authenticity.
Second Blade Emperor ate seven bowls of noodles like this.
The place was a noodle stall set up on a pushcart along the street where Tenglong Welfare Institute stood, not far away... The noodle cook was still quite young.
"You don't seem to be here for the first time." Xiao Luo SIR watched with interest as Second Blade Emperor ordered an eighth bowl.
The stall owner was naturally delighted.
Second Blade Emperor peeled a clove of garlic and began chewing it. "This little stall has been open for many years. I figure the owner is probably the Second Generation, but the taste hasn't changed much."
He clearly knew this place very well. Perhaps he had often come here... back when he still lived at the Welfare Institute.
"But it was only during festivals that the aunties at the institute would pack some up and bring it back." Second Blade Emperor said softly, "For the children at the Welfare Institute, it counted as one of the few meat dishes they got. Even if you chewed a slice of beef until it was tough and dry, one sip of soup would bring the flavor back."
"Didn't the Welfare Institute always receive outside funding?" Xiao Luo SIR asked.
"It did, once." Second Blade Emperor wiped the oil from the corner of his mouth. "Conditions weren't bad at first. Later, the contractor was arrested, and the Welfare Institute's funding was cut off. For a while, the Dean had no choice but to sell off her own possessions just to keep it going. But even so, the