Living Happily Matters Most

Praise filled the air.

College students really did have rich vocabularies; even their compliments never repeated themselves.

They ate noodles and drank beef soup, savoring every bite.

"These students have been out here for half a month, and this is the first time I've seen them eat with such gusto and praise the food so enthusiastically." Su Jun couldn't help but laugh.

"Exactly. They didn't seem to like Jiazhou State-Run Restaurant all that much, yet three kinds of noodles and a bowl of Qiaojiao Beef at this little restaurant have made them so happy." The female teacher laughed as well.

"But these noodles really are delicious! The Double-Pepper Beef Tossed Noodles are even better than what our school cafeteria makes. The noodles are so chewy, and the Noodle Mince is absolutely amazing. The Two-Pepper Minced Beef is crispy outside and tender inside, numbing and spicy with just the right flavor. So good!" Another male teacher lifted his head from his bowl and couldn't help praising it.

"Little Wang, you should order a bowl of Qiaojiao Beef too. Otherwise, you'll definitely regret it when we go back." Su Jun picked up a slice of beef and dipped it into the dipping sauce.

The rosy beef was coated in red chili powder. With one bite, the large, thin, tender slices of beef, wrapped in fragrant spicy chili powder, were both delicious and succulent. Both the texture and flavor were exceptional.

This chili powder was not finely ground by machine, but hand-ground into coarse flakes. It contained a little toasted sesame and Sichuan pepper powder, giving it an outstanding flavor and making it the finishing touch of this Qiaojiao Beef.

Su Jun loved Mountain-City Hotpot and knew quite a bit about eating beef offal, but Mountain City hotpot generally used red broth and emphasized heavy oil, heat, and numbing spice.

Yet this pot of clear broth brought out an entirely different flavor in the beef offal.

The fresh tripe had been cooked to perfection, wonderfully crisp and refreshing. The tendon was soft and sticky, the beef intestines tender, and with the dipping sauce, none of it became cloying.

And the broth was incredibly fresh!

A variety of Chinese herbs and spices had been added, yet they did not muddle the flavor of the broth. Instead, they made it even more delicious.

He had taken students to many places for field trips, but this pot of broth still managed to amaze him.

"Comrade Zhou is young, but his cooking skills are truly impressive." Su Jun couldn't help sighing.

"He inherited his master's skills. These dishes he's put out aren't any worse than his master's." Lin Zhiqiang nodded. As a regular customer of the cafeteria's stir-fry counter, he had eaten quite a few dishes made by Xiao Lei and had every right to say so.

The most popular item, though, had to be the free pickled sour radish.

Sour, spicy, crisp, and refreshing, it cut through the richness and was the perfect companion for noodles.

Of course, the free beef soup refills were also everyone's favorite.

Cries of "Auntie! Auntie!" rang out without end.

Xia Yao and the others had originally ordered only one bowl of Qiaojiao Beef, but after tasting it, they added another bowl.

The main reason was that the portions of Qiaojiao Beef were simply too generous. With another bowl of noodles, they could not possibly finish it all.

At least, Xia Yao and Zhu Yuyu could not finish it. Deng Hong was another matter; she could manage it, and the second bowl had been ordered specifically for her.

"Mmm... this is just too delicious. Mountain-City Hotpot numbed me half to death. I love Qiaojiao Beef, I love Suji!" Deng Hong ate with great relish, unable to stop herself from exclaiming as she ate.

Xia Yao and Zhu Yuyu both laughed.

"Yaoyao, why don't you think about it? With cooking like this, I think you'd be blissfully happy for the rest of your life if you married him." Deng Hong looked at Xia Yao, her round face filled with sincerity. "Now I finally get why he's handsome. A man who can cook is insanely attractive!"

At the next table, Ma Xingye paused with his chopsticks.

"Shh, don't say that again!" Xia Yao reached out and pinched the soft flesh of her belly, her cheeks flushing pink.

The teachers and students were all very satisfied with their meal.

Lin Zhiqiang went to settle the bill. They had eaten twenty-four bowls of noodles, twenty-two bowls of Qiaojiao Beef, and eighteen bowls of rice, for a total of twenty-nine yuan and forty cents.

Su Jun stood up with a smile. "Students, how was the food?"

"Delicious!"

"So good!"

The students answered one after another, all thoroughly satisfied.

"Then shall we eat at Zhou Erwa Restaurant again tonight?" Su Jun asked.

"Yes!"

This time, the students answered in unison.

They did not expect the Textile Factory cafeteria to have particularly good food. They might as well try a different kind of noodles that evening, along with another bowl of Qiaojiao Beef that they could not get elsewhere.

They were returning to Mountain City tomorrow, so it would count as a special memory to take with them.

Hearing this while cooking noodles in the kitchen, Zhou Yan silently thought that things were not good. He could make more noodles, but there was not enough mince and toppings left.

But this was a great opportunity for publicity, one he could not afford to miss.

Zhou Yan carried out two bowls of noodles and said with a smile, "There isn't much mince or topping left in the restaurant. If you students are coming for noodles tonight, please reserve what kind you want first, so I can go buy fresh meat and make it for everyone."

"No problem. We just need to write it down." Xia Yao took a notebook from her backpack, wrote down the names of four dishes, and said with a smile, "Tell me what noodles you want for dinner."

"I want to try the Double-Pepper Beef Noodles," Deng Hong said first.

"I want..."

Xia Yao made tally marks beneath the dish names, and before long, she had finished counting them.

"Here, that's everything." Xia Yao tore the page from her notebook and handed it to Zhou Yan.

"Thank you. You've really helped me out." Zhou Yan took it with a smile.

"It's nothing. Go get busy first; the customers are still waiting for their noodles." Xia Yao smiled graciously.

Lin Zhiqiang, who was standing nearby, watched the two with an indulgent uncle-like grin, wondering whether he should tell Meng Anhe about this tonight.

After greeting Zhou Yan and confirming with Su Jun and Lin Zhiqiang that they would come to the restaurant for dinner, Zhou Yan returned to the kitchen to get busy.

The students got up and left the restaurant, looking for somewhere to stroll and work off their meal.

Director Su gave everyone an hour and a half of free time. They could wander around Suji Town, but he strictly forbade them from going near the river and had two teachers accompany them.

"Auntie Zhao, where's Momo? Why haven't I seen her?" Xia Yao walked to the door and asked Zhao Tieying.

"She went out to play with her two cousins and hasn't come back yet." Zhao Tieying smiled. "Sweetie, when are you going back to the city?"

"We're leaving tomorrow morning, heading back to Mountain City."

"Mountain City? That far away?" Zhao Tieying's voice immediately rose. "Then... will you come to Suji to play again someday?"

"That'll have to wait until school is on break. If I have time, I'll come to Suji again." Xia Yao smiled and nodded. "Then you get back to work, Auntie. I'll come find Momo later."

"Okay." Zhao Tieying answered, then turned to settle customers' bills.

"Yaoyao, when you were taking orders just now, you really looked like the boss's wife." Deng Hong linked arms with Xia Yao as they walked out, smiling mischievously.

"Mm, you definitely had the air of one." Zhu Yuyu linked her other arm. "Yaoyao, you two seem pretty familiar."

"He saved my life. It was only a small favor, and he's a pretty good person." Xia Yao smiled faintly, then looked at the two of them warningly. "But there's nothing between us, so don't get any strange ideas!"

"Fine, fine, nothing means nothing. Let's look around over there instead. We won't go into town, right? I'm really too lazy to walk that far." Deng Hong suggested.

Xia Yao glanced toward the restaurant and nodded. "Okay."

The news that the college students had eaten lunch together at Zhou Erwa Restaurant, were extremely satisfied, and could not stop praising it quickly spread through the factory workers who had eaten there.

This was fresh news, practically big news at the Textile Factory.

Zhou Erwa Restaurant was located at the factory entrance. For the past two days, people had smelled the fragrance of beef while going to and from work, but after hearing the prices, most had given up on the idea of trying a meal there.

But hearing that college students and professors from the city had eaten there and all said it was good made people want to give it a try.

The restaurant remained busy until the Textile Factory was nearly back at work.

Zhou Yan tossed two small lumps of dough into an enamel basin beside him and shook out his aching hands. The bowls of Noodle Mince and toppings had all sold out. They had completed their target of one hundred servings ahead of schedule, and quite a few customers who wanted noodles had failed to get any.

"These college students brought in so many customers at lunch. We even sold sixty-two servings of Qiaojiao Beef." Zhao Tieying came in carrying a basin full of earthen bowls, her face beaming and her steps light.

"I figure there'll still be plenty of customers tonight. I'll go buy meat and vegetables later and make another fifty portions of Noodle Mince." Zhou Yan said with a smile. "These college students really gave us a huge GG."

"Mom! Mom..."

"Mom, look! We caught eels!"

The voices of Zhou Momo and Fanwa rang out from outside.

"Good heavens, did you go play in the fields? Look at all that mud on you!" Zhao Hong's voice followed. "Zhou Lihui! I told you to keep an eye on your auntie and Fanwa, and you took them into the fields to roll around in the mud!"

Zhou Yan and Zhao Tieying went outside to look.

Zhou Lihui and the two little ones were covered in mud, each holding an eel in their hands. Zhou Lifan's face was completely smeared with mud; only his eyes and teeth were white, making him look utterly ridiculous.

"I swear, I..." Zhao Hong grabbed a feather duster from nearby and marched toward her two sons.

"Fanwa, run!" Zhou Lihui threw down the eel in his hand, grabbed Zhou Lifan, and took off running.

Zhao Hong chased after them, shouting, "Stop right there! I swear, I'm counting to three..."

"Sis-in-law, forget it, forget it. If you're going to beat them, remember to come back for dinner after." Zhou Yan couldn't help laughing. Those two kids were really having a complete childhood.

Zhou Momo did not run. Her two little hands tightly gripped a large eel that weighed nearly three taels. Even her toes were tensed with effort as she proudly held it up. "Mom! Brother! Look, a big eel!"

Zhou Yan secretly glanced at Zhao Tieying. If she got too angry in a moment, he might have to grab Zhou Momo and run too.

Zhao Tieying did not fly into a rage. Instead, she smiled, stepped forward, and crouched down. "Oh my, my little girl is so capable. You caught such a big eel. Want Mommy to make Braised Eel for you tonight?"

"Yes!" Zhou Momo nodded her head, delighted beyond measure.

"Then stand there. I'll wash your little feet clean before you go inside. Then I'll give you a bath and change your clothes." Zhao Tieying took the eel from her hands and walked into the restaurant with a smile.

"Why aren't you giving her a talking-to?" Zhou Yan asked with a smile.

"She had so much fun, and she even caught an eel to bring home. What's there to scold her for?" Zhao Tieying brought out a basin of warm water. As she wrung out a towel, she said, "Your dad gets covered in mud every time he goes fishing too, and he never catches a thing. I never scold him for it."

"When it comes to life, being happy matters most."

Zhou Yan smiled too. How wonderful. He had a mother who knew not to spoil the fun.