Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Silver thread noodles are the most demanding of craftsmanship. Good noodles must be silver in color, as thin as silk, and not mushy after long cooking. If you can make this kind of noodles well, other noodles will be no problem.

Shen Yu and Doctor Sun followed Manager Fan to the kitchen.

The restaurant's kitchen was large, and fully equipped with all the necessary utensils. In one corner, a long chopping board was supported by a wooden shelf, and next to it were several large jars with lids.

Shen Yu put down the small bag in her hand, rewrapped her hair, rolled up her sleeves, asked for an apron and put it on, washed her hands with water, and asked for a large bowl, put a pinch of fine salt into the bowl, and dissolved it with warm water.

A waiter had already brought a bucket of water, removed the lid of the large jar where the flour was stored, and stepped aside to watch curiously.

In modern times, Shen Yu likes to make her own bread and snacks. She uses much less sugar and oil than those sold in cake shops, so they taste healthier.

After doing it many times, the dough became very obedient in her hands.

She looked at the flour, twisted it with her hands, put it through a flour sieve with fine holes, scooped a large bowl of flour into the sieve, and sifted it carefully twice.

Pour the sifted flour onto the chopping board, make a small well in the middle of the flour, estimate the amount of water used, and slowly pour the prepared salt water in, stirring while adding, and quickly knead it into a dough.

Follow the method of kneading bread dough, roll, fold and knead the dough until the surface is smooth and chewy. When the dough is chewy, set it aside and cover it with a piece of cloth to relax it a little.

While waiting for the noodles to rest, Shen Yu asked Shopkeeper Fan whether he wanted to cook the noodles, as he didn't know what topping to make for the noodle soup.

Shopkeeper Fan saw that she looked confident and moved skillfully. She looked weak, but was very powerful when kneading the dough. He believed her about 80% and began to calculate how much salary he would have to pay her to keep her.

When Shen Yu asked what kind of noodles she wanted to make, she called over a thin cook who was watching nearby and asked him to use the noodles made by Miss Shen to cook a bowl of vegetarian noodles for her to try.

The simpler the toppings and the less seasonings used, the more the quality of the noodles can be tasted.

The thin cook agreed and started preparing on the side.

After waiting for a while, Shen Yu sprinkled some dry flour on the dough board, slowly rolled the dough into a thin layer, folded it several times, raised his knife and made a series of sharp sound. He picked up the dough and shook it, and the thin and long silver noodles were ready.

He rolled a small bowl of noodles into a silvery shape and placed it on a prepared plate beside him. He then turned around and handed it to the thin cook who was waiting nearby.

The thin cook had already put lard, sweet soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, fine salt in a bowl, boiled water, and was waiting to cook.

I took the noodles and put them into the boiling water. The thin silver noodles are easy to cook. After a swirl in the boiling water, they are cooked and scooped out. They are placed in a large soup bowl with the soup ingredients prepared. A spoonful of hot noodle soup is added, and a few chopped green onions are sprinkled on. They are respectfully brought to the table in the middle of the kitchen and chopsticks are placed on it.

Shopkeeper Fan sat down and used chopsticks to stir the noodles. The aroma spread with the heat. After stirring evenly, he took a chopstick of noodles and put them in his mouth. He was amazed. He chewed them carefully, picked up another chopstick of noodles and swung them. They were very elastic, really silver in color and thin as silk, but smooth in the mouth. The soup was refreshing, with silver threads floating in it and emerald green onions dotted in between. It was better than the original one made by Chef Yang.

Shopkeeper Fan did not look at it carefully. He ate all the noodles with a few chopsticks and drank a few mouthfuls of soup. He put down his chopsticks with a satisfied look on his face, wiped his noodles with the cloth handed to him by the waiter, stood up and called Shen Yu and Doctor Sun, saying, "Please follow me, let's talk in the side room over here," and then walked out.

Arriving at the side room, the three of them sat down at the table. Manager Fan said directly, "Miss Shen, you are very good at making noodles. Your wages will be settled on a monthly basis, three taels of silver a month, and meals will be provided every day. I wonder if you think this is suitable."

Shen Yu was relieved when she heard that Shopkeeper Fan agreed to let her stay. She smiled and was about to nod her head in agreement when Doctor Sun said, "Shopkeeper Fan, do you have accommodation for the kitchen staff? Do they go home after closing every day, or is there a place for them to rest in the restaurant?"

"Most of the kitchen workers and waiters live in the town. After the doors are closed at night, they pack up and go home. None of them live here. Miss Shen, where do you live?"

Shen Yu heard this and answered honestly: "I am from the same village as Doctor Sun. It is too far to go home every day. I have to find a place to live in the town."

Alas, three taels of silver are needed to rent a house. I wonder how much it costs?

Shen Yu felt painful just thinking about having to pay for renting a house before earning a penny.

After listening to this, Manager Fan pondered for a moment and said, "There is a small courtyard at the end of the alleyway behind the restaurant. There are three tiled houses. They were the old houses of the owner. After the owner became rich, he moved his family to the county and the courtyard became empty. The side rooms are usually used to store old tables, chairs and other household items that have been replaced. There is a room on the west side that is still empty. It can be cleaned up and people can live in it. It's just that no one has lived there for a long time, so it's a bit dirty and messy."

Shen Yu was overjoyed to hear that there was a free house to live in, and nodded hurriedly: "It's fine as long as it's liveable. It doesn't matter if it's dirty or messy, just clean it up."

What’s the big deal about dirt and mess? Saving money and making money to live a good life are the top priorities, and everything else comes second.

In this way, Shen Yu found his first job after traveling through time and became a glorious noodle chef.

Doctor Sun saw that Shen Yu had found a place to live and had nothing to worry about, so he said goodbye and left.

Shen Yu, who now has a job, asks Doctor Sun to tell Li that he is safe and has started working smoothly, so she need not worry.

Doctor Sun told her to take good care of herself, and said some polite words to Shopkeeper Fan, saying that he hoped he could take care of his young niece, and then went back to the village.

Shopkeeper Fan called a waiter, took a big key tied with a cloth hanging on the wall of the wing room, and asked him to take Shen Yu to the small courtyard at the end of the alley to help clean up a place to live.

Shen Yu bowed to Manager Fan, went to the kitchen to get the small bag he had brought with him, and followed the waiter out the back door.

The alley is very shallow. You can see the end of the alley as soon as you go out. It's only a few steps away. The waiter asked curiously as they walked: "Miss Shen, you are really amazing. I heard that the noodles you make are better and finer than those made by Chef Yang?"

Shen Yu smiled shyly and said, "Brother, you are too kind. I just make noodles often at home and am quite skilled at it. Although I have never seen the noodles made by Chef Yang, I heard that his noodles are thin and chewy and very popular. We will work together in the future. I am new here and there is nothing I don't understand. I hope you can give me some pointers. What should I call you, brother?"

"My last name is Liu, and I am the fifth child in my family. You can just call me Liu Wu, young lady."

"Brother Liu Wu, I'll trouble you to take good care of me from now on."

After hearing this, Liu Wu felt that this girl was approachable and humble, unlike other chefs who, because of their skills, always looked down on their fellow chefs with a condescending attitude, looking down on others and never being polite when speaking.

As they were talking, they arrived at the gate of the courtyard and Liu Wu took out the key to open the door.