The Qin Family’s happiness has just begun.
Longevity noodles are just a small appetizer.
Considering that not everyone is like Qin Luo, who can have a bowl of chicken soup noodles and still eat another meal, Qin Huai made mini-version special longevity noodles for New Year’s Eve today, with a very small portion.
For a person with a normal appetite, even after finishing a bowl with both noodles and soup, they’re usually only half-full.
Mr. Qin and Granny Qin are older, and their appetites are far less than before, so their mini-version longevity noodles have an even smaller portion.
Not only are the longevity noodles mini-version, but the Four Happiness glutinous rice balls are also mini-version.
Of course, everyone is oblivious to the tiny portion reduction. Qin Luo doesn’t care, and Qin Congwen and Zhao Rong didn’t even notice that the super delicious noodles in front of them are the chicken soup noodles Qin Huai made before at the Yunzhong Restaurant, and thought it was new product learned from Gusu, like the Four Happiness glutinous rice balls.
People like Qin Xiuli and Granny Qin wouldn’t know either, they would just think that snacks in big cities are , with small portions.
He Cheng eats the slowest.
It’s not because his appetite is small, like Qin Luo, He Cheng, who’s also in the first year of high school, is the one who can eat the most in the Qin Family, with a slightly larger appetite than Qin Luo.
As for why Qin Huai knows He Cheng’s appetite is slightly bigger than Qin Luo’s, it’s because last year during the New Year, He Cheng ate half a bun more than Qin Luo.
Moreover, that was just the first round, after eating the first round at the Qin Family, He Cheng had to go to his grandpa’s house and symbolically eat a bit of the second round, illustrating a considerable appetite.
A growing boy can eat his father poor. At this growing age, He Cheng eats as if swallowing mountains and rivers, like a fierce tiger attacking prey without holding back.
He Cheng eats slowly because he is reluctant.
Throughout the first semester of high school, he either ate at home or in the school cafeteria. Although He Cheng’s high school is in the City, the school meal isn’t much better than that in the county. Occasionally, having some steamed dumplings from the Sha County snack place at the school gate at night is considered improving his diet.
During this half year, He Cheng has been eagerly looking forward, like awaiting sunlight breaking from a deep mountain, finally bringing his dear cousin Qin Huai back.
When eating Fermented Rice with Steamed Buns in the morning, Qin Luo maliciously targeted him, giving him the smallest pair.
Back then, Qin Luo thought He Cheng was slacking off instead of pouring water for Qin Huai and used the most extreme outrageous means against his cousin. He picked and chose from the basket of buns, and from those of almost assembly-line size, picked out two small ones for He Cheng.
He Cheng smacked his lips, feeling as if he had forgotten the taste of the Fermented Rice with Steamed Buns from the morning.
Anyway, they were delicious!
They smelled of alcohol, but they weren’t sweet, soft, yet chewy. Compared with the Fermented Rice with Steamed Buns he had in the morning, the white steamed buns sold at their school in the morning should have been massively whipped.
Those buns were large and hard, dry and not fluffy, and after a few bites, it felt like crumbly bun bits sticking to his tongue that needed water to wash down.
Of course, this can’t entirely blame the school’s buns, they still have their advantages.
One and a half beats per bun, large and solid, if one knew it was a bun, otherwise one might think it was a noodle pancake. With such an appetite, two and a half buns could make He Cheng roll his eyes.
He Cheng sips the chicken soup.
Granny Qin is excellent at raising chickens, rearing at least a dozen each year. Buying chicks in spring and raising them until the New Year.
From New Year’s Eve to the fifteenth of the first month, the young hens would sacrifice themselves to the dining table for the New Year. Granny Qin raised the chickens so well that the young hens were tender, suitable for soups, or braised or even for making white cut chicken.
Even the eggs from those hens were more fragrant than others’.
Young hens go to the New Year dining table, while the older hens were kept for laying eggs, which has been Granny Qin’s habit for many years of raising chickens.
This year, to make Qin Huai’s longevity noodles, the family’s elder hens, all seven without missing, ended up in the pot.
When Granny Qin slaughtered the hens, she felt a pang of heartache, considering whether to save one. But thinking it was needed for her dear grandson, she thought the old hens died deservedly and put them all into the pot with a resolute bite.
Now it turns out, indeed, they died deservedly.
He Cheng carefully drinks the last sip of soup, shamelessly lifting the bowl to cover his face and secretly licks the rim.
The chicken soup was already delicious enough, let alone now cooked with noodles, realizing a wonderful blend of carbohydrates and fat.
Thinking of the chewy noodles he just had, He Cheng swallowed a mouthful of saliva, put down the bowl, restrained his impulse to lick it clean, and asked, "Brother, are there any more noodles? I’d like another bowl!"
At the Qin Family’s New Year’s Eve banquet table, if you don’t have enough, you can ask, and if there’s more, you can have more.
There’s no competition, gun smoke, flashing blades, plotting against each other, or any stratagems needed. The only thing required is the appetite.
The pastry serves generously.
No need to worry about not having enough, only about not being able to finish.
"There are, but I don’t recommend you eat now, there are plenty of snacks today. If you have another bowl, you might not be able to eat the snacks. Start with the Four Happiness glutinous rice balls, and if after tasting all the snacks you still have room, you can take some noodles from the big iron pot in the room." Qin Huai advised sincerely.
The silly child, didn’t he notice that no one else asked this question? Because everyone else has started on the Four Happiness glutinous rice balls, only he is still reminiscing about the longevity noodles.