Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Oil was poured onto the iron plate to form a thin layer and applied evenly.

Xu Le, who happened to have prepared cold noodles in advance, took out one of them and used a spatula to flip it on the iron plate. He gently pressed on it, and with a sizzling sound, the cold noodles turned golden brown.

On the other side, the beaten egg was added, along with black sesame seeds and scallions.

When the egg slightly solidified, he moved it aside and began to fry the ingredients at the center of the flame.

After frying the ham sausage, bacon, chicken and cheese, the grilled cold noodles were already cooked. Xu Le asked, “What flavor do you guys want?”

Lu Yuxi stuck her head out and said, “What’s there? Tomato sauce, salad dressing, and what’s that beside it?”

“Cold noodle sauce and salty and spicy flavor.”

“I want cold noodle sauce.” Lu Yuxi followed the fragrance in and said, “Don’t add any lettuce for me. Give me an additional piece of cheese.”

As Xu Le complained about how she was “almost as fat as a pig’s head”, he nimbly added another slice of cheese for her. The bacon chicken and seaweed pork floss were covered with melted golden cheese, making one drool at the sight of it.

The cold noodles were rolled up and cut into sections from the middle with the hotplate knife. Then they were placed onto the plates and eaten with bamboo sticks.

Xu Tian and Sun Zhi asked for the salad dressing and tomato sauce. Xu Le made several plates at once and carried them to the table.

The lamb spine pot was still stewing noisily on the stove. Once the lid was removed, the steam and fragrance rushed out.

Xu Tian leaned on the edge of the cabinet and said, “Brother, they seem to be laughing.”

“They?”

Xu Le was stunned.

Xu Tian pointed at the pieces of lamb spine in the pot and said, “Brother, think of this as the eyes and this as the mouths. Look, aren’t they smiling?”

Xu Le followed his sister’s lead. He looked at the pot of lamb spine and felt that they seemed to be laughing with their mouths wide open. He could not help but say, “Children really have a rich imagination.”

The lamb spine had already been stewed. Everyone was waiting for Li Qing to return. Xu Tian picked up a piece of grilled cold noodles and fed it to Xu Le first. “This is made by brother. Brother contributed the most. You should eat first.”

“Okay.”

Xu Le took a bite. The cold noodles were crispy and springy. The outer skin that had been evenly smeared with egg was soft and fragrant. After biting it open, the overflowing cheese wrapped around the bacon and chicken. If one chewed carefully, they would be able to taste the fragrance of the pork floss and seaweed. The texture was rich and delicious. It was really addictive.

Sun Zhi stuffed mouthful after mouthful into his mouth. He had been wolfing down every meal and everyone was used to it. Only Xu Tian stared at him in surprise and said sternly, “Don’t choke.”

Sun Zhi nodded fervently and said, “It’s too delicious. The ones I buy usually don’t even add that much ingredients to it! The pork floss and grilled cold noodles are a perfect match!”

Lu Yuxi’s cheeks were puffed up as she gave Xu Le a thumbs up. “When I was in school, there were some sold at the school gate. But this is the first time I’ve eaten such delicious grilled cold noodles!”

While everyone ate a few pieces of cold noodles to fill their stomachs, Sun Zhi ate like a whirlwind, burying his head in his food. Auntie Liu felt a little embarrassed as she covered her face and reminded him, “Eat slowly. It should be almost enough for you. There’s still the main dish later.”

Finally, the doorbell rang. Li Qing entered with the cold air surrounding him. When he saw the people sitting around the table, he paused and said, “I bought what Lu Yuxi wanted. What are you guys doing?”

“Welcome, welcome!”

“Welcome to being a part of the Eight-year-old cafeteria!”

Lu Yuxi stood up happily to welcome him. Suddenly, there was a loud bang that made everyone’s ears tingle.

Xu Le was shocked and looked at Lu Yuxi. “What are you doing?”

Lu Yuxi was holding two stainless steel basins that she had gotten from the kitchen. She was also stunned by the sound and said, “I just wanted to celebrate. Who knew that this thing would be so loud?”

Xu Le couldn’t help but laugh while everyone was still in a daze. “You have so many bad ideas.”

Lu Yuxi put down two stainless steel basins and invited, “Li Qing, come over quickly. We’ve prepared a welcome meal for you. It’s stewed lamb spine! I’m dying of hunger and you still haven’t arrived.”

“Oh.”

Li Qing was a little flattered. He looked at Xu Le gratefully and sat down to pick up his chopsticks.

The lamb spine still had plump mutton hanging on the bones. It was thin and not dry, and the spices covered up all the mutton stench.

Every bite was filled with the meaty texture. Li Qing chewed on it and nodded. “The fire control is just right. It’s soft but not dry. Did you add some spices in it? It tastes like the fragrance of fruits.”

“That’s because you came back just in time.”

Xu Le thought for a while and said, “It should be the sweet fruit. I added two.”

Li Qing was a little cold when he came back from outside. After a few mouthfuls of mutton, his entire body felt warm. He nodded in satisfaction and said, “It’s delicious. Let me give a toast to you…”

He sipped on a glass of wine and suddenly remembered that Xu Le was only eight years old and could not drink. His hand froze in midair awkwardly.

Xu Le poured a glass of orange juice and clinked glasses with him. “I will drink this.”

“Please take care of me in the future, Master Xu.”

Li Qing admired him from the bottom of his heart.

The enoki mushrooms and the bean skin were added into the soup. After they were cooked, they contained the essence of the soup. The radish was soft and sticky. After eating the lamb spine, everyone felt extremely comfortable.

They were full from the drinks and meal.

On the way back, Xu Tian bounced happily and said, “Brother, let’s eat the ‘laughing meal’ again next time. It’s delicious.”

Lu Yuxi looked up in confusion. “What’s ‘laughing meal’?”

“That’s right!”

“She’s talking about the lamb spine,” Xu Le told her. “Because the hole in the bone looks like the eyes and mouth are laughing, so she said it’s laughing.”

“Oh.”

Lu Yuxi thought about it carefully and said, “That’s really true.”

When they reached home, Xu Le was changing into his slippers. When he lowered his head and was tidying up the miscellaneous items at the entrance, the system notification rang.

“Congratulations to the host for receiving 600 gourmet points. Please check your account.”

Xu Le was elated. He wondered, “Is it because I have reached the required number of likes?”

He turned on his phone and saw that the video of braised pork that he had posted a few days ago had reached 2.4 million likes. He frowned and said, “Did the system malfunction?”

Just as he was thinking about this, Lu Yuxi, who was playing with her phone on the sofa, screamed excitedly, “Xu Le, come and see this!”

“What is it?”

“Come over quickly! The video of you cutting tofu last time! Forget it, just search your account directly. It’s the official account of the Eight-year-old canteen. I’ve only uploaded one video and it has already exceeded three million likes!”

“No wonder…”

Xu Le muttered to himself and immediately searched for the video she had mentioned. He clicked on it and saw that the rough editing was just like Lu Yuxi’s usual style. In the video, he was cutting the tofu and various side ingredients very carefully.. The entire process was not recorded and many of the steps were written in words by Lu Yuxi.