It had been a week after the rescue mission, Heero continued his retirement life in Miao Miao Noodles Shop. Since the day Heero brought back the secret spices with him, the business of Miao Miao Noodles Shop was very good than ever.
Yes, Heero put the secret spices into the broth and it created a great improvement to the noodle overall tastes. With three spices a new noodles menu created, Sweet and Spicy Noodles, Umami Broth Noodles, and Special Sour Noodles.
Amongst the three menus, Umami Broth Noodles seemed to be the favorite of the general customers. The perfect harmony of sourness, sweetness, bitterness, and saltiness in Umami Broth Noodles, it became the most sold menu in Miao Miao Noodles Shop.
Meanwhile, Special Sour Noodles was the favorite of the elder. Most of the elderly customers ordered Special Sour Noodles. Even though it was called Special Sour Noodles, there was a little sweetness and a little spiciness mixed with the sourness that dominated the broth.
Apparently the elderly quite liked the sourness in Special Sour Noodles. As for the Sweet and Spicy Noodles, it was the favorite for people who liked spicy noodles. The sweetness and spiciness perfectly blend in Sweet and Spicy Noodles attracted a lot of teenagers.
It was a week after the launch of the three menus, but the business of Miao Miao Noodles Shop was booming. Starting at 11 am, the shop would be fully packed until 2 pm.
Three hours after that, the shop still had frequent visitors but started at 5 pm, the shop would be fully packed again until 9 pm. Even lately, Han Ying had to close the shop late with the sudden growing customers.
The people from the neighborhood district also attracted to Miao Miao Noodles Shop which was growing in fame.
The sudden growth of customers and by providing the spices, Heero's position also promoted to one of Miao Miao Noodles Shop owners with a thirty percent share. In short, Heero would get thirty percent of profits generated by the shop by providing the secret spices. He was still a waiter though.
"Fuwah!" Right at 2 am, the customers began leaving the shop, leaving a few of them who still enjoyed the unfinished noodles.
Heero wiped his sweat off with the towel on the cashier. He did not expect that he would sweat by doing this odd job. Even so, Heero had a satisfied smile each time he saw a content look on his customer.
Just as he wiped his sweats, the door opened. Heero rushed to the entrance, with a big smile, Heero greeted, "Welcome to Miao Miao Noodles Shop~"
The person who entered was Blacksmith Huang. He returned Heero's greeting with a small laugh, "Hoho, as energetic as usual, it's good to be young."
Blacksmith Huang tapped Heero's shoulder two times and walked to the counter. Blacksmith Huang was one of the old regulars of Miao Miao Noodles Shop. He preferred eating on the counter rather than on the table.
Moreover, since the noodles shops had a new menu. Blacksmith Huang never came at lunch hour as it crowded. In the last week, he always came at this hour.
Blacksmith Huang walked to the counter while hammering his back.
"Little Hong, Umami Broth Noodles with Lizard Meat topping, please." Blacksmith Huang ordered his favorite noodle.
Heero recently noticed Blacksmith Huang had a backache. He nodded his head and went upstairs.
Actually, in the last week, Heero had been researching various kinds of plants. He wanted to create his secret spices based on the available plants in the wilderness around Star City.
The dungeon was just too far. Last time, Kang Dong Woo prepared a bullet train for him, it took only four hours to reach Jilin town and another half hour to reach the dungeon.
But if he had to take a normal train, it would take him twelve hours. Moreover, he had to pay 230 WD for one trip. So he needed to take out 460 WD for the train ticket. He was so reluctant to pay 460 WD and decided to research the plants around here.
He found many useful herbs and various kinds of new plants. With his result of researching these plants, Heero made medicine for Blacksmith Huang's backache.
He was going upstairs to retrieve the medicine. He prepared two kinds of medicine. He took two bottles with him, one bottle contained a green tablet while another bottle was a mashed dried green herb.
When Heero reached downstairs, there was an additional person besides Blacksmith Huang. It was a woman wearing blue jeans and a plain black shirt.
Heero of course recognized this woman, she was Yun Xia. She was the one who published and promoted his book to the world.
"Good Afternoon, Editor Yun Xia~" Heero greeted with his big smile.
As for why he called Yun Xia with that name, it because she liked being called like that. Hong Yu gave him the tips for this. Sure enough, Yun Xia showed a rare satisfying smile. She nodded her head in return.
Then Heero put the two bottles in front of Blacksmith Huang.
"What is this? I want my noodles, not these weird things." Blacksmith Huang exclaimed.
"Hehe, Uncle Huang this is a medicine I made for you. I recently noticed you suffered from backache, So I made this medicine for you."
Blacksmith Huang frowned. It was not that he did not appreciate Heero's kindness. In fact, he was quite happy there was someone cared for him. However, he really knew Heero well. Heero was just a mere waiter in this shop, how could he make a medicine.
Heero also knew Blacksmith Huang's concern. It was normal if Blacksmith Huang was dubious with the medicine. After all, he was merely a waiter in the noodle shop.
"Just try it, Uncle Huang. I made the medicine with a genuine herb. It might not be effective, but it will not cause any harm to your body." Heero tried to persuade Blacksmith Huang.
"Just try this one." Heero pointed to a bigger bottle contained a mashed green herb.
"Soak the herb with a hot towel and pasted it on your back, fifteen minutes to thirty minutes before sleeping and do the same in the morning as well. Please do it for three days."
Heero explained how to apply for medicine.
"If your backache gets better, you can drink a tablet in the smaller bottle. You can drink one tablet in the morning and one tablet before sleeping. It will completely heal you from backache."
Hearing Heero's explanation that sounded convincing and additional the youth's kindness for caring for him, Blacksmith Huang nodded his head.
"Good, I will give a try." Blacksmith Huang nodded his head.
Blacksmith Huang never suspected Heero would poison him of course. There's nothing Heero could take from him as he was only a poor blacksmith from the outer region.
Heero let out a big smile as he managed to convince Blacksmith Huang. There were only a few customers, the shop was not that busy. Heero went out of the shop to get fresh air.
Outside, Heero saw Butcher Wang was coming back earlier from hunting. He got a big catch as he saw three black boars were laying down on the cart. Butcher Wang pulled the cart with a young man.
Heero recognized the young man. He was a hero, Wood Class Hero - unranked. Yes, Hero League only listed the top 100 rankings. Unranked meant the young man was not in the top 100 rankings.
Sun Zhou Yi, he was a fine man. He was modest, kind, and respectful even to the people of the outer region. Sun Zhou Yi also was quite famous around here as he often helped the people around here.
Just like he helped Butcher Wang. Sun Zhou Yi was one of the few heroes who accepted an odd job request just like helping Butcher Wang in hunting. He had been Butcher Wang's hunting partner for several months despite the low reward.
Heero quite liked this Sun Zhou Yi. He was like a rare existence in this city. Light amongst the darkness? It was Heero's impression of this young man.
"Good afternoon, Brother Xing~" Sun Zhou Yi greeted Heero enthusiastically. The same as Heero, Sun Zhou Yi was also quite energetic.
Thanks to Butcher Wang often treating Sun Zhou Yi at Miao Miao Noodles Shop. Heero and Sun Zhou Yi became acquainted and they often exchanging banter each time they met.
"Yo~" Heero nodded, "You guys have a big catch today!"
Three black boars that two times bigger than an adult. It was indeed a big catch. With this big catch, Butcher Wang did not need to go hunting for a while.
"Hahaha…" Butcher Wang let out a sonorous laugh, showing how happy he was to catch three black boars.
Butcher Wang and Sun Zhou Yi pulled the cart to Butcher Wang's shop. When they came out, Butcher Want wanted to drag Sun Zhou Yi to Miao Miao Noodles Shop.
"Sun, I will treat you a bowl of noodles with a lizard meat topping. Come on!"
Lizard meat was quite a famous topping in the shop, but it was also the most expensive topping. Treating Sun Zhou Yi a bowl of noodles with lizard meat topping, it showed how generous Butcher Wang was.
However, to Butcher Wang's surprise, Sun Zhou Yi refused his generous offer.
"I am sorry, Uncle Wang. We finish hunting earlier today, so I want to spend my time with my girlfriend." With an embarrassed smile, Sun Zhou Yi refused Butcher Wang politely.
"Hah, you are right. There's no way someone like you want to accompany an uncouth uncle like me." Butcher Wang pretended to be disheartened which was making Sun Zhou Yi flustered.
"It's okay, Sun! I am just joking, hahaha…" Butcher Wang laughed.
"It's surely fun to tease you." Butcher Wang added.
"But I am serious about treating you the lizard meat though. We will have that next time, okay?'
Sun Zhou Yi only scratched his hair and nodded to Butcher Wang in an embarrassed smile. Butcher Wang went directly to the noodles shop afterward while Sun Zhou Yi bid his farewell to Heero and left.
Heero also followed Butcher Wang to the shop. Having a chat with Butcher Wang was enjoyable.
"Sweet and Spicy Noodles with lizard meat topping, please!"
When Heero entered the shop, he heard Butcher Wang resounding voice ordered his favorite Sweet and Spicy Noodles.
Heero came into the kitchen to lend a hand. When he entered the kitchen, Hong Yu faced Heero with a concerned look.
"Dear, lizard meat is almost run out!"
Heero only brought a few kilos of lizard meats. Even though they cut the meat into a thin slice, but lizard meat was their hot topping.
"I guess I have to make a trip to Jilin Town again tonight."
After saying that, Heero got closer to Hong Yu and whispered, "And before I go, I want to get my reward first. You still owe me a looooooong kissssssss~"
Hong Yu's face reddened and peeked at her sister. She was relieved when she found her sister did not hear their conversation.
"I will give you a reward after you go back. Not tonight, moreover, it was your fault from the start. Why were you inviting my sister to have a barbecue at that time?"
Hong Yu refuted in a low voice.
"Heh, my girlfriend seems to be greedy to not wanting to share the delicacy with her own sister." Heero teased Hong Yu and added, "But we can do that in my cozy cabin. Your sister would not be able to see."
The blush on Hong Yu's face became more apparent when these words entered her ears.
"Heh, do you think I will fall into your trap? Never, I will never enter your room until we officially married."
Hong Yu refuted with her reddened face and immediately ran away after that. She brought Butcher Wang's order to the counter.
Heero let out a content laugh as he saw her girlfriend running away from him.
With that said, Heero would make a trip to the dungeon once again. He took 5 pm train with a reason that he could back earlier. This time, Heero had no choice but to make a trip to Jilin Town and spent 460 WD for the train ticket.
Moreover, he also had not found substitute crops for his secret spices. He had to get the stock of his secret spices while doing the research.
As he was taking the train, Heero realized the train prepared by Dong Woo was a special train for him. The train he currently took, it had no private room, but packed with a passenger seat only. Heero had to sit for twelve hours, there was no computer, and his smartwatch also broken. It was a boring trip.
When he reached Jilin Station, Heero immediately departed to the dungeon. Different from before, this time Heero came here only to get Hover Flame meat and spice crops.
The dungeon was still guarded by heroes, but it was a piece of cake for Heero to enter the dungeon with his stealth.
In four hours, Heero killed ten Hover Flames and got many spice crops. He concluded his task only in four hours and ordered the train ticket to Star City. It was a smooth yet also boring trip.
Right at 10 pm, Heero arrived at Star City train station. He dashed back to the noodles shop. He could not wait for the reward.
However, when he reached the noodles shop, Heero saw a crowd gathered around the noodles shop. He was surprised at first. It was ten in the evening, but there was still a crowd lining up.
Heero delighted at first, but when he reached the noodles shop. He realized the crowd was not lining up for the noodle shop, but watching ten men ganged up one person. Moreover, he recognized the person who got beaten black and blue. He was Sun Zhou Yi, the unranked Wood Class Hero.