Chapter 206 Sharing Instant Noodles

After sending off Zhou Yimin, Ding Shengtai and Zhao Jiadong couldn’t wait to ask questions.

“Father-in-law, what’s Yimin’s background?”

From what he had just said, there was no way he was someone ordinary. They didn’t have the ability to dig up Zhou Yimin’s exact background, but the old man was a different story.

“His father, Zhou Xuhua, went to the northwest to take charge of a key scientific research project. He’s one of the leading figures and someone Marshal Nie greatly values.

Besides, even setting his father’s identity aside, his own inventions are very significant. Mr. Zhou himself said Zhou Yimin is a good comrade.

You two—make sure to keep in touch with him more in the future.” Old Zhao’s face, which had appeared flushed from drinking earlier, now showed not a trace of drunkenness.

One could only say: ginger gets spicier as it gets older!

These old foxes sure know how to act.

Zhao Jiadong and Ding Shengtai sucked in a breath of cold air.

My god!

Zhou Yimin’s father is someone Marshal Nie holds in high regard, and Zhou Yimin himself got praise from Mr. Zhou? Damn! That’s invincible! Who would dare mess with him now?

No wonder the old man had said what he said earlier.

Even if Zhou Yimin publicly talked about those things he mentioned just now, it probably wouldn’t cause any trouble.

Ding Shengtai felt a little crushed.

He had thought bringing Zhou Yimin to dinner would let the guy latch onto the Zhao family’s coattails.

He never expected that it was them who were reaching above their station.

…

When Zhou Yimin returned to the siheyuan, he was told that Director Li’s son, Zhao Zhenguo, had come by.

“Yimin, he left two boxes of something for you. Don’t know what they are—doesn’t seem too heavy. I’ve got them in my place,” said Luo Dapeng.

The aunties and elder women in the front yard all glanced over.

Truth be told, they were curious too. Two big boxes? That was a lot!

And they knew Zhao Zhenguo was a manager at the instant noodle factory.

Zhou Yimin followed Luo Dapeng into his house and carried the two boxes out. Just from looking at them, Zhou Yimin already had a pretty good guess what was inside.

Sure enough, it was as he expected: this was the first official batch of instant noodles, specially reserved for him by the factory.

Zhou Yimin opened the box.

Just as he thought—pack after pack of instant noodles.

Each box had thirty packs.

Luo Dapeng caught on as well.

“So these are instant noodles?”

The phrase “instant noodles” wasn’t unfamiliar to the residents—they’d been hearing about it a lot lately. After all, the original noodle factory had been renamed the Instant Noodle Factory and had recruited thousands of new workers. Quite a few people from the siheyuan had even gone to register at the neighborhood office.

Unfortunately, none of them had been selected.

Not only that, but they had also heard the noodles were for export.

And in everyone’s minds, anything that was good enough to export had to be top-notch.

So naturally, many were curious: what exactly were these instant noodles?

“That’s right.” Zhou Yimin handed a pack to Luo Dapeng.

“How do you eat it?”

Zhou Yimin told him, “You can eat it dry—there’s a seasoning packet inside. Just break the noodles up, add the seasoning, and eat. Or you can add boiling water to soak it. It’s really convenient. Try it for yourself.”

“I’ll give it a go,” Luo Dapeng said, excited to try soaking the noodles.

As for dry eating, he decided to pass—it just didn’t sound very convincing.

Who eats dry noodles?

Everyone else was sneaking glances—they clearly wanted a taste too, but were too embarrassed to ask.

This stuff was for export and brought in foreign exchange—who wouldn’t want to try it? But they also knew that instant noodles were probably expensive, and it wasn’t right to just ask for it.

“Youde, come help me divide these up. Let’s give one pack to each household in the courtyard so everyone can try it,” Zhou Yimin said.

They were just instant noodles—Zhou Yimin didn’t care much.

The ones he remembered from the supermarkets in his past life tasted better anyway. The White Elephant brand only cost 5 cents a pack.

“Got it!” Li Youde came over eagerly.

The courtyard residents all praised Zhou Yimin’s generosity.

Getting one pack just to try the taste was enough to make them happy.

Luo Dapeng quickly put one noodle brick into an aluminum lunchbox. Following Zhou Yimin’s instructions, he emptied the seasoning packet into a bowl, then poured in boiling water to cover the noodles and closed the lid.

“It’s already smelling good.”

Even though everyone had received a pack, no one else had opened theirs yet. They all watched Luo Dapeng, carefully observing how to prepare it so they wouldn’t mess it up and waste their one shot at real instant noodles.

“Mmm, smells really good. No wonder they’re for export. No wonder foreigners like them,” an elderly man said.

He really admired Zhou Yimin’s willingness to share. He respected him for it, knowing he couldn’t do the same himself. So he never tried to pressure neighbors into generosity—he wasn’t the type to morally blackmail others.

After about three minutes, Zhou Yimin reminded, “Dapeng, it should be ready.”

Luo Dapeng quickly opened the aluminum box, and a wave of rich, savory aroma wafted out.

Everyone around couldn’t help but twitch their noses, greedily inhaling the delicious scent.

Oh my! This smelled incredible.

Who would’ve thought that just a simple noodle brick—no meat or anything—could smell this good? It was unimaginable.

Luo Dapeng picked up a small bite and shoved it in his mouth without caring about the heat. He chewed happily, then sipped a bit of the broth. Seeing his elderly mother and other family members nearby, he handed over the lunchbox.

“Mom, you’ve got to try this—it’s really good.”

Everyone finally understood why it was called “instant noodles.”

It really was convenient.

Just pour in hot water and wait two or three minutes—no need to light a fire, boil oil, or anything. It couldn’t get easier.

Luo Dapeng’s whole family took turns trying a bite, and when they were done, they even poured in a little more water, swirled the box, and drank every last drop of broth.

The others in the courtyard gulped, but resisted the urge to eat their packs just yet.

It’d be such a shame to eat it right away!

These were goods for export, stuff that could bring in foreign exchange. Even if you had money, you might not be able to buy them. If not for Zhou Yimin, they wouldn’t have had a chance to even see instant noodles, let alone each get a pack.

However, the kids in each household started making a fuss.

Except for the two foster sons in Cheng Siguang’s family. Those two were so sensible it broke your heart.

In fact, after Cheng Siguang returned, he immediately soaked their pack of noodles and split it between the two boys and his wife. They weren’t family by blood, but they were closer than many real families.

Zhou Yimin himself didn’t eat any noodles—he had eaten so many in his past life that he was sick of them.

In fact, instant noodles were even criticized in later years as junk food, with claims they had no nutritional value.

Even though instant noodles contain the six major nutrients the human body needs—water, protein, fat, carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamins—the quantity and quality left a lot to be desired.

For example, they were low in protein and lacked high-quality protein sources; high in fat, mostly saturated fats; and limited in vitamins and minerals.

But in this era, people didn’t have the luxury to be picky. Just having food to eat was already a blessing.

And let’s not forget—they were noodles.

Noodles were refined grains!

What more could you want? Dragon meat?

(End of Chapter)