Liu Ruyi had used half a year to prove one thing — anything that Li Yi liked to eat would definitely taste good.
Therefore, after a while, there was another beautiful young lady sitting at the noodle stall eating noodles on the side of the street, in addition to the two noble young masters with extraordinary bearing.
The lady stood in the stall, rubbing her hands nervously. The stall had always served uncouth people. Even if they were slightly noble, they wouldn't eat noodles here. She couldn't handle the scene in front of her.
The skinny little girl had a faint smile on her face, revealing two cute canine teeth. If she wasn't too skinny and didn't have much flesh on her face, she would also be a beautiful little girl.
"Madam, give me another bowl." Li Yi put down the bowl. He had even finished the soup, but he still felt like he hadn't had enough.
Even he himself was curious why he had such a special liking for the noodles of this noodle stall. He felt a sense of familiarity, as if he had eaten it a long time ago, and more than once.
"Ah!"
It was rare for a distinguished guest to like to eat her family's noodles. The lady responded, and the smile on her face grew wider. She hurried to prepare the noodles.
Li Xuan cast a disdainful look at Li Yi's behavior.
He had received the etiquette of the royal family since he was young. He only ate until he was 70% full. No matter how much he liked the food, he wouldn't eat a second bowl.
He wiped his mouth, pushed the empty bowl to the side, and said, "Madam, cook another bowl. I want more noodles."
Just now, he clearly saw that the noodles in Li Yi's bowl were at least 20% more than his. How could a dignified heir lose to him in this kind of thing?
When he ate the second bowl of noodles, Li Yi slowed down. After all, although the bowl was a little small, the amount was not little.
He looked up at the lady and asked, "The sauce that Madam just put in should be a secret recipe passed down in your family, right?"
Li Yi had eaten a lot of noodles in his two lives, so he was quite knowledgeable about it. The noodles could only be considered average, but the soup was really delicious. It was not inferior to the famous old restaurants in his previous life.
In the past, those elegant young masters would never look her in the eye when they passed by. The woman had never met such a kind noble before. She smiled and nodded, saying: "Noble's guess is correct. This sauce has been passed down from our ancestors for several decades."
"Looks like it's an old shop." Li Yi smiled and said, "The taste of this noodles is inexplicably familiar. I feel like I've eaten it somewhere before."
"You're not from the capital, are you?" the woman asked.
Li Yi shook his head and said, "Don't call me 'Nobleman' anymore. I'm really not from Beijing."
"Then … Young Master must have remembered wrongly. Our ancestors were all in the capital, and this secret recipe has never been shown to anyone. It's impossible for Young Master to have eaten it anywhere else." The nervousness in the woman's heart had almost disappeared. When talking about the secret recipe, she couldn't help but say a few more words.
Li Yi didn't continue the question. Perhaps he really had eaten similar noodles before, but it was in another world.
After all, there was already a bowl of noodles at the bottom. This time, he only ate half of the noodles and finished the soup. Li Xuan rubbed his bulging stomach and imitated the woman to drink the soup. If this scene was seen by the imperial censor, he would at least reprimand him for losing his royal bearing.
The woman began to clean the bowls and chopsticks while the little girl wiped the tables and chairs with a cloth. The weather was still cold after the Lantern Festival, but her forehead was covered in a fine layer of sweat.
Bang!
A muffled sound suddenly came from the side. A large foot immediately appeared on the table that the little girl had just wiped. What followed was a strong smell of foot odor.
"Lady He, it's time to pay the membership fee."
Li Yi covered his nose and looked at the rough man as if he was looking at a gas bomb.
Miss.Liu had the fastest reaction. She had already pinched her nose and moved far away. The big man's foot was placed on the table next to Li Xuan, less than a foot away.
Li Yi clearly saw his face turn from red to white and then green. Then, he suddenly turned his head and covered his mouth to retch.
Seeing him so disgusted that tears were about to flow down, Li Yi secretly sighed. He had eaten the noodles just now for nothing.
When seeing the big man, the little girl's face turned pale and she quickly ran behind the woman.
The woman's face was pale. She looked at the big man and said in a trembling voice, "Master Hu, didn't we just pay this morning? Why …"
"Stop talking nonsense!" The big man impatiently waved his hand and said, "This is my territory. I can collect whenever I want and however many times I want. If your noodle stall wants to continue operating here, then give me the money!"
Li Yi looked at this scene in surprise. The security in the capital of the country was actually so bad under the emperor's feet?
How could the people collecting protection fees be so brazen?
If this was in Qing 'an Prefecture, which ruffian would dare to be so arrogant? They would have been beaten half to death by Liu Yiyi.
Ever since he discovered the dark phenomenon of collecting protection fees in the city, under Li Yi's instigation, Liu Yiyi had thoroughly reorganized the ruffians and idlers in the city. He invited them to the county office for tea for a few days, and after that, there were no more cases of protection fees. Instead, a group of burly men could often be seen picking up trash on the streets. The hygiene of the city had immediately improved a lot. It was said that the magistrate had specially praised County Magistrate Liu for this and listed him as a role model for other counties to learn from …
The woman said with a bitter face, "Master Hu, I really don't have any money. You took all the money this morning. We only did business with a few customers this morning. We really don't have any money …"
"No money, let me see!" The burly man called Tiger Lord kicked over the table in front of him and jumped inside. He picked up a worn-out wooden box on the ground. After opening it, he picked out a few copper coins from inside and casually threw the wooden box on the ground. He said, "Damn, it's my bad luck to have met a poor ghost like you!"
Liu Ruyi frowned. Just as she was about to walk over, she stopped in her tracks when she saw an officer patrolling the streets not far away.
"What are you doing?"
Seeing the patrol officer walking over from afar, the man waved his hand and said, "Brother Song, it's nothing. Do what you need to do. I'll treat you to a drink tonight!"
"Don't go overboard!"
The patrol officer said, waved his hand, and turned to leave.
Li Yi was dumbfounded. Was this really the capital city?
Could the collusion between officials and bandits be more obvious?
No wonder the woman did not look happy when she saw the patrol officer walking over. Instead, she turned even paler. It turned out that the officials were in cahoots with the people collecting protection fees?
The man took the copper coin, cursed inwardly, and was about to leave.
However, someone would not let him leave so quickly.
Li Xuan's eyes seemed to be spewing fire. He kicked the man away.
A long time ago, Li Yi knew that while he looked gentle and weak on the surface, he was actually quite skilled. At that time, when he had forcefully dragged him to Ning Wang Fu, he had no power to resist at all.
"Who the f * ck …"
The man was quite powerful. He got up from the ground in a roll and cursed. Before he turned around, he was sent flying again.
Li Xuan pinched his nose. He did not want to go near that guy anymore. He waved his hand and retreated to Li Yi's side.
Most of the time, Li Yi wondered if he had a split personality. When he was serious, he could be elegant and polite, making it impossible for anyone to find fault with him. But when he was hedonistic, he was the standard spoiled brat, swaggering through the streets with a bunch of lackeys. With just a wave of his hand, two guards would walk over and trample on the man like a human sandbag …
Seeing the elegant young master suddenly become so fierce, the overlord of this generation, "Master Hu", could only hug his head and beg for mercy. The woman's mouth was wide open, and she could not come back to her senses for a while.
The little girl clutched the corner of her mother's clothes tightly. Tears were still hanging in the corner of her eyes. She stared blankly at the man rolling on the ground and clenched her fists.
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