Chapter 221: This Bowl of Noodles is Delicious
The wheat fields of Gao Village had produced a bumper harvest.
When the villagers weighed the grain they had reaped, they were stunned by the yield. In previous years, a good harvest in a prosperous year might yield one or two dan of wheat per mu. This year, each mu yielded two to three dan.
Every household stared at their overflowing granaries, their faces split with grins.
"This must be thanks to the 'Celestial Fertilizer' the Tianzun provided."
"Absolutely.It's the fertilizer's doing. Couldn't possibly be because I weeded well."
"Once we started using the celestial fertilizer,not only did the crops thrive, even the weeds in the fields grew like mad. I had to weed constantly just to keep up."
"Praise the Tianzun."
"Last year,I made a wish at the Cave of the Daoist Mystic Tianzun, praying for favorable weather and a bountiful harvest this year. And here it is! I must repay my vow."
His words sparked a realization in another villager. "You're right! For the better part of a year, we've received so many blessings from the Tianzun, yet we've done nothing for him in return."
"Everything we've eaten and used was bestowed by the Tianzun.We can't very well offer back what he gave us. But this grain, we grew with our own hands. We can use our harvest to honor him."
"Agreed!"
All the villagers who had harvested wheat reached a unanimous decision.
"If we're offering wheat, we should make our Chengcheng County's signature traditional dish: hand-torn noodles."
The proposal was met with instant approval.
(Fact: Hand-torn noodles, or 手撕面, are a specialty of the Shaanxi loess plateau region. The dough is pulled, stretched, and torn entirely by hand—no rolling pins, knives, or tools allowed. The resulting noodles are irregular, chewy, and carry the literal imprint of the maker's effort. Offering such a labor-intensive, "human-touched" dish was considered the highest form of culinary devotion.)
Using something made purely by hand to honor the Tianzun would best express their sincerity.
The old village elder spoke up. "The Tianzun is a vast divinity. His hand, when open, spans ten zhang. If our offering of hand-torn noodles is too small, he cannot partake. Therefore, we must make an exceptionally large bowl of noodles."
"At least as large as the red pool he lowers to give us the Happy Water of the Homebody."
Gao Chuwu's father proposed, "Each family can contribute several dou of wheat. Combined, we can make one enormous bowl of noodles."
Zheng Daniu's father pointed out a flaw,"But a pool that large… we have no pot big enough to cook it in."
"We cook it separately.Each household prepares an enormous wooden bathing tub. Each tub cooks just one giant noodle. Then, every family brings their single noodle, and we assemble them together into one giant bowl."
"Brilliant!"
The villagers of Gao and Zheng Families immediately sprang into action...
Noon...
Li Daoxuan sat at his computer, slurping a bowl of Guangxi Luosifen. The smell of fermented bamboo shoots and sour beans was… an experience, but it tasted pretty good.
He was happily slurping away when he noticed unusual activity in the village. All the villagers seemed to be busy with the same task: setting up enormous wooden bathing tubs in their courtyards and boiling water.
"Why is everyone deciding to bathe all of a sudden?" he wondered.
Sensing something special, he left his computer and sat before the crate to watch the spectacle unfold.
While the tubs heated, the villagers began making dough. Huge sacks of flour, vast basins of water, kneaded into gigantic balls of dough. Kneading such massive lumps was back-breaking work.
The head of each household used every ounce of his strength, standing on stools, jumping to apply weight, or dividing the dough into smaller balls to knead before combining them again.
Once kneaded, the enormous dough ball was pulled, stretched, and thinned entirely by hand… into a single noodle at least ten centimeters long.
The little people themselves were less than a centimeter tall. The noodle they created was over ten centimeters—impossible for one person to carry. They hired strong laborers from the short-term workers' village. Together, they hoisted the giant noodle onto their shoulders like a massive serpent.
Chanting in unison, they slowly lowered the colossal noodle into the tub of boiling water.
And it wasn't just one household. Every family that had harvested wheat was doing the same, meticulously synchronizing their efforts so every noodle would finish cooking at the same time.
Li Daoxuan watched, utterly baffled. "What on earth are they doing?"
The giant noodles roiled in the tubs. The old village elder of Gao Village, acting as timekeeper, watched closely. After a precise interval, his white eyebrows shot up. "Time's up! Assemble quickly!"
Hired laborers hoisted the heavy tubs and hurried toward the village center.
There, in the middle of the square, sat a familiar red plastic pool—the lid from a large mineral water bottle.
One by one, the villagers poured their single, cooked noodle into the bottle cap. One noodle, then another, and another…
Soon, dozens of noodles filled the cap. The village elder brought over a huge basin of prepared seasoning—salt, sugar, and some unidentifiable local herbs—and poured it over the noodles. Then Gao Chuwu stepped forward, stirring the contents of the bottle cap with an enormous wooden stick.
Only then did Li Daoxuan understand. They were making a giant pool of noodles.
No way…
It can't be what I'm thinking…
It was exactly what he was thinking.
After Gao Chuwu finished stirring, all the villagers of Gao and Zheng Families turned their faces to the sky and shouted in unison, "We thank the Tianzun for his protection, for granting us a year of abundance. We offer Chengcheng hand-torn noodles to the Tianzun!"
"May the Tianzun's benevolence endure!"
"Boundless longevity and blessings!"
The villagers roared, then bowed deeply as one.
Something soft and vulnerable in Li Daoxuan's heart was struck. These tiny little people… why do they hit me right in the feels like this?
He reached his hand into the crate, toward the tiny mineral water bottle cap.
Gao Yiye saw it and cried out, "The Tianzun is reaching for the hand-torn noodles! He's taking them!"
The villagers erupted in joy. "The Tianzun is accepting our offering!"
They danced, cheered, and roared, watching as the red pool rose into the sky, vanishing into the low-hanging cloud.
Li Daoxuan lifted the bottle cap out of the crate and examined it closely.
Despite the villagers' monumental effort, the noodles they made only half-filled the tiny cap.
So adorable.
He almost couldn't bear to eat it… but he had to.
He tipped his head back and poured the contents of the cap into his mouth. The noodles that had seemed like giant serpents to the little people were, to him, delicate, thin strands. He couldn't bring himself to swallow them quickly. He chewed slowly, savoring the flavor. Though lacking the complex seasonings of the modern age, this bowl of noodles…
…was truly delicious.
(Fact: This act of communal offering, where each family contributes one element to create a single, shared gift for a deity, mirrors real Ming-era village rituals known as "拼供" (pín gòng) or "assembled offering." It was common during harvest festivals, especially in poor regions where no single family could afford a grand sacrifice. The ritual strengthened communal bonds as much as it honored the gods, turning gratitude into a collective, tangible act.)