Bichir Tavern.
"Sir, this is Clegane noodles." The shopkeeper said respectfully, holding a handful of noodles in both hands.
A red cloth strip was used to bind something that Count Oder had never seen before.
Judging by its length, the noodle dagger consisted of pale yellow strips bound with red cloth, but no knots were visible. The cloth strips closed seamlessly into a loop. The red cloth strip indeed bore the Clegane family crest: three black dogs.
Count Aude took the noodles and tossed them between his fingers. To his great surprise, the noodles were all uniform in size and shape, and they were dry to the touch, and they did not stick together.
The count was a high-ranking nobleman, and he had never seen anyone make noodles so that every single strand was the same size. Even the most experienced chef couldn't do that.
The noodles were dry, fine, non-sticky, and uniform in size—something the Earl had never heard of or seen before.
Count Aude pulled out several noodles, which lay in his palm like dry sticks, straight and unbent, unlike any noodles he had ever seen in decades.
The noodles the count ate were short, thick, and irregular, all freshly made by the servants in the kitchen.
Several centurions and the innkeeper stood respectfully in a circle, looking at the noodles as if they were some novel thing that had come from across the Narrow Sea.
"Is it delicious?" Count Ode asked.
He was completely captivated by the noodles' appearance. The sheer uniformity of each noodle gave the count a sense of orderly beauty, like well-trained soldiers in perfect formation. This was a noodle-viewing experience the count had never had before.
"My lord, it's delicious." The shopkeeper dared not lie, his face full of wrinkles from smiling, making him look very unpleasant. "Sir Polliver said that this noodle dish has eggs, a special broth, and snow salt in it."
"Oh!" Count Ode said, half-believing, "How can you prove it?"
The shopkeeper smiled awkwardly and said, "Sir, I can't prove that eggs were added, but salt and seasonings were."
"Oh, you've already eaten."
"Sir, Clegane noodles can be eaten raw; you can try them now."
Count Aude was startled again.
He had never heard of noodles that could be eaten raw.
The count picked up a noodle, put it in his mouth, and tentatively bit down. With a slight crunch, the noodle broke. After a few chews, a delicate salty aroma came from the tip of his tongue.
It had a fresh and delicious aroma that the Earl had never experienced before.
The count was also a gourmet; he could taste the salt and spices on his tongue, but he couldn't discern the flavor of the egg.
But this already surprised him greatly.
This is the first time I've ever heard of, tasted, or seen noodles that can be eaten raw.
The count was greatly astonished.
"Cook a bowl and try it," the count said, his voice still maintaining the composure of a great nobleman.
Lannesport maintains trade with the world, and the Earl is a well-traveled man. The Old Town Academy also has many new inventions every year. The Earl's ability to adapt to and accept new things is not as shallow as that of someone who has never seen the world.
"Yes, sir!" the boss replied respectfully.
The count casually pulled out a small handful of noodles as a snack, then returned the bundle to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper bowed, nodded, smiled apologetically, and then left respectfully.
The count noticed that several centurions' eyes were fixed on the'snack' noodles in his hand.
"None of you have tried it?" the count asked, a hint of curiosity in his voice.
The centurions nodded in unison.
The count looked somewhat incredulous: "Didn't Deng Sen and the others let you try the food? Then tell me about your injuries."
Bud Lannitz smiled obsequiously: "Sir, I was just separating Deng Sen from beating the boss when Deng Sen accidentally punched me in the eye. We won't get into a fight with Deng Sen. He's a beast, and we're civilized people. Otherwise, we would have really started fighting."
"Deng Sen assaulted his boss?"
"Yes, sir. Dunsen and Pollifer come to sell noodles, forcibly taking money before giving the owner the noodles. They even arrogantly stipulate that the owner must deliver a certain amount of high-quality flour to Clegane every month, and then they will process the flour into noodles and sell them to the owner, charging five copper cents per pound of noodles. They are extremely domineering and tyrannical," said Barrow Lanny, touching his injured nose.
*
The cloth covering his nostrils had been removed, and the nosebleed had stopped. He had only taken one punch from Deng Sen, and the nosebleed had started flowing uncontrollably.
In Lannesport, for over a decade, these business owners had never encountered forced sales, and Dunson and Pollifer never showed the noodles to the owners first; the owners refused to accept noodles that were never easy to sell. Although the vicious dog was infamous, in Lannesport, the law had been strict for over a decade, and the people's sense of authority to 'find the guards' in case of trouble was deeply ingrained.
The fear of the Demon Mountain felt by the bosses living in comfortable environments was far less than that felt by the nobles, because ignorance breeds fearlessness.
It wasn't until Dunsen and Pollifer actually did it in front of the garrison centurion that the bosses, realizing the situation was turning against them, began to back down.
Despite Bud and Barrow's somewhat disheveled appearance, they had only taken a punch and a kick from Dunsen and his men, rarely suffering a second blow, as the bosses quickly realized the ruthless bandits they had encountered. The centurions, who had always maintained an image of integrity and authority, dared not use force against the Cleganes, and could only politely persuade them to stay before rushing back to report to the Earl.
The centurions, including Bard, said they hadn't fought with Clegane's mad dogs, and they were telling the truth. Moreover, they weren't angry about being punched, because Dunsen and Polliver didn't draw their swords. The centurions knew Dunsen and Polliver's group; they were the type to resort to violence at the slightest provocation.
However, Dunsen and his men did not use swords in Lannesport; they only resorted to physical violence. To the centurions who knew them, Dunsen and his men had already demonstrated a high level of civility and self-control.
Moreover, even several centurions attacking together might not be a match for Dunsen alone. Although Dunsen had joined Clegane's ranks with the Mountain, he was still a ruthless killer even in Casterly Rock. Polliver, on the other hand, was infamous for his cruelty and neuroticism in Casterly Rock. Both he and Dunsen were notorious rogue warriors in Tywin Lannister's 500 elite guards.
Even if Lord Tywin Lannister tolerates them, and they run rampant in Casterly Rock, it's best to maintain peace when they come to Lannisport. Besides, they only used their fists, not their swords.
*
After learning the details, Count Odd remained silent, refraining from commenting on the Mountain's business practices for the time being. He distributed the'snack' noodles to several loyal family subordinates, and they all enjoyed the raw noodles together, each holding a few strands and crunching them loudly in their mouths.
It was everyone's first time eating like this, and they all thoroughly enjoyed the meal. Everyone wore expressions of surprise and nodded frequently at each other.
Although the quality of these Clegane noodles did not meet the Mountain's expectations and was far from the snow-white noodles he remembered from his previous life, and the thickness and quality of the noodles were also not high, in this very backward semi-pastoral and semi-agricultural civilization, things are valued for their rarity and novelty. The counts and centurions had been completely conquered by a few strands of raw noodles with eggs, snow salt, spices and carefully prepared seasonings.
This texture is incomparable to bread that I've eaten for decades and become numb to.
When a large bowl of noodles, fragrant with the aroma of dried noodles and steaming hot, was served, the count and several centurions made no attempt to hide the movement in their throats, their tongues drooling as they swallowed large mouthfuls of saliva.