Chapter 42: The Most Precious Memory

Lin Xiao had no time to dwell on it.

Following his prior agreement with Xu Tao, he extracted this memory to make it easier to replicate the target later, and then withdrew from the sea of memories.

"How is it? Can you pull it off?" Xu Tao asked the moment Lin Xiao opened his eyes.

Lin Xiao shook his head.

"Even you can't handle it?" Xu Tao looked somewhat disappointed.

"That's not it. Replicating this bowl of clear soup noodles is not a problem," Lin Xiao replied.

His ability allowed him to replicate items not only from his own memory but also from the memories of others, provided that he possessed the complete memory and not some indirect, second-hand recollection.

The minimum cost for replication was 1 point of source energy, meaning even a simple bowl of clear soup noodles could not be produced for any less.

"Really? I knew you could do it!" Xu Tao beamed with surprise, but then complained, "Then why did you shake your head just now? Were you teasing me on purpose?"

"I shook my head because... well, I mean no harm, but don't you think Madam Lu's clear soup noodles are rather ordinary?" Lin Xiao suddenly understood why all the top-tier chefs hired by Lu Mingyuan had failed to replicate the dish.

Those master chefs, whose culinary standards consistently scored above 95 points, could neither imagine nor bring themselves to cook noodles that barely reached a 60-point level.

Hearing this, Xu Tao paused for a moment and replied, "Now that you mention it, I suppose that's true. Whenever I ate at Uncle Lu's house as a child, I always felt a bit disappointed whenever the missus made noodles."

Xu Tao pondered for a moment before continuing, "Still, that doesn't matter. As long as you can replicate that bowl of clear soup noodles, it'll be fine. Even if we find the taste a bit lacking, as long as Uncle Lu likes it, that's enough."

Lin Xiao shook his head. "No, that's too perfunctory. I still want to find out the reason behind it if possible."

"Then what do you want to do?"

"Have you ever seen Madam Lu make these noodles?"

"If I recall correctly, I think I've seen it a few times."

"Show me that memory!"

"Alright... since you insist."

Lin Xiao walked behind Xu Tao once again, pressed his hand against the back of Xu Tao's head, and entered the sea of memories...

Bright nighttime lighting cast sharp shadows across the kitchen floor.

Madam Lu, wearing a faded blue plaid apron, was busy at the stove.

Through Xu Tao's eyes, Lin Xiao watched her every move.

Two pots sat on the stove: one contained boiling plain water, bubbling and steaming.

The other held a clear broth made from shiitake mushrooms, which had clearly been boiled earlier and was now cooling down.

Lin Xiao looked curiously at Madam Lu, wondering why she needed two pots.

Couldn't she just boil the noodles directly in the shiitake clear broth?

And why use shiitake clear broth as a base in the first place?

He knew that normally, rich broths were made using large marrow bones or chicken to achieve a much heavier fragrance.

Madam Lu ladled the shiitake broth base into a large bowl, testing the temperature with the back of her hand.

Then she picked up a package of ordinary dried noodles, habitually giving them a shake and a fold.

With two crisp, sharp cracks, the long dried noodles were easily snapped into several sections.

Lin Xiao: "???"

Normally people were afraid of the noodles breaking, yet she actively snapped them?

Watching Madam Lu drop the noodles into the pot of boiling water, she then began chopping scallions to prepare the condiments.

Lin Xiao noticed that Madam Lu skillfully sliced off the white parts of the scallion, and then selected only the very tip of the green part—about five centimeters—finely chopping these two sections into tiny bits.

Meanwhile, the middle section of the scallion green and the transitional part near the white stalk were set aside and left unused.

Lin Xiao understood this action: the two parts chosen by Madam Lu avoided the areas with a stronger, pungent spice.

Was this seemingly tedious and meticulous process due to Mr. Lu disliking spicy or pungent flavors?

Having grasped this operation, Lin Xiao recalled Madam Lu's other actions, and a quiet answer seemed to form in his mind.

By this time, Madam Lu had prepared the condiments and was silently waiting for the noodles in the pot to cook through.

Time ticked away, and the noodles were boiled noticeably longer than usual.

This reminded Lin Xiao that when he had tasted the noodles earlier in Xu Tao's memory, they had felt a bit too soft, lacking any real texture.

Yet Madam Lu simply watched intently until the noodles reached a soft, almost translucent state.

She scooped the noodles out of the pot, placed them into the lukewarm shiitake broth base she had prepared earlier, sprinkled on the chopped scallions and seasonings, and then carried the bowl toward the dining table...

...

Lin Xiao withdrew from the memory.

"Did you discover anything?" Xu Tao asked immediately.

"Does Mr. Lu have poor teeth? At least one side of his molars?" Lin Xiao countered.

"How did you know! Uncle Lu's left molars are ruined, and for some reason he refuses to get them replaced with good implants," Xu Tao said in amazement.

"Does Mr. Lu have high uric acid? Mild gout?" Lin Xiao asked again.

"Incredible! You could tell that just from this?" Xu Tao was even more astonished.

Through Xu Tao's confirmation, Lin Xiao knew he had found the answer. He asked one final question: "He dislikes spicy things, and eats very quickly?"

"Can my memories really tell you all of this?" Xu Tao found it hard to believe.

Lin Xiao nodded. He had finally found the answer.

No wonder Mr. Lu remained so deeply attached to this bowl of clear soup noodles—this was a delicacy cooked exclusively for him by a wife brimming with infinite love.

If he hadn't witnessed Madam Lu cooking the noodles with his own eyes, how could he have possibly understood?

Mr. Lu had bad teeth, so Madam Lu deliberately extended the boiling time.

Eating excessively long noodles would require taking large mouthfuls, which was inconvenient for chewing with only one side of his teeth, so she broke them into several segments.

She avoided heavy meat broths because Mr. Lu had high uric acid.

She avoided the middle and transitional parts of the scallions because Mr. Lu disliked pungent flavors.

She controlled the temperature of the noodle soup because Mr. Lu ate quickly, fearing he would burn himself.

Through these tiny, minute details, Lin Xiao perceived the deepest love a wife could have for her husband.

"Sigh—" Lin Xiao let out a long sigh.

"What is it? What's made you so emotional?" Xu Tao asked, patting Lin Xiao on the shoulder.

Lin Xiao recounted everything he had witnessed in the memory to Xu Tao.

After listening, Xu Tao widened his eyes and said, "Those memories are far too distant for me. If you hadn't observed so carefully, I truly wouldn't have noticed any of this."

"I want to tell Mr. Lu what I saw," Lin Xiao paused before continuing, "I think this is very important to him."

Xu Tao was startled, then immediately said with joy, "You should! Absolutely! For Uncle Lu, these details might even be more important than eating the bowl of noodles itself!"

Then Xu Tao added happily, "Lin Xiao, bringing you along this time was the best decision! You always bring surprises to people! Others would at most think of making the noodles, but you managed to think even further..."

Faced with Xu Tao's praise, Lin Xiao merely smiled and shook his head, "I just wanted to bring a little comfort to this respectable old man."

"The comfort you're giving is huge! I'm sure Uncle Lu will reward you handsomely. What do you want?" Xu Tao asked excitedly.

Lin Xiao remembered Huang Lingzhao's plea and said, "If Mr. Lu could help me find a piece of Millennium Holy Spirit Wood, that would be wonderful. I can pay for it."

Xu Tao blinked. "What do you want that stuff for? Never mind, I won't ask."

Smiling, Xu Tao continued, "You're underestimating Uncle Lu too much. How could he possibly let you pay for it? Do you know what the brush holder on Uncle Lu's desk is made of?"

"Don't tell me it's Millennium Holy Spirit Wood?"

"More than a millennium—that's a piece of Holy Spirit Wood over two thousand years old! Its spiritual energy intensity is twice that of the millennium variety! What do you suppose a wood like that should be called?"

"Two-thousand-year Holy Spirit Wood—doesn't that still make it Holy Spirit Wood?"

"No, it should be called Elder Super-Spirit Wood!"

Lin Xiao: "..."

"Not funny? Why aren't you laughing?"

So cold, simply the king of stale jokes! Lin Xiao wore an expression of utter disdain.

On second thought, he let it go. The world hadn't entered the internet age yet; lame jokes were probably the peak of local humor.

"I'm going to make the noodles now. You wait outside." Lin Xiao pushed Xu Tao toward the door.

According to their previous agreement, Xu Tao could not be present while Lin Xiao "cooked."

After all, Lin Xiao couldn't just conjure a bowl of clear soup noodles out of thin air right in front of Xu Tao, could he?

When he was left alone in the kitchen, Lin Xiao briskly turned on the stove, boiled water, and dropped the prepared ingredients into the pot.

Once the bowl of clear soup noodles was ready, he picked it up and ate a large mouthful.

If he didn't do this, there would be no trace of the stove being used and no ingredients consumed. If someone asked where the noodles came from later, he couldn't lie, yet it would be hard to explain.

Having prepared everything, Lin Xiao gripped the amber memory shard of Xu Tao and retrieved Madam Lu's clear soup noodles directly from the memory.

Then he pushed open the door and said to Steward Li standing outside, "The noodles are ready. Please ask Mr. Lu to come over."