Chapter 5: The Strange Noodle Shop Whose Noodles Are Addictive

Yan Xiaoyue, having finally made it to the county town, pointed at Jin Chao beside her and said, “When can we get our marriage certificate?”

She knew that military personnel needed to file a report to get married, but now that they were already married, and it was to the military man she loved, she couldn’t wait to get the certificate.

“I’ve already filed the report. We can get the certificate once it’s approved,” Jin Chao glanced at the woman beside him. Seeing her behavior today, he knew she wasn’t an airhead.

But what she did yesterday didn’t seem like something a smart person would do.

Recalling last night’s scene, Jin Chao felt an unusual tenderness, but he lowered his eyes, a coldness flashing in them.

Seeing Jin Chao, who had just been slightly gentle, now radiating coldness, Yan Xiaoyue didn’t want to spoil the mood. She grabbed her second brother and went to a nearby restaurant.

“Second brother, I’m hungry after walking all morning. Let’s go eat.”

It was noon, and the noodle shop was unusually crowded, with some people even squatting at the entrance, bowls in hand.

She wanted to try the noodles from this shop.

“Shall we go to the one next door?” Yan Shu felt irritated and didn’t want to squeeze in.

“This one. If we’re eating, let’s eat something good,” Yan Xiaoyue directly ordered three large bowls of noodles. There were no seats, so she sat at the entrance, bowl in hand, to eat.

After the first bite, she froze. The taste was off, not good at all, yet the business was booming. Something was definitely wrong.

She discreetly glanced at Jin Chao, raised her eyebrows, and said, “My stomach hurts. Second brother, watch over the noodles. I’ll be back soon.”

She walked a short distance before Jin Chao caught up.

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s something wrong with that noodle shop. Let’s report it to the police,” Yan Xiaoyue had detected something in the noodles after the first bite.

“Something wrong?” Jin Chao raised an eyebrow. He had taken a bite and hadn’t noticed anything unusual.

“Yes, you wait here. I’ll go report it to the police first,” Yan Xiaoyue thought she could get there faster and report it before Jin Chao, whose leg was still recovering.

While he could walk seemingly without much issue, she was still worried about his long legs.

“Let’s go together,” Jin Chao decided to go with her.

Yan Xiaoyue didn’t understand why, but she didn’t object. She just felt that Jin Chao was different from the character in the book she had read.

The book described Jin Chao as full of deathly aura, but the man before her was clearly full of vitality.

Around the corner was a police station. Upon entering, Jin Chao bumped into someone. “Jin Ge, what brings you here?”

A tall, bearded man walked forward, clapping Jin Chao on the shoulder.

“Don’t mess around, Zhang Haiyang. My wife has something to report,” Jin Chao stepped aside, revealing Yan Xiaoyue behind him.

“Hello, I think I’d like to speak to you privately,” Yan Xiaoyue didn’t want to alert anyone. She had no evidence and couldn’t rely solely on her word to convince the police.

Zhang Haiyang looked at them both before taking them into his office.

“Direrctor Zhang, I tasted the noodles from that popular noodle shop across the street. They didn’t taste good, but they were strangely addictive because they contained an illegal substance – opium poppies,” In the countryside, almost every household used to grow them. Many people only used the husks to make broth, which tasted quite delicious. Others used it as a painkiller. After the government banned it, people gradually stopped growing them.

“Are you serious?” Zhang Haiyang was taken aback. If this was true, the noodle shop was essentially setting off firecrackers in front of the police station.

“Serious. But I think you should send someone unfamiliar to collect evidence. And ensure no one in your police station leaks information,” Yan Xiaoyue raised her eyebrows. “If I were the owner, I’d have an informant inside the police station.”

She was thinking from the owner’s perspective – better safe than sorry.

“Did you eat it too?” Zhang Haiyang turned to Jin Chao.

Jin Chao hadn’t spoken a word since entering.

“No, but you can investigate as she suggested,” Jin Chao nodded, agreeing with Yan Xiaoyue.

Yan Xiaoyue pulled Jin Chao aside. “Take your time investigating. Jin Chao and I will go back to eat.”

“Did you order noodles? How about you pack one back for us?” Zhang Haiyang’s eyes lit up.

“We could, but if you search them in front of everyone, they might not cooperate,” Yan Xiaoyue considered all possibilities.

The police needed to handle this themselves.

“Comrade Yan, thank you. If your report is accurate, we will reward you,” Zhang Haiyang patted his chest. This was a matter of great public interest. With so many customers, if they ate only a little, it might not show, but over time, it would become addictive.

Yan Xiaoyue waved her hand. “Direrctor Zhang, I don’t want a reward. You handle the investigation. My family is too poor to handle this.”

She didn’t want people to find out it was her who reported it, which would bring trouble to her family.

The Yan family was already fragile because of Wang Yunyun, and any further trouble would be devastating to her parents.

She valued her life.