Instant Noodles

......

Night fell over the Xianyang Palace.

The first batch of solar lights transported here had been installed.

When the entire Xianyang Palace was illuminated by the bright lights as if it were broad daylight, everyone was utterly astounded by the scene before them.

Ying Zheng was overjoyed. In his mind, he could already envision how prosperous and flourishing the Great Qin would be in the future.

He immediately ordered a banquet to entertain his ministers.

Wang Er, Zhu Di, and Cheng Chumo sat in the seats of honor.

Looking at the large chunks of boiled mutton placed before him, Wang Er really could not bring himself to eat.

The food of the Qin Dynasty era was truly not something a person from the future like him could get used to.

"Mr. Wang, what would you like to eat? How about I have someone prepare another table just for you?" Ying Zheng naturally noticed Wang Er's discomfort.

After all, he himself had visited the future. He had sat in a villa drinking wine with Li Shimin and Zhu Yuanzhang, tasting the true delicacies of the modern world.

The flavor of those dishes, any single one of them, would be considered an absolute delicacy in Great Qin. Therefore, he could easily understand why Wang Er could not stomach the local food.

"No need to go to such trouble. I will just have someone deliver some instant noodles, and we can make do for tonight."

With that, Wang Er pulled a walkie-talkie from his pocket. After tuning the channel, he spoke into it, "Brother Lin, Brother Lin, are you done with your work over there? If you are free now, please do me a favor and deliver a box of instant noodles to me."

Seeing him speak into a dark, chunky box, everyone present was filled with confusion and bewilderment.

However, right at that moment, a voice emerged from the dark box in Wang Er's hand, "Alright, Young Master Wang. Xianyang Palace, right? I will bring it over right now."

"This, this, this..."

Everyone was shocked, their faces full of disbelief.

Ying Zheng was equally amazed. He knew that the technology of the future must be highly advanced, but he never expected that they could achieve conversations across space!

"Sir, may I ask what this object in your hand is? It can actually transmit sound!" Li Si could not help but ask.

Wang Er smiled and explained, "Oh, this is called a walkie-talkie. It is used for communication, and its effective range is about a hundred miles."

"What? It can allow direct conversation with someone a hundred miles away? A divine artifact! It is a divine artifact!" Feng Quji exclaimed.

Meng Tian spoke excitedly, "Sir, could our Great Qin possibly manufacture such a divine artifact? If it were used on the battlefield..."

Before he could finish, Zhu Di interrupted, "It is just a walkie-talkie, there is no need to make such a fuss. Besides, your Great Qin definitely cannot make it. Even our Great Ming cannot. This is considered high technology and requires a vast accumulation of knowledge."

"However, back when I was still in the Great Ming, I heard Mr. Xia say that this gadget is practically an obsolete product in the future."

Hearing this, the crowd was startled once again. "Such a miraculous item is considered obsolete in the future?"

Meng Tian could not help but say, "Sir, could you provide some of these walkie-talkies for our Great Qin? If used in the military, this item would surely make our Qin army as if aided by the gods."

Cheng Chumo laughed loudly, "Old Meng, broaden your horizons a bit. A walkie-talkie's effective range is at most a hundred miles. A radio station is the truly good stuff, capable of communication over much longer distances."

"What is a radio station?" This time, before Meng Tian could speak, Qin Shi Huang was the first to ask impatiently.

Subsequently, Wang Er carefully explained the uses of radio stations and walkie-talkies.

After listening, everyone was beyond thrilled.

"These things are not expensive either. In our future, we have as many as you want. Tomorrow, I will just have someone transport more over. However, the development of Great Qin cannot be achieved in a single leap. Many things need to start from the very basics. It will not be too late to discuss these high technologies later. For now, we should first improve the issues that can be improved," Wang Er said.

Li Si asked humbly, "Sir, in your opinion, where should our Great Qin start first?"

"Salt."

Wang Er spoke, "Salt is the foundation of life. The current salt in Great Qin is no good; it has too many impurities, and the taste is very strange."

"Oh? The salt used in the palace is all top-quality fine salt, yet you still think the salt of our Great Qin is no good, sir? Could it be that something like salt can also be made into many varieties in your future?" Ying Zheng asked.

"That is natural. The salt of the future is unimaginably better than you think. Let me put it this way: if you took the salt of your Great Qin to the future, people would probably disdain to even use it to feed pigs."

"This..."

Hearing Wang Er's words, the crowd really wanted to retort, but ultimately, they could only remain silent.

Just then, outside the door, a middle-aged man walked in carrying a box on his shoulder and a thermos of hot water in his hand.

The middle-aged man was impressively Brother Lin, the person Wang Er had just spoken to on the walkie-talkie.

"Sorry for the trouble, Brother Lin. Have a seat and eat with us," Wang Er stood up to greet him.

"No need, Young Master Wang. You all eat. There are still some matters at the base outside the city waiting for me to handle."

Leaving behind this sentence, Brother Lin left the place without looking back.

Wang Er then opened the box, revealing that it was filled with buckets of instant noodles.

The crowd gathered around curiously, and Qin Shi Huang asked, "Sir, is this the instant noodles you just mentioned?"

"Exactly."

Wang Er nodded, took out the instant noodles from the box, and distributed a bucket to everyone present. He then added, "Brother Lin only brought one thermos, and there isn't enough hot water inside. Brother Zheng, please have someone boil some more hot water."

Ying Zheng did not waste words and immediately ordered his men to do so.

Wang Er taught them how to open the instant noodles, then took the thermos and poured hot water for himself and Ying Zheng. The hot water in the thermos was just enough to brew two buckets.

"Alright, wait a moment for them to steep, and then we can eat," Wang Er said.

Soon, the aroma of instant noodles spread throughout the entire hall. Everyone's taste buds seemed to be activated at this moment, and their mouths watered uncontrollably.

"Not bad, not bad. I didn't expect these instant noodles to be so enticing just from the smell."

Ying Zheng also swallowed his saliva. Such a delicious thing, he did not expect that it could be eaten directly just by soaking it in hot water. It was simply too convenient.

"Alright, Brother Zheng, give it a try," Wang Er said with a smile after waiting for a while.

"Alright."

Qin Shi Huang didn't waste any time. He immediately lifted the lid of the instant noodles and began to taste it in front of the crowd. He was instantly amazed by the flavor of the noodles.

Very quickly, he finished the noodles in a few large gulps, leaving no soup behind as he drank it all clean.

Then Ying Zheng let out a burp and said, "Delicious. It is not only convenient and tasty, but also filling. Sir, this item must definitely be quite valuable in the future, right?"

"Hmm... I wouldn't say it's very expensive. One bucket is only about four yuan. It also depends on what you compare it to. If we talk about rice, our future rice is about three yuan per jin. Calculated that way, instant noodles do seem a bit pricey."

"However, if you compare it to their income, it is actually incredibly cheap. Based on an ordinary person's hourly wage of ten yuan—which is what you would call half a shichen—an average person working for just half a shichen can afford to buy three catties of rice, or two and a half bowls of instant noodles," Wang Er said with a smile.

As soon as these words were spoken, looks of sheer astonishment appeared on everyone's faces. Feng Quji exclaimed in agitation, "Are the future generations truly this prosperous? A commoner laboring for merely half a shichen can purchase three catties of rice?"