Line Up, Even If It Makes You Dizzy, You Have to Check In

At a little past five in the morning of the next day, Wei Xiang Ju hadn't opened its doors yet, but a long line had already formed outside.

"Look at this," Old Wang, the fruit vendor of the street , said in amazement as he set up his stall, "Are they rushing to be reincarnated? They're lining up before dawn."

Many young people in the queue were wrapped in their coats, yawning, and live-streaming on their phones: "Everyone, look, I'm already in line at the entrance of Wei Xiang Ju. It's now 5:40 a.m., and there are already more than twenty people ahead of me..."

At half past six, Liu Yang arrived to open the shop, riding his electric scooter. He saw the long line from a distance and almost thought he had taken the wrong route.

"Hey, Boss Liu," Xiao Zhang from the barbershop teased, "This is crazier than the rush to buy tickets during the Spring Festival travel rush!"

"You're right," the clothing store owner also chimed in, "These young people probably didn't sleep well last night, for fear of missing out on the taste of your 'dark horse.'"

Liu Yang shook his head with a wry smile and began to prepare to open the door. Immediately, cheers erupted from the queue.

"The boss is here!"

"Finally, we've waited!"

"I've been watching the live broadcast since midnight last night, just waiting for this moment!"

Xiao Li quickly ran over to help: "Boss, how about we limit the number of customers today? There are so many people; we won't be able to handle it."

"No need," Liu Yang said as he tied on his apron, "If they've come, they're our guests. We can't let them wait in vain."

As soon as the door opened, the aroma wafted out from the kitchen. Liu Yang had started simmering the broth early, knowing it would be a busy day.

"First in line!" The young girl at the front was as excited as a child, "I got here at three in the morning!"

"So early?" Xiao Li was taken aback, "Aren't you cold?"

"It's okay," the girl said with a smile, "To be the first to taste the flavor that's number one in the country, this little hardship is nothing!"

The neighbors watched the scene, all finding it quite novel.

"Young people these days," the pancake vendor sighed, "Is it really worth it to go to such lengths just to eat some noodles?"

"How can you compare?" Old Wang immediately retorted, "This is a skill that even outshines Michelin!"

The line kept growing, stretching all the way to the street corner.

Some people had come from other places, including food bloggers, food enthusiasts, and even a few chefs from other restaurants, all eager to see for themselves.

Liu Yang, however, maintained his usual pace, treating each bowl of noodles with care.

The system in his mind kept running, ensuring that every dish was perfect.

"Boss, are you really not preparing for the competition in three days?" Xiao Li asked quietly during a break.

"This is the best preparation," Liu Yang said with a smile, "To do well with every bowl of noodles, with every dish, that's the real skill."

The line at the entrance stretched from morning till night, with no sign of waning enthusiasm.

By noon, people were already posting online: "Wei Xiang Ju Queue Guide: It's recommended to arrive at 4 a.m., bring a small stool and a power bank, and be prepared to wait for three hours..."

Meanwhile, the shops of the other contestants were all closed, focusing on preparing for the competition.

This contrast made netizens even more admiring: "He truly has the skills; he doesn't need to prepare specially. Every dish he makes in his daily routine is a practice with dedication!"

That day, the small shop was almost bursting with people. What's more interesting is that it didn't accept takeout orders, so the line stretched from the entrance all the way to the last shop on the street---

The entrance of Fu Man Lou.

The line from Wei Xiang Ju stretched all the way to the entrance of Fu Man Lou, like a winding dragon, effectively taking over the entire old street.

The owner of Fu Man Lou stood at the entrance, his expression more sour than if he had eaten a whole lemon.

His pride, the "Michelin-level" sign, seemed particularly ironic at this moment---

While that small shop wasn't even accepting takeout orders, his place was virtually deserted.

In the line of people waiting, there were office workers who had just got off work, checking their watches almost as frequently as they punched in;

There were food bloggers holding cameras, wishing they could stick their lenses right into the kitchen;

There were also some internet celebrities passionately explaining to their phones, as if they were live broadcasting some significant historical event.

"Sorry, no takeout today," a note was posted at the entrance, but the delivery guys still lingered hopefully at the door, like a group of penguins waiting to be fed.

"Hey, why doesn't this shop accept takeout?" someone complained.

"Come on," a customer who had been waiting for two hours rolled his eyes, "Have you ever seen a three-Michelin-star restaurant delivering food?"

"But this is clearly just a street-side shop..."

"That's why it's even more amazing!"

The other shop owners on the old street were all stunned.

They had run their shops for most of their lives, and combined, they had never seen so many people.

Old Wang, the fruit vendor, was overjoyed and took the opportunity to sell all the fruits that were about to go bad.

"This Liu Yang," the neighbors marveled, "He really has some skills. The line is almost reaching the east end of the city."

The most incredible thing was that, after waiting for such a long time, not a single person in the crowd complained. Instead, they were all as excited as if they were waiting for a concert to start.

This scene had turned a street-side shop into a "Michelin Check-in Holy Land."

The sun that day was like an insensitive debt collector, persistently scorching the people in line.

But these people, they actually treated this torment as if it were a necessary part of a food pilgrimage, and no one was willing to give up their hard-earned spot in line.

"Oh dear, your face is as red as Guan Yu's now," a woman wearing a sun hat advised the young man in front of her, "Why don't you just grab something to eat at Fu Man Lou?"

"No way!" The young man wiped the sweat from his forehead, his face resolute, "I've already waited for three hours. If I go somewhere else now, wouldn't my three hours of waiting be in vain?"

This statement was met with a chorus of agreement.

It was strange, really. People who would usually complain about waiting an extra five minutes for takeout had now developed the patience of a saint.

The hotter the sun got, the more it seemed like they were participating in some kind of endurance contest, as if the first one to leave would be the loser.

The owner of Fu Man Lou carried trays of food past the few patrons in her nearly empty restaurant, shaking her head at the "fools" outside: "They're about to get heatstroke and still waiting foolishly here. Is this dining or suffering?"

But these people, with a stubborn determination, turned the wait into some strange sense of honor.

Some took selfies with their phones, captioning them "Hour Four in Line for a Street-Side Shop with Michelin-Level Food"; others live-streamed the waiting process, with comments like "Too hardcore" and "This is what a true fan looks like" flooding the screen.

Even those who were on the verge of collapsing, saying things like "If we really can't hold on, let's go somewhere else," didn't budge an inch, as if moving would cause them to miss the most important food experience of their lives.

The diners emerging from Wei Xiang Ju had expressions on their faces that seemed to say, "I've seen through life," as if they had just attended an enlightening lecture by Buddha himself.

They looked at the people still in line with a sense of superiority, as if to say, "You wait, your life is worth it."

The expressions of these "prophets" further strengthened the determination of those in line to wait.

No matter how scorching the sun was, it couldn't match the obsession in their hearts that "missing out would be a lifelong regret."

"Is it really that exaggerated?" an elderly woman passing by asked a diner who had just come out.

"Madam," the diner said with a serious face, "I've lived for thirty years, and for the first time, I've learned that dried bamboo shoots can be made like this. It's not about eating; it's about experiencing life!"

This statement, which sounded like chanting scriptures, stunned everyone who passed by.

Some diners who doubted life simply joined the line as well, since it was already past mealtime, they didn't mind waiting a few more hours.

Of course, there were also some "sober-minded people" who couldn't help but complain when they passed by.

"This is just a small shop, right? Why is it like a real estate office opening?"

"It must be a shill. Look at this line, it doesn't look normal at all."

"Young people nowadays just love to join in such热闹."

However, before these "enlightened people" could finish their words, they were glared at by the people in line with a look that said, "You worldly people."

Some passers-by who joined the line with the mentality of "seeing how exaggerated it is" couldn't bear the sun and left reluctantly.

When they left, they had to justify their "rationality" by saying, "It must be a shill. If it were really that delicious, could it make people wait for so long in the sun?"

But every time someone left, more people would join.

The line was like a perpetual motion machine, with two people coming for every one who left, turning a street-side shop into a "sunbathing check-in holy land."

The most amazing thing was that anyone who tried to persuade these "sunbathers" to give up would be met with a look that said, "You don't understand, this is a spiritual pursuit."

Their demeanor was as if they were not waiting for a meal, but for an enlightenment that could change their lives.

Even the neighbors who were usually good at mediating disputes could only shake their heads and sigh when they saw this scene.

They had seen people lining up, but they had never seen anyone turn lining up into a pilgrimage.

These people had sublimated the process of waiting for a meal into a kind of life philosophy that "as long as you persist, there will be a reward."

"Closed today." On the morning of the third day, this small sign, like a security guard who didn't know how to read the situation, stood in front of the door of Wei Xiang Ju.

The "true fans" who had lined up at five in the morning looked at these words with expressions as if they had received a wedding invitation from their secret crush.

"I should have waited until closing yesterday..." A young man with panda eyes sighed, not knowing whether he was regretting not tasting the delicious food or regretting getting up at five to freeze.

Diners in twos and threes walked back like frost-bitten eggplants, drooping their heads. Some still took photos of the shop door with a glimmer of hope, as if they could capture the aroma of the dishes into their mobile phones.

At eight in the morning, when Liu Yang walked out of the shop, his leisurely demeanor was like that of an old man going to the park for morning exercises, with no sign of the fatigue from working non-stop for two days.