#yi mian is also sometimes used as longevity noodles (for the cantonese) but lets go with misua because

[lenglengflames]

hua cheng who makes it a personal goal to make the pull the longest noodles physically possible for the first time they xie lian's birthday together.

but he woefully underestimates just how difficult it is to make them, because surely 800 years of dabbling in sculpting has some skills that translates over, right? no, it absolutely does not, and he only reluctantly accepts the fact that he's not going to go anywhere with this on his own when most of his robes turn white from flour and he realises xie lian's birthday is only a week away.

so he sends his butterflies to spy on distinguished chefs so he can learn how to make them from scratch. he finally manages to churn out his first successful batch, even if it does end up not looking like the fine, silky strands of the chefs he was spying on.

he only manages to make the perfect batch minutes before sunrise on xie lian's birthday.

xie lian wakes up to a hua cheng entirely covered head to toe in flour, the silver butterflies he'd yet to disperse fluttering around him busily and a simple handmade bowl of longevity noodles.