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墨書 Inktalez
Yang Qianfan was quite happy these days, as he had been meeting with Li Lingfei almost every day. Their relationship gradually grew closer with each encounter.
Taking advantage of the holiday, he decided to take the initiative and arranged to meet Li Lingfei the night before, planning to take her to enjoy some delicious soup noodles the next day.
The Tang Noodle Shop, which he had praised so highly, was not very large. It was located near Jiqing Street in Hankou, and due to its proximity to the community, it attracted a lot of foot traffic, making the business surprisingly good. The owner of the shop was a bald, chubby man with a great personality. Being the ninth child in his family, those who knew him affectionately called him Lao Jiu. A true local from Wuhan, Lao Jiu had a face full of flesh that made him look fierce, but in reality, people enjoyed getting close to him because he was straightforward and generous. Every time he served customers their soup noodles, he made sure they received a hearty portion. Lao Jiu loved making friends; whenever regular customers came in to order, he would always greet them warmly.
As soon as Yang Qianfan and Li Lingfei entered the shop, Lao Jiu quickly handed off his tasks to one of his workers and rushed out of the kitchen with a broad smile to greet Yang Qianfan.
“Brother! Where have you been gallivanting these days? Haven’t seen you come by for a bowl of soup noodles!” Lao Jiu exclaimed cheerfully, giving Yang Qianfan a hearty pat on the back.
“I’ve been quite busy lately. I specifically brought a friend over today to support your business,” Yang Qianfan replied with an equally cheerful smile.
“Thank you, thank you!” Lao Jiu chuckled and then noticed Li Lingfei beside Yang Qianfan. His eyes lit up as he gave her a thumbs-up and said, “Is this your girlfriend? She’s beautiful!”
“Don’t be silly! She’s just a fellow student from my school,” Yang Qianfan hurriedly explained, worried that Li Lingfei might feel upset upon hearing that.
“Oh—love is like seeds in the ground; it needs time to grow. You never know when sunshine and rain will come together and turn a classmate into a girlfriend,” Lao Jiu said animatedly as he analyzed their situation.
Hearing Lao Jiu's unwarranted analysis made Li Lingfei feel shy; she quickly lowered her head, her cheeks flushed and silent.
“Alright, alright! Enough of that. Could you please bring us two bowls of soup noodles? I’ve boasted about your place to my friend here, so please don’t let her down,” Yang Qianfan urged.
“Of course! Of course!” Lao Jiu replied with a smile. “If our shop's soup noodles can only be considered second-rate, I guarantee you won’t find another place in Wuhan City that can serve first-rate soup noodles like Tang Noodle Shop.”
"Cut it out, your bravado is just a facade," Yang Qianfan chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. He added, "Don't forget, I love eating eggs. Make sure to lay an egg before you cook the noodles, and it better be a runny yolk for it to taste good."
"Don't worry, I'll lay the egg first and then cook the noodles. The yolk will definitely be runny," Lao Jiu said, slapping his chest with a hand and raising the slotted spoon high in the air. Noticing that Li Lingfei remained silent, he eagerly asked her, "Beautiful lady, do you want an egg? If you do, I'll make one for you."
Upon hearing this, Li Lingfei's face turned pale with fright as she forced a smile and replied, "Th-thank you for your kindness, but I don't really like eggs."
"Oh, so you don't like eggs!" Yang Qianfan murmured from the side.
"That's right, I don't like eggs, especially rooster eggs."
After a while, two bowls of fragrant noodle soup were served. When Li Lingfei saw them, she couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Wow, that's quite a hefty portion! How am I supposed to finish such a big bowl?"
Yang Qianfan smiled lazily and said, "Take your time eating. Don't be fooled by its size; in a bit, you might even find it not enough!"
"I won't!" Li Lingfei frowned slightly and pouted. "I'm not a pig; there's no way I can finish this much. Besides..."
"You'll definitely finish it," Yang Qianfan interrupted her before she could finish her sentence. Nonchalantly, he added, "This bowl of noodles isn't cheap; it's five bucks a bowl. If you don't eat it, it'll be a waste." With that, he opened his mouth wide and began to devour the noodles.
"What? Five bucks for a bowl of noodle soup? Why doesn't he just go rob someone?" Li Lingfei exclaimed with wide eyes as she looked at Yang Qianfan in shock. She complained, "The noodle soup sold at my doorstep is only two fifty a bowl; it's much cheaper than this."
Upon hearing this, Yang Qianfan paused with his chopsticks in mid-air and squinted at her with interest. "You—don't tell me you think it's too expensive? If that's the case, let me treat you this time; next time you can take me out for some Mahjong buns instead."
"Ah, is this really okay?" Li Lingfei exclaimed, her excitement causing her to speak without thinking.
Yang Qianfan couldn't help but stifle a laugh at her naive expression, which made her look almost foolish. He sighed, gazing at her with suspicion, and thought to himself, "With such beauty, how can she be so clueless?"
At that moment, Li Lingfei realized that her words and actions had been too abrupt and lacked grace. Trying to salvage some dignity, she awkwardly added, "I think it would be better if I treat this time. As for the steamed buns you mentioned, let's wait until the next time you can treat me!" She forced a smile, feeling embarrassed.
"In that case, I won't hold back," Yang Qianfan said as he called over the Boss for two baskets of siu mai.
Seeing this, Li Lingfei anxiously asked, "Can you eat all of that?"
"Are you kidding? This 1.84-meter frame of mine didn't grow for nothing."
Li Lingfei chuckled bitterly and nodded at him. Inside, she felt a pang of sympathy and sighed gloomily, "I wonder how much more food this bottomless pit can hold. Sigh! Today is really a loss."
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