Chapter 35: Noodles

Chen Fengshi said with a bitter face, “I’m just telling the truth. Alright, alright, I admit it. I deserve to be unlucky and lose money today. The front windshield is on me. After we finish our late-night snack, I’ll take a cab back to the hotel to sleep. I really don’t dare to wander around anymore, otherwise I’m afraid this car will have more and more places that need fixing! Don’t make me end up losing all the money I made tonight, okay? Speaking of which, there’s still more than half I haven’t gotten my hands on. I don’t even know if Sister Yao, in her condition, can help me get the final payment tomorrow…”

Little An said grumpily, “Look at your sleazy look! You’ve been hurting over money all night!”

“Please understand—I’ve never wasted this much money in my whole life! How could I not hurt over it? I don’t know what the concept of money is to you rich people, but I know roughly how much my parents earn and what their work is like. So to me, money is the time and effort they spend at work. A little more money means they suffer a little less…” Chen Fengshi felt like crying as he spoke. He had been so unlucky lately that he didn’t even have the energy to get angry anymore.

However, Little An had no interest in letting him finish and directly interrupted him. “Don’t go showing off your family warmth for no reason.”

“…Fine, I should consider your feelings.” Chen Fengshi closed his eyes, but his face was still very cold from the wind. He normally wouldn’t feel it, and he shouldn’t feel cold wind in this kind of weather either, but under the effect of the continuous high-speed airflow, that was exactly how he felt.

Fortunately, the car finally stopped by the side of the road.

At this late hour, based on Chen Fengshi’s usual experience, only the vendors by the road who specialized in late-night snacks would still have food to sell.

Little An was especially hungry after using the Power of Life earlier, and she had been hesitating at first. But seeing Chen Fengshi eating the noodles so happily, and seeing that the cooking process didn’t seem to have any unhygienic steps, she couldn’t resist eating too.

However, she didn’t add any of those sauces, which Chen Fengshi admired her for being able to eat it like that.

The boss watched as they kept adding bowl after bowl, and his face grew darker and darker. When Chen Fengshi noticed his bad expression, he smiled and said, “Boss, boss, don’t be afraid. I’ll pay for every bowl I eat. I definitely won’t cheat you.”

The boss’s face instantly lit up like spring, and just as he was about to say something, Little An asked in disagreement, “It’s fifteen bucks for all you can eat. He made the rule himself, so why should we pay for every bowl?”

So, the boss’s face instantly turned ugly again, but what Little An said was the truth. He couldn’t refute it either, and could only look at the kind-hearted one.

Chen Fengshi said as if it were a matter of course, “Because we eat too much! With our appetites, wouldn’t the boss cry from losing money?”

“Ridiculous!” Little An dismissed it with scorn and mocked, “You’re actually thinking about others? If just the two of us could eat him until he cries, he shouldn’t be running this business at all! You’re just a poor college student and you pity a businessman? He won’t share a dime of his profits with you, you kind soul, and he won’t charge you a dime less either. When it’s time to lose money, he should bear it himself!”

These words were too harsh, but fortunately, Chen Fengshi had always been someone willing to admit reality. He was indeed a poor college student, there was no mistake about that, so he still stuck to his own opinion. “We have different views, so let’s not argue. Your noodles, I’m paying.”

“Is this about who’s paying?” Little An refused to let it go. This aggressiveness really gave Chen Fengshi a headache. “What I’m trying to say is that your mindset from a middle-class family is ridiculous. Stuck in the middle class, you insist on pitying the private feelings of the upper class, and also pitying the poverty of the lower class. Little do you know that neither the upper nor the lower class has these ridiculous hypocritical groans!”

“Let’s just talk about the matter at hand, don’t put big labels on me, and definitely don’t elevate it to a class struggle! I can only represent myself. If you want to criticize me, just criticize me, don’t forcefully make me represent an entire class.” Chen Fengshi realized that Little An’s excitement seemed to have another reason. He didn’t even know how he had touched her reverse scale.

Little An swallowed the noodles in her mouth and was about to speak again, when the boss couldn’t stand it anymore and said with a wry smile, “You two, stop arguing! Little brother, I accept your good intentions, but what this little girl said isn’t wrong either. I made the rules myself, and I accept it when special situations happen! Today I’ve also broadened my horizons, meeting people who can eat as much as you! You young couples, don’t hurt your feelings over this.”

Chen Fengshi exaggeratedly cupped his hands in a salute to the boss, and then said to Little An, “Look, look at how the boss here slapped your face. I’ll just say one thing, your logic is indeed not wrong, but people have feelings! How could so many people only have profit and calculations in their heads? Is it really necessary to calculate everything so clearly just to live?”

“Little brother, well said!” The boss really couldn’t help but cheer. He also felt that there was something slightly wrong with Little An’s words, but he couldn’t say exactly what it was. He just felt that the wrong part made him very uncomfortable. If it were a true principle, he should have been wholeheartedly convinced.

At this moment, he knew what was wrong. It was exactly what Chen Fengshi had said: people have feelings. Just like him, if he only cared about his own profit, he would have let them keep arguing, but he didn’t want that. Why? It was nothing more than the word ‘loyalty’. Chen Fengshi was an honest man, and he was no longer willing to just focus on calculating that little bit of profit.

The boss’s agreement instantly made Chen Fengshi, who had planned to shut up, start talking again. “Although I can’t represent middle-class families, regarding what you just said, I think your understanding is biased. The reason middle-class families don’t fuss over what you call the lower class is that they themselves climbed out of poverty step by step, so they understand the hardships of those poorer than themselves, and naturally they aren’t willing to argue too much over small benefits; as for what you said about focusing on private feelings, that’s because they have enough food and clothing, so they think about the importance of emotional needs in life. You think the middle class is ridiculous, but I actually think the middle class is very happy. It’s the best reflection of the balance between money and emotion.”

“Trying to ruin my mood on purpose?” Little An looked at the boss, who turned his head and found something to keep himself busy. He was originally trying to break up the fight, but on a whim, he ended up having the opposite effect.

Little An’s gaze then turned back to Chen Fengshi’s face. The latter also realized he should stop, so he hurriedly urged, “Eat the noodles, eat the noodles. The boss’s cooking skills are really good!”

“Of course! Our Shanxi noodles are top-notch!” The boss was very proud when he mentioned his hometown’s specialty.

“The noodles aren’t bad.” Little An showed her matter-of-fact style. The boss said happily, “Try the toppings, there are so many flavors, there’s definitely one you’ll like! Don’t worry, I’ve been doing this for many years, I guarantee it’s hygienic! If you get a stomachache, come find me! I eat it myself every day. By the time I close the stall and go back, it’s already morning. When the kids get up for school, they eat this for breakfast! Don’t think that just because I’m not from the city, I don’t know anything. I’ve been doing business here for a long time, and I know you city folks care about hygiene. After so many years, how could I not have learned that?”

Whether it was the boss’s enthusiasm that infected her, or the various noodle toppings that had already tempted Little An’s appetite, she really started to try them. One flavor per bowl, she quickly tasted them all. During this time, the boss kept waiting for her evaluation, and only after she tried them all did she nod and say, “Very surprising. You put so much heart into it. For a roadside stall, is it really necessary to go this far?”

“Little girl, it seems you understand the hardships of a businessman…” The boss sat there, thought for a moment, and said with a smile, “There was a time when I really felt tired of it, and I had the thought of cutting corners to just get by, always thinking that most customers wouldn’t care anyway. Later, I noticed some regulars stopped coming. After a few months, the business didn’t really get worse. One night, a Mercedes suddenly drove over, and the person who got out was actually a regular. He came over and asked if the taste of the noodles had returned to the previous level. He said he used to take a one-hour ride here to eat after a busy day. Later, twice in a row, the taste wasn’t right, so he didn’t want to waste the effort to come specifically. After a long time, he really missed that taste, and he had just bought a car, so it was much more convenient to come over, so he made a special trip to check.”

When the boss said this, he lit a cigarette, smoked it, and seeing that both Chen Fengshi and Little An were willing to listen, he continued. “At that time, I felt extremely ashamed! Extremely ashamed! Someone that rich, who couldn’t afford to eat anything, had always eaten at my place. That was respecting my skills! Why did I start doing this in the first place? It was to make money, but I learned this skill also because I loved to eat and loved to cook! I apologized to him right then and there, and promised that if he came the next day, it would absolutely be the old taste!”

When the boss said this, his expression also became proud. “From that day on, I found my original intention again! I no longer thought about how most diners couldn’t tell the effort I put in. I just remembered two things: I do my best, to be worthy of myself, and to be worthy of the support of that small group of regulars who can tell the difference!”

This was positive energy… Although Chen Fengshi didn’t fully understand the boss’s feelings and experiences, he was still very encouraged.

Little An also listened very seriously. When the boss finished speaking, she sighed softly and said, “So that’s why you can’t make big money. Your heart isn’t dark enough! If you cut corners and threw away your conscience, your profits could double, right?”

“More or less. But it’s enough to make a living. Earning enough for a living is fine. I can’t bring myself to do things that are too black-hearted. Mixing some spoiled meat with random junk so people can’t taste it, adding some anti-diarrhea medicine so people don’t get the runs, using gutter oil for people to eat—if it were strangers, that’d be one thing, but how could I bear to do that to old customers? Watching little kids come to eat, how could I bear it? That would bring down heaven’s punishment!” The boss shook his head as he spoke, with a look of helplessness towards things like this in the world, but he was unwilling to go along with the crowd and get dirty.

Chen Fengshi’s heart felt warm, and he even had a slight impulse, which was to throw himself into the career of setting up a stall and selling noodles, making late-night snacks with a conscience, and noodles with a conscience!

But this was just an impulse; he wasn’t interested in this line of work. So he could only admire the boss’s spirit, and then continue to bury his head in eating noodles.

Little An glanced at her watch. Chen Fengshi knew that it was almost the top of the hour again, which meant that they would know right then whether there were any Fungal Demon intelligence agents around.

However, at this time, there were no other diners. No cars or people could be seen on the road.

At the top of the hour, Chen Fengshi looked around while eating his noodles.

Suddenly, Little An nudged his arm.

Then he turned his head and saw red mist threads extending out from the top of the noodle stall boss’s head who was sitting there. Moreover, unusually thick red mist was spraying out from his body, and the thickness was rapidly increasing. It was about to reach them!

Fungal Demon Parasite?

No, even though Chen Fengshi had limited experience, he could tell that the situation with the noodle stall boss in front of him was very unusual. Rather than a Parasite, he looked more like a Fungal Demon Main Body!

As if confirming his thoughts, in the sky, red mist threads extended over from all directions, crisscrossing in the air above their heads.

Of course, Chen Fengshi wouldn’t sit there and wait stupidly. He didn’t even bother to swallow the noodles in his mouth. He dropped his bowl and charged straight over, while simultaneously triggering the Activation of the golden mist inside his body!

However, at the same time he charged out, the noodle stall boss sitting there charged out to meet him, taking on the stance of a venomous snake leaving its cave, and struck a circle right into Chen Fengshi’s chest!

Incredibly massive force directly sent Chen Fengshi flying sideways!