"I don’t know. It might be a long ti from now," Zhou Yan said, shaking his head with a smile.
Xia Yao was a student at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute. If she went back to Mountain City, there was no telling what year she might co back to their little town, if ever.
After that terrifying experience of falling into the water, her impression of the town probably wasn’t very good. It was possible she’d never co back.
"How long is a long ti?" Zhou Momo asked, her face a picture of innocence.
Zhou Yan just smiled and didn’t answer, because he didn’t have an answer to give.
"Zhou Yan, two bowls of noodles," Zhao Tieying’s voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Okay!" Zhou Yan called back, turning and heading for the kitchen.
...
"Xia Yao, we’re going to Suji tomorrow. Is there anything fun to do in town?"
"Yaoyao, isn’t that where you fell in the water? Aren’t you scared to go back?"
In a temporary dorm room converted from a local house, two girls chattered as they asked questions of Xia Yao, who was sitting at a desk drawing.
Their group leader, Teacher Liu, had just announced at noon that they would be visiting the Jiazhou Textile Factory tomorrow for a study tour.
Since Xia Yao had just been to Suji, they both wanted to get so information from her beforehand.
"I’m not scared. It was just an accident. The Jiazhou Textile Factory is huge, Suji is beautiful, and there’s lots of delicious food and local specialties." Xia Yao put down her pen and smiled at her two roommates. "And the best Braised Pork Rib Noodles in the world."
"Is this handso guy a Suji local specialty too?" one of the girls asked, pointing at Xia Yao’s sketchbook with a gossipy look on her face.
"I’ve seen you sketching him in your free ti these past two days. Don’t tell he’s your crush?" the other girl chid in with a grin.
The tall, slender girl was nad Zhu Yuyu, and the shorter but curvier one was Deng Hong.
They were roommates at school, and after more than three years together, they were close friends who could talk about almost anything.
"His na is Zhou Yan. He’s the one who saved my life. I’d be dead if it weren’t for him. And he makes delicious noodles." Xia Yao was perfectly composed as she flipped to the next page in her sketchbook. "This is his little sister, Momo."
"So cute!" The two girls’ eyes lit up.
"He’s handso, and he’s a hero who stepped up to do the right thing. Yaoyao, are you even a little bit smitten?" Deng Hong asked with a grin.
"Yeah, yeah, are you?" Zhu Yuyu chid in.
"Shoo, shoo! Ours is a pure, revolutionary friendship," Xia Yao said, waving her hands with a serious expression, but a blush crept up to the tips of her ears. "I’ll take you for noodles tomorrow!"
"Okay, okay!"
"Can you also introduce us to your lifesaver? We want to see if he’s as handso as you drew him."
"Get lost!"
...
Just as Zhou Yan had expected, he didn’t sell all one hundred servings of Kneeling Beef he had prepared. There were thirty-one left over.
But this was still far beyond his expectations from this morning.
Zhou Yan took twelve of the leftover servings of Kneeling Beef to the factory’s security departnt next door, one for each of the staff mbers on duty.
The security chief, Luo Weidong, was on duty today. Seeing Zhou Yan walk in with a tray, he waved his hands dismissively. "Zhou, we couldn’t possibly. You should keep this to sell."
The Kneeling Beef was steaming hot, its fragrance wafting through the air, and all the guards’ eyes lit up.
"Director Luo, it’s getting dark. I couldn’t sell them all, and my family can’t eat this much. You all work hard on the night shift, so a warm bowl of Kneeling Beef will make it more comfortable." Zhou Yan smiled and set the tray down. "My family doesn’t sell leftovers, and it’s a sha to let it go to waste. This is the new Kneeling Beef we just launched, so I wanted to let everyone have a taste. With you guys around, I feel secure running my shop."
Hearing this, Luo Weidong didn’t refuse again. He nodded and said, "Alright then, we’ll accept your kind offer. I’ll have the n bring the bowls back to you after they’re finished."
"Sounds good. I’ll let you get back to work," Zhou Yan replied with a smile.
"Zhou," Director Luo said, "if you ever run into any trouble, just co find the security departnt. Your shop is rented from the textile factory, so if anything happens, it’s our business to handle it."
"Okay." Zhou Yan’s smile grew wider as he turned and left.
"Zhou is a good comrade, a hero who acts for a just cause. From now on, keep an eye on his restaurant," Luo Weidong said to the other guards, picking up a bowl of Kneeling Beef.
"Will do."
"It slls amazing!"
"It’s so savory!"
"So tender!"
A chorus of praise rose and fell within the security office.
Zhou Yan gave another ten servings to the workers coming in for the night shift—all people who would greet Zhao Tieying warmly when passing by, which showed they were regular custors.
Of the remaining eight servings, half were given to Zhao Hong to take ho for dinner, and the other half was kept for their own dinner.
"You’re giving all this at to take ho? I couldn’t possibly," Zhao Hong said, waving her hands as Zhao Tieying handed her a container.
"Take it back and eat it with your two kids. It’ll save you from cooking, and it’s a sha to throw it out." Zhao Tieying shoved the container into Zhou Yan’s hands. "Go hang this on your brother’s bike."
"You bet." Zhou Yan agreed, taking the container and heading out the door.
A bicycle was parked by the door. A burly man in a tank top was squatting next to it, his rough features softened into a grin as he watched Zhou Momo fiddle with a woven-rattan grasshopper.
"Fei," Zhou Yan greeted with a smile, hanging the container on the bicycle’s handlebar. The woven cord carrier for the container was quite convenient.
"Hey, Zhou Yan," the man said, looking up at him and standing with a smile.
"Brother, look! Brother Fei made this grasshopper for ! It’s so adowable!" Zhou Momo held up the grasshopper, showing it off proudly to Zhou Yan. "There’s only one, so you don’t get one."
Zhou Fei’s smile grew even wider.
"Your Brother Fei was weaving all night yesterday. This is his best one. He wouldn’t even give it to Fanwa when he asked," Zhao Hong said, following them out with a smile. "He hid it to give to Momo."
Zhou Momo turned and hugged Zhou Fei’s leg. "Brother Fei, you’re the best!"
"Next ti, Brother Fei will make you a sparrow," Zhou Fei said with a laugh.
"Brother Fei, you’re my bestest big brother!" Zhou Momo cheered, hopping with joy.
Zhou Fei watched her, grinning foolishly, his happiness written all over his face.
Zhou Yan couldn’t help but smile. Zhou Momo was the absolute darling of the Zhou Family.
The two brothers, Zhou Fei and Zhou Hai, were both simple and straightforward. But despite being big and burly, Zhou Fei had nimble hands. He had learned grass weaving from his mother and could create all sorts of lifelike insects from rattan and straw.
"You two should have a daughter. Look how much Zhou Fei loves little girls," Zhao Tieying teased Zhao Hong.
"Fourth Aunt, we can barely afford to raise two sons, and besides, the policy doesn’t allow it." Zhao Hong shook her head repeatedly. "Having another son would be the death of . The Zhou Family has way too high a chance of having boys! Who could handle that?"
Zhou Fei gave Zhao Hong a ride ho on his bike, while Zhou Yan’s family had dinner in the restaurant.
"The textile factory is closed the day after tomorrow, so our shop should take a day off too. From now on, let’s close one day a week," Zhou Yan said, looking at his mom.
"Take a day off?" Zhao Tieying’s chopsticks paused. "Won’t people co to eat on Sundays?"
"Ninety percent of our custors are factory workers. If the factory is closed and the workers don’t co to work, where will our business co from? With just a few scattered custors, it’s hard to prep ingredients. Too much and it’s wasted, too little and people will complain." Zhou Yan shook his head with a smile. "Besides, we need to rest too. We work so hard from dawn till dusk every day. One day off a week isn’t asking for too much."
"That’s right. We should balance work and rest." Zhou Miao picked up a piece of beef with his chopsticks and put it in Zhao Tieying’s bowl. "Don’t wear yourself out."
Zhao Tieying smiled at that and nodded. "Alright, we’ll take one day off then."
"Oh, right. If we’re not open the day after tomorrow, take Momo to see your grandmother. I ran into Number Five yesterday, and he said the old lady was saying it’s been a long ti since she’s seen you two. Go make a al for her," Zhou Miao said to Zhou Yan.
"Rember to bring sothing with you. Your grandmother dotes on you two," Zhao Tieying added.
"Okay." Zhou Yan nodded and shoveled rice into his mouth, the image of a white-haired old woman appearing in his mind.
’Two drinks a day, each one two ounces of liquor with two ounces of at, and she can still eat two bowls of rice.’
’She raised five sons all by herself and had her four daughters-in-law completely under her thumb.’
’Sichuan and Chongqing Tyrannosaurus·First Generation.’
anwhile, Zhou Momo was focused on devouring her food, oblivious to the world around her, her mind solely on the al in front of her. Her hands and face were shiny with grease.
It was a real treat just watching her eat.
"From now on, when the weather’s nice, we should have Momo eat her breakfast and lunch by the door. Just seeing the way she eats, who wouldn’t want to co in and try what we’re making?" Zhou Yan said with a laugh.
"I think that’s a good idea. The young ladies love her. She’s a sweet-talker and knows how to spin a good yarn. She’s better at attracting custors than I am," Zhao Tieying said, looking at Zhou Momo with a doting smile.
"By the way, the shop sold one hundred bowls of noodles, sixty-nine servings of Kneeling Beef, and fifty-two bowls of rice today. Our total revenue was one hundred and six yuan and sixty cents. We successfully broke one hundred," Zhou Yan announced.
"One hundred!" Zhao Tieying was a bit stunned.
Over one hundred!
We made over a hundred yuan!
Their family restaurant was really starting to do well.
’They could profit more than half of that. After running the restaurant for three months, they were finally starting to see a return on their investnt.’
"This is just the beginning! In the future, we won’t just make a hundred! We’ll make a thousand! Ten thousand!" Zhou Yan said with a smile, raising his soup bowl. "Co on, let’s toast to the successful launch of our Kneeling Beef! Bottoms up!"
"Bottoms up!" There was a light in Zhao Tieying’s eyes and a smile on her face, and she was filled with motivation.
"Cheers," Zhou Miao said, raising his bowl.
"Cheers~" Zhou Momo chirped, lifting her bowl with both hands.
The four bowls clinked together softly.
Every face was beaming with a smile.
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