In the following days, the Hand-Pulled Noodle House maintained a steady net profit of around 9,000 yuan daily.
Many people seemed enchanted, coming back endlessly—eating lunch and then dinner, one person finishing and bringing their whole family next time.
The most extreme case was a group of students from the Normal University, who now came almost as a whole class; half of the long queue stretching dozens of meters were students.
The legendary Hand-Pulled Noodles of Chenchen's Hand-Pulled Noodle House had become famous throughout the surrounding area. From opening to closing, the restaurant was packed full. Whenever you went, it was always nearly impossible to find a seat.
However, Meng Yu, who claimed he wanted to come every day to join in, only came twice—once for hand-pulled noodles and once for pork and scallion dumplings.
These days he was undergoing intensive training on viral protection and disinfection. Plus, the distance was far, so he just couldn't find the time to come more often.
Each time he left, Su Zhu would prepare a large box of marinated beef for him to take along.
According to Meng Yu, the marinated beef was his biggest motivation for traveling all the way across Zhonghai City!
Ouyang Yunjian hadn't come over in days, but Chenchen chatted with him every day through voice or video calls. The big and the small would often chat for half an hour, frequently bursting into hearty laughter.
Every time this happened, Su Zhu couldn't help but wonder if the man on the other end was really the same icy, expressionless "iceberg" guy she knew.
Ouyang Yunjian really had changed—not just Su Zhu noticing it, but the hematology department's medical staff felt it deeply.
His biggest change was that he smiled a lot more!
One morning, as Ouyang Yunjian arrived at work and stepped off the elevator on the eighth floor, he ran into two nurses going downstairs to buy breakfast.
"Good morning, Doctor Ouyang Yunjian!"
The two nurses greeted him with smiles.
Ouyang Yunjian, though not old, was highly respected for his superb medical skills and exceptional achievements in hematology treatment. Everyone in the department admired him.
Normally, when nurses greeted him, he would just nod expressionlessly and say "morning" before brushing past.
The staff had gotten used to his cold demeanor, and no one complained, since he was like this even facing the department head or hospital director.
But today, to the nurses' shock, after their greetings, Ouyang Yunjian actually smiled and nodded back warmly, saying, "Good morning to you too."
In the elevator, the two nurses looked at each other in disbelief.
"Doctor Ouyang Yunjian isn't acting like himself today!"
"Yeah, he actually smiled!"
"Rongrong said yesterday that he smiled, but I didn't believe it. How could Doctor Ouyang Yunjian smile? But just now, he really did!"
"My God, he's so handsome when he smiles! I'm a woman and I'm totally smitten!"
"Right, right! What's the phrase? 'A smile that captivates a city' — that must be for Doctor Ouyang Yunjian's smile!"
"Do you think he has a girlfriend now? There's a poet who said only love can bring dead wood back to life and melt ice a thousand years old!"
The other nurse nodded in agreement. "Possible!"
"But I'm curious — what kind of woman could possibly deserve a god like Doctor Ouyang Yunjian?"
"That's none of our business. Hurry and press the elevator button!"
"Oh, I forgot."
Down the long corridor, medical staff and patients' families kept greeting Ouyang Yunjian.
"Good morning, Doctor Ouyang Yunjian!"
"Morning!"
"Good morning, Doctor Ouyang Yunjian!"
"Good morning!"
"Good morning, Doctor Ouyang Yunjian!"
"Morning to you too!"
...
For everyone who greeted him, Ouyang Yunjian responded with a smile.
Intern Zhou Chunliang stood stunned by the corridor wall, mouth wide open, completely incredulous.
Nurse Li Qian pushed an infusion cart out of room 802, saw Zhou standing there dumbfounded, and asked puzzled,
"Zhou Chunliang, why aren't you taking the patient's temperature? What are you doing standing there?"
"Sister Qian, guess what I just saw?" Zhou looked strange.
"What?"
"I saw Doctor Ouyang Yunjian smile. He actually smiled!"
"Oh, that? He started smiling a couple of days ago. You'll get used to it; don't make a big deal out of it."
"No, his smile was just too beautiful. Really, like a celestial being!"
When Zhou greeted Ouyang Yunjian just now, that smile almost stole his soul.
He had never seen anyone smile as charmingly as Doctor Ouyang Yunjian.
"That 'celestial being' stuff doesn't apply to you. Forget about it, and get back to work!" Li Qian said as she pushed her cart back to the nurse station.
"Yeah, definitely not for me. No idea which lucky bastard got him!" Zhou muttered unhappily, then went to take the patient's temperature.
Su Zhu had been in a good mood recently. Business at the noodle house was booming, and Chenchen's follow-up exam results came back perfect.
All indicators were normal, and although there was theoretically still a slight chance of relapse, it was so minimal it could almost be ignored.
In Su Zhu's world, as long as Chenchen was healthy, nothing else mattered!
While Su Zhu was busy looking for shops to open a branch, Zhao Bing brought her good news that morning:
The Dongfanggong Hand-Pulled Noodle House on Chunxiu Road commercial street had gone bankrupt due to poor management and was now up for lease or sale.
That morning, Su Zhu took a taxi with Chenchen to check it out, and it met all her requirements.
This Hand-Pulled Noodle House was on the first floor, with a total area of 150 square meters.
The dining hall had 120 square meters available and 50 tables, each seating up to six people.
This meant it could accommodate 300 diners simultaneously.
Additionally, all fire safety, health, and business licenses were complete, and the current owner would assist with transfer and name changes.
The only downside was the somewhat remote location — at the far end of the commercial street, few people usually came here.
But Su Zhu wasn't worried. She was confident that her Hand-Pulled Noodle House would draw crowds even if it opened deep in the mountains.
The remote location had a benefit: cheap rent, only 30,000 yuan per month — nearly a third less than other busy shops on the commercial street.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。