Su Zhu had never dared to hope for someone like Ouyang Yunjian.
In fact, not just him—she had stopped hoping for love or marriage altogether.
Chenchen had just recovered from a serious illness, and she needed Su Zhu's full attention.
And she needed to make money.
Who had time for such meaningless things as romance?
Taking care of Chenchen and making money were Su Zhu's top priorities. Everything else had to wait.
By now, the reputation of her bowl of noodles had completely spread throughout the surrounding area.
Starting from ten in the morning, customers kept streaming in without pause.
By eleven-thirty, there was a surge in customers, and the line outside stretched over thirty meters long.
Zhao Bing and Wu Xianming were clearly overwhelmed.
With no other choice, Su Zhu had to put Chenchen behind the bar again, tie on an apron, and return to the kitchen.
While she stretched the dough, her phone—placed above the counter—kept chiming with message notifications:
Ding! "Zhao Meng from the hardware store: Girl, make me four large bowls of noodles—two extra-thin, two medium-thin. I want scallions and cilantro, and go heavy on the spice!"
Ding! "You've received a red envelope from Zhao Meng at the hardware store!"
Ding! "Brother Zhu from the liquor store: Su Zhu, make me three large bowls of medium-thin noodles, no cilantro, yes scallions, no spice!"
Ding! "You've received a red envelope from Brother Zhu at the liquor store!"
Ding! "Uncle Song from the bakery: Su Zhu, make me two large bowls of extra-thin, with cilantro, scallions, and chili peppers!"
Ding! "You've received a red envelope from Uncle Song at the bakery!"
These were all merchants from the street who couldn't leave their stores to line up.
So Su Zhu came up with a solution—adding them on WeChat.
If they wanted hand-pulled noodles, they could message her, and she'd prepare the order and hand it out through the back kitchen window, all packed and ready to go.
This thoughtful solution earned her unanimous praise from the shop owners.
No price hikes, no relocation, and neighborhood customers got priority.
Su Zhu used her own way to express gratitude to the community for their support.
Zifeng Manor was located in the northern suburbs of Zhonghai, known as a wealthy residential area.
Ouyang Yunjian's home was on the 26th floor of a luxury villa.
His father, Ouyang Shan, was in the jewelry business.
The largest store in Zhonghai's Jinming Jewelry Mall—Jade Elegance Pavilion—belonged to their family. It specialized in premium jadeite, Hetian jade, and Shoushan Tianhuang stones.
Besides Zhonghai, they also had branches in the capital and Shenghai City.
According to insider information, Ouyang Shan's assets were worth at least 3 billion yuan.
As his only son, Ouyang Yunjian was not only handsome and wealthy, but also a graduate of a prestigious university. With such a family fortune behind him, he was wildly sought after by the elite daughters of Zhonghai.
But Ouyang Yunjian had a cold and aloof personality and high standards—no one had yet caught his eye.
That's precisely why his mother, He Xiujuan, was getting anxious.
Her son was already twenty-six. Others his age were married or even had kids, yet her son didn't even have a girlfriend.
Every time she urged him to find someone, he would agree, but two years had passed and there was still no sign of a relationship.
This morning, however, Ouyang Yunjian had called to say he'd be bringing a friend home for lunch.
He Xiujuan was overjoyed and cooked a full table of his favorite dishes.
The friend had introduced a young woman—someone in the trade business, with excellent credentials.
He Xiujuan planned to talk to him during the meal and persuade him to give blind dating a shot.
At 11:40 a.m., Ouyang Yunjian's BMW 730 drove into Zifeng Manor.
With wireless earphones in, he was on a call as he steered the car.
"I've entered the neighborhood. Where are you now?"
"Okay, call me when you get to the gate, and I'll tell the guard to let you in."
"Alright, drive safe. Talk later."
He hung up and drove past an artificial lake blooming with lotus flowers, heading toward a cluster of European-style villas ahead.
Meanwhile, over in the Zhonghai CBD district, a securities investment firm was hitting the lunch break.
Employees lined up to heat their meals in the microwave.
Since takeout was expensive and often unsanitary, the company had set up two microwaves in a spare room to let staff reheat their packed lunches.
Everyone had rice and dishes, except Zhou Ming—his lunchbox held a container of noodles.
After sitting too long, the noodles had clumped together.
A colleague frowned at the sight of his lunch.
"Seriously, Zhou Ming? You're eating that? Trying to save money is one thing, but this is extreme."
Others came over to look.
"Zhou Ming, you earn a decent salary—why are you eating hand-pulled noodles for lunch? Aren't you being a bit too frugal?"
"Don't tell me your wife cut off your allowance?"
"I can't stand hand-pulled noodles. What's the big deal with them anyway?"
"Zhou Ming, they're all clumped up. Just toss them out. I brought extra rice—you can have some."
"Yeah, throw them away. They look like a lump of mush. Just looking at it kills my appetite."
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]