My Exclusive Dream World Adventures - Chapter 94 - 094 Catching up with updates - Read Novel Online Free

Chapter 94: 094 Catching up with updates

Chen Xu grabbed another piece of red paper and wrote “2003 Noodle Shop” on it. He took a ladder and pasted it over the old sign.

Chen Ziqi came out with a bowl in her hands and looked up, “2003? That’s not right, I was born in ’04.”

“You sure like to joke.”

Chen Xu couldn’t help but laugh out loud, almost sticking the red paper on crookedly.

“But honestly, I find it hilarious that you’d open a noodle shop on a street full of barbecue joints. Will people even come here to eat?”

Chen Ziqi said, taking a bite of her noodles, “Though the taste is alright, who’d want noodles late at night? Everyone’s out here for snacks. If not barbecue, at least make porridge or something.”

“You don’t know how? What about century egg and lean pork porridge, fish slice porridge, or fresh shrimp porridge?”

“Still don’t know? You must know how to make stir-fried rice noodles at least.”

After Chen Xu finished pasting the red paper over the old sign and came down from the ladder, he flicked her forehead and said, “This is a noodle shop, of course, we only make noodles.”

“Chen Xu, if you touch my head again, I’m going to be mad at you,” Chen Ziqi said huffily.

Chen Xu folded the ladder and went back inside the shop to get something to eat for himself.

Then, he sat at the door, waiting for the first customer to come in. He took out his phone and opened a novel-reading app since he’d been too busy at the company recently and hadn’t read any novels for a while.

He went into his bookshelf and saw that his favorite series “The Mystery Lord” had only updated seventeen chapters. He was seriously dissatisfied; it had been days and only this few updates. The author was really too lazy; no good — he had to send him a box of razor blades.

……

Time ticked away, and after 9 pm, the street became crowded with people entering the other barbecue stalls. At Chen Xu’s place, however, not a single person showed up.

Occasionally someone would come over, see the sign had changed to a noodle shop, some would turn around and leave, others hesitated for a bit but left as well. One person asked if there was barbecue, and upon hearing a negative response, they too left.

Chen Ziqi gave Chen Xu an “I knew it was going to be like this” look, a bit smug.

Chen Xu ignored her and opened the bookshelf to start reading his second follow-up novel, “I Have an Otherworld.”

Oh crap, why is it discontinued? Has another one bit the dust? How many is that now?

Sigh, never mind, maybe the author has his difficulties.

Everyone has it tough these days, got to be understanding.

……

Yanqing held his girlfriend Liu Bing’s cold hand with a touch of heartache and said, “Let’s drive out of here. It’s all barbecue stands and your stomach can’t handle this right now.”

“I don’t want to take the car, cough cough…” Liu Bing’s voice was weak. As they spoke, a plume of smoke wafted over from a nearby barbecue stand, the pungent chili scent causing her to cough.

Yanqing quickly led her through the barbecue area, coaxing her, “This stuff is too irritating; your stomach can’t take it.”

Liu Bing pursed her lips, looking down silently.

Yanqing knew she craved barbecue, but with her current condition, eating it would only make things worse. He hardened his heart and then noticed a shop at the end of the street without a barbecue stand in front. He saw the sign, “2003 Noodle Shop.”

The name was odd, and the premises were rather simple. But it seemed like a lifesaver to him as he suggested, “There’s a noodle shop over there, why don’t we go eat there?”

Liu Bing hesitated, remembering the nausea triggered by the barbecue smell, certain she couldn’t eat that. After walking past so many places, she didn’t feel like walking anymore, so she nodded.

Yanqing was thrilled, fearing she might change her mind, and hurried her over to the shop.

The combination of people inside the shop was also strange—a man in his twenties looking at his phone, and a teenage girl sitting on the other side. It didn’t seem very reliable no matter how you looked at it.

Yanqing’s expectations for the shop immediately plummeted.

However, he didn’t turn around to leave. At home, his girlfriend had said she wanted to go out to eat, and she wasn’t satisfied with any of the places they passed. Now that she was finally willing to enter a shop, they had to eat something before leaving no matter what.

Luckily, the tables and chairs were quite clean, not greasy like the other barbecue stalls.

After sitting down, he said, “Boss, can you bring the menu over, please?”

Chen Xu saw a customer enter and personally went up to greet them, “Sorry, we’ve just opened today and don’t have a menu yet.”

“What do you have to eat then?”

“Our signature fresh meat noodles.”

Yanqing glanced at his girlfriend and saw her looking down at her phone, then asked, “Do you have beef noodles?”

“No.”

“…” Yanqing began to feel that coming to this restaurant might have been a mistake, but out of basic courtesy, he didn’t want to show his feelings and simply said, “Then I’ll have what you just mentioned.”

“Coming right up.”

After Chen Xu took the order, he briskly put on a new apron and walked over to the stove.

Yanqing felt uneasy and kept watching his movements. He saw him use those most common kinds of noodles that come several pounds to a box, and he only put in one piece.

He thought to himself, well, his girlfriend doesn’t have much of an appetite anyway, so it’s okay if the portion is small.

Next, he saw the owner take out a piece of meat and slice two pieces.

Lettuce, also just two pieces.

Internally, he wanted to say, damn, he’d never seen such stinginess, with so little ingredient, how could the noodles taste good?

Before long, the noodles were ready, and the owner brought the bowl over.

At first glance, Yanqing saw that the broth was as clear as plain water, with just a bit of noodles at the bottom, two thin slices of meat floating on top, two strands of green vegetables, and, seven or eight minced green onions. Yes, he could count the green onions at a glance.

“This is fresh meat noodles?”

He saw the owner about to walk away and finally couldn’t hold back, his tone containing a hint of dissatisfaction.

The owner turned around and explained, “It really is fresh meat, I bought it this morning, and since it’s cold now, I didn’t even put it in the fridge.”

Is that really the point?

Yanqing felt that maybe he was too subtle and was very unhappy, just about to say something when he saw his girlfriend had already started eating with her chopsticks. He thought, if his girlfriend spat out the first bite, he would definitely give the owner a piece of his mind.

Liu Bing took a small bite, chewed a few times, then took another bite.

Seeing his girlfriend willing to eat, Yanqing put aside his dissatisfaction. He thought, it seemed she could only eat something light, and this was a serendipitous discovery.

Liu Bing’s pace of eating the noodles picked up, starting with a reluctant few bites to appease, but as she ate, she seemed to find the taste, and before he knew it, the large bowl of noodles, including the soup, was finished.

Yanqing was pleasantly surprised and thought that it seemed she couldn’t handle greasy food and needed to eat such plain noodles.

When it came time to pay, he felt even more irritated on hearing the owner say fifteen yuan, thinking it was an outright rip-off. He paid with WeChat, and thought to himself, if he ever came back, he’d be a fool.

Back at home, perhaps because she was full, his girlfriend had a rare good night’s sleep.

The next morning, Yanqing woke up early and purposely made a bowl of plain noodles, waiting for his girlfriend to wake up to present them to her like a treasure, “Here, eat while it’s hot.”

“What’s this?” Liu Bing asked.

“Noodles, I saw how much you enjoyed them yesterday, so I made a batch just like them, go on, try it.”

Liu Bing picked up her chopsticks and took a taste. Then, she suddenly ran to the dresser by the bed, pulled out a few tissues, and spat into them.

Yanqing felt a bit hurt, “Isn’t it good?”

Liu Bing shook her head, saying, “I want to eat the ones from last night’s place.”

Yanqing immediately shook his head, joking that he had said yesterday that if he went back to that place, he’d be a fool. How could he possibly go back on his word?

Seconds later, he surrendered under his girlfriend’s gaze, saying, “I’ll go right now.”

About fifteen minutes later, he ran breathlessly to the entrance of that shop, and upon seeing the closed shutter door, he blurted out, “Damn.”