Chapter 971 — A Bowl of Noodles

Chen Xi knew her mother was reluctant to spend the money, but... the doctor had said her mother was dying soon, and coming here to eat beef noodles once had been her wish. Frugal as Chen Xi was, she still gritted her teeth and said, "Then let's have two bowls?"

"You silly child, isn't that a waste if we can't finish it?" Her mother cut her off, then turned to the waiter. "Just one bowl, please. How much is it?"

"Hello, one bowl of beef noodles, that will be fifteen yuan in total." The waiter pitied this mother and daughter, but he was only a hired hand himself, his own living conditions hardly better than theirs. Nor could he presume to give them a bowl on the house—that would only get the cost docked from his wages by the boss.

When the mother heard that a single bowl cost fifteen yuan, her face showed how much it pained her. Chen Xi, meanwhile, fished from her pocket a neat stack of bills, counted out fifteen yuan, and handed it to the waiter.

The waiter knew that money could hardly have been easy for this mother and daughter to earn, yet there was nothing he could do. He could only give them a look of sympathy and quietly go instruct the kitchen to put a little extra noodles in their bowl. That was all he could manage.

"Xiaoxi, earning money isn't easy for you, and you still have to pay for my treatment. From now on, let's not spend so carelessly..." Chen Xi's mother said softly. "Fifteen yuan—how many packs of dried noodles would that buy? Enough for the two of us to eat for many days..."

"Mom, today's my birthday. We agreed I'd be in charge today!" Chen Xi cut off her mother's words with a smile. "After today I'll be sixteen, a grown-up. From now on I'll earn lots and lots of money and take you out for a big feast every single day!"

"Heh, all right then, Mom will wait for you..." Her mother sighed secretly in her heart, wondering whether she could even hold on until that day. Seeing her daughter sensible and grown, she supposed she could go a little more at peace.

This noodle shop was an old established place in the neighborhood, open for many years. When Chen Xi was small, whenever she and her mother passed by, the two of them would gaze enviously at the customers dining inside. Back then her mother always told her that once they had money in the future, she would bring Chen Xi here to eat noodles.

In the blink of an eye, Chen Xi had grown up—but her mother had been diagnosed with cancer! All at once, Chen Xi's family, never well-off to begin with, was left struggling to make ends meet. Her mother could no longer work, and they could only rely on Chen Xi gathering scrap cardboard and drink bottles after school to keep the household going.

Today was Chen Xi's sixteenth birthday, yet she could not feel happy about it at all, because just a few days ago, when her mother had gone to the hospital for a follow-up, the doctor had told her that her mother had only a month or two left, and that she should prepare for the funeral...

Chen Xi was stunned on the spot. She had long expected such a day would come, but she had never imagined it would come so soon! Mom, was she really about to leave? Chen Xi was heartbroken, grief-stricken, yet afraid her mother would suspect, she had no choice but to put on a cheerful face.

Using her birthday as an excuse, Chen Xi had brought her mother to the noodle shop. To her mother, it was just a child's wilfulness, but Chen Xi knew that if she did not bring her mother here now, her mother might never in her life taste the noodles from this place.

So Chen Xi had spent several evenings, coming home two hours late each day, taking the bus to the beach baths to collect drink bottles, until at last she had saved up thirty yuan—all for the purpose of sharing a meal of beef noodles with her mother! She had already asked about the price beforehand: fifteen yuan a bowl. Expensive as it was for her, she felt it was well worth it!

Wei Zhao's gaze swept over Chen Xi and her mother, and finally came to rest on Chen Xi's mother.

She was a haggard woman, somewhat sickly in appearance. Though already tormented by illness, it was plain that she must have been quite beautiful in her youth. Yet in Wei Zhao's judgment, she likely did not have long to live; as for the exact cause, he was not sure—without a further detailed examination, Wei Zhao could not tell what illness she had.

The girl called Chen Xi, on the other hand, was quite pretty, surely as her mother had been in her youth. Though only sixteen, she had already blossomed into fresh and striking youth. Her clothes were plain but clean and tidy.

This made Wei Zhao think of Tang Zhi despite himself, and his heart gave a faint tremor...

Wei Zhao frowned. Since when had he seemed to become not quite so cold and indifferent? As if he had somewhat taken a liking to meddling in other people's business?

Was it this place that had changed him?

Wei Zhao realized that he had indeed come far from those days of blood and violence, and had begun to blend into this environment—he had even grown fond of this place!

The waiter came over. Wei Zhao withdrew his gaze and looked toward Feng Xiaoxiao, whose eyes had been fixed on that mother and daughter all along; clearly she too was somewhat moved.

"Hello, would the two of you like to order now?" the waiter asked as he came over.

"We'll have one bowl of beef noodles too!" Feng Xiaoxiao spoke up first before Wei Zhao could. She had drawn inspiration from that mother and daughter—sharing a bowl of noodles with Wei Zhao would help their feelings grow!

"Oh... all right." The waiter was briefly taken aback, then nodded. There was nothing strange about a couple sharing a bowl of noodles; it was only that the mother and daughter before had ordered a single bowl, and now Feng Xiaoxiao did the same, which struck him as a bit of a coincidence.

"Just one bowl? You're not eating?" Wei Zhao frowned slightly and looked at Feng Xiaoxiao.

"Of course I'm eating!" Feng Xiaoxiao nearly exploded with anger at his words. You're the one treating me to noodles, aren't you? And you're actually asking whether I'm going to eat? If I weren't eating, why would I have let you treat me at all?

"Oh. Then make it two bowls," Wei Zhao said indifferently to the waiter.

"Very good, sir." The waiter laughed to himself. It seemed either Wei Zhao had no idea how to read a woman, or Feng Xiaoxiao was imagining things. These two might not be a couple at all—more likely the woman was the one chasing the man.

Feng Xiaoxiao was a little unhappy. "I can't finish it all. The portions here are huge..."

"Then tell him to give you less," Wei Zhao said.

"...Do I look stupid to you?" Feng Xiaoxiao was too angry to speak another word. Puffing out her cheeks, she waved at the waiter to signal that he could go.

The waiter shook his head. Fearing he might provoke Feng Xiaoxiao's temper, he hurried off to place the order.