There were three or four other fried rice noodle stalls, and every owner was the same—greasy middle-aged men.
The hygiene at those fried noodle stalls was truly unbearable to look at. The burnt grease caked onto the bottoms of the woks was at least three centimeters thick.
Fang Ya closed her eyes and ordered a serving of fried noodles from each stall.
After tasting them, without exception, she could not bring herself to take a second bite.
In the end, she threw them all into the trash.
She had never liked fried noodles to begin with. After just two or three bites, she found them greasy and choking.
Before leaving, Fang Ya ran into a wild fan. After taking a photo together, she casually asked around.
"They sold out at eight thirty and packed up already?"
Fang Ya was speechless.
Was that fried noodle stall's business really that absurdly good?
"I refuse to believe it. I'm coming back tomorrow!"
Meanwhile.
Shen Muyan had just returned to the villa from the company when she received a call from Shen Hongda.
"Dad, what Ice Crystal Cake?"
"Don't ask. Just do as I say and call him now."
"Dad, we're already divorced. How am I supposed to bring something like this up?"
"You figure it out yourself. I'm still the chairman, so you have to follow orders. That's it, I'm hanging up."
Beep, beep, beep—
Shen Muyan furrowed her beautiful brows, utterly speechless.
He wanted Lu Qin... to make Ice Crystal Cake?
He knew how to make that too?
Had he learned it before?
But that was not the important part. The important part was—
How was she supposed to ask?
If it was for business, then she would have a perfectly legitimate reason!
At around nine that night, Lu Qin rode his three-wheeler food cart back to his neighborhood.
At this hour, the old district was peaceful and quiet.
There were many elderly residents in this neighborhood, and they generally went to bed early.
Two office workers dragged their exhausted bodies home after working overtime, living their fulfilling lives of "waking earlier than chickens and sleeping later than dogs" every day.
They bought instant noodles from the convenience store for a late-night snack. When they saw Lu Qin returning, they hurriedly greeted him.
"Boss Lu, are you done for the night? Do you have any fried noodles or mung bean paste left?"
Lu Qin braked and stopped to answer them.
"Sorry, they're all sold out."
"Ah, I knew it. Boss Lu's fried noodles are so delicious, of course they'd sell out."
"Looks like instant noodles are all we can eat for supper. How tragic."
"It'd be great if Boss Lu set up your fried noodle stall downstairs from our company. I'd eat your fried noodles for all three meals every day and get a monthly subscription!"
Lu Qin smiled. "Thanks for liking it. Come visit the stall when you have time, and get some sleep early."
"You too, Boss Lu. Good night."
Lu Qin took out his keys and opened the courtyard gate, pushed the three-wheeler food cart inside, then shut the gate.
Without Lu Xiyao by his side, without that childish little voice calling, "papa," Lu Qin rather missed the little one.
Even though they had only been apart for half a day.
Lu Qin had wanted to make a video call, but it was too late, and the little one was probably already asleep.
Once tonight passed, he could pick her up tomorrow afternoon.
After running his stall all day, Lu Qin did not feel tired at all.
The Fatigue Elimination Aura he had obtained from the system lottery was ridiculously effective.
His stall's business improved day by day, and more and more customers knew about it.
That was a good thing.
He was earning more as well.
Over the entire day, he had sold more than 550 servings of fried rice noodles, over 600 cups of mung bean paste, and around 240 boxes of Ice Crystal Cake.
Even after deducting costs, his profits easily exceeded ten thousand.
Income: 13,288 yuan.
System points: 1,433.
Lu Qin was in no rush to draw from the lottery. He first cleaned up the food cart, taking out the plastic baskets holding ingredients, the seasoning containers, and other containers to wash.
There was a sink in the courtyard, so cleaning was convenient.
He squeezed out a little of the system's high-efficiency heavy-duty dish soap. The grease dissolved easily, and with one wipe of a heavy-duty rag, everything was spotless and gleaming like new.
Lu Qin moved quickly. It took him only a little over ten minutes to finish the cleaning.
Next, he prepared the ingredients for tomorrow morning's stall.
Lu Qin had already reached long-term cooperation agreements with the rice noodle shop in the small market and Boss Zhao, who sold disposable tableware.
The sales at Lu Qin's stall were steadily rising, and his use of fresh rice noodles, disposable takeout boxes, and such items was gradually increasing as well.
He had already made arrangements with several vendors to deliver batches of fried rice noodles and takeout boxes every day at noon.
Boss Zhao had a small delivery pickup, so Lu Qin had him bring along ingredients such as ham, lean meat, vegetables, mung beans, and glutinous rice.
This way, Lu Qin no longer had to run to the market every day, saving him quite a bit of time.
Lu Qin prepared some ingredients and seasonings. Just as he finished and was about to take a shower, his phone rang.
When he picked it up and saw who it was, Lu Qin was somewhat surprised. It was Shen Muyan.
Over on Shen Muyan's side.
After handling company matters, it was already past mealtime.
She called Fang Ya, intending to have her take her out for a meal.
The food that foodie took her to eat was always carefully selected delicacies, so she might have a better appetite.
But Fang Ya had gone to University Town Night Market today and was unavailable.
On weekends, Ouri Hotel opened its buffet on the sixth floor to the public.
First, it could increase the hotel's popularity and provide some promotional value.
Second, it could boost revenue somewhat.
At the beginning, the promotional offers had attracted quite a few customers.
But with this kind of buffet, many people only came to try it once, and after eating there once, it was hard for them to want to return a second time.
So now, the buffet was not very popular either.
A buffet was nothing more than unlimited seafood, steak, barbecue, and drinks.
Shen Muyan had never lacked good food since childhood and had long lost interest in those things.
She had someone pack up a ham and cheese croissant from the kitchen before driving back to the villa.
All along the way, she kept thinking about the matter Shen Hongda had assigned her.
How exactly was she supposed to bring it up to Lu Qin?
Even before the divorce, Shen Muyan had never asked Lu Qin to do anything for her, much less now that they were divorced.
Shen Muyan parked in the garage and sat in her sports car. After considering her words for a moment, she dialed his number.
She could only use the little one as an excuse for this matter.
"Hello."
Lu Qin's calm, gentle voice on the other end was the same as before.
"Hello, Lu Qin. Are you asleep?"
"Not yet. I was just about to take a shower. How's Yao Yao? Is she asleep?"
Before you continue