Breaking a Hundred!

"I don't know. Maybe not for a long time." Zhou Yan smiled and shook his head.

Xia Yao was a student at Sichuan Fine Arts Academy. If she went back to Mountain City, there was no telling what year she might return to their little town.

After nearly drowning, she probably hadn't formed the best impression of the town. It was even possible that she would never come back.

"How long is a long time?" Zhou Momo asked with an innocent look.

Zhou Yan smiled but didn't answer, because he couldn't give her an answer either.

"Zhou Yan, two bowls of noodles." Zhao Tieying's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Okay!" Zhou Yan replied, turning toward the kitchen.

"Xia Yao, we're going to Suji tomorrow. Is there anything fun in that town?"

"Yaoyao, didn't you fall into the water there before? Aren't you scared to go back?"

In a temporary dormitory converted from a private home, two girls chattered away at Xia Yao, who was sitting at the table sketching.

At noon, Teacher Liu, who was leading the group, had announced that they would be visiting Jiazhou Textile Factory the next day for a study tour.

Xia Yao had just been to Suji, so the two of them wanted to get some information from her first.

"I'm not scared. That was just an accident. Jiazhou Textile Factory is huge, Suji is beautiful, and there's lots of delicious food and local specialties." Xia Yao put down her pencil and smiled at her two roommates. "And the best braised pork rib noodles in the world."

"Is this handsome guy one of Suji's local specialties too?" one girl asked, pointing at Xia Yao's sketchbook with a gossiping grin.

"You've been drawing him whenever you have free time these past two days. Don't tell me he's your crush?" the other girl asked with a smile.

The tall, skinny girl was named Zhu Yuyu, while the shorter but rather curvy girl was called Deng Hong.

They had been roommates at school as well. After living together for more than three years, they had become close friends who could talk about anything.

"His name is Zhou Yan. He saved my life. If it weren't for him, I'd already be dead. And the noodles he makes are delicious." Xia Yao was perfectly at ease as she flipped to another page in her sketchbook. "This is his little sister, Momo."

"So cute!" Both girls' eyes lit up.

"He's handsome and a hero who stood up for what was right. Yaoyao, aren't you even a little tempted?" Deng Hong asked with a teasing smile.

"Yeah, yeah. Aren't you tempted?" Zhu Yuyu chimed in.

"Oh, get out of here. We have a pure revolutionary friendship." Xia Yao waved them off with a serious expression, though the tips of her ears had turned red. "Tomorrow, I'll take you out for noodles!"

"Okay, okay!"

"Can you take us to meet your lifesaver too? Let's see if he's really as handsome as you drew him."

"Get lost!"

Just as Zhou Yan had expected, the hundred portions of Qiaojiao Beef they had prepared did not sell out in the end. Thirty-one portions remained.

But that was already far beyond what he had expected that morning.

Of the remaining Qiaojiao Beef, Zhou Yan delivered twelve portions to the security office at the neighboring Textile Factory. Every staff member on duty got a share.

Luo Weidong, the head of the security office, was on duty that day. Seeing Zhou Yan enter carrying a tray, he repeatedly waved his hands. "Little Zhou, how could I possibly accept this? Save it and sell it for money."

The steaming Qiaojiao Beef filled the room with its aroma, making all the guards' eyes light up.

"Chief Luo, it'll be dark soon. If we can't sell it all, our family can't finish it either. You're all working the night shift, so a bowl of Qiaojiao Beef will make things more comfortable." Zhou Yan set down the tray with a smile. "Our restaurant doesn't sell overnight dishes. It'd be a shame to waste it. This is our newly launched Qiaojiao Beef, so let everyone have a taste. With you all around, I feel at ease keeping my restaurant open."

Hearing that, Luo Weidong stopped refusing and nodded. "All right, then we'll accept your kindness. Once everyone's done eating, I'll have them return the bowls to you."

"Sure. You all get back to work." Zhou Yan smiled in reply.

"Little Zhou, if you run into any trouble in the future, come straight to the security office. Your restaurant rents a storefront from the Textile Factory, so anything that happens there falls under our jurisdiction too," Luo Weidong said.

"Okay." Zhou Yan's smile brightened as he turned and walked out.

"Little Zhou is a good comrade. He's a hero who stood up for what was right. Keep an eye on his restaurant from now on," Luo Weidong said to the other guards as he picked up a bowl of Qiaojiao Beef.

"Got it."

"Smells amazing!"

"So fresh!"

"So tender!"

Praise rang out one after another from the security office.

Zhou Yan also gave ten portions to workers coming in for the night shift. They were all regulars who would warmly greet Zhao Tieying whenever they passed the restaurant.

Of the remaining eight portions, he gave half to Zhao Hong to take home for dinner, while the other half was kept for their own dinner.

"You're giving me so much meat to take home? How could I possibly accept that?" Zhao Hong repeatedly waved her hands as she looked at the lunchbox Zhao Tieying handed her.

"Take it home and eat it with the two kids. It'll save you from cooking, and it'd be a pity to throw it away." Zhao Tieying stuffed the lunchbox into Zhou Yan's hands. "Hang it on your brother's bike."

"Okay." Zhou Yan answered, carrying the lunchbox outside.

A bicycle was parked by the entrance. A burly man in a tank top squatted beside it, watching Zhou Momo fiddle with a woven rattan grasshopper in her hands. His fierce face had crinkled into smiling eyes.

"Brother Fei." Zhou Yan greeted him with a smile, hanging the lunchbox from the handlebars. The rope-woven lunchbox basket was quite handy.

"Hey, Zhou Yan." The man looked up at him and rose with a smile.

"Big brother, look! Brother Fei made this grasshopper for me! It's so cute!" Zhou Momo proudly held up the grasshopper in her hand to show Zhou Yan. "There's only one, okay? You don't have one."

The smile on Zhou Fei's face grew even brighter.

"Your Brother Fei spent all night weaving it yesterday. This one was the best one he made. He wouldn't even give it to Fanwa when he asked for it." Zhao Hong came out after them, smiling. "He hid it away because he wanted to give it to Momo."

Zhou Momo spun around and hugged Zhou Fei's leg. "Brother Fei, you're the best!"

"Next time, Brother Fei will make you a sparrow," Zhou Fei said with a smile.

"Brother Fei, you're my very best big brother!" Zhou Momo jumped up happily.

Zhou Fei watched her with a silly grin, his happiness written all over his face.

Zhou Yan couldn't help smiling too. Zhou Momo was the darling of the Zhou family.

Both Zhou Fei and Zhou Hai were straightforward men who wore their hearts on their sleeves. But despite being tall and brawny, Zhou Fei had a pair of skillful hands. He had learned grass weaving from his mother and could make all kinds of lifelike insects from rattan and grass.

"Why don't you two have a daughter too? Just look how much Zhou Fei likes little girls," Zhao Tieying teased Zhao Hong.

"Fourth Aunt, we can barely afford to raise our two sons already. Besides, the policy doesn't allow it." Zhao Hong shook her head repeatedly. "If we had another son, it'd be the death of us. The Zhou family's odds of having boys are just too high! Who could handle that?"

Zhou Fei gave Zhao Hong a ride home, while Zhou Yan's family ate dinner at the restaurant.

"The Textile Factory is off the day after tomorrow, so our restaurant will take the day off too. From now on, we'll have one day off every week," Zhou Yan said to his mother.

"A day off?" Zhao Tieying paused with her chopsticks in hand. "Won't anyone come to eat on Sunday?"

"Ninety percent of the restaurant's customers are factory workers. If the factory is closed and the workers aren't coming in, what business will there be? With only three to five scattered customers, it's hard to prepare ingredients. Too much is wasteful, while too little leaves people dissatisfied." Zhou Yan smiled and shook his head. "Besides, we need rest too. We've been working so hard from dawn to dark every day. One day off a week isn't excessive."

"That's right. Work and rest should be balanced." Zhou Miao placed a piece of beef in Zhao Tieying's bowl. "Don't wear yourself out."

Zhao Tieying smiled at that and nodded. "All right, then we'll take the day off."

"Oh, right. Since we won't be open the day after tomorrow, take Momo to visit your grandmother. I ran into Fifth Uncle yesterday, and he said the old lady has been talking about how long it's been since she saw you two siblings. Go make her a meal," Zhou Miao said to Zhou Yan.

"Remember to bring something with you. Your grandmother dotes on you two," Zhao Tieying added.

"Okay." Zhou Yan nodded as he shoveled rice into his mouth, an image of a white-haired old woman surfacing in his mind.

She drank twice a day, two taels of liquor with two taels of meat each time, and could still eat two bowls of rice.

She had raised five sons by herself and kept all five daughters-in-law firmly in line.

Sichuan-Chongqing Tyrannosaurus—First Generation.

Beside him, Zhou Momo buried herself in her food, deaf to everything else around her and focused only on what was on her plate. Her hands and face were gleaming with oil as she ate.

Watching her eat was enough to make anyone hungry.

"When the weather's nice, let Momo eat breakfast and lunch outside the entrance. Just watching her eat will make people want to come in and see what we're serving," Zhou Yan said with a smile.

"I think that'll work. Those young girls all adore her. She has a sweet mouth and knows how to chat people up. She's even better at bringing in customers than I am." Zhao Tieying looked at Zhou Momo with a doting smile.

"Oh, right. Today our restaurant sold a hundred portions of noodles, sixty-nine portions of Qiaojiao Beef, and fifty-two bowls of rice. Our turnover reached 106 yuan and 60 fen. We've finally broken a hundred," Zhou Yan said.

"A hundred?" Zhao Tieying was a little stunned.

More than a hundred!

They had sold more than a hundred yuan's worth!

Their family restaurant was truly getting better.

They could earn more than half of that hundred yuan. After running the restaurant for three months, they were finally beginning to see some returns.

"This is only the beginning! In the future, we won't just earn a hundred! We'll earn a thousand! Ten thousand!" Zhou Yan said with a smile, raising his soup bowl. "Come on, let's toast a bowl to the successful launch of our Qiaojiao Beef!"

"Cheers!" Zhao Tieying's eyes shone, her face beaming with energy.

"Cheers." Zhou Miao raised his bowl.

"Cheers~" Zhou Momo lifted her bowl with both hands.

The four bowls clinked softly together.

Everyone's face was filled with smiles.