159: Good spirits - Part 2 (Bonus chapter)

"Pfft—cough, cough, cough!"

Jiang Ye, who was drinking noodle soup nearby, couldn't hold it in and sprayed the soup all over, frantically grabbing tissues to wipe the table and his mouth.

"What are you laughing at?!"

Tian Lijuan glared at him fiercely, her tone sharp: "Uncle, what's so funny about this?"

After retorting at Jiang Ye, she turned to look at her two friends who were staring at her eagerly, then helplessly turned to the Boss, trying to make one last attempt:

"Dad! Can't you just make us something to eat? You're making me lose face in front of my friends!"

The Boss snorted: "My face was already lost because of you long ago, and you still want me to save yours? Tell them to get lost! Then I'll make you a bowl of noodles, with extra meat."

Tian Lijuan bit her lip, looking at her dad's "no negotiation" expression and her pitifully hungry friends, finally gave up, and motioned with her mouth to the two behind her:

"Xiao Ma, Lulu, you two go first... My dad is just like this, I can't do anything about it."

Xiao Ma and Lulu exchanged a glance, didn't say much, and turned away dejectedly, lifting the curtain to go out.

Seeing this, the Boss finally stood up, walking toward the kitchen while scolding:

"I told you to find a proper job, but you won't do it. I told you to help out in the shop and greet customers, but you think it's embarrassing. You hang out with those crazy little girls all day, come back starving like wolves, and I'm just wasting my time caring about you!"

Tian Lijuan angrily pulled out a chair and sat down, loudly retorting:

"They're spirit girls! Not crazy little girls! It's a lifestyle! A culture! Don't you get it?!"

The Boss's voice came from the back kitchen, full of disdain: "Yeah, yeah, yeah. They used to be called beggars, then panhandlers, and now they're called damn spirit girls."

"Why do you have to say it so harshly?"

Tian Lijuan got even angrier, couldn't help raising her voice: "We cosplay, attend conventions, do live streams, work as game companions—aren't we making money too? Didn't I give you 500 yuan last month?"

The Boss leaned out halfway, glancing at Jiang Ye's complicated expression: "Stop making this brother laugh. 500? You might as well go panhandling on the street, maybe you'd get more that way!"

Tian Lijuan was left red-faced from the retort, glared fiercely at Jiang Ye who was watching the show, and said stubbornly:

"Just because I'm not making much now doesn't mean I won't in the future... If I really just wanted to make money, I... I could sell myself, couldn't I?"

"You dare!!!"

The Boss's voice suddenly rose sharply, rushing out with a rolling pin: "You little brat, try saying that nonsense again!"

Tian Lijuan shrank her neck in fear, her volume instantly dropping by eight degrees:

"I... I... I meant selling noodles... Why are you shouting..."

The Boss glared at her, didn't say anything more, turned around, and went back to the kitchen to continue working.

Not long after, he came out carrying a large bowl of noodles and placed it heavily in front of Tian Lijuan.

The bowl was piled high with noodles, and the beef was clearly several times more than the usual amount.

Tian Lijuan looked at the bowl of noodles, stole a couple of glances at her dad, and let out a soft huff.

She got up, walked to the sterilizer, took out two small bowls, divided about half of the noodles and meat from her large bowl into the two small bowls.

Then she carried the two small bowls to the empty table by the door, put them down, lifted the door curtain, and shouted outside:

"Xiao Ma! Lulu! Come in and eat!"

Xiao Ma and Lulu, who had just gone out, hunched their shoulders, peeked in cautiously, glanced warily at the Boss, and seeing he didn't react, quickly sat down at the table by the door, devouring the food.

Jiang Ye: "..."

The corner of his mouth twitched again, and he really wanted to call the previous delivery Station Master, Wang Dali.

Isn't this exactly what Wang Dali often said—the innate delivery saint who can't even afford food?

Tian Lijuan returned to her seat, noticed Jiang Ye's amused and exasperated look, immediately got annoyed, slurping noodles while launching an attack:

"Hey, uncle, what are you looking at? Think having money makes you great? How old are you anyway? Have the nerve to look down on us young people?"

Jiang Ye: "???"

He pointed at himself in confusion, almost laughing in frustration: "Little sister, I'm 22 this year, 23 in nominal age, you..."

"I'm 19, what about it?"

Tian Lijuan directly waved her hand to cut him off, raising her chin: "Three years is a generation gap, we already have a gap!"

"..."

Jiang Ye was left speechless, could only give a thumbs-up: "Alright, alright, 19 is awesome, 19 is amazing! Uncle here is impressed!"

"Brother, don't pay attention to her..."

The Boss chimed in from the side: "This kid's got something wrong with her head, all my fault for not teaching her properly when she was little, spoiled her rotten."

Jiang Ye nodded sympathetically: "I understand, I understand, every family has its own troubles."

The Boss seemed to remember the earlier topic, wiping his hands as he walked over:

"By the way, brother, that group meal you mentioned earlier... what's that about exactly?"

"It's like this, Boss."

Jiang Ye put down his chopsticks, said seriously: "Back when I... well, was tight on money, didn't have much to eat, relied on delivery to survive. I often ordered your ramen, always the cheapest basic option, but with a note to add extra noodles. You actually added them eight or nine times out of ten, sometimes I'd even find a few extra slices of meat..."

The Boss was taken aback, then grinned and waved his hand: "That's it? Ha, I thought it was something big! What's the big deal? When you're away from home, who doesn't have tough times? Adding some noodles is nothing, not worth mentioning!"

"Boss, you're generous."

Jiang Ye felt a warmth in his heart, smiled too: "To be honest, back then I thought, when I have money someday, I must repay you. I even thought about ordering 100 bowls of noodles, with a note saying 'no noodles, no meat, no soup, mainly because I don't have trash bags at home, please have the delivery guy bring 100 plastic bags'..."

"Pfft..."

As soon as he said this, Tian Lijuan at the nearby table slurping noodles, and Xiao Ma and Lulu at the door table, couldn't hold back and laughed out loud, but were immediately glared at by the Boss, quickly lowering their heads to focus on eating.

"But that was a joke. Boss, I saw a concept on TikTok before, like 'Kindness Noodles' or 'Pay-It-Forward Noodles,' and I think it's really good, wanted to try it here with you."

Jiang Ye continued with the idea that had just popped into his head:

"Boss, how about this: I'll deposit 3,000 yuan with you. In the future, if you come across someone who looks like they're in trouble, or on heavy snow or rain days, see sanitation workers, delivery or takeout guys, treat them to a hot bowl of noodles on my behalf. I'll transfer the money now."

After these words, the small shop fell silent for a moment.

The Boss seemed struck in the heart, stared at him for a while, sighed with emotion all over his face: "Brother..."

He was about to continue, but his gaze suddenly swept over the three pairs of eyes that instantly lit up nearby, his face immediately darkened, veins throbbing at his temples:

"No, I really can't... What are you three grinning about here? 'Kindness Noodles' aren't for panhandlers! Hurry up and eat! Finish and get lost! You've completely ruined the mood!"