The more she tried to forget Zhuang Yan's forlorn gaze, the more she couldn't.
He was clearly unhappy, but he was still willing to wait for her to come home and cook her a bowl of noodles.
Now, that ordinary bowl of noodles is something she can't eat even if she wants to.
On the same Christmas, besides the fireworks, what else did Zhuang Yan prepare for Lu Yan? It couldn't have been just a simple bowl of noodles, could it?
When Zhuang Yan loves someone, he wants to give them all the good things in life. He is passionate, generous, gentle, and full of enthusiasm, but Xia Wan has repeatedly poured cold water on his heart. Now, finally, someone has appeared who will protect his burning heart.
Xia Wan didn't go into the mall. Christmas Day was a workday, and there weren't many people on the road. Xia Wan wandered aimlessly, going wherever there were more people. She walked to a noodle shop with a challenge sign at the door.
You can get a bonus of 188 if you finish a pound of spicy noodles in ten minutes.
Xia Wan stood at the door watching. The shop owner glanced at her a few more times and came over: "Are you going to take on the challenge of eating noodles?"
Xia Wan nodded.
"Sit over here for the noodle challenge." The owner explained the rules, and to avoid waste, everyone started with the simplest ones. If you successfully complete the one-pound noodle challenge, you can come back to challenge two pounds, and then three pounds. The more you eat, the higher the bonus.
The boss recorded the whole thing, and there were many onlookers cheering and jeering. Xia Wan suddenly wanted to leave, but by then it was too late.
The owner brought out the noodles, along with a timer. The bowl was full of noodles, and the soup was full of red chili peppers, which looked very spicy.
Xia Wan had never eaten so many noodles before. She wasn't a noodle lover and would only eat one or two ounces of noodles when eating out. This was at least three times her usual amount.
The shop owner looked curiously at the mask on her face: "The noodles are ready. Do you want to eat them later or now?"
Xia Wan picked up her chopsticks, took off her mask, and some people in the crowd recognized her.
The boss pressed the timer.
Xia Wan lowered her head, picked up a noodle and started eating. She wasn't hungry at all, and felt full after a couple of bites. She gritted her teeth and ate the rest of the noodles. The noodles were hot and spicy, and the steam poured into her eyes. She didn't know if it was from the spiciness or the heat, but tears kept falling uncontrollably.
She could barely swallow the bowl of noodles, so she could only stuff them into her mouth and try to swallow them down, as if torturing herself. The cheers around her were like flies buzzing in her ears.
She couldn't taste what the noodles were anymore; they just tasted salty and astringent, and they made her stomach churn.
The bowl of noodles tasted like wax and was hard to swallow. Xia Wan knew that many people were watching and filming her, so she lowered her head and ate with her head down, her lips burning from the heat.
My stomach was so full, it felt like it was about to explode.
Xia Wan didn't know exactly how many minutes had passed, but the bowl of noodles slowly dwindled until she actually finished it.
Applause erupted from the surrounding area.
The boss recognized Xia Wan and thought to himself that he had stumbled upon some great traffic.
"May I ask why you cried while eating noodles? Was it because you were thinking about something sad? I've seen it online recently..."
Xia Wan interrupted him: "It's too spicy and too hot."
Do you think this noodle dish is delicious?
Xia Wan didn't make a sound. She felt her stomach was full of noodles, and her whole body became heavy. She didn't want to speak, afraid that she would vomit if she opened her mouth.
How long?
"Exactly ten minutes, you've successfully completed the challenge." The boss took out 188 yuan and handed it to Xia Wan. "This is your prize money."
Xia Wan glanced at the money in his hand and slowly reached out to take it.
The boss wanted to exchange pleasantries with Xia Wan: "Did you watch Zhuang Yan's variety show? They'll be confessing their feelings tonight, and it officially ends tomorrow..."
Xia Wan remained silent, took the money and left quickly. She then found a restroom nearby, and soon after entering, she heard vomiting sounds coming from inside. If you listened carefully, you could also hear crying.
After vomiting, she squatted for a long time until her legs went numb before slowly standing up. She took out her phone, opened the trending topics, and searched for her own name. The video of her tearfully challenging herself to eat noodles had been uploaded and had a high number of views. It was estimated that it would soon become a trending topic. People in the comments section said that she was putting on a show, but in fact, she just wanted to eat a bowl of noodles on this day.
After today, she will never eat noodles again.
In addition to the online discussions, new messages also came from a group she belonged to.
She hadn't paid attention to this group for a long time. Since the Xia family's incident, she had left each group one by one, and the groups she hadn't left were those where she hadn't sent any messages for more than half a year.
After the Xia family went bankrupt, her former friends avoided her like the plague, and she called and texted them one by one, begging for their help.
One by one, they all blocked her. Only then did she realize that her popularity was based on her money. Once she lost her money, these friends were gone too, not even worth as much as plastic.
She clicked on several audio recordings in the group.
"Come see the clown. He's so down on his luck that he's now taking on a challenge to eat noodles on the street for a prize of 188, the price of a pair of socks."
"I've disliked Xia Wan for a long time. If my dad hadn't told me to get closer to her, I wouldn't have wanted to serve her."
"The young lady deserves it. I really want to go and see her make a fool of herself."
"She's fallen so low? What can she do now? Is she going to sell herself? She used to look down on everyone, but now it's her turn."
"Xia Wan sent me a text message a few days ago asking to borrow money, but I pretended not to see it. Even if I had the money, I wouldn't lend it to her. With the mess that Xia family is in, do you think she can pay it back?"
“Back in school, I used to have a crush on her. She was incredibly arrogant, had high expectations but low abilities, and always looked down on me. Now, I wouldn’t even take her if she were given to me for free.”
"It's been so long since we chatted in this group, why are there so many new messages all of a sudden? Who's in it? Is Xia Wan in it?"
The group suddenly fell silent, and a few seconds later Xia Wan was removed from the group.
...
Xia Wan let out a self-deprecating laugh: "It's easy to add flowers to brocade, but difficult to provide charcoal in the snow. When trouble comes, most people kick you when you're down."
Who can she blame? After all, she was the same person back then, and now the tables have turned and it's her turn to be in her shoes.
After Xia Wan went outside, she washed her face with cold water at the door. Looking at her pale self in the mirror, she almost didn't recognize herself. She put her mask back on, then took the 188 yuan she had and went into the nearby vegetable market.
...
On Zhuang Yan's side, the atmosphere was harmonious and joyful. As the show was about to end, they were a little reluctant to part with it, but this did not include Lu Yan.
Lu Yan had long been fed up. To film this variety show, she had to sneak around to sleep every night, like launching a surprise attack in a war.
She wanted to kiss Zhuang Yan openly, to hug and hold his hand, to show their affection in the street, and to tell the whole world that they were in love.
I heard they're leaving tomorrow, so the villagers came to say goodbye. The day before yesterday, the production crew treated them to a free meal, and they didn't give any money but just took some local specialties.
Fishing Bro saw Zhuang Yan and said, "I'm really going to miss you guys. Will you be doing a live stream when you get married? I'll send you gifts as a wedding gift."
Anyone with eyes can see that Zhuang Yan and Lu Yan are a couple who haven't made their relationship public.
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