Chapter 41 Tomato and Egg Noodles Chen Song’s workplace…
Chen Song worked at a small noodle shop. The owner was away today, so there were only him and two other employees. When Chen Song arrived, there were already quite a few customers waiting for their meals, most of them students.
This commercial street is near elementary and high schools, and it's a busy time in the morning. After greeting his colleagues, Chen Song immediately changed into his work clothes and started working.
After the busiest two hours, the store was deserted.
The cashier, also a part-time female college student, sat lazily in the dining area, scrolling through her phone. Another chef, a man about ten years older than Chen Song and a relative of the owner, was also sitting in the dining area, eating breakfast. Only Chen Song was still in the kitchen, preparing lunch for the customers.
"Ding-ling~" The quiet noodle shop was alerted by the sound of a customer entering.
The cashier put away her phone and stood up. She paused as she looked at the customer outside. The scars on the man's face made her feel a little scared. "Hello... Hello, you can look up and see the menu if you want to eat anything."
The girl glanced at the scars on the customer's face, then walked over to the cashier to take his order. The man had just finished his meal and was throwing his trash into the trash can outside.
Gu Xingjue looked at Chen Song through the glass wall and said, "Give me a bowl of tomato and egg noodles."
"Okay, tomato and egg noodles, right?" the girl searched for it on the single-player game. After searching for a while, she finally realized what was going on and said, "Um, sorry, we don't have tomato and egg noodles here. You can check the menu above."
Chen Song's back was to him, revealing a section of his clean neck. He lowered his head, his hands moving as if he were chopping vegetables. Gu Xingjue just watched, and it seemed as if he was back in the good old days when Chen Song cooked for him.
"Handsome guy?" The girl waved in front of him.
Gu Xingjue retracted his gaze and glanced at the menu casually: "Beef Sliced Noodles."
"Okay," the girl said, making the order for him. "Any dietary restrictions? Do you want green onions and cilantro? Do you want more spicy food?"
Gu Xingjue said, "No onions, no spicy food."
"OK." The girl quickly gave him the bill and handed him the receipt. "Wait a moment, you can sit over there."
Gu Xingjue took the receipt, chose a seat and sat down, his eyes fixed on Chen Song. Chen Song was concentrating on cutting vegetables and didn't even look back.
Until the girl turned around and shouted to him: "Beef slicing noodles, no onions, no chili."
"Let me do it," the old man walked in after throwing away the trash, "Song, go take a rest, I'll do it."
"No," Gu Xingjue stood up and interrupted, "I want him to do it."
As soon as these words were spoken, the three people present paused and looked at Gu Xingjue together.
Gu Xingjue's face still had injuries from last night. The right half of his cheek was red and swollen, his left lower jaw was bruised, and there were several scratches on his eyebrows. It was obvious that the blood was wiped away without treatment, and it had already become inflamed.
The wounds all over his face and his cold features should have made him even more frightening, but now he looked tired and haggard, like a pitiful stray dog.
One glance brought Chen Song back to the night they first met.
Chen Song's recently recovered mood was thrown into chaos again by Gu Xingjue's appearance. Although he had expected Gu Xingjue to cause trouble for him again, he didn't expect Gu Xingjue to do it in this way.
Instead of pulling him away without explanation, she followed him cautiously and now came to the store where he worked to eat the food he cooked.
Chen Song tightened his grip on the kitchen knife a little, and his originally stunned look calmed down. The defense line he had set up in his heart was constantly being attacked, and his uneasiness gradually turned into anger.
Gu Xingjue's eyes were bloodshot as he stared at Chen Song without blinking. There was a pool of clear water in his eyes, as if tears would flow out if he just blinked.
The uncle was the first to break the awkward atmosphere: "Do you know each other? Are you friends coming here for dinner?"
Gu Xingjue didn't say anything this time, just looked at Chen Song. Chen Song looked away, turned around and started chopping vegetables: "Let me do it, Uncle An. You come and help me take over the food preparation this afternoon."
The uncle glanced at Gu Xingjue and walked into the kitchen: "Okay."
The girl looked at Gu Xingjue, who had a serious expression, and asked tentatively, "How about you take a seat first?"
Gu Xingjue sat back in his previous position, staring straight at Chen Song. Chen Song could feel the burning gaze, which was like a knife, cutting into his skin inch by inch. The knife was poisoned, making his hand that held it weak.
The girl glanced at Gu Xingjue stealthily for a few times, then slowly walked over to Chen Song and asked curiously, "Is he your friend? What's with the scar on his face? He still looks so handsome even with that. Do you handsome guys just hang out with handsome guys? I saw the guy who came to ask you out last night, and he was pretty handsome too."
Chen Song said indifferently, "We know each other, but we're not friends."
Seeing Chen Song talking to her, the girl became interested: "So, do you all have a partner?"
Chen Song said: "No."
The girl said with a smile, "They're both single, what a shame. How about introducing them? I prefer the one from last night; he looked more well behaved. This one... looks a little dangerous."
Chen Song looked at her and said nothing.
The girl felt embarrassed and said awkwardly, "It was just a joke."
Chen Song stared at Gu Xingjue's fiery gaze, and quickly brought out a steaming bowl of beef sliced noodles, placed it in front of Gu Xingjue's table, and looked at him: "Enjoy your meal."
After saying this, Chen Song turned around and walked back to the kitchen.
Gu Xingjue's gaze shifted from Chen Song's impassive figure to his bowl of noodles, which was laden with scallions and chili peppers. The chili oil floating on the soup was a blood-red, red and green hue, and the spicy aroma was so strong that Gu Xingjue coughed and felt like crying from the sting.
Gu Xingjue smiled bitterly, thinking that he was taking his anger out on him.
The girl heard the noise, glanced at Gu Xingjue from a distance, then turned to ask Chen Song: "Do you have a grudge against each other? You didn't inflict the wound on his face, did you?"
Chen Song glanced at her with an ambiguous smile, and without saying anything, he walked over to Uncle An to help prepare the food. From time to time, he could hear Gu Xingjue coughing due to choking.
The girl couldn't bear it anymore, so she walked over to Gu Xingjue and asked, "Would you like some water? Or there are some drinks on the cabinet next to you, you can choose?"
Gu Xingjue was sweating all over from the spiciness, his heart and lungs were burning, and hot blood rushed to his head. His lips were red and swollen. He wiped the chili oil and snot and tears from the corners of his mouth with a tissue, coughed a few times and said, "Water, just water will be fine."
The girl quickly brought him a glass of water and said, "If you can't eat, don't eat it."
Gu Xingjue felt like he had been saved when he got the water. He guzzled it down, finishing it in one gulp. However, the spicy taste remained. He handed the cup to the girl, "Another... ahem... another one."
Uncle An also heard Gu Xingjue's movements and said to Chen Song, "Didn't he ask for something less spicy? Did you let him have it?"
Chen Song answered truthfully: "Yes."
Uncle An said somewhat reproachfully, "You can't do that, Song. Anyone who comes to the store is a customer."
Chen Song said calmly: "Well, it's my fault. I will refund him the meal money myself. It has nothing to do with the store."
Uncle An was in a difficult position to say anything, but after hearing Gu Xingjue's cough, he couldn't help but say, "Drink some soy milk. It can help with the spiciness."
The girl handed Gu Xingjue a bottle of soy milk: "This will help with the spiciness. You can drink this."
Gu Xingjue finished his noodles. Seven empty bottles of soy milk lay on the table. Even so, his mouth was still tingling. He walked to the cashier to pay, picked up another bottle of soy milk from the counter, paid, and left.
The girl was stunned. After Gu Xingjue left, she turned around and made the number eight to Chen Song and Uncle An: "Do you know how many bottles he drank? Eight bottles! Eight bottles! Is he a self-abuse person? If he hadn't come over to pay in the end, I would have suspected that he was here to cause trouble in our store!"
"I hope you won't get sick from eating this and come to blackmail our store?" the girl suddenly said uneasily.
Uncle An was also a little scared after hearing this. He shouldn't have let Chen Song go like that just now. When he was about to tell Chen Song, Chen Song said calmly, "I don't know what's wrong, but he won't blackmail us."
"He..." Chen Song sneered, "He has plenty of money."
After Gu Xingjue's little incident, the restaurant became busy again. It wasn't until the lunch rush passed that the restaurant was deserted again. Gu Xingjue came back, subconsciously ordering tomato and egg noodles. The girl said awkwardly that they didn't have any. Gu Xingjue came to his senses and ordered the same beef sliced noodles he had had that morning.
To avoid the situation that happened that morning, Uncle An offered to make it himself and assured Gu Xingjue that it would taste just as good. Gu Xingjue refused and still wanted Chen Song to make it for him.
Uncle An had no choice but to watch Chen Song cook noodles.
Chen Song said to Uncle An, "I'll pay for this meal, Uncle An."
Uncle An said, "Then you can't do it blindly anymore. If you really get sick from eating it, it will be a big disaster."
Chen Song cut tomatoes and said, "Yeah, I know."
Uncle An was a little scared, but he still stood beside Chen Song to supervise him. Chen Song really didn't do anything wrong this time, but he didn't make beef sliced noodles.
Uncle An said, "You're not making shaved beef."
Chen Song fished out the noodles and put them in cold water. After submerging them for a moment, he fished them out again and poured them into the tomato and egg soup pot beside him. "This is what he wants to eat."
Tomato and egg noodles are what Chen Song often makes for Gu Xingjue for breakfast. Gu Xingjue loves sweet food and always eats it when he comes home. Chen Song is always happy when he sees Gu Xingjue eating the food he made.
But time has passed, things have changed, and people have changed. Now he is left with endless sadness in his heart.
Chen Song brought the noodles to Gu Xingjue and said earnestly, "After you finish eating, go back to North City and don't come here again."
Gu Xingjue stared straight at him, his deep eyes like a pool of undercurrents. After a moment, he lowered his eyes, picked up the bowl, took the wooden chopsticks from the bucket, and said in a low voice, "No."
Chen Song could sense stubbornness and grievance in his tone, like a childish child.
The tomato and egg noodles still taste the same as in memory, sweet, warms the stomach, and has a special flavor that keeps tempting people to keep savoring it.
Gu Xingjue had been eating it for three years and had never known what it tasted like. Until this moment, he finally tasted it. This is why Chen Song’s food is always so delicious that he can’t help but linger on it.
Because that was the taste of home he had been looking for and longing for.
Gu Xingjue savored the food reluctantly. He ate slowly, worried that this would be the last time Chen Song cooked for him. A bitter feeling welled up in his eyes, and he couldn't help but feel like crying.
But men don't shed tears easily, so he had to swallow his tears along with the noodles, and keep all the ups and downs in his stomach.
Gu Xingjue finished his meal and left. Chen Song could see his back as he left the store from the corner of his eye. Only after the figure disappeared did he have the courage to look towards the door.
It’s a sunny day today, and the busy streets are bathed in golden light.
In the winter in South Vancouver, the trees are evergreen, and when the sun shines on the green shade, it feels like midsummer.
Chen Song didn't work overtime today, so Lu Yuan sent a message early, clamoring for the meal Chen Song cooked. Chen Song drove home right after work, and while waiting at the traffic light, he saw the gray car in the rearview mirror again.
It was the evening rush hour for people getting off work and off school, and there were a lot of cars. The gray car was three cars away from him.
Chen Song felt a bit confused, but he drove away as if nothing had happened. He parked his car in the vacant lot next to his house, turned around and waited for the gray car to drive up.
The gray car braked suddenly when turning, and drove into the open space after a while. After parking the car, Gu Xingjue got out of the car and walked towards Chen Song.
Gu Xingjue's untreated wounds had become more inflamed. His swollen eyelids were barely able to lift, and his lips were red and bloodshot. That bowl of chili-laden noodles that morning had nearly killed him, and his lips were still swollen. He looked ridiculous.
Chen Song's original intention was to persuade him to leave, but who knew that he finished all the noodles without saying a word.
The two looked at each other in silence for a long time, and Gu Xingjue said, "Chen Song...what do you want me to do to stop being angry?"
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