Rebirth 07: Starting with Saving a Bankrupt Restaurant

"What are you going to take me to eat?"

"You'll find out when we get there," Li Lichun said, keeping everyone in suspense.

"Making it all so mysterious."

The person speaking to Li Lichun was naturally his wife, Jia Yingmei.

Because of her illness, Jia Yingmei's face looked pale and listless.

"Zhou's Restaurant? Has it reopened or been transferred?" Jia Yingmei asked, looking at the four large characters of Zhou's Restaurant.

"We've reopened."

"It's reopened? I remember you said before that something bad happened at the restaurant." Jia Yingmei was a little confused for a moment.

Li Lichun smiled and said, "That's all in the past. Things are different now. You'll know once you've tried it."

"Welcome. Hello, are you two?"

As soon as the two entered, Shi Ying immediately went to greet them.

Li Lichun looked at Shi Ying, whose face was unfamiliar, and didn't react for a moment, but quickly realized that she was a new employee in the store.

"What would you two like to eat?"

"Two large bowls of tomato and egg noodles."

Jia Yingmei waved her hand and said, "One big bowl and one small bowl will be enough. We might not be able to finish any more."

Li Lichun smiled and said, "I'll listen to her."

"Then please have a seat for a while." After saying that, Shi Ying took small steps to the kitchen and told Zhou Wen about the dishes.

"Business seems much worse than before," Jia Yingmei said, looking around the shop. "But the place is quite clean, though."

She could count the number of times she came to Zhouji Restaurant on one hand. Most of the time, she would come along when her husband and his coworkers were drinking together.

"Those were all things from a long time ago. Although business may not be as good as it used to be, it's only a matter of time before it surpasses it," Li Lichun said confidently.

"Besides, the taste is completely incomparable to what it used to be."

"The restaurants nearby can't compare," Li Lichun added.

Upon hearing Li Lichun's words, Jia Yingmei immediately became interested, as she knew how picky her husband was about food.

"Hello, let me add some hot water for you."

"The service is much better than before," Jia Yingmei said, taking a sip of hot water and holding the cup in her hands.

"Your two bowls of tomato and egg noodles, one large and one small."

Because she was sick with a cold, Jia Yingmei had a stuffy nose, but she could still smell the fragrance when it was right in front of her.

I took a gentle sniff; it smelled wonderful—that was my first thought.

For the past few days, I've had no appetite due to illness, and I've mostly been eating millet porridge, noodles, and watery soup.

"Try it quickly and see if it suits your taste."

Jia Yingmei picked up her chopsticks and took a small bite.

"How is it?"

"Delicious." Jia Yingmei replied simply with two words before continuing to eat her noodles.

Actions have already spoken for themselves.

Li Lichun smiled, didn't ask any more questions, and began to enjoy his noodles.

……

Li Lichun looked as if he had expected this: "I told you you wouldn't have enough to eat."

After saying that, he beckoned to Shi Ying: "Little girl, help us finish making some noodles."

Upon hearing the greeting, Shi Ying quickly came to the side.

"Why add more noodles? There's enough to eat," Jia Yingmei quickly interjected.

"It's free."

"It's free? Oh... then young lady, could you please continue the next part for me?"

"No trouble at all, please wait a moment."

After finishing his meal, Li Lichun sat quietly beside Jia Yingmei.

"Excuse me, would you like to have your noodles refilled?" Shi Ying asked, controlling her voice.

"No need." Because he has to go to work in the afternoon, Li Lichun usually doesn't eat too much at noon.

"Then let me get you a cup of hot water."

"Okay, thank you."

……

"Uncle Li, have you finished eating? Auntie, it's been a long time." As an old acquaintance, Zhou Wen still took the opportunity to come out and say hello.

Li Lichun smiled and nodded, saying, "Xiao Zhou, your service is getting better and better."

Zhou Wen smiled and waved his hand, saying, "It has nothing to do with me. That girl is serious and meticulous in her work. I guess I've struck gold."

These were Zhou Wen's honest thoughts.

……

I don't know if it was because Shi Ying took half of her original work, or because her enthusiasm affected me, or both.

After closing time in the afternoon, Zhou Wen stretched and felt much more relaxed than usual.

"What would you like to eat?"

"Tomato and egg noodles."

Girls generally prefer to eat lighter foods.

Actually, Shi Ying had been looking forward to lunch for the staff since she finished making the first bowl of egg noodles. Fried noodles and fried rice were also good, but after a busy morning, she decided to have a bowl of noodles to warm herself up.

Zhou Wen even added a fried egg to it.

After taking a bite of noodles, Shi Ying suddenly started laughing for some reason, making Zhou Wen think that something had happened.

As the person closest to the kitchen besides Zhou Wen, and with the dishes being served back and forth, Shi Ying had been craving this dish for a long time.

Realizing she had somewhat lost her composure, Shi Ying's cheeks flushed instantly. She quickly chopped the noodles into smaller pieces, covered her mouth, and mumbled, "Boss, I'm sorry. The noodles were so delicious, I couldn't control myself..."

Zhou Wen waved his hand, not caring about such things at all.

Shi Ying lowered her head slightly and slowly ate her noodles, but would occasionally look up at Zhou Wen.

Noticing Shi Ying's discomfort, Zhou Wen didn't stay in the front hall any longer. He stood up and said, "You eat first. When you're done, take your bowl to the kitchen. I still need to tidy up the ingredients there a bit."

"Boss, you rest, I'll go."

"You wouldn't know anything about ingredients, just sit down and eat."

After finishing her meal, Shi Ying rested for a while before starting to clean.

Zhou Wen didn't rest because of Shi Ying's presence; instead, he joined in cleaning.

It's a good opportunity to chat and find out what's going on.

"Are you getting used to it this morning?"

Shi Ying pursed her lips and thought for a moment before saying, "At first, I wasn't used to it, but I gradually got used to it."

"I quite like this job too," Shi Ying added.

You really like this job? This was something Zhou Wen hadn't expected.

Zhou Wen smiled and said, "You like it?"

Shi Ying nodded seriously: "I quite like the feeling of being able to interact with different people."

Zhou Wen smiled silently; perhaps this was just his personality.

Personality may be one factor, but a large part of the reason is related to Shi Ying's previous work.

I used to work in factories.

Every day I have to go to work as soon as I open my eyes, and I sit for almost the entire day. The factory workshop smells bad, and the environment can be described as terrible, with waste everywhere.

The machines in the workshop run non-stop all day long, which is quite a strain on the ears.

So after receiving her cousin's call last night, Shi Ying immediately called back, afraid that she would lose the job.