“Add some meat strips, it’s on me,” a male voice came from behind just as Hao Yunyang was about to smile and go inside to sit and wait for his noodles. Before Hao Yunyang could react, a hand was placed on his shoulder: “Being so young and unwilling to even eat some meat strips, you’re something else.”
Although he hadn’t yet understood who the person was, Hao Yunyang’s face turned red, feeling extremely awkward and at a loss.
“Come in,” dragging a pair of cotton slippers with holes, Liu Ming brushed past Hao Yunyang and walked a few steps before turning back to glance at him: “Are you planning to squat outside and eat?”
“Hehe,” Hao Yunyang scratched his head, laughing awkwardly, watching Liu Ming enter the shop before hesitantly pulling out a bright red banknote and handing it to a woman who seemed to be the boss’s wife: “One meat strip noodle.”
“Spent all those phone credits on chat lines, right?” Hao Yunyang received the ninety-five yuan change from the boss’s wife, sat at Liu Ming’s table. Seeing Hao Yunyang sit down, Liu Ming casually tossed over a Lion brand cigarette, lit one for himself regardless of whether Hao Yunyang would smoke, and handed the lighter to Hao Yunyang with a smile: “Go left from here, that alley is called Yingchun Alley, they all do that kind of work, thirty to fifty each time. The money you spent on chat lines would be enough for several visits.”
“The thing is, I didn’t spend money on chat lines,” Hao Yunyang was somewhat embarrassed, explaining: “The phone credits are still in my phone.”
“Oh, really?” Liu Ming gave a strange laugh, his face clearly showing an expression of “who would believe you?”
Seeing Liu Ming’s reaction, Hao Yunyang could only sigh inwardly, losing the motivation to continue explaining.
The clear soup noodles had several meat strips, half fat and half lean. Hao Yunyang poked at them with his chopsticks, counted them, and called out, “Boss, are your meat strips made of gold?”
“Huh?” The boss, in the middle of cutting noodles, poked out half his head, looking confused.
“Clear soup noodle is three yuan, meat strip noodle is five yuan,” Hao Yunyang counted on his fingers: “Two yuan gets you ten meat strips, so each strip is twenty cents? That’s ruthless!”
