67. Moving Into the Noodle Shop

At lunchtime, Wu Xueqian ran into Qin’s Noodle Shop dressed in her taekwondo uniform. She helped herself to a bowl of rice and sat down to eat. “Brother Bai, eight kids came to learn today. Five were introduced by acquaintances, and the rest came because they saw the flyers.”

“That’s great. Slowly, there’ll be more and more,” Bai responded.

“Yeah, I’m already earning money now, though it’s still not enough to cover my meals. Liu Xin was amazing this time. If it weren’t for him… Isn’t he your employee? Why haven’t I seen him?” Wu Xueqian looked around.

“Are you here for lunch, or are you here to see him?” Er Tong teased her.

“Specifically for lunch, and to see him while I’m at it,” Xueqian replied with utter confidence.

“What do you want him for?”

“To thank him, and also…” Wu Xueqian grew a little shy, lowering her head.

“And also what?” Er Tong continued to tease, “Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for that blockhead?”

“Of course not!” Wu Xueqian’s face flushed red. “I want to ask him to draw a comic strip of me practicing taekwondo, using me as the model. And I want him to make me look cute.”

Then she turned to Qin Bai and said, “Brother Bai, don’t listen to his nonsense. My heart belongs to you alone. My dad says that a girl should always earn and spend her own money, but if she meets a man like you who’s willing to feed her for free, it’s okay to be a little lazy. He says you’re a good man and he approves.”

Qin Bai couldn’t help but twitch at the corners of his mouth and glanced at Er Tong, who raised a hand to his forehead to block Qin Bai’s look, then turned to Xueqian and said, “Are you free this afternoon? I’ll take you to find Liu Xin. That kid’s really talented—you know how hard it was for him to learn to draw?”

“How hard?” Xueqian asked with concern.

“Well, in my life, I, Er Tong, have only ever admired two people. He’s one of them,” Er Tong nodded emphatically, though not entirely convincingly.

“Really?” Xueqian clearly didn’t believe him.

“Yeah. After lunch, I’ll take you to find him.”

“Okay.” Xueqian nodded.

Er Tong’s hand, still on his forehead, made an “ok” sign at Qin Bai.

After dinner, Tang Yiyi couldn’t wait to head over to Qin’s Noodle Shop to make her bed. She walked into Xiao Xie’s room and found that the single bed, which had originally been set in the middle of the room, had now been pushed against the wall, and her own small bed was set up against the adjacent wall.

Qin Bai asked her whether she wanted to use her own sheets and quilt covers, or his.

Tang Yiyi grinned, “I’m too lazy to go get mine.” So she followed him into his room.

Qin Bai opened his wardrobe and pointed to the neatly folded sets of bedding on the top shelf. “Which color do you want?”

Tang Yiyi craned her neck and stood on tiptoe. She saw two colors: a deep blue and a light green. “The light green one.”

Qin Bai pulled out the light green sheets and pillowcase for her, then took out a cool summer quilt printed with green plants.

She made her bed and sat down, looking around. She hadn’t really noticed the room before, even when she came to give Xiao Xie moxibustion. Now, with two beds inside, it felt a little cramped. A desk attached to a bookshelf, clearly an old model—Tang Yiyi had one just like it back home.

She walked over to look at the books on the shelf. It was clearly a man’s bookshelf—a few history books, some military-themed ones, and two sets of martial arts novels by Jin Yong.

She picked up a military-themed book and flipped through it. The cover was worn and the pages dog-eared, clearly read more than once.

In the top corner, she found a few high school textbooks and notebooks from the third year.

She picked up a notebook and on the inside cover saw the words “Ye Tong.” So these were Ye Tong’s notes.

She had studied liberal arts, and here were all the key points of world history, the whole subject summarized, with clear outlines, main figures and events, and their significance all obvious at a glance—a model student’s notebook.

There was also one for politics, written in the same neat hand and with the same clear organization. Inside the last page was a photo—a handsome face that looked like Xiang Qiaoting with short hair, rebellious eyes, and an ill-fitting school uniform on a lanky frame. It was Qin Bai as a boy.

It was hard to imagine that Qin Bai had ever been that raw and youthful. Now, he was so steady and calm, he seemed a completely different person. Tang Yiyi found herself more drawn to the man he’d become.

She put the notebook back and picked up a high school textbook. Opening it, she couldn’t help but laugh—every page was covered in doodles, random underlining, and circles drawn haphazardly around the key points.

Putting the textbook and notebook side by side, she could feel the deep despair of a model student girlfriend toward her slacker boyfriend.

“What are you looking at?” Qin Bai came in and asked.

Tang Yiyi turned to laugh at him. “Brother Bai, just how bad were your grades back then?”

He glanced at the textbook in her hands, his face turning slightly red as he took it and the notebook to put back on the shelf. “They’ve been there for more than ten years, never touched.”

“Brother Bai, was this your room before?”

“Mm. Now I live in my grandpa’s room. I only moved over after Xiao Xie arrived.”

She laughed, “Back then, Sister Ye Tong must have been pretty annoyed and anxious tutoring you.”

His gaze softened. “She was a great student, just like you.”

She lowered her head, embarrassed. “I could never compare to her. Aunt always says she was ambitious from a young age—she worked hard just to live in a big city. And she made it. I don’t have ambitions like that.”

He dismissed it. “Everyone has their own goals. You’re not any less than her.”

She looked up in delight. “Really? You think I’m like her?”

He nodded. “In some ways, you’re even better.”

Tang Yiyi’s days of self-doubt vanished in an instant. She felt almost light enough to float. “Brother Bai, I’m going to study now. I’ll come over later.” With that, she darted away.

Qin Bai watched her run off, puzzled by her sudden speed.

He went out, found a box, and packed all the old books from the shelf into it, pushing it under the bed. Then he wiped down the bookshelf and desk with a cloth. She studied all the time—she needed a clean desk and bookshelf.

Tang Yiyi rolled happily around on her bed at the clinic. So, Qin Bai didn’t think she was inferior. He even thought she was better than Ye Tong in some ways. The realization gave her a huge boost of confidence.

Now that she was living at the noodle shop, she was closer to him than ever. She silently encouraged herself: I have to show him my best side.

That night, after washing up, Tang Yiyi took a more conservative set of pajamas over to the noodle shop.

Er Tong was hunched over his phone, doing something. When he saw her, he beckoned her over and showed her the screen. “This is Xiao Xie’s Weibo. Follow her, and help promote it among your friends. I want to make Xiao Xie a celebrity in the eating-broadcast world.”

Tang Yiyi leaned over to look at Xiao Xie’s profile. The avatar was Xiao Xie’s chubby smiling face, and the username was “Little Sister Loves to Eat.”

Tang Yiyi took out her own phone, found the account, and followed it.

Er Tong also used “Little Sister Loves to Eat” to follow Tang Yiyi back. “Your username is ‘A Touch of Blue at the Horizon’? What kind of name is that?”

He browsed through her past posts, mostly shares about traditional Chinese medicine and health. “You might as well call yourself ‘Happy Little Qi Huang.’ Then people would know exactly what you do. Those interested in wellness would follow you. ‘A Touch of Blue at the Horizon’? Might as well be ‘A Lump of Something on the Ground.’”

Tang Yiyi ignored him. She was already immune to Er Tong’s sharp tongue. She scrolled through Xiao Xie’s Weibo—just a few videos. Two she’d seen before, and the latest one was Xiao Xie eating a whole white-cut chicken.

The video was short, only twenty seconds. She didn’t finish the whole chicken, but she ate with such relish that it was perfect for people trying to lose weight—something to watch when you want to eat but can’t.

Tang Yiyi asked, “What’s your Weibo name? I want to see your photography.”

“Light and Shadow Moments,” Er Tong replied without looking up.

Tang Yiyi found it and followed.

Qin Bai came over to send Er Tong out for a delivery. The weather was getting hotter, and everyone was holed up indoors with the air conditioning, unwilling to come out.

Uncle Chen said that noodle sales would be tough for the next couple of months; they should do more deliveries of marinated dishes. Qin Bai wasn’t very interested, but Er Tong was excited. He set up the shop on Meituan, put up the marinated dishes, and expanded the delivery range to two kilometers. Still, some nearby customers preferred to call Qin Bai directly, so Er Tong had to deliver in person.

Despite his sharp tongue, Er Tong was efficient and cheerful about his work. As a photographer delivering takeout, he was just as enthusiastic.

Qin Bai said, “Art comes from life.” He felt he was experiencing life.

Tang Yiyi went upstairs and saw the freshly cleaned desk and bookshelf, feeling a wave of warmth in her heart.

She lay on the bed, her face buried in the pillow. The pillowcase was freshly laundered, but since he’d used it, it must still carry his scent.

The next day, Mrs. Xiao Xiao actually brought two colleagues to lose weight—one a plump auntie, the other a chubby young man.

Tang Yiyi first had Xu Mingtang check their pulses, inquired about their health, and determined that one suffered from liver and stomach heat, the other from spleen deficiency and dampness. She took them upstairs, and the acupuncture weight-loss service officially opened on the second floor.

Xu Bin watched Tang Yiyi go upstairs and said to Xu Mingtang, “We should hire another acupuncturist for our clinic. If we have Yiyi doing only that, we’d be wasting a good doctor.”

“You’re right. When we get more clients for acupuncture, we’ll hire someone. I just don’t know when Huangjuelan Alley will finally be demolished. When you have time, keep an eye out for suitable places for us to move.”

“Okay.”

Upstairs, Mrs. Xiao Xiao watched Tang Yiyi insert the needles in her colleagues. Coming out from behind the curtain, she remarked, “This second floor was just fixed up, wasn’t it?”

“Mm, just finished.”

“Missing a water dispenser.”

“Are you thirsty, Auntie? I have water in my room.”

Tang Yiyi opened her door and poured water for Mrs. Xiao Xiao. At the door, Mrs. Xiao Xiao noticed the row of colorful snack bags on the bookshelf and laughed. “Yiyi’s still a child at heart, loving all these snacks.”

“I always have. Especially when reading or watching TV.”

“Isn’t that so? Even now, Xiao Xiao loves them. Her father buys her snacks every time he goes to the supermarket. I tell him she’s old enough to buy them herself, but he won’t hear of it. ‘She’s my daughter, and until she’s married, I’ll spoil her.’ My husband has always treated her like a little princess.”

Tang Yiyi glanced back at her row of snacks and suddenly felt something odd. Ever since she came to the clinic, all her snacks had been bought by Qin Bai. Was he spoiling her, too?