Chapter 41: A Beautiful Day Begins with Shacha Noodles
"Um... It’s getting late. You should get some rest!"
"I’m going to take a shower!"
With that, Gu Yifan quickly scurried off.
Watching him flee in disarray, Su Qinghe couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle.
The corners of her mouth turned up slightly, but she quickly regained her composure. She casually turned off the living room TV, then walked into the guest room next to Gu Yifan’s.
Lying on the large, soft bed, Su Qinghe felt her mind and body completely relax.
Ever since her grandmother had also passed away, she hadn’t felt this relaxed in a very long time.
Staring at the ceiling, a complex look filled her eyes. At that moment, her mind was completely filled with the image of Gu Yifan...
...
Meanwhile.
Cuihu District.
Building 19, Unit 8, Apartment 906.
In her pink, girlish bedroom, Han Ning couldn’t sleep.
Thinking about Gu Yifan’s cold attitude toward her earlier that day made her miserable.
’Ever since we were kids, Gu Yifan has always been so good to me. No matter what I did wrong, he’d always forgive me, always accept me, no questions asked!’
’But today, Gu Yifan’s attitude was so cold!’
’He was never like this before!’
’I’ve considered him my best friend my whole life!’
’All I did was reject his confession, right?’
’Am I not allowed to reject him?’
’But rejecting him is my right!’
’What gives him the right to treat me this way?!’
Han Ning just couldn’t understand why that guy Gu Yifan was treating her like this.
The more she thought about it, the worse she felt. Her nose began to sting, and tears streamed uncontrollably down her cheeks.
She curled into a ball under the covers, sobbing helplessly. She tried her best to muffle her cries, not wanting to wake her parents.
She didn’t know how much time had passed.
Perhaps exhausted from crying, Han Ning finally fell into a deep sleep, tear tracks still wet on her face...
...
The night passed uneventfully.
The next morning, as the first faint rays of sunlight broke through the window, they cast a sliver of light across the bed.
Gu Yifan slowly opened his eyes, his gaze still hazy, clearly not yet fully awake.
He rubbed his eyes, which helped him wake up a bit more, and reached for his fully charged phone on the nightstand.
He glanced at the time on the screen. It was already six in the morning.
Remembering it was Monday, Gu Yifan stretched and got out of bed.
He walked barefoot to the window and slid open the white screen. The snow had stopped, and the district outside was a vast expanse of white, the ground covered in a thick layer.
’Looks like it really snowed hard last night!’
’I wonder if that Hanhan, Su Qinghe, is sleeping okay.’
Gu Yifan muttered to himself and shook his head. He closed the window, got dressed, then opened his bedroom door and stepped out.
The moment he entered the living room, he was greeted by a rich, fragrant aroma.
Just then, his mom’s distinctive laughter echoed from the kitchen, making Gu Yifan pause for a moment.
’What’s she so happy about this early in the morning?’
He muttered to himself and walked straight to the kitchen doorway.
"Hmm."
Standing in the doorway, he saw his mom and Su Qinghe kneading dough, chatting and laughing together.
Of course!
The one doing all the talking was, naturally, his mom. Su Qinghe would nod gently from time to time, occasionally adding a few quiet words.
Compared to his mom’s exaggerated smile, hers was much more understated.
But!
You could tell that she was genuinely happy in that moment.
"COUGH, COUGH."
After watching from the doorway for a moment, Gu Yifan faked a cough.
"Ah!"
Both Chen Dongmei and Su Qinghe jumped in surprise.
They both turned to see Gu Yifan standing in the doorway.
"Mom, Qinghe, morning!"
Seeing he had startled them, Gu Yifan rubbed his nose awkwardly.
"Whew..."
Chen Dongmei was the first to recover. She took a deep breath, then turned to glare at Gu Yifan. "You brat, what is wrong with you!" she snapped. "Creeping around without making a sound, are you trying to scare me to death?! I nearly jumped out of my skin! My soul almost left my body!"
"Uh..."
Gu Yifan knew he was in the wrong, so he didn’t dare argue back. Instead, he put on a cheeky grin and changed the subject. "Mom, Qinghe, what’s smelling so good?"
Seeing Gu Yifan’s shameless grin, completely unfazed like a dead pig that doesn’t fear boiling water, Chen Dongmei felt a wave of helplessness.
"Making noodles," Su Qinghe said quietly, glancing at him.
"Oh, I see."
"So we’re having noodles for breakfast!"
"Hehehe..."
Gu Yifan said with a nod and a laugh.
"Eat, eat, eat!"
"You brat! All you think about all day is eating!"
"Look at Qinghe. She was up at five to help me make breakfast. And you? You were sleeping like a log!"
"If I’d known you were going to be this lazy, I’d have been better off giving birth to a piece of BBQ pork instead of you!"
Chen Dongmei shot him a disdainful look.
Gu Yifan was speechless.
"Mom, you really need to watch fewer Hong Kong dramas."
Hearing that classic line, Gu Yifan was speechless for a good while before finally managing to squeeze out that sentence.
Chen Dongmei was speechless.
’Yes, she had in fact learned that last line from a Hong Kong movie!’
"Go on, get out of here!"
"Go make yourself scarce!"
Chen Dongmei snapped, flush with embarrassment from being called out.
"Alrighty then~"
Gu Yifan knew to quit while he was ahead. He replied with a grin, then turned and went to the bathroom to wash up, humming a little tune.
Watching his cheeky retreat, Chen Dongmei didn’t know whether to laugh or get angry. She was utterly exasperated.
Finally, she shook her head helplessly and chided with a laugh, "That brat!"
Meanwhile, Su Qinghe watched the dynamic between mother and son, her eyes filled with envy.
"Sigh..."
"Having a daughter is so much better!"
Chen Dongmei sighed. "Qinghe, whatever you do, don’t be like that brat Yifan!"
"That boy is too much of a troublemaker, just infuriating!"
"Uh..."
Taken aback by the sudden shift in topic, she froze for a second before nodding obediently. "Mm-hm."
...
「6:30 AM」
Chen Dongmei, Gu Yifan, and Su Qinghe sat around the dining table.
"These noodles look so appetizing!"
Gu Yifan’s appetite surged as he looked at the fragrant bowl of noodles in front of him.
"Of course they do!"
"You’re in for a treat today, you brat!"
Chen Dongmei shot her son a look before saying, "These are a specialty noodle dish from Qinghe’s hometown. They’re called... what were they called again?"
For a moment, she couldn’t remember the name.
...