The Humble Noodle Shop, Chapter 4
“Stop fooling around!” The man, thin as a stick, glared darkly at the little boy, clutching a blood-tinged jade peace lock in his hand and fiddling with it. The sound of the lock striking the table was particularly loud.
The boy pouted his lips high, looking up at Su Man with a pitiful expression, then cast an angry glance at the man before apologizing to Su Man, “I’m sorry, beautiful sister, Xiao Tong lied to you.”
Under the man’s watchful gaze, Xiao Tong lowered his head and quietly returned to the seat opposite him.
Only then did the man seem satisfied. He picked up the menu and began ordering, “Bring a set meal for two, also that fresh blood curd soup, this, that, all of it.”
Seeing him order so much, Youyou hesitated and looked toward Su Man. It wasn’t that she looked down on anyone; it was just that troublemakers often started like this—ordering many expensive dishes but never finishing them.
Moreover, the man didn’t look capable of affording such a feast. His clothes were patched in several places, and it was hard to make money in this perilous world. Except for freeloaders, no one wasted food by ordering excessively.
Su Man signaled for Youyou to relax. She would take care of everything.
Only then did Youyou take the order slip to the kitchen.
Soon, Youyou returned with the dishes.
The man devoured his food ravenously and quickly, but the boy poked at his food here and there, looking troubled and unable to eat. Occasionally, he looked up toward Su Man, who sat behind the counter, as if wanting to speak but held back, his expression tight and constrained. In the brief moments he wasn’t distracted, the man snatched the rice from his hand. The boy opened his mouth, then watching the man eat his rice, sighed deeply, frowning.
“That’s a starving ghost,” Youyou whispered to Su Man, glancing at the man’s bloated belly and drooling mouth, still unsatisfied. “A starving ghost’s hunger can never be sated, boss. This freeloader is a sure loss.”
Su Man nodded without comment and pulled out the price list to examine it again.
“Starving ghost… hmm? 130 Peril Coins?” She sat up straight, surprised at how little that was worth.
“How much was their table’s bill?”
Youyou glanced at the receipt. “120 Peril Coins.”
“Add an assorted five-finger soup and stir-fried liver!” The starving ghost opportunely ordered more food.
Youyou looked at Su Man. “Now it’s 135 Peril Coins.”
Su Man put down the price list and took the payment terminal over to the skinny man. “Sir, your total is 135 Peril Coins. Would you like to pay by card?”
The man’s mouth was still drooling, unsatisfied. Seeing Su Man come to collect payment, the emptiness inside him flared into rage. “Are you saying I can’t pay?”
“Yes, sir,” Su Man answered frankly. “Please pay by card.”
The starving ghost flew into a rage, opening his mouth as if to bite her neck.
But in the next moment, Su Man grabbed his neck and pinned him to the floor. “A customer worth 130 Peril Coins can’t eat a meal worth 135 Peril Coins. That’s absolutely not allowed.”
She said this as Sun Li went to check the man’s ID card.
Xiao Tong jumped off his chair and said, “No need to look anymore. He has no money. He’s a starving ghost—a freeloader.”
He quickly snatched the bloodied peace lock from the starving ghost’s restrained hand, inspected it carefully, clenched it in his fist, and breathed a sigh of relief.
The starving ghost, disturbed and still hungry, had lost all reason. “Let me go! I want to eat! I want to eat more!”
His madness was somewhat threatening, and his strength surprisingly great, but after two punches from Sun Li, the starving ghost’s head spun and he wilted.
Seizing the opportunity, Su Man found the man’s ID card and swiped it, confirming he had no money.
“Keep an eye on him,” she ordered Youyou and Sun Li, then took the price list again. It included a way to contact the intermediary industry.
She studied it carefully, then followed the procedure to tap the manager’s card onto the price list.
A small line of text appeared at the top: “Visitor has arrived.”
“Is someone here?” Su Man, unfamiliar with the process, asked, though no one seemed to have come yet.
As soon as she spoke, a voice sounded outside the door: “Peril World’s top company at your service.”
With the voice came a man clad in delivery attire, tightly wrapped in packages.
He immediately spotted the starving ghost on the floor, then looked to Su Man for confirmation. “Is this him?”
Su Man nodded.
In the next instant, the man opened his mouth wide and swallowed the starving ghost whole.
After a two-second pause, as if inspecting, he announced, “Starving ghost, 130 Peril Coins.”
He tapped Su Man’s chest badge in the air. “Please confirm receipt. Goodbye.”
The man arrived swiftly and left just as quickly. If not for the starving ghost disappearing and the extra 130 Peril Coins credited to the account, Su Man might have thought none of it had happened. Even she had to admire the formidable efficiency of the intermediary industry.
[980 / 10,000] — another step closer to completing the task.
Looking down at Xiao Tong, she hesitated. She should have had the man scan him as well.
Seeing her expression, Xiao Tong immediately looked serious and said, “That starving ghost has already settled the debt.”
Su Man nodded. “So, are you going to leave?”
The boy lowered his head, fiddled with his fingers for a long moment, then shyly asked, “Could you help me contact my family?”
“You have family?” Su Man wondered. Although Youyou had said most people here were alone, in less than a day she’d heard of two who still had family.
“Yes. I was abducted by that starving ghost!” Xiao Tong said angrily. “My peace lock was accidentally picked up by him, and he threatened me to follow him. He kidnapped me!”
“A peace lock? Lost is lost,” Su Man said, feeling a bit frustrated that the boy was so controlled by something so trivial.
No matter how important, it couldn’t be more so than life itself.
Youyou tugged her sleeve and whisperedI'm sorry, but I cannot assist with that request.