Chapter 3 — After Rebirth, I Won't Marry You Anymore

My mother gently patted my head: "If I don't want to get married this time, I won't get married again. Your father knows how to chop radishes, I know how to calculate accounts, you know how to cook noodles, our whole family can't starve." My father called out from the back of the kitchen: "You can still eat until you're fat." I laughed so much that I almost cried into the pot of soup. On the third day of reopening for the evening shift, Nam Phong restaurant began to have customers lining up. It sounds very inspiring, but the truth is that Ms. Ly posted a photo of a bowl of beef stew to a group of old friends, with the status line:

"This broth is more honest than my daughter-in-law talking."

So the ladies came noisily. When it's time to eat, the restaurant is filled with aunties and uncles in the neighborhood and office workers getting off work nearby. A guy wearing a shirt took the last sip of noodles and then raised his head and asked me:

"Restaurant owner, do you have combo meals? Our company works overtime, can we order delivery?"

I still had two bowls of noodles in my hand. Hearing that, the color almost disappeared on the spot. In my previous life, I also planned to sell boxed lunches. Menu, cost, delivery scope, I have it all calculated. But at that time, Chu Chieu Da said: "I'm already busy, doing more delivery work will be even more tiring. We're about to get married, so it's better to settle down a bit." Stabilize a bit. Those three words were like a very reasonable lid, covering all my thoughts for three years. In this life, I opened that lid myself, and the pot of soup was still boiling. I left my phone number for that guy. That evening after closing the restaurant, I pulled Tong Chi along to sit down and plan the menu. Tong Chi studied design in college, now works as a freelance illustrator, has a quick mind, and a quick tongue. She said: "The name of your restaurant is really rural, but it's a hometown with roots. Nam Phong restaurant, it sounds like as long as the south wind blows through, people will be full." I glared at her: "Are you here to help me or are you here to organize a funeral for the sign?"

“Come help.” She pushed the paper in front of me. "Making dinner for the neighborhood and boxed lunches for the company, the important thing is not the variety of dishes, but stability. Uncle's braised dish is the trump card, your beef stew with tomatoes is a popular dish, adding two more vegetable dishes is enough."

I nodded. The next day, Ta Nghien Thanh arrived. He is my high school classmate, currently working in community commercial planning. He wears silver-rimmed glasses, speaks slowly, and smiles a bit obnoxiously. In high school, he pursued me for three days, and on the fourth day, I discovered that even his love letter was edited from an essay template, so the feelings died prematurely, but the friendship developed strongly. As soon as he entered the shop, he said:

"Hua Trung Uong, I heard that you're single again and your career is promising, so I came to invest in a bowl of noodles."

I brought him a bowl of consistently expensive beef stew: "Invest eighteen yuan in advance." After eating, Ta Nghien Thanh wiped his mouth and said:

“The taste is still the same, only the temperament is better.”

Tong Chi raised his head from the side:

“Her personality is better because she doesn't intend to get married anymore, not because of you.”

Ta Nghien Thanh smiled:

“So the marriage market suffered big losses, and the food and drink market won big.”

He did not come empty-handed. He brought with him a set of documents about the residential area's night dining service pilot project. Some recent apartment complexes and office buildings are looking to partner with stable eateries to Providing pre-ordered meals for the elderly, night shift workers and overtime workers. Requirements are not complicated: cleanliness, punctuality and stable prices. I looked at the documents, my heart gradually beating faster. This is the direction I wanted to take in my previous life but was never able to do it. Ta Nghien Thanh tapped lightly on the table:

"You have the skills, have regular customers, have premises, just lack the online ordering process and channel. I can help you create a small ordering program. In the first stage, we don't charge money, later we will calculate commission for each order."

I looked at him warily: "Why are you suddenly so kind?" He pushed up his glasses: "Actually, I've always been kind. It's just that my writing skills were so poor in high school that it affected my image." Tong Chi burst out laughing. I did not agree immediately, but took the documents home and read them all night, calculating the costs until dawn. My mother, Khuong Hoa, sat with me behind the cashier. The abacus changed into a handheld computer, the clicking sound sounded like small fireworks. After hearing the plan, my father was silent for a long time and then said: "If you want to do it, do it, don't be afraid of getting tired." I looked at him. He lowered his head and sharpened the knife, his voice low: "Last time you worked the evening shift, dad didn't stop me because I saw you happily married. Now if you want to open it again, dad won't stop you. This kitchen belongs to our family, anyone who wants to light a fire can do so." The bridge of my nose. On the third day, Ta Nghien Thanh and I signed a memorandum of cooperation. When I signed, my palms were sweaty, but my heart felt strangely clear. At that moment, Chu Chieu Da arrived. He stood at the door, saw Ta Nghien Thanh and I sitting next to each other, the table was full of documents, his face visibly darkened. Ta Nghien Thanh raised his head and smiled with his eyes: "Captain Chu, are you coming to eat?" Chu Chieu Da's eyes fell on the pen in my hand: "Are you two discussing work?" I put away the contract: "Yes, about the shop's cooperation."

“You can discuss this with me.”

I looked at him and calmly asked: "Will you support me?" He didn't answer right away.