Chapter 17 — Thirty Million And One Man's Worth

"Old Chu Minced Meat Noodles" opened for trial, beyond expectations, Minh Vien's craftsmanship goes without saying, the broth is rich in flavor, just the right amount of sour and spicy, the noodles are chewy, the toppings are plump, just the way you eat once and remember for a lifetime.

The first week of opening, there were 43 customers at the end of the week, of which 30 people came back a second time, all of whom were office workers around the area. They ate cakes at "Khanh Nho" and were drawn to the noodle shop by the smell of broth, exactly as I had planned from the beginning. The two stores are located on the same street, the flow of people naturally flows back and forth, buying cakes to eat a bowl of noodles, after eating noodles, it is convenient to carry a box of croissants, this type of combination is called resonance, not a coincidence. The second week there were 67 customers, the third week there were people waiting. Chu Minh Vien in the kitchen was sweating all over his shirt but smiling brightly, the kind of smile I hadn't seen in a long time, as if he had finally touched something that belonged to him.

“Hieu Hieu, sold 112 bowls today!”

“Chili oil sold 18 bottles!”

“Some people say your noodles are better than those eaten in Xi'an!”

“People are right.”

He poked his head out of the kitchen, his face covered in oil and sweat but his eyes bright.

“I was planning on quitting my job.”

“Are you sure?”

“Maybe, logistics is too tiring, I want to focus on doing this.”

"So have you calculated carefully? If you quit your job, will your income be enough?"

He thought for a moment.

“On a two-day weekend, it's more than three thousand. If it's fully open, it'll be about twenty-five days a month—”

“Revenue is about three to forty thousand, minus expenses, the remaining one and a half to twenty thousand.”

“It's still better than going to work.”

“But working has insurance.”

“I play it myself, you teach me.”

I looked at him, and the feeling was clear—he hadn't changed, he'd just finally become who he was.

“Okay, rest.”

He turned back to the kitchen, I stood at the door, looked opposite, the "Khoi Nho" sign was lit, next to it was "Lao Chu Minced Meat Noodles", one side was my career, the other side was his dream, only five meters apart, just close enough to touch each other. The news of Chu Minh Vien's resignation immediately broke out in the family group. Her mother-in-law called first, her voice panicked.

“You quit your job, don't you go to work anymore?”

“I opened a noodle shop.”

“Open a noodle shop, where will the money come from?”

“Hieu Hieu help me.”

“If his salary is five thousand, how can he help?”

“It saves money.”

"Savings? How many years does it save?"

"Don't ask, mom, the restaurant is open, business is fine, I'll come over and try it someday."

Before he could say more, he hung up. Right after that, Chu Minh Le called, he didn't pick up, she called three times, still didn't answer, and finally sent a text message.

“Where is the shop? I'll come and see.”

He gave me the phone, I looked at it and gave it back.

“No need to answer.”

“If you don't answer, it will still come looking for you.”

“Just let it come.”

“Aren't you scared?”

"What are you afraid of? This whole street has two of my stores, one with over a million in revenue, one on the rise, and Thai Quoc Cuong is a discredited person, Chu Minh Le is his wife, what can they do here?"

He looked at me, slightly paused.

“You said your two shops… the noodle shop also count?”

"The noodle shop belongs to me, but you give me the money."

“That money is…”

“Yes, winning money.”

He was silent for a moment.

“So this shop is yours.”

“No, it's yours, you cook, you operate, you create value, money is just a tool.”

He thought more.

“So you will earn money later—”

“Spend whatever you want, I'm not short of money.”

“I do thirty million.”

“It's better now.”

“The investment is profitable, the store is profitable, about… thirty-three million.”

His expression was like the system was overloaded, it took a few seconds to utter a word. Chu Minh Le really came. On Wednesday afternoon, the day the noodle shop officially opened, she brought her mother-in-law along, but Thai Quoc Cuong did not go - he had spending restrictions and could not enter some places of business. At that time, I was checking inventory at the second store when To Dinh ran in to report it.

"Your mother-in-law and sister-in-law have arrived, standing in front of the noodle shop."

I closed the book and walked over. Chu Minh Le stood in front of the door of "Lao Chu Minced Meat Noodles", looking up and down, her eyes could not hide the scrutiny, her mother-in-law stood next to her, her face complicated.

“This is the shop you opened?”

She pushed the door open.

“Sister, please come in.” Chu Minh Vien came out of the kitchen, still wearing an apron.

She looked around.

“Decorating is fine, how much does it cost?”

“Not much.”

"How much?"

“Fifteen thousand.”

“Fifteen thousand? Where did you get it? How much salary can you save?"

She turned to look at me.