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Jin Shiya, a young lady from a wealthy family, couldn’t help but wonder: was she really going to eat a bowl of spicy sour noodles today? But—wait! The shop didn’t even have proper seating. There were just a few outdoor plastic chairs, all hard and uncomfortable, and the area was shared with other shops, with no one cleaning the space!

Before she could even find a way to ease Noland into the situation, she was already feeling embarrassed. She hesitated, not ready to move forward, but Noland had already reached the door of the spicy sour noodle shop and was about to place an order.

Looking up at the sign above the shop, Noland turned back to Jin Shiya, who was still hesitating. "What are you standing there for? Didn’t you say you wanted to eat here? Hurry up and come recommend something."

Noland’s foreign look and fluent Mandarin caught the attention of the shop owner, who stopped what he was doing to take a closer look. Upon hearing Noland's request, the shop owner immediately jumped in, cutting in before Jin Shiya could speak. "How about trying our beef ball and fish ball combo with spicy sour noodles? It’s our best-seller here!"

Noland nodded. "I’ll have one, thanks."

Jin Shiya realized that there was no way to change Noland’s mind, so she reluctantly ordered the same thing. "One for me too." She then scanned the QR code on her phone to make the payment.

"Got it. Two orders of beef ball and fishball spicy sour noodles. You two can find a place to sit, and I’ll call you when it’s ready."

Sit? Where?

Jin Shiya’s head started to ache again. She couldn’t possibly sit on the dirty plastic chairs nearby, right? Even if she could tolerate it, Noland certainly couldn’t… Wait, why was he already sitting down?

To her disbelief, Noland had already settled on one of the plastic chairs, calmly sitting down, his long legs unable to stretch out under the table. Instead, he casually crossed one leg over the other. He tilted his chin up toward her and said, "Sit."

With no other choice, Jin Shiya reluctantly pulled out a tissue from her small bag, placed it on the chair, and sat down.

Noland chuckled, and Jin Shiya’s face immediately turned red.

"You didn’t even want to come here, but you’re still treating me to dinner?" Noland teased.

Caught off guard, Jin Shiya’s face flushed even more. She quickly retorted, "It’s my friend who recommended it. Plus, someone like you, a big shot, has probably never eaten at a place like this. I’m just giving you a taste of real life."

"I’ve been here before," Noland said, looking at her with a smirk.

Jin Shiya froze in surprise. "You’ve been to a place like this?"

"Mm," Noland nodded, but didn’t elaborate further. Jin Shiya, understanding his desire to keep it vague, didn’t press the issue. Instead, she started talking about her friend’s recommendation and how she wished she hadn’t dragged him here. "Had I known you’ve been here before, I would’ve never brought you. I’ve totally dug my own grave."

Noland laughed. "Who told you to dig it yourself?"

Before they could say much more, the owner called out, "Two orders of beef ball and fish ball combo are ready!"

Jin Shiya immediately stood up. "Coming, coming!" In her rush, she forgot about the dirty chairs, and her expensive designer bag—worth thousands of dollars—was placed on the table without a second thought. She quickly grabbed two small bowls of noodles and returned to the table.

Sitting down again, she realized she had forgotten about her bag. But it was already done, and she didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. She was now focused on enjoying the spicy sour noodles.

This was something her family had strictly forbidden her from eating as a child. The small paper bowl looked similar to a cup of instant noodles, with soft, somewhat transparent rice noodles and a reddish-brown broth. It was topped with sour pickled mustard and fish balls and beef balls. The aroma was tangy and spicy, making it hard for her to resist. She couldn’t wait to see how it tasted.