Chapter 14: I want to learn how to make beef ramen from you (Please collect)

  Although Chen Li was worried about the livelihood of tomorrow, the sun still rises every day. When the second day dawned, because they had a fierce battle last night, Zhang Fugui and his wife arrived at their stall later than usual, but Chen Li had already been waiting there for a long time.

  "Good morning, little brother! Sorry about that. We're running a bit late today!" Zhang Fugui said with some embarrassment as he greeted Chen Li, having been scolded by Wang Caixia all the way there.

  "Good morning, Big Brother Zhang!" Chen Li replied and then quietly took the initiative to help Zhang Fugui with his work. Before long, they had set up the tent, table, benches, stove and other things.

  After Zhang Fugui had finished all this, he first cooked a bowl of beef noodles and intentionally added a few more pieces of beef. He handed the noodles to Chen Li and said to him as he passed them over;

  "Come on little brother, this bowl of noodles is on me!"

  "Zhang, how did this happen? You guys didn't even make any money easily!" Chen Li held the big bowl of beef noodles, for the first time feeling concern from someone other than his grandfather Chen Bingkun. The hot air and spicy chili oil aroma rising from the bowl seemed to stimulate something in his eyes that was on the verge of tears.

  "Alas! What a poor child! Little brother, if you have any difficulties, just tell us, my husband and I, and we'll help as much as we can!" Wang Caixia, who had been observing Chen Li from the side, saw that he was actually moved to tears by this steaming bowl of beef noodles, which made her even more determined that this child must be a good person, so she made up her mind to help him.

  For the Northwestern people who have always regarded promises as more precious than life, Wang Caixia's previous promise means that they will spare no effort to help Chen Li, even if it makes their originally not wealthy life more difficult, they will still help without complaint or regret.

  "Sister!" Chen Li heard this and was overwhelmed with emotions, so moved that he couldn't speak. In this unfamiliar place where he had no relatives, he dragged his still-recovering body around to save the few hundred dollars, not even daring to stay in a small inn for tens of dollars per night. Every night, he hid in the bridge cave with beggars, and every day's three meals were filled with the cheapest and most famous beef noodles in the northwest. Just when the last ten dollars on his body was about to run out, he unexpectedly heard that someone was willing to help him unconditionally, how could this not make him cry?

  At this moment, looking at the simple and kind-hearted Zhang Fugui couple, he felt as if he had met his long-lost relatives, and he couldn't help but want to hug them tightly and cry out loud, in order to release all the depression and sadness that had been accumulated over several hundred years of living!

  "Little brother, it's clear that you haven't suffered much before. Whatever difficulties you have, just speak up! Your big brother Zhang is a well-known kind-hearted person!" Wang Caixia was afraid that her husband Zhang Fugui would raise some objections, so she hastily spoke up first to block him;

  Zhang Fugui reluctantly nodded and looked at Chen Li with encouraging eyes, saying:

  "Little brother, what's troubling you? Just speak up and as long as it's within Big Brother Zhang's power, I'll definitely help you!"

  Chen Li remained silent for half a day before seeming to make up his mind and saying to Zhang Fugui:

  "Zhang, I want to learn how to make beef noodles from you! I don't want any wages, just provide me with three meals a day and find me a place to sleep, that's all!"

  Actually, from an outsider's perspective, Chen Li's request is only beneficial and not harmful to Zhang Fu Gui and his wife. However, considering Chen Li's age, if he were to hire someone with his own money, it would be impossible to find anyone for less than a thousand or eight hundred yuan per month. The couple runs a small beef noodle stall that barely covers their family expenses, so how could they afford to hire someone? Even if they didn't have to pay Chen Li a salary, the issue of food would be easy to resolve, but what about sleeping arrangements? If they let him sleep at their home, Zhang Fu Gui's sex life would be completely ruined!

  It's actually a very simple truth, if Chen Lizhu had to live with them, he would have to sleep in the living room. But if a big guy like him slept in the living room for months on end, would the homeowners dare do anything in their bedroom just one wall away? The answer is obviously no, even if Zhang Fugui dared, his wife Wang Caixia definitely wouldn't agree.

  Just as Zhang Fugui was worried about how to solve this problem, his wife Wang Caixia agreed with a single word.

  "Just because you called me 'sister-in-law' this time, tonight you'll come home with us to live!"

  Zhang Fugui secretly lamented after hearing this, fearing that he would have to bid farewell to his life of luxury! Alas! Who made me Zhang Fugui get stuck with a kind-hearted and helpful wife?

  Just as Zhang Fugui was lamenting his own sex life, Chen Li, who had solved the problem of making a living, smiled with joy and rolled up his sleeves to wipe the table and stools clean. He was preparing for a big battle when customers arrived, but because Zhang Fugui and his wife came late today, it was already past breakfast time and not yet lunchtime, so there were basically no customers. As a result, Chen Li had nowhere to show off his skills and could only sit down again with a helpless smile at Zhang Fugui and his wife, thinking to himself: Am I really a jinx? Why does business get worse whenever I come to Big Brother Zhang's place?

  "Little brother, since we've become a family, you should at least tell me your name!" Seeing Chen Li's uneasy expression, Zhang Fugui started chatting with him in a relaxed manner;

  "My surname is Chen, with a single character given name 'Li', my parents both passed away when I was very young, and now the only one left in our household is just my grandfather..."

  When Chen Li told his miserable life, Zhang Fugui and his wife listened with tears in their eyes, and they loved him more and more, almost like their own brother.

  "Alright, brother, from today on, I, Zhang Fugui, will treat you as my own younger brother! From now on, I'll teach you how to make beef noodle soup!"