Chapter 428
Selena let out a dejected sigh. "Should we just eat something else?
“We''ll eat noodles!” He held onto her hand and led her into a small alley.
“Where are you taking me? It''s five miles away, isn''t it? Are we going to walk all the way there?” she cried. He led her through an intricatework of
passages and somehow managed to find a noodle store hidden in one of the alleyways. It was a tiny stall set up in a residential area, and it didn’t
lack like a legitimate restaurant. The store was dim and quiet as they looked into it from outside—it didn''t look like a nice ce at all.
“Is this the ce?” Selena asked.
“Yeah. Do you have a problem with it?” Pierre asked in return.
She rubbed her rumbling tummy. “No! Let''s go!” The two of them strode into the shop. A couple ran the ce, and one of their children was sitting at
the corner of the shop while doing her homework. Thedy owner was carrying another young child on her back as she walked over to serve them.
Selena and Pierre could immediately tell that their family of four was struggling to make ends meet—the restaurant was probably their sole ie.
“What would you guys like to eat? We serve homemade noodles here. Would you like to take a look at the menu?” Thedy gestured toward a menu
hanging on the wall.
‘I''ll have some beef noodles,” Selena said after ncing at the menu
“Same for me,” Pierre said as thedy turned toward him. “Alright. Do you guys want anything else? We have shrimp. fried chicken, and cabbage as
side dishes. Would you like to try some of those?
“We''ll have one of each, then.” Selena ordered an unnecessary amount of food.
“Alright!” Thedy beamed as she
hurried off to prepare their food.
Once all the onlers were served,
Selena andPierre’s table was filled.
with dishes. Fortunately, thedy ~s -
owner was sensible enough— she
served them smaller servings-of
each’ dish as she thought that they
wouldn''t be able to finish their food
otherwise. Even their beef noodles
were smaller than the usual serving
size. “Enjoy your meal,” the owner
said.
There were barely any customers in
the store. Selena and Pierre figured
that they could spend their time
hanging around in the restaurant as
they still had an hour to waste
before the Civil Affairs Bureau was
open. The twe.of them slowly
munched_on their food while they ~
watchedthe restaurant owners S
going about with their lives. The ‘ady
o checked on her elder —~
daughter''s homework once-sh
finished cooking, and shethen got
some snacks to feed her younger
child. The male owner didn’t have
much to do either—he stepped out
of the kitchen and sat around as he
watched his daughter doing her
homework. The way their family
came together was a heartwarming
sight to Selena. She could tell that
they weren''t locals, and she knew
how hard it was for foreigners to
settle in a town like this. But I love
how their whole family is in this
together—life might be challenging
and tiring for them, but at least
they''ll be energized by the support
they get from their own family.
CD
OD
“What is it? Do you want to start a noodle restaurant yourself?” Selena had been zoning out as she watched the family, and she only snapped out of
her daze when Pierre spoke to her.? N?velDrama.Org - All rights reserved.
“That''s exactly what I''m thinking about.” She gave him a side-eye. Finally, she epted the fact that she would never get the chance to experience
the joy and happiness of being a regr person—she knew that she would have to live in fear for the rest of her life. It''s okay. I''ll still do my best to
protect our family while waiting for Pierre toe home to us.
After they finished their meal, thedy owner came over to give them the bill. “It’s a total of 33, but you can just give me 30.”
“That doesn''t sound right. Did you miss out on something? How could it only be 30?” Selena nced at the prices on the menu—it was evident that
thedy had miscalcted and charged them a lower price.
“No, I didn''t. I only charged you half the price of the items since I gave you small servings. You can juste back for a meal in the future if you
enjoyed your food today,” the owner replied
Selena paid through her phone before they left the store. As they stepped out onto the street, Selena turned around to address thedy owner once
more. “Madam, do you know if there are any other noodle stores around the Civil Affairs Bureau?”
“No. We''re the only ones around.
Most of the people who go to the
Civil Affairs Bureau are there to
register fortheir marriage, and many
of them would want to eat noodles
after that to ensure that their
rtionshipsst for a long time.
However, we simply don''t have
emough money to rent a store that’s
any closer to the bureau, § so we had
to open it here instead. All we can do
is hope that those whoe over to
get married might hear of our store.”