Chapter 4

Chen Yang raised his head at the sound of the voice. It turned out to be Xiao Rui, the tenant who had almost hit him with a flower pot a few hours ago.

There was no good expression on his face, and there certainly wouldn't be one for someone who had almost taken his life. Even if the person was a beautiful woman, Chen Yang wouldn't show any good expression.

Seemingly noticing Chen Yang's unpleasant expression, Xiao Rui immediately put aside the goods piled at the door and hurriedly apologized, "Mr. Chen, I'm really sorry."

Bowing and apologizing, Xiao Rui did it with great proficiency. In fact, she had done this at least ten times this morning while job hunting, not to mention yesterday, the day before, and countless other times that had numbed her.

"It's okay..."

Frowning, Chen Yang saw that the other party was quite sincere in her apology and didn't want to pursue the matter. He couldn't just grab her by the neck and curse her, after all.

"Come in first."

Chen Yang moved aside with the goods, letting Xiao Rui in.

"Mr. Chen, I'm really sorry. I'll be more careful in the future."

The landlord's forgiving words made Xiao Rui sigh in relief. She bowed her head and hurried in. When she reached her room on the second floor, she suddenly remembered that she had been wondering what the landlord had bought so many boxes for. But it didn't matter to her what he had bought. Xiao Rui shook her head; it was none of her business. She should think about tomorrow's interview instead.

Thinking about today's interview experience, she felt utterly dejected. Living in a big city was sometimes really too hard.

Xiao Rui was feeling sad upstairs, and Chen Yang was equally sad downstairs. Compared to the sadness of not finding a job, his sadness was more like fear.

There was only one minute left, but the boxes of goods at the door were not yet moved. Recalling the punishment from the unknown creature, Chen Yang's hands started to tremble as he held the goods.

In a panic, he tripped and fell.

Immediately, a scream echoed in the basement.

"Human, your body is really too weak..."

The right hand was very dissatisfied.

Chen Yang felt like crying but couldn't. No matter how bad his body was, it wasn't to the point of being described as weak.

Unfortunately, arguing with an extraterrestrial being about such a matter was futile, especially when the other party could punish him at any time. Chen Yang wisely shut his mouth.

After the punishment, Chen Yang, who was almost exhausted, stumbled and still managed to move all the goods into the basement.

He took a sip of water to rest, then picked up a broom and mop and started the Clean Plan A. This plan took two hours, consumed a lot of physical strength, and drained his energy. In the end, Chen Yang collapsed on the ground and couldn't get up.

"I can't do it anymore. I really can't. Please let me go."

The screams and pleas for mercy left the right hand unmoved. After waking up from a nap, it looked at the basement's cleanliness and was somewhat satisfied.

"Human, next, eat and replenish nutrients."

Chen Yang's spirits lifted. After working all afternoon, he was really starving, and he felt like he could eat a whole cow.

Shaking, Chen Yang got up from the ground and walked out of the basement toward the alley.

It was already around seven o'clock in the evening. Workers who had finished their shifts and tenants living here crowded the restaurants on both sides of the street.

This street, as the main artery of the area, had very high rent for storefronts. Compared to Chen Yang's noodle shop in a small alley, the business here was on a completely different level.

If one insisted on comparing, for every bowl of noodles Chen Yang sold, others would have sold ten or even fifty bowls. This was the gap, a chasm!

What could Chen Yang do with his jealousy? Not to mention that others' noodles were indeed better than his, with his average skills. Just the rent for the storefront, he couldn't afford it.

So, in daily life, he could only turn his jealousy into admiration, lest he die from jealousy.

At this moment, he was sitting in a noodle shop, ordering two bowls of beef noodles. Although it was strange for a noodle seller to eat at another shop, Chen Yang really didn't want to open his shop, boil water, and cook noodles again. It would be quicker to just buy a bowl of noodles.

But what was even stranger was the boss, Wang.

Wang was the owner of the Ruyi Noodle Shop on this street, having run the business for seven or eight years. He had never seen a single customer order two bowls of beef noodles before. Normally, three liang (about 150 grams) of noodles was enough for most people, and even those with bigger appetites would only order four liang. As for five liang, the shop didn't even have such a large bowl.

Was this person going to eat six liang of noodles alone?

Slightly surprised, Wang didn't pay much attention. Maybe this person just had a bigger appetite. Thinking about it, there were plenty of people who could eat a pound of dumplings, so six liang of noodles wasn't that much.

"Boss, that person is really strange," the waiter, Xiao Li, said while clearing the dishes.

"Who?"

Wang, who was counting money, didn't pay much attention.

"The person at the door."

The door? Was it the customer who ordered two bowls of beef noodles?

Wang shifted his attention from the money to Xiao Li.

"What's wrong with that person?"

"That person... um."

Xiao Li hesitated, "That person seems to be crying while eating."

Crying while eating? What does that mean?

Wang stood up and walked into the main hall of the noodle shop. His eyes moved over, and indeed, the person at the door was eating with his head down, tears streaming down his face.

What happened?

There were many people eating noodles, but apart from Xiao Li and Wang, no one seemed to notice this strange person.

Wang was shocked. Was there something wrong with the noodles? Uh, there wasn't any Sichuan pepper or chili in the beef noodles, right?

With doubt, Wang walked to the door and slightly bowed, "Sir, are you...?"

"It's really good."

The person looked up, wiped the tears from his face with a napkin, and said, "Really good, boss. Can I have another bowl?"

Wang was speechless for a moment, then fell silent.

Walking back to the kitchen, Wang instructed to bring another bowl of noodles to the person and also suspiciously took a bite of the noodles his wife had cooked.

"What's wrong? This is the customer's noodles. Are you hungry and confused?"

His wife was still serving the customer and turned to see Wang taking a bite of the noodles, scolding him.

"Nothing, just cook another bowl. I'll eat this one."

Taking a bite, Wang felt relieved. He was certain—this was still the same noodles. No matter what, they couldn't be so good that they made someone cry.

Was there something wrong with that customer's head?

Would anyone still cry while eating noodles today? Impossible. The customer must have been upset about something else.

However, Wang was destined to be shocked, no, horrified.

Ten minutes later

"How much?"

Wang hesitated.

"Um, six bowls of three liang, eighteen liang."

Xiao Li answered with difficulty.

"Eighteen liang, you're kidding me!"

Tapping Xiao Li's head, Wang scolded, "Can't you say one pound and eight liang?"

It's the same, Xiao Li muttered, still disbelieving, "That person really eats a lot. I've never seen anyone..."

The two stared at the empty bowls, their hearts deeply shaken. Could a person's stomach really hold six bowls of noodles at once?

What they didn't know was that the world record holder had finished 5.5 kilograms of sandwiches in 54 seconds. The human stomach's capacity was quite deep.

Of course, if an ordinary person dared to eat like that, they would be courting death. Even eating a pound of noodles at once could warrant a trip to the hospital. A person who could eat six bowls of noodles at once was definitely not ordinary.

Chen Yang walked down the street, rubbing his stomach, his face looking very strange. He had only eaten six bowls of noodles, and he hadn't even walked a hundred meters before his stomach visibly shrank, and hunger returned.

"Too little energy..."

The right hand sent such an unsatisfied message.

Chen Yang wanted to cry. The calories from one pound and eight liang of noodles weren't enough for you? Don't take it all! My body needs calories too!

"Go to the park you went to last night."

The right hand suddenly ordered.

The park from last night?

Thinking about last night's encounter, Chen Yang's face turned sour. If he hadn't gone to the park out of boredom, he wouldn't have been parasitized by this thing.

Chen Yang turned and walked across the street toward Dongjiao Park. Dongjiao Park was the largest park in the area, built in the 1990s. During festivals, it was always crowded with people. Unfortunately, over the past twenty years, due to a lack of effective management, the park's facilities had become old and the hygiene conditions had deteriorated.

With the city center shifting north, the number of visitors gradually decreased, and Dongjiao Park began to fall into disrepair. However, this had a benefit: the fewer people, the better for couples. So, it had become a place for couples to meet at night.

As soon as night fell, walking into Dongjiao Park, one could see many couples everywhere. Chen Yang, alone, stood out in the park filled with couples.