The office of Qin Han Technology was now filled with the unique rice aroma of rice noodle rolls.
Liu Bicheng, Wang Fan, Little Liu, and others were devouring their meals.
For some reason, after buying the rice noodle rolls from that street vendor, they felt much better, and everyone became more relaxed.
When people relax, their appetite increases; a serving of rice noodle rolls disappeared without a trace in no time.
Little Liu rubbed his still growling stomach, smacking his lips and reminiscing, "Oh no, I was too impulsive; I only got one serving. This rice noodle roll really grows on my taste buds; it's simply too delicious."
Liu Bicheng picked up a piece of rice noodle roll and smiled, "Don't be fooled by this little snack. It truly tests the cook's skill. See how this thin, cicada-wing-like rice noodle roll is as soft as silk, soft and tender as it melts in the mouth, with abundant rice fragrance. Match it with this perfectly salty, slightly sweet sauce, it genuinely gives you a warm feeling all over."
After finishing speaking, he put the last piece of rice noodle roll in his mouth, chewed a couple of times, and drank a big sip of soup. The delicious taste was magnified infinitely in his mouth, making him want to close his eyes with satisfaction.
Little Liu was gazing longingly at Wang Fan.
The others ate at a similar pace, finishing their single serving of rice noodle rolls quickly, but Wang Fan, the crafty one, bought two servings, plus a final cup of shrimp congee.
At that moment, he was indulging in a mouthful of shrimp rice noodle rolls followed by a big gulp of shrimp congee.
Wang Fan slurped down a full mouthful of shrimp congee, then slid a piece of shrimp rice noodle roll into his mouth. The thick congee and soft rice noodle rolls blended together, with the small pearl-like rice grains and large chunks of shrimp mingling, the dense savory taste made Wang Fan momentarily forget where he was.
Suddenly Wang Fan's gaze sharpened, as his hands quickly grabbed the shrimp rice noodle roll, twisting his body in one swift motion to secure the dish.
And above the original spot where the rice noodle roll sat, a pair of chopsticks hovered awkwardly.
Little Liu awkwardly grinned: "Hehe, Wang brother, could you let me try the shrimp one? That single serving wasn't enough to fill me."
Wang Fan huffed: "Don't even think about it; if you want to eat, go get one yourself tomorrow morning. This isn't even enough for me."
Just as he was speaking, Wang Fan suddenly felt a weight in his hand, inwardly shouted "Oh no!" and quickly turned around.
Looking back quickly, he saw Liu Bicheng with a victorious expression, holding the last piece of shrimp rice noodle roll.
Liu Bicheng chuckled and placed the rice noodle roll into his own mouth.
"Since I'm the host, you have to let me taste what this shrimp rice noodle roll is like, right?"
The atmosphere in the office today was exceptionally relaxed, with none of the gloom of the past few days.
Wang Fan had great confidence in tackling that string of spaghetti code, assuredly; sitting at the computer again, he was like a general on the verge of defeating the enemy leader.
Swinging the large keyboard like a machete, Wang Fan launched another attack on the spaghetti code.
Ten minutes, twenty minutes, half an hour.
Time ticked by, and Wang Fan's expression grew increasingly exuberant until...
"Done! Haha, done!!"
"Holy crap, Wang brother, you're amazing!"
"The sun rises in the east, with me undefeated, unifying the world for eternity! Wang brother is Li Lianying in my heart!"
"Little Liu, shut up, it's the Invincible East, what's Li Lianying got to do with it?"
"President Liu, President Liu, quickly call the boss, I need to see the vacation approval this evening!"
"I'm booking a train ticket now! If Skinflint Zhou dares to make me come back to work before the Lantern Festival, I'll smack him to death with a big dustpan."
"Well, the issue now is..."
Little Liu weakly said, "Honestly, I didn't get enough rice noodle rolls earlier, the vendor said he'd only set up for a week, then he's gone by New Year's, and if I can't get this rice noodle roll anymore, I feel like I'll lose sleep."
The cheering crowd paused, licking their lips, which seemed to still retain the sauce's savory taste.
"Young Wang makes a good point, back home it's just big fish, big meat, big ham, big ribs, but no rice noodle rolls."
"And that small wooden fish, after ringing it today, I felt completely refreshed from inside out; what will I do if I can't ring it anymore?"
The group exchanged glances, puzzled.
"Why don't we eat rice noodle rolls all day tomorrow?"
...
...
Wang Fan was now gleefully counting money, totaling an income of 2,379.8 yuan.
100 servings of pork rice noodle rolls brought in 1,000 yuan, 100 servings of shrimp rice noodle rolls brought in 1,200 yuan, 50 servings of shrimp congee brought in 150 yuan.
The remaining 29.8 yuan probably came from selling the sandalwood small wooden fish.
Though the money wasn't much, considering it was all earned in one day, it felt incredibly accomplished.
It made Wang Fan feel like he'd planted a seed in the morning, and by evening, not only had it grown into a tree, but it was also immediately laden with plump, red fruits.
He left aside some change to buy ingredients and daily necessities, while saving the remaining 2,000 yuan to send to the hospital tomorrow afternoon.
His second uncle's condition was relatively stable, just waiting for the surgery fee to remove the tumor.
In the morning, he spent another 200 yuan to hire a nurse; if he kept on spending there, he'd never manage to gather the surgery fee.
The doctor estimated the cost to be around 200,000 yuan, and his second uncle's entire savings was only 50,000 yuan, leaving 150,000 yuan for Wang Fan to come up with.
But that was the total cost, including post-surgery care. The surgery fee alone would be 50,000 yuan.
Previously, he hesitated about surgery fearing lack of post-operative nutrition and medicine, and tomorrow he planned to discuss this with the doctor.
After all, scheduling a surgery also requires time, and these days would be enough for him to save more money.
Today he had really toiled all day; making rice noodle rolls was truly labor-intensive without electric equipment, even grinding the rice slurry was done with a small stone mill.
Overwhelming tiredness washed over him, his eyelids finally couldn't hold up anymore, sticking together.
"Ding, idle system activated."
"Host autonomously completed 100 servings of pork rice noodle rolls, 100 servings of shrimp rice noodle rolls, and 50 servings of shrimp congee, earning 250 experience points, current level - LV4."
This time Wang Fan didn't watch himself work but was immersed in a dreamlike state.
In the dream was a little old man, barely over 1.7 meters tall, holding the young Wang Fan by the neck as they wandered through bustling streets...
"Ding, idle end, 200 servings of pork rice noodle rolls completed. Earned 200 experience points, current level - LV7."
"200 servings of shrimp rice noodle rolls completed. Earned 200 experience points, current level - LV8."
"150 servings of shrimp congee completed. Earned 150 experience points, current level - LV10."
"Achievement completed — Beginner's Entry."
"Current phase — New Driver Advancing. Experience required for upgrade increased to 1,000 points."
"Reward received: 'Treasure Chest (Green), permanently boosts earnings from selling foods by 10%.'"