The restaurant held a meeting every morning.
The store manager waited to the side, checking her watch from time to time. Her eyes constantly scanned the staff, her thoughts unreadable. Su He stood in line, quietly observing her.
The manager, Zhang Duoduo, wasn’t very old—about the same age as the rest of them. She wore a professional skirt and high heels, with her hair swept up in a neat bun, giving her a more authoritative presence.
Sensing Su He’s gaze, the manager looked over. Su He instinctively offered a small smile, and Zhang Duoduo gave her a long, searching look.
Once the time was up and the staff were all present, they stood in a neat row before Zhang Duoduo.
Zhang Duoduo straightened up. “Good morning. No one is late today.”
As soon as she said this, Su He felt the people next to her glancing her way. She pretended not to notice and kept her eyes on the manager.
Zhang Duoduo didn’t dwell on the lateness issue and continued, “I’ll outline our tasks for today. Company leadership is coming for an inspection to see if our hygiene standards are up to par. This is also a competition; the cleanest and most hygienic store will receive a reward.”
“The reward is 2,000 yuan. If our store wins it, I promise we’ll go out for a team-building event—dinner, KTV, movies, whatever you like. If the reward doesn’t cover it, I’ll pay the difference myself.”
Zhang Duoduo’s voice was firm and powerful, stirring a minor commotion among the employees.
“However, that’s only if we get the money. If we don’t, and we end up ranked at the bottom, the company will fine me—and I’ll have no choice but to fine all of you.”
“So, for the upcoming tasks: not a single crack or crevice in this store is to have dust. I will be checking personally.”
Just when everyone thought Zhang Duoduo was finished, she had more to say.
“There is one more thing I want to mention.”
“As girls, I hope you all practice a bit of self-respect and self-love.”
“Don’t think that just because a boyfriend buys you a piece of clothing or a pair of shoes, he’s ‘the one’.”
“You haven’t seen what ‘truly good’ looks like yet.”
“Think about it: if a guy buys you a bag for 25 yuan and sees you so happy you can’t sit still, won’t he think in his heart that… you’re only worth 25 yuan?”
“If the bags you usually carried were worth tens of thousands, do you think your boyfriend would dare buy you a 25-yuan bag?”
“So first of all, girls, don’t view yourselves as cheap, okay? Don’t spend all your energy on your boyfriends every day. Put it into your work. Isn’t it better to earn more money?”
The line of girls fell into a collective silence.
Zhang Duoduo asked again, “Alright everyone, is that understood?”
“Understood.”
“Good. Dismissed!”
Su He carried the memories of the original owner within her. She walked silently to her assigned section, picked up a rag, and began to wipe surfaces slowly.
Sigh… life is hard.
Once the cleaning was done, it was time to wait for the customers.
Since it was a well-known Hunan restaurant chain located in a central area, Su He felt like they started receiving guests the moment the cleaning was finished.
Initially, Su He was a bit clumsy, but after a busy morning, she started getting the hang of it, her movements aligning perfectly with the original owner’s muscle memory.
Taking orders, placing them, settling bills, and clearing tables—Su He was a whirlwind of activity in her small corner of the world.
By 2:00 PM, the flow of people finally began to thin out. The kitchen staff managed to find time to whip up lunch for the workers.
Taking advantage of the lunch break, Su He sank into a chair and felt like she couldn’t get back up.
So tired… And the pay is so low…
It wasn’t until 9:00 PM, followed by dinner at 10:00 PM, that Su He finally finished her grueling day.
She felt like her body was about to fall apart.
Leaving the shop, Su He took a deep breath of the fresh night air. It was 10:00 PM, and the moon and stars had long since climbed high into the sky. She rotated her wrists and ankles, slowly making her way back home step by step.
As she walked, she thought to herself: This isn’t the right path. This definitely isn’t the right path.
Relying solely on this kind of part-time work, she wouldn’t have anything left over. With a monthly salary of 4,500 yuan, rent at 3,000, utilities at 200, plus daily necessities, cosmetics, and clothes—she’d be left with zero. She had no degree and no specialized skills; for a moment, Su He felt lost as to what she could actually do.
But there was no rush. Haste makes waste. She needed to maintain a good mindset—she had managed to be reborn, after all, so what could possibly defeat her? She just needed to take her time and discover her opportunities.
Shaking off the gloom, Su He found the energy to observe her surroundings. Her walk home wasn’t lonely at all, as the streets were lined with food stalls. There were vendors selling fried noodles, barbecue, and fried chicken cutlets.
Su He followed the drifting aromas. When she saw a crowd gathered around one particular stall, she guessed the food there must be delicious. Joining the flow of people, she found it was a fried he fen (rice noodle) stall.
Su He had just eaten and didn’t have much of an appetite—mostly because she was exhausted and not in the mood. However, since she was already there and someone had already started queuing behind her the moment she stood still, she couldn’t bring herself to leave.
Remembering that she had eaten a bowl of Shen Juanzhou’s instant noodles and drank his water yesterday, she pulled out her phone. Finding the black profile picture, she tapped into the chat and sent a message. She first sent a photo of the noodle stall and then asked: “Need me to grab you a portion of fried noodles? Consider it payback for the noodles and water yesterday.”
She waited a moment, but there was no reply. Scrolling through the chat history, she noticed that in previous interactions between the original owner and Shen Juanzhou, he had never been very proactive in responding. Most of the time, the original owner would send several messages, and he would only reply much later with a simple, “No need.”
Su He guessed that Shen Juanzhou probably wouldn’t want her to bring him anything this time either. She took a small step to the side, preparing to leave the queue.
Ding! Her phone chimed with a notification.
“Thanks.” [Transfer: 16.00 Yuan]
Su He glanced at the amount and realized she had caught the price list in her photo. She gave a quick smile to the man behind her—who had stepped forward thinking she was leaving—and moved back into the queue.
Standing with her hands in her pockets, her mind began to race. A portion of fried noodles cost 16 yuan, but the actual cost of ingredients was at most 5 yuan. What a profit margin! It was hard work, sure, but it was a money-maker!
Su He scanned the neighboring stalls. Although they weren’t as crowded as this one, none of the vendors were idle. This was all money!
“What’ll it be?” the boss asked without looking up.
“Oh, one portion of fried rice noodles,” Su He replied.
“Any dietary restrictions?”
That caught Su He off guard, but men usually weren’t picky. “None… I think?”
The boss looked up and gave her a flat look. Su He quickly corrected herself: “None!”
When the glistening, savory noodles were handed over, even the appetite-less Su He couldn’t help but swallow her pride—and a bit of saliva.