I'm back in 1990

Chapter 229: A Bowl of Three-Flavor Noodles

The next chapter is even more exciting: Chapter 229: A bowl of three-delicacy noodles awaits your visit.

On the way back, Zhang Gaolei kept muttering, "Tsk tsk tsk!"

"He wants to buy our subscription certificates for only 2,500? Does he think we're stupid?"

"Exactly! The price has already risen like this after the first lottery. Who knows how high it will rise after the second lottery? Only a fool would sell the subscription certificate now." Ding Yi also showed a disdain for selling the subscription certificate. Even though he could get 25 million after selling it, that doesn't even include the stocks he has in the stock market. All of that makes Ding Yi a solid tycoon now, and a very young one at that.

Huang Xiaochuan focused on driving and didn't participate in the topic, while the others were enthusiastically discussing how much the final subscription certificates could rise to.

Wu Duo guessed, "I estimate it will be around four thousand. After the second lottery, the price might drop a bit, since there are only two more chances to win a lottery."

Chen Zhe exclaimed in surprise, "Four thousand? It can be that high?"

Ding Yi looked confident: "Absolutely! It's said that sixty stocks will be issued this year. Only five stocks were drawn in the first lottery, so there are still fifty-five stocks left to be drawn. If we average it out, there will probably be eighteen stocks listed in each of the remaining three lotteries. That's awesome! If the subscription certificates don't go crazy, I'll change my name back to Ding Yi."

Then Ding Yi asked Huang Xiaochuan, "Xiaochuan, do you think what I said is right?"

Huang Xiaochuan replied with a smile, "Old Ding is really good at making his own plans now."

He got cocky when called fat, and Ding Yi arrogantly retorted, "Pshaw! I got a perfect score in math on my college entrance exam, okay?"

Immediately afterwards, Ding Yi and Wu Duo and the others talked about learning to drive and buying a car, while Huang Xiaochuan was considering donating money to build a Hope Primary School after selling his stocks in May!

Moreover, his intention was to build it in those places in southwestern Sichuan Province. 512 was a pain that Huang Xiaochuan could never forget. Now that he had been reborn, he would do everything possible to save more lives. Now that he had been reborn, he could not only think of himself. Now that he had the ability, he should try to help more people, of course, on the premise of protecting himself.

Huang Xiaochuan has already contacted the China Youth Development Foundation by phone and asked them to send him the relevant documents so that he can understand the donation model for Hope Primary Schools.

Hope Primary School is a public welfare activity initiated and promoted by the "Youth Foundation".

One of the implementation methods is that anyone donating over 100,000 yuan to build a Hope Primary School or 20,000 yuan to renovate dilapidated school buildings can remit their donation to the China Youth Development Foundation (CYDF) and express their donation intentions and related requirements in person or by letter or telegram. Donors can choose the school location and make relevant requirements in impoverished areas where Project Hope is implemented, or they can ask the CYDF to select a site in an impoverished area on their behalf according to its funding plan. If necessary, donors can sign a donation agreement with the CYDF to ensure the implementation of their wishes.

Moreover, Huang Xiaochuan had already researched the area and found that several places in Sichuan Province met the requirements for impoverished areas. Therefore, Huang Xiaochuan was free to choose the location for building the school.

That evening, Huang Xiaochuan went to a banquet. Jiang Bixing was treating them to a noodle shop. Since it was off-campus, for safety reasons, Huang Xiaochuan brought Yang Junmin and two others with him. They followed Huang Xiaochuan at a distance and sat near the entrance of the noodle shop, ordering noodles to eat together.

Huang Xiaochuan joked with Jiang Bixing, "Hey, Senior Jiang? I thought you were going to treat me to a fancy meal. Turns out you're just offering me noodles?"

Jiang Bixing personally carried over two dishes.

"There are vegetables, look at the braised eel in hot oil, the eight-treasure chili sauce, and the shredded pork with celery and the three-delicacy gluten. There are noodles and vegetables, and a little more water would be just right."

Huang Xiaochuan chuckled: "Shall we have a drink then?"

Jiang Bixing said solemnly, "I must have a drink. I ordered so many dishes; it would be a disservice to all these good dishes if I didn't have a drink!"

Huang Xiaochuan found the dishes rather meager. It wasn't that the dishes were bad, but the portions were unbearable. People from Shanghai are frugal to the core. What's called a dish is actually just a small plate. Huang Xiaochuan estimated that he could finish that small plate of braised eel in three big bites.

Seeing that Huang Xiaochuan agreed to drink a little, Jiang Bixing immediately and deftly took out a large jar of wine from his bag. Huang Xiaochuan recognized it from the color; it was bayberry wine. His grandmother would make some every year. Bayberries were abundant in the mountains around the town, and since they were difficult to preserve, the locals would use them to make wine. It was said that eating a bayberry soaked in wine would bring immediate relief if you had a stomachache from a cold. However, Huang Xiaochuan had never tried it.

Jiang Bixing asked the shopkeeper for two more small bowls, poured wine into them, and drank with Huang Xiaochuan.

After a few rounds of drinks, Jiang Bixing started chatting with Huang Xiaochuan.

"Hmm?" Huang Xiaochuan couldn't help but admire Jiang Bixing. He was really bold to refuse the assigned job and go into business. This was something that not just anyone could do.

Huang Xiaochuan picked up a piece of celery with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth, chewing slowly. He seemed to be eating vegetables, but he was actually thinking. After swallowing, he said, "Senior, I think you can go to your unit to report for duty first, then apply for a leave of absence without pay before going into business. That way, you'll at least have a way out."

Jiang Bixing raised his glass to Huang Xiaochuan, then took a large gulp and said, "I've considered that too, but I'm afraid that if I leave myself a way out, I won't be able to go all in. So I'm thinking of going all in, a do-or-die battle!"

Huang Xiaochuan picked up his bowl, said, "To you!" and took a big gulp.

Just then, two people entered the noodle shop: a woman in her thirties with a little boy of about six or seven years old.

He sat down at the table next to Huang Xiaochuan. The boy was quite interesting; he had dark eyes and long eyelashes, but he was too thin.

His mother went to order noodles, and the little boy stared at Huang Xiaochuan and Jiang Bixing, glancing at the dishes in front of them every now and then, and even swallowing his saliva.

When his mother returned, the little boy pointed to the dishes on Huang Xiaochuan and Jiang Bixing's table and said, "Mom, I want to eat that!"

His mother coaxed him, "Ah Guo, be a good boy. Mom bought you three-delicacy noodles, which have vegetables in them too."

The noodles were served quickly, but there was only one bowl. The mother placed the noodles in front of the little boy and even wiped his chopsticks with a handkerchief.

"Ah-Guo, the noodles are here, be careful, they're hot!"

"Mom, why aren't you eating?"

"Mom had a snack this afternoon and isn't hungry yet, you can eat yours."

"Oh!" The little boy started eating by himself, while his mother watched from the side.

Huang Xiaochuan and Jiang Bixing continued drinking and chatting. Before long, the little boy finished a whole bowl of noodles. Huang Xiaochuan was shocked. Such a small child ate a whole bowl of noodles by himself. Wow!

After finishing their noodles, the mother and son left. Just then, the noodle shop owner came to collect the bowls. He shook his head as he watched their backs and said, "You've been through this!" (meaning, "Poor thing.")

Huang Xiaochuan became curious upon hearing this and asked the noodle shop owner.

"Boss, who do you think is pitiful?"

The boss gestured towards the door with his chin: "Look, that's the mother and son who were eating noodles just now."

"What happened to them?"

The boss seemed to be a gossip, and as soon as someone asked him about it, he immediately became interested in talking.

"This woman's husband used to be a driver, but he ran off with another woman and now he's nowhere to be found. This woman used to work at Yangpu Textile Factory No. 3. The factory wasn't doing well, and she hadn't been paid for several months. Now she works at home sewing and mending for people, earning a little money through hard work. She's also a cripple, and not only that, she doesn't have any social security."

"With elderly parents to care for and young children to raise, life is a complete mess, it's tough!"

"As you just saw, Xiao Ning wanted to eat noodles, so she brought me to my place for a bowl of three-delicacy noodles. I even gave her extra toppings, which she saved for Xiao Ning. She couldn't bear to eat them herself. Usually, at home, she just eats rice porridge with dried tofu. She's very frugal."

Just then, the landlady started yelling from the kitchen: "You're going to kill me! Do you want to work me to death? Come in and do some cooking right now!"

The boss craned his neck and called out towards the kitchen, "Coming, coming!"

Then he smiled at Huang Xiaochuan and Jiang Bixing and said, "Take your time eating. Call me if you need anything." After saying that, he went into the kitchen.

All I heard was the landlady berating the boss as soon as she saw him, and the boss obediently went about his work, not daring to utter a word in response.

Huang Xiaochuan and Jiang Bixing wanted to laugh, but they couldn't.

The two were silent for a moment, then tacitly picked up their bowls and drank them down in one gulp.

Perhaps because they had drunk some alcohol, the softest part of their hearts was touched.

Huang Xiaochuan knew that many state-owned factories across the country were declining, with declining profits or even ceasing to generate profits altogether. A large number of workers had nothing to do, and factories could not pay wages. In the past, they could rely on bank loans to pay wages, but now the authorities no longer allowed this, and the major banks were preparing to divest non-performing assets.

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