Chapter 15 You're Not Joking With Me, Are You?

After a quick wash, Su Chen headed out. He’d always enjoyed breakfast; on the rare days he overslept, he’d let it go, but since he was up early today, he wanted something hot to eat. After all, he hadn’t slept well the night before, and a good breakfast would help him regain his energy.

Aunt Sun’s noodle shop wasn’t exactly close—almost half an hour’s drive—but when Su Chen left the house, he didn’t reach for his car keys. Partly because he wasn’t feeling his best, and partly because driving that car always made him uneasy.

A Porsche 918—upwards of ten or twenty million, and even with money, it’s not easy to buy one. If he so much as scratched it, he’d sooner just sell himself to Boss Han and be done with it.

So, Su Chen walked out of his neighborhood, picked up a random shared bike by the roadside, and rode off.

By the time he reached the noodle shop, it was already past nine. He wiped the sweat from his brow and stepped inside.

“Aunt Sun, good morning!”

“Ah, Chen, you’re here?”

The warmth of Aunt Sun’s smile made Su Chen feel right at home.

“The usual Pian’er Chuan? No meat this time?”

“I’ll have it with meat today. And add a pork chop, please.”

A bowl of Pian’er Chuan cost twelve, without meat it was only eight—practically the cheapest dish in this little noodle shop. But it was hearty and filling.

Back when Su Chen was helping Lin Yanran pursue her dream of stardom, he rarely even ordered Pian’er Chuan for himself; every spare cent went to her. Now that they’d broken up, he finally realized that before loving someone else, one must love oneself. All that self-sacrifice had moved only him, not her.

So today, Su Chen decided to indulge himself—a full bowl of Pian’er Chuan, and a six-yuan pork chop.

Aunt Sun looked at him in surprise, then laughed. “You must’ve struck it rich, Chen! You’re always so frugal—I’ve never seen a young man as thrifty as you. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself. When you get to my age, you’ll see—life’s too short to be so hard on yourself.”

Su Chen knew she meant well and nodded with a smile.

It was a quiet weekday morning, so Aunt Sun had time to chat idly with Su Chen as she worked.

When his deluxe Pian’er Chuan was served, he said, “Aunt Sun, could you pack up another one just like this for me?”

“Of course!” Aunt Sun asked, “Is it for your girlfriend?”

“No, for a friend.”

Aunt Sun nodded, then asked, puzzled, “I haven’t seen you bring your girlfriend here in a long time. How are you two doing lately?”

“We’ve broken up,” Su Chen replied, slurping his noodles as if it had happened to someone else.

“Broken up?” Aunt Sun exclaimed, her voice anxious as she turned around. “How come? Weren’t you together for years? What happened? Do you want me to go talk to her?”

Her concern warmed Su Chen’s heart.

“It’s alright, Aunt Sun. Relationships are about two people adapting to each other. Maybe we just weren’t meant to be. Breaking up is a relief for both sides.”

“But you’ve been together so long—how can you be incompatible?” Aunt Sun couldn’t quite understand.

Su Chen was silent for a moment. “Maybe I made her life too hard.”

Aunt Sun opened her mouth, but only sighed. “That girl will regret it sooner or later. You’re good-looking, tall, and you’ve got a good heart. Things will get better for you. It’s not like it used to be—these days, everything’s changed. People only care about the present, so restless and impatient.” She reminisced, “Back when I was dating your Uncle Wang, his family was so poor they barely had a pot to cook in! Still, I married him. Looking back, life went on just fine.”

Aunt Sun smiled sweetly at the memory, then looked at Su Chen and shifted gears. “How about I introduce you to some nice girls? My nieces are about your age, all lovely and kind…”

Su Chen couldn’t help but laugh wryly.

“Aunt Sun, I’m still young. There’s no rush. For now, I want to focus on my career.”

“Ah, the old folks always said, ‘Establish a family before a career,’ but times change…” Aunt Sun shook her head and went back to her noodles.

When Su Chen was nearly finished, Aunt Sun brought over the takeout Pian’er Chuan. “I packed the soup separately so the noodles won’t get soggy. You’d better hurry back before it gets cold.”

“Thank you.”

Twelve for the Pian’er Chuan, eight for the pork chop—two identical sets, plus one yuan each for the takeout boxes. Forty-two in all.

When Su Chen went to pay, Aunt Sun said forty was enough. He agreed, paid, and left.

The WeChat payment notification only sounded in the shop after Su Chen had stepped out.

“WeChat payment, forty-two yuan.”

Clearing the tables, Aunt Sun heard the notification, glanced out the window, and sighed. “What a good kid—what a pity…”

On the way home, Su Chen didn’t bike; he called a ride instead. It was nearly noon, the sun was beating down, and he didn’t want the noodles to sit too long and get ruined.

He settled into the car, closed his eyes to rest, when his phone rang.

It was an unfamiliar number. He hesitated, then answered.

“Hello?”

“Hello, is this Mr. Su Chen?” The caller was a young man, likely around his age.

“Yes, this is he. May I ask who’s calling?”

“Hello, Mr. Su. I’m Lu Hua, head of the Artist Development Department at Fashion Media. You can just call me Xiao Lu.”

Su Chen was taken aback by the man’s tone—almost excessively polite, to the point of respect.

“Well, I heard your singing yesterday and think you have a lot of talent. I wanted to ask if you’re interested in signing as an artist. Please, don’t feel the need to answer right away. Our offer is quite generous—we’d like to offer you a three-year contract, five million per year, with all subsequent endorsements and commercial deals at a fifty-fifty split.”

Su Chen: What?

A moment ago, he’d merely thought the caller was being overly courteous; now he was sure this Lu Hua must be out of his mind.

A five-million-a-year contract for a total unknown, with future earnings split evenly? If he didn’t know the caller was from Fashion Media, he’d have suspected a scam and called the police!

“Um, Mr. Lu…” Su Chen asked uncertainly, “You’re not joking with me, are you?”