Chapter 104: A Bowl of Hot Dry Noodles

The transfer of the alumni directory server was scheduled for a week later, making the completion of the Whisper website's architecture absolutely crucial.

Wang Dongliang’s hard work over these many days had not been in vain; at least the basic framework of the Whisper website was now essentially finished.

Since registration was not yet open to the public, only internal staff of Whisper could sign up. Cheng Xiaoyu entered the website address and arrived at the login page. The login screen displayed a dazzling starry sky. Beneath it was a line of text written by Cheng Xiaoyu himself: “Though I met you late, I will accompany you for a long time.” The font was his own pen calligraphy, and combined with the infinite starry background, it was breathtakingly beautiful.

Cheng Xiaoyu logged into the account Wang Dongliang had registered for him. The username was his own, with an avatar featuring their company’s adorable little golden retriever, marked by a prominent golden badge. Below it, a small subtitle read: President of Xiyu Company. (In this context, “President” refers to the person making major company decisions, while “O” refers to those handling everyday management; some individuals hold both titles.) His following list included Wang Dongliang, CEO of Xiyu Company (O), Huang Yunlong, CTO (O), Hu Jun, CIO (O), and seven or eight other Xiyu staff members.

Since the site was still in the testing phase, all the “whispers” (microblogs) posted were by company insiders. The entire interface was basically the same as the microblogging platform Cheng Xiaoyu had previously described. He noticed Wang Dongliang had posted a photo with Yang Siqi. Cheng Xiaoyu hadn’t expected the two to still be together, so he pressed the “like” button underneath.

After exploring the site carefully, Cheng Xiaoyu found it hardly differed from the microblogging platform from his previous life. He was quite satisfied, though the options for personalized pages and backgrounds were still rather limited.

But optimization was a lengthy process that couldn’t be rushed. For now, the priority was to locate the bugs in the code and prepare for the integration with the alumni directory. With nothing much else to see, Cheng Xiaoyu closed the page and called Wang Dongliang, proposing a dinner for all company employees over the weekend to celebrate reaching their first milestone and the imminent smooth launch.

Cheng Xiaoyu wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about technology and left all technical matters to Wang Dongliang to manage, only offering feedback after using the product. There was one more thing Cheng Xiaoyu needed to focus on: when Whisper and the alumni directory launched their integration, they planned to release a promotional video.

He immediately took charge, declaring that while he might lack in other areas, his creativity was exceptional. He told Wang Dongliang to wait and promised to send the script for the promotional video the very next day.

That night, Cheng Xiaoyu wrote a deeply evocative script inspired by the commercial for “A Bowl of Hot Dry Noodles.” The next day, he sent it to Wang Dongliang and asked him to arrange filming. The entire script was a near-verbatim copy of the Momo promotional ad, but with all mobile phone scenes replaced by computer screens featuring Whisper. The “Momo Five Han Group” became the “Whisper Five Han University Group,” and the much-maligned coriander topping was switched to spicy pickled radish cubes.

When Wang Dongliang received the script, he was moved beyond words by the dialogue.

(Scene 1: The male protagonist rides alone through a bustling city district.) Inner monologue: “Every day I navigate this city alone. The only connection to my hometown is S’s hot dry noodle shop.”

(Scene 2: The hot dry noodle shop. The protagonist eats alone.) Inner monologue: “But the taste is never the same. Either the alkaline noodles aren’t right, or the sesame paste is too thin, or they don’t add the spicy pickled radish cubes, or the noodles lack the right firmness.”

(Scene 3: The rented apartment. The protagonist opens the iron gate and carries his bicycle upstairs.) Inner monologue: “Every day, it takes me fourteen and a half seconds to get home and upstairs. Every day I hear the iron gate close and interpret it as a welcome home.” (Sound of iron gate closing is inserted.) “I’m back.” (Title appears: A Bowl of Hot Dry Noodles.)

(Scene 4: Inside the rented apartment, the protagonist is on his computer, uploading a photo of the hot dry noodles he just ate to Whisper, writing a microblog: “Does S have authentic Wuhan hot dry noodles?”)

(Scene 5: After brushing his teeth and washing his face, the protagonist receives a message on Whisper from a user named Khan, also a Five Han University alumnus.) “Highly recommend the authentic hot dry noodles. If not authentic, I’ll treat you.”

The story unfolds as the protagonist meets a group of alumni through Whisper, with Khan—the first to leave a message—turning out to be a beautiful woman.

The closing scene fades to black with a line of text: “Male graduate of Five Han University: I found friends to chat and eat noodles with on Whisper. Join Whisper and start your story.”

Finally, the Whisper logo appears—a cute dog mascot—with the slogan: “Lonely universe, my world shared with you. Look closely, there’s always something new around you.”

This roughly six-minute script touched Wang Dongliang deeply, reminding him of the foods from his own hometown and the loneliness of striving alone in a strange land.

Without a doubt, this was an excellent video commercial script. Amid the fatigue of bombarding viewers with mindless ads pushing platinum gifts, such a story-driven commercial with human warmth resonated far more with the well-educated intellectual audience.

After reading the script, Wang Dongliang greatly admired Cheng Xiaoyu, replying: “I should have known earlier—starting an advertising company with you would have been more reliable.”

Cheng Xiaoyu sent a disdainful emoji but then added a final request: “Don’t be afraid to spend money. The filming must be exquisite, and the actors must be from Wuhan.” Wang Dongliang agreed.

Only then did Cheng Xiaoyu close the chat software. Since the ad didn’t rely heavily on music, he hadn’t bothered composing a special soundtrack.

As the college entrance exam drew nearer, the atmosphere in the classroom grew increasingly somber. Cheng Xiaoyu and Wang Ou remained relaxed—one had already passed the art exam, the other had been admitted to the sports university without taking the test. Chen Haoran was also relatively at ease, having passed both the interview and written tests for Fudan University’s guaranteed admission. Yet he still planned to take the college entrance exam, hoping to become the top scorer.

Xia Shamo was under considerable stress. Cheng Xiaoyu noticed the dark circles under her eyes every day and worried she might collapse before the exams. Unsure how to advise her on balancing work and rest, Cheng Xiaoyu instead recorded and burned several tranquil and beautiful piano pieces as a gift to her, silently cheering her on.

Early on Saturday morning, Cheng Xiaoyu drove himself to the airport. That evening, he planned to treat all Xiyu employees to dinner and visit their workplace briefly. After next week’s alumni directory server handover, Xiyu Company could no longer be considered a small startup. Any internet company managing eighty million users could take pride in itself.

Though activity on the alumni directory was currently at a historic low, the camel, though lean, was still bigger than the horse. The Narn platform had once been valued at thirty million US dollars—a scale unmatched by small fry.

On the plane, Cheng Xiaoyu once again encountered Sun Jingyao. Wearing sunglasses, she was dressed in a fitted white crew-neck blouse that concealed a pair of... well, modestly covered assets, and a black leather skirt that ended mid-thigh. Her fair, long legs were crossed elegantly, hanging neatly over the side of the seat. Cheng Xiaoyu had always found beautiful legs irresistible and couldn’t help but glance twice. Unlike Su Yuxi’s slender limbs, Sun Jingyao’s legs were more voluptuous, evoking a sense of softness and touch.

This time, they weren’t seated in the same row; Cheng Xiaoyu sat diagonally behind her. Sun Jingyao breathed a quiet sigh of relief. She was not surprised to see Cheng Xiaoyu again. As a performing artist who often traveled for gigs, flying was routine; she spent nearly a third of her working hours on planes. Especially on the B to S route, she had memorized all the takeoff and landing times.

Cheng Xiaoyu thought it a coincidence to meet Sun Jingyao twice on flights but seeing her seemed unwilling even to acknowledge him, so he naturally didn’t force a cold reception with warm greetings.

After the plane took off, buffeted by turbulence, the sweet voice of the flight attendant filled the cabin. Cheng Xiaoyu put on his headphones, took out a newly purchased copy of “Men’s Makeup” from his bag, and began reading eagerly. Flipping through quickly, he was disappointed there were no hard photos of Sun Jingyao. Although her personality was difficult, her photos were exquisite, reminiscent of Zhou Weitong’s sensual yet elegant photo shoots in Japan. Many otaku had crowned her a goddess, and those photos had captivated countless lives.

(Thanks to everyone for the enthusiastic comments and to Yun Mo Lu Yu for the generous support. Today I am trying a fourth update—thank you all.)

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