Lamian Noodles

The smell of salt, oil, and egg engulfed room 404B of Jupiter Apartments. It was my favorite smell, the smell of noodles boiled to perfection, unlike those half-cooked earthworms Chan tried to pass off as lo mein. People who strolled along Polaski Avenue every now and then thought Chan's Noodles were the best value on the go. Everyone who lived on Level 4 of Jupiter Apartments knew better. My noodles not only tasted significantly better, but they also came at a much more reasonable price. Only 2 dollar. Chan sold his at 4 dollars a bowl.
This batch, however, gave me no monetary gain. I was making for the little boy around the corner of Level 4. I didn't really know the circumstances, but I did understand that the boy rarely got a decent meal. Sometimes his mother would even buy him Chan's. Every Sunday I would prepare a big bowl of steaming noodles, the type varying from week to week, and leave it outside my door at 1PM, on the dot. Today's special was lamian. I had never missed the deadline. He had never missed a meal.
I didn't mind that I was known as the mysterious old Asian noodle lady in my apartment complex. I didn't really care to get to know anybody as nobody appeared to want to get to know me. Either everyone thought I would perform some ancient Chinese ritual if they disturbed me, or they were just complacent with the limited symbiosis of me making noodles for them in exchange for me making money to make more noodles. The only person I was really concerned with getting to know was Lu, of Lu's Garage, and he didn't even live on Level 4.
I had met Lu about 2 months ago. And along with making noodles for the boy around the corner, I also made some for Lu every Sunday. In exchange for the noodles, he would give my segway a weekly check-up. I actually ordered the ridiculous piece of machinery to have an excuse to see him. I didn't need a car, I didn't have a lot of money (the noodle industry was tough in this town),and I needed something mechanical, so a segway seemed like the best option. I only used it to go see Lu every Sunday. So after I placed the bowl of noodles outside my door for the boy, I reached for my silver ticket to see Lu. It was 1 PM, I was right on schedule. I placed his noodles, also lamian, inside the basket on my segway and began to contemplate what Lu and I would talk about today.