The Instant Noodle Tycoon

If you miss the corner shops outside school gates in the 1990s, the trading cards that cost a dime apiece and the crispy noodles at fifty cents a pack, this book will likely strike a chord somewhere in your memory. The Instant Noodle Tycoon is a solidly written urban rebirth wish-fulfillment novel centered on business: the protagonist has no cheat system, relying instead on seeing one step ahead of his time to roll out childhood hits like crispy noodles, Water Margin cards and mini four-wheel-drive cars ahead of schedule. The pace is brisk, the plot beats are dense and the laughs are plentiful. Author Eat a Bite of Pudding writes about marketing, channel distribution and negotiation with relative restraint; every time the protagonist makes money there is buildup and logic, so it never feels like manna from heaven. The author's previous works include The Tycoon Starts with Blind Boxes and Starting from Selling a House to Invest in a Wandering Water Ball, and this completed novel runs over four million characters, ideal for binge-reading. It has many chapters and the later industrial threads spread wide, so adjust your reading pace to your interest; readers who prefer slow-paced literary fiction or strict historical accuracy should lower their expectations.