The minced pork with eggplant successfully captured Wu Na’s heart; she instantly fell in love with this thick, savory style of rice platter.
She couldn’t figure out how the minced pork was fried—underneath the soft, glutinous texture of the eggplant, the meat still retained a hint of crispness. The slightly larger bits of meat paired with the eggplant, which lost its shape the moment it was stirred, looked like a messy jumble but actually tasted incredible.
Wu Na didn’t even have time to eat her favorite pickled peppers. she just kept stuffing spoonful after spoonful into her mouth, as if her stomach had become a bottomless pit.
It wasn’t until the plate was licked clean that Wu Na realized she had actually finished such a large portion of rice!
Dining in the shop usually meant a slightly larger serving than takeout. If it were any other time, Wu Na would have left at least a third, if not half, of such a large platter. But today, not only did she finish it all, but even after letting out a few satisfied burps, she still felt like eating more!
Her stomach was full, but her eyes were still greedy. Her gaze followed the plates Wen Fan was serving to other customers, unable to pull away.
“Boss, I’d like a takeout order… the stir-fried pork with peppers rice platter!”
Wu Na thought to herself that food this delicious should be brought home for her “Empress Mother” to try. Conveniently, she could also snag a few bites of the new flavor.
Wen Fan responded briskly, packed the food for Wu Na, and habitually tucked a free bottle of juice into the bag.
“Boss, I didn’t order a drink.”
Wen Fan smiled. “It’s on the house. My mom said there was a long, positive review on the delivery platform—that was you, right?” She handed over the bag. “Thanks for coming!”
Wu Na was dazzled by the young girl’s smile, feeling a deep sense of satisfaction.
“No problem, no problem! By the way, I see you’re quite young. Are you in university or high school?”
Wen Fan pointed to the English vocabulary book spread out behind the counter. “High school. You’re a university student, right, sister?”
Wu Na puffed out her chest. “I’m a sophomore at Capital Normal University.”
Wen Fan felt a surge of respect. “Then your grades must be excellent.”
Wu Na laughed. “It’s all just grinding through it. If you stick with it for two more years, university will be a breeze.”
Wen Fan lowered her eyes. “I don’t even know if I can get in.”
With the weathered look of someone who had survived the gauntlet, Wu Na patted Wen Fan’s shoulder. “Young lady, it’s just a temporary struggle. You’ll get through it… Which subject are you struggling with? Maybe I can give you some tips?”
That was exactly the opening Wen Fan was waiting for. She immediately began pouring out her grievances: her poor foundation in math, her inability to understand English grammar, her struggle to grasp physics, and chemistry…
Although Wu Na had forgotten about seventy to eighty percent of her high school knowledge, she had been forged in the fires of academic competition and naturally had a few tricks up her sleeve.
“Just do exactly what I say! Remember: mass quantity leads to miracles, and the sea of questions reveals the truth! If the grind doesn’t kill you, then grind until you die!”
As the clock in the library lobby struck eleven, the small stalls outside began to appear one after another. Under the shade of the trees along the street, a row of food carts lined up like a squad waiting for inspection.
In front of the stalls selling Roujiamo, vegetable pancakes, cold skin noodles, rice noodles, and Malatang, most of the customers were young people in their twenties. They would order their food, buy an icy drink from a vending machine, and sit under the shade. Despite the peak of summer, a slight breeze would occasionally drift through. After a leisurely meal, they would wander nearby to buy a milk tea before diving back into their afternoon studies.
However, in such sweltering weather, more people chose not to step outside the library at all.
They would order takeout on their phones. Although eating at the study desks was forbidden, many people sat on the floor in the spacious lobby, enjoying their food in the air conditioning—far better than suffering under the midday sun.
Consequently, a new scene formed at the library entrance: riders in various uniforms gathered together, hurriedly handing deliveries to customers or placing them on the shelves by the door before rushing off to their next order.
Parents dropped their children off at the library, and since it wasn’t very large, the kids would scurry between the different sections, quickly making friends with their peers.
It was now time to collect lunch, and a group of four or five children ran out together.
One little boy spoke with a boastful tone: “My grandma said she ordered me a Spicy Chicken Burger! And fried chicken and Coke!”
“Wow, Zhang Zhuangzhuang, your grandma is so nice.”
The boy named Zhang Zhuangzhuang looked smug. “Good thing I let Grandma drop me off today!” If it had been his mom, she definitely wouldn’t have listened to him and ordered fried chicken.
“What did your moms order for you?”
“I don’t know. I wanted cold skin noodles, but my mom said no. She said it’s too hot and they might not be fresh.”
“My mom ordered noodles for me today. Sigh, I actually wanted fried chicken too.”
“Zihan, what about you?”
Chen Zihan answered honestly, “I don’t know.”
Zhang Zhuangzhuang huffed. “He’s definitely eating vegetables!”
They were all friends in the same class, and Chen Zihan had recently suffered from gastroenteritis, so his parents had strictly controlled his diet. Lately, his meals were always some variation of “bland.”
How many kids actually like bland food? Zhang Zhuangzhuang and the others felt bad for him just thinking about it.
The children found their deliveries.
“Wow, my grandma ordered several pieces of fried chicken. We can have one each later!” When he said “one each,” he obviously didn’t include Chen Zihan. Zhang Zhuangzhuang thought to himself: Who cares? My mom is always saying how good Chen Zihan’s grades are. He was going to eat the fried chicken right in front of Zihan to make him jealous!
“My mom ordered mixed noodles. Ugh, I don’t like mixed noodles!”
“Want to swap? My mom ordered fried rice for me.”
“Zihan, what did your mom order?”
Chen Zihan pulled out a disposable lunch box. “A set meal.”
The other kids immediately began to groan.
“It’s over. Yours is definitely the worst-tasting one.”
Chen Zihan also hung his head, looking quite troubled. He felt much better, yet his mother was still making him watch his diet. Seeing Zhang Zhuangzhuang happily tearing into the fried chicken packaging, Chen Zihan felt even worse. He really wanted a burger and fried chicken too.
The children found a ledge about the width of a person and set their meals down.
The moment Zhang Zhuangzhuang’s burger was pulled out, it drew envious glances from the kids around him. He tore open the wrapper and took a massive bite, his small eyes full of pride.
Chen Zihan also unpacked his food, looking at his “healthy and light” meal with a face full of misery.
Zhang Zhuangzhuang was even happier now, chewing loudly and obnoxiously.
Chen Zihan opened his lunch box…
“Whoa, Zihan, your food smells so good!”
“Really! It smells amazing.”
Chen Zihan was also surprised. His mother had called his phone watch earlier, saying she had ordered from a new place. Was the new takeout really this fragrant?
Zhang Zhuangzhuang sipped his Coke, acting indifferent. “No matter how good it smells, it’s just rice and stir-fry. Haven’t you had enough of that at home?”
“But this dish really smells special…”
The gaze of the other two boys fell on the lunch box. In one compartment, there were braised pig trotters with peanuts and soybeans in a rich, dark red sauce. The thick sauce glistened, garnished with a few scattered green onions. The color looked exactly like the illustrations they had seen in picture books.
Zhang Zhuangzhuang was fuming. “What’s so special? I wouldn’t eat that even if you gave it to me! It’s nowhere near as good as a burger!”
Chen Zihan had already snapped his chopsticks apart. Ignoring whatever Zhang Zhuangzhuang and the others were saying, he picked up a piece of pig trotter first.
The braised trotter was so tender that with one gentle bite, the gelatinous skin pulled away…
The two friends nearby were dying of envy.
“Is it good? Is it good?”
Chen Zihan couldn’t even manage a nod; he took several bites in a row, his mouth stuffed full.
“Ish delishush!” (It’s delicious!)
He was generous, too. Although he was reluctant in his heart, he pushed the box forward, offering to share with his friends.
The two kids happily extended their chopsticks.
“This is too good!”
“Wow, these peanuts are amazing!”
“The soybeans are so soft!”
“Don’t push me, I’m trying the eggplant!”
“Even the beans taste different.”
Zhang Zhuangzhuang was furious; even the burger in his mouth didn’t taste good anymore.
Chen Zihan, meanwhile, buried his head and ate like crazy, afraid that if he ate too slowly, his friends would finish all the food.
Mother Wen had specifically packed the rice tightly; the portion was enough for an adult. Yet, under the combined efforts of the little ones, the box was wiped clean in no time. Even the leftover sauce from the pig trotters was drizzled over the fried rice of the other kid, who closed his eyes in pure ecstasy.
“So good!”
Chen Zihan’s stomach was round. He and his friends happily discussed which dish was the best.
Zhang Zhuangzhuang, the only one who didn’t get a taste, bit into his fried chicken resentfully.
It’s just a lunch box!
But… it really did look delicious.
“Zihan’s Mom, where did you order that takeout from?”
That evening, Zihan’s mother received inquiries from the parents of her son’s friends.
Even though she had heard her son say “lunch was so good” a thousand times when she picked him up, she hadn’t expected a simple meal to capture the hearts of all those children.
She found the business card she had received that morning and took a photo of it.
“This is the one.”
One of the parents slapped their thigh. “I got this card this morning and threw it away!”
There are so many promotions these days; you can collect seven or eight just by walking down the street. Most flyers she would discard without a second glance.
Zihan’s mother forwarded Mother Wen’s contact info. ” I just thought the shop looked unusually clean.”
On the other side, Zhang Zhuangzhuang’s grandma couldn’t handle his tantrum and also made a call.
As soon as her grandson got home, he threw a fit, insisting the burger and fried chicken were bad and that he wanted the set meal.
“Chen Zihan ate better than me!”
Zhuangzhuang’s grandma frowned. “Don’t you love fried chicken the most?”
Zhang Zhuangzhuang jumped up and down. “But the fried chicken wasn’t good! I want rice and stir-fry!”
He usually found Chen Zihan annoying, but for the entire afternoon, his mind had been filled with those braised pig trotters. He was so upset that he demanded pig trotters on the way home, but after two bites, he felt it was wrong.
It wasn’t that flavor at all!
“I want the pig trotters with peanuts and soybeans inside!”
Zhuangzhuang’s grandma had no idea how to make that. When Zhuangzhuang’s mom got home, she promptly gave the screaming brat two slaps on the behind.
Looking at her crying grandson, the grandma began to grumble.
“The child just wants some pig trotters, why are you hitting him?”
The mom snapped back, “His jumping around is annoying… Mom, can you stop buying him fried chicken and Coke? Look at his size!”
He was only in second grade, yet he was already growing horizontally.
Feeling guilty, the grandma thought for a while and then went to ask Zihan’s mom for the contact information. When she saw the contact, her vision went dark.
Wasn’t this the same shop she had been hounding for vegetable inspection reports this morning?
Her face turned from pale to red, and finally, with a flushed face, she sent a red envelope to Mother Wen.
[Hello, I’d like to order a meal for tomorrow.]