Wen Fan held her rice bowl and replied belatedly, “I didn’t put anything special in it, just simple seasonings.”
Time was tight, and she hadn’t had the chance to collect spices and make her own. Fortunately, although the store-bought packaged seasonings weren’t as good as those she made by hand, they were varied enough. A simple combination was enough to create a passable dish.
Yang Hong was skeptical. Was it really that simple?
This rice was clearly so fragrant it was unnatural!
The deliciousness of this fried rice immediately brought to mind various clickbait articles Yang Hong had seen and shared:
“Everyone Loves This Delicious Cold Skin Noodles, But Who Knew This Was Inside?”
“This Single Traditional Medicine is the Root of People’s Addiction!”
“Can’t Stop Eating? Police Warn Against Accidental Consumption of Banned Substances.”
…
However, seeing Wen Fan eating it naturally, Yang Hong’s worries vanished.
The only thing that made her sad was that the bowl was too small. Watching the grains of rice disappear from the bottom of the bowl, her heart was breaking.
How could such simple fried rice be so delicious?!
Seeing that she still looked unsatisfied after finishing a full bowl, Wen Fan thoughtfully offered to serve her a bit more.
Yang Hong struggled to pull her gaze away from the pot of fried rice. She waved her hand dejectedly. “I… I won’t eat anymore…”
There wasn’t much left in the pot, and it was clearly made specifically for their daughter by the Wen couple. Having already eaten one bowl, she felt too embarrassed to ask for another.
Feeling as though she had lost something precious, Yang Hong left in a daze.
Before leaving, she didn’t forget to ask Wen Fan, “I remember your parents sell noodles? Do you plan to put this fried rice on the menu?”
Speaking of this, Yang Hong was a bit speechless. “Look at your parents—having such a skill for fried rice and not using it properly, what on earth are they doing?”
She had visited the Wen family’s small restaurant before. Their specialties were rice and noodle bowls with toppings. Business at the school gate was all about speed; students were in a hurry, so as long as the toppings were prepared in advance, the mealtime rush wasn’t a problem.
After eating there, Yang Hong had an idea of their level. It was clean enough, but the taste was mediocre.
Students have picky palates. If the toppings taste ordinary and aren’t fragrant or spicy enough, there’s simply no competitiveness at the school gate.
Yang Hong was usually blunt. Thinking of the Wen couple’s soft and mild temperament, she couldn’t help but say a few more words.
“Advise your parents not to be so stubborn. Take advantage of the students’ summer break to change what needs to be changed…”
Halfway through, Yang Hong added sheepishly, “Of course, the rent still has to be paid as usual. Within a week… no, half a month. If you can’t pay by then, I’ll really have to take the house back. I have elders and children to support too…”
Wen Fan listened carefully and finally showed a genuine smile.
“Thank you, Auntie. I will tell my parents.”
She didn’t mention that she had fried the rice herself. Instead, she thanked Yang Hong solemnly. This exceptionally sensible and well-behaved manner made Yang Hong’s opinion of her improve significantly.
After Yang Hong left, Wen Fan quickly finished her meal, left the remaining rice in the pot to stay warm, and washed the dishes.
The Wen parents hadn’t returned yet, so Wen Fan opened her backpack and began to read her books.
Before even half an hour had passed, Wen Fan collapsed onto the bed in frustration.
She wasn’t sure if there was an issue with the memory integration, or if it was because she had only learned to write her own name in her previous life, but after reading for a while, Wen Fan finally faced a harsh reality.
And that was—
Except for Chinese and History, she could barely understand any of the content, let alone read it fluently.
Especially Math. All those letters like sin and cos even made Wen Fan cautiously flip back to the cover to check if she had taken the wrong textbook.
Why were there foreign characters in Math?
Why was ‘X’ called an unknown variable?
Why did studying Math involve drawing diagrams?
…
Wen Fan suddenly thought of the minor eunuch in the Imperial Study who was specifically in charge of accounting for materials. Back then, she didn’t understand why, at the end of every month, he would look disheveled while chasing everyone down to verify amounts.
Now that she was studying Math, Wen Fan felt a sense of shared suffering.
It was too hard.
Math was just too hard.
Completely defeated, Wen Fan felt dejected and didn’t even notice when her parents returned.
Wen Tao and Xia Yingzhi entered the house. It was quiet, and the breakfast on the table was gone.
The two thought Wen Fan had gone out, so they stopped lowering their voices.
“Look at you, why did you buy so many Erjingliao chilies? We can’t use them all.”
“I’ll make sauce with them, and pickle some chili rings.”
“…Prepare a bit less today. And that delivery platform—are we going to open an account?”
“Let’s do it.”
“Then you’d better think it through. When we first start with promotions, we’ll basically be losing money.”
Wen Fan put down her pen and stood up, just in time to hear her father let out a long sigh.
“What else can we do? It’s more than a month until school starts. We can’t survive just on the walk-in business we have now.”
Wen Fan’s hand paused as she went to open the door.
The long silence in the living room was oppressive. Xia Yingzhi’s voice finally sounded after a while.
“How about… I go deliver food?”
Wen Tao grew anxious. “How can we let you go? If anyone goes, it should be me.”
Xia Yingzhi gave him a sidelong glance. “If you go, what about the shop? I don’t know how to stir-fry.”
“Even so, we can’t…”
“Be quiet, it’s settled. I’ll go out for a few hours during the meal rush, and you stay at the shop. We need to make sure we have enough to pay for Fanfan’s tutoring fees in the next couple of days…”
Wen Tao felt miserable. He couldn’t bear to let his wife suffer, but his daughter’s tuition and tutoring fees were imminent.
“Dad, Mom, I’m not going to tutoring anymore.”
Wen Fan pulled open the door and looked at the two shocked people sitting on the sofa.
Wen Tao looked refined and was quite tall, while Xia Yingzhi was shorter. Both were wearing clothes covered in dust, which made Wen Fan’s heart soften.
In her previous life, her family ties were weak. She thought the change in titles would be hard to say, but just now, as Wen Tao and Xia Yingzhi were planning for her education and life, the words “Dad” and “Mom” came out naturally.
Wen Fan walked up to her parents and spoke firmly, “I can study on my own.”
Given her current level of learning, she wouldn’t necessarily be able to keep up even if she went to a tutoring class.
Xia Yingzhi was taken aback, then frowned. “What nonsense are you talking about? Your father and I were just joking. Don’t worry, although we don’t have much money, it’s definitely enough for your education.”
Without allowing any further discussion, Xia Yingzhi pushed Wen Fan back into her room.
“I thought you were going to class. Hurry up and get ready. Your dad will take you to Teacher Wang’s in a bit.”
Wen Fan was rushed by her mother to change clothes and then escorted by her father to the tutoring institution.
Unable to resist, she could only follow her parents’ arrangements.
After their daughter left, the mother opened the lid of the pot in the kitchen.
The cold fried rice no longer emitted a strong aroma. The mother was in a hurry to open the shop, so she casually tucked the remaining fried rice into a corner of the refrigerator.
Xia Yingzhi even complained about her husband, “Why make fried rice so early in the morning? It has no nutritional value for Fanfan.”
Experts said it was best to have milk and eggs in the morning.
The mother went to open the shop, and soon the father arrived as well.
A salesman promoting a delivery platform fanned himself with a brochure while explaining to the mother how to create a store profile and upload photos.
After a long struggle, the mother finally set up the basic details. The buttons on the back end were complicated and messy. She uploaded several types of rice bowls from the shop.
Beef with Cabbage over Rice: 18 yuan.
Chicken with Green Peppers over Rice: 18 yuan.
Tomato and Egg over Rice: 15 yuan.
Each was five or six yuan more expensive than in the shop. After deducting the delivery fee and the platform’s cut, it was roughly the same as the shop price.
The salesman told her, “Just find some photos online and upload them.”
Drenched in sweat, the mother finished the setup. The salesman then encouraged them to participate in an event.
“Since it’s your new store opening, why not join the ’15 yuan off for orders over 25′ promotion? The event can drive traffic, and there’s a one-week promotion period.”
“15 off for over 25…” Wen Tao instinctively wanted to refuse. “With that price and the delivery cut, we’ll be losing money.”
“It’s a grand opening special. You have to attract new customers first to get repeat business.”
Wen Tao still shook his head. “No, the price is too low; we won’t make any money.”
The salesman said with some regret, “Then you should be mentally prepared. If you don’t do the promotion, your ranking will drop.”
Wen Tao bit his lip. “Let’s try it like this for a few days. If it doesn’t work, we’ll join the promotion.”
The salesman packed up and left, not forgetting to order two portions of Tomato and Egg over Rice to take with him.
“I deal with so many shopkeepers, and your place is definitely top-notch when it comes to hygiene.”
And it wasn’t pre-packaged food.
One must know that many shops nowadays don’t even have a kitchen. They just have two induction cookers inside and a large basin filled with hot water to soak bags of pre-cooked meals. They just cook a few pots of rice and, when an order comes in, they simply box it up and tear open a bag.
The whole process takes less than three minutes to serve a meal.
Seeing this, the salesman himself didn’t even like ordering delivery anymore.
After seeing off the salesman, the father stir-fried five or six portions of each topping to prepare for meals.
A few people trickled in at noon, mostly acquaintances from the same street. With the delivery platform open, the mother stared anxiously at the back end, but not a single order came in.
As the lunch hour was ending, there were still seven or eight portions of the toppings stir-fried that morning.
Wen Tao glanced at the clock. “Fanfan will be back soon. I’ll fry two more dishes, and we’ll eat too.”
Business was bad; there was nothing they could do. When doing business with students, the winter and summer breaks were major hurdles.
There was also a large shopping mall about a kilometer away.
One could say that whether for dining in or delivery, they didn’t have much of an advantage.
Wen Tao smiled helplessly, thinking about whether to start the promotion tomorrow.
Seeing the sun outside getting hotter, Wen Tao told his wife to turn off the delivery app.
But the mother said in surprise, “There’s someone! There’s someone!”
With two “ding-dong” sounds, the delivery platform moved.
The mother opened the back end, but she was stunned.
She saw that someone had ordered three rice bowls, but in the notes, they had written: [Please make three portions of fried rice, thank you.]
The mother looked again and again, making sure she wasn’t seeing things.
“Wait, what exactly does this person want?”