Xia Yongen glanced at the screen, her eyes instantly widening. She hurriedly answered the call.
“Hello—”
A familiar voice came from the other end.
“Xia, what’s the address of your teahouse? I just got off the plane and I’m still waiting for my luggage.”
Xia Yongen was both surprised and delighted. She immediately rattled off the address, then asked, “Why did you suddenly come to Huacheng?”
The person on the other end hurriedly replied, “Ah, I’ll tell you all about it after I get there.”
An hour later, a Mercedes drove over from the distance and stopped in front of Rongxing House.
A tall, slender young woman stepped out of the car. She was wearing a neatly pressed white short-sleeved shirt with a pair of blue shorts, flat leather shoes, and cat-eye sunglasses perched on her head.
Xia Yongen excitedly walked out to greet her. Before she even got close, she caught a faint fragrance and teased, “Oh? You changed your perfume again?”
“You have such a good nose.”
He Yuqiang wrapped her arms around Xia Yongen and gave her a hug, then pinched her cheek.
“Xia, why do I feel like you’ve lost weight?”
“I haven’t, have I? It’s definitely because you haven’t seen me in too long, so you’ve got a false impression.”
He Yuqiang linked arms with Xia Yongen as they walked inside.
“You left right after the graduation ceremony, and you didn’t even come to the dorm gathering. Yaya and Xiaoxu both missed you so much.”
When Lai Meizhen saw the visitor, she quickly looked at Xia Yongen.
“This is…”
He Yuqiang took the initiative to greet her with a smile.
“Hello, Auntie. I’m Xia’s college roommate.”
Before starting university, Xia Yongen had both looked forward to and worried about college life.
Growing up, her status as a student from a low-income family had often attracted certain kinds of attention. What was more, her university roommates would come from all over the country, and they would have to live together for four years. It was practically like opening a mystery box. If you happened to get roommates who were difficult to get along with, it could be a real nightmare.
But Xia Yongen had never expected to be so lucky. She ended up with three friendly roommates, and the one she became closest to was He Yuqiang, who slept in the bed directly opposite hers.
He Yuqiang was from northern China. She had an outgoing and straightforward personality, and she and Xia Yongen got along extremely well.
The two of them walked around Rongxing House. He Yuqiang’s brows became increasingly furrowed.
Wait. Didn’t Xia Yongen come back to inherit the teahouse? This… this teahouse is so run-down. Can it really get any business?
When Xia Yongen had turned down an offer from a state-owned enterprise and returned to Huacheng, her three roommates had all assumed that after enduring so much hardship during her childhood, Xia Yongen was finally returning home to inherit the family business. Surely her difficult days were finally over.
But judging from the current situation, she had inherited the family business, all right—but she still had to start everything from scratch herself!
Then He Yuqiang saw the folding bed and electric kettle in one of the private rooms and was even more stunned.
“You actually live here?!”
“Yeah. What’s wrong with it? I think it’s pretty good.”
“Good my foot! This bed is harder than a coffin board. Doesn’t your back hurt when you sleep on it?” He Yuqiang was practically beside herself with frustration. “And how do you even wash up?”
Xia Yongen pointed next door. It had originally been an empty private room, but Auntie Fang Ping had later converted it into a shower room.
He Yuqiang rolled her eyes helplessly at Xia Yongen, genuinely at a loss for words.
Still, the place might have looked a little run-down, but at least it provided a roof over her head. Besides, it had originally been a teahouse, so there was a huge kitchen. At least Xia Yongen wouldn’t starve to death.
Who would have thought that Auntie Zhen would quietly add,
“Before I came, A-En lived on steamed buns every day.”
He Yuqiang slapped her thigh.
No wonder Xia Yongen looked so much thinner today. If she wasn’t sleeping or eating well every day, how could she possibly put on any weight?
Xia Yongen cleared her throat and quickly changed the subject.
“By the way, what exactly did you come to Huacheng for?”
“Oh, I’m here to see a concert.”
He Yuqiang had loved photography since she was a child. As she grew older, she became obsessed with following celebrities. During university, she had been a fan-site photographer for an idol group.
After graduating, she couldn’t find a particularly suitable job, so she simply became a professional fan-site photographer. Besides photographing celebrities she personally liked, she also accepted commissioned photography work for other celebrities. She normally traveled back and forth between different countries and cities.
Recently, she had taken on a commissioned photography job for a girl group that was currently holding an Asian tour. Over the next six months, the group would be holding concerts throughout Southeast Asia and other locations.
Since Huacheng was relatively close to Southeast Asia, and she had also realized that she and Xia Yongen hadn’t seen each other in quite some time, she decided to stay here for a while.
Xia Yongen understood now.
So Rongxing House was going to become He Yuqiang’s base of operations from now on.
The two hadn’t seen each other for more than two months, and naturally, they had an endless amount of things to talk about. After Xia Yongen explained everything, He Yuqiang finally understood the current situation at Rongxing House and what Xia Yongen had been doing recently.
He Yuqiang looked at Xia Yongen suspiciously.
“You can make dim sum? How come I never knew?”
Xia Yongen gave an awkward smile.
“Uh… I only learned recently. But don’t worry, the pastries I make are really delicious. Do you want to try some?”
He Yuqiang naturally nodded immediately, but deep down, she knew that Xia Yongen was probably just trying to reassure her.
Growing up, He Yuqiang had eaten her fair share of delicacies. Although she wasn’t from Huacheng, she was very interested in Cantonese cuisine. And as an important part of Cantonese culinary culture, she had visited plenty of teahouses, from high-end establishments to ordinary neighborhood ones.
Regardless of the price, Cantonese dim sum had one very obvious characteristic: the ingredients were carefully selected and the preparation was meticulous. Without decades of experience, it was practically impossible to make truly good dim sum.
And there were only two people actually working at this teahouse. Although Auntie Zhen was said to be the helper Xia had hired, she clearly looked very experienced.
He Yuqiang silently came to a conclusion.
Auntie Zhen must be the one primarily responsible for making the dim sum.
Although Xia was the owner, the core techniques were still in someone else’s hands.
Thinking about Xia Yongen struggling to keep the teahouse going all by herself, He Yuqiang couldn’t help feeling a little upset.
She knew Xia’s background wasn’t easy. Now she had taken on such a huge teahouse as well. She absolutely had to help her somehow.
Earlier, when she’d asked about the teahouse, Xia had been rather evasive, yet she’d put on a calm and composed appearance and claimed that the dim sum she made tasted quite good.
But He Yuqiang knew Xia Yongen’s cooking skills all too well. She was pretty good at making instant noodles and simple quick dishes, but making dim sum was absolutely impossible!
There was no need to say more. Xia was obviously just trying to put her mind at ease and didn’t want her to help.
He Yuqiang thought seriously about what she could do to help Xia without making it too obvious…
With that thought, she waved her hand decisively.
“Come on, I’ll treat you and Auntie Zhen to a meal.”
“How could I let you do that? You’re the guest and I’m the host. Of course I’ll treat you.”
He Yuqiang rolled her eyes at her.
“We’re such good friends. Why are you worrying about things like this? Come on!”
The three of them went to a small restaurant and ordered three bowls of wonton noodles, a bowl of pig’s blood soup, and a bowl of dried-fish-and-peanut congee.
After finishing their meal, Xia Yongen returned to the worktable.
She first prepared the pastries she would be taking to the school to sell that afternoon, then began experimenting with making several salted egg yolk lava buns. The salted egg yolk lava bun was currently still at C grade, so it would probably take a few more days before she could put them up for sale.
A salted egg yolk lava bun was essentially a steamed bun filled with salted egg yolk. Once the bun was steamed, biting into it would cause the egg yolk filling to gush out like flowing golden sand.
The most important part of a delicious salted egg yolk lava bun was its filling. Although the egg yolk filling was runny, it wasn’t watery or thin. Instead, it was thick and creamy, with a slight granular texture. That was why it was called “lava” or “flowing sand,” rather than simply “flowing water.”
Xia Yongen used the back of a knife to crush the yolks of salted duck eggs and chicken eggs. She repeated the process several times until the yolks were fine enough that there was no need to sift them.
She then added milk powder, butter, white sugar, and various other ingredients, mixing everything thoroughly with the egg yolks.
The finished egg yolk filling was incredibly soft. Pressing it felt almost like playing with powdered-snow slime.
An hour later, He Yuqiang followed the sweet, fragrant aroma into the kitchen.
Steam was billowing from the steamer basket. Her eyes immediately lit up.
“What smells so good? What’s inside?”
Xia Yongen glanced at the clock hanging in the kitchen.
“These are salted egg yolk lava buns I made. Looks like they’re almost ready.”
“You made them? I’ve never tried any dim sum you’ve made before. Can I have one?”
Seeing the eager look on He Yuqiang’s face, Xia Yongen looked slightly embarrassed.
“These are just practice batches. I’ll make some for you after I’ve completely mastered them.”
“But I want to eat them now! Besides, there’s no way anything you make could taste bad.”
He Yuqiang wasn’t stupid. Naturally, she could tell that Xia Yongen was politely refusing her.
But this was what she thought:
Xia has only just started making dim sum, so this is exactly when she needs encouragement from other people. I have to praise her as much as possible!
What she didn’t know was that Xia Yongen normally kept all these practice buns for herself. Even Auntie Zhen had never tasted them.
After all, it was still important to maintain a certain image in front of her employee.
Seeing that He Yuqiang insisted, Xia Yongen could only give in. Besides, she was her best friend, so there was no harm in letting her have one.
Under Xia Yongen’s “expectant” gaze, He Yuqiang picked up a salted egg yolk lava bun from the bowl, brought it to her mouth, and took a small bite.
“How is it? Does it taste pretty average?”
He Yuqiang hurriedly relaxed the brows she was about to furrow.
“Wow! This is the best salted egg yolk lava bun I’ve ever eaten! It’s even better than the ones at Michelin-starred restaurants in Hong Kong!”
Xia Yongen quickly cut her off.
“That’s enough. I know this bun really isn’t that great. You don’t have to go out of your way to praise me. Just tell me the truth.”
“I am telling you the truth! It’s really, really delicious!”
“My own buns—I don’t know what they taste like?”
Xia Yongen couldn’t help laughing. Just as she was about to pick up another salted egg yolk lava bun from the table, He Yuqiang snatched it away.
“This is the first time you’ve ever made buns for me. I’m going to eat them all. You’re not allowed to fight me for them!”
Xia is working so hard in the kitchen even in this hot weather. She’s already sweating all over. I absolutely can’t let her know that the pastries she made taste so terrible!
Xia Yongen could only give up helplessly. Secretly, she thought:
Once the salted egg yolk lava buns reach a higher level, I definitely have to make her try them again.
Meanwhile, He Yuqiang, who was eating with great relish, was thinking to herself:
As expected, Auntie Zhen really is the one making all those delicious pastries.
No matter what, she had to find a way to help Xia Yongen. Otherwise, with her cooking skills, there was no way anyone would come to the teahouse for tea!
Seeing how happily He Yuqiang was eating, Xia Yongen could only hold her forehead and sigh.
This misunderstanding has gotten way too big!