"Yes," Elena replied, "but it costs twenty cents for one."
The man didn’t bat an eye and handed her 1 Luni, he said, "Give me five."
A bit surprised but not stunned, Elena quickly made the transaction and packed fice buns for the man.
The man took them and directly headed to his workplace.
He didn’t eat them himself but offered it to his four other colleagues.
Only then did he take a first bite.
And that was enough to stun him, his eyes widening.
The soft dough gave way almost effortlessly, releasing a rush of warm, savory aroma.
Then came the filling—juicy pork mingled with bits of egg and fragrant herbs, each flavor distinct yet somehow perfectly blended together.
The meat was rich without being greasy.
The egg added a soft, mellow sweetness, while the herbs cut through the richness with a fresh fragrance that lingered pleasantly on his tongue.
He chewed slowly.
For a moment, he forgot where he was.
He had eaten plenty of buns before, but nothing like this. In his town, a bun was something simple—filling enough to quiet hunger, but hardly something worth savoring.
This was different.
This was delicious.
And then he remembered the price.
Twenty cents.
His hand tightened around the bun.
Twenty cents for something this good?
In his eyes, it was practically a steal.
Though it was higher than others selling buns, it was the best one he had ever had and it wasn’t expensive.
He hadn’t thought that he’d strike it rich when it was his turn to buy breakfast.
The five colleagues were actually school friends who had developed a small buisness and had decided to try different delicious foods so as to diversify their palate and enjoy the simple joys of life.
The five challenged who would find the tastiest one and each bought breakfast in turns.
Of course, the price could be cheap or expensive, it totally didn’t matter. They were all unmarried good friends who shared the same goal.
Since they couldn’t get into University, they’d build something of their own life.
All five came from comfortable homes in town, not too poor and neither too rich but enough to be envied.
As soon as the meat buns ended, the four ended up asking, "Where the hell did you buy these? These are absolutely delicious!"
"Yeah, Luan, out with it already, don’t keep such good stuff hidden!"
With that, the other two also eagerly looked at Luan who was just as dumbfounded himself.
"I-I bought these from a random seller," Luan said hurriedly, worried they’d chase him for the place.
He really didn’t know.
He had bought it on a whim due to their delicious aroma, who knew it would taste this good.
"Then go and buy more for us! How much does it cost?"
One asked while another agreed, intending to take them home for their families.
Such good stuff should be shared with family.
Luan also wanted to buy more so he hurriedly left, throwing back a "they’re 20 cents each!"
The four were stunned because these tasted like those state run restaurants and it was this cheap?!
It was hard to believe.
Thus Luan rushed out to find the two women from whom he had bought the five buns.
Luckily, he didn’t have to walk far before he found them.
They were still roaming the same road he had spotted them at.
"Miss, miss, d-do you still have those buns?" Luan asked in a haphazard manner.
His clothes were a mess and he seemed to be in a hurry.
Elena sized up the man to whom she had sold five buns earlier. He seemed decent looking and didn’t feel like he was here to cause trouble.
So she answered, "Yes, I have, how many do you need?"
"How many do you have?" Luan asked without skipping a beat.
"Around 240 are left," Elena answered after a second of thought. She had sold him five in the morning and a few were also sold to the villagers so she did have roughly 240 buns maybe an extra or one less but she wasn’t sure.
"Give me all of them," Luan said, calculating, "240 buns means 4800 cents. Here’s 50 Luni, just give them to me and please come back again tomorrow. My name is Luan by the way."
With that he handed over 5 ten-Luni-bille, took all the baskets containing buns from her and rushed back to their shared home.
He couldn’t care less about two Luni and he had even bought all her stock, on the promise that she return tomorrow.
He was in hurry but he didn’t forget to catch her name. "Elena," she’d said.
Thus he rushed back to his shared space where they were talking to a client who had arrived in the meantime he was gone.
The client smelled the delicious aroma and ended up looking at Luan arriving with baskets in tow.
Luan also noticed the client and didn’t hesitate to offer her two buns.
She only took one and didn’t eat it immediately.
From the smell and feel alone, she could tell it was something good and she didn’t plan on taking advantage but could she say no when she hadn’t had a proper breakfast today?
So she ended up taking it with a curt "Thank you."
The moment she ate it, she felt the flavour burst in her mouth and couldn’t help but be stunned because she remembered this taste.
Once her boss had cooked tangyuan and treated them all to a taste.
Though the taste was different the base feeling was same as if cooked by the same hands.
She couldn’t help but blurt out, "Where did you buy these?"
"Uhm..." Luan hesitated and she also regained her wits but she still looked out the corner of her eye, eager to know where these were sourced from.
Not only were they delicious, they were filling.
One bun was enough to stave off her hunger for a while and if she ate two, she’d be full.
As Luan was still unsure what to say, he was elbowed by his friend while another friend urgently winked at him, making him understand this was a major client.
"This... I bought these from two women," he said directly.
The client was stunned for a second but then a smile appeared on her face as she muttered, "Interesting. I wonder if I can meet them."
Luan hurriedly added, "I asked them to come tomorrow."
"Alright then, I’ll meet them tomorrow."
With that she continued discussing buisness with them, not ignoring the remaining buns in Luan’s hand.
In the end, Luan ended up giving her eleven as a small token of gift and she happily took them.