Ethan was a bit stunned at her words.
Wasn’t five hundred straight of the bat too much?
And she was only giving two cents discount?
Was she treating them like fools?
Ethan couldn’t accept being scammed and demanded, "Why?"
"Because they’re worth it!" Paula said through gritted teeth, scared out of her wits.
"Oh, is that so?" Ethan asked rhetorically. "Let me try one."
Hesitating for no more than a second, Luan directly handed a basket over. "Here."
Ethan didn’t seem to mind the stranger and took one out of the basket.
First he inspected the outer layer and his eyes widened a bit.
Fine flour was used to make this with somewhat coarse grain and cornmeal mixed in.
He could cook so it wasn’t hard for him to notice the difference between pure fine grain buns and mixed buns.
Still, he had to give it to the owner for being ingenious with their idea.
If town people were sold pure fine flour, they might not be willing to eat it.
Town people were richer than the village folk but not as much as city population.
That’s the reason Elena had come up such an ingenious way to make money.
Though her buns were indeed exorbitant in the eyes of normal people, Ethan didn’t think that way.
If it was worth the money, then it was worth the money.
Hearing Paula’s praise, he couldn’t help but doubt the bun in his hand.
It looked simple but oddly enough, it gave off a delicious aroma.
Ethan didn’t waste time and directly took a bite.
The bun was soft and springy, with just enough chew to give it some texture.
The moment his teeth broke through the dough, warm meat juices seeped into the filling.
Pork.
Egg.
A little seasoning.
Nothing extravagant.
Yet the combination was astonishingly satisfying.
The pork was tender and finely minced, while the egg added a soft richness that made the filling feel much more substantial than the simple bun suggested.
For people who usually ate plain steamed bread with vegetables, a freshly steamed bun packed with pork and egg was enough to make an ordinary meal feel luxurious.
However, this wasn’t the case for Ethan, he had eaten finer things in the city.
The pork was seasoned well, and the egg balanced out the meat’s richness. The juices had soaked slightly into the surrounding dough, making the center especially flavorful.
He chewed slowly.
Not bad.
Actually...
Quite good.
He took another bite.
Around him, Paula and Luan were eagerly looking at him and waiting for his reaction.
"You like it that much?" Ethan asked casually.
Luan looked genuinely confused.
"Of course!" He gestured toward the basket. "Look at how much filling there is!"
There was, indeed, quite a lot.
For a moment, he wondered whether he had underestimated the town.
He took another bite.
The bun was certainly better than he had expected.
He had eaten pastries from famous city restaurants. He had tasted roasted meats prepared by skilled cooks and dumplings made with expensive ingredients. He had even eaten dishes where a single plate cost more than this entire basket of buns.
Compared to those...
This was still just a bun.
But that didn’t mean it was mediocre.
The dough had been made well.
The filling was generous.
The seasoning was balanced.
And most importantly, it was filling.
He swallowed.
"It isn’t bad."
Luan’s and Paula’s smile froze as they wondered if they heard it right.
He looked down at the remaining half of his bun and their reaction.
Perhaps he had been too stingy with his praise.
He took another bite.
Then another.
By the time he finished, there was only a faint trace of filling left on his fingers.
He wiped them clean.
"Eighteen cents, huh? Fine." Ethan said casually, agreeing that it was worth it.
Getting such good food for the kids was good enough.
He didn’t mind the cost because it was filling and tasted great.
In his eyes, it was worth it.
He was from the city and the cost didn’t really sting him but then he thought about something and found the taste nostalgic.
It seemed to be the city’s taste.
It was uncommon in town to find such a taste.
"By the way, where did you buy these?" Ethan asked offhandedly.
"It was from two women... One was named Elena..." Paula replied softly.
Ethan was calm until now but hearing the name, his eyes widened.
He couldn’t help but frown in disbelief, ’No way right? It couldn’t be her... There’s just no way.’
Ethan was stunned at the sudden name because it matched who he was wondering about.
She was his lifelong rival and he didn’t know her college entrance examination score, he really wanted to know who won among them.
But then again, their rivalry meant little now.
She wasn’t a Shaw anymore.
But hearing her name suddenly stunned him.
No one around him found his reaction strange though.
They all thought he was stunned that two random women could cook something so great.
Unaware of their thoughts, Ethan decided to tag along tomorrow and see for himself.
"I’ll go with you tomorrow," he declared.
With that, the matter was settled as neither Luan nor Paula could say anything to Ethan.
The day passed uneventfully as tomorrow morning arrived.
Ethan walked with Paula in tow, Luan nowhere to be seen.
They had decided to meet where they first met.
Elena was on the way with Mary and saw two figures waiting so she assumed it was Luan and Paula.
She didn’t hesitate to walk over, followed by Mary.
Then she was stunned and so was Ethan.
Both of them were seeing each other after more than a month and their lives couldn’t be any different.
Elena was dressed in casual clothes she bought from town while Ethan was well-dressed from city shop’s.
"It really is you!" Ethan called out, stunned by her change of appearance.
She looked rather rustic.
A/N: Next Chapter will enter premium