◎ The Wolf of Wall Street. ◎
Early the next morning, Tian Miaomiao went to Starlight Farm to pick up meat and vegetables. Previously, she’d visited several markets before finally finding a supplier here who could provide fresh yak meat.
“Boss, I’ll need to take a little more today. What I bought yesterday wasn’t quite enough to sell.”
As the owner helped her get the meat, he said, “I figured you might not have enough, so I specially set aside a little extra for you today.”
“Alright, thank you, Boss! If you get any fresh pig brains, remember to save some for me!”
“Sure.”
Tian Miaomiao put the meat she’d bought into her truck, then went to collect vegetables from the vegetable farmer before driving her food truck home.
By the time she arrived home, Tian Doudou was already awake and making breakfast in the kitchen.
“You’re being quite hardworking today, huh?” Tian Miaomiao walked in carrying the vegetables and glanced at the steamer on the stove. “What are you steaming?”
“Yanwosi[1]Yanwosi (燕窝丝) is a traditional Chinese steamed wheat-flour pastry made from thin strands of dough arranged into a bird’s nest-like shape. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3604372_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3604372_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. They’ll be ready after steaming a little longer.”
Tian Miaomiao looked at him in surprise. “You’re in quite a good mood, huh? You even have time to make yanwosi?”
Yanwosi were similar to steamed flower rolls and mantou. They were all steamed flour-based foods, but making yanwosi was much more troublesome. The fermented dough first had to be stretched into thin strands before being coiled into the shape of a bird’s nest.
Tian Doudou glanced at her. “Yesterday, I ate the last two yanwosi in your freezer, and didn’t you nag me about it for ages? I’m making up for them today.”
All the yanwosi in Tian Miaomiao’s freezer had been sent by her mother. Mother Tian had sent quite a large batch at once, and Tian Miaomiao had stored them all in the freezer. Whenever she wanted some, she only needed to take them out and steam them until they were hot. It was very convenient.
Yesterday, Tian Doudou had eaten the last two, and Tian Miaomiao had indeed scolded him a little. But she’d really only said two sentences, definitely not nagged him for ages.
“You’re making it up to me using my flour, my oil, and my water, electricity, and gas.”
“…But I’m contributing my labor!” Tian Doudou straightened his back. “Labor costs are the most expensive! Do you know how complicated the process of making yanwosi is?!”
“Alright, alright. Then I’ll wait and see how good your craftsmanship is.”
Since the largest pot in Tian Miaomiao’s home had only so much capacity and couldn’t compare to the steamers in the inn’s kitchen, Tian Doudou couldn’t make very many.
The freshly steamed yanwosi gave off delicate wisps of steam. They looked pretty good, at least much better than the ones Tian Miaomiao rolled herself.
“Looks like you’ve actually picked up some skills from Dad while helping out in the kitchen these past two years.”
As soon as Tian Miaomiao praised him, Tian Doudou immediately became smug.
“Of course! I even made two flavors, milky and salt-and-pepper. I guarantee they’ll taste good.”
Tian Miaomiao laughed, picked up a milky-flavored yanwosi, tore off a piece, and tasted it.
“Not bad. You’re almost as good as Dad.”
Tian Doudou had only been feeling proud for a couple of seconds when he heard Tian Miaomiao continue.
“After we finish eating, go cut the vegetables. I’ll put them on skewers. We need to prepare more ingredients today than we did yesterday.”
“…”
Tian Doudou tore off a strip of yanwosi himself and stuffed it into his mouth.
“I originally planned to look for Zhou Ting once I found a job. But now I’ve got a job, and I’m so busy I don’t even have time to go out.”
Hearing him muttering, Tian Miaomiao asked curiously, “So that girl’s name is Zhou Ting?”
“…”
“Hey, don’t be embarrassed.”
Seeing his expression, Tian Miaomiao finally decided to show him some mercy.
“How about this? Once you’ve worked for a full month, I’ll look at how much we’ve earned and give you a share of the profits. How does that sound?”
As soon as Tian Doudou heard that he’d get a share of the profits, he immediately perked up.
“You said it yourself! You can’t go back on your word.”
“I promise I won’t.”
“Then when do I get a day off?”
“…Hmm, whenever it rains and we don’t have to set up the stall.”
Tian Doudou: “…”
His sister was really a woman perfectly suited to being a capitalist.
At six that evening, Tian Miaomiao drove her pink food truck out right on time.
It only took a few minutes to drive from her residential complex to the north gate of Starlight Park. When she arrived, the other stall owners were only just beginning to show up one after another.
Ling Chuang’s eye-catching food truck hadn’t arrived yet, but the blond-haired young man selling grilled squid on an iron plate nearby was already there.
“You’re here early, Boss Sun.”
After getting out of her truck, Tian Miaomiao greeted Sun Xuchuan.
Sun Xuchuan immediately responded enthusiastically, “You’re early too, Boss Tian! Is there anything you need help with?”
“No, no. Just get on with your own work.”
Sun Xuchuan acknowledged her response, then attentively grilled a portion of squid and brought it over to them.
“Boss Tian, I grilled some squid. Have a taste.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Tian Miaomiao felt a little embarrassed about accepting something from him for free, so she smiled and said, “I’ll have my younger brother grill a few meat skewers later and bring them over to you.”
“No need, no need! You’re new here, so it’s only right that I look after you a little!”
Tian Doudou snorted from the side.
“Being so attentive for no reason.”
Sun Xuchuan, whose intentions really weren’t entirely innocent: “…”
Tian Miaomiao laughed a couple of times, then tasted the grilled squid Sun Xuchuan had brought over and praised it.
“Mm, it tastes really good. Sure enough, everyone who sets up a stall at North Gate Night Market has their own special skills.”
Hearing her praise him, Sun Xuchuan immediately forgot about the awkwardness from earlier. He even became a little embarrassed.
“Not at all, not at all. I’m just trying to make a living. Boss Tian, you’re so good with words. What kind of work did you do before?”
Tian Miaomiao was young and beautiful, and she looked like someone who’d received a higher education. She must have had another job before this.
Tian Miaomiao swallowed the grilled squid in her mouth and smiled.
“I used to work in the front office department of a hotel. I’m certainly good at saying nice things.”
Sun Xuchuan felt warmth spread through his heart at her smile.
“Then it must have been a big five-star hotel.”
“…That’s right.”
It was just that the hotel had later gone bankrupt. 🙂
“Why hasn’t Boss Ling arrived yet today?”
Tian Miaomiao didn’t want to talk about the hotel anymore, so she changed the subject.
She’d originally asked the question casually, but unexpectedly, Sun Xuchuan actually knew the answer.
“Oh, Brother Chuang said that since the weather’s getting hotter, he’s going to start setting up his stall half an hour later.”
Tian Miaomiao blinked lightly.
“Brother Chuang? You sound like you’re pretty close to him.”
Sun Xuchuan scratched his head and gave a simple, honest smile.
“We’re fairly close, I guess. Everyone at North Gate Night Market is under his protection.”
As soon as Tian Doudou heard this, his ears immediately perked up.
He knew it!
A place like this was bound to have a local boss controlling the area!
While organizing their things, Tian Doudou casually asked Sun Xuchuan, as though the question had just occurred to him, “What did Boss Ling do before? He seems so different from everyone else.”
Sun Xuchuan raised his eyebrows, and there was actually a hint of pride in his expression.
“Of course our Brother Chuang is different. He used to work on Wall Street.”
As soon as he said this, not only Tian Doudou but even Tian Miaomiao were stunned.
“Wall Street? The Wall Street overseas?” Tian Doudou asked blankly.
Sun Xuchuan replied, “Of course. What other Wall Street would there be?”
Tian Doudou fell silent for two seconds before bursting into laughter.
“Hahahahaha! Well, I used to work at the Six Doors!”
“…” Seeing that Tian Doudou didn’t believe him, Sun Xuchuan frowned and retorted, “I’m telling the truth! Brother Chuang used to be the Wolf of Wall Street!”
“Then I’m the Eagle of the Six Doors!”
As Tian Doudou spoke, he even struck a pose, spreading his arms like an eagle spreading its wings.
Sun Xuchuan: “…”
Forget it. There was no point discussing ice with a summer insect. 🙂
He didn’t say anything more to Tian Doudou and returned to his own stall.
Tian Miaomiao, however, was still thinking about Ling Chuang.
Although she’d long felt that there was something extraordinary about him, she hadn’t expected him to be that extraordinary…
Could he really have worked on Wall Street before? If that was true, why had he come here to sell fried rice?
Surely Wall Street couldn’t have gone bankrupt too…
Ling Chuang was opening his stall half an hour later today, but the people coming to buy fried rice arrived right on time. When they saw that he hadn’t arrived yet, they began waiting by the roadside.
Most of the people who came to buy fried rice at this hour were residents living nearby. When they noticed Tian Miaomiao’s barbecue stall, some of them also ordered a few barbecue skewers to go with their fried rice.
At six thirty, Ling Chuang’s food truck arrived right on time.
After parking beside Tian Miaomiao’s barbecue truck, Ling Chuang began preparing fried rice for the first group of customers who had arrived.
Some customers who were more familiar with him even asked about the confession that had taken place at the night market the previous evening.
Ling Chuang had been running his stall at North Gate Night Market for a year now. It wasn’t the first time a female customer had confessed her feelings to him, but last night’s confession was indeed the first to cause such a huge commotion.
“See, being too handsome isn’t necessarily a good thing either. It’s so easy to attract romantic entanglements,” one of Ling Chuang’s regular customers remarked.
Ling Chuang chuckled softly without commenting and handed him the bacon fried rice he’d ordered.
Just as the customer accepted his fried rice, the barbecue he’d ordered was ready too.
Tian Miaomiao carried the takeaway bag over to deliver his barbecue and took the opportunity to glance at Ling Chuang inside his food truck.
Mm, Boss Ling was still as handsome as ever today.
Seeing her look over, Ling Chuang also raised his eyes slightly and smiled at her.
“The barbecue yesterday was pretty good. I’ll make you a portion of fried rice later.”
Tian Miaomiao had thought he was only saying that casually last night. She hadn’t expected him to actually intend to make fried rice for her.
“No need! I already ate before coming out. Besides, Sun Xuchuan gave us a portion of grilled squid earlier, and it was quite a generous serving.”
“Sun Xuchuan?”
Ling Chuang’s eyebrows moved slightly as he glanced in Sun Xuchuan’s direction.
“Then I won’t disturb you while you’re doing business!”
Tian Miaomiao smiled at him before returning to her barbecue truck.
Ling Chuang glanced at Sun Xuchuan once more before looking away.
After grilling squid for the few customers at his stall, Sun Xuchuan took advantage of a brief lull to visit Ling Chuang’s food truck.
Ling Chuang was busy making fried rice. He gave Sun Xuchuan a somewhat disdainful look.
“What are you coming over here for?”
Sun Xuchuan raised his eyebrows at him and spoke smugly.
“I’ve found everything out. Tian Miaomiao and Tian Doudou are siblings, not a couple.”
“Oh.”
Ling Chuang responded without much reaction.
Seeing how calm he was, Sun Xuchuan’s eyebrows twitched.
“Wait, why don’t you look surprised at all?”
Ling Chuang replied, “Because I could already tell.”
Sun Xuchuan: “…”
“You could tell, and you didn’t tell me?”
After complaining to Ling Chuang, Sun Xuchuan cheerfully continued, “But there’s something you definitely don’t know. Boss Tian used to work at a five-star hotel.”
Hearing this, Ling Chuang finally raised his head and looked at him.
“You two talked quite a lot, huh?”
“Yeah.”
Sun Xuchuan answered proudly. Then he lowered his voice and leaned closer to Ling Chuang.
“I even told them you used to be the Wolf of Wall Street, but they didn’t believe me.”
Ling Chuang: “…”
“Tian Doudou even said that if you’re the Wolf of Wall Street, then he’s the Eagle of the Six Doors.”
As Sun Xuchuan spoke, he struck the same eagle-spreading-its-wings pose Tian Doudou had made earlier.
Author’s Note:
Ling Chuang: “That’s enough. You may kneel and take your leave.” 🙂
References[+]