Two buns sat on the desk. They were the same size, but the pork and cabbage bun had more pleats and looked more symmetrical.
This was a fair competition. There were three judges: not just Liu Yuanyuan, but also Yang Zihan’s best friend Xu Yan, and “Little Fat,” the boy universally recognized by the class as the ultimate “foodie.”
Almost the entire class gathered around. Li Shuo stood by An’an’s side and whispered, “Didn’t you say your aunt was making lotus root and fresh meat today?”
His parents hadn’t been home for the past half-month, and his grandmother’s sprained ankle still wasn’t healed, so he usually stayed at his grandmother’s house after having dinner at Qi Dongmei’s.
His grandmother was wonderful, except for the fact that she believed all outside food was unhealthy and insisted that Li Shuo eat her cooking.
Li Shuo had managed to dodge it yesterday, but today he had to eat before coming to school, so he was out of the loop regarding the buns.
An’an whispered the details to him. Li Shuo was even more excited than she was: “Really?! Your aunt is buying a food cart!”
An’an immediately warned him: “She’s my aunt, not yours.”
“Fine, fine, your aunt.”
Li Shuo grinned, thinking back to last night’s dinner. Those sweet and sour ribs were easily the best he’d ever had! The meat was tender, flavorful, and fell right off the bone with a gentle nudge. He could have eaten five bowls of rice with that sauce!
And those pan-fried crispy chicken wings—he could still hear the “crunch” of the chopsticks grazing the skin. They were so crispy, and the meat inside was juicy… and then there was the tomato fish fillets…
Yesterday, An’an’s aunt said they were celebrating a big order. Would there be another celebration once the food cart arrived?!
Yang Zihan saw the two of them whispering and saw Li Shuo laughing so happily, which made her angry all over again.
She said impatiently, “Hurry up and start. The teacher will be here any minute.”
Liu Yuanyuan was the first to taste. She took a bite of each and said, “I vote for the pork and cabbage. Although the lotus root one is good, the lotus root is too mushy today; it’s all blended into the meat filling. It’s not refreshing enough.”
Yang Zihan curled her lip disdainfully. “Qiao Yanning is your deskmate. Of course you’re biased.”
“The pork and cabbage one is just better!” Liu Yuanyuan snapped.
This pork and cabbage bun was supposed to be her breakfast. Now it was being used as a sample for others, meaning she got to eat one less. How could she not be annoyed?
Next was Xu Yan. She had originally looked down on buns. Like Yang Zihan, she thought sandwiches were “high-class.” But for her best friend, she was willing to go for it.
Xu Yan took a deep breath, pinched off a tiny piece of the bun skin, and stuffed it into her mouth with her eyes closed tight, as if she were taking medicine—
Wait, something was wrong. This bun skin was so fragrant!
She hadn’t even reached the meat filling yet, but the skin had been soaked with the savory juices from the meat. It wasn’t greasy at all; instead, it was incredibly flavorful.
This was the first time she had ever eaten a bun this delicious!
Xu Yan couldn’t help but reach for another piece. She heard Yang Zihan clear her throat and remembered her mission. “I vote for the lotus root and fresh meat! This bun is amazing! Zihan, where did you buy this? It must be very expensive!”
These were lines they had rehearsed beforehand.
Yang Zihan tilted her chin up proudly. “Of course. This came from my aunt’s company. It was ordered from a five-star hotel. It’s definitely better than the little workshop run by Qiao Yanning’s aunt.”
This made An’an furious. Her aunt was the best!
An’an, finding a sudden burst of courage, stared at Xu Yan. She stared until Xu Yan felt unsettled, then said, “You haven’t eaten the pork and cabbage one yet. You can’t vote.”
Xu Yan swallowed. Why did Qiao Yanning suddenly seem a bit scary…?
She pinched off a small piece of the pork and cabbage bun skin and said stubbornly, “What does it matter? Yours definitely isn’t from a five-star chef… Oh my god! This is so good!”
The previous one was good, but this one was even better. Even the texture and elasticity of the dough were perfect.
However, Yang Zihan’s glaring gaze pulled her back to reality. Xu Yan didn’t know how to choose and didn’t dare look at Yang Zihan. She stammered, “Little Fat, you go first. I need to think.”
Teachers and parents taught them not to lie, but if she told the truth, Yang Zihan would be upset and might even stop being her friend!
For Little Fat, things weren’t nearly as complicated. There was only a pure love for food.
Little Fat picked up both buns, smelled them, and frowned. After a moment of hesitation, he picked up the lotus root and fresh meat bun.
Yang Zihan was instantly smug. She knew her bun would win!
Little Fat chewed twice, took a sip of water to cleanse his palate, and then picked up the pork and cabbage one.
As he chewed, his frown deepened. Yang Zihan grew more confident, while An’an pursed her lips tightly, her big eyes fixed on Little Fat.
Li Shuo saw Little Fat’s expression and felt something was off. He quietly grabbed An’an’s hand to keep her calm.
After a moment of silence, someone couldn’t take it anymore. Seeing that Little Fat had almost finished “tasting” the entire pork and cabbage bun, they asked, “Fatty, have you figured it out yet? How is it?”
Little Fat finished the last bite slowly and said, “I choose the pork and cabbage.”
The crowd erupted. Someone shouted, “I knew the pork and cabbage one was better! Why else would Fatty finish the whole thing? He only took one bite of the lotus root one!”
Little Fat countered: “It’s not that the lotus root one is bad. I think these two taste like they were made by a master and an apprentice.”
This was high praise. Everyone was curious—how could a pork and cabbage bun be that good?
Classmates swarmed An’an. Little Fat was the first to ask, “Classmate Qiao Yanning, does your aunt sell these buns?”
Two out of three votes went to An’an’s buns. Xu Yan’s vote didn’t even matter anymore.
Once the results were clear, Yang Zihan burst into tears. But everyone was surrounding An’an; no one cared about her.
Only Xu Yan stayed by her side, whispering, “Zihan, I know you like Li Shuo. How about… how about you like someone else? I just saw Li Shuo holding Qiao Yanning’s hand…”
This made Yang Zihan cry even louder.
The farce didn’t end until the teacher arrived.
Naturally, the teacher had to call the parents. This time, it wasn’t just Li Shuo; An’an and Yang Zihan’s parents were called too.
The teacher earnestly advised the parents not to let children develop a habit of vanity and competition, emphasizing that they shouldn’t label food as “high-class” or “low-class” in front of kids, but should teach them to cherish food instead.
Yang Zihan’s mother’s face turned bright red. She only talked about sandwiches being “high-class” because she couldn’t cook. She didn’t want her child eating junk food outside; after all, restaurant food often uses pre-prepared ingredients or chemical additives. She felt that simple Western fast food was safer.
Since the food wasn’t particularly tasty, she could only trick the child into eating it by telling her the ingredients were “high-class.”
Coming out of the teacher’s office, Yang Zihan’s mother awkwardly apologized to Wang Yuwei and Qiao Man.
She walked up to Qiao Man and said hesitantly, “Um, Yanning’s aunt, the teacher mentioned you sell buns and that the quality is excellent. May I add you on WeChat?”
Qiao Man and Wang Yuwei led the two children home. Wang Yuwei had just returned from a business trip yesterday and was summoned by the teacher today.
Fearing a scolding, Li Shuo explained the whole story in detail, emphasizing: “Yang Zihan started it. For some reason, she’s always targeting An’an.”
Wang Yuwei knew exactly why. She looked at her mischievous son with a complicated expression—it was hard to imagine a boy like him having admirers already.
An’an, meanwhile, held Qiao Man’s hand, keeping her head down in silence.
Qiao Man didn’t bring up the incident. She asked An’an, “What do you want for dinner? You mentioned you wanted Sweet and Sour Pineapple Pork last time. Shall we have that tonight?”
Before An’an could speak, Li Shuo was jumping up and down: “Yes! Yes!”
He was promptly pushed down by his mother. “I’m back now, and you still want to freeload at someone else’s house?”
Even though she paid for his meals, it was still a hassle for others.
Qiao Man was actually very grateful to Li Shuo. An’an had changed a lot recently and wasn’t as timid as when she first arrived. Qiao Man had been too busy with business, so Li Shuo had helped a lot.
Qiao Man pulled Wang Yuwei aside: “Sister Wei, your husband isn’t back, and it’s just you and Li Shuo. Let’s all go to Auntie Qi’s house for dinner. The adults can have hot pot, and I’ll stir-fry a few dishes for the four kids. They’re together every day after school; it would be sad to split them up now.”
Wang Yuwei thought about it and said readily, “Alright. My cooking is no good, but I can help with the hot pot. Let’s go buy some sliced meat. Don’t fight me this time—it’s my treat!”
The group laughed and chatted, but Qiao Man kept a close eye on An’an. When they finally separated from Wang Yuwei and her son for a moment, she knelt in front of An’an and asked, “Are you afraid Auntie will scold you?”
An’an shook her head, then nodded, her little mouth pouting before the tears began to fall. “Auntie… I was wrong.”
She still had that habit—apologizing first.
Qiao Man took out a tissue to wipe her tears, led her to a spot out of the wind, and smiled. “Tell me, what did you do wrong?”
An’an blinked. “I shouldn’t have argued with a classmate… making the teacher call you. I embarrassed you.”
Seeing the terror in An’an’s eyes, Qiao Man simply picked her up and let her lean against her shoulder, gently patting her back. “An’an, you did nothing wrong. You didn’t fight, you didn’t swear; you just had a contest with a classmate. What’s wrong with that? You were standing up for me; I couldn’t be more proud. But An’an, if someone picks on you again, come home and tell me. I’ll help you deal with them. You don’t have to carry it alone.”
An’an’s little brain was overloaded; she didn’t quite understand everything Qiao Man was saying, and Qiao Man was still talking about not using physical force.
Suddenly, they heard someone shouting: “Catch the thief! He stole my bag!”
Qiao Man saw a person wearing a black hat and a neck gaiter running fast toward the vegetable market. As he passed them, Qiao Man lashed out with a kick right to the back of the man’s knee.
The kick was fast and fierce. The masked man stumbled several steps and fell to one knee.
He ignored the pain and tried to get up quickly, but seeing Qiao Man holding a child and glaring at him, he was suddenly tackled from behind and pinned to the ground.
Dressed in casual clothes, Jiang Feng pressed his knee into the man’s back, twisted his arms, and secured them with zip ties.
He pulled the man up, intending to thank the helpful citizen, only to see a slender girl holding a child standing nearby.
Jiang Feng, who hadn’t slept for three days while on a business trip to catch a suspect, felt he really needed some rest. That girl couldn’t have been the one who kicked him… right?