On the day of the parent-teacher meeting, Qiao Man followed Wang Yuwei’s advice. She went to Wang’s house to put on makeup and dressed up beautifully before arriving.
The meeting was in the afternoon, and the school had dismissed the children early. Today, they had only one task: to lead their parents to their respective seats.
An’an and Li Shuo waited at the school gate for their parents. An’an’s little neck was stretched out long, while Li Shuo kept his head down, kicking small pebbles on the ground.
“An’an, we don’t have to wait here, do we? Little Aunt and my mom both know where our seats are.”
Indeed, he had been called to the teacher’s office so many times—dragging An’an along twice—that his mother not only knew where he sat but had even memorized the entire class seating chart.
“No, the teacher said we must lead our parents in and personally hand them the letters we wrote,” An’an said with a serious and earnest expression.
Li Shuo scratched his head. When he first met An’an, she was such a cute little girl who even cried because she was scared of a mouse. When did she become so “old-fashioned”?
An’an glanced at Li Shuo, who was practically digging a hole in the ground, and knew exactly what he was thinking. She comforted him: “It’s okay. You’ve been finishing your homework on time lately, and the teacher even gave you a little red flower in class last time. Sister Jingjing helped us review in advance, too. You’ll definitely do well on the final exam this time, and you won’t get beaten.”
Li Shuo still kept his head down, looking quite dejected. An’an suddenly realized what was going on: Auntie Wang and Uncle Li were away on business trips all year round. Li Shuo’s troublemaking was surely a way to attract their attention so they would care about him more.
An’an raised her gloved hand and patted Li Shuo’s shoulder. Just as she was about to say a few more words of comfort, Li Shuo looked up with a face full of sorrow: “Every time I get beaten by my parents, Little Aunt always makes some delicious little snacks to comfort me. Like those animal-themed red bean buns last time, and the sweet and sour pork the time before that, and the egg pine nuts and pulled silk candy before that… will I still get to eat them this time?”
An’an: “…”
She withdrew her comforting hand and began to count expressionlessly: “When I passed my midterm exams, Little Aunt made me Squirrel-shaped Mandarin Fish—the big dish we saw on TV, it was so delicious! Once, I swept the floor very clean and the teacher praised me to Little Aunt; when we got home that night, she made me Kung Pao Shrimp Balls, sour and sweet. Another time, my homework was clean and tidy, and Little Aunt made a whole table of delicious food, all my favorites—crispy Guo Bao Rou, sweet pulled-sugar apples, and blueberry yam that was ten thousand times better than the ones at the wedding banquet last time…”
Li Shuo covered An’an’s mouth: “Alright, alright, Master, stop chanting! I must get first place this time!”
He swallowed his saliva. Compared to those rewards, the little bit of “comfort” he received was simply not worth mentioning!
Li Shuo had lost count of how many times he had envied An’an for having an aunt like Qiao Man.
An’an disdainfully pushed away Li Shuo’s cold hand. Suddenly, her eyes lit up, and she waved into the distance. She waved twice, then stopped, pulling Li Shuo and asking, “Look, is that my Little Aunt?”
“Little Aunt put on makeup.” Li Shuo recognized his mother with just one glance. His mother was like a completely different person when she wore makeup; she had done the same at the last parent-teacher meeting.
An’an looked at the approaching Qiao Man, stunned into a daze, even forgetting to take her hand.
It was Qiao Man who reached out and rubbed her little head: “Why are you acting silly?”
“Little Aunt… Little Aunt, you’re so beautiful today!” An’an’s voice began to chirp. “You must be the most beautiful parent in our class!”
Qiao Man chuckled. Wang Yuwei teased An’an: “Oh? Between Auntie Wang and your Little Aunt, who is more beautiful? How did An’an’s little mouth get so sweet?”
An’an blushed after she spoke. Hearing Wang Yuwei’s teasing, she shyly held Qiao Man’s hand.
Qiao Man simply let An’an hold her hand and didn’t force her to answer.
Children at this age actually care about their “face.” She might not have been a mother, but she had been a child once.
In contrast, Li Shuo seemed much more thick-skinned. When Wang Yuwei asked him how her outfit looked, he looked her up and down, shaking his head disdainfully: “Your square face doesn’t suit having your hair down; the last hairstyle was better than this. And your face is so white—luckily it’s not summer, otherwise, your face and neck would be two different colors… Hey, don’t get angry!”
“You brat, what do you know! Why can’t you learn from An’an and make me happy for once!” Wang Yuwei stood with her hands on her hips. “By the way, did you get criticized again this time? Don’t tell me the teacher is going to ask me to stay behind alone again. Tell me now so I can be prepared.”
Li Shuo gave a fawning smile and said pleasingly, “Why don’t you ask about something else, something that will make you happy?”
“Ask what?”
“Like asking what we’re eating tonight, or asking if I want to eat the Manchu-Han Imperial Feast made by Little Aunt, or asking if I want to eat Squirrel Mandarin Fish…”
Qiao Man, being pulled by An’an, walked behind the mother and son, laughing until she doubled over.
Across from the school gate, a man selling fried skewers asked the woman selling toys beside him: “Is that her? So young?”
The woman curled her lip, gave the man a wary look, and then glared at Qiao Man’s back. “Truly a vixen. No wonder she’s so young and raising a child alone—she definitely isn’t a decent person.”
This woman was Zhou Fenglan. After her “defeat” by Qiao Man last time, she finally knew Qiao Man was not to be trifled with.
Fortunately, in the end, Dong Guiying wanted to keep the peace and sold the food truck to her at the original price.
Zhou Fenglan didn’t mention at home that she had almost been scared into wetting her pants by Qiao Man. Instead, she bragged about how she had thwarted the young wife, scaring her so much that she hurriedly handed over the food truck.
Since Zhou Fenglan couldn’t win in a direct confrontation, she said many bad things about Qiao Man to her husband behind her back. Whether her husband listened or not, she felt much better.
Zhou Fenglan’s husband, Liu Gang, stared at Qiao Man’s back: tall, with pretty features. Even wearing a down jacket in winter, one could see the curves of her figure. Although she had given birth, she was young. Moreover, he heard from Zhou Fenglan that this young wife had no real skills and a soft personality… Once they stole her business and she had nowhere left to turn, he would appear before her. By then, she would surely be moved to tears of gratitude and be willing to do anything!
Liu Gang was lost in his fantasies about Qiao Man’s back when he was snapped out of it by Zhou Fenglan: “Gangzi, what are you doing?”
He realized he hadn’t hidden his smile.
He wasn’t flustered; this old woman of his was easy to fool. He whispered, “I was thinking, this young wife is so young, how good can her skills be? Once we set up our bun stall, we’ll definitely snatch her customers away.”
Liu Gang expected Zhou Fenglan to agree with him as usual, but unexpectedly, she hesitated. “Actually… that day, I smelled the buns she steamed, and they were quite fragrant.”
These words didn’t make Liu Gang wary; instead, they made him look down on Qiao Man even more: “Young people nowadays are all stupid, saying that good ingredients naturally lead to good sales. Look at this street—how many young people thought like that, and in the end, their businesses failed. You use good ingredients, and your costs go up. I can crush her just by lowering my prices a bit.”
Zhou Fenglan thought this made sense and nodded.
Just then, a snack street manager wearing a red armband arrived, notifying the vendors one by one. Whether they had a stall or a shop, they had to send someone to the integrated office immediately for a meeting.
Liu Gang went and returned ten minutes later with a gloomy face.
Zhou Fenglan was curious. “What happened?”
The managers of this snack street were usually just figureheads, never seen except for when they collected fees at the beginning of each month, especially now that the weather was cold.
Liu Gang irritably lit a cigarette. Looking at Zhou Fenglan’s wrinkled, dark face made him even angrier. He wanted to curse but looked around and held back: “They’re making us tear down the decorations and price lists on the trucks and set up new ones.”
“Why! That cost us a lot of money!” Zhou Fenglan became anxious. “Did that young wife complain? They can manage heaven and earth, but can they manage what we do with our own truck? We haven’t broken the law!”
Liu Gang had a headache: “It wasn’t her. It was the community director. He said the end of the year is approaching, so there should be no trouble and an end to cutthroat competition. Two days ago on the new commercial street in the north of the city, because of cutthroat competition, a shop owner stabbed the one who was imitating him, and the person died on the spot. You know our community director is a coward. As soon as the police came to do publicity, he got scared of trouble and said there will be strict inspections starting tomorrow.
Tell them to hurry up on that end. I don’t know if it’s because it’s getting colder, but those little brats haven’t been coming for fried skewers lately. I’ve been reheating these things for several days, and they’re looking bad.”
He expected he would have to waste more breath on Zhou Fenglan, but unexpectedly, she went silent.
Liu Gang didn’t think much of it. He picked up a chicken cutlet that had fallen on the ground, blew on it, and threw it back into the deep fryer. Just as well, he didn’t feel like wasting words on her either.
Zhou Fenglan was truly terrified!
She remembered the piece of dough Qiao Man had thrown into her mouth that day and felt a searing pain on her tongue.
After a long while, she finally squeezed out a word of lingering fear: “Okay…”
This was Qiao Man’s first time attending An’an’s parent-teacher meeting, and she didn’t expect so many people to greet her.
“You must be Qiao Yanning’s Little Aunt, right? My kid came home crying and demanding that I make buns. I’m a total kitchen disaster, the mantou I steam are as hard as rocks. Luckily I know you have a stall, otherwise, I’d be helpless against my little ancestor.”
“Xiao Qiao, it’s really thanks to you. My kid sits right in front of An’an. Originally, nothing tasted good to him, and I was worried sick! Since eating your buns, his height has shot up.”
“Same here. My cooking isn’t good, so if my kid won’t eat, I have to take her to McDonald’s or KFC, but she can’t eat that every day. But as for outside restaurants, we all know they use either pre-prepared dishes or various additives and anti-diarrheal meds. How can we feel safe with people who keep fake accounts!”
“Yes, yes. Xiao Qiao, I’ve had your buns. They’re the real deal; you can tell they’re good just by tasting them. After eating, my stomach doesn’t feel uncomfortable, and I don’t feel thirsty. It’s quite pleasant.”
“And my daughter now looks forward to Qiao Yanning bringing buns every day. She doesn’t even want to eat the fried skewers at the school gate anymore. And don’t get me started—I saw that the oil for those skewers is black. Can that be good?”
At this point, Yang Zihan’s mother suddenly chimed in: “Are you talking about that couple’s fried skewer stall directly across from the school? The man sells skewers and the woman sells small toys?”
Everyone agreed it was them: “This summer, my kid ate their skewers once and his stomach hurt terribly, but he just couldn’t use the bathroom. But their stall smells quite fragrant, and kids are easily attracted by that scent; they simply don’t learn from their mistakes.”
“I smelled it when I walked past, their skewers are indeed fragrant. But I had their potato slices once, and they didn’t taste fragrant at all in my mouth. Do you think that’s good stuff?”
This was the first time Yang Zihan’s mother had heard this, and she quickly said, “Then I must tell my Zihan never to eat their fried skewers.”
Yang Zihan’s good friend Xu Yan’s father suddenly spoke up: “Um, you don’t need to worry too much. I heard from Xiao Yan when I was giving her pocket money that many students in their class are now just waiting for Li Shuo and Qiao Yanning to bring them buns. The arrangement is quite reasonable—two per person, one in the morning and one before school ends. Now they have no interest in other snacks; no one even eats spicy strips anymore.”
The class teacher, Ms. Xu, had been standing nearby listening for a while.
Originally, she came to find Qiao Man to talk about Qiao Yanning and Li Shuo’s “business” activities in school, mainly fearing it would cause dissatisfaction among other parents and that it would be a real headache if someone complained to her.
Having heard all this, she withdrew her prepared speech—better not to break this balance; it was better than the students ruining their stomachs.
Just then, Qiao Man saw Ms. Xu on the periphery of the crowd and said apologetically, “Ms. Xu, I’ve caused you trouble. If it makes things difficult for you, I…”
Ms. Xu hurriedly interrupted, as she couldn’t handle the gazes of the surrounding parents: “Well, the school hasn’t actually banned this behavior. If the other parents agree… how about this: I’ll go apply with the director and see if we can have you provide the meals uniformly. That would be more formal and save the two students from carrying buns every day; it must be tiring.”
Yang Zihan’s mother was the first to cheer: “As a member of the parent committee, I support this with both hands!”
Qiao Man didn’t expect that attending a parent-teacher meeting would land Auntie Xiong and the others another business deal. She had to quickly have them prepare the documents, especially including the fact that they deliver meals to two companies and the criminal investigation detachment to make it more persuasive.
This was also something Ms. Xu told her after learning about it.
Having reached an agreement and finished the pleasantries, Qiao Man was about to go out and find An’an when Ms. Xu called her aside alone.
“Ms. Xu, is there some problem with Qiao Yanning?”
Ms. Xu quickly waved her hands. “No, no. Qiao Yanning is excellent in all aspects. She might even be the discipline monitor next semester. It’s just that her Chinese is slightly weaker, but look at this.”
She took out a piece of paper. On it was written “My Mother,” An’an’s essay.
“The child wrote with true feeling. I just wanted to tell you that you’ve raised the child very well.” Ms. Xu smiled. “Let alone losing a mother, even children of divorced parents can easily become insecure and withdrawn. But Qiao Yanning is a serious and responsible child who gets along happily with her classmates. I was a bit worried at first, but after reading this essay, I have no concerns.
Qiao Yanning doesn’t wallow in self-pity. She misses her mother and remembers her mother’s kindness, but she is growing as strong and sturdy as a little pine tree…”
As Ms. Xu spoke, she actually began to cry.
Qiao Man was momentarily at a loss. She hurriedly pulled out a tissue and handed it to her: “Ms. Xu, thank you for your praise. I actually haven’t done much…”
Ms. Xu was a Chinese teacher and the class teacher; she had only graduated for a year and couldn’t quite control her emotions.
She took the tissue embarrassedly and said to Qiao Man, “Um, An’an’s Little Aunt, can I ask a favor of you?”
Qiao Man immediately became nervous. She heard that in this situation, teachers usually wanted parents to give a speech on stage, perhaps even to the whole school.
She didn’t want that!
Wouldn’t that be tearing open An’an’s scar in front of all the teachers and students?
The child was positive and sunny now, but that didn’t mean she didn’t care about the whole world knowing her mother had passed away, nor did it mean she could accept being pitied by everyone!
Just as Qiao Man was about to refuse, she heard Ms. Xu say very embarrassedly, “Well, when you talk to the logistics director, could you also suggest that you could provide buns for the teachers’ lunches as well…”
Although it was impossible for the school to eat buns every day, having some was better than none!
Qiao Man: ???
Qiao Man met up with An’an. An’an was still nervous and asked Qiao Man, “Little Aunt, what did the teacher say? All the other adults have left. Li Shuo and I have been waiting for a long time.”
Wang Yuwei had left first after the meeting; anyway, with her son and An’an there, they wouldn’t get lost.
Qiao Man rubbed her head: “The teacher praised An’an to me. She said An’an’s essay was written really well and said An’an is amazing—you were the only one in the class to get a hundred in math.”
An’an was used to being praised by Qiao Man now and didn’t blush as easily as she used to. She giggled and walked out with Qiao Man.
To the side, Li Shuo kept asking: “Little Aunt is so happy today, what are we eating? Are we eating Squirrel Mandarin Fish?”
Qiao Yanning smiled and said, “We’re having pickled cabbage and lamb hot pot today. What else do you want to eat? Place your orders!”
“Yay!”
Four “little wings” took flight as the two children cheered happily.
The copper pot was fueled by charcoal and boiled fiercely. A circle of pickled cabbage filled the inside. The lamb tail fat was sliced as thin as paper, white and smooth as jade, adding a rich savor to the clear pickled cabbage broth.
The mutton was frozen and then sliced thin, or fresh-cut lamb leg meat; it could be eaten as soon as it changed color in the pot.
The dipping sauce required “20-80 sauce” (a blend of sesame and peanut paste). The water-thinned sesame paste was pale white, mixed with seasonings, a piece of bright red fermented bean curd, and a spoonful of chopped chive flowers. Dip a mouthful of mutton and pickled cabbage into it—the mutton and cabbage would be coated in a thick layer of sesame sauce. It was indescribably delicious when stuffed into the mouth…
Even children who liked sweet and sour flavors couldn’t resist such temptation.
Once “Copper Pot Hot Pot” was mentioned, the four families gathered together again to join in the fun.
This time they all gathered at Qiao Man’s house, but Qiao Man didn’t have to do the work—
The two copper pots were brought over by Wang Yuwei, and she was responsible for starting the charcoal fire. Xiong Mei had sliced all the meat at her own home and had Cheng Xiangdong wash the vegetables before bringing them up together. Qi Dongmei’s family bought the drinks and was responsible for cleaning up.
As soon as Qiao Man tried to help, they made her rest. Qiao Man had worked hard today, not only attending An’an’s parent-teacher meeting but actually bringing back another order!
However, Qiao Man still couldn’t stay idle. She stewed a whole pot of pickled cabbage with pork ribs and fried a large basin of special chili oil. It was so fragrant that everyone kept clamoring to eat quickly!
Jiang Feng had just returned from a business trip today. Walking downstairs, he heard the noise of children on the fourth-floor balcony. Jiang Feng frowned and was stunned for a moment before realizing—how had he walked to his grandmother’s house?
He hadn’t eaten all day and had spent all night on a bus. Jiang Feng didn’t care about much else now; when he reached the fourth floor, he went home and fell asleep instantly.
However, perhaps because he was too exhausted, he tossed and turned and couldn’t sleep.
The soundproofing in these old houses wasn’t very good. Jiang Feng’s bedroom was separated from Unit 403 by a single wall. The children there were shouting and the women were laughing loudly; he was so angry he sat straight up.
Running a hand through his hair, Jiang Feng got up, put on his clothes, and knocked on the door of the neighboring Unit 403.
He knocked impatiently and loudly. Li Shuo was the first to hear it.
Qiao Man had no other relatives in this world besides An’an, and no one was looking for her. She wanted to get up and open the door: “Did we disturb the neighbor?”
Last time she came back, she asked An’an who the man knocking on the door was. An’an said the uncle was from next door and said he was disturbed by her chopping fillings.
The old couple from Unit 401 across the hall had gone south for the winter, and Unit 402 next door had always been empty; she didn’t expect someone to be there.
By the time she had gone to knock and apologize before, Unit 402 was empty again.
Maybe he was back.
Wang Yuwei almost choked on her saliva and asked Xiong Mei and Qi Dongmei: “Isn’t next door…”
Wasn’t that their Team Leader Jiang’s grandmother? She had passed away.
Qiao Man was sitting on the innermost side and it wasn’t convenient for her to move, so An’an ran over to open the door. When An’an saw the man’s face, she suddenly said, “Uncle, it’s you. Did we disturb you again? My house didn’t chop fillings today.”
Qiao Man quickly walked forward. Seeing the man’s exhausted face, disheveled hair, and unshaven beard, she guessed the general situation. “I’m sorry.”
“Team Leader Jiang… you’re back?” Behind Qiao Man, Wang Yuwei, Xiong Mei, and Qi Dongmei all appeared.
“Xiao Jiang, you came to live here?”
“That’s right, Xiao Jiang, why haven’t we seen you lately? Have you eaten?”
…
Jiang Feng had barely said a word before he was stuffed with a table full of food.
He sat on the sofa, a replay of yesterday’s ball game playing on the TV, still a bit dazed.
Originally, Xiong Mei and Qi Dongmei wanted to pull him in to eat hot pot together. Cheng Xiangdong and Zhao Jianguo also happily said they hadn’t seen Xiao Jiang in a long time. Wang Yuwei knew his temperament and held everyone back.
She hurriedly used a clean food container to scoop out a portion of pickled cabbage and pork ribs from the pot and filled a large sea bowl with rice for him. Once Xiong Mei knew he wouldn’t come in, she specifically found a clean pot to blanch some vegetables and meat for him, placing them in a stainless steel basin and thoughtfully providing a bowl of dipping sauce.
As these were shoved into his hands, he wanted to refuse, but then Qi Dongmei and Zhao Jianguo shoved a bottle of beer at him. He was also given a small bowl by that dark, thin kid, who said it was his family’s special chili oil…
These people left Jiang Feng with no sleepiness at all. He stared blankly at the dinner on the table. Although the containers weren’t fancy, the meal was incredibly lavish.
Actually, he was extremely tired and just wanted to sleep; he had no appetite at all.
But as soon as he sat down, he smelled the fragrance of the food. The combination of sour fragrance and fat stimulated his mouth to produce saliva constantly. That bowl of chili oil seemed to be freshly fried; the scent was different from the chili oil in outside shops.
Jiang Feng swallowed and couldn’t help but pick up a piece of pork rib—it was quite fragrant.
He tried some other things, and they were also delicious, but none were as good as these pickled cabbage ribs.
Since when did these old neighbors of his grandmother have such high culinary skills?
Jiang Feng had a large appetite. He had a high level of physical activity, going on missions and practicing physical fitness. He was even going to compete in the national competition in a few months; he could eat an ox every day.
Despite his scholarly looks, the muscles on his body were rock hard when he took off his clothes.
Jiang Feng finished all the food cleanly. He felt exceptionally satisfied today and slept more soundly.
The next day at noon, Jiang Feng was rarely eating at the bureau, but he saw several members of Team One heading out.
Jiang Feng asked Old Zhang what was going on. Instead of getting an answer, he was pulled away by Old Zhang.
As noon approached, the snack stalls outside the Jiang City Criminal Investigation Detachment increased again. Although not as crowded as in the morning, there was a good variety of types.
Without Old Zhang having to say anything, Jiang Feng immediately saw a brand-new food truck. It was covered in pink stickers, with only white text saying “Buns,” “Made and Eaten Fresh,” and so on. It didn’t even have a price list, but it looked very clean, the stainless steel reflecting light.
This food truck was completely different from the surrounding stalls with blackened bodies and red-and-yellow signs… it was far too obvious.
Jiang Feng frowned, unsure whether to scold them for being inexperienced or to ask them what case they were working on.
Sure enough, his colleagues all ran to that food truck, buying lunch in a professional manner. Even Old Zhang led him over there.
Jiang Feng asked, “Old Zhang, has your technique regressed? Didn’t you train the new colleagues?”
From a distance, although he couldn’t see the face of the female colleague in the food truck clearly, he knew from her silhouette that there was no such person in their team. He figured it was another university student here for an internship.
Old Zhang chuckled: “This isn’t an undercover. Come on, Team Leader Jiang, let me introduce you to our Team One’s new canteen.”