Today, their police force’s “new canteen” released new products—Fresh Meat Potstickers and Old-Style Chicken Pan-Fried Buns (Shengjian Mantou).
What Qiao Ya had taught her was the old-fashioned Shanghai style: the pleats were on top, the skin was thin but the filling was substantial, and the bottom was golden and crispy.
Since coming to this world, Qiao Man had seen modern-style pan-fried buns on the internet where the pleats were at the bottom, the skin was thicker to hold more juice, and the base was much heavier.
After comparing the two, Qiao Man still felt that the old-style version suited the palates of Jiang City people better.
As before, she used water-frying to ensure the office workers wouldn’t find them too greasy.
There was originally a circular opening in the middle of the food truck intended for griddles or frying pans; Qiao Man hadn’t used it and had kept it covered, but now it came in perfectly handy.
Old Zhang pulled Jiang Feng along, trying to squeeze through the crowd, but Jiang Feng held him back. “Old comrade, you can’t cut the line. Can’t you see everyone else is queuing at the back?”
“Xiao Feng, you don’t understand how things work here!”
Old Zhang was so anxious he didn’t even call him “Team Leader Jiang.” He had pre-ordered, and he had to eat them while they were hot!
Before Old Zhang could shout, Qiao Man spotted him first. She smiled and said an apologetic word to the customers at the front of the line, “This part is a pre-order.”
She began packing the pan-fried buns for Old Zhang.
The people behind grew anxious. This batch was more than half gone due to pre-orders. “Boss, how can we pre-order? Is there a group?”
“Yeah, yeah, you should’ve said so earlier. I thought we just had to stand here and wait.”
“Boss, what’s your group number? Where’s the QR code? I want to join.”
…
There was no helping it; pan-fried buns weren’t like steamed buns that could be stacked ten-high. Qiao Man only had one pan for the Shengjian, and she had to constantly rotate it while cooking to ensure they didn’t burn and cooked evenly.
The pan wasn’t large and she only had one stove, so the quantity was naturally much lower than the steamed buns, and the price was a bit higher.
Qiao Man apologized to the people behind again. “I don’t have a group yet; I’m a bit too busy on my own. Uncle Zhang is an acquaintance, so he added me on WeChat to pre-order.”
Consequently, people began clamoring to add Qiao Man on WeChat.
Among them, a few young men from Team Two were shouting the loudest; Old Zhang knew all of them.
Old Zhang stepped forward, making a gesture as if to kick one of the young men’s butts. “You brat, don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking. You just see how pretty Xiao Qiao is and want an excuse to get her contact info.”
The young man whose thoughts were exposed blushed, while the others continued to grin cheekily.
However, the moment they saw Jiang Feng behind Old Zhang, they immediately straightened up. They wiped the smiles off their faces and greeted him solemnly, “Team Leader Jiang.”
Jiang Feng was used to this. He didn’t know why they were so afraid of him; they could even crack jokes with Team Leader Yan, but when they saw him, they acted as if they’d seen the God of Death himself.
At this time, most of the people queuing were officers from the Criminal Investigation Detachment across the street. Once they saw Jiang Feng, the noisy crowd went silent, and even the line became perfectly orderly.
Old Zhang and Jiang Feng stepped forward to take their team’s pan-fried buns and steamed buns. Just as Old Zhang took the bag and moved aside, Jiang Feng finally saw the face of the owner, Xiao Qiao, inside the food truck.
“It’s you?”
It was truly unexpected, and Jiang Feng couldn’t help but blurting it out.
Qiao Man looked at the man in front of her. She thought for a moment before remembering—this was the neighbor who knocked on her door last night, the policeman who complained her house was too noisy, and Wang Yuwei’s boss.
She gave him a polite smile. Jiang Feng didn’t say anything more. He nodded and asked Old Zhang where to pay.
Old Zhang said he had already paid, then looked at the two of them suspiciously. “You two know each other?”
Qiao Man was about to explain they were neighbors, but Jiang Feng suddenly gave a light cough, looking slightly awkward, and pulled Old Zhang away in a hurry.
Qiao Man didn’t think much of it and turned to the young man who had shouted loudest earlier. “Do you still want to add me on WeChat?”
Once she opened a shop, she would have time to figure out how to manage a customer group. Qiao Man realized the differences of this world; for the sake of business, these were necessary things to learn, and customers needed to be maintained.
When Jiang Feng returned to the office, Old Zhang pulled up a chair and sat opposite him. “What’s going on? Is there something ‘happening’?”
Jiang Feng was stuffing a pan-fried bun into his mouth. The skin was white as jade, topped with green scallions, the bottom was golden-brown, and the pleats were symmetrical—he counted exactly fifteen pleats.
One bite in, the top was soft, the bottom was crispy and fragrant, and the broth was rich and savory. It was the exact taste he remembered from when he went to Shanghai with his parents as a child.
These pan-fried buns and last night’s pickled cabbage pork ribs were completely different styles.
Jiang Feng picked up a large “Three Fresh Vegetarian” bun. Just as he was about to take a bite, he heard Old Zhang’s “interrogation.”
He lifted his eyelids, and Old Zhang quickly pointed to his watch. “It’s break time. No ranks here, just a senior’s concern.”
He spoke plausibly, and Jiang Feng wasn’t an ungrateful person. “Neighbor.”
“She isn’t…” Old Zhang suddenly realized. “Right, right, you recently moved into the old lady’s place. I forgot about that.”
Old Zhang gestured with a pan-fried bun. “See that? This method of cooking is hard to find even in the South nowadays, let alone in Jiang City! Back when I was young…”
While Old Zhang was talking, Jiang Feng took a bite of the bun, suddenly paused, then took another bun out of the bag to observe it carefully.
“What is it? A problem?” Having known Jiang Feng for so long, Old Zhang knew something was up by his expression.
Jiang Feng chewed a few more times and asked Old Zhang, “Has the owner of the bun stall just recently arrived in Jiang City? Which day specifically?”
Old Zhang spread his hands. “I knew you’d be suspicious. I’ve already looked into her, and I had Xiao Wang test her out. There’s no problem.
She was originally from Jiang City, and everything checks out. She’s young, and it’s not easy raising a child alone. She doesn’t have a diploma—just a high school graduate—so she can only make a living by running a stall to support her kid. It’s quite pitiful. Look at how thin that child is; even the monkeys in the zoo are plumper than her! It’s lucky she has neighbors to help. Xiao Qiao has great skills, so her life is going well.”
Old Zhang continued to sigh about how hard it was for a single woman with a child. “In any case, the person is definitely fine. As for your suspicion, it’s nothing; after all, she’s a helpful citizen, not a suspect. Besides, being a chef means swinging a heavy wok; you need strength and finesse. It’s nothing unusual if she’s a bit strong.”
Jiang Feng remembered the time he was chasing a thief. He saw the thief get flipped over by someone; that woman’s moves didn’t look like a random occurrence, but rather like someone with practical combat experience.
Old Zhang told him not to worry. “Xiao Qiao is smart and kind-hearted. She looks like someone who just wants to live a good life. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have asked me for help…”
Realizing he had let something slip, he proceeded to tell Jiang Feng about what happened a few days ago under Jiang Feng’s steady gaze.
A few days ago, Qiao Man released a new product. He and Xiao Li arrived early in the morning, carrying the fresh-out-of-the-pan Shengjian and eating them while walking through the snack street.
When they reached the entrance of Xingfu Primary School, they encountered the manager wearing a red armband, who was talking to the couple running the stall.
Xiao Li had sharp ears and caught the gist of it.
Initially, they didn’t think much of it. As they passed the couple, Old Zhang looked back at the woman and suddenly stopped Xiao Li. “Just now, did the manager say this couple is changing their business to sell buns too?”
Xiao Li blinked and nodded. “Yes, and the manager said their food truck looks just like everyone else’s. He suggested they change it so they don’t end up fighting and taking it to the office.”
This kind of cutthroat competition was far too common, especially in snack streets. Not only street vendors did this, but small shops too. If your shop became popular, within days, an identical shop would pop up next door, even copying the storefront sign.
Old Zhang looked at the woman again and seemed to understand something. He asked Xiao Li, “Does that woman look familiar to you?”
Xiao Li was confused at first, but after looking closely, she remembered. “Isn’t that the one who caused trouble at Xiao Qiao’s stall that noon—”
Old Zhang gave a little chuckle and interrupted her. “Free buns don’t taste good… Come on, let’s get to the school presentation. We have to speak at the community center this afternoon, don’t we?”
Xiao Li was displeased. “I paid you for the pan-fried buns, and now you’re saying they don’t taste good? If you don’t like them, give them to me!”
Qiao Man had indeed wanted to give Old Zhang and the others a taste for free; a few pan-fried buns weren’t worth much. However, Old Zhang was strictly disciplined and insisted on paying.
Actually, Old Zhang had overthought it. Qiao Man never intended to use his status as a policeman for anything. She knew the police in this world were different from those in the apocalypse. Even though Wang Yuwei was a good neighbor and Old Zhang and Xiao Li were friendly when they met, she didn’t pin her hopes on the police.
Qiao Man cast a wide net. She even gave free samples to the teachers who were running late in the morning and took shortcuts through the snack street to school.
It wasn’t much—two pan-fried buns per person, one old-style Shengjian and one water-fried bun—and she asked them for feedback.
She was going to take over a shop after the New Year anyway, so she wasn’t afraid of them copying her. Qiao Man did this specifically to create a sense of contrast for everyone.
After all, no matter how good her business was, the customer base at the primary school was different from the one here. They might choose Zhou Fenglan’s buns out of a desire for low prices or convenience.
That didn’t matter; she couldn’t control customers’ choices. What she feared was Zhou Fenglan selling buns under her reputation using poor-quality ingredients to ruin her brand. That, she would not tolerate.
She did her best to open up the customer base there, letting them taste her buns first. When the time came, the contrast in quality would naturally let them know that Zhou Fenglan and she were not the same. After all, the difference in skill was too vast.
Not only that, Qiao Man went to the manager’s office and shed tears in front of the manager, saying it wasn’t easy raising a child alone and that if her livelihood was cut off, she would definitely come to the market office to cause a scene.
The manager had photos of the new food truck data submitted by Zhou Fenglan and Liu Gang on his desk. He consoled her guiltily for a long time while cursing Liu Gang in his heart: He usually turned a blind eye if things were ‘close enough,’ but this couple had made their truck identical to Qiao Man’s and were being so high-profile about it—how else would Qiao Man have found out?!
What gave the manager more of a headache was that a few days later, the community director also came by, specifically emphasizing the recent case in the north of the city and telling them to strengthen management.
With the New Year approaching, they had to work overtime anyway. The managers, feeling miserable, gave Liu Gang another scolding.
Qiao Man still didn’t know that Old Zhang had been “clever to a fault” and overguessed. When he went to the community for the presentation that afternoon, he mentioned it to the community director. He knew the director was most afraid of trouble, especially at the end of the year, so he would definitely tighten management.
To be fair, the old-style Southern pan-fried buns tasted pretty good. Old Zhang almost finished Xiao Li’s portion too and hurriedly asked Qiao Man on WeChat if he could pre-order.
On the day Old Zhang pre-ordered the Shengjian, Zhou Fenglan and Liu Gang had already arrived with their food truck to sell buns and porridge.
While their bun truck was a similar model to Qiao Man’s, the packaging colors and banner content were completely different. Only the porridge truck remained unchanged.
As long as they weren’t using her name to scam people, Qiao Man didn’t care and continued her own business.
In early December, the sky was gloomy. Without sunlight, the weather in Jiang City could freeze a person to the core.
At three or four in the afternoon, Zhou Fenglan stood at the door of the food truck, tightening her heavy cotton knee pads. Her thick cotton mask was already damp from her breath. she pressed her frozen hands against the side of the porridge vat to get some relief.
Her truck was a standard heated food truck, meaning she had to stand outside. Right next to her, Liu Gang sat leisurely inside the fully enclosed truck, holding a cigarette and looking at his phone.
The bun truck wasn’t as warm as home, but it had a water tank and a stove, and it was fully enclosed. Liu Gang had even put a small heater in the truck; it was incredibly comfortable.
The man selling roasted sweet potatoes nearby also couldn’t take the cold and was preparing to push his cart home. He glanced at the stiff, frozen Zhou Fenglan and sighed, “Big Sister, I didn’t think you could really endure this. Let me say first, I’m not trying to stir up trouble, but your man is quite warm in there while his wife is out here freezing. If it were me, I wouldn’t have the heart.”
Zhou Fenglan’s face was frozen stiff; she couldn’t even manage a smile. she only squeezed out a voice saying, “He told me to go in, but I’m afraid we’ll miss customers.”
“Oh, what’s there to fear? Your truck has windows. If someone comes, you can just hop down. Don’t freeze yourself. I’m off; it’s too cold today.”
Looking at the back of the sweet potato man, Zhou Fenglan felt increasingly uneasy.
She had endured the cold like this before, but back then, she and Liu Gang froze together. They would chat to pass the time. Now Liu Gang was enjoying himself in the truck while she froze outside; she was already unhappy. Having it pointed out by someone else made her even more disgruntled.
Actually, she had wanted to go in and warm up earlier, but Liu Gang said he was afraid people would see no one and leave, so he told her to hold on.
The more Zhou Fenglan thought about it, the angrier she got. She left the porridge cart and knocked on the door of the neighboring truck.
She knocked several times before Liu Gang finally opened the door. Seeing it was her, Liu Gang put his phone in his pocket, held his cigarette, and asked impatiently, “What now?”
This time, Zhou Fenglan didn’t even ask; she squeezed past him into the truck and plopped down on a stool—it was much warmer inside than out!
Without looking up, she asked Liu Gang in a harsh tone, “What were you doing in here? Were you looking at women on your phone again?”
Liu Gang paused, hid his look of disgust, swallowed his curses, and instead gave a long sigh. “I told you I’d stand outside and you should come in where it’s warm.”
His tone softened, and Zhou Fenglan’s anger cooled. Seeing him actually about to get out, she quickly stopped him. “You’re wearing so little; you’ll freeze to death out there!”
At this moment, Zhou Fenglan actually felt a bit guilty and hurriedly changed the subject. “Old Liu, we haven’t earned much more these past few days than we used to, and the costs are much higher than selling fried skewers. All our savings went into the truck and ingredients. At this rate, when will we make our capital back?”
Liu Gang patted her shoulder to comfort her. “You asked what I was doing just now? I was thinking of a way. Look at this.”
He took out his phone, quickly exited some apps, and found a photo. “Wife, look at this. This stuff—you just put a tiny bit the size of a fingernail into a basin of meat filling and it makes the buns smell incredibly fragrant. Tomorrow we won’t buy meat from the wet market. I found a shop that specifically sells things like chicken bones and fish bones processed into meat paste from scraps. Add a bit of this, and the smell will be to die for!”
Zhou Fenglan looked at the words “Fragrance Enhancing Paste,” her heart pounding. “Is this okay? It won’t make people sick, will it?”
Liu Gang said indifferently, “At most, they’ll get diarrhea. Just like before, we’ll just add some anti-diarrheal medicine. From now on, we’ll only sell Fresh Meat Xiaolongbao—no other fillings. We’ll sell it as our signature. The price will be one yuan lower than that young wife’s. Buy one order and get one free; business is guaranteed to take off.”
Zhou Fenglan gritted her teeth and agreed.
Within two days, Liu Gang and Zhou Fenglan’s business indeed improved significantly. Most of their customers were students and teachers passing by. The middle and high school students living nearby also passed this way to and from school, which was closer for them.
Ever since they started using the fragrance paste, Liu Gang opened the food truck windows to their widest during the students’ peak hours and turned the stove fire to its highest, letting the steam from the buns drift out aggressively. The scent of his buns could reach two miles; passing students couldn’t help but salivate with cravings.
The children were in their adolescence and had huge appetites. Regardless of gender, one person could eat two or three orders of buns in the morning.
For the first few days, Liu Gang also gave a free cup of soy milk with every order of buns, so his sales volume shot up instantly. After the nearby students tried them, they felt they were indeed very fragrant. Even if their stomachs occasionally twisted in pain, they didn’t feel like using the bathroom. Since they ate many different things every day, no one thought much of it.
Soon, at least among the circle of nearby students, Liu Gang’s buns became famous: they were large, fragrant, and not too cheap—presumably good quality.
None of this really affected Qiao Man. Students went to school even earlier than office workers, and at that time, Qiao Man hadn’t even set up her stall. They weren’t her customer base anyway.
However, some parents bought Qiao Man’s buns as a late-night snack for their children. Qiao Man’s buns were fragrant and made with proper ingredients; after the children had eaten the good stuff, one taste of Liu Gang’s buns felt wrong.
As business improved and he earned a lot of money, Liu Gang became incredibly arrogant. His attitude toward Zhou Fenglan wasn’t as good as before. When caught by Zhou Fenglan watching videos of beautiful women dancing in the truck, he didn’t even feel guilty, saying he was under a lot of pressure and too tired lately.
The two started arguing in the truck. It was noon now, and the students were all eating lunch at school and not coming home. There was almost no one on the street, let alone anyone buying buns.
Liu Gang closed the truck window and, regardless of being outside, vented all his grievances of the past years on Zhou Fenglan. This made the sweet potato man nearby very happy—he had originally wanted these two to squeeze out that young bun girl, and now look, who would’ve thought these two would take the opportunity, causing his brother to scold him.
As he was enjoying the scene, a thin, dark woman wearing a military coat walked up to the food truck, looked at the price list on the body, and smiled.
Jin Laidi was on her last day of work today. The weather was too cold, and the construction site had stopped work. The boss paid them their wages and let them go on holiday.
Having received the money, Jin Laidi remembered the buns she had sent to her daughter that day. Her youngest daughter had fed her one—it was so fragrant! It was the most delicious bun Jin Laidi had ever eaten in her life. The bun the neighbor back home treated her to had been demoted to second place.
Jiao Jiao loved those buns too. Recently, both she and her daughter had been busy, but today she was finally free and wanted to go see her. After not seeing her for so long, Jin Laidi wanted to buy her daughter her favorite buns. She didn’t expect that after being away for so long, the owner had released so many new types of buns.
She bought her daughter five pan-fried chicken buns and two orders of fresh meat Xiaolongbao, then walked further into the snack street—she hadn’t eaten today yet.
The weather was decent today, and many shops were open, but Jin Laidi didn’t plan on going into any of them. Either they were too expensive or they wouldn’t fill her up. Finally reaching the other end of the snack street, Jin Laidi immediately saw this bun truck.
She stepped forward to look—it was actually a yuan cheaper than Xiao Qiao’s, had a bit more food, and even came with free porridge! Jin Laidi felt her luck was truly good today. She would give her daughter the buns bought from Xiao Qiao for her to share with her classmates, and she could eat the buns from here herself! Anyway, she had already tasted the good ones; as long as she could fill her stomach, it was fine.
Jin Laidi knocked on the window. The truck window was pulled open with a “shush,” and the woman inside asked irritably, “What?”
Jin Laidi instinctively shrank her neck. “Buy… Boss, I want to buy buns.”
Liu Gang glanced at the woman outside, grabbed a bag, picked up an order of buns, and handed them to Jin Laidi.
Jin Laidi took the first bite and felt the taste was wrong.
When she ran away from home, she didn’t have a penny. She had saved some money from working before taking the train to Jiang City. The restaurant she used to work at sold box lunches; later, when business was failing, the boss started selling casserole rice noodles and began adding certain things to the pot. The smell was aggressively fragrant but would linger on clothes and hair for a long time. Later, she went to work at some casserole chicken and hot pot restaurants, and those that used this fragrance paste all had the same aggressive scent.
Now, these buns had that same long-lost smell. Jin Laidi hadn’t eaten much good food, but her nose and tongue were sharp, and she immediately noticed something was wrong. She didn’t want to cause trouble, but this order of buns had cost her 14 yuan.
Jin Laidi hesitated for a long time but couldn’t help asking, “Boss, these buns… the filling doesn’t seem right. Can I have a refund?”
This set Zhou Fenglan off. She was already fuming at Liu Gang, and now someone was looking for trouble wanting a refund! She vented all her anger on Jin Laidi. “If you’re a pauper, don’t buy buns—just gnaw on mantou at home! You’re asking for a refund on a fifteen-yuan order? There’s no one as bullying as you! And slandering my bun filling? Go ahead and report me then. If you want to rob me, just say so!”
Jin Laidi was stunned by the barrage of words and retreated timidly. “I… I won’t ask for a refund.”
But Zhou Fenglan was relentless, saying all sorts of nasty things. Jin Laidi’s face turned pale with fear, and tears began to fall.
As the teardrops hit the ground, Jin Laidi saw someone appear in front of her.
Her youngest daughter, Hu Jiao, stood in front of her and said coldly to the woman in the food truck, “Fine. Since you have that request, we’ll send the buns to a testing agency first. If there’s nothing wrong with the buns, I’ll apologize to you on behalf of my mother. If there is a problem, then wait for me to report you. Also, your insulting my mother is a separate matter. I will not only report you but also reserve the right to pursue you for insult and defamation!”
Having said that, she asked the girl beside her, “Chengzi, did you record it all?”
“Recorded. Everything, including the insults she just hurled at Auntie, is recorded!”
Zhou Fenglan wasn’t afraid of a woman like Jin Laidi who clearly looked honest and timid, but when she met a tough nut like Hu Jiao—even if she was just a university student—she was terrified. Liu Gang saw this and hurried to apologize, offering a refund and wanting the buns back, but it wouldn’t be that easy.
Hu Jiao left with her mother and the buns. Zhou Fenglan cried as Liu Gang scolded her. “What should we do? Will she really go for testing?”
Liu Gang’s face was dark. “A little slip of a girl probably won’t dare.”
In a fast food restaurant, Jin Laidi’s eyes were still red. She pushed the Shengjian and Xiaolongbao bought from Qiao Man toward her daughter and her roommate. “Eat more if you like them. I’ll take you to Xiao Qiao’s place to buy more in a bit. Her buns are real and delicious. That place just now really isn’t edible—it’s got fragrance paste in it.”
Hu Jiao had also heard her mother talk about these things and asked, “Mom, are you sure those things were in there?”
Jin Laidi nodded earnestly. “Mom’s tongue is sharp, you know that. Not only were those things in there, but the meat wasn’t good meat either.”
Who would use fragrance paste with good meat!
Hu Jiao nodded and asked Chengzi, “Tomorrow I’ll send these buns for testing. It’ll take a few days to get the report. Chengzi, is there a problem on your end?”
“Don’t worry. I’m familiar with a few marketing accounts; I’ll just ask them to help repost.” Chengzi was proud. “I’m not a food blogger for nothing.”
Jin Laidi was confused. “Youngest daughter, what are you two doing?”
Xiao Jia and Fang Fang looked up from their buns. “Who let them bully Mom! Bullying Mom is bullying us!”
Chengzi nodded vigorously and stuffed another pan-fried bun into her mouth, sighing, “I haven’t had such an authentic taste of home in so long. Auntie, take me to this place; I want to make a recommendation video at the same time.”