At 6:30 AM, Grandma Qi from 503 opened her kitchen window and took a deep sniff, but she couldn’t tell what was being cooked downstairs today.
Grandma Qi’s husband returned carrying freshly bought fried dough sticks and soy milk. Seeing his wife standing by the window with her arms crossed, undeterred by the cold, he knew exactly what she was doing.
He quietly organized the bowls and chopsticks and said to his wife, “I heard while buying breakfast this morning that there was a child abduction case in the south of the city. The person got away and hasn’t been caught yet. With the kids going to and from school lately, we should keep a closer eye on things.”
He received no response. Seeing Grandma Qi still standing by the window, he raised his voice: “Did you hear what I said?”
“Yes. It should be pork and cabbage buns.” After saying that, she noticed her husband let out a hiss of breath and immediately added, “I know, I know, don’t worry. I’ll mention it to the neighbors later, and don’t you forget to remind the others when you’re playing chess.”
Her husband then nodded, leaned over, took a bite of a fried dough stick, and asked, “Something that smells this good so early in the morning? It’s the first time I’ve seen a young person get up this early.”
Grandma Qi tore off half a stick from her husband’s hand. “Isn’t it? If Xiao Qiao could open a shop, I’d definitely have to go try it.”
After speaking, the two looked at each other: !!!
Unlike the Qi family, Xiong Mei finally saw Qiao Man arrive at 6:30.
Qiao Man came carrying a stack of steamer tiers, greeting the elderly couple unhurriedly and even moving to change into slippers. Xiong Mei was so anxious she almost reached out to take the steamers.
“It’s fine, I can handle it. Let’s not pass it back and forth; I’m afraid if we don’t handle it right, they might fall out.”
Xiong Mei was already anxious. Hearing this made her even more worried yet she didn’t dare touch them, so she could only nag: “The breakfast sellers usually have their stalls out by six. Any later and you’ll be selling lunch instead.”
Qiao Man’s hands were methodical as she explained: “Breakfast before eight is for construction workers heading to work and some elderly people who can’t sleep. That breakfast has to be cheap and practical, or served in large quantities to be filling.
If workers eat my buns, one person would need five or six to last until noon, and they’d still need a bowl of porridge from a shop. That adds up to thirty yuan; they won’t buy them. If I go too early, I won’t sell much, and the buns will eventually get cold.
Besides, there are many breakfast stalls at the intersection at that time—some cook to order, and some food carts have heating functions to spread the aroma further. I wouldn’t be able to outsell them.”
Xiong Mei was somewhat convinced, but still felt something was off. How could making breakfast not be hard work? “Then who are you going to sell to after eight?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely be there before eight. I’ve observed for a few days; by eight o’clock, those food carts have mostly sold out and packed up, but the flow of customers hasn’t decreased—there are parents sending kids to school, people rushing to work… After all, it’s getting cold, and young people like to sleep in. When they’re in a rush for school or work and can’t find breakfast, they have to go hungry all morning. If there are hot buns available at that time, they’re worth it even at four yuan each. After all, time and taste are more important to them.”
This time, Xiong Mei was completely convinced, though she gasped at the price of the buns: “Four yuan for one meat bun?!”
Could they really be sold? Buns in the breakfast shops around here, even those with pure meat filling, were only around three yuan.
Cheng Xiangdong, standing nearby, nodded in agreement: “Xiao Qiao is right. Look at those young girls and boys buying cold sandwiches from the convenience store in the morning for over ten yuan, and who knows when they were made. Who wouldn’t want to buy a hot bun? People aren’t stupid.”
Steam rose, and the white mist carried the fragrance to every corner of the kitchen. Cheng Xiangdong felt a bit distracted by the smell of the buns. Ignoring his wife’s glare and thinking about yesterday’s “Lychee” fish balls, he smacked his lips. “Xiao Qiao, thank you for the fish balls yesterday. The taste of those fish balls you made was really excellent. My buying—catching—those fish wasn’t in vain… Haha, what kind of filling did you make for these buns?”
“Pork with cabbage and ‘Vegetarian Three Fresh’.” Qiao Man had long ago realized the snakehead had actually been bought, but she didn’t expose it, changing the subject to explain to them, “I was thinking they have to go to work and school, so these don’t have any strange odors.”
“Isn’t Vegetarian Three Fresh a hassle? Why not make eggplant or tofu filling?” Xiong Mei asked.
Qiao Man spread her hands: “Auntie Xiong, cabbage and carrots are cheap!”
…
Both households’ stoves were on at the same time; Qiao Man’s timing was calculated perfectly.
At 7:30, as she was preparing to leave pulling her small cart, An’an had already woken up, dressed, and was waiting for her at the door.
An’an’s large eyes were red. She said timidly to Qiao Man, “Auntie, I want to go with you too. I promise not to run around, I’ll be good! I can even help Auntie carry things!”
Seeing the little girl so anxious to prove herself, Qiao Man stroked her head and said, “Go put on that down jacket and bring a scarf. Don’t worry, Auntie will wait for you.”
An’an’s eyes widened. She nodded vigorously with joy and ran quickly back to her room. She wasn’t officially transferring to Happiness Primary School until next month, and these days she didn’t want to leave her aunt’s side for a single step.
Qiao Man pulled the small cart and led An’an away, warmly greeting the neighbors she had met yesterday along the way.
The Cheng couple stood at their living room window looking down, looking full of worry as if they were sending their own child to school or work for the first time.
Seeing An’an wrapped up like a ball, Xiong Mei frowned. “It’s so cold this morning; why did she take the child along?”
Cheng Xiangdong tucked his hands into his sleeves. “The child is still young, and she’s raising her alone; it’s safer to keep her by her side. How about we pick the little one up tomorrow?”
Xiong Mei glared at him. Cheng Xiangdong was always blindly enthusiastic. People’s hearts are unpredictable; watching a child isn’t like a partnership with black and white contracts. If something happened to the child, who would be responsible?
Cheng Xiangdong didn’t take it to heart, staring at Qiao Man’s small cart and thinking about the taste: “What do you think those buns taste like?”
“You’ve never eaten a pork and cabbage bun before?”
“That’s different. After tasting Xiao Qiao’s skills yesterday, I feel like I can’t look at these foods with my old perspective anymore.”
“…” He was getting old, yet his talk was still so full of flowery words.
Seeing Xiong Mei ignore him and go to put on her shoes instead, Cheng Xiangdong asked, “Where are you going? Didn’t Xiao Qiao say she didn’t want you following?”
“Don’t you want to taste what they’re like?” Xiong Mei shouted back at him, “Let’s go, we’re buying buns.”
Qiao Man had already scouted a good location—right opposite the Municipal Criminal Police Squad, at the left turn of the entrance to the snack street. People passing from this side would see her stall first.
By the time she arrived, there weren’t many stalls left. Nearby, there was only a porridge cart and a vendor selling roasted biscuits with pork tenderloin.
When Qiao Man set out her sign, the woman selling porridge saw An’an helping to carry things and asked An’an with a smile and a soft voice, “Your daughter is so sensible; how old is she?”
“Six.” She still didn’t dare speak to strangers; after answering, she hid behind Qiao Man, her small hand clutching Qiao Man’s pants.
The older sister saw that Qiao Man was beautiful and young. Bringing a child out so early to sell buns meant she probably had no other choice, so she immediately felt pity. She poured a cup of milk oatmeal porridge and walked over to hand it to Qiao Man: “Give this to the child to warm her hands; it’s for her!”
Anyway, the peak period had passed, and there wouldn’t be many customers left. The remaining porridge would either be eaten by her or thrown away.
Qiao Man couldn’t refuse, so she took a bun and gave it to the sister in return.
The two became familiar through this exchange. The sister said, “You’ve come late. Tomorrow you should come at 6:30 at the latest; there are many people then. There’s really no one now.”
Since there were no customers, the sister wasn’t in a hurry and left her stall aside to chat with Qiao Man.
“Sigh, business has been really bad these past few days. I have quite a bit left over again today. If I go back, I’ll either have to throw it away or eat it myself. My kids and parents at home are tired of drinking porridge.”
Qiao Man didn’t know how to comfort her. At that moment, a girl happened to stand in front of Qiao Man’s stall, rubbing her hands and asking, “Are there any buns left?”
Huang Ling had woken up late again today. She had set five alarms, but still ended up waking up right on the verge of being late.
It couldn’t be helped; it was too cold in the morning and the heating at home hadn’t come on yet—she just couldn’t get up!
Sure enough, by the time she reached the entrance of the snack street, there was only one porridge vendor, one vendor selling biscuits with tenderloin, and a new face selling buns. The biscuits at the tenderloin stall were too unpalatable, and she didn’t want to fill up on liquid on such a cold day. After hesitating for a long time, she stopped in front of the bun stall.
“Yes, the buns are fresh out of the steamer and still hot. What would you like?” Qiao Man was very enthusiastic toward customers.
“What’s the filling in the Vegetarian Three Fresh?” Huang Ling asked casually. Hearing that it contained carrots, she curled her lip; she didn’t like carrots, but she thought the meat filling might have a strong smell…
Qiao Man saw through her hesitation and said, “Don’t worry, I bought the pork shoulder from the market early this morning, not from some sketchy place. With good meat, there’s no need to use heavy seasonings to mask the smell. I also added cabbage to cut through the grease; it won’t smell bad.”
“Alright then, I’ll take two pork and cabbage ones.” Although Huang Ling didn’t quite believe it, she still ordered two buns.
As Qiao Man packed the buns, she instructed An’an to hand the payment code to the sister, and didn’t forget to ask with a smile, “That lady over there has soy milk—she ground the beans herself this morning. It goes perfectly with the buns; would you like a cup?”
When Qiao Man opened the lid of the insulated box, the fragrance and heat of the buns caused Huang Ling’s glasses to fog up, and it also brought the frozen appetite in Huang Ling’s stomach back to life.
“I’ll have a cup then.”
Qiao Man gave the sister a meaningful look, and the sister was instantly excited: “Sure thing, girl! Wait a moment and I’ll bring it over to you!”
Huang Ling sat at her workstation humming a song today.
Her colleagues looked at her with curiosity: “Such a good mood first thing in the morning? Did you find some money?”
Huang Ling placed the buns on the desk: “No, when I was buying buns today, the stall owner’s child called me ‘pretty sister.’ I’m in a good mood.”
“Are the buns good?” a colleague asked casually.
Huang Ling remembered the smell on the bus and lost her appetite for the buns. “I didn’t eat them. They’re cold now, and I don’t feel like eating. I only drank the soy milk.”
At this moment, the colleague leaned in: “I’ll eat them for you. How about I treat you to noodles at that newly opened shop at noon?”
Huang Ling agreed readily, but she never expected that five minutes later, she would regret it!