The night Qiao Man brought An’an back on her back, the child developed a fever. Qiao Man wiped her palms and the soles of her feet just as Qiao Ya used to do for her, but An’an’s high fever refused to break.
This time, Qiao Man panicked. There was no specialized medicine from the post-apocalyptic world here. She paced the living room a couple of times to calm herself, quickly dressed An’an, wrapped her in her own down jacket, and sprinted downstairs.
When she reached the second floor, Qiao Man hesitated for a split second before knocking on the door of unit 201.
Usually, the Xiongs would already be asleep, but perhaps the joy of earning money had warded off their drowsiness today. After a few knocks, someone came to the door.
Xiong Mei, with a coat draped over her shoulders, saw it was Qiao Man and hurriedly invited her in.
“No, Auntie Xiong. An’an has a fever, and I need to take her to the hospital. About tomorrow’s buns…”
Before she could finish, Xiong Mei interrupted her with urgent concern, “Why are you still talking about that? Wait for me, I’ll go to the hospital with you. Old Cheng—!”
Qiao Man didn’t actually want to trouble others. It wasn’t that she was inflexible, but her past experiences made her reflexively want to refuse help.
Xiong Mei saw right through her. “Do you even know how to get to the Children’s Hospital? Don’t you need someone to help with registration and payments once you get there? Old Cheng, hurry up!”
Qiao Man paused and sighed inwardly; she owed another favor. “Auntie Xiong, thank you.”
“What’s with all this useless talk? How did An’an get a fever? I told you it was too cold this morning to bring the child along.”
…
In the end, the Xiongs went to the hospital with Qiao Man.
An’an had been frightened, and combined with her poor constitution and the recent drop in temperature, the fever had taken hold. The doctor prescribed some medicine and told them to go home to let the fever break.
After a long night of tossing and turning, the three adults and the child finally returned.
At the door of unit 201, Qiao Man spoke up again: “Auntie Xiong…”
“Alright, I get it. I’ll notify the neighbors tomorrow.” She let out a yawn and rubbed her lower back. “Take good care of An’an these next few days. Call me if anything comes up.”
Qiao Man nodded and then smiled. “Actually, I wanted to say that I still have over three hundred buns at home. I couldn’t sell them yesterday, and the box fell on the ground, so they aren’t fit for sale anymore. You and Uncle Cheng should take them; it’s better to share them with relatives and friends.”
Before Xiong Mei could refuse, Cheng Xiangdong suddenly perked up. “Good, good. You go home and rest first. I’ll have your aunt go to your place at noon to get them.”
Once they were back in their own home, Xiong Mei looked at him with exasperation. “You were listless and yawning the whole way back, too lazy to say a word. How come you perk up the moment food is mentioned? Those were buns we were supposed to sell for money!”
Cheng Xiangdong had been thinking about Qiao Man’s buns the entire time and argued somewhat guiltily, “Little Qiao said it herself—since they can’t be sold, we should share them with the kids.”
“We could have sold them cheaper!”
“That wouldn’t do!” Cheng Xiangdong reflexively retorted, his neck stiffening, before shrinking back under his wife’s glare. “Just listen to Little Qiao. That girl may be young, but she’s got a good head on her shoulders. She’s definitely thinking about the reputation of the business… right?”
Seemingly persuaded by Cheng Xiangdong, Xiong Mei thought it over, gritted her teeth, and stomped her foot. “Fine. This afternoon, I’ll go door-to-door and tell them we won’t be selling for a few days.”
To her surprise, just as she was painfully giving up that income, Qiao Man asked her at noon if she knew how to wrap buns.
“Huh? Yes…” Xiong Mei hadn’t reacted yet, standing there blankly while holding an insulated box.
Qiao Man’s face showed signs of exhaustion, but she seemed to be in good spirits.
She asked Xiong Mei to sit down and explained, “Making buns isn’t that difficult. One part is the leavening of the dough, and the other is the seasoning of the filling. You’ve been making buns for so many years, so you must have plenty of experience; you just need to make a few adjustments. Don’t go out to set up a stall; just finish the orders from Auntie Qi and Sister Wang.”
Having said that, she also reassured Xiong Mei, “Once An’an is mostly recovered, I’ll take over again. Don’t feel pressured; just tell them the truth. If people are still willing to order, then keep going.”
In fact, this was the result of her weighing options all morning. Naturally, the income from these two days would go to Xiong Mei, serving as a way to repay her kindness.
Xiong Mei didn’t let Qiao Man’s trust down. She hesitated for only a moment before gritting her teeth again. “Alright, I’ll do exactly as you say!”
The two agreed that Xiong Mei would come to Qiao Man’s house that afternoon to make a trial batch of buns. Before leaving, Xiong Mei asked, “What are you two having for lunch? Let me bring you some food. Don’t let yourself collapse from exhaustion too.”
In the post-apocalyptic world, Qiao Man was used to bargaining and exchanging benefits; she could discuss business with Auntie Xiong quite naturally.
She was somewhat moved but ultimately explained to Xiong Mei, “No need, Auntie Xiong, I’m fine. An’an can’t eat much anyway.”
After seeing Xiong Mei off, Qiao Man sat on the sofa and finally closed her eyes—raising a child is so difficult!
She wondered if it was the same for Qiao Ya when she was raising her.
After resting on the sofa for five minutes, Qiao Man heard a faint voice from the bedroom.
“Mom—”
Qiao Man sprinted to the bedroom. Seeing An’an’s face, which had shrunk even further, she felt a pang of heartache. “An’an, what do you want to eat?”
An’an shook her head and pouted. After seeing clearly that it was Qiao Man, she suppressed her urge to cry. “Auntie…”
Qiao Man felt her forehead; the fever had indeed subsided a bit. She asked, “Are you hungry, An’an?”
An’an habitually shook her head, but halfway through, she changed it to a nod. “Auntie, I want sweet porridge.”
Sweet porridge…
Qiao Man suddenly remembered that once, when she was severely injured, Qiao Ya had also made her a bowl of sweet porridge.
The doctor had instructed that An’an’s stomach was weak now and she needed to eat something easy to digest.
Qiao Man rubbed An’an’s small hand. “Wait here, Auntie will go make you some sweet porridge.”
“Auntie, Auntie, don’t go!” Seeing Qiao Man stand up to leave, An’an burst into tears. “An’an won’t eat then.”
Looking at the tearful little girl, Qiao Man couldn’t bear it. She knelt by the bed. “Come, An’an, put on your clothes. Auntie will carry you on her back while I make it.”
An’an hesitated for a moment, afraid of causing trouble for her aunt, but being a child after all, she couldn’t resist the temptation. She slowly climbed onto Qiao Man’s back.
In fact, An’an was very light, and this weight was nothing to Qiao Man, but it meant she wouldn’t have both hands free for work.
She found a scarf and tied An’an to her back before going to the kitchen to wash the rice.
Fortunately, they had bought a clay pot earlier. She washed the rice, added water, and waited for it to boil to skim off the foam, then simmered it slowly over a gentle flame.
An’an couldn’t eat much now, so she planned to just make a plain white porridge and add a little sugar.
The flames danced as the plain porridge became soft and thick, bubbling away. The aroma of rice drifted from the gaps in the clay pot lid, smelling exceptionally comforting.
Making a bowl of plain porridge is both simple and difficult.
The rice must be well-chosen—whether to use long-grain or short-grain—the amount of water, the choice of cookware, the control of the heat… all of these affect the texture and taste of the porridge.
Moreover, everyone’s technique is different, and most people’s preference for such simple food stems from their childhood habits.
Qiao Man tried to recall how Qiao Ya simmered porridge, patiently waiting for the white porridge to become viscous.
She strolled around the kitchen with An’an on her back, An’an’s small head resting on her shoulder as the two chatted idly.
“Auntie, you said my mom could fight bad guys. Is she really amazing?”
“Of course. She was our captain, and she was exceptionally powerful. We never worried during our missions because your mom was there; even if we couldn’t win, we would always make a clean getaway.”
“You said last time you once traded for crocodile meat. Was it good?”
Qiao Man kept a straight face. “Of course. The taste and texture are a bit like chicken.”
It was just a mutated beast that looked like a crocodile.
“Wow—then how many bad guys can you take down with one punch, Auntie?”
“Two or three, I suppose.” Qiao Man couldn’t hide the curve of her lips, trying to sound nonchalant.
…
The kitchen was filled with the laughter of the adult and the child. Once the plain porridge was ready, Qiao Man added a spoonful of sugar for An’an and placed her in a chair. “Can you eat by yourself?”
An’an nodded vigorously.
For some reason, after spending these two hours in the kitchen with her aunt, she actually felt much better, and her appetite returned as well.
An’an couldn’t wait to give it a couple of quick blows before stuffing a spoonful of white porridge into her mouth. Her large eyes rounded: it tasted just like what her mom used to make. Delicious!
Her eyes curved into crescents when she smiled, and she said to Qiao Man, “Thank you, Auntie.”
Then she buried her head in the porridge.
Qiao Man also served herself a bowl. As an adult, she couldn’t just have plain porridge, so she heated up four or five buns and used a small blue-and-white porcelain dish to serve a piece of fermented bean curd.
She didn’t want sweet porridge right now, so she just took a mouthful of the red fermented bean curd and followed it with a spoonful of porridge.
This fermented bean curd was given to her by Auntie Xiong, who said an old man made it himself and often sold it from a pushcart.
It was indeed more delicious than the bottled fermented bean curd she bought at the supermarket.
An’an wanted another bowl after finishing her first. Qiao Man served her another and touched her head; she didn’t seem to be feverish anymore.
“An’an, do you want to eat meat tonight? How about Auntie makes you some minced chicken porridge?”
An’an blinked her eyes. “Auntie… slurp!”
Before she could finish her sentence, her saliva had already started to flow.
Qiao Man was relieved; it seemed the child was mostly recovered.
An’an fell asleep right after eating and didn’t wake up until evening when Xiong Mei came upstairs carrying various large and small basins.
Qiao Man smelled the filling she had mixed and said, “There’s not enough salt. Pork and cabbage filling needs more salt, but you can’t add any more soy milk. The oil isn’t right; you should use fried aromatic oil.”
She then checked the dough: “The water absorption rate of this flour is lower than the one I buy. At this level, there’s still too little water; the buns are too dense and will turn out hard. Don’t go back; just make them here at my place.”
Xiong Mei had brought a small notebook. When Qiao Man spoke, she quickly put on her reading glasses. “Wait a moment, let me write that down.”
Qiao Man wasn’t in a hurry. She stated the ratios for the ingredients and let her sit down to record them slowly.
Just then, the doorbell rang. When Qiao Man opened the door, it was Qi Dongmei from upstairs.
“Little Qiao, I’m sorry. I had something to do at home today, so I’m late collecting the money.”
Xiong Mei, sitting on the sofa, slapped her forehead. “I’ve been busy with the buns all afternoon; I completely forgot to tell them!”
Seeing Xiong Mei there, Qi Dongmei didn’t enter the house and asked Little Qiao, “Did something happen?”
Qiao Man explained about An’an getting sick and how she couldn’t make buns for a couple of days. Qi Dongmei stood at the door with a frown. “She’s making them?”
In fact, Qi Dongmei didn’t use any particular tone, but Xiong Mei just found her irritating. She slammed the notebook onto the coffee table and said coldly, “If you don’t want to eat what I make, just say so! No need to be so snide.”
Qi Dongmei got angry too. With a “Heh,” she moved to step inside.
Seeing that the two were about to start a fight, Qiao Man quickly reminded them, “An’an is sleeping.”
This interruption drained the tension from both Xiong Mei and Qi Dongmei.
Qi Dongmei entered the room and let out a sigh. “You’ve lived more than half your life; why do you still have a grudge against money? Was that what I meant? I was thinking about how to explain it to the others.”
Xiong Mei also knew she had misunderstood, but she couldn’t bring herself to apologize. She said stiffly, “Little Qiao and I have already agreed; we’ll tell everyone the truth. If they can’t accept it, they can just wait a few more days until An’an is better.”
Qiao Man nodded. Qi Dongmei stood there thinking for a while. “How about this? I’ve always been mediocre at cooking, as you know, so I can’t help much there. But I’ll talk to those who ordered buns. Since I organized it, I’ll see it through to the end. Oh, do you need help buying ingredients?”
Just as Xiong Mei was about to refuse, Qi Dongmei clapped her hands. “I just remembered something. It’s time to stock up on winter vegetables, isn’t it? Little Qiao, how much do you need? Tomorrow morning, I’ll just have a word with the vegetable middleman in our community and reserve some for our families. Then we can pull it to the small square and divide it.”
Qiao Man thought about it. If she stocked up on cabbage and radishes now, she could pickle some sauerkraut. In a month, once the sauerkraut was ready, she could make fillings with sauerkraut and lard residues. She would also pickle a few jars of sour radishes to serve as complimentary side dishes or make sour radish and duck soup; that would be delicious.
When it gets cold, people tend to lose their appetite, and eating something sour is perfect for piquing it.
Once the business was settled, Qi Dongmei looked at Qiao Man and sighed again. “Little Qiao, it’s not that I want to nag, but An’an is too young and her constitution is weak; she shouldn’t be running around with you like this anymore. If you trust me, you can just leave her at my place. Both my grandson and granddaughter are there; raising one sheep is no different from raising three.”
Xiong Mei muttered, “Your kids are already in junior high. Can they even play with An’an?”
“Hey, look at you…”
Seeing the conflict escalate again, Qiao Man quickly intervened: “Let’s talk about it later. An’an still can’t be without me right now.”
She had also noticed that An’an was particularly lacking in security and couldn’t bear to be away from her.
The two were still bickering as they left, and Qiao Man listened for a while, between laughter and tears—
“Hey, how much are you stocking up? Do you need a hand? Your Old Cheng won’t be able to manage on his own, right?”
“You come with me to my place to get some buns first, so you don’t poison your grandkids with your own cooking.”
…
In the evening, the thick aroma of food woke An’an up. Unlike the plain porridge at noon, there was also the smell of meat.
An’an rubbed her growling little belly and got out of bed to go to the kitchen on her own.
Qiao Man was tasting the porridge. Seeing An’an arrive, she said with a smile, “An’an’s awake. Come have some minced chicken porridge.”
An’an’s large eyes blinked, and she wrinkled her little nose to take a sniff. It smelled so good. She shouted happily, “Okay!”
Just then, the doorbell rang. There were quite a few visitors today; to her surprise, it was Wang Yuwei and Li Shuo.
Wang Yuwei was carrying a bag of fruit. “I heard from Sister Qi that An’an is sick. I came to see how she’s doing. Is everything okay now? My colleagues are fine as long as they have something to eat; don’t worry, just let Sister Xiong keep making them as usual.”
She entered the house but saw her son still standing outside the door, his eyes closed with a look of pure intoxication. She felt it was embarrassing. “Li Shuo, didn’t you say the teacher gave you a task?”
“It smells so good… Auntie, what are you making today?”
Before he could finish, he received a smack on the back of his head. Only then, as if waking from a dream, did he rummage through his schoolbag. “Qiao Yanning’s auntie, these are the textbooks the teacher asked me to bring to Qiao Yanning.”
Wang Yuwei gave an embarrassed smile, and Qiao Man thanked them with a smile.
After a few pleasantries, just as they were about to leave, Wang Yuwei suddenly received a call from the team. Her expression turned serious instantly.
Hanging up the phone, she said to Li Shuo, “Go home by yourself and order some takeout. Mom has a mission.”
Seeing the disappointment in the boy’s eyes, Qiao Man couldn’t help but say, “Let Li Shuo eat at my place.”
…
After Wang Yuwei left, Li Shuo and An’an sat at the dining table eating the warm minced chicken porridge. Qiao Man also heated up two buns for Li Shuo, who proudly showed off the results of the bun auction to Qiao Man and An’an.
“Auntie, if you take this minced chicken porridge to our school entrance, it’ll definitely be a big hit!”
He wasn’t a stranger at all and quickly became close with Qiao Man and An’an, even asking An’an to call him “Big Brother Power,” which An’an rejected with disdain.
After finishing the last gulp of minced chicken porridge, Li Shuo’s eyes darted around, and he suddenly said, “An’an, you’ve missed a lot of schoolwork, haven’t you? When you’re better, I’ll tutor you every day after school!”
With Qiao Man’s consent, Li Shuo was so happy he almost jumped for joy. “Auntie, can I have dinner at your place too? I’ll have my mom pay for my meals!”
Qiao Man was between laughter and tears, but Qi Dongmei settled the matter: “You and An’an go to Grandma Qi’s house after dinner to study with your older brother and sister. We adults have things to discuss here.”
A few days passed like this, and Xiong Mei’s skills improved by leaps and bounds. Her buns tasted about eighty percent like Qiao Man’s, and her speed had increased significantly. Whereas it used to take her a whole afternoon to wrap six hundred buns, it now only took three hours.
Qiao Man had been quite idle these past few days, mainly guiding Xiong Mei, mediating the “war” between Xiong and Qi, cooking for the children, and pickling radishes and sauerkraut. She had almost forgotten about setting up her stall.
This morning, she suddenly received a message, apparently tracked down from her payment code.
[Boss, when are you going to set up your stall? The kid is starving to death!]