The crowd completely erupted.
In front of the “Su Ji” stall, the once orderly line instantly scattered.
Everyone surged forward, afraid that if they hesitated, someone else would snatch the divine-smelling meat buns.
“Give me five!”
“I’ll pay ten wen each! Sell to me first!”
“Don’t push! You’re stepping on my foot!”
Su Mingxuan’s little money pouch filled at an unprecedented speed; the clinking of coins became the sweetest symphony of Shui Gui Street that morning. He was sweating profusely, his little face flushed, and his mouth stretched almost to his ears.
Su Qingyan’s hands moved with lightning speed—taking buns, wrapping them in oiled paper, handing them out, collecting money—one seamless motion. Her heartbeat raced, but it wasn’t from anxiety; it was exhilaration. At this pace, today’s goal wasn’t just 1,000 wen—she dared to dream of 2,000!
Amid the excitement, a shifty-eyed man appeared, carrying a blackened wooden bucket. He slipped silently into the crowd. Short in stature but slippery as an eel, a few shoves later, he was right in front of the stall.
“Shhh—!”
A disgusting stench erupted!
The man grinned and poured the entire bucket of foul-smelling swill onto Su Qingyan’s stall.
Yellow-brown filth, mixed with rotten vegetables and unidentifiable muck, spread across the snow-white ground. The sour, pungent odor ruthlessly drove away all traces of the delicious meat aroma.
The crowd recoiled as if burned, holding their noses and stepping back.
Several students, savoring the buns just moments ago, gagged violently and vomited on the spot.
Chaos ensued instantly.
Liu San-niang had timed it perfectly. She stormed out of her shop, one hand on her hip, the other pointing at Su Qingyan, shrieking like a cuckoo in blood:
“Everyone, look! I told you her food isn’t clean! Look at the filth under her stall! The buns she sells are made with this swill! Eating them will make you sick—maybe even kill you!”
Her voice was sharp and full of incitement.
Unaware of the truth, the customers stared at the filth on the ground, then at Su Qingyan’s stall. Their faces instantly reflected disgust and fear.
“Heavens! How disgusting!”
“No wonder her food tasted weird—it’s made with this filthy stuff!”
A planted accomplice in the crowd added fuel to the fire: “See! A little girl can’t make such flavors honestly! She must have added some mind-altering potion or evil herbs—just like this swill, all shady stuff!”
That single sentence magnified the deepest fears of the crowd.
Worries about food safety, doubts about unfamiliar flavors, all intensified at once.
Hands that had been reaching for money just moments ago withdrew. Faces full of admiration turned to disdain and anger.
“Give me my money back, you black-hearted girl!”“Return my money! My stomach hurts after eating your food!”
Liu San-niang’s eyes gleamed with sickly joy as she watched Su Qingyan and her brother isolated by the crowd. She watched the customers’ undisguised disgust and felt a perverse thrill.
Little brat, you want to fight me? You’re still too green! If I don’t bury you in the mud today, I’m not Liu!
Su Mingxuan had never seen anything like this. Seeing those furious faces and hearing their vicious curses, his little face went pale, tears pricked his eyes, and his hands trembled around the money pouch.
“It’s not… my sister’s food is clean… it’s not…” His feeble defense sounded like a mosquito’s buzz and was immediately drowned in the clamorous uproar.
Su Qingyan’s face remained calm. Her eyes—black and white like frozen steel—scanned over the man who had poured the filth, and finally settled on the frenzied Liu San-niang across the way.
Good.
She quietly uttered two words in her mind:
“Mingxuan.”
“Go to Lin Po-po and fetch a basin of the cleanest water.”
Su Qingyan’s composure was like a tonic, instantly giving the flustered Su Mingxuan a sense of purpose. He wiped his eyes vigorously, hugged the money pouch, and dashed toward Lin Po-po at the street corner.
Under the doubtful gaze of the crowd, Su Qingyan took off her apron in front of everyone.
The patched coarse cloth apron bore some flour and oil stains, but beneath it, her undergarment was spotless, starched white and immaculate.
She folded the apron neatly and placed it aside. Then she straightened her spine, her clear voice ringing across Shui Gui Street:
“I, Su Qingyan,” she said, standing tall, her voice carrying authority, “earn an honest living here, making food with hard work and integrity!”
“I respect the heavens above and seek peace of mind within! My father is a scholar who taught me ‘know what to do, and know what not to do’! Even if the Su family were reduced to begging, we would never sully our food with dishonest deeds!”
Her words struck the ground with force, carrying an unassailable aura that silenced the shouting crowd for a brief moment.
By then, Su Mingxuan had returned with a basin of clean water.
Su Qingyan went to the basket, and in front of everyone, began to unwrap the buns, still warm, layer by layer beneath thick cotton cloth.
The innermost layer was a brand-new fine cotton cloth her mother had sewn overnight, pristine white, without a single stain.
She also lifted the entire steaming basket to display to the crowd.
Inside, she had lined it with lotus leaves soaked and dried with clean water from her space, green and fresh, emitting a faint fragrance.
In the sunlight, the snowy white cloth and vibrant green lotus leaves formed a sharp, ironic contrast with the foul, stinking mess on the ground.
“Look closely, everyone!” Su Qingyan’s voice rose sharply.
She pointed directly at the filth at their feet, but her gaze stabbed Liu San-niang like a blade.
The icy stare made Liu San-niang shiver without reason.
“Liu San-niang!” Su Qingyan enunciated each word. “You said my food isn’t clean? Fine! Today we’ll have the neighbors witness this! If you can find even a trace of filth in my buns, I, Su Qingyan, will smash this stall before your eyes! And I will never set foot on Shui Gui Street again!”
“But if you cannot find any…” She paused, a cold arc creeping onto her lips. “Then what will you do?”