Chapter 29: Meat Pancakes
By midday, customers were still coming in one after another.
Su Yaoguang looked at the long line of people and said to Zhou Wangshu, "Go buy something to eat, get whatever you want, the money is in the box, take it yourself."
Zhou Wangshu looked at the very busy Su Yaoguang, his expression complicated: "You’re starving yourself, yet you still care if I’ll go hungry."
"Little Wangshu has sacrificed a lot to help his big sister. I promised to treat you with delicious food once we make money, buy whatever you like, big sister keeps her word."
"Alright, I’ll go buy something." Zhou Wangshu took the money and left.
He walked a short distance, turned back to look at Su Yaoguang’s direction, and saw her chatting and laughing with customers, not paying attention to him at all.
She really wasn’t afraid he would run away.
But of course, his indenture was in her hands; if he ran away, she could report him to the authorities, and no matter where he fled, he’d still be a runaway servant.
Zhou Wangshu stood in front of the bun stall and said to Boss, "Four large meat buns."
"Three cents each, four will be twelve cents."
"Ten cents." Zhou Wangshu said with a straight face, "If you don’t sell, I’ll go elsewhere; there’s a bun shop on the next street selling cheaper buns."
"Okay, okay, I’ll sell them to you." That Boss said with a pained expression, "Miss, you sure know how to haggle. You seem young, have you been betrothed?"
Zhou Wangshu: "..."
The Boss acted as if he didn’t see her cold face, pulled over his grinning son and pointed at the stout lad, "My son, not bad looking, want to check him out?"
Zhou Wangshu curled his lip, "I’m here to buy buns, not people. Besides, I’m betrothed."
"Fine, if you don’t want to check him out, then don’t. Little lass got a temper."
Zhou Wangshu paid the money, turned around with the buns, and saw Xiao Yanci coming out of the steamed bun shop with two white buns in his hands.
On one side was the fragrant bun, and on the other was the plain steamed bun; they exchanged a glance and passed by each other.
Zhou Wangshu’s elbow bumped into Xiao Yanci, and with a thud, the bun in Xiao Yanci’s hand rolled to the ground.
"My bun! You..." Xiao Yanci glared at Zhou Wangshu.
Zhou Wangshu said lazily, "If you don’t pick it up, a dog will eat it."
Xiao Yanci looked down and saw a dog take one bun in one bite, currently aiming for the second bun, dog’s mouth already touching it. He hurriedly shooed it away but found that the dog was fiercer than him, barking at him menacingly.
Zhou Wangshu bit into a bun, watching Xiao Yanci being chased by the dog, eyes filled with amusement.
Were the people in the village blind? Saying someone as weak and useless as him was better. Only Su Yaoguang had a discerning eye.
He walked towards Su Yaoguang with the buns.
Xiao Yanci was chased by the dog, and in front of the dog, he ate the remaining bun. At this point, he didn’t care about cleanliness anymore, he knew if he didn’t eat it, he wouldn’t be able to win over the dog. As for Jiang Yihui’s errand of buying buns, he hadn’t thought of it at all.
Zhou Wangshu rushed back to where he was before, offered the bun to Su Yaoguang’s mouth, "Take a bite."
Though busy, Su Yaoguang didn’t refuse Zhou Wangshu’s gesture. She was truly hungry, hungry enough that her stomach was growling.
Perhaps in her past life, to take care of Xiao Yanci, the family conditions were limited, and she ended up saving her rations to give to Xiao Yanci, eventually developing a stomach ailment due to long-term deprivation. Now back at fifteen, her body was at its healthiest stage, and she didn’t want to suffer from such stomach ailments, so she should eat and drink as needed.
"You sisters get along really well." A customer said, "I once had a sister too, before marriage we were close, swore to be lifelong sisters. But after getting married, I had to tend to family duties while she was tormented by her husband, and the next time we met was at her memorial. Now look at me, getting old, seeing young women like you reminds me of past events."
"Auntie, don’t be sad, I believe your sister has become a star in the sky. She watches over you every day, blessing you, ensuring your safety and smooth life."
Zhou Wangshu curled his lips.
This little mouth really knows how to comfort people. If it were a few years ago, perhaps he would have believed in the idea of deceased loved ones becoming stars to protect him. But now he didn’t believe it. If she were truly watching from heaven, she wouldn’t have allowed him to be bullied like this. He understood that for vengeance, he must rely on himself, not others, especially not the deceased.
Before the next customer came in, Su Yaoguang had finished the entire bun Zhou Wangshu gave her. After finishing it, she felt a bit choked. Zhou Wangshu handed her the soy milk he had bought.
Soy milk with buns, it was unbelievably delicious.
Su Yaoguang hadn’t tasted such good food in a long time.
"I bought four, two for each of us."
Su Yaoguang waved her hand, "I’m full, the remaining three are yours. You’re still growing, eat more."
Zhou Wangshu said while chewing the bun, "Three cents each, not cheap."
"They have meat, of course they’re not cheap, but it’s worth it, tastes great for the price." Su Yaoguang said, doing makeup for the next customer, "Where did you buy them? Next time I’ll buy them again."
"Zhang’s Bun Shop."
Su Yaoguang’s hand stopped.
Her gaze became vacant, in a daze, not sure what she was thinking.
The customer urged impatiently, she then snapped back to reality.
She said in a dry voice, "Zhang’s Bun Shop buns taste really good!"
In her past life, she had bought them for Xiao Yanci many times, yet he never thought to offer her a bite, even a single bite would have pleased her.
Back then, seeing his joy each time she bought them eagerly for him. Eventually one day he said they were awful, and wondered how she could bring him such trash repeatedly, questioning why she couldn’t buy something edible instead of such things to dismiss him.
Afterwards, she stopped buying them.
Each time she passed Zhang’s Bun Shop, she would wonder, since they were so awful, why do so many people queue for them. Were people really so foolish and wasteful?
Turns out, the only fool all along was her.
"What happened to you?" Zhou Wangshu asked, "Are you too tired? Next time I’ll learn to do makeup with you, then I can lend you a hand."
Su Yaoguang sniffled, giving Zhou Wangshu a smile, "Not tired. Seeing Wangshu enjoy the food makes me happy too."
Zhou Wangshu muttered, "So silly. Such expensive buns, yet not pained, surely a fool."
He was testing her.
He wanted to know how indulgent she would be with him.
If he had been sensible, he could have bought two buns for one cent each and still filled his belly. He just wanted to know if she would reprimand him for spending money recklessly.
The result was clear as day, she was just a foolish village girl, probably wouldn’t stop him even if he bought a roast chicken.