Chapter 72: Chapter 72: Street vendors
'It's so heavy? Why didn't you call Yiliang and ask us to come pick it up?' Feng Zhenchang put the two bags in the corner.
'It's a hassle to get Yiliang on the phone to come and get it. His master always answers first. Besides, it's all a short drive, so I can carry it.' Mei Qiuping sat down and gulped down half a teacupful of water. "You've eaten, right? Is there any food left? You must be starving, Yiping?'
'No," said Feng Yiping, also sitting down at the table by the window.
The room was full of things. There were bags all along the wall, with a shelf in the middle on which sat a small stone mill. Next to it was a tricycle, on which there were now two large pots. It was at this table that there was now also a large basin, with dough in it that had not yet been mixed.
'I'll eat leftover rice for dinner, and there are two buns. You guys can have a snack while I go buy some cooked food.'
'No, no, there's nothing good to buy at this time of day. Cook the rice first. There's still some pork in this bag from yesterday that I weighed at Dad's. It's already been cooked, so just sprinkle some salt on it and stir-fry it quickly.'
Mei Qiuping and Feng Yiping ate their buns with a plate of leftovers, while Feng Zhenchang busied himself washing the rice and cooking the rice, taking the meat out of the bag, washing it and then stir-frying it with chilli.
So, life really can change people.
When Feng Zhenchang was at home, he didn't even cook, let alone cook. When it came to the New Year, he would help with the washing up, but even that was only a few times a year. He never went near the stove, and if there was even a grain of sand in his rice, he would complain for ages. If he accidentally made the fried food too salty or too bland, just wait for the lecture!
Compared to the busy figure in front of him, the old Feng was a different person indeed.
They were both really hungry, and before the rice was ready, they were already eating the stir-fried vegetables with chopsticks, one after the other. By the time the rice was ready, a third of the vegetables had dried up.
Feng Zhenchang sat on a stool with his legs up, holding a teacup, and watched them two wolfing down the food. 'You, always trying to save a few dollars, why didn't you buy some food before you got on the bus?'
'Why didn't I buy it? But you don't know, can I eat when I'm on the bus?'
After they finished eating, Feng Yiping cleared the table, Feng Zhenchang continued kneading the dough, and Mei Qiuping went into the back room to tidy up, taking down the things on the upper bunk and making Feng Yiping's bed.
Finally, they had to pick out a dozen kilograms of chestnuts, wash them one by one, and then cut a small opening at the top. This was the experience they had come to later, that having an opening made it easier to peel the chestnuts when they were eaten.
It was almost eleven o'clock when everything was finally done.
Because they didn't know Feng Yiping was coming, they didn't prepare a mat, so he slept directly on the bedsheets. It was a bit hot, and not far away, there was always the sound of trains clanging by, which was a bit noisy. But he was really tired today, so he listened to his parents talk about the business of the past two days, and fell asleep as he listened.
In the morning, when it was just dawn, Feng Yiping was awakened by the noise. The dim light shone in through the crack in the door, and he heard his parents speaking in a low voice in the outer room.
He climbed out of bed in the dark, rubbed his eyes and opened the door. He found his parents in the next room, with his mother making buns and his father grinding soy milk in a stone mortar.
'Oh, did we wake you? Go back to bed, you don't have to get up this early at school,' said Mei Qiuping, without stopping what she was doing.
'No, I can't sleep if I'm awake. I'll help you make the buns!'
'Okay, there's hot water on the stove. Go wash your face and brush your teeth first,'
However, after he had painstakingly wrapped a salted vegetable bun, he decided to switch with Feng Zhenchang. The bun he wrapped had a very personal touch and was not good for taking out to buy, so he could only eat it himself.
Stone grinding was not difficult for Feng Yiping. Feng Zhenchang taught him how to grind a few times, and he learned it. However, his hands became a little sore after a while, so he had to use both hands alternately.
He also noticed that Feng Zhenchang washed his hands again before making buns, even though his hands were already clean from grinding the soy milk.
It seems that they are now very concerned about hygiene, and some habits are just like that formed.
'When it's not hot, the buns and soy milk can be made in the evening and steamed in the morning, so you can sleep in a bit longer. But now it's not like that, they're made in the evening and by the morning they've probably gone off,' Mei Qiuping said to Feng Yiping as she made the buns.
Once the buns were ready, she put them in the steamer and steamed them over a high flame on the stove.
The soy milk had also been prepared. Feng Yiping helped Feng Zhenchang strain the soy milk through gauze. After the buns were steamed, they were placed on the stove to boil over high heat. After boiling, they were placed aside to cool. When they were warm, they were poured into a plastic bag using a small ladle and an aluminium funnel, and the bag was tied closed.
In short, by the time they had finished and were rushing to finish breakfast before pushing the tricycle out the door, it was already past seven o'clock.
Feng Zhenchang rode the tricycle in front, while Feng Yiping and the others pushed it behind.
As the days passed, they got to know some regular customers along the way. Seeing their tricycle, a few elderly people came out to buy buns and soy milk. A few of them even asked Feng Yiping a few questions when they saw him following along.
At the entrance of a residential area, they stopped the tricycle and waited for a while. Feng Zhenchang said, 'Now that the schools are on holiday, there aren't many students left in the dorms, and they all wake up late. It's okay if we go a little later.'
It makes sense. If it weren't for the university town being their home ground and chestnuts being more commonly bought there, they would have no need to go there at all during the summer and winter vacations when the school is closed.
So they continued to sell while walking, and when they reached the big tree in the flower bed in front of the conservatory where they were based, it was almost 9 o'clock and they had sold only a small number of buns.
The fat owner of the snack bar they often called came over, 'Why are you so late today? Oh, this is your son, the junior high school student who published articles in magazines at such a young age?'
Feng Yiping immediately offered a standard smile with eight teeth, 'Hello, uncle!'
'Oh, hello to you too,' the man said while drinking soymilk, 'Are you here to help out during the summer vacation? Your parents work hard to earn a living, so you must study hard and come to the provincial capital to study at university in the future.'
'I will, uncle,' Feng Yiping still had a childlike smile on his face. free𝑤ebnovel.com
It seems that his parents are showing off his achievements to everyone they meet.
Not long after the tricycle stopped, although it was past breakfast time, students still kept coming, buying buns and soy milk, many of them still half-asleep. Few of them bought just one serving, they all bought several, and they were definitely buying for their classmates. And they usually bought at least two buns per bag of soy milk.
So, in less than an hour, they'd sold all the soy milk and buns.
They then replaced the pan with the fried chestnuts, and proportionally added river sand, tea oil, candied sugar and chestnuts and fried them. In no time, a sweet aroma spread.
The sun was strong, but they were relatively cool under the big tree. However, not many people came to buy chestnuts, and only a few girls came out to buy a little over two pounds. Feng Zhenchang said that when the school was not on holiday, usually at least ten pounds could be sold here around lunchtime.