Su Yang, dragging his tired body, tiptoed as he opened the door.
What greeted his eyes was the rented room illuminated by warm lighting.
The rented room wasn't large, but posters with fairytale colors and carefully arranged red Chinese knots added a full sense of warmth.
ヾ(๑╹◡╹)ﾉ”
“Brother, hug!” A round figure wobbled as she climbed off the bed and ran towards Su Yang. She was wearing thick, khaki-colored plush pajamas, looking exactly like a walking little potato.
Su Yang put down the Kangaroo Rider helmet in his hand and picked up the little potato: “Did Brother wake Yi Yi up?”
Su Yiyi quickly shook her head, a wide smile on her face.
(。-`ω´-)：“No, because Yi Yi wasn’t asleep at all.”
“Yi Yi, do you know it’s already ten o’clock!” Su Yang’s expression immediately turned serious, but seeing Su Yiyi’s slightly wronged look, his heart softened instantly, and his tone softened: “Little ones should go to bed early, or they’ll become silly.”
Su Yiyi hugged Su Yang tightly, burying her small head in Su Yang’s embrace.
“Yi Yi is bored when Brother isn’t home, Yi Yi misses Brother and wants to wait for Brother to come home.”
His sister’s words echoed in his ears, making Su Yang feel a pang of heartache.
Yi Yi is only three years old. Other children her age have parents or grandparents accompanying them, but most of the time she can only stay home alone, bored.
There was no other way; the siblings’ parents had passed away two years ago in an accident.
Even after selling their family home, the exorbitant medical expenses left Su Yang still burdened with over a hundred thousand in debt to this day.
At that time, Su Yiyi was only one year old, and twenty-year-old Su Yang was still in university, but for his sister, he unhesitatingly chose to drop out and become a Kangaroo Rider.
This was the fastest and most direct way to earn money.
Su Yang looked at his adorable sister, whose head was buried in his embrace, and thought that Yi Yi was now old enough to go to kindergarten.
In kindergarten, she would not only have teachers but also children her age to play with, so Yi Yi wouldn't be so lonely every day.
Most importantly, a child's education must not be neglected.
The embarrassing thing was that Su Yang had just paid this month's loan and rent two days ago when he received his salary, and now his bank card balance was only eight hundred dragon coins, which made him feel uneasy.
This amount of money was definitely not enough for kindergarten, after all, he still had to rely on these eight hundred dragon coins for the next month's living expenses.
However, he was an experienced Rider after all, and the Station Master should agree to an advance on his salary, which would solve the immediate problem.
Su Yang rubbed Su Yiyi's head and carried her back to bed.
Suddenly, an electronic voice appeared in his mind.
“Congratulations, host, for acquiring the God-tier Stall System, and receiving a reward: an electric tricycle.”
“The host can complete missions to receive rewards. There is currently a mission available for receive. Would you like to accept it?”
System... so sudden?
He hadn't been hit by a car or on the verge of death.
Su Yang usually didn't have time to read novels, but he often heard his colleagues talk about them with relish, so he was somewhat familiar with the concept of a system.
The voice in his mind was like a torch appearing in a dark abyss that stretched endlessly, making Su Yang want to grasp it without hesitation.
“Accept mission!”
“This mission: For three consecutive days, sell three hundred steamed buns at Jiangbei Bridge at 3 AM.”
“Mission reward: two hundred thousand dragon coins, mysterious reward * 3.”
“Due to the first-time mission acceptance, the host is rewarded with Max-level Steamed Bun Technique and steamed bun cooking tools.”
“Congratulations, host, you can now make the most delicious steamed buns in the world.”
As the electronic voice disappeared, countless experiences related to steamed bun making flooded into Su Yang's mind.
Su Yiyi saw that Su Yang’s expression was a bit off, so she stood on tiptoe and placed the back of her hand on Su Yang’s forehead, looking worried: “Is Brother sick? It’s so cold outside… Brother still has to work in the cold wind.”
“I’m fine, Yi Yi, do you want to eat steamed buns?”
“Steamed buns…” Su Yiyi recalled the taste of steamed buns in her mind, licking her lips: “I want to eat them, steamed buns are delicious!”
“Then Yi Yi, you sleep first, Brother will wake you up later. We don’t have enough flour at home, I’m going out to buy some now.”
After Su Yang finished speaking, he tucked Su Yiyi into bed and took out the pork from the refrigerator to thaw.
Speaking of which, it was already this late, and it was quite difficult to buy vegetables, but luckily there were still some at home.
All this pork belly was bought by Su Yang early in the Morning Market, and the butcher gave him a discount because Su Yang bought a lot.
He originally intended to stock it in the refrigerator to eat slowly, but he didn't expect it to come in handy tonight.
Going downstairs, Su Yang quickly found the electric tricycle rewarded by the system based on the information in his mind.
The electric tricycle was parked not far downstairs, with a brand-new high-power stove, a cutting board, and large steamers neatly arranged on the vehicle.
Su Yang marveled at the system's magic, took a deep breath, and got into the vehicle.
Ten minutes later, Su Yang returned home with two large bags of flour.
He glanced at the time; it was still early before the mission's required 3 AM, so Su Yang was not in a hurry.
First, he kneaded the dough, and considering the cold weather, he also boiled a pot of water, then placed the kneaded dough in a basin in the hot water pot, covered it, and let it ferment.
The series of actions seemed casual, but Su Yang, possessing the Max-level Steamed Bun Technique, perfectly controlled every detail.
In the past two years, Su Yang had also developed good cooking skills due to taking care of Yi Yi.
He had once made steamed buns for Su Yiyi to eat, and he believed that steamed buns had no technical content, and anything he made would be delicious.
But now he realized that these simple steamed buns had a lot of intricacies.
Not only the seasoning of the filling, the heat and time for steaming the buns, but even the kneading and proofing of the dough were extremely particular about details.
Details determine success or failure; for example, some people have made steamed buns for most of their lives, and the wrappers still have a strong alkaline taste.
He went back to Su Yiyi's bedside to check, and sure enough, the little one was pretending to sleep with her eyes squinted.
After being exposed by Su Yang, Su Yiyi immediately acted spoiled, and Su Yang couldn't resist, so he watched TV with Su Yiyi for a while.
Calculating the time, the meat was almost thawed, so Su Yang got up and went to the narrow small kitchen.
Considering the available ingredients, Su Yang planned to make fresh pork buns and preserved vegetable pork buns tonight.
He peeled a large piece of pork belly, then cut it in half.
Half of this pork belly needed to be diced for the preserved vegetable pork bun filling, and the other half minced for the fresh pork filling.
Su Yang rolled up his sleeves, and his two hands, holding the knives, swung with a strong rhythm, beginning to chop the filling accompanied by a series of “da da da” sounds.
He wasn't worried about chopping the filling at night disturbing the neighbors, as their rented room was on the first floor, and a year ago, because the surrounding environment was a bit noisy and Su Yiyi was often woken up in the middle of the night, Su Yang had specially done some relatively inexpensive soundproofing.
…………
The whole process was quite complex, but fortunately, Su Yang worked quickly, and it wasn't long before he brought out the steaming hot buns.
Su Yiyi had been looking forward to them for a long time, having lost interest in watching TV much earlier, and quickly scrambled off the bed and walked to the table.
(✪ω✪)：“Wow… they’re so delicious.”
The smooth, white surface of the steamed buns was glistening with oil, bringing Su Yiyi’s appetite to its peak at this moment.
“You haven’t even eaten yet, be careful, it’s hot.”
Su Yang smiled warmly; his sister was always so supportive, she would say everything he made was delicious.
“Hoo~ hoo~ ah woo.” Su Yiyi was too lazy to use chopsticks, she directly picked up a fresh pork bun, blew on it a few times, and then eagerly took a bite.
The steamed bun skin was soft and thin, and as she bit into it, the incredibly fresh and savory juice flowed into her mouth, wildly stimulating her taste buds.
The plump meat filling was delicate, not gamey or greasy, and the green onions, while not overpowering, still maintained their presence, further enhancing the freshness of the meat filling.
After two bites, Su Yiyi suddenly froze. Although in her heart, everything her brother made was absolutely delicious, today's steamed buns truly overturned her perception of gourmet food.
She looked at Su Yang with a blissful expression.
(๑´ㅂ`๑)：“Brother, these are so delicious, Yi Yi wants more.”