Although she never expected any reward from old Sir He, seeing his expression so full of bitterness and unease, she couldn’t help but find it amusing.
With a teasing tone, she said, “So, Old Sir He, you have treasures, huh? Then I’ll have to stick to you. What should we do about the traditional gift for becoming an apprentice? Shall I kneel and kowtow to you first?”
“You… stay away from me,” Old Sir He frowned and rubbed his arms.
Before, when he saw the girl laughing, it was always warm and friendly. But now, somehow, her smile seemed cold to him.
“How can I show my respect if I’m too far away? Why don’t we follow Granny Su’s suggestion? I’ll acknowledge you as my master and you can see me as your junior. In the future, I can have meat buns every day, how about that?”
If she could bring a glimmer of hope into Old Sir He’s heart, giving him the will to live on and wait for his son’s triumphant return, Lin Chuxia was willing.
Finally, Old Sir He stood up, waving his hands dismissively, “I don’t have an appetite today, don’t feel like eating meat buns. Just the smell of meat makes me nauseous—I can’t stand it, I need to leave… I’m leaving…”
Watching his hasty retreat, Granny Su snorted with laughter.
Lin Chuxia quickly picked a few meat buns from the steamer and chased after him.
If Old Sir He managed to find this place, he surely hadn’t eaten. Seeing how skinny he was, it seemed he usually ate quite carelessly. How could she bear to let him leave hungry?
Seeing Granny Su’s face, seemingly enjoying the show at the entrance of the Bun Shop, Old Sir He turned his head away pridefully. “Take it away, I’ve lost my appetite today. Just the smell of meat disgusts me.”
Smiling, Lin Chuxia stuffed the buns into his arms, “They’re not meat, all vegetarian fillings.”
And with that, she headed back to the Bun Shop.
Old Sir He watched her leave, his eyes twinkling with complexity. Raising his head, he met Granny Su’s gaze, snorted, and walked home holding the buns. While walking, he took out a bun and took a bite, savoring the meaty flavor.
…
Inside the Bun Shop, Granny Su had started telling Lin Chuxia about Old Sir He.
Old Sir He came from a family of traditional Chinese medicine, with ancestors who once served as imperial physicians for the emperor. Because of this…
Three daughters and a son, they all suffered as a result. Fortunately, the daughters were married and immediately cut off their ties with him. Luckily, it was only his youngest son, born in his later years, who couldn’t avoid the situation.
His wife couldn’t make it through that time either and passed away the following year.
It was a pity that he, with his medical skills, couldn’t save his own wife and could only watch her die in agony.
Since then, Old Sir He never again treated anyone, nor was he willing to talk about his past as a physician.
Now that policies have improved, Old Sir He is just hoping for the day when his youngest son can safely return.
What remained was what Lin Chuxia saw, Old Sir He sitting at the entrance of the train station every day, keeping watch.
“Grandpa He’s son will definitely come back safely,” Lin Chuxia held Granny Su’s hand.
Granny Su sighed, “Everyone’s hoping for that, it’s just that there’s been no news for so long.”
Lin Chuxia could not tell the elderly that Old Sir He’s son was still alive. She would not reveal the secret of her rebirth to anyone; in her previous life, she had only heard rumors and never actually saw Old Sir He’s son.
For now, all she could do was provide what little help she could, giving the old man the confidence to keep living and hoping for an earlier reunion.
In the evening when she returned home, Mr. Qin and Mrs. Qin were both waiting for her. Mr. Qin spoke to her about the situation in the fields.
These past few days, the tomatoes were being uprooted, and it had been agreed that once the tomatoes were removed, nothing would be planted until it was time to directly sow the wheat.
Mr. Qin felt it was a pity to leave the land idle, “I’m thinking of planting a season of fennel. It grows quickly, taking only about 40 days from sowing to harvest, which would make good use of this period. Doesn’t your bun shop also sell vegetarian buns? Planting fennel would be perfect. We could harvest early, starting from when they’re just over a fork’s length, and it can last for about 10 days. By the time the last cut is done, it won’t be too tough.”
“I know you’re worried about your mom’s and my health, but don’t worry. Ever since I started taking the medicine you brought, I’ve felt much better. My chronic problems haven’t flared up lately. Doing this work is easy peasy, and planting fennel is simple too—just scatter the seeds and water once in the middle, that should suffice. If we’re lucky with the weather, we might not even need to water them.”
Lin Chuxia had been giving the two elders spiritual spring water, worried that the effects of the water were too apparent and might raise suspicions, she went to the hospital to get some vitamins and placebos, telling the elders it was medication introduced to her by someone else, which Mr. Qin had been taking lately.
Hearing Mr. Qin talk about planting fennel, Lin Chuxia nodded, “Then let’s do as Dad says.”
She could see that Mr. Qin was not one to sit idle; having something to do and being physically active was good for him.
After discussing matters of the field, Lin Chuxia returned to her own room. She first took a bath in the spatial storage, changed into clean clothes, and then began to go over the accounts.
Every day, she would leave the money for the next day’s purchases with Su Wensong and keep the rest of the money in her bag—in reality, she kept it in her spatial storage to bring back.
It was an era of loose change, and Lin Chuxia spent quite some time organizing it.
Adding the money left for Su Wensong, the day’s turnover was over eighty yuan.
Since the shop opened, this had been the standard turnover. After deducting costs, there was roughly a fifty yuan profit.
Buns were the mainstay, followed by cold dishes.
Nowadays, vegetable prices were cheap, and the cost for a plate of cold dishes was only a few cents.
Most customers who came to eat at her shop were men, many who didn’t want to go to the state-owned restaurant and preferred eating and chatting at her place. There were also friends catching up over drinks and food; sales of beverages and cold dishes were quite good.
After a while, when the weather cooled down, relying on cold dishes alone wouldn’t do. Lin Chuxia was thinking, once the bun shop was on the right track, she would start selling cooked food as well.
Cooked food was also her strong suit.
And the profit from cooked food was substantial. If she added cooked dishes, the shop’s daily profit could increase by at least twenty yuan.
It would surely mean, however, that the shop would be short-staffed.
Lin Chuxia was contemplating whether to place an ad for a service staff when an acquaintance showed up in the shop the next day.
Seeing Sun Lanlan, Lin Chuxia wanted to slap herself; she had been so busy that she completely forgot about her good friend.
Sun Lanlan looked around the shop, her face full of surprise, “A couple of days ago, my third brother went to the train station to see someone off and said he saw you selling buns at a bun shop. I didn’t believe it, but turns out it’s really you.”
Lin Chuxia led her into the shop, found a quiet corner and poured her a cup of water, “Are you hungry? I’ll grab a couple of buns for you to try.”
Sun Lanlan quickly grabbed her, glanced around, and lowered her voice, “Maybe not, it wouldn’t be good to get spotted by your boss. I’ll just sit here and chat with you. Are you busy? Is it okay to talk?”
Lin Chuxia patted her shoulder, “No problem, I call the shots here. Just make yourself comfortable.”
She then fetched a few buns. At this moment, Su Wensong approached, “Boss, the meat’s all chopped up, we can start making the fillings.”
Sun Lanlan beside them widened her eyes in shock, remaining speechless long after their conversation had finished.
“You… you’re the boss?”