dognovel Chapter 17 Pancake Stand
Chapter 17 Pancake Stand
The man pushing the food cart was in his fifties.
He had thick eyebrows, big eyes, a straight nose, a square mouth, and a tall and broad build; he must have been a strong man when he was young.
The man selling jianbing guozi is named Ma Wenming. He has been setting up his stall at the entrance of the residential area for more than two years, and customers call him Lao Ma.
His son got married a while ago.
Ma Wenming was unavailable and disappeared for a few days.
I'm setting up my stall as usual today.
As soon as Ma Wenming pushed his cart to the designated spot, he smelled the aroma of meat buns. He took a deep sniff and was surprised to find that the smell was coming from a vegetarian breakfast shop.
"Isn't this young wife quitting?"
Ma Wenming and his young wife had fought quite a few battles.
The young wife complained that he set up his stall there, blocking her door and stealing her business.
Ma Wenming said that he had been there for several years, and why should she, a newcomer, be asked to move?
The young wife was furious and started yelling at Ma Wenming all day long, like a shrew.
Ma Wenming didn't say anything, and everyone thought he had chickened out.
As it turned out, Ma Wenming had an even more ruthless trick up his sleeve.
The next day, he took a rusty kitchen knife from home, found a stool, and sat down at the shop entrance, right in front of him, and began sharpening it, stroke by stroke.
The young woman looked at the rusty kitchen knife, which had been polished to a shine.
In addition, Ma Wenming is tall and strong.
She was so frightened that she dared not say anything and could only turn a blind eye.
Ma Wenming wasn't afraid of her, so he walked to the shop entrance, craned his neck, and looked inside, only to find that the person inside had changed.
Chen Yuan put the steamed buns on the stove, and when he turned around, he saw Ma Wenming. Thinking he was a guest, he quickly greeted him.
"Hello, would you like to have some steamed buns? Please come in, please come in."
Ma Wenming remained silent, so Chen Yuan spoke again.
"Fresh meat buns are three yuan each, handmade, with thin skin and generous filling, good quality and inexpensive."
Ma Wenming finally spoke, pointing to the food cart next to him.
"My car isn't blocking your doorway, is it?"
Chen Yuan then noticed a food cart with "Jianbing Guozi" (Chinese crepe) on it not far ahead.
He understood immediately and quickly said...
"It's not in the way; you can stop there if you want."
Ma Wenming responded in a muffled voice, without saying a word, and turned around to go to the stall to start preparing today's jianbing guozi.
Chen Yuan glanced at him, feeling a mix of emotions.
"This old man is so difficult to talk to; there's bound to be some friction in the future."
Time flies.
The majority of the customer traffic is concentrated between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m.
People going to work, doing morning exercises, and students will generally be there during this time period.
These two hours were also Chen Yuan's busiest two hours.
They're usually so busy they barely have time to breathe; their hands are practically dancing in circles when they're picking up buns.
With the groundwork laid in the previous two days.
On the third day, even more people came to Chen Yuan's shop.
It's basically a system where experienced people mentor new ones.
It's ten minutes to eight o'clock.
All 400+ steamed buns were sold out.
There were a few left in the steamer; Chen Yuan had saved them for breakfast and lunch.
This also saves time on cooking.
Seeing that Su Qingxue hadn't arrived yet, Chen Yuan got a little anxious and sent her a message to ask. Su Qingxue said she would arrive in fifteen minutes.
Chen Yuan could only wait in the shop with his daughter.
Chen Youyou took big bites of the fragrant meat bun in her hand.
"Dad, your meat buns smell so good! I love them!"
"How much do you like to eat?"
"I like it so much, I really like it that much!"
As she spoke, Chen Youyou forcefully opened her arms, making a very large gesture.
"I just like it that much, I really like it."
Chen Yuan stroked her soft, black hair and said.
"I'm so happy you said that! From now on, I'll cook you delicious food every day, okay?"
"Okay~ Daddy is the best, I love Daddy the most."
As she spoke, Chen Youyou leaned her head into Chen Yuan's arms, her big eyes blinking, her long, curled eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings.
Chen Yuan's heart melted.
At this moment, the daughter's cheeks puffed out, and she spoke again.
"Dad, yesterday Dongdong from kindergarten told me that he likes me and wants to marry me when he grows up."
A bucket of cold water was poured over his head, making Chen Yuan's heart pound.
Whose blond-haired guy is trying to take my daughter away?!
"What?! So you agreed or not?"
"I didn't agree. I don't like him. I love my dad. I want to marry my dad."
Chen Yuan felt his heart, which had almost stopped, come back to life, and said with lingering fear.
"That's great, that's great! If any little boy ever asks to marry you again, just tell him your dad won't allow it, understand?"
"Yes, I know."
Looking at the obedient Chen Youyou, Chen Yuan suddenly made up his mind.
Looks like I need to really improve my physical fitness, otherwise I won't be able to put up any real strength when I'm beating up that blond guy!
Chen Yuan thought through gritted teeth.
To Chen Yuan's utter surprise, the outcome was completely unexpected.
Instead of Su Qingxue, the old woman arrived instead.
The old woman, carrying steamed buns, stopped arrogantly in front of Chen Yuan's shop.
He even deliberately shook the bun in his hand.
"Oh well, if someone doesn't want to sell, they don't want to sell. I wouldn't eat a hairy pig even without Butcher Zhang. If he doesn't sell, there are plenty of other people who will. With money, why worry about not finding a seller?"
"Hmph, let some people regret it. They'll lose a lot of money without me as a major client!"
Done.
The old woman was about to lift her leg and leave.
Then they saw Chen Yuan scratch his ear.
"Hiss... Whose dog is barking like that? And it barks so awfully!"
The old lady stumbled and almost fell, then angrily cursed.
"Who are you calling a brat?"
"I'll just yell at anyone who tries to talk to me."
"You—you have no manners! You've got a life but no one taught you! You—"
"What breed of dog are you? Why are you so aggressive?"
"You—! You—!"
Chen Yuan's face remained expressionless, and his tone was remarkably calm.
And to prevent the child from going astray, Chen Youyou's ears were covered beforehand.
That old lady was ruthless, no matter what.
However, he wasn't good at swearing, and when he couldn't win an argument with Chen Yuan, he stormed off in a huff.
The old lady ran all the way home, fuming.
As soon as I entered the house, I put the steamed buns I was holding on the table.
The grandson's eyes lit up immediately, and he tore open the plastic bag and stuffed the bun into his mouth.
Just as the old lady was about to speak, she heard her grandson vomit, spitting out the bun in his mouth.
"What is this, Grandma? It tastes awful!"