Standing downstairs, watching the crowd coming and going.
Liu Changqing took out a cigarette.
Thinking about how he still had to wait for another two or three hours, he felt like he couldn't take it anymore.
He pulled out his lighter, shielding the fla with his hand as he lit the cigarette. After taking a puff, he tilted his head slightly and exhaled.
Watching the smoke disperse, his gaze turned distant.
"Liu Changqing?"
A voice pulled him back to reality. Liu Changqing turned his head towards the source of the voice not far away, his originally wistful expression slowly shifting into surprise.
There stood Lan Yixian, in front of a street stall.
Realizing what was happening, Liu Changqing, cigarette in hand, walked over, his face full of surprise.
Glancing at Lan Yixian, who was wearing an apron, and then at the tricycle stall in front of her, he hesitated.
"This is…?"
Before he could finish his sentence, a white loudspeaker in the bicycle basket crackled to life.
Liu Changqing imdiately recognized Lan Yixian’s voice coming from it.
"Soy milk, eight-treasure porridge, shuijimo, cornal buns!"
The slightly muffled announcent from the speaker ended, and Lan Yixian hurriedly grabbed it from the basket, switching it off.
Holding the speaker in her hands, she suddenly felt a bit embarrassed for so reason.
Liu Changqing looked at her lowered head, his expression shifting as his gaze moved to the items loaded on the electric tricycle.
After a mont of thought, he asked, "So this is… your side hustle?"
It had only been a little over a week since they'd last seen each other, and now, running into her like this made Liu Changqing feel like this city was really small. At the sa ti, he found himself curious about Lan Yixian’s current situation.
He tapped the handlebars of the tricycle.
"How much did this cost?"
"It wasn’t too expensive… A woman I know sold it to ."
"A woman you know?"
Hearing his question, Lan Yixian nodded.
"She used to do this, but recently she decided to return to her hotown, so she sold it to …"
"…"
After hearing that, Liu Changqing’s expression turned a little odd.
Lan Yixian noticed and asked in confusion, "What’s wrong?"
"You got scamd."
"Huh? Why do you say that?"
She clearly couldn’t understand why Liu Changqing would say such a thing. The woman had been kind, polite, and had taken good care of her—how could she have scamd her?
Looking at Lan Yixian’s innocent expression, Liu Changqing sighed and flicked the ash from his cigarette.
"Do you not watch the news? They’ve recently banned this kind of street vending."
"R-Really?"
She froze for a second, then her expression quickly turned anxious.
Today was her first day setting up shop. She had specifically picked this spot because there were many dance studios and extracurricular training centers nearby, aning a lot of students.
The foot traffic was excellent.
She had barely been here two minutes before running into Liu Changqing, who was taking a smoke break outside.
And now, he was telling her this.
Her expression turned dejected, and she gripped the speaker in her hands a little tighter.
Liu Changqing took another puff, exhaled, then suddenly chuckled.
"Hahaha, I was just ssing with you. I haven’t watched the news lately either!"
"…Huh?"
Lan Yixian stared at him, dumbfounded.
She wasn’t very tall, only about 1.6 ters, so she always had to tilt her head up slightly when looking at Liu Changqing.
Hearing what he said, she finally reacted, but instead of getting mad, she just let out a relieved sigh.
It wasn’t a huge amount of money, but buying this setup had still cost her quite a bit. If she really couldn’t do this, then that money would’ve been wasted.
Liu Changqing watched her visibly relax, and gradually, his playful expression faded.
Liu Changqing thought for a mont before asking,
"I just heard you say shuijimo, what’s inside?"
"Bean sprouts, shredded potatoes, and you can add a fried egg or a boiled egg."
"Is it spicy?"
"There’s chili oil. If you like it spicy, I can add so."
"Then… I’ll have one."
"You’re actually going to eat it?"
"Yeah, I haven’t had one in a long ti."
Flicking the cigarette butt to the ground, Liu Changqing stepped on it to put it out.
Just as he said, the last ti he had this was back in his past life, during high school.
Back then, on Saturdays and Sundays at ho, there was always soone riding an electric tricycle selling these in the afternoons. He still rembered the loudspeaker’s announcent vividly—he could hear it from far away.
Hearing his request, Lan Yixian responded and started making it. She spread out the bun on a plate, then used chopsticks to fill it with the ingredients.
She turned to Liu Changqing and asked,
"Do you want a fried egg or a boiled egg?"
"Either one is fine."
"…"
Faced with such a vague answer, Lan Yixian thought for a mont and decided to give him both.
One fried, one boiled.
Then, she opened a small jar of chili oil and generously sprinkled it inside, using chopsticks to spread it evenly before wrapping the bun in a plastic bag and handing it to Liu Changqing.
She rembered he had once ntioned he liked spicy food.
Liu Changqing took the shuijimo from her and comnted,
"This is a lot… You’re gonna lose money if you keep doing this."
"As long as the kids are full, that’s all that matters. Oh, do you want eight-treasure porridge or soy milk?"
"Soy milk, with so sugar."
"Got it."
A mont later, Liu Changqing held a shuijimo in his left hand and a cup of soy milk in his right, eating as he stood there.
The first bite was packed with flavor. Though it wasn’t anything fancy, it had its own unique taste.
And for Liu Changqing, it was satisfying.
Swallowing his bite, he took a sip of soy milk, let out a small breath, and asked,
"How much is all this?"
"It’s on the house."
"No way. I’m here to support your business, not to eat for free. You should charge properly."
"Then just deduct it from the money I owe you."
"Uh…"
Hearing this, Liu Changqing suddenly felt like the shuijimo in his hand wasn’t as delicious anymore.
He knew she wouldn’t actually deduct it.
This woman… could be incredibly stubborn sotis.
Sothing crossed his mind, and he asked,
"You still sell wowo tou too, right? I heard it just now."
"Yeah, four for fifty cents, eight for a yuan."
"Wowo tou, one yuan for eight, hehe～"
"…"
Lan Yixian stared at him, utterly confused by the way he just pinched his voice to say that.
He sounded… weird.
The mont the words left his mouth, Liu Changqing realized how ridiculous he sounded. His rarely seen embarrassnt showed as his face flushed slightly. He coughed twice to change the subject.
"If you don’t use the loudspeaker, will anyone even co to buy?"
"They… probably will?"
"You should turn it back on. If you don’t call out, no custors will show up."
After thinking for a mont, Lan Yixian agreed with him and switched the loudspeaker back on.
With a crackling sound, her flat voice rang out once again.
"Soy milk, eight-treasure porridge, shuijimo, wowo tou."
Surprisingly, her simple announcent worked.
One after another, a few students heading to their training classes—probably skipping als—ca over to buy sothing.
Having finished his shuijimo and soy milk, Liu Changqing, with nothing better to do, started helping out.
Until…
A car pulled up by the roadside.
A few uniford officers stepped out and walked up to the stall.
With stern expressions, one of them said,
"This area is off-limits for street vendors."
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