Chapter 12
#“Hop on quickly, Xuezhang will take you for a ride!”#
The teenagers walked side-by-side through the small alley. The once dim alley was now brightly lit by streetlamps. The moment they stepped out of the alley mouth, the clamor of voices and the aroma of street stalls hit them simultaneously. They were like two inconspicuous little fish, instantly merging into an ocean of food.
The exit of the alley was positioned exactly between two mobile food carts. The left one sold hand-held savory pancakes (shouzhuabing) filled with everything, and the right sold grilled cold noodles (kaolengmian) rolled with everything. Yuan Man led Xu Jingyou out from between the pancakes and grilled noodles, getting covered in the scent.
“Do you have any dietary restrictions?” Yuan Man asked. “Cilantro, onions, chili?”
Xu Jingyou shook his head.
“Then is there anything specific you want to eat?” Yuan Man asked again. “Fried chicken skeletons, stinky tofu, or grilled sausages?”
Xu Jingyou shook his head again.
Yuan Man guessed something. “You haven’t eaten street food before, have you?”
Xu Jingyou’s tone was solemn: “My grandmother said these snack stalls all use gutter—”
Before the last word (“oil”) could come out, Yuan Man pounced and covered his mouth.
“Student, please stop being so emo!” Yuan Man scolded jokingly. “If you are emo for a minute alone, that’s one thing, but with so many people in the snack street, you’re ruining the mood for everyone!”
Xu Jingyou: “?”
Familiar rhetoric. It sounded like something the homeroom teacher had said.
Yuan Man continued, “In short, today Father Yuan will take you to appreciate the charm of street stalls!”
In just a few sentences, Yuan Man had inexplicably gained a generation in rank.
He hooked his thumbs under the straps of his backpack and tugged proudly, making a crisp snap. “Let’s go, first stop—Takoyaki!”
The woman selling takoyaki was in her thirties. Yuan Man had a sweet mouth, leaning in and calling her “Jiejie” (Sister) this and “Jiejie” that. The original eight takoyaki were upgraded to ten, topped with a small mountain of bonito flakes and seaweed flakes.
The female vendor asked as she added toppings, “Is it enough, child? If not, don’t be polite with Auntie… don’t be polite with Sister, I’ll add more!”
The fresh takoyaki were steaming hot. The bonito flakes sprinkled on top curled and trembled from the heat; green wasabi sauce and mayonnaise were drizzled across in an alternating pattern. The color was enticing, making Yuan Man’s stomach growl.
However, even though Yuan Man was possessed by a gluttonous ghost, he still generously offered the first takoyaki ball to Xu Jingyou.
It was Xu Jingyou’s first time patronizing this kind of street stall. Following others, he speared a takoyaki ball with a small bamboo skewer, stared at it intently for a moment, and then tentatively swallowed it whole.
In the next second, his pupils constricted violently, his brows furrowed, and his whole person instantly froze.
“Hey, hey, hey, blow on it first!!” Yuan Man panicked. “If it burns, spit it out quickly!”
Spit it out?
Xu Jingyou wouldn’t do something so image-ruining in front of his crush. He was trembling from the burn, but he clenched his teeth on the takoyaki, refusing to let go. His mouth chewed numbly, and he forced himself to swallow it.
After that scalding takoyaki went down, the spicy kick of the wasabi arrived late, punching through his throat like a heavy fist. Before his tongue could react, tears whoosh—rushed out.
Xu Jingyou: T_T
The beautiful boy, usually cool as snow, was instantly streaming rivers of tears.
His eyes were red rimmed, yet his face remained expressionless. With a blink of his long lashes, tears rolled down in strings.
Yuan Man rushed forward anxiously. “Did you get burned or was it too spicy? Don’t… Hahahahaha, don’t… I’m sorry, but really… Hahahahahaha!”
Before finishing a sentence, he collapsed laughing.
Although Yuan Man laughed until he rocked back and forth, the food tray in his hand remained steady. Several takoyaki balls bumped around in the box, sauces mixing into a mess, swaying side to side.
Xu Jingyou lost all face. Ashamed and angry, he wanted to leave but was grabbed by Yuan Man.
“Okay, okay, my bad, my bad.” Yuan Man quickly apologized. “I didn’t remind you the takoyaki was too hot, forgot to tell you the wasabi sauce was too spicy, and shouldn’t have laughed at you… Hope Little Brother Xu has a big heart and won’t be angry anymore.”
His speed in admitting mistakes was too fast, and his attitude extremely fawning. He quickly picked up a takoyaki ball from the box, carefully scraped off the wasabi sauce, brought it to his own lips, puffed out his cheeks, and blew on it.
When he blew, his cheeks puffed up. Combined with his naturally round face, he really looked more like a takoyaki than the takoyaki itself.
“Here, blew it cool. Eat it now!” He brought the takoyaki he had blown on to Xu Jingyou’s lips, flashing an ingratiating smile.
Xu Jingyou stared at the deep dimple on his left cheek, his Adam’s apple bobbing. As if possessed, he lowered his head and took the takoyaki.
Swallowed.
Yuan Man stared at him expectantly. “How is it? Tasty, right?”
“En.”
Actually, Xu Jingyou didn’t taste it at all.
Beside them, the female vendor selling takoyaki watched their interaction from start to finish and praised, “Little student, you two have such a good relationship. Are you brothers or friends?”
“Brothers and friends can’t summarize our profound relationship~” Yuan Man kept them guessing.
Xu Jingyou paused, looking at him in surprise.
Female vendor: “Then you are…?”
Yuan Man shouted, “I am his Dad!”
Xu Jingyou: “…”
Yuan Man: “Look at him, I even have to feed him when he eats. Of course I’m his Dad~ Gaga gaga!”
Xu Jingyou: “…”
Hopeless. Straight guys are hopeless.
…
Yuan Man took Xu Jingyou eating from the start of the street to the end of the alley. Xu Jingyou, holding back a belly full of grievances, didn’t save Yuan Man any money at all, simply eating his little treasury empty.
Yuan Man clutched his wallet in pain. “Stop, stop, stop. Xu Jingyou, how can you eat so much? I clearly remember you eat very little in the school cafeteria, and it’s all vegetables…”
“Because the school cafeteria is too unpalatable.” Xu Jingyou threw away the container of the eighth snack he had finished, speaking coolly. “Do you think I’m like you? Eating the school’s dark cuisine with such relish. You really aren’t picky.”
Actually, Xu Jingyou’s appetite had never been small since childhood; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been bullied by classmates in junior high due to his size. If he hadn’t successfully lost weight with extreme willpower after entering puberty, he wouldn’t have appeared before Yuan Man with this lean, tall new look.
Yuan Man screeched, “Fine! So you plotted this for a long time, just aiming for my wallet!”
Xu Jingyou thought, What I’ve plotted for a long time isn’t just your wallet.
He spoke coolly, “What are we eating next?”
They had eaten from one end of the snack street to the other. Yuan Man looked over and suddenly noticed a teppanyaki (iron plate grill) stall at the alley entrance that he hadn’t seen before.
The teppanyaki stall was converted from an electric tricycle. Most surprisingly, the boss selling teppanyaki was a disabled person!
His left leg was gone from below the knee. His pant leg was tied in a knot and “worn” inside a prosthesis. However, wearing the prosthesis for a long time chafed the flesh, so he had taken it off and placed it in the cart, moving a wooden chair to rest his residual limb on. Just like that, with his right foot on the ground and left knee kneeling on the chair, he stood behind the iron plate cooking for customers.
Beside him, a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl accompanied him, busy sweeping, wiping tables, and packing food. She worked very nimbly. Her skin was dark, her hair the ubiquitous student bob cut, face bare of makeup. Today was clearly Saturday, yet she was wearing a full school uniform—not the uniform of the nearby No. 1 Middle School, but the exact same Normal U Attached High uniform worn by Yuan Man and Xu Jingyou.
Yuan Man and Xu Jingyou subconsciously looked at each other, both reading the same meaning in each other’s eyes—they knew that girl. It was Feng Lin Huijuan from the Honor Roll!
From a distance, the wind carried the conversation between the stall owner and the girl.
“Dad, we didn’t sell much today again. A lot of prepared ingredients are left over. Don’t let Mom skewer so many tomorrow.”
“Juan-er, your mom and I talked it over yesterday. We heard there’s a lot of foot traffic at your school’s back gate. I’m thinking of not coming to No. 1 Middle School after school every day anymore, but going to Normal U Attached High instead.”
“…”
“Why aren’t you talking again? You’re older now, always keeping things in your heart and unwilling to speak out. It’s also blame on Dad and Mom for being uncultured and having little schooling; we can’t help with your studies.”
“…No, I was just thinking about the make-up class this afternoon.”
“Oh right, right, you have make-up classes this afternoon. What time is it? Don’t busy yourself, hurry to school!”
Make-up class this afternoon?
Yuan Man tugged at Xu Jingyou’s sleeve. Xu Jingyou shook his head at him, indicating he didn’t know either.
Indeed, their school’s Grade 1 didn’t have make-up classes.
Feng Lin Huijuan was obviously lying to her dad, but why would she lie?
The father and daughter didn’t notice their conversation had been overheard. After the girl packed up the remaining ingredients on the table, she took her schoolbag out of the cart, said goodbye to her dad, and left alone.
She didn’t take the bus. Instead, she pushed out an old ladies’ bicycle from the side. Although old, it was wiped clean. She stepped onto it, pedaled, and the bicycle left smoothly.
“Quick, follow her!” Yuan Man immediately beckoned Xu Jingyou.
Xu Jingyou: “…How do we follow?”
Surely they couldn’t run behind her while she rode a bike in front.
Just then, a boy riding a bicycle and wearing the No. 1 Middle School High School Division uniform passed in front of them. Passing Xu Jingyou, the other party took several extra looks and finally couldn’t help stopping to strike up a conversation: “Are you… Xu Jingyou? You aren’t really Xu Jingyou, are you! I heard from other classmates you changed a lot after going to Normal U Attached High. I thought it was a rumor, didn’t expect it to really be you. I almost didn’t recognize you!”
Xu Jingyou was blank. “Who are you?”
The cyclist boy’s forehead instantly popped a few vein marks. “Xu Jingyou, I’m your junior high classmate!! In Grade 9, I sat at the same desk as you for a whole semester—Hey, wait, who are you? Why are you snatching my bike!”
Yuan Man couldn’t care about all that. A bicycle appearing right in front of them when they needed it most—if this wasn’t a gift from nature, what was?
Let us say together: Thank you, Nature!
Yuan Man jumped onto the bicycle that fell from the sky, one hand on the handle, the other patting the rear seat, throwing a wink at Xu Jingyou.
“Hop on quickly!” He whistled, speaking with great dashing flair. “Xu Jingyou, Xuezhang will take you for a ride!”
[Author’s Note] Little couple going for a joyride (/strike through) going to solve a case!!! [Fighting]
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