Chapter 12: Selling Steamed Buns (Part 1)

  Before long, it was autumn. At the end of August, on an autumn evening, a gentle breeze blew away the summer heat of the day. After dinner, they moved small chairs to sit around the wooden table under the big jujube tree in the courtyard to study, with books and paper pens on the table.

  The sky was painted with a brilliant red glow, and the small courtyard was filled with an intense atmosphere of study. Grandma had also moved a small stool to sit on one side, darning socks, occasionally glancing at them with a warm smile. Fang Mengnan had planted some citronella near the north wall, which wasn't afraid of mosquito bites.

  Little aunt lost her books for four or five years, Chinese and math are easy to pick up due to solid foundation. These days have already mastered everything. English was learned, but forgotten as soon as I left school. It's also very little used at this time, especially in this small county town.

  "I've already returned this to the teacher, I still need to learn English." The little aunt looked at those crooked and twisted tadpole-like characters, reading them with a stutter, and her pronunciation was not accurate. The more she looked, the angrier she became, closing the book and gently placing it on the square table. If she got any angrier, she didn't dare throw the book away, that would be too reckless. Last time at Old Master's house, she hadn't torn the book apart, but had been scolded for half an hour.

  Mr. Lin picked up the book and opened it, reading aloud in fluent English with a rhythmic tone.

  Fang Mo Nan hung her head, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes. The pure British accent, without any rural tone, was just like listening to the BBC broadcast. She took a lesson and remembered to be cautious in front of Old Master, so she suppressed her mouth and didn't exclaim in surprise. She had found a good teacher for Little Auntie, probably the only authentic English teacher in the whole county. Pretending to still be writing, she listened intently with her ears perked up. What Old Master was reading turned out to be Sherlock Holmes. With her head hung low, she listened with relish.

  "Huh, forget it." Fang Mo Nan muttered to herself, not daring to lift her head up, she was listening intently.

  "What's wrong?" Old Master Lin asked with a showy look at Little Auntie.

  "It sounds great, even better than the announcers on the radio, but unfortunately I didn't understand a single word." Xiaoyi said honestly. "But now I still can't see how learning English is useful in real life, and I won't be going abroad anyway." She asked what was on her mind.

  Mr. Lin tapped her head with a book, looking frustrated. "Useless, I've had you read the newspaper for days and it's all been in vain. With reform and opening up, foreigners are coming in and we can't understand what they're saying. It's useful, not just for now, but also for university exams. You'll have a better chance of getting in if you learn this well."

  "College entrance exams are approaching and I'm still wondering if I can get into high school," Xiaoyi muttered in complaint.

  "Never mind that for now, we'll talk about it later. It's good for you, just learn it." Grandma didn't care about all that, she just thought the old man was right and only supported him wholeheartedly.

  Fang Mò Nán lifted his head and looked at them, saying "What's so difficult about this? Listen." A childish voice came out with a fluent English phrase, only a few sentences, exactly the same as Lín Old Master.

  Little Aunt Zhang's mouth was agape, "You... you..." with an incredulous expression, the rest was just gloom.

  Studying with her little nephew, Aunt felt particularly hurt in her self-esteem. What other three-year-old children think about every day is probably just eating and playing with mud? But this one, holding books every day, sweetly calling "Aunt", even wants to call her "Grandma" when studying. Who learns so fast, reacts so sensitively, has super abnormal memory, remembers most of what they hear? Not only does she understand at once, but also can make connections and deductions. Sometimes when she can't recite something, she even needs to be reminded by the child.

  She gritted her teeth and studied hard, thinking intensely to avoid falling behind too much. Many times she wanted to throw away these annoying books and leave, but every time she saw her little niece's big, shining eyes filled with trust, she couldn't bring herself to do so. This was the first time in her life that she had become someone's aunt, and the sense of honor made her determined to persevere no matter what. The material they were reviewing a few days ago was elementary school content, which she quickly grasped. Now it was junior high school knowledge, and she couldn't catch up even if she tried, so she might as well find some dignity back, or else she would really go crazy. If she let her fall behind on purpose, wouldn't that drive her mad?

  Grandma doesn't think her little granddaughter is a freak either, she's just delighted and thinks she's clever, while Little Auntie is stupid.

  Master Lin nodded his head "Hmmm, the imitation is good." He was now very pleased, having taken in this young apprentice who had a natural talent, making him feel very accomplished as a teacher.

  "Huh, I won't recite it anymore." Little Aunt asked with a smile.

  "Oh, I only remember these few sentences." Fang Mo Nan said with a wave of her hand. She did want to continue reading on, but was afraid of scaring them off. Her learning progress had already been very restrained.

  The sky gradually darkened, and they stopped studying, as reading was bad for their eyes. Fang Mo Nan urged Old Man Lin to tell a story. Old Man Lin had no choice but to tell the story of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Grandma and Little Aunt also listened with great interest, this was a small reward after studying every day. It wasn't until the sky turned completely dark that they reluctantly left. In an era without entertainment, having stories to listen to was already a luxury.

  Auntie is no longer a child, and with Old Master Lin's guidance, she can quickly solve the problems that used to give her headaches. Every time she sees Old Master Lin nodding in satisfaction, she feels a sense of joy and fulfillment in learning. These days, Auntie has come to admire Old Master Lin, from initial skepticism to now wholeheartedly admiring him with an unhidden look of reverence in her eyes.

  As Fang Mo Nan gradually found out, she and Xiao Yi had different focuses on their studies. Xiao Yi only cared about passing the exams, the knowledge in the textbooks.

  While Fang Mo Nan's were mostly ancient texts, national studies and traditional Chinese ink paintings. Starting from "Three Character Classic", " Hundred Family Surnames" and "Thousand Character Classic", she systematically learned traditional cultural knowledge. Seeing her language talent, Old Man Lin also started teaching her English and French.

  Fang Mosou's days were filled with a busy schedule, every day at dawn... getting up, entering the space, meditating and practicing medicine, waiting for two days, getting up at 5 o'clock, going to the backyard to water vegetables and fertilize. Then running exercises, another benefit of Old Man Lin moving in was that she could finally go out for morning exercise openly. Because Old Man Lin also had a daily routine of morning exercise that never changed. Their footprints covered every corner of the county town, and Fang Mosou re-familiarized herself with each road.

  After running, Fang Mo Nan still habitually goes to the backyard track for aerobic exercise. After finishing breakfast, he writes big characters, takes a one-hour nap in the afternoon, and paints. In the evening, Old Man Lin checks and guides him, learns new content, and assigns homework for the next day.

  Her aunt's life also became busy, not only did she have to work, but she didn't forget to study, and sometimes while working, she would recite English words. Life was very tiring, but it had meaning, mainly because she felt that her life had a direction, and she was willing to be tired and happy like this.

  Grandma has been watching her daughter and granddaughter these days, working hard every day. She wanted to steam some white mantou to indulge them a bit. When looking for yeast, she unexpectedly found an unopened bag of milk powder. After checking the expiration date, it was still good. She then remembered that this was brought by her eldest daughter before going back to the countryside. Because when Fang Mo Nan was born, there was no breast milk, and this granddaughter was raised on millet porridge. With great difficulty, she had saved up to buy a bag of milk powder for the child's supplementary meals.

  Grandma took the milk powder and walked to the corridor, where Fang Mo Nan was writing big characters in red. "Come, Nannan, take a look at this! This is milk powder, Grandma will mix it for you to drink later, it's very sweet and fragrant."

  Fang Mo Nan looked up and saw that she was holding a bag of milk powder, an ordinary packaged one with a picture of a cow on it, the kind of packaging often seen in those days.

  "Grandma also drinks." Fang Mo Nan put down his pen and said with a smile.

  "Give it to your grandma, don't drink it yourself, take it in for her right now." Grandma went into the house with excitement.

  Fang Mo Nan saw that she had written enough, and rubbed her sore wrist. She was now the happiest person who had finally conquered the high threshold. First, she rode up, then slowly slid down. She walked in and saw that Grandma had brewed it well and it was waiting on the table to cool down.

  Grandma told her not to move now, it's hot, wait here, and then she went to make mantou with peace of mind.

  Fang Mo Nan watched as Grandma took out the basin, flour and old yeast. She picked up a towel-wrapped bowl of milk powder and walked over to Grandma's side. When Grandma wasn't paying attention, she quickly poured it into the basin, turning the dry flour into a sticky dough.

  Grandma got angry and said "You child, look at this, it's for steaming buns, what are you doing now?"

  "This way Grandma can drink the milk powder." Fang Mo Nan blinked her bright eyes and said cutely, her grandma wouldn't drink milk powder, so she could only use this method.

  Her grandmother's angry face disappeared in an instant, and she looked at her with a smile, feeling a little sour in her heart. "You child, teaching me that you're good this time, the water is too much, and we have to add more flour."

  The next day, the buns were still in the pot, and Fang Mo Nan smelled the milk fragrance and the bun's fragrance, which was really fragrant. Due to yesterday's reason, today's buns were steamed too much, and Autumn Tiger was also very fierce, without a refrigerator, they would spoil if left out for long, wasting food, and inviting heavenly thunderbolts.

  "Grandma pretended to scold Nannan, saying 'Look at you, you've done a great job, now you have to finish eating all of this.'"

  "There's so much, I won't be able to finish it all. Why don't we give some to Grandpa Lin instead?" Fang Mo Nan didn't expect that she had steamed so much, and she definitely didn't want to burst from eating too much.

  "Give them to the neighbors on the left and right, but there are too many. It's too hot, can't keep them for long. What to do?" Grandma looked at the table full of mantou with a difficult expression.

  "This is easy to handle, selling it will be fine." Fang Mo Nan thought about it more and felt that it was feasible. This might be an opportunity, she had walked through the county town without seeing any individual vendors selling mantou (steamed buns). Their mantou, made with spring water from the space and milk powder, would definitely taste better than those sold by the state-owned shops.

  "Can it be done without jumping characters?" Grandma looked at her hesitantly. "Every household usually eats steamed buns, who would buy them?"

  "It's almost noon now, our home is close to the county high school, and it just so happens that school started two days ago. Within a hundred miles, there's only one high school, and most of the students are boarders. If we sell the buns there, they'll definitely sell out." Fang Mo Nan urged her, "Just give it a try. Hurry up and eat, or else they'll go bad."

  "Alright, let's treat a dead horse as if it were alive," Grandma said resolutely, stamping her foot. She fetched a large bamboo basket from home, arranged the steamed buns neatly inside, and then borrowed a simple four-wheeled cart with iron axles from someone else. After placing the basket on the cart, Grandma thought this wouldn't do - she had to cover the buns. So she went back to fetch some unused white mosquito netting, folded it a few times, and covered the buns. She locked the door, followed by a small tail (the child), and they set off together towards the high school in the south.

  After walking for about ten minutes, I arrived at the high school entrance. It happened to be lunchtime and students were being dismissed. The first ones to come out were the day students. Fang Mo Nan and her friends were standing on one side of the gate, pushing their carts.

  The students looked at the pair in surprise, a grandfather and grandson standing at the door, pushing a cart with a large bamboo basket on it, not looking like they were looking for anyone either. Three or four curious ones took a look and left, stopping for a while.

  Grandma stood there stupidly, watching them walk in, tense as if she shouldn't be doing this.

  "Are you looking for someone? Don't jump to conclusions. One of them, with a short haircut, about 15 or 16 years old, with an inquiring expression, asked tentatively."

  "Grandma's tense words were unclear."

  "We've come to sell mantou." Fang Mo Nan's sweet and tender voice, she tiptoed, lifted the white gauze on the bamboo basket, and a strong aroma of steamed buns wafted out.

  Grandma also calmed down and became more efficient, "Let's sell mantou (steamed buns) to them."

  Three or four students attended a class, and they were all a bit hungry. Looking at the steamed buns, a male student said, "They are whiter than those in the school cafeteria." Although he was a commuter student, he had eaten in the school before, but it was really unforgettable, and he never wanted to go again.

  Another way is to make it smaller.”

  Another road is quite soft and smooth, while the steamed buns in the cafeteria are as hard as bricks.

  "Take another deep breath and smell carefully, there's still a hint of milk."

  The old lady hadn't even greeted them, but they had already started discussing. The old lady listened to them and saw some students gathering around, so she didn't care about selling or not selling for now, just seeing so many people made her feel a little excited, and she began to calculate in her mind how much money would be suitable to sell.

  Fang Mo Nan looked at the crowd gathering, knowing that people have a herd mentality, so he loudly hawked; "Delicious white mantou, fragrant and sweet, with a milky flavor." The crowd became even more chatty, everyone saying something.

  The boy who started first asked "How much is this selling for?"

  "Grandma smiled and said, 'With a grain coupon, five cents for two; without a grain coupon, three cents each.' The public canteen sells steamed buns with a grain coupon for two cents each, but their flour is coarse. Ours is refined flour, whiter than theirs, so the price is naturally higher.'"

  "'Hao' is more expensive than what's sold at the public house. Some students said, before the old man and his grandson could even respond, others chimed in saying it's so white and fragrant, it's not considered expensive."

  For new things, they have a try-it-out attitude, and someone buys it on the spot. Breaking open the steamed buns to share with classmates nearby, as they eat, people around them watch and wait for their reaction, "Hmm, it's delicious, even better than my mom's steaming."

  Some people advertised, and other students also took out money to buy them. Boarding students saw a large crowd gathered at the entrance and curiously walked over to take a look. They were selling steamed buns, which were better than those in the school cafeteria, but they thought they were a bit expensive.

  Fang Mo Nan looked at their hesitant appearance, "Today is the first day of opening, one mao, four don't need grain tickets."

  They no longer hesitated and bought mantou (steamed buns) to eat with the pickled vegetables they had brought from home, which was better than eating in the cafeteria.

  They see them taking out money one after another, and think that such delicious steamed buns should be bought back home for their family to taste. Grandma has a clean white cloth wrapped around her hand, holding the steamed bun, Fang Mennai faces them, raises the small paper box in his hand and puts the money in it.

  Fang Mo Nan watched as the money came in, silently counting the still incoming money, including coins, banknotes, and even grain coupons. Someone curiously looked at Fang Mo Nan quickly collecting the money and asked, "Don't count it anymore."

  "I won't go out" Fang Mo Nan loudly counted out, from the earlier hustle and bustle to now Fang Mo Nan's counting, Grandma quickly calculated several steamed buns on her side. The two of them cooperated for the first time, and it was surprisingly seamless.

  Although women of grandma's age may not know a single character, they are very quick with simple mental arithmetic, because after years and months of buying vegetables and daily necessities, these calculations don't need to be taught, they come from life itself.

  Is it?