Huaihua Fen
For over a month, the entire month of August, Father Su felt like he was about to wither away. He admitted that at the very beginning, he had been a bit dismissive of the fried skewers. But he swore that he soon painedly corrected his past mistakes. Towards the fried skewers, he was one heart, one mind1; even while eating, he would be thinking of fried rice cakes, his dreams were filled with tenderloin, and from time to time, a starch sausage would pop into his mind.
He had reached this level of sincerity towards the fried skewers; he truly, desperately wanted to eat them. But the reality was, for the whole of August, he had started by just occasionally going over to take a look, and by mid-August, he was running over there to wait every single day.
After realizing that the Miao Miao’s Mobile Food Bar would never come back here again, he began to search for other fried skewer shops. At that time, he still carried a sense of pride: In this whole world, is yours the only fried skewer worth eating? I don’t believe it! There must be other fried skewers, other delicious fried skewers in existence!
He did a lot of research on fried skewers, finally selecting a few that sounded exceptionally delicious, and then took Shen Yiqiu to try them. The result? Forget Shen Yiqiu, even he himself found them unappetizing.
To be precise, it wasn’t that they weren’t tasty, just that they weren’t as tasty as the ones from that Miao Miao’s Mobile Food Bar.
On one rare occasion, he ate some that were fairly decent, and it was Shen Yiqiu’s suggestion. She had Father Su pick her up after work, and then, at the entrance of her company, they found a fried skewer stall and bought some. The stall owner was an honest and simple man, and that day his wife was also there helping out, wearing a kind and rustic smile on her face, bearing a slight resemblance to the young boss of the Miao Miao’s Mobile Food Bar.
It was unclear if Father Su had walked into fire and entered the devil2 over the Miao Miao’s Mobile Food Bar’s fried skewers, but even this bite of fried skewer tasted reminiscent of that place.
That day, Father Su ate to his heart’s content.
But after finishing, all that was left in his heart was an endless emptiness. If he hadn’t tasted this somewhat similar bite, Father Su could have endured it a little longer. But having eaten this bite so similar to that shop’s, all the previous memories came flooding back into his mind.
At this moment, he finally understood the meaning of a line from a TV series Shen Yiqiu occasionally watched: “You are very good, and you are very much like her; it’s just that you are not quite so much like her.”
Sobs, nothing could be a flat replacement3 for the white moonlight4 in one’s heart.
Father Su couldn’t help but sigh, feeling that he and the Miao Miao’s Mobile Food Bar might just forget each other in the Jianghu5, never to meet again. The Miao Miao’s Mobile Food Bar was a fleeting meteor in his middle-aged life, impossible to grasp.
On the tenth day after he had this thought, he gave up searching for a shadow of the Miao Miao’s Mobile Food Bar and resolved to remember that taste for the rest of his life. However, on September 1st, a workday just like any other. A perfectly ordinary Friday. Because he had a business dinner in the evening and had to leave the company early, the driver was driving him out of the company’s campus. Not long after they had exited, he suddenly saw a small food cart driving in the oncoming non-motorized vehicle lane.
——Miao! Miao! Mo! Bile! Food! Bar!
At that moment, its sign landed on the ground with a sound6 in Father Su’s heart. He immediately yelled at the driver: “Stop the car!” Father Su and his assistant hurriedly got out, even shouting loudly at Sun Miao, who was driving very slowly: “Wait a minute! What are you doing now?!”
At this moment, 4:35 PM, Sun Miao was on her way to her new stall location. Hearing someone call her, Sun Miao was taken aback for a moment. She turned her head to look, and—whoa, Su Ruixi’s biological father.
Sun Miao stopped the cart and looked at Father Su from across the guardrail: “I’m heading out to set up my stall.”
Father Su was also stunned: “Where are you going to set up your stall?”
“The industrial park up ahead. I’m setting up at the entrance.”
The industrial park up ahead… isn’t that his own company’s headquarters?!
Father Su’s eyes opened wide in anger. He pointed at Sun Miao and said: “You wait, don’t run.”
“…I’m not running, I’m almost there.”
Father Su got back in the car and told the driver to turn around and go back. Seeing Father Su get into the car, Sun Miao started her electric cart again. She arrived at the entrance of the industrial park and, following the system’s instructions, began a new round of her stall-setting career under the second streetlight.
As Sun Miao was setting up her stall, Father Su also arrived late and unhurriedly. But then he suddenly discovered that, at some unknown point, a lot of people had appeared at the entrance of his company’s campus. And… they all looked somewhat familiar.
Needless to say, there was the Hip-hop Yabi Duo. Xu Zi’an was one of Su Ruixi’s few friends and had even come to their house as a guest when he was little; he had a deep impression of him. Yabi Mei also looked familiar; he knew she was good friends with the hip-hop girl. Surrounding these two kids was a group of fuerdai7 who, like them, had nothing better to do but wouldn’t cause trouble for their families.
Looking further to the side, whoa, there were quite a few acquaintances. They weren’t exactly in the same league as Father Su, but they would more or less see each other at banquets. In short, they looked familiar.
While they looked familiar to Father Su, he looked even more familiar to them. Seeing Father Su, those further back in the line immediately greeted him. Those a bit closer to the front, even if they didn’t greet him, all nodded in acknowledgment. Only the Hip-hop Yabi Duo at the very front, who definitely recognized Father Su, didn’t see him because they were some distance away.
“Are you all here to line up…”
Before Father Su could finish, someone in front of him said enthusiastically, “Yes, yes, we’re all here to line up for snacks. I didn’t expect it to be at the entrance of Director Su’s company campus this time. Director Su’s company isn’t off work yet, right? When work lets out later, there will probably be even more people.”
Seeing that they were people he knew, and thinking back to the maneuver of the girl behind him one time when he was buying fried skewers, he really thought: Could I find a way to move to the front?
But just as Father Su had this intention and was about to put it into practice, he heard someone at the front of the line say, “Everyone here is pretty ruthless. No matter how others broke their mouth skins talking8, they just won’t help buy extra or give up their spot. I heard it’s limited today, one serving per person. And they’re afraid that if they give up their spot, they’ll get blacklisted9 later.”
Hearing this, Father Su was shocked, not because of the talk of being blacklisted or not giving up spots, but because it was limited! Those fried skewers, one serving is only three skewers, who could possibly get enough! Thinking of this, he immediately pulled his driver and assistant over, telling them to line up with him.
Seeing this, the person in front spoke again: “Director Su, that’s not very appropriate. After all, it’s limited, and the total quantity is only so much. Everyone at the front has a driver, too. If they all did what you’re doing, the people at the back would definitely not get any.”
“…” What this person said made so much sense, and as they spoke so righteously, the bit of flattery and obsequiousness they had for him completely vanished. Father Su was a bit embarrassed: “It’s my treat, I’ll let them eat it themselves. It would be reasonable for them to give me a bite then, right!”
The person in front thought for a moment and realized it was indeed feasible.
Father Su, however, was thinking. He would ask them each for one skewer. From the driver, he’d get a rice cake. From the assistant, should he get the tenderloin, or the starch sausage?
But before he could think it through, he saw that someone at the front had already gotten their snack and was squatting off to the side with it. The thing they were holding had nothing to do with the three-piece fried skewer set Father Su was imagining. Each of them held a small bowl, squatting right there on the roadside, and greatly feasted on the delicacies with disposable spoons.
Father Su realized something was wrong and quickly asked the person in front of him, “What is the Miao Miao’s Mobile Food Bar selling?”
“Gui Province Huaihua Fen10. I heard it’s chilled and relieves summer heat, best to eat in the summer. I’m not from Gui Province, but a boss I know from there highly recommended it, so I came to line up. It’s so hot today, if it weren’t for not having seen young boss Sun for so long, I wouldn’t have come.”
Father Su’s eyelid twitched: “No, aren’t they selling fried skewers?”
“Director Su, the fried skewers were over a month ago. They’re definitely not selling that this time.”
Father Su didn’t give up and continued to wait in line, slowly moving forward. When it was his turn, he really couldn’t hold back and asked, “How come you’re not selling fried skewers?” But as soon as he asked, he regretted it, because Sun Miao looked quite hot. She had a towel wrapped around her neck, and there were beads of sweat on her cheeks. She looked up at Father Su’s words.
Although she was hot and tired, Sun Miao’s face was full of smiles: “Even though it’s September, the weather is still very hot. A bowl of chilled Huaihua Fen is the best thing for this time of day. Would you like a bowl?”
To be honest, Father Su was also quite hot. He was in a suit and tie; even when it was thirty-seven or thirty-eight degrees, he wore formal attire. This summer had been particularly hot, and even on September 1st, it was still frighteningly hot. It was now past five-thirty, but the sun still hung in the sky, refusing to go down. Father Su had been waiting in line for so long and had sweated quite a bit.
Hearing that it was something chilled, he didn’t hesitate and directly bought a serving for himself, his driver, and his assistant.
And so, three more people were added to the roadside, holding disposable bowls and spoons.
Father Su looked at the chilled Huaihua Fen before him, somewhat lost in thought: he had come to buy fried skewers, but ended up with this thing. 15 yuan a bowl, cheaper than the fried skewers, but just a tiny bowl. The assistant and driver were already digging in. Seeing this, Father Su also began to eat.
The chilled Huaihua Fen was truly just a small bowl. It felt cool and refreshing in his hands, and just by looking, he could see a small amount of shaved ice inside. The main color was yellow, with small, yellow, strip-like objects no bigger than Lake Tai silverfish resting in the bowl, topped with a spoonful of brown sugar shaved ice.
Stirring gently with the spoon, the yellow strips moved along with it.
Only after mixing the brown sugar shaved ice and the yellow strips evenly did Father Su scoop up a spoonful of the yellow strips and bring it to his mouth.
He didn’t like sweet things, but at this moment, he had to admit, it was truly delicious! He didn’t know what the yellow strips were, probably the Sophora flower jelly. In his mouth, they were soft, chewy, and springy, not very sweet. The main source of sweetness came from the added spoonful of brown sugar shaved ice. That slight sweetness, along with the shaved ice, was swallowed into his stomach, expelling all the summer heat from his body.
He originally didn’t want to eat it, but he couldn’t resist. Spoonful after spoonful, he finished the entire bowl of Sophora flower jelly.
After he finished, he subconsciously glanced at his assistant and driver, only to find that they had eaten even faster than him and had long since finished. Father Su pressed his lips together, but ultimately said nothing and left with the two of them.
Sun Miao watched his departing back, feeling a little guilty.
This location, she could figure it out with her toes11—it was obviously a backdoor opened for her by the system. Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence, to be right at the entrance of Father Su’s company campus?
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The system is at it again lol
I won’t be suprised anymore if the food cart opens at every place Ruixi’s relatives lives lol