Li Yichen now felt he knew why that girl had bought bones. He assumed she couldn't afford proper meat, so she settled for bones instead.
After preparing his meal, he tasted the broth again. The rich depth he had been aiming for was slightly missing, but nevertheless, they sold all the servings and even sold twenty-eight bowls of rice. Very soon, the customers dispersed. They cleared the tables and put out the "Closed" sign.
After cleaning up the stall, he and his aunt closed up and began their journey back to Chenjiang.
When they arrived home, they bathed separately before serving the children their meals. They scooped out some anchovies mixed with peanuts for them to eat as a side dish with congee. Chen Mingyu hurriedly lit the fire and set the rice to boil. After a while, the delicious fragrance of rice spread through the house. They sat down and began wolfing down their meal. Before long, they were done eating.
Chen Meixiu and Chen Meilan brought out their homework and showed it to their uncle. Li Yichen solved the problems calmly and even gave them much simpler explanations. The girls were very happy. After some light chitchat, they soon fell asleep. Wang Shulan had gone to visit a neighbor who had just lost her mother.
As the house grew quiet, Li Yichen suddenly thought of Shen Anran — that girl.
Why did he feel repulsed whenever he saw her? It was strange.
He began thinking about the various ingredient stalls where they had run into each other. Did she own a food stall like him? Or was she just buying ingredients for home meals? Or perhaps she worked for someone who had a stall?
He found himself intrigued by the thought of her. After a moment, a foolish smile spread across his lips. He wished he could see her again tomorrow — just to annoy her. He didn't know why he had such a ridiculous thought.
He planned to purchase eggs from Mr. Wang in their village. He wanted to make tea eggs the day after tomorrow. He also had several other menu ideas he wanted to try.
The business was moving forward, and he was grateful.
The next day at dawn, around five, Chen Mingyu and Li Yichen left the house. They rented a cart and set off immediately. They reached Yuxi by seven.
After arriving, they cleaned up their stall. Li Yichen brought out all the ingredients needed for the day's menu and handed them to Chen Mingyu to prepare. Afterwards, he headed to the pork section inside Yuxi Market.
At that same time, Shen Anran had already arrived at Yuxi Market earlier. She was holding quite a lot in her hands. She had purchased enough flour to last the rest of the week. She also bought cornstarch and additional seasonings to avoid running out at the stall.
She walked quietly toward the butcher she usually bought from. She did not expect to see that man from yesterday.
She turned slightly, trying to ignore him.
But he had already seen her. An annoying smile formed on his lips.
"Ah girl, we meet again," he said.
She quickly adjusted her expression and turned toward him. "Ah boy, we meet again," she replied, smiling — though it was far from sincere.
Li Yichen let out a curt laugh and turned to the seller.
"Good day, Uncle. Give me ten jin of the front leg, and make sure there's enough fat on it," he said, pointing to the cut he wanted.
The butcher nodded, cut the meat neatly, placed it on old brown paper, and tied it with twine.
Shen Anran snorted inwardly. Was he trying to show off? Ten jin?
She laughed inside. If not that this butcher was her regular supplier who treated her well, she would have already left because of this Mr. Show-Off.
After Li Yichen paid and carried his goods, he glanced at Shen Anran and gave her a faint mocking smile before leaving to get a few other items.
"Hmph!" Shen Anran heaved, hissing in anger as she glared at his retreating back.
"Ah girl, you know him?" the butcher asked casually.
Shen Anran came back to her senses. "Not really. We had an unpleasant encounter yesterday. Thinking about it is still infuriating," she said, remembering what had happened.
The butcher only nodded. He had hoped to hear some juicy gossip to share with his friends during lunch.
"Give me ten jin of back fat mixed with pork belly," she said.
After he prepared her order, she brought out forty yuan and handed it to him. She thanked him, picked up her flour and other goods, and left the area.
The butcher shook his head. Youngsters these days were always having issues in their relationships.
It was only after they had both walked away that the same hammering thought struck them at once.
What if…
They were preparing the same dishes?