Chapter 27: Steamed Buns

Grandma Bai felt sorry for Tang Wan and wanted her to go back and rest.

“You should go back. It’s too hot today. You can make some mung bean soup to cool down,” Tang Wan said as she paused to wipe the sweat off her face.

Others nearby had also started heading back—it was indeed time to eat.

Tang Wan was supposed to eat lunch at the youth work point, but since she hadn’t stayed there yesterday and didn’t tell anyone, she still ate with Grandma Bai at noon.

Actually, the spring water in the space already helped beat the heat, so Tang Wan said this mainly hoping Grandma Bai would go back and rest for a while.

“All right, I’ll go make a pot. I forgot about it this morning,” Grandma Bai said, understanding Tang Wan’s subtle wish for her to take a break. Since Tang Wan mentioned wanting mung bean soup, she definitely wanted to fulfill that.

After Grandma Bai left, Tang Wan stayed alone to watch over both fields.

It was now the hottest part of the day at noon, but everyone was working faster.

They were hurrying to clear a water drainage path so they could sit down and eat soon.

Tang Wan naturally didn’t slack off either.

After drinking the spring water, she could still feel the heat, but her body didn’t feel very tired.

She saw that some people had already gone to eat in the shade under the trees by the field. Most of the food was brought by children from their homes.

At this time, there wasn’t much good food. Many families steamed sweet potatoes or ate cornmeal mixed with some white flour.

On work days like these, they ate better food, but normally most families only had semi-thick porridge.

Not long after, Grandma Bai came back.

She quickly called Tang Wan over.

“How come you’re back so fast?” Tang Wan wiped sweat and walked beside her, taking the basket from her.

“Mung beans need to be cooked longer to work well. After I got home, I put them in the pot to simmer. After you finish eating, just go get it. The food was prepared long ago—after working all morning, of course, we eat first,” Grandma Bai said as she took out the food from the basket.

Actually, Tang Wan rarely ate sweet potatoes at Grandma Bai’s home.

Probably because today’s meal was shared with everyone, so they prepared some.

Besides that, there were seven or eight large steamed buns.

As soon as they took them out, Tang Wan clearly heard people nearby swallowing their saliva.

When even eating white flour is a luxury, let alone white flour steamed buns, no matter what the filling was, they must be delicious.

Just as Grandma Bai took things out of the basket, Qin Zheng finished his trip and came toward them.

When he arrived, the chatter nearby quieted down, at least the kids who originally wanted to make noise while eating buns didn’t dare to speak anymore.

Qin Zheng pulled off the towel around his neck and casually sat down beside them.

Grandma Bai stuffed a bun into Tang Wan’s hand. After Grandma Bai also took a bun to eat, Qin Zheng picked up a sweet potato to eat.

The buns were filled with pork cracklings.

With the crispy fried cracklings mixed with vegetables, they formed a unique aroma. The fatty meat had no greasy oil left, so it didn’t feel heavy or cloying. Multiple textures burst in the mouth.

Tang Wan unconsciously finished one.

Then Grandma Bai gave her another.

“I can’t finish it,” Tang Wan tried to put it down.

Grandma Bai’s buns were each very large. Usually, Tang Wan would eat at most one.

Since she had worked today, one bun wasn’t enough to fill her, but she still couldn’t finish the second such big bun.

She was about to put it down, but Qin Zheng’s outstretched hand stopped her.

“Eat as much as you want. I’ll eat the rest,” he said without looking at her, quietly eating his food.

“That’s right, eat as much as you can. You won’t do heavy work if you’re not full,” Grandma Bai also disagreed with her putting it down.

Tang Wan thought about it and broke the bun apart.

Grandma Bai’s bun filling was generous; when broken open, it wanted to fall out.

“Take it,” Tang Wan urgently handed half the bun to Qin Zheng.

Qin Zheng was momentarily surprised but took the bun from her hand, using his other hand to help hold the filling from falling out.

Tang Wan held the remaining half with both hands, afraid the filling would fall, so she simply ate it holding it with both hands.

Qin Zheng sat beside her, sharing the same bun, staring intently at Tang Wan as she ate.

His gaze felt almost tangible, and Tang Wan felt a little uneasy. When she looked up, Qin Zheng had already withdrawn his gaze, as if she had just imagined it.

Grandma Bai told Tang Wan to eat slowly, so she could rest more.

Nearby, others who finished eating held bowls of water, sipping slowly to rest longer.

Tang Wan silently slowed her eating pace, chewing each bite many times. From Qin Zheng’s perspective, Tang Wan looked like a cautious little rabbit, nibbling carefully and alert.

Qin Zheng ate quickly, but since he ate a lot, he finished around the same time as Tang Wan.

After finishing the meal, Tang Wan tidied up the basket.

Most people were heading back to the fields. Grandma Bai handed the basket to Tang Wan: “The mung bean soup should be ready. Take it back and put it here, so when you get thirsty later, you can drink it directly.”

“Okay,” Tang Wan didn’t refuse this time.

“The mung bean soup will be here later. If you get thirsty, just come and drink,” Grandma Bai said to Qin Zheng.

“Mm,” Qin Zheng agreed.

A few people stood up, and Tang Wan headed straight back.

On the way back, she met several people from the youth work point.

“Tang, the youth cadre, you’re going to work? What are you doing?” Li Qing, sitting on the ground, asked irritably when she saw her approaching.

“Going back to get some water to drink. You still haven’t stood up? Are you heat-stroked?” Tang Wan looked down at her.

“Do you think everyone is as delicate as you?” Li Qing rolled up from the ground.

“Well, you’re definitely not delicate at all,” Tang Wan smiled at her.

Tang Wan said that and walked away without paying any attention to Li Qing’s frustration.

From far away, Li Qing’s voice could still be heard: “What does she mean? Is she calling me rough?”

Nearby, Yan Hong tried to comfort her, telling her not to overthink.

The usually enthusiastic Zhong Ling didn’t say anything.

Tang Wan walked ahead, thinking about Zhong Ling’s odd expression earlier. It was clear she had noticed Zhao Dong’s distancing from her.

Zhong Ling was in a bad mood, but Tang Wan’s mood was okay.

Back home, seeing the mung bean soup Grandma Bai made in the pot, Tang Wan didn’t think much and added a bit of spring water.

Now Qin Zheng could also drink some spring water.

When Tang Wan returned with the mung bean soup, the people from the youth work point were already working, so she didn’t encounter them again.