TL: FallenMoon

Wow, such an adorable little one!

That was Yao Jia’s first thought upon seeing Xing Xing.

Although Xing Xing, like other toddlers, had chubby baby fat and cheeks that resembled round buns, Xing Xing had a pair of big, round, beautiful eyes, a petite nose, and a rosy mouth.

If Xing Xing were placed among a group of toddlers, he would definitely be the most eye-catching presence.

Much cuter than her own son!

Yao Jia smiled and said to Yu Bai, “Your little brother is so handsome! Is he attending kindergarten?”

Yu Bai had a youthful face that made him look like a university student in his late teens or early twenties, and Xing Xing shared about sixty to seventy percent resemblance with Yu Bai, so Yao Jia thought Xing Xing was Yu Bai’s younger brother.

“He’s not my little brother, he’s my son,” Yu Bai explained with a smile. “Xing Xing just turned three last month and hasn’t started kindergarten yet.”

“What? He’s your son?” Yao Jia asked in astonishment. “How old are you? And you already have such a big son?”

Yu Bai blinked. “I’m 25.”

“25? You look really young…” Yao Jia paused and then continued, “By the way, you’re running a stall alone and taking care of a child. That must be exhausting. Where is the child’s mother? You could ask her for help…”

Yu Bai paused, and his gaze fell on Xing Xing beside him.

Xing Xing was bowing his little head, playing with his tiny hands, seemingly absorbed in his own world and unaware of Yu Bai and Yao Jia’s conversation.

Softly, Yu Bai said, “The child’s mother… she passed away shortly after giving birth to him.”

That statement was true.

When Xing Xing came into this world, he didn’t have a mother.

Because… Xing Xing was not born from a mother’s womb like most children in this world.

Xing Xing was Yu Bai’s own child.

——

In order to alleviate the financial pressure on his family, Yu Bai took on part-time jobs to earn a living and pay for his college tuition.

During his senior year of college, Yu Bai took on a part-time job at a five-star hotel. However, an accident occurred during his shift — in an intoxicated state, he ended up sleeping with another intoxicated man.

They had a one-night stand.

This incident had a profound impact on Yu Bai, who had never been in a relationship before.

The next morning, as soon as Yu Bai woke up sober, he hastily left the hotel, dragging his exhausted body along. He didn’t even dare to glance at the other person.

Subsequently, Yu Bai quit his part-time job at the hotel, thinking that his life would return to its usual calmness.

However, with the passage of time, Yu Bai’s belly started to grow bigger, and he realized that something was amiss.

When Yu Bai went to the hospital for a check-up, he discovered that his physical structure was slightly different from that of other normal males — he could become pregnant and give birth.

By then, Yu Bai was already seven to eight months pregnant, and considering the cost of abortion surgery and the advanced stage of the pregnancy, he decided to carry the child to term.

And that child was Xing Xing.

However, the fact that a man could give birth was extremely rare. In order to avoid drawing curious looks from others toward Xing Xing, Yu Bai publicly declared that Xing Xing’s mother had passed away shortly after giving birth.

“Oh, I see! I’m sorry, I had no idea about this part of your story…” Yao Jia sighed. “It must be quite challenging for you to raise a child on your own, right?”

Recalling his initial cluelessness when taking care of a child and comparing it to his current competence, Yu Bai smiled.

“It’s not too bad. Practice makes perfect. Besides, Xing Xing is well-behaved and obedient, easy to take care of.”

Yu Bai reached out and gently touched Xing Xing’s soft and warm little head.

Sensing Yu Bai’s warm and comforting palm, Xing Xing, who was playing with his hands, instinctively shook his little head and nuzzled against Yu Bai’s hand.

——

Experience is the best teacher.

After the events of this afternoon, Yu Bai realized that the snacks he made did have a market. It was just that he hadn’t chosen the right selling location and time, which led to poor sales of his scallion pancakes.

Therefore, Yu Bai decided to take a day off the next day to carefully plan and prepare his snack stall.

Yao Jia was worried that she wouldn’t be able to find Yu Bai’s scallion pancakes if he moved his stall, so before leaving, she added Yu Bai’s WeChat ID to stay in touch.

While adding Yu Bai’s WeChat ID, Yao Jia couldn’t help but ask, “You also live in Qingqiao District?”

On Yu Bai’s WeChat profile, there was a general indication of his residential location.

Yao Jia said, “I also live in Qingqiao District. There’s a designated area for mobile stalls in Qingqiao District, and it happens to be near the residential area where I live. It’s a school district area with many schools and old residential communities. I think you should give it a try there.”

“My son particularly loves your scallion pancakes. So, I think if you set up your stall there, you’ll be quite popular. Well, it’s getting late, I have to go!”

After adding Yu Bai’s WeChat, Yao Jia hurriedly left, carrying twenty scallion pancakes.

As Yu Bai tidied up his stall, a pensive expression appeared on his face.

Initially, he chose to sell scallion pancakes near office buildings because what he made couldn’t be considered mere snacks.

Snacks are supposed to be light, something you can eat without feeling full, just to fill a small hunger, or something to eat for fun.

However, the scallion pancakes he made were not small in size. Two would be enough to satisfy an adult, and children could at most eat one and a half or two small-sized scallion pancakes.

So when Yu Bai first started selling scallion pancakes, he focused on the market of adults, not targeting children or students.

But now, it seemed that the scallion pancakes he made were also popular among children…

Yu Bai fell into deep thought.

Should he consider Yao Jia’s suggestion, as well as the advice from the young man with glasses earlier, and set up his stall near the residential area and school district?

However, students and children preferred snacks with various flavors and more meat because meat provided them with a strong sense of satisfaction and fullness.

Neither the vegetarian scallion pancakes nor the ones with a little minced meat could replace the satisfaction that meat brought to students and children.

During Yu Bai’s two lifetimes as a student, undoubtedly the most sought-after snacks among students were fried chicken fillets and barbecue stalls.

But now, Yu Bai only had the cast iron plate that came with the snack cart he purchased. He didn’t have a deep fryer or a barbecue grill.

So what should he do?

Apart from frying scallion pancakes, what other delicious snacks could he make with the cast iron plate? Ideally, something related to meat…

Xing Xing sat on the snack cart pushed by Yu Bai, his little short legs swaying back and forth. He held a freshly fried scallion pancake in his hand, happily munching on it.

It was winter now, and taking a bite of the warm scallion pancake almost dispelled Xing Xing’s fatigue from the day.

“Dad makes the most delicious food!”

Xing Xing took a small bite of the scallion pancake, and his round eyes curved into two adorable crescent moons.

Xing Xing turned his little head.

Yu Bai was laboriously pushing the snack cart, his breath turning into white mist and disappearing into the air.

Xing Xing pouted.

He had been almost sleeping on the chair the whole time while accompanying Dad to the stall, but he was already tired.

Dad had been running the stall all afternoon, standing in front of the snack cart, and now he was pushing this heavy cart… Dad must be very tired!

While waiting at a traffic light, Yu Bai suddenly saw a scallion pancake in front of him.

The scallion pancake was still steaming, with a crescent-shaped bite mark left by a little child.

Yu Bai was taken aback, and he looked at Xing Xing sitting on the snack cart.

Xing Xing said seriously, “Dad is tired, so Dad should have a bite of the pancake too.”

Yu Bai’s heart instantly melted at Xing Xing’s gesture.

Sob… His son was so considerate! He noticed that he was tired and willingly offered the scallion pancake to him!

How could he refuse his well-behaved child’s kindness?!

Although it was Xing Xing who handed the scallion pancake to Yu Bai, he only took a small bite.

Yu Bai’s face was filled with a happy smile. “Dad just needs one bite, the rest is for Xing Xing to eat.”

Xing Xing blinked his watery round eyes. “Is it really enough?”

“It’s really enough.” Yu Bai’s voice was gentle. “After Dad takes a bite of the scallion pancake handed by Xing Xing, Dad isn’t tired at all now.”

“Okay!”

Only then did Xing Xing retract his little hands holding the scallion pancake and continued munching on it while sitting on the snack cart.

Yu Bai watched the obedient figure of Xing Xing, a slight smile forming at the corner of his lips.

His Xing Xing was sensible, intelligent, and well-behaved. Moreover, he had already escaped the destined tragic fate depicted in novels.

His Xing Xing would never be like the antagonist, Yu Shuoxing, in the novel, with a miserable childhood and an unhappy life.

——

Qingqiao District is the area in J City with the densest distribution of old residential buildings. Many native residents of J City grew up in Qingqiao District.

Therefore, Qingqiao District is also the most community-oriented area in J City.

Every morning, as the sky begins to brighten, many elderly residents, dragging small carts, go to the nearby vegetable market to buy groceries.

Then, students and working individuals leave their homes and buy common breakfast items like steamed buns and egg pancakes from the breakfast shops on the street. At this time, the breakfast shops are empty inside, but there are long queues outside of people getting takeout.

On weekends, however, the breakfast shops are crowded—families of three get up early to have breakfast on their rest days.

The place where Yu Bai and Xing Xing live is one of the many old residential buildings in Qingqiao District.

In J City, where land is scarce and expensive, Yu Bai worked hard for several years. Combined with the savings his deceased grandmother left for him, it was just enough for Yu Bai to pay the down payment for this 45-square-meter small house.

Although the house is small, it is more than enough for Yu Bai and Xing Xing to live in.

As Yu Bai pushed Xing Xing back home, they encountered several elderly people sitting together playing cards, chatting, or playing Chinese chess in the neighborhood.

Yu Bai had recently moved into this new house and had been in a car accident before, so he hardly knew the elderly people in the neighborhood.

However, Yu Bai did not expect that his son Xing Xing had become the favorite of the elderly people.

Along the way, several elderly people called out Xing Xing’s nickname with remarkable accuracy. There was even a lady who happily put two candies into Xing Xing’s pocket.

This made Yu Bai look at Xing Xing with a deep sense of puzzlement in his eyes.

How did Xing Xing become so acquainted with these elderly people?

What happened to Xing Xing during the month he was in the hospital?

Yu Bai cautiously asked Xing Xing a few questions, and only then did he understand what was going on.

During Yu Bai’s hospitalization, Xing Xing was taken care of by the aunties from the neighborhood committee who took turns. These aunties from the neighborhood committee were actually selected from the community, and they were the grandmothers who had nothing else to do all day.

Xing Xing was beautiful and had a sweet mouth, which perfectly catered to the preferences of the grandmothers.

In an old residential building community, once you interact with one grandmother from the community, she will introduce you to all the other grandmothers in the community.

Not to mention, Xing Xing had contact with more than one grandmother.

Over time, all the grandmothers in the community knew about the beautiful and well-behaved child named Xing Xing, and even the grandfathers in the community got to know Xing Xing as well.

A few days ago, when Yu Bai went out, it happened to be the time when the grandmothers went home to cook and take care of their grandchildren, so Yu Bai didn’t get a chance to meet them.

But today, when Yu Bai came back in the evening, leisurely pushing the cart, the grandmothers noticed Xing Xing on the snack cart.

Perhaps influenced by Xing Xing, although it was their first time meeting Yu Bai, the grandmothers still showed a friendly attitude towards him.

They knew that Yu Bai was going to set up a small stall in Qingqiao District, and they warmly expressed that when Yu Bai started his stall, they would definitely come and support him.

However, Yu Bai didn’t pay much attention to what the grandmothers said. He thought they were just saying it casually.

It took Yu Bai a whole day to finally prepare for the stall the next day.

Fortunately, that night, Yao Jia came to his stall and bought twenty scallion pancakes, which barely allowed him to break even and prepare for the next stall. Otherwise, Yu Bai’s snack stall plan would have been aborted long ago.

The next morning, Yu Bai got up early, went to the vegetable market to buy some ingredients, and after having lunch, in the afternoon, he pushed the snack cart with Xing Xing and headed towards a designated spot in Qingqiao District to set up the stall.

After learning from his experience, Yu Bai chose a location at Sanjiaokou. One corner was a common old residential building in Qingqiao District, while the other two corners consisted of an elementary school and a middle/high school combined.

Walking along the elementary school, there was also a kindergarten.

It can be said that this Sanjiaokou had a constant flow of vehicles picking up students every day. Especially around 4 o’clock in the afternoon on weekdays, when students finished school, Sanjiaokou would often be congested to the point where the cars couldn’t move.

Coincidentally, as Yu Bai pushed the cart along the road, he happened to be at the entrance of the elementary school, in the crowd of anxious parents waiting to pick up their children. He saw a grandmother from his own community. Thanks to Xing Xing, Yu Bai had greeted her a couple of days ago, and at that time, the grandmother had even given Xing Xing two pieces of candy.

Yu Bai was hesitating whether to greet the grandmother when Xing Xing, sitting in the cart, had already taken the initiative to greet her.

“Hello, Grandma Wang!”

Xing Xing’s voice was sweet and crisp, like sugarcane, particularly noticeable amidst the noisy crowd of parents.

Upon hearing this familiar voice, Wang Chunhua immediately turned around, and when she saw Xing Xing’s figure, a brilliant smile appeared on her face.

Wang Chunhua immediately squeezed out of the crowd. When she saw Xing Xing, the smile on her face never faded.

Wang Chunhua smiled, “Xing Xing, why are you here? Do you want some candy? Grandma Wang still has several pieces of candy here!”

Xing Xing took the candy handed by Wang Chunhua and showed a sweet smile. “Thank you for the candy, Grandma Wang! Xing Xing came here to set up a stall with Daddy!”

“Set up a stall?” Wang Chunhua narrowed her old eyes. She remembered that Xing Xing’s dad seemed to have mentioned something a couple of days ago about doing… a snack stall?

Xing Xing blinked his eyes, and his chubby little hand tugged at Yu Bai’s sleeve.

“Daddy, Grandma Wang gave Xing Xing candy. Can we give Grandma Wang a portion of teppanyaki rice cake? The sweet kind!”

Teppanyaki rice cake was the new snack that Yu Bai came up with after thinking about it all day yesterday.

Originally, there was only a lone iron plate on the snack cart, but now there was a large square plastic container with different compartments filled with skewers that Yu Bai had already prepared, both meat and vegetarian options.

He would wait for customers to choose freely, and then Yu Bai would grill the skewers until they were cooked and add his secret sauce.

Wang Chunhua smiled, “Oh, it’s just a few pieces of candy. There’s no need to give me teppanyaki rice cake…”

Yu Bai smiled, “Auntie Wang, Xing Xing mentioned to me that you’ve been giving him candy while I was hospitalized, and you’ve been really good to him. So, this teppanyaki rice cake is a small token of appreciation from me and Xing Xing.”

“By the way, Xing Xing told me that you like sweet flavors, right? Can you accept a little bit of spiciness?”

Yu Bai smiled, and Wang Chunhua couldn’t refuse any longer.

Xing Xing and his father both had handsome appearances and appeared to have friendly and amiable personalities. Wang Chunhua was also willing to interact with such a father and son.

She vaguely heard about the past story of Xing Xing and his father, and both of them seemed quite pitiful…

Wang Chunhua asked, “How much does the vegetarian skewer cost? And how much for the meat skewer?”

“The vegetarian skewer is 1.5 yuan per skewer, and the meat skewer is 3 yuan per skewer. The rice cake and tofu are both 5 yuan per portion.”

Wang Chunhua nodded and said, “Alright, consider the teppanyaki rice cake as your gift to me. I’ll choose a few more skewers, and this time I’ll pay. Let’s consider it my support for your first day of business. I wish you great success.”

After selecting a few more skewers, Wang Chunhua stood in front of Yu Bai’s stall, watching him make the teppanyaki rice cake.

The long and tender rice cakes quickly turned a beautiful light golden color as Yu Bai skillfully flipped them on the iron plate.

Wang Chunhua nodded in approval.

Xing Xing’s dad is quite skilled in cooking. No wonder he started a snack stall.

But in the next moment, Wang Chunhua’s expression changed subtly.

Yu Bai casually picked up a seasoning jar and poured the pre-prepared brown sauce over the rice cake.

“Sizzle—”

The yellow and white rice cakes quickly turned reddish-brown from the sauce. Then, as the sauce made contact with the iron plate, an enticing aroma, sweet and savory, spread rapidly as if it was unleashed with lightning speed.

This brown sauce was specially prepared by Yu Bai. The moment it made contact with the iron plate, it released such a “powerful” fragrance.

“What’s that smell? It’s so fragrant!”

“It seems to be coming from that snack stall over there.”

“Can a snack stall have such a fragrant aroma?”

The parents in the crowd at the entrance of the elementary school started to stir.

Everyone came an hour early to pick up their children from school, so they weren’t hungry yet.

But in two more hours, it would be mealtime, and the aroma tempted them, causing a slight hunger to arise.

The snack stall was still a distance away from the parents’ crowd, so by the time the aroma reached them, it had already weakened considerably.

However, Wang Chunhua was standing right next to the snack stall, and she could clearly smell the strong aroma emanating from the iron plate.

She was so hungry!

Wang Chunhua couldn’t help but think of these two words, and she could feel her saliva continuously secreting.

“Sizzle—”

The iron plate continued to sizzle, and Yu Bai placed the stir-fried rice cake into a thin paper box. He inserted two bamboo skewers on top and handed them to Wang Chunhua.

“Auntie Wang, please eat it while it’s hot. It won’t taste as good when it cools down.”

Originally, Wang Chunhua wanted to save the teppanyaki rice cake and skewers to give to her granddaughter, who had just finished school.

But as soon as she smelled the aroma of the teppanyaki rice cake, Wang Chunhua had only one thought in her mind.

She wanted to taste what this fragrant teppanyaki rice cake really tasted like!

“Thank you.”

Wang Chunhua eagerly took the teppanyaki rice cake and used a skewer to pick up a piece, placing it in her mouth.

This teppanyaki rice cake looked ordinary, but it held a world of flavors.

The perfectly fried rice cake had a slightly crispy exterior, absorbing a hint of sweetness along with a little salty and spicy sauce. The spiciness heightened the stimulation of Wang Chunhua’s taste buds, while the saltiness and sweetness complemented each other.

As she bit into the crispy exterior of the rice cake, a soft and sticky core was revealed. The sticky core of the rice cake had a subtle sweetness and brought a unique texture.

Yesterday, Yu Bai spent the afternoon selecting various rice cakes from several stalls in the market before settling on this type—short in appearance but could be “pulled” like cheese after being fried.

Whether it was the seasoning, the cooking technique, or the choice of ingredients, this teppanyaki rice cake was just perfect.

Yu Bai said, “The skewers are also ready. Auntie Wang, would you like to try them too?”

Wang Chunhua couldn’t control herself and reached out for the skewers.

Previously, in order to cater to Wang Chunhua’s preference for sweet flavors, Yu Bai made the sweetness more prominent in the teppanyaki rice cake—adding a bit more sweetness wouldn’t significantly affect the overall taste of the dish.

However, the situation was different for the teppanyaki skewers.

Especially for the meat skewers, if they became too sweet, customers would easily find them greasy after just a few bites.

Therefore, Yu Bai seasoned the skewers according to the popular taste. Of course, considering that Wang Chunhua was older and couldn’t tolerate too much spiciness, Yu Bai only added a hint of spice.

Wang Chunhua randomly picked a skewer of garlic chives.

The vegetables were all bought by Yu Bai from the market early in the morning and then skewered at home, so the garlic chives were incredibly fresh and tender.

The tender green garlic chives had a slightly sweet taste and were rich in nutrients, beneficial for one’s health. Wang Chunhua often bought garlic chives and stir-fried them at home.

But garlic chives had one issue—they easily became overcooked if not handled with care.

Once garlic chives were overcooked, they would become dry, tough, and hard to chew, greatly diminishing their flavor.

Therefore, achieving perfectly cooked garlic chives was not an easy task.

And the skewered garlic chives prepared by Yu Bai were exactly in the perfect state—just cooked enough.

Freshly cooked garlic chives retained their crispness, tenderness, and original sweetness to a great extent. Combined with Yu Bai’s secret sauce…

There were only two words to describe it.

Absolutely delicious.

In addition to the vegetarian skewers, Wang Chunhua devoured the meat dishes she had chosen, such as duck gizzards and pork tenderloin!

Wang Chunhua had a weak stomach and was an elderly person, so she mostly ate vegetarian dishes in her daily life and rarely ate meat.

But who could resist the incredibly delicious teppanyaki skewers made by Yu Bai?

The grilling and roasting method with less oil effectively squeezed out the fat from the meat, resulting in a combination of crispiness and tenderness.

“It’s incredibly delicious!”

Whether it’s meat dishes or vegetarian dishes, or rice cakes… Yu Bai uses the same few bottles of seasonings. However, Yu Bai can create completely different flavors that perfectly complement the taste of the ingredients themselves. This is the perfect summary of his decades of culinary experience from his previous life.

“How does the teppanyaki taste?”

On the outskirts of the crowd, there were parents who couldn’t resist the enticing aroma and couldn’t help but approach Yu Bai’s snack stall, quietly asking Wang Chunhua.

But when the parents saw how fascinated Wang Chunhua was while eating…

Well, it’s obvious that the teppanyaki is delicious!

As a result, a few more customers gathered around Yu Bai’s snack stall.

People just love to join in the fun.

The number of parents gathered in front of Yu Bai’s snack stall went from a few to a dozen, with the majority being young parents—they have only been parents for a few years and still have great enthusiasm for snack stalls.

So, before the end of elementary school, a quarter of the ingredients on Yubai’s stall had already been sold.

“Ding ding ding—”

The school bell rang at the end of elementary school, and the little kids excitedly rushed out of the campus, searching for their parents’ figures in the group of parents, guessing what delicious snacks their parents would bring them today…

Many of the elementary school students looked around.

Huh? Where are their parents?

Although their parents used to always be at the forefront of the gate when they finished school… why are there no traces of them today?!

After a while, the elementary school students finally found their parents in front of a newly opened snack stall—they were holding a box of teppanyaki and eating with relish, completely forgetting that they hadn’t picked up their own children.

Children? Who cares about children when there’s food?

This teppanyaki is so fragrant!

Author’s note:

Xing Xing: Do you want to eat the teppanyaki made by Dad? You have to exchange it with a nutrient solution!