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On the second day of Liu Yan’s exams, Kong Yu didn’t dare to cause any more trouble.
The people Xiao Jie sent out to gather information also found out that Kong Yu hadn’t participated in this year’s college entrance exams.
He hadn’t even registered.
There were two reasons:
First, his grades were simply too poor.
Second, it seemed that Kong Zhigang had pulled some strings to find him a job.
Word was that he had been appointed as a supervisor at some unit—
A completely cushy, idle position.
After clearing the broken glass from the passenger seat, the car window still hadn’t been repaired.
But it didn’t affect driving, so there was no problem taking Liu Yan to her exam.
Early in the morning, Liang Chen went to pick her up.
He even had breakfast at the Liu family’s home before taking the whole family to the exam venue.
At noon, Jing Xi also stopped by the test center to check in and offer some words of encouragement before heading back to the bun shop.
She didn’t expect Xiao Jie to show up there.
She couldn’t recall ever telling him that she was training at the bun shop.
But then again, considering his sources, there probably wasn’t much he didn’t know.
“Do you want to go with me to the Kong family’s place?”
Jing Xi raised an eyebrow, pausing her hands mid-motion as she was folding a bun. She turned to Tian Jun and said, “Sis, I’m stepping out for a moment.”
Tian Jun chuckled. “Go on, go on! You have time!”
Jing Xi quickly wiped her hands clean and stepped outside.
That’s when she learned that Kong Yu and Kong Zhigang hadn’t shown up at all last night.
Who knew if Kong Zhigang was afraid of having to pay up, or if he simply had no intention of compensating them at all?
“Are you going to the Kong family to demand money? Car repair costs? Liang Chen’s not going?”
Xiao Jie shook his head. “He still has to handle the exam pick-ups and drop-offs, no time for this. I’ll go take care of it myself.”
Jing Xi checked the time. “I might not be able to step away right now. Even if I go, it’d have to be in the evening.”
Xiao Jie nodded. “That’s fine. You focus on your work. I’ll go alone. I just thought—maybe you could also take this chance to get back the money your aunt lent out. Liang Chen probably told you about Kong Yu’s family situation, right?”
“You mean the fact that Kong Yu is the child of my maternal aunt’s ex-husband and his cousin?”
“Exactly.”
“Yeah, I know now. But like I said, I really can’t get away at the moment.”
Xiao Jie said, “No worries then. I’ll go first. Just wait for my update!”
“Alright.”
After Xiao Jie left, Jing Xi returned to work.
Tian Jun looked at her with curiosity. “Xiao Jing, who was that young man? He’s quite good-looking!”
Jing Xi replied, “A colleague from work.”
Tian Jun was surprised. “You have another job?”
“Not exactly a formal one, just a side gig.”
“You sure have a lot of energy! Just running this bun shop all day already wears me out, and you still have time for a side job?”
Jing Xi smiled. “It’s different. The side gig is more of a mental task, while this is purely physical labor. Of course, this is more exhausting.”
Tian Jun nodded. “I don’t know much about mental versus physical work, but ever since I started running this bun shop, I feel sore all over every day! My son has to give me a massage every night to relieve the tension.”
“You and your husband have a great son!”
Tian Jun beamed with happiness. “Yeah, except he doesn’t like studying. Other than that, he’s wonderful—good-natured, good-tempered, everything. He just doesn’t like school. But whatever, if he doesn’t like it, he doesn’t like it. Once he finishes middle school, he can come help at the shop. We may not become rich, but at least he’ll have a trade to support himself for the rest of his life.”
Jing Xi thought Tian Jun was quite content with her life.
“Oh, right! The buns you brought yesterday—I gave some to my son to try, and he loved them! He finished the last four all by himself! Xiao Jing, I think we should seriously consider selling chicken buns.”
Jing Xi was overjoyed. “That’s great! This way, even when we run out of pork, we can make chicken dishes, and our revenue won’t decline!”
Zhao Shunli, who had been listening to their conversation, joined in. “Xiao Jing, I heard from your sister-in-law yesterday that your seasoning is a family secret recipe. How about this—we won’t use it for free. Sell it to us, name your price!”
Tian Jun also nodded in agreement.
Jing Xi thought for a moment. “I can sell it, but I’m not sure how much to charge. Why don’t you two just suggest a price? Anyway, the seasoning doesn’t need to be used in large quantities. Just two ounces can marinate two or three chickens.”
Jing Xi was being sincere—she genuinely didn’t know how much to charge for it.
Zhao Shunli and Tian Jun found themselves in a dilemma.
If they offered too little, they feared Jing Xi wouldn’t agree. But if they offered too much, they worried about losing money.
In the end, they let Jing Xi decide.
After thinking about it, Jing Xi realized she had plenty of it in her storage space anyway, so she said, “One pound of seasoning for one yuan!”
“No problem!”
The couple agreed instantly, without even hesitating.
Jing Xi knew that meant the price was within their expected range.
“So, when do we start selling?” she asked.
Tian Jun replied, “Let’s make some for our regular customers to try first. Then we’ll see their feedback. If it’s good, we can officially start selling in a while.”
That was indeed a great idea.
“I’ll bring the seasoning tomorrow!”
With everything settled, Tian Jun handed Jing Xi a yuan on the spot.
Jing Xi didn’t hesitate and slipped it into her pocket.
— — —
Liu Yan’s exams had finally ended.
The day after, she roughly estimated her score. While she wouldn’t make it into top-tier universities like Tsinghua or Peking University, she could still get into a prestigious first-class university.
Jing Xi asked Liu Yan which school she planned to apply to, but Liu Yan mysteriously refused to tell her.
She didn’t tell her family either, saying she wanted to surprise everyone.
With the exams over, it was time to follow through on Jing Xi and Zhang Rui’s promise to treat everyone to a meal.
When Xiao Jie and Liang Chen heard they were getting a free meal, they didn’t hold back when ordering.
As expected, Liang Chen ordered Zhang Rui’s braised pork ribs, as well as Jing Xi’s steamed meat buns and stir-fried peanuts.
Jing Xi secretly observed the interaction between Liu Chun and Liang Chen. She noticed that both of them seemed to have feelings for each other, but neither had confessed.
They were in that ambiguous phase.
She figured Liang Chen was likely holding back because Liu Chun was still young.
While her mind wandered, she chatted and cooked.
Two hours later, a feast covered the table—
Braised pork ribs, stir-fried peanuts, cucumber salad, chicken stew with glass noodles, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and stir-fried shredded potatoes.
Every dish was perfect for eating with rice.
Jing Xi even bought a case of soda.
Liu Yan’s family of four, along with Jing Xi, Xiao Jie, and Liang Chen—seven people in total—gathered around the table, ready to dig in.
Just as they opened the sodas and were about to toast, a loud bang came from the Liu family’s front gate.
Everyone exchanged glances and instinctively looked out the window.
Outside stood a middle-aged woman in a miner’s uniform, with a young man beside her who was missing a front tooth.
It was Kong Yu.
“Hey, Liu family! Get out here and pay for my son’s tooth!”
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Miumi[Translator]
💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜 I’ll try to release 2 or more chapters daily and unlock 2 chapters every Sunday. Support me at https://ko-fi.com/miumisakura For any questions or concerns, DM me on Discord at psychereader/miumi.