VFGRC Chapter 22

TL: Moonlit

---

On Monday afternoon, at Sanjiaokou.

It was another week of work and school, and with winter break approaching, the students’ footsteps were much lighter as they headed to school.

Yu Dong pushed his snack cart toward Sanjiaokou. He looked at the bunches of sugar-coated hawthorn on the cart’s counter, feeling a bit hesitant and worried.

During the past weekends, Yu Dong had been busy at home with his sugar-coated hawthorn business. Apart from selling the traditional large bunches, he also took the advice and guidance from Yu Bai and created two new flavors inspired by Eight Treasure Rice: sticky rice sugar-coated hawthorn and red bean sugar-coated hawthorn.

Yu Dong and his family tried a few pieces and found them to be tasty, with a good balance of softness and crunch.

However, even though the sugar-coated hawthorn tasted good, Yu Dong still had doubts in his heart.

When he first started his stall at Sanjiaokou, he had experimented with a few new flavors of sugar-coated hawthorn. However, people preferred the traditional flavors so much that his new flavors didn’t sell well, and he ended up not selling them anymore.

Although the two flavors he attempted this time were better than his previous new flavors, Yu Dong was still afraid of repeating the same mistakes.

What if the students still preferred the traditional flavors of sugar-coated hawthorn?

What if they didn’t like the added ingredients in the hawthorn sugar-coated hawthorn?

Despite the encouragement from his family and their praises for the new flavors, Yu Dong still lacked confidence. In the end, he decided to make only ten small skewers of each new flavor. Even if no one bought them, he could bring them home in the evening to share with his family.

Yu Dong arrived earlier than usual today. He was the first vendor to reach Sanjiaokou and set up his stall.

By arriving early, he hoped to sell a few more skewers of sugar-coated hawthorn and earn some extra money.

With these thoughts in mind, Yu Dong stopped his cart and organized his stall.

After a while, the sound of wheels approached his snack cart.

Yu Dong turned his head and was surprised to see it was Yu Bai.

He thought Yu Bai would be busy taking care of his sick son at home and wouldn’t come out to set up his stall today!

Yu Bai arrived a little later than Yu Dong, making him the second vendor to open at Sanjiaokou.

Yu Dong glanced in the direction of Yu Bai’s stall but didn’t see Yu Bai’s son anywhere nearby.

Curiously, he asked, “Yu Bai, where’s Xing Xing? Did you not bring him out today?”

Yu Bai, while tidying up his stall, replied, “Xing Xing’s illness hasn’t fully recovered, so he’s staying at home.”

Yu Dong had chatted with Yu Bai a few times before, so he had a rough understanding of Yu Bai’s family situation—Yu Bai’s wife had passed away, and he had been raising his son on his own.

Surprised, Yu Dong asked, “He’s staying home alone?”

In Yu Dong’s eyes, Yu Bai doted on his son excessively—of course, Xing Xing was an adorable and well-behaved child, so it was understandable.

However, how could Yu Bai, who pampered his son so much, leave him at home and come out to set up a stall alone?

Yu Bai looked at Yu Dong and smiled, “I hired a part-time nanny to take care of Xing Xing at home.”

“Oh, I see…”

Seeing the transparent counter with the sugar-coated hawthorn that Yu Dong had prepared, Yu Bai asked, “You’ve come up with new flavors for the sugar-coated hawthorn?”

“Yes,” Yu Dong nodded. “Following the inspiration you gave me with Eight Treasure Rice, I made sticky rice and red bean flavors for the sugar-coated hawthorn. I’m not sure if they taste good or if they’ll sell…”

Although separated by the transparent counter, Yu Bai could tell that the two new flavors of sugar-coated hawthorn made by Yu Dong were generously coated and exquisitely made. Setting aside the taste, the appearance of the sugar-coated hawthorn was already quite impressive.

Noticing Yu Bai’s gaze, Yu Dong asked, “Would you like me to give you a skewer of each flavor to taste?”

Yu Dong had made a total of twenty small skewers of these two new flavors.

Yu Bai felt a bit embarrassed to ask, but before he could respond, Yu Dong had already taken a skewer of each flavor and put them in a small paper bag for Yu Bai.

Lastly, Yu Dong added two strawberry sugar-coated hawthorn skewers.

“No need to pay,” Yu Dong smiled as he handed the box to Yu Bai. “You can try those two sugar-coated hawthorns and give me some feedback. The remaining two strawberry ones are for Xing Xing.”

Although a skewer of sugar-coated hawthorn was not expensive, Yu Dong kept giving them to Yu Bai one after another.

Since Yu Bai had met Yu Dong, he had already received quite a few skewers of sugar-coated hawthorn from him.

Yu Dong was a straightforward, honest, and enthusiastic person. If Yu Bai insisted on paying, it could potentially hurt their newly formed friendship. However, for Yu Bai, giving a few helpful suggestions to improve the taste of sugar-coated hawthorn was a piece of cake as a former top chef in his previous life.

Yu Bai took the paper bag and picked up a skewer of sticky rice sugar-coated hawthorn, putting it into his mouth.

The sticky rice sugar-coated hawthorn, just taken out of the freezer, was slightly hard to bite into.

The crispy sugar shell cracked, revealing the delicate and sour hawthorn flesh, which was wrapped in a slightly firm layer of sticky rice.

But after biting through the firm outer layer of sticky rice, the sweet and soft texture of the sticky rice combined with the slightly sour hawthorn, along with the sweetness of the sugar shell that spread on the tongue…

Yu Bai’s eyes narrowed.

The taste of the sticky rice sugar-coated hawthorn was above average among the various snack stalls.

Yu Bai then tasted the red bean sugar-coated hawthorn, which was slightly inferior to the sticky rice sugar-coated hawthorn, but still quite good.

“How is it? Is there anything that needs improvement?” Yu Dong asked, paying close attention to Yu Bai’s expression.

“The taste is good,” Yu Bai said. “For the sticky rice hawthorn, you can display it outside the freezer for a while before selling it, so that the soft and sticky texture of the rice will be more pronounced. As for the red bean hawthorn, you can reduce the sweetness of the red bean filling a bit since it’s already coated in sugar… Also…”

The points Yu Bai pointed out were relatively easy for Yu Dong to improve. If Yu Dong could address them, then the taste of these two sugar-coated hawthorn flavors would definitely reach a new level.

As for other areas that Yu Dong needed to improve, they were closely related to his talent and the amount of practice he had put in over a long period of time.

After all, Yu Dong was just a small snack vendor selling sugar-coated hawthorn. He couldn’t spend a lot of time thinking about how to perfect these two skewers of sugar-coated hawthorn.

After Yu Bai and Yu Dong had been open for a while, the first wave of customers quickly arrived at Yu Bai’s stall.

Among the various snack stalls, meat, fried snacks, and fragrant foods were always the most popular. Compared to Yu Dong’s sugar-coated hawthorn stall, which looked good but didn’t have a strong aroma, it was relatively challenging to attract customers.

Yu Bai had arrived early today.

The kindergarten near Qingqiao had let out for a while, and the primary school had just started.

Several parents who had previously tasted Yu Bai’s teppanyaki dishes at his stall spotted him and immediately rushed over, pulling or carrying their children to Yu Bai’s stall.

God knows how much they had been craving Yu Bai’s teppanyaki for the past three days!

Last week, the students from Qingqiao Middle School had been able to enjoy Yu Bai’s teppanyaki almost every day, except for the last day when Xing Xing suddenly had a fever and Yu Bai took him to the hospital and closed his stall early.

However, it was different for the parents of Qingqiao Primary School and Qingqiao Kindergarten.

The parents of Qingqiao Primary School only had a taste of the teppanyaki on Yu Bai’s first day at Sanjiaokou. As for the parents of Qingqiao Kindergarten, they had only tasted the teppanyaki during the day of the kindergarten event.

Regardless of who it is, when someone eats something delicious for the first time, they always have the desire to eat it again.

So, the parents of these two schools had been eagerly waiting for several days until Yu Bai, who opened his stall early, finally arrived.

“Boss, I want teppanyaki tofu and teppanyaki rice cake! Put the small skewers in the paper bag.”

“Boss, I want it spicy and numbing!”

Some elementary school students from Qingqiao Elementary School anxiously tugged on their fathers’ sleeves while waiting in line.

“Dad! You promised that if I ranked in the top three on the math quiz, you would buy me three skewers of teppanyaki pork! I ranked in the top three, don’t forget to add those three skewers of pork for me!”

“I got it!”

Yu Bai’s business was booming, and the line was almost reaching Yu Dong’s stall.

Yu Dong slightly moved his cart aside to make room for customers queuing in front of Yu Bai’s stall.

Having run his stall at Sanjiaokou for over a decade, Yu Dong was accustomed to the ups and downs of business and had a great attitude.

Even though his business was currently a bit slow, he didn’t mind much.

While Yu Dong was resting on his chair as usual, someone accidentally bumped into his cart, causing it to shake slightly.

Although Yu Dong had been using his cart for several years, it was sturdy, so the impact didn’t cause any damage.

Yu Dong stood up and looked at the person who had bumped into him.

The chubby toddler was rounder than a balloon, and his thin and tall father, like a bamboo pole, failed to steady the toddler who was about to fall. Instead, they both stumbled backward and collided with Yu Dong’s cart.

Yu Dong approached and helped the father and son up. “Are you okay?”

The round toddler, living up to his round appearance, had quite a weight to him.

Fortunately, Yu Dong was strong enough; otherwise, he would have been pulled down by the toddler.

The father said, “We’re fine. This child is thick-skinned and sturdy. A little fall won’t be a problem. Sorry for bumping into your cart. I hope nothing got damaged.”

As the thin father spoke, he looked at Yu Dong’s stall and paused.

The thin father asked, “You’re… selling sugar-coated hawthorn?”

“Yes,” Yu Dong replied. “My cart is sturdy, and nothing inside was damaged. Don’t worry.”

“That’s good,” the thin father said.

He then held the chubby hand of the round toddler and said, “Qiuqiu, after you get your vaccination at the hospital, didn’t you say you wanted to eat strawberry sugar-coated hawthorn? Your mom couldn’t buy it on her day off, but there’s a sugar-coated hawthorn stall here. How about I buy you a strawberry sugar-coated hawthorn? What do you think?”

The round toddler pouted, and his chubby cheeks became even rounder.

“But I don’t want to eat it now!” Qiuqiu said. “Today, Xiao Mei and Xiao Kai told me that there’s a super delicious teppanyaki stall here! They’ve eaten teppanyaki, and I want to eat it too!”

If Yu Bai saw Qiuqiu, he would definitely recognize him as the toddler who asked about the taste of strawberry sugar-coated hawthorn outside the vaccination room last Friday.

In addition, Qiuqiu was actually a student in the Kindergarten Class at Qingqiao Kindergarten. He had been absent from school for several days due to illness.

Today, when Qiuqiu finally recovered and was able to go to school, he found out that there was a super, super delicious teppanyaki stall here on the day he was absent from the kindergarten event!

The parents of the children in his class were lining up to buy the teppanyaki and even let their toddlers taste a bite or two.

After all, these little radishes were still toddlers, and the food they usually ate was mostly light in flavor.

They rarely had the chance to taste such “strong-flavored” snacks like teppanyaki, so even just a bite made them feel amazed.

Preschoolers at the age of three to five were lively, talkative, and prone to exaggeration. Based on their descriptions, they portrayed teppanyaki as an unparalleled delicacy that one would regret not eating for a lifetime.

Qiuqiu’s appearance matched his name, and his love for “eating” was undeniable.

When he heard about something so delicious near the kindergarten, how could Qiuqiu resist going to eat it?

However, considering Qiuqiu’s gradually expanding physique, his parents had been strictly controlling his diet in recent days—Qiuqiu could only have one snack or a small portion of treats per week.

If Qiuqiu had to choose between the visually appealing but aromaless strawberry sugar-coated hawthorn and the tantalizing aroma of teppanyaki filling the air, there was no doubt that he would choose the delicious-smelling teppanyaki!

Moreover, he had already seen several children and their parents from the neighboring class in the teppanyaki line!

Hearing Qiuqiu’s determined tone, his father hesitated.

During the days when Qiuqiu went to the hospital, he hadn’t come to Sanjiaokou, so he naturally didn’t know that there was a teppanyaki stall here.

Upon hearing that his son wanted to eat it, he didn’t think much and brought his son over.

But when he smelled the strong aroma of teppanyaki wafting through the air, Qiuqiu’s father hesitated to buy teppanyaki for Qiuqiu.

Seeing and smelling the heavily seasoned teppanyaki, he didn’t feel like giving it to Qiuqiu, who was hovering on the edge of unhealthiness due to his body condition!

However, if he casually mentioned that Qiuqiu shouldn’t eat teppanyaki, it would surely trigger Qiuqiu’s rebellious mentality…

Qiuqiu’s father bent down and said to Qiuqiu, “It’ll probably take more than half an hour for our turn to get the teppanyaki. How about we buy a few skewers of sugar-coated hawthorn to eat first? When it’s our turn, we can buy the teppanyaki. What do you think?”

“But I can only have one snack per week…” Qiuqiu said.

Qiuqiu’s father blinked. “Dad will make an exception for you this time. After you go back, don’t tell Mom, okay?”

Having both sugar-coated hawthorn and teppanyaki to eat!

How could Qiuqiu not be tempted!

Qiuqiu widened his big round eyes and nodded eagerly. “Okay!”

The plan succeeded.

Qiuqiu’s father breathed a sigh of relief.

Although Qiuqiu had a bigger appetite than other toddlers his age, his food intake was still limited. When Qiuqiu was full, even if something delicious was placed in front of him, he wouldn’t take another bite.

Kindergarten finishes early. It has only been about two hours since Qiuqiu had his lunch at the kindergarten, so the food in Qiuqiu’s stomach definitely hasn’t been digested yet.

Therefore, Qiuqiu’s father planned to buy two or three skewers of sugar-coated hawthorn, stuff Qiuqiu with them, and then let him eat the teppanyaki.

By that time, Qiuqiu would have at most a few bites and wouldn’t want to eat anymore.

When buying the sugar-coated hawthorn, Qiuqiu’s father immediately picked the glutinous rice hawthorn and red bean paste hawthorn, which had a sweet and filling taste. He also bought the strawberry sugar-coated hawthorn that Qiuqiu had wanted to eat a couple of days ago.

“Scan the QR code for payment…”

After paying, Qiuqiu’s father held his hand and stood at the back of the teppanyaki line, taking out a skewer of glutinous rice hawthorn sugar-coated hawthorn.

Qiuqiu’s father removed the bamboo stick from the glutinous rice hawthorn sugar-coated hawthorn—Qiuqiu tends to eat too quickly, and he was worried that the bamboo stick might harm him.

Then, Qiuqiu’s father put the glutinous rice hawthorn into the paper bag given to him by Yu Dong and handed it to Qiuqiu.

“Eat it.” Qiuqiu’s father smiled, “If you can’t finish it, there’s still more.”

Qiuqiu held the glutinous rice hawthorn ball in his hands. He didn’t eat it in a hurry but looked up and asked, “Dad, can I go to find Xiao Mei up ahead?”

Xiao Mei and her father were in the middle of the teppanyaki line.

Qiuqiu’s father said, “You can go, but only find Xiao Mei. Don’t run off to other places.”

“Okay!”

Qiuqiu held the glutinous rice hawthorn ball and vigorously moved his chubby short legs, running to the middle of the line.

“Xiao Mei, Xiao Mei!”

Hearing Qiuqiu’s voice, Xiao Mei, dressed in a pink dress, turned around.

“Qiuqiu? What’s up?”

Qiuqiu’s face turned red, and he handed the paper bag to Xiao Mei.

“This is the glutinous rice hawthorn sugar-coated hawthorn my dad bought from the neighboring stall. Do you want to try it?”

The bamboo stick had been removed from the glutinous rice sugar-coated hawthorn, and the outer layer of the transparent sugar coating had been slightly crushed by Qiuqiu’s father, making it less visually appealing. Combined with the fact that the sugar-coated hawthorn didn’t smell as good as the teppanyaki, it didn’t have as much allure…

Xiao Mei frowned as she looked at the glutinous rice sugar-coated hawthorn, hesitating for a moment.

“I… I’d better not eat it.”

She still wanted to leave some space in her stomach to eat a few bites of teppanyaki tofu and rice cake!

Upon hearing Xiao Mei’s refusal, Qiuqiu tightly clenched the glutinous rice sugar-coated hawthorn in his chubby hand, lowered his small head, and teary-eyed.

Wuwuwu!

He had specifically wanted to share the sugar-coated hawthorn with Xiao Mei, but how could she refuse so quickly!

Qiuqiu stood still, tears welling up in his eyes, when a toddler’s voice sounded by his ear.

“Glutinous rice sugar-coated hawthorn? I’ve never had it! Can I trade this with you?”

The sour and sweet aroma wafted into Qiuqiu’s little nose.

In an instant, the tears in Qiuqiu’s eyes immediately receded, and his round eyes sparkled.

There’s something delicious? He could smell it!

Qiuqiu looked for the source of the aroma and saw a small box, only as big as two toddlers’ hands put together, containing three or four pieces of rolled dough.

Golden and solidified egg mixture wrapped in white dough, which was then wrapped around crispy vegetables and a small piece of ham sausage and pork loin.

A reddish tomato sauce and the secret sauce from the teppanyaki overlapped and were poured onto the dough, emitting an enticing fragrance.

Qiuqiu couldn’t help but swallow a mouthful of saliva, and his round eyes lit up. “What is this?”

The sweet voice of the toddler came. “This is the grilled cold noodles that my dad specially made for me! Others can’t have it!”

“So, can I trade one piece of grilled cold noodles with you for one glutinous rice sugar-coated hawthorn? How about that?”

Qiuqiu looked up.

A toddler slightly taller and thinner than him stood in front of him with a small bowl in their hands, smiling.

Qiuqiu’s round eyes showed a hint of confusion.

Hmm? This toddler in front of him looks a little familiar. It seems like he has seen them somewhere…

—

After Yu Dong sold three skewers of sugar-coated hawthorn, other snack vendors also gradually arrived at Sanjiaokou.

These snack vendors naturally noticed Yu Dong and Yu Bai’s stalls.

One had a booming business with a long line, while the other had a quiet business with barely any customers.

The contrast was evident and devastating.

These snack vendors exchanged glances and understood each other’s thoughts—Yu Dong was truly foolish, beyond belief.

Stalls like the one Yu Bai opened, which could attract customers solely based on aroma and had strong capabilities, even the Auntie selling fried chicken couldn’t compare.

Opening a snack stall next to such a stall, the foot traffic would undoubtedly be drawn by the aroma of teppanyaki, which was like seeking death.

In the eyes of these snack vendors, only someone as foolish as Yu Dong would sell sugar-coated hawthorn next to teppanyaki.

As the saying goes, the aroma of wine is not afraid of the depth of the alley.

But for snacks like sugar-coated hawthorn, which didn’t even have any aroma, once the alley became too deep and the location was poorly chosen, nobody would come to buy!

After setting up his own stall, the owner of the roujiamo stall came to Yu Dong’s sugar-coated hawthorn stall, half out of amusement and half to give a warning.

“Yu Dong, why aren’t you setting up your stall there with me? Why are you trying to fit in here?” The owner of the roujiamo stall lifted his chin toward Yu Bai’s direction, “Look at their business, it’s booming! But for their business to take off, they have talent and skill. For us doing ordinary low-cost business just to make a living, we won’t earn much money. Why bother squeezing next to their stall, seeking a path to self-destruction?”

The owner of the roujiamo stall continued, “Do you think you can piggyback on their foot traffic and snatch their customers? Ha, in my opinion, the aroma of their teppanyaki might just draw away your customers!”

“Look at all those people lining up next door while you don’t even have a single bird at your stall. Doesn’t it make you feel sour inside?”

Yu Dong, sitting on the chair, looked up and glanced at the owner of the roujiamo stall.

The owner of the roujiamo stall raised an eyebrow, thinking that his words had hit the mark of Yu Dong’s true thoughts. However, Yu Dong spoke up.

“Excuse me.”

The owner of the roujiamo stall: ?

Yu Dong stood up, put away his phone, put on gloves, and opened the freezer.

Yu Dong remained calm and said, “You’re blocking my customers.”

He, blocking, customers? At this hour, would there even be customers at Yu Dong’s sugar-coated hawthorn stall?

The owner of the roujiamo stall immediately turned his head to look behind him.

While he was talking to Yu Dong, several customers who were waiting in line to buy ice sugar-coated hawthorn had come behind him.

The first customer at the front of the line, a burly-looking man, frowned and said to the owner of the roujiamo stall, “You’ve been standing here for so long, are you going to buy the sugar-coated hawthorn or not?”

The owner of the roujiamo stall was shocked to the point that his jaw almost dropped.

What? Are there really so many people in line? Did he see it wrong?

Did the sun rise from the west today?

The sugar-coated hawthorn stall, usually as deserted as his own stall with no one lining up, suddenly had so many customers queuing?!

 

Author’s Note:

Owner of the roujiamo stall: There are lemons hanging from the lemon tree, and I’m the only one underneath it!

Yu Dong, with a calm expression: Wow, so many people! So many customers! Ahhhhhh!