VFGRC Chapter 65

After Yue Qing’s mother finished speaking, her brows furrowed, and her expression didn’t look very pleasant.

Yue Qing’s father: “We, we, we didn’t drink any alcohol…”

Yue Qing took the initiative to speak: “Mom, I thought the sweet rice wine balls in this shop were quite delicious, so I ordered a portion for my dad and me.”

Yue Qing: “Mom, do you want to try it?”

Yue Qing’s mother glanced at the peach blossom sweet rice wine balls in Yue Qing’s bowl.

These sweet rice wine balls looked appealing and smelled fragrant, but unfortunately, she couldn’t tolerate the alcoholic taste in them.

Yue Qing’s mother shook her head: “No, thanks. I won’t try it. Sweetie, I just picked out various snacks over there. Would you… like to try them?”

In the past, before tasting the bowl of peach blossom sweet rice wine balls, Yue Qing had maintained a skeptical attitude toward the flavors of the snacks in this shop.

However, now that the bowl of sweet rice wine balls had sparked her interest in the other snacks in the shop, she wanted to know if the other snacks in this shop could also bring joy like the peach blossom sweet rice wine balls.

Yue Qing’s mother seemed to mention casually, “Sweetie, I remember, you used to really like scallion pancakes when you were little, right? Back then, the ones sold in the small alleys were only plain scallion pancakes. Nowadays, times have changed, and the flavors of scallion pancakes have diversified. I saw that this shop has savory scallion pancakes as well. Would you like to try them?”

Upon hearing her mother mention the words “scallion pancake,” Yue Qing’s expression changed slightly.

The snack stalls selling “scallion pancakes” were scattered throughout the streets and alleys of J City.

When Yue Qing was young, there was a scallion pancake stall near her home. They fried the scallion pancakes until they were golden and crispy, emitting an especially enticing aroma.

During those times, people’s lives were generally not as good as they are now, and scallion pancakes fried in abundant oil were considered somewhat luxurious due to their cost.

Apart from parents who doted on their children, others rarely bought scallion pancakes for themselves, given that the fried and oily delicacies were somewhat pricey.

Yue Qing’s parents didn’t allow her to indulge in street food. Therefore, even though Yue Qing could smell the savory fragrance of scallion pancakes wafting from the streets every day to and from school, she could only salivate at the aroma and never actually tasted a scallion pancake.

It wasn’t until one day, when Yue Qing secretly took her saved pocket money and seized an opportunity when her parents weren’t paying attention, that she bought herself a piece of scallion pancake from a stall near her home.

That day, much like today, was in the midst of a fickle spring, with unpredictable shifts between cold and warm weather.

In the slightly chilly weather, taking a bite of the piping-hot, fragrant scallion pancake felt like the pancake’s aroma was enveloping every corner of Yue Qing’s being.

As Yue Qing was savoring the taste, she suddenly saw an angry figure rushing towards her.

Her mother had discovered her secretly enjoying a snack by the street!

And then…

Since that bite of scallion pancake, Yue Qing had never eaten another scallion pancake again.

Years later, seeing the scallion pancakes that her mother had “specifically” brought for her on the table, Yue Qing’s emotions were complex, and her face inadvertently displayed a conflicted expression.

Yue Qing: “Mom, I think I’ll…”

Yue Qing’s mother interjected, “When you were younger, there was a period when the news was constantly reporting about recycled cooking oil… They said many street vendors in J City were obtaining recycled cooking oil from undisclosed sources to cut down on snack production costs. The police were investigating these unscrupulous vendors who bought the recycled oil… It caused quite a panic.”

Yue Qing’s mother had seen on television the process of unscrupulous businesses producing recycled cooking oil, and she was so disgusted that she couldn’t eat for several days. This experience led her to become even more cautious about letting Yue Qing indulge in street food.

However, back then, Yue Qing was still young and preoccupied with play, paying little attention to the news on TV. This was why Yue Qing sneaked a taste of the scallion pancake, got caught by her mother, and ended up being punished by standing, resulting in a sudden high fever and hospitalization.

After Yue Qing’s mother finished speaking, she pushed the plate of scallion pancakes on the table in Yue Qing’s direction.

“I’m not saying all this to explain anything,” Yue Qing’s mother lowered her gaze, avoiding Yue Qing’s eyes. “It’s just that when I was educating you back then, I might have been too forceful.”

Every parent encounters their first time giving birth, raising a child, and educating a child.

When people are learning and growing, they make mistakes, but they also learn from them.

Therefore, as first-time parents, there are moments when they make mistakes or handle things inappropriately.

Parents are tolerant of their newly arrived children, but as novice parents, they also need the understanding of others.

Due to a series of coincidences, Yue Qing’s mother’s “apology” came a bit late.

However, the guilt triggered by the “scallion pancakes” had lingered in Yue Qing’s mother’s heart for years, leaving her burdened with remorse.

Every time Yue Qing’s mother walked on the street and saw other children standing by the snack stalls, enjoying snacks and wearing joyful smiles, she would think.

If, during that time, she had just scolded Yue Qing instead of making her stand as punishment, Yue Qing wouldn’t have developed a fever and fallen sick, leading to hospitalization…

“Snap.”

A crisp sound shattered the gradually solidifying atmosphere.

Yue Qing’s mother looked up.

Yue Qing held the scallion pancake wrapped in oil paper with both hands and brought it to her lips, taking a bite.

“Mom, this scallion pancake has pork filling… The scallion pancake you picked is so fragrant!”

The aroma of scallions mixed with the savory scent of oil. The pork filling in the pancake was minced by Yu Bai from fresh pork, giving it an especially chewy texture.

“Mom, would you like to taste it too?”

Yue Qing’s lips curved slightly as she offered the scallion pancake to her mother.

“Sure.”

Mother and daughter slowly finished the remaining scallion pancake on the plate.

Time passed by, and Yue Qing no longer remembered the taste of the scallion pancakes she had eaten by the street when she was young.

But she believed that the scallion pancake she held in her hand now must taste even better than the one from her childhood.

From now on, whenever someone mentioned “scallion pancakes,” the taste of “scallion pancakes” that Yue Qing would recall would be the one she shared with her mother today.

Neither too salty nor bland, the scallion and meat flavors were rich and delicious.

Before leaving the shop, Yue Qing took another stroll around the entire snack store.

The setup of the snack store was great in every aspect, except for one small flaw.

Yue Qing had originally intended to buy some exquisitely packaged snacks to send to her friends who were living and striving in different cities.

However, “Galaxy Snack Shop” followed a simple approach. The snacks in the store were all packaged quite plainly, lacking any impressive and exquisite packaging.

Yue Qing could only choose a few snacks and plan to take them home, repackage them herself, and then send them to her friends.

After leaving the “Galaxy Snack Shop,” Yue Qing updated her social media with a post, breaking her long silence.

The content of the post mainly wished her mother a happy birthday, and Yue Qing also attached some photos taken today.

At the end of the post, Yue Qing recommended the “Galaxy Snack Shop” to her friends in her social media circle.

At the same time, Yue Qing’s father also recommended the “Galaxy Snack Shop” to his group of friends on WeChat.

[Yue Li: Cheers, my fellow drinking buddies [Salute]. How’s everyone doing lately?]

[Qiu Tian: Sigh! What can I say? Ever since I was diagnosed with hypertension and have been under the watchful eye of my family’s tiger mother, I haven’t had a sip of alcohol for almost half a year! Half a year! During the Chinese New Year, I didn’t even get to have a single drop of alcohol. It’s truly frustrating!]

[Shiyi Rensheng: In our group now, I don’t think anyone doesn’t have hypertension, right? As someone who manages hypertension relatively well, I can still enjoy a small cup of yellow wine once a month.]

[Qiu Tian: What’s that small cup of wine? It’s like the size of a bottle cap, drinking it or not is the same! @Yue Li, Brother Yue, why are you suddenly in the mood to speak up today?]

[Yue Li: Hehe! I went to a great place today, and I think I can recommend it to all my fellow drinking buddies…]

[Shiyi Rensheng: A great place? What kind of place? Is it related to alcohol?]

As soon as “Shiyi Rensheng” spoke, many members of the group immediately chimed in, urging Yue Li to quickly share the details.

They were all craving for some good drinks!

[Yue Li: Everyone, calm down. Today, I went to a snack shop with my wife. This shop has a snack called “sweet rice wine balls”. It’s a type of round rice ball with a little bit of high-quality peach blossom wine mixed into the soup and the ball itself. The wine flavor is sweet and light. It’s not a lot of wine, and since it’s just a snack, it’s a nice way to satisfy your taste buds. And of course, my wife won’t have any say in this!]

[Qiu Tian: Snack? I’m not interested. I’ve had “sweet rice wine balls” before, how can it compare to real wine?]

[Shiyi Rensheng: I’m actually intrigued. After all, if “sweet rice wine balls” can have a bit of wine flavor, it’s better than having no wine flavor at all. Plus, Brother Yue said that the peach blossom wine used in this shop’s “sweet rice wine balls” is of good quality. I’d like to give it a try too…]

Within the dad’s group, several members in a row were intrigued by the idea of trying the “sweet rice wine balls” with peach blossom wine from the “Galaxy Snack Shop.”

Yue Li was straightforward as always, directly sharing the address of this snack shop with the group.

Anyway, those who are willing to go will go after seeing the information, and those who aren’t interested might choose to wait and see.

But Yue Li believed that anyone who tries the peach blossom wine-infused “sweet rice wine balls” from that shop once will definitely go for a second time.

Because the delicate aroma of the peach blossom wine is truly something that lingers on the palate.

—

Thanks to Song Qing’s videos, many netizens who follow Song Qing’s food exploration account finally learned that the long-awaited shop, Yu Bai’s snacks shop, had reopened.

However, this time, Yu Bai didn’t reopen a snack stall.

He upgraded his snack stall to a snack shop, and the variety of snacks there was dazzling.

Due to the fact that the past two days were workdays and Yue Bai’s shop only opens in the afternoon, the customer flow in Yu Bai’s shop was not very high, and the shop assistants could handle it.

Until Saturday.

When Yu Bai used to run a snack stall, he had a five-day work week with two days off. Now that he has a snack shop and under the anticipation of his fans on social media, Yu Bai reluctantly changed the opening hours to a six-day work week with one day off.

This was the first time Yu Bai was open on a weekend.

At noon, he brought Xing Xing along and arrived at the shop with the auntie shop assistants.

Recently, Xing Xing has taken a liking to watching educational videos, and he has been able to learn basic numbers and Chinese characters from them.

As long as Yu Bai played related videos for him, Xing Xing would sit in his spot, motionless, watching and learning earnestly.

This amazed the auntie shop assistants who were watching.

Strange, isn’t it? Is there really a little one who loves learning in this world?

Some of the aunties were skeptical and tried asking Xing Xing, “Xing Xing, don’t you want to take a break? How about having some snacks?”

Xing Xing shook his head, his little eyes glued to the video.

Auntie: “Xing Xing, don’t you find learning boring?”

Xing Xing blinked his watery eyes and said, “I don’t think so!”

He believed that learning new things was an interesting and fulfilling endeavor!

Because the more he learned, the more it represented that he was a talented and clever little one!

Who wouldn’t like a smart and cute little one in this world?

Xing Xing was confident in his own adorable appearance.

He wanted to become even smarter now, so that his dad would like him even more and eventually win over all of his dad’s affection!