Chapter 19 "Thank you, thank you, Yang...
"How are the sesame cakes made by my grandma, comrade landlord? Are they delicious?" After walking over quickly, Chen Pan first greeted Qin Yang at the door, and then shouted to the grandma who was bent over with her head down inside: "Grandma, I'm back!"
"What 'comrade landlord'? He is only four years older than you. You should call him brother. Calling him 'comrade landlord' makes it sound like he is more than ten years older than you." Seeing that her granddaughter's address seemed a bit inappropriate, Grandma Chen, who was rummaging through the box looking for tonkatsu powder, immediately stood up and corrected her.
"It's okay. It doesn't matter what you call her." Qin Yang, familiar with the Chen family, realized that Chen Pan was only fourteen years old. He looked up to appease the rather demanding Grandma Chen, then, holding up his half-eaten pork sesame cake, he looked at Chen Pan, who had asked him the question. He said with remarkable seriousness, "Grandma's sesame cakes are quite good. This one is definitely worth the two cents, but it's definitely not enough to live up to Grandma's ideal."
"Alas!" As soon as Qin Yang finished speaking, Grandma Chen, who had been working on this place for several days, felt a little discouraged. She pulled the plastic stool next to her and sat down. Then she picked up the sesame cake she had made and started eating it again.
"Let me see!" These days, Chen Pan's main responsibility is handling various paperwork. When she's not overseeing these processes, she's running errands for her grandparents, buying them things, and constantly cleaning. She feels like she never made pancakes properly in her past life. Furthermore, when she was selling boxed lunches and spicy hot pot, her grandfather was essentially the one selling Jianbing Guozi himself. With the subconscious belief that her grandparents' pancakes must be better than hers, Chen Pan has never gotten involved in any aspect of sesame pancake making.
But seeing Qin Yang's words dampen the spirits of his grandmother, who had always been so excited, Chen Pan couldn't bear it anymore and began to carefully examine the pancake in his hand. He asked, "Grandma, what did Grandma and Grandpa say?"
"They told me, 'Don't rush when making pancakes. Heat the pan over high heat first, then reduce the heat and cook slowly.' They also said, 'Don't skimp on the seasoning when making pancakes. Use the best ingredients and seasonings. That's how you make them great.' I did everything they said, paying attention to everything I should, but I still couldn't make them delicious enough to be unforgettable."
Xu Chunhua’s goal is to make delicious pancakes that make people feel particularly delicious, so delicious that they can’t forget them, and want people to buy them again when they see them.
After many days of improvement, she felt exhausted when she saw that the taste was still not quite right.
"Grandma, I'm going to the market to buy something now. Please wait for me."
Suddenly remembering the plot of a TV drama he had watched before, Chen Pan didn't think much about it. He immediately picked up the things in his hands and turned around.
"Oh, there's no need to be so anxious. Why don't we go after lunch?"
Unexpectedly, her granddaughter was about to leave right after returning. Grandma Chen, who had just sat down, immediately stood up with the pancake in her hand.
"It's okay, I'll be back soon!"
Ignoring the people around her, Chen Pan walked quickly with her bag.
Seeing her turn away in the blink of an eye, Grandma Chen looked at the young man in front of her and said subconsciously, "My granddaughter is just like that, carefree and decisive. She's like this because she's worried that we won't be able to open on time on the 27th, so she wants to help us complete all the paperwork and matters before she leaves us for school."
Grandma Chen just wanted to tell the people in front of her that her granddaughter was usually very polite and well-behaved, and not the kind of person who was impetuous and completely ignored other people's opinions.
But Qin Yang, who had just answered Chen Pan and then been completely ignored by the other party, heard a different message: "Isn't she a student of our No. 6 Middle School? I thought you moved here to open a store because of her."
"No, our family lives in Qingshui Village, and my granddaughter attends the middle school in the neighboring village. She is only in the second grade now, and she won't be able to take the high school entrance exam until another year, and then she can be admitted to the No. 6 Middle School here." Feeling that the other party might not know their specific situation yet, Grandma Chen subconsciously chatted with the other party for a few more words.
"Since you are planning to open a store here, why don't you let her transfer here earlier?"
"Isn't this just to save some transfer fees? Besides, transferring schools isn't that easy. You just have to find someone." Thinking about how the young girl already had such a large yard, with many rooms and street-facing shops rented out, she felt that while she looked mature, she was still a child who hadn't grown up or experienced much. As Grandma Chen pulled out their lunch from her bag, she explained that transferring her granddaughter would cost around three or four hundred yuan, and that she would have to find someone she knew.
"But when I was in school, transferring wasn't that difficult for other students in my class. It was just a matter of writing a transfer application, taking it to the school's academic affairs office, and asking the principal a few times. If you met the requirements, you could transfer. Our school isn't a particularly prestigious private institution, so we've always been able to accept students from several nearby villages. Qingshui Village was originally within our school's enrollment area.
If there are really only the three of you in your family, and you open a shop and live here, and want to bring your underage granddaughter to study and live with you, isn't that a very normal thing to do? And since you already have a business license, wouldn't it be very easy to use that to get a temporary residence permit or something? With these things, wouldn't it be easy and natural for you to apply to a school in your temporary residence?
Qin Yang, who stood 1.6 meters tall, always wore black pants and a black sweater. His hair was a bit long, with bangs covering his eyebrows and upper eyelids, giving him a perpetually gloomy and lifeless look.
He was the kind of boy who gave off an introverted and gloomy vibe. Normally, Grandma Chen wouldn't have liked boys with that look or dress.
But after they had been in contact for several days, she actually noticed that the other person was inconsistent and cold on the outside but warm on the inside.
After staring at the other person for a moment, Grandma Chen immediately stuffed another pancake into his mouth and asked, "Yangyang, is this true? We have nothing. Can we really transfer schools without spending money or finding anyone? Can you really accept students from Qingshui Village in No. 6 Middle School?"
"It should be possible. Many of my former classmates transferred from villages near yours. There's no reason why they can do it but you can't."
His eyes swept over the three aluminum lunch boxes the other person had brought out, and he recalled the scene a few days ago where he had seen them casually eating bread and the potatoes and cabbage in their lunch boxes for all three meals. He felt that the other person was also pitiful. Then he thought of his mother's words about how the other person had lost their only son more than ten years ago, and now the elderly couple had only their fourteen-year-old granddaughter to rely on for survival. He sighed deeply inwardly, and then the eighteen-year-old Qin Yang seriously talked about the various issues and policies in his school in this regard.
He talked about how their school and the equally famous No. 4 Middle School had always had a limited enrollment. He also talked about how their old principal was incredibly kind and approachable, and how he patiently listened to them whenever they approached him with questions. He also mentioned that in a few days, their school's principal and teachers would arrive early, and they could then go and ask questions.
"Thank you, thank you, Yangyang, you're such a good kid. If Panpan can successfully transfer here, grandma will definitely make a delicious meal to thank you." Just now, Xu Chunhua was still worried about the pancakes she made, which were still a little short of the right heat. But now, because of this sudden good news, she smiled a real smile.
"It's okay, I'm just saying it casually. I may not be able to really help you." Looking at the smile on the other person's face, Qin Yang, who had always had a calm expression, smiled at first, but then his smile quickly faded. After turning around and noticing Chen Pan in the distance carrying something, he quickly said that he was going to check on the store, then turned around and quickly walked into his own store.
"Grandma, try this!" After searching for ages without success for the legendary Liuping Market, Chen Pan finally found a butcher shop after asking around. Having finally made her purchase, she immediately handed over her paper bag.
“Is this fat?”
Looking at the packet of paper handed over by her granddaughter, Xu Chunhua took it out as soon as she touched it.
"Yes, grandma, cut the fat into two portions. When we make pancakes, we can just rub one portion in the pan and rub it around. Fry the other portion into lard and lard residue. When you make pancakes later, put a little lard, or a little lard residue, or just put a little of both in. Anyway, I've heard that pancakes taste better with lard and lard residue in them. But how to put them specifically is up to you, grandma. And when making this kind of pancakes, you really can't skimp on the oil and fillings. That way, people will feel it's a good deal and will be willing to buy again."
A decade or so from now, everyone would have naturally become averse to greasy food and lard and lard residue. But now, even cooking is a time when people are hesitant to use too much oil, many families only eat pork a few times a year, and even lard and lard residue are rare. Anyway, remembering a TV show I'd seen before about how adding lard and lard residue to pancakes makes them taste better, Chen Pan could only offer this suggestion.
"Okay, okay, okay, I'll try it later. Panpan, listen to me first--"
At this moment, the most important thing in Grandma Chen’s heart is whether her granddaughter can transfer schools smoothly.
So she opened the iron lunch box and quickly stir-fried the cabbage, while quickly telling Panpan what Qin Yang had just said.
"What are you talking about? You look so excited!"
At this time, Grandpa Chen, who had been out for a long time, also came over with two boards on his back and a young man.
Later, when everyone was busy, Grandma Chen quickly told her husband about this matter.
"There is such a thing, so let's try it?"
Chen Aiguo, who had been busy all morning and hadn't had lunch at all, was also excited. He immediately told his granddaughter that they would go to No. 6 Middle School together in a few days to ask about the matter.
"Yeah, okay!"
It felt like this matter couldn't be as simple as Qin Yang said, but at this moment, looking at the excited grandparents, Chen Pan found that his mouth corners had risen like theirs when he reacted.
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