Chapter 42 (042) Pan-fried Buns [Second Update]
During physical education class, Wen Fan was unusually silent. After basic training, the physical education teacher announced that everyone was free to play, and Wen Fan returned to his classroom.
She felt a little nervous; she had even looked a bit timid when she saw Qin He in the queue.
I suddenly dreamt of the time when I was learning to cook in the imperial kitchen, and I was being scolded by my aunts in all sorts of ways.
Wen Fan left, unaware that a group of people were talking about her behind her back.
Fang Weiyue didn't get too close to anyone in her class; she found a place to stay by herself.
Fu Chuan and Jin Rui, along with a group of boys, occupied the horizontal bar. The group huddled together, and Jin Rui started cursing at Wen Fan.
"It's so annoying. He's always looking for trouble. I don't know if he's out of his mind."
"I've never seen anyone so fond of tattling; she's always complaining about the teacher."
"Brother Chuan, I can't wait any longer, can you mess with her?"
Fu Chuan leaned against the horizontal bar, idly playing with the lighter in his hand.
"I told you, I'm not interested."
But Jin Rui glanced at Fu Chuan's expression and pretended to laugh and joke: "This woman is crazy. She likes you and messes with us guys. I don't think I've offended her. Brother Chuan, can you help me out and send her a message to ask her out?"
After Jin Rui finished speaking, the boys who were closer to Fu Chuan all laughed.
"Brother Chuan, why don't you lend a hand? This woman seems a bit crazy. I don't want her to end up targeting Jin Rui and then us too. I don't want to get involved with a woman like her."
"Yeah, there's a bar that just opened recently, let's go together!"
"Just scare her, hahaha!"
...
Fu Chuan was still the same, lazy and listless, with his phone sticking out of his shirt pocket.
"casual."
Jin Rui cheered and took his phone out of Fu Chuan's pocket.
After getting the phone, perhaps remembering Wen Fan's previous act of blocking him, Jin Rui was too embarrassed to ask Fu Chuan if he had ever been removed from the blacklist, so he simply found Wen Fan's phone number and sent him a text message.
Meet me at the west gate of the school at 6 PM on Friday. I have something to tell you.
After sending the message and seeing the checkmark indicating successful delivery, Jin Rui finally felt relieved.
Fu Chuan stuffed his phone back into his clothes, then suddenly said, "If you have friends, you can bring them on Friday too."
This seemingly random sentence led some of the others to realize the real reason behind it.
"Sure, anyone with a friend can come."
After saying that, he nudged the arm of a girl next to him and said, "Hey, you can call her Fang Weiyue later."
The girl rolled her eyes but forced herself to say, "Go ahead and call. It's not my fault if they don't go."
Honestly, over the past year or so, Fu Chuan and Fang Weiyue haven't gotten tired of acting, but she's gotten tired of watching them.
The two seemed to have a serious illness. Although their families were of similar social standing and they were bound to get married sooner or later, one of them was a taciturn person who never spoke, while the other kept everything to herself. Fu Chuan also liked to provoke Fang Weiyue by talking about others.
When things are going well, the two of them seem to be surrounded by pink bubbles when they walk together; when things are not going well, they immediately stop saying a word to each other.
The girl looked at Jin Rui, who was very happy, and felt that it was extremely boring.
Wen Fan is a bit annoying, but Fu Chuan, a man who doesn't give a straight answer, is very outstanding.
They're about the same.
"I have something to do on Friday, so I won't be going."
...
Wen Fan was unaware that someone was waiting to teach her a lesson; her mind was currently filled with trigonometric functions.
Under Qin He's guidance, that page of notes seemed a little clearer. Wen Fan tried to understand it, but in the end, he still waited anxiously for Qin He to review it.
Qin He's face was grim: "Wen Fan, some of these points are from junior high school."
Qin He almost doubted whether Wen Fan had even taken the high school entrance exam, since he could get these questions wrong.
Wen Fan felt guilty, and she stammered, "Of course I learned it! It's just that I've forgotten a bit now!"
Qin He looked at her expressionlessly and sighed, "Never mind, just consider it a review..."
She asked Wen Fan to take out his books, then unfolded several books from the first year of high school and took out a piece of paper to write something.
"When you have time, go buy these sets of supplementary teaching materials. Also, time is tight, and I have a lot of my own studies to do, so I don't have time to keep an eye on you all the time. So..."
Qin He glanced at her watch: "I can give you half an hour every afternoon after school."
Wen Fan was stunned.
Seeing that she was itching to touch him, Qin He reached out and pinched Wen Fan's cheek.
“Even if you attend tutoring classes, it won’t be effective. Teachers with weak foundations won’t teach you; they’ll just slow down the whole class.”
Wen Fan's frustration was visible to the naked eye.
Qin He said, "I won't tutor you at a fast pace, but you have to take the initiative. Where are you in the junior high school curriculum?"
Wen Fan's mouth moved faster than his brain: "We've learned the last two units of the second semester of junior high."
After saying that, his eyes turned into an "oo" shape.
Qin He smiled: "Alright, you know to go back and catch up. In that case, catch up on the junior high material this week, and start working on the senior high material next week."
Suddenly, a teacher appeared out of nowhere. After realizing what was happening, Wen Fan quickly thanked him, saying, "Thank you."
Qin He waved her hand: "I was the math class representative anyway."
Consider it a thank you to Wen Fan for speaking up for her today.
Wen Fan wouldn't take other people's help for granted, but she really didn't know what to say, so she could only say, "Do you want to eat rice balls? I can bring you some."
Qin He: "I didn't give you the rice ball just because I wanted it."
Wen Fan didn't care. She had made up her mind that starting tomorrow, she would bring food to Qin He every day!
It's just waking up a few minutes earlier in the morning, she can do it!
Wen's mother found it strange that her daughter suddenly said she would cook for herself in the morning, and even carried some things from the store home in a very serious manner, and asked her to buy some oil paper while she was at it.
Wen's mother: "There's not much time in the morning. I know you think your dad's cooking is so-so, but having him prepare it means you can go to bed a little earlier."
Wen Fan tidied up the table by herself. There were only a few kinds of seasonings in the shop, the most important of which were the sauces and pickles she made herself.
"Oh, it's okay, Mom. It doesn't take much time for me to make it myself. I want to bring it to class to eat."
Wen's mother was even more puzzled: "Why bring it to the classroom to eat? We live so close by, it's not like we're the kind of people who can't get food because we live far away."
Wen Fan tried turning on the stove and confirmed that a piece of iron plate in the house was still usable before turning it off and replying, "I want to eat with my classmates. Many of my classmates bring their own food to school."
After all, not everyone lives close by. For example, Qin He's home is quite far away. Qin He herself said that she has to take a bus every morning to get to school.
In this situation, the occasional rain or snow makes things even more tense. She simply doesn't have time to eat a few bites on the way. Most of the time, she buys meat buns at the school gate, but the meat bun stall is always crowded in the morning. If she feels too rushed, she will go to class hungry and then wait until the break to buy bread.
Wen Fan was thinking about what to make for breakfast tomorrow morning. Although the rice balls were well-received, Wen Fan felt that the idea was too hasty.
She can't really use her skills at all!
In response to Qin He's help, Wen Fan decided to repay her with his own skills.
"Mom, I'll make some dough tonight."
Wen's mother had no choice but to let Wen Fan do it himself: "I'll have your dad bring some flour back in a bit."
One of the advantages of owning your own shop is that you can take home what you don't need at the shop, and take home what you don't need at home.
Before reciting her lessons at night, Wen Fan prepared a bowl of dough. Before going to bed, she also prepared some filling. She put the mixed filling in the refrigerator. When she got up the next morning, she wrapped the filling in the dough, and each bun had a neat eighteen pleats.
Heat oil in a frying pan, fry a few buns until the bottoms are golden brown, then pour in half a bowl of water, just enough to cover half of the buns.
During this time, Wen Fan went to wash his face and brush his teeth.
Wen's mother got up late today. Business was so good yesterday. Maybe it was because those teachers and students from last week spread the word after they went back. Yesterday at noon, three tables of students came to the restaurant, and in the evening, two or three more tables came specifically after school to eat.
While serving claypot rice, Mrs. Wen accidentally stumbled and twisted her leg, so she decided to rest her leg today and handed over everything in the shop to Mr. Wen in the morning.
In her sleep, Wen's mother vaguely smelled a fragrance.
The fragrance wafted in through the crack in the door, waking her up with its sweet aroma.
When I got up, I saw Wen Fan lifting the pot lid.
"Mom? Is your leg feeling better?"
Wen's mother: "Feeling better... What is this?"
Wen Fan revealed the pan-fried buns inside: "Buns, I pan-fried two batches, you and Dad can share them."
As he spoke, Wen Fan skillfully packed four fried dough sticks into a disposable lunchbox, while he took a plastic bag and put two in it for himself, intending to eat them on the walk later.
Wen's mother: "...Get the milk!"
Wen Fan reluctantly picked up the milk anyway.
"I'm leaving."
Wen Fan left with his schoolbag on his back. Wen's mother lifted the pot lid and took a big gulp.
In the frying pan, there were several white and tender buns, with a browned crust visible on the bottom from the side. They were garnished with a few black sesame seeds and chopped green onions, and smelled incredibly delicious.
Wen's mother muttered, "What did this girl do?"
Last night, she watched as Wen Fan easily prepared the filling, which consisted of some meat and corn, and oh, it seemed like he also added some shiitake mushrooms.
How can just these few ingredients smell this good?
Wen Fan finished the steamed buns on the way. The two buns weren't big, and she was about 70% full after eating them. Then she pinched her nose and drank the milk, which was about enough.
She didn't rush into the classroom. Instead, she spent some time memorizing her lessons on the school playground and stretching her arms and legs before carrying her schoolbag into the classroom.
I entered the classroom, ten minutes before the bell rang.
When the bell rang with five minutes to spare, Qin He entered the classroom.
She was still in a sorry state today. She put down her schoolbag and managed to catch her breath.
Wen Fan handed over the steamed buns: "Here you go!"
Qin He was a little stunned. She thought Wen Fan's words yesterday were just polite. Besides, even if she had thought that Wen Fan would bring breakfast, she didn't expect that Wen Fan would bring so much!
Four white steamed buns were squeezed together in the box, making Qin He's already hungry stomach even hungrier.
Since things have come to this, why be coy?
"Thanks."
Wen Fan thoughtfully added, "There are still more than ten minutes left, so hurry up and eat."
After the bell rings, there are still ten minutes to prepare. Steamed buns are not like rice balls; they don't taste good when they get cold.
Qin He nodded, opened the box, and took a bite out of it.
And then... I made eye contact with my deskmate.
The longing in his deskmate's eyes was almost tangible: "...Is it delicious?"
The question they asked was "Is it delicious?", but their eyes were really asking, "Give me one, give me one!"
Qin He had no choice but to push the box to the middle: "I'll give you one."
The girl at the table happily picked up a steamed bun, wondering why Wen Fan had suddenly brought breakfast to Qin He.
"Didn't she used to send things to Fu Chuan all the time?"
Qin He paused in her eating of the steamed bun, her words tinged with a jealousy she herself didn't even realize: "I tutor Wen Fan in math... Fu Chuan is really something else, he has the nerve to accept breakfast even though he doesn't tutor anyone."
Now that I think about it, why does Fu Chuan eat so well?
So this person was putting on airs before, eating such a delicious breakfast from Wen Fan, and ended up ruining his reputation.
What the hell!
"Don't mention him, he ruins my appetite."
The crispy bottom of the bun and the texture of the top offer two delicious flavors. With one bite, the corn and meat filling inside bursts with juice, making Qin He forget everything else and only want to help Wen Fan get up to 150 pounds.
"It's so delicious."
There were four steamed buns. Her deskmate ate one, but Qin He ate three by herself!
She burped after finishing her meal, feeling so full.
The girl in the front row turned around jealously: "Why don't you ask Wen Fan if he needs extra Chinese lessons?"
Qin He laughed: "I don't think so."
Wen Fan is actually quite good at Chinese; his essays were even read aloud by his teacher when he was in the first year of high school.
The bell rang, and the student in front of him turned around with resentment, wondering why his best subject was Chinese.
Who exactly did liberal arts students hurt?
As Teacher Wang walked into the classroom, she noticed the pleasant fragrance emanating from it.
She frowned: "Next time, try to eat breakfast at home and don't bring it to class."
Qin He squinted her eyes. She was eating so well that she sensed the jealousy of those around her. She decided that she would eat outside before coming in tomorrow morning!
After teaching for ten minutes, Teacher Wang had the whole class read for a while, while she went back to her office to get her forgotten thermos.
Then--
She took out her phone and muttered, "Where did these kids buy their steamed buns? They smell so good!"
She had eaten breakfast, but she got hungrier and hungrier during the class. The aroma wafted throughout the classroom, as if it couldn't escape through the window!
Teacher Wang quickly checked the food delivery platform and ordered a steamed bun from a nearby restaurant within three minutes.
When Teacher Wang returned to class, she was still wondering to herself, "Where is Baozi?"
When get out of class ended, contrary to her usual practice, Teacher Wang didn't extend the class time; she went to the school gate with an umbrella shortly afterward.
"That's really strange, there's actually a day when Old Wang doesn't go overtime."
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Author's note: Sorry! It's a bit late today. I'll definitely pay attention to the time next time.
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