Xiao Nan Bun Shop

Xiao Nan Bun Shop

Wang Yue was wandering around the pedestrian street when he happened to spot the young woman selling buns again. She had the same little cart, but this time she had moved to the other end of the street, even farther from the school. Wang Yue guessed she had probably been driven away.

He turned around and saw a sign on the door of a tiny shop, barely a dozen square meters, saying it was for sale or lease. He looked back at the young woman's bun stall, then walked over and took the sign down.

The little twelve-square-meter shop cost him more than thirty thousand yuan. The owner was even more eager than Wang Yue, and less than a week later, the property certificate was in Wang Yue's hands. He had no idea whether he'd overpaid or gotten a bargain.

The day he got the property certificate, he went to find the young woman.

"I'm Wang Yue, a student in the Civil Engineering Department of the School of Civil Engineering!" Wang Yue greeted her when there were no customers at the bun shop.

"You're Xiaobei's classmate? Is something wrong with Xiaobei at school?" As soon as she heard his introduction, the young woman suddenly grew anxious.

"I'm Xiaobei's classmate, but I don't know her very well. You know her?" Wang Yue was baffled by the girl's sudden agitation.

When the young woman realized it wasn't about Xiaobei, she let out a sigh of relief. But she soon grew nervous again. It seemed she had something to say, yet she hesitated.

Wang Yue couldn't make heads or tails of what was going through her mind. So he got straight to the point. "Here's the deal: I bought that little twelve-square-meter shop over there, but I don't have time to run it. I thought we could go into business together."

The young woman grew even more flustered. He'd spent so much money on a shop and didn't plan to run it himself. Could he be hoping to...

Seeing how guarded she looked, Wang Yue knew they wouldn't get anywhere today. Since she knew Zhu Xiaobei, he patiently explained, "I just think this area has potential, and property prices are bound to keep rising, so I bought it as an investment. But I can't leave it empty, right? That's why I thought we could run a business together. Here, this is my dorm's phone number. You can ask Xiaobei to confirm who I am. Then we can talk, okay?"

Wang Yue wrote down his dorm's phone number and left, taking a step back to move things forward. The young woman was left staring after him, dumbfounded.

Wang Yue had left in high spirits, but he'd given the Zhu sisters plenty to worry about.

That evening, Zhu Xiaonan got in touch with Zhu Xiaobei. At the time, Zhu Xiaobei was chatting with her roommates about that day's club recruitment. Zheng Wei had joined the Go Club, while Zhu Xiaobei had signed up for a whole bunch of random clubs.

Just as everyone was excitedly discussing the day's news, the dorm phone rang.

Everyone assumed it was for Zheng Wei, so nobody moved. But when Zheng Wei picked it up, she learned the call was for Zhu Xiaobei.

As soon as Zhu Xiaobei heard the phone, her cheerful expression changed. The others sensed something was wrong and stopped fooling around.

The next morning, Wang Yue had no classes for the first two periods, so he treated himself to a rare lie-in. When he and his roommates headed to class for the third period, they found that someone had taken the seats where they usually sat.

As soon as Wang Yue entered the classroom, Zheng Wei waved to him from across the room. Seeing Zhu Xiaobei sitting beside her instead of Ruan Wan, he more or less understood what was going on.

When Wang Yue and the others approached, Zhu Xiaobei and her three companions shifted over by four seats. Wang Yue took the opportunity to sit right next to Zheng Wei.

"Wang Yue, did you really buy that little shop?" Seeing how readily he'd taken a seat, Zheng Wei got straight to the point.

"Here." Wang Yue said nothing. He pulled a small red booklet from between the few books in his arms and handed it to Zheng Wei. "Keep it secret!"

"Sure! Sure!" Zheng Wei picked up the red booklet and set it in front of Zhu Xiaobei. The four of them crowded around to look, whispering among themselves as they read.

"Put it away!" Zheng Wei secretly used her book to shield the red booklet as she returned it to Wang Yue. When he casually slipped it between his books, she couldn't help but twitch at his nonchalant manner.

"I had no idea you were so rich. Is dressing like that your way of experiencing life?" Zheng Wei's big eyes were brimming with curiosity.

"My family's from Balitun, Changzhou, Hebei Province!" Wang Yue could only shake his head at her.

"Then you must've sold some family heirloom!" Zheng Wei asked, voicing the theory the four roommates had stayed up late discussing.

"Just say what you want to say." Wang Yue rolled his eyes.

"So do you really want to go into business with Xiaobei's older sister, or do you have some other motive?" This time, Zheng Wei's eyes were full of undisguised gossip.

"Who's Zhu Xiaobei's older sister? The young woman who sells buns?" Wang Yue looked bewildered.

"You didn't know?" Now it was Zheng Wei's turn to be surprised. Zhu Xiaobei and the others, who'd been listening with their ears pricked up, stared at him in disbelief too.

"If I'd known she was Zhu Xiaobei's sister, wouldn't I have asked Zhu Xiaobei first?" Wang Yue glanced at Zheng Wei scornfully.

"True. So you really did mean it when you offered to work with Zhu Xiaobei's sister?" As soon as she finished asking, she saw that Wang Yue's scornful expression hadn't changed and realized she'd asked another stupid question.

"That shop's on the pedestrian street. You could sell all kinds of things there, so why sell buns?" Zheng Wei couldn't go ten minutes without turning into a curious little kitten.

Wang Yue sighed and turned to her. "Zhu Xiaobei's sister makes delicious buns! Besides, if you keep this up, the professor's going to lose it!"

Zheng Wei looked up and caught the professor on the platform giving her a chilly stare. She quickly sat up straight like an elementary school student, her face suddenly earnest and serious.

Wang Yue nearly lost it laughing, but the professor on the platform turned around and coughed before continuing with the lecture.

Wang Yue and Zhu Xiaonan opened their bun shop, naming it Xiaonan Steamed Bun Shop. As for what to sell and how to run it, Wang Yue left all of that to her. He only made one suggestion: keep the shop clean and sanitary, so customers would think that even a mouse in the place took a bath every day!

The young women all burst into laughter at Wang Yue's suggestion.

Of the four, only Li Weijuan was well-off. So they agreed that Zheng Wei, Ruan Wan, and Zhu Xiaobei would all work at the shop.

The four of them chatted away, full of enthusiasm, while Wang Yue and Zhu Xiaonan discussed the business.

At first, Wang Yue nodded along to whatever Zhu Xiaonan suggested selling. But when she brought up barbecue, he shook his head. He didn't trust public safety in those days, so he explained the situation to her.

Barbecue could certainly make good money. But people would inevitably drink with it, so they had to consider safety. Though the area was a university district, it was still in the suburbs, and none of the people involved were locals.

Xiao Nan thought it was a shame, but she didn't insist. That settled it.

Xiaonan Steamed Bun Shop quietly opened on the pedestrian street, attracting plenty of customers with its cleanliness and hygiene.

Of course, many of them were boys from nearby schools. Most were probably drawn by the pretty girls. Whatever the reason, business was unexpectedly good.