Looking for a substitute

Jiang Wenyan had just seen off one of Boss Shen's customers and sold him a cup of lemonade in passing when he spotted someone else waiting in front of Boss Shen's stall.

"Don't wait around. Boss Shen's taking today off. No chive pockets today."

At that, the smile on Song Lihui's face froze, replaced by disappointment in his eyes.

Yesterday, he had merely been passing by when he saw the long line at this chive pocket stall and joined it to buy one.

He had wanted extra chili, but the owner hadn't added any, saying that his chive pockets couldn't have chili added to them.

Only after taking a bite had Song Lihui realized there was a reason so many people were lining up and scrambling to buy them.

In his family, they had always put some chili in every dish he ate growing up. Even tofu pudding, that subject of north-versus-south debate, was served spicy where he came from.

So after graduating from university and working away from home, where tastes differed, he always had to ask the owner to add chili wherever he ate. Whenever he ate something without chili, he found it bland and unappetizing.

Eating that chive pocket without chili yesterday had been a complete accident.

But when he tasted it, it was truly the first time he had ever eaten something so delicious and flavorful without chili. The ingredients' fresh, natural flavors weren't masked by the intense taste of chili, and it was so good that it felt as though his taste buds had been refreshed.

One hadn't been nearly enough, but by the time he wanted another, the owner had sold out and was packing up.

That was why he had rushed over as soon as he got off work today. He had expected another long line, not for the owner to take the day off!!!

"What? Seriously?"

Song Lihui strongly suspected that someone might be lying about the owner not opening so they could buy up all the delicious chive pockets for themselves.

He therefore turned a suspicious gaze on Jiang Wenyan.

Jiang Wenyan was slumped listlessly over his stall, not even bothering to pay attention to the man's reaction. With no chive pockets to eat and the heat getting to him, he had no energy for anything.

"Boss Shen said so when he packed up yesterday."

Song Lihui repeated "Boss Shen" to himself. So the chive pocket seller's surname was Shen.

Only after seeing that plenty of people knew about it did he accept this result that he didn't want to believe.

"Aw, then will Boss Shen be here tomorrow?"

Jiang Wenyan didn't know the answer to that either, so he could only say, "No idea. With Boss Shen's cooking skills, I don't think he's short of money. Skills like that would be in demand anywhere. There's really no telling when he'll take a break or set up his stall. Come back around four or five tomorrow and have a look."

Boss Shen was a little aloof. Although the two of them talked a bit more, Jiang Wenyan still didn't dare presumptuously ask for his contact information, so he didn't know what Boss Shen was up to either.

After leaving the stall in disappointment, Song Lihui looked at the snacks all around him without the slightest appetite.

Spicy vermicelli, river snail rice noodles, grilled cold noodles with triple chili, and fire chicken noodles were all favorites that he usually found delicious, but now the sight of them didn't tempt him at all.

As he passed the end of the street, he suddenly noticed another little stall selling chive pockets. Business looked pretty good, too, with several people buying them.

Song Lihui hesitated, then walked over and said to the auntie running the stall, "Two chive pockets, please."

In any case, he didn't want to eat anything but chive pockets today. If he couldn't get them from that stall, buying some here as a substitute would be fine.

"Sure thing. I'll bag them up for you right away."

Auntie Liao, who sold the chive pockets, deftly flipped the ones in the pan.

She had been running her stall here for quite a while, and business was usually mediocre.

Not many young people ate chive pockets these days. In summer, they went for lemon tea, ice cream, fried rice, fried noodles, and all sorts of trendy wraps made with cold skin noodles and everything else. They rarely touched traditional snacks like these.

She hadn't expected business to suddenly pick up today. Quite a few people came out after walking around the food street, spotted her stall, and seemed to notice for the first time that she sold chive pockets. They came over to buy them, one here and two there, keeping Auntie Liao thoroughly busy.

Auntie Liao was so happy she couldn't stop smiling. She hadn't expected her luck to turn around one day, too. Seeing that the chive pockets were nearly done frying, she lifted them out, let them cool briefly, then put them in a bag and handed them to Song Lihui.

"Thank you, Auntie."

Song Lihui paid three yuan, took the chive pockets, and stood to one side, eagerly digging in.

At the first bite, Song Lihui paused. The crust was certainly crunchy, but it fell far short of that flaky crispness. Instead, it was a little hard.

He bit down harder. The inner layer didn't have that soft, chewy texture either, just the dry hardness of unleavened dough.

By the time he reached the filling, Song Lihui couldn't help sighing.

This was a traditional chive pocket filling, with chives, eggs, and glass noodles. Because of the eggs, a noticeable amount of ground pepper had been added to suppress their eggy smell. It worked very well, but the pepper flavor was also intense.

As a result, the fresh flavors of both the eggs and the chives were greatly diminished. It was completely different from the taste and texture he wanted.

But for a three-yuan chive pocket, what more could he ask for?

Living standards were high these days. On a snack street, three yuan would buy little besides a starch sausage or one of these chive pockets. Besides, the auntie made them so big that they were filling.

After finishing one, Song Lihui thought he would have satisfied his craving, only to find himself craving them even more. Just as he was about to sigh, he suddenly heard several matching sighs beside him and instinctively looked up.

He found that the others who had sighed were also looking at one another. Someone asked, "Did you all come here for a substitute because you wanted Boss Shen's chive pockets, but his stall wasn't open?"

Everyone nodded at once. As though they had found kindred spirits, they all began talking.

"I craved them all night. If I can't get chive pockets, I won't be able to sleep tonight. I came specifically to buy them."

"Me too. I was craving them all the way here after work and came rushing over, all excited, only to find I couldn't buy any. So here I am, buying these instead."

A boy of thirteen or fourteen stood beside them, his cheeks puffed out, looking aggrieved.

"I had to talk my dad into giving me thirty yuan in pocket money, and he didn't even believe I was coming to buy chive pockets. Ah, I really want the ones from yesterday! The crust was so flaky, and the filling smelled so good. Why isn't the owner here today?"

As he spoke, he even began swallowing his saliva, making everyone beside him crave them too.

"Damn, you just had to bring that up, didn't you? Stop talking about it. Keep going and I won't get any sleep tonight again."

Who didn't want to eat them? But they couldn't get any.

And so a strange scene appeared on the street: a group of people holding chive pockets, eating and sighing, occasionally glancing down at the ones in their hands. They clearly weren't enjoying them much, yet they persisted in eating, as though completing some task.

Busy at her stall, Auntie Liao had initially thought that the past couple of days had been so hot that everyone had lost their appetite and come to try chive pockets, which they rarely ate, for a change of pace. Only after hearing a few customers chatting did she learn the truth.

It turned out that the owner selling chive pockets for ten yuan each on the food street hadn't opened his stall. Everyone wanted chive pockets, which was why they had come to her.

That stall had become quite well known on the food street over the past two days. A young man set up his stall in a suit and dress shoes every day and packed up before dark. After just two days, his business was booming, making a whole bunch of stall owners envious.

As a fellow chive pocket seller, Auntie Liao had also heard the neighboring stall owners chatting about him.

When she had found out yesterday, she had wondered how a single chive pocket could possibly sell for ten yuan. Hearing these customers' conversation today made Auntie Liao all the more curious.