Qin Xiangnuan’s fingers paused slightly, she lowered her head, and continued to knead the dough, "Brother Jian, I can manage here. Now..." She felt it shouldn’t be six o’clock yet. Should she really let him stay here? That would be quite odd, and she didn’t want to disturb his rest.
Jian Zhiqing didn’t insist, "I’ll go back then and come over again later."
"Sure," Qin Xiangnuan’s smile grew wider at last, and she felt a bit more relaxed. In truth, if Jian Zhiqing stayed, she wouldn’t even know how to proceed; she feared she might even burn the cakes. How long has it been? She’s been kneading the dough over and over, and the cakes aren’t even on the stove yet.
Jian Zhiqing tightened his clothes around himself, turned around, and left. Only the dim yellow streetlights illuminated the ground, stretching his figure very long. Qin Xiangnuan just gazed dazedly at the man’s silhouette, until she could no longer see him. That’s when she came back to her senses, and it seemed like the cakes in the pan started to emit a burnt smell.
Oh no, she quickly lifted the lid off the pan and took out the cake. And indeed, it was burnt. Burnt it is, it looks like she will have to eat it herself when she gets home.
She continued kneading the dough and making cakes. With two stoves, it was certainly faster. In a little while, five cakes were already set out on the table. By this time, there were also people on the street. When the regular customers came by, she would take the initiative to tell them that she would be moving to the small house by the park in a couple of days. Everyone teased her about expanding her business.
Around eight-thirty, when nearly everything was sold, Jian Zhiqing finally came over. He was wearing that wool coat again, tall and slender, like a tall tree in the breeze.
"Eh, comrade, where did you buy your clothes? They look so nice. Is it foreign merchandise?" Someone couldn’t help but step forward and ask. They initially might have wanted to touch it a couple of times, but in the end, they forcefully retracted their reaching claws.
"A friend made it," Jian Zhiqing subtly dodged those claws. Fortunately, they weren’t extended, otherwise, there might have been grease marks on the clothes. He treasured this clothing item and had worn it for the longest time—two years, and still, he never got tired of it. Of course, it would be even more perfect if he didn’t think about the fact that father and son had competed over the same garment.
This time when he left, his Laozi clearly stated that he could move, but the clothes must stay behind. But how could he leave them? Such presentable clothes, if left behind, that would really be foolish.
And when the person heard that a friend made the garment, they seemed disappointed. They might have wanted to ask something else, but upon seeing Jian Zhiqing’s cold and aloof demeanor, they didn’t dare to ask more. On their way back, they still stared longingly at the clothes on Jian Zhiqing, almost as if they wished they could strip them off and put them on themselves.
Qin Xiangnuan offered a cake to Jian Zhiqing.
"Brother Jian, is this okay for you?" Qin Xiangnuan knew that eating these was very dry, so she took a new cup and poured a glass of water for Jian Zhiqing. That’s how she ate them on ordinary days, but when she went home, sometimes she would also cook up a pot of porridge to eat with it. But Jian Zhiqing could only eat this.
"It’s okay, I can eat , I’m not picky." Jian Zhiqing finished eating a cake, drank a glass of water, and then went to work. Qin Xiangnuan never asked where he worked, or how his family was, but she knew that Jian Zhiqing’s status must be extraordinary.