Grandmother Yu had never been one to mince words.

Xia Xiao Lan was not only used to it but even detected a hint of concern in her words. Though she felt somewhat pathetic for it, she still explained: “Of course I’m still renting. I’m comfortable and used to your house. We were delayed yesterday and had to stay overnight in Anqing County. My mother rushed to open the shop, and they sent me back quickly to check if you needed more dumplings and steamed buns.”

Grandmother Yu’s expression softened slightly, though her tone remained disapproving: “What work can you do? You can’t even make round dumplings. Good thing you’re smart enough for studying – keep those hands of yours for holding pens!”

Xiao Lan was just trying to be polite, but Grandmother Yu didn’t leave her any face.

Xiao Lan’s cheeks reddened slightly. What was wrong with her dumplings? Sure, the pleats weren’t pretty, but as long as they didn’t break while cooking, wasn’t that good enough? In her previous life, she was from Yueyang, a land of fish and rice – naturally, she wasn’t skilled at making wheat-based foods.

Grandmother Yu didn’t dwell on this point.

Although she remained vigilant about Xiao Lan and her mother, as a lonely elderly person, she had gradually grown accustomed to their presence. Before returning to their hometown for the New Year, Xiao Lan and her mother had said they would return on the fourth day of the lunar new year, as they needed to reopen for business on the fifth. When Grandmother Yu hadn’t seen them yesterday, she worried they might have met with an accident on the road, or perhaps they no longer wanted to rent the house.

Though the rent had been paid for six months upfront, Xiao Lan’s clothing business was quite profitable, and they had now secured the shop at No. 45 Erqi Road. If the mother and daughter didn’t mind losing some rent money, they might have simply moved elsewhere.

This worry had kept Grandmother Yu up at night, and she had planned to change her attitude. Yet upon seeing Xiao Lan, her stern expression returned.

Fortunately, Xiao Lan didn’t mind, and Grandmother Yu felt relieved.

During the New Year holidays, the house had been quite lonely. Now, with Xiao Lan back, wiping tables and sweeping floors while humming songs, Grandmother Yu felt much more at ease.

On the fifth day of the lunar new year, there weren’t many people on the streets. Li Fengmei and Liu Fen could handle the shop’s business, so Xiao Lan returned home to clean and sat down to write a reply to Zhou Cheng.

She asked if the yam tasted good if the clothes fit properly, and when he might have time off.

Knowing Zhou Cheng had many connections, she added a few lines: “I wonder if you could help find some foreign magazines about home decoration, or books about architecture. My uncle wants to enter this industry, and Kang Wei has even asked him to help renovate his house after the New Year. He needs to make a trip to Beijing… I might go along, and I hope we’ll have a chance to meet then.”

Initially, Xiao Lan hadn’t planned to go with Liu Yong.

However, since this job was for an acquaintance, if Kang Wei wasn’t satisfied with the renovation, he might find it difficult to say so.

Xiao Lan thought she should accompany Liu Yong to at least see Kang Wei’s actual house layout and learn about what building materials were available in Beijing. The capital would surely have a better selection than Shangdu – they wouldn’t need to go all the way to Yangcheng just for a crystal lamp. Although Shangdu was a central railway hub, it wasn’t as internationally connected as Beijing.

While people in Shangdu found Blue Phoenix’s decorations luxurious, the foreign hotels in Beijing were truly high-end.

Kang Wei was worldly and didn’t lack money – his house’s design could be done properly.

After mailing the letter, Xiao Lan slowly made her way to the shop.

Today’s business was indeed mediocre, nowhere near the thousands in daily sales before the New Year. By closing time, they’d only made over eight hundred… partly due to fewer customers, but also because the shop had limited stock.

In the large three-door store, there were only scattered jeans and sweaters, plus a few wool coats.

With customers having fewer choices, even though they only sold over eight hundred in a day, the remaining stock wouldn’t last many days. Xiao Lan needed to go to Yangcheng quickly for new stock, and this time she planned to take Li Fengmei. Both Li Fengmei and Liu Fen needed to take turns accompanying Xiao Lan to purchase goods – otherwise, when Xiao Lan went to university if their eye for selecting clothes hadn’t been developed, Blue Phoenix’s business might not have plummeted, but making substantial profits would be difficult.

Besides home decoration magazines, she needed to subscribe to fashion magazines too, subtly cultivating her mother’s and aunt’s aesthetic sense.

Li Fengmei wasn’t wrong in wanting a television – they could learn about outside fashion through media, but were there any fashion magazines in China in ’84?

After finishing the cleaning and closing the shop, they returned home to find the aroma of meat buns wafting from the kitchen.

One whiff told them it was authentic pork and green onion filling.

“I don’t take advantage of anyone – this is to repay what you mother and daughter ate,” Grandmother Yu said, referring to the dumplings and steamed buns Liu Fen had made before the New Year. The old lady was concerned they wouldn’t have time to cook on their first day back in business, yet she had to phrase it so unpleasantly.

Xiao Lan picked up a thin-skinned, generously filled bun and took a bite – it was both hot and fragrant.

Grandmother Yu’s skill surpassed even those selling buns in the food street. Xiao Lan couldn’t help but praise: “Your skill is truly exceptional, even better than those sold in shops outside.”

Though they were all pork and green onion buns, Grandmother Yu’s somehow tasted different. Xiao Lan was no stranger to good food, yet she couldn’t stop praising Grandmother Yu’s cooking – that spoke volumes about the buns’ quality.

Neither mother nor daughter had known Grandmother Yu was such a skilled cook. In their months of renting, this was the first time they’d tasted her cooking.

Grandmother Yu’s stern face showed both pride and disdain: “What’s so special about store-bought ones? Selling to so many people, even old establishments can’t be selective about ingredients. Three parts fat to seven parts lean, the best-textured pork shoulder meat – one pig only yields a few jin… Never mind, you wouldn’t understand even if I explained.”

The pursuit of culinary excellence was ancient history. After showing off a bit, Grandmother Yu felt it was pointless.

In her household’s kitchen from years past, there had been clear divisions between pastry chefs and meat cooks. If the buns weren’t good enough, plenty of people were willing to experiment and improve – whoever had the skills earned higher wages. It wasn’t uncommon to invite famous chefs from the South for important banquets.

Those days were like smoke in the wind – later on, who had the luxury for such refinement? Being able to eat one’s fill was good enough!

Seeing her daughter’s endless praise for Grandmother Yu’s buns, Liu Fen wanted to learn from her but feared it might be a closely guarded skill, making her hesitate. Grandmother Yu would probably be upset if she knew – what family heritage? It was the kitchen staff trying their best to please the young miss… In the blink of an eye, Miss Yu had become Grandmother Yu, using the skills of her family’s pastry chef to “please” a mother and daughter from the countryside – how the tables had turned!

After eating Grandmother Yu’s pork and green onion buns, Xiao Lan worked on practice problems until midnight before going to bed.

She had nearly finished all the exercise papers – it seemed she needed to get new practice questions from Shangdu High School.

Early the next morning, Hu Yongcai arrived with the two women’s bicycles Xiao Lan had asked him to buy before the New Year.

The frames were smaller, one red and one pink, looking particularly pretty.

“Brother Hu, your abilities are truly boundless – these two bikes must have been hard to get?”

Hu Yongcai smiled as he listened to Xiao Lan’s praise.

The two bikes were indeed difficult to acquire, but Xiao Lan had provided ample money – it just took more time and effort.

What troubled Hu Yongcai was something else: “They’re not as good for carrying cargo as the 28-inch frames, but they’re easier for women to ride… By the way, Zhu Fang came to see me a few days ago.”