Chapter 18 Steamed Buns

Chapter 18: Baozi

The room fell into darkness. Xie Fengshi turned over in the dark, burying his face in the pillow. The last image in his mind was that figure's back as he walked away.

"Crazy," Xie Fengshi couldn't help cursing himself.

That guy came here to see his brother, had a meal, and exchanged a few polite words. And here he was, tossing and turning over it. How ridiculous was he being?

Xie Fengshi kicked his legs around under the blanket. This was so annoying.

Xie Fengshi, get a grip. You lived over twenty years in your past life—how many handsome guys have you seen? Every type is online, you've scrolled past countless ones. Kaelen is just a little better-looking, a little nicer to listen to, a little gentler, a little more considerate...

As Xie Fengshi counted, he realized that this "little" had already piled up into a big heap. He immediately shut his mouth and forced his mind back to practical matters.

Money, money, he needed money!

He had paid the rent, but he still owed one month of back rent still to pay. School material fees were no small expense either—everything cost money. Professor Johnson's class hadn't even officially started yet, but he had checked the prices of the reference books on the syllabus. One basic textbook could buy a whole stack of books back in China.

Xie Fengshi turned over, pulling the blanket up to his chin.

It wasn't that he hadn't taken Lu Shiyan's words to heart. He had thought about the idea of taking cooking orders within the international student circle too. But before, he felt he had just found his footing and shouldn't rush things.

But the situation was different now. He had gotten the hang of things at Good Fortune, figured out the schedule, and settled on cooking twice a week at Lu Shiyan's. He could squeeze out time from the remaining days.

And Lu Shiyan's offer was too tempting—charging that much for one meal. If he took four or five orders a month, he could pay off all his debts. A few more orders, and the material fees would be covered. A few more orders after that, and he could even think about moving to a better place.

Winter was coming. He had tried the heating in this place once—it hummed for ages, barely blowing out any warm air, just making a lot of noise.

Do it. Only a fool would turn down money.

Once that decision was made, Xie Fengshi felt more at ease.

Xie Fengshi thought drowsily as he was drifting off to sleep, Wednesday... there are still a few days until then.

In the following days, Xie Fengshi's pace of life noticeably sped up.

The next morning, he got up early to finish the sketches. They were called sketches, but really, he just forced himself to draw based on the original owner's memories. The composition was mostly fine, but it was missing something.

Xie Fengshi couldn't quite put his finger on it. Anyway, he wasn't meant to have anything extra. As long as he could turn it in, it was fine.

Professor Johnson's class was in the afternoon. In the morning, Xie Fengshi went to Good Fortune. When he arrived, Uncle Li was prepping ingredients. He gave a chin lift: "Isn't there class today?"

"Afternoon class. Nothing this morning, so I came to help."

He worked until noon, when the lunch rush started. Xie Fengshi ran back and forth between the front of house and the kitchen until two in the afternoon, when it finally quieted down.

Aunt Lin brought a glass of warm water and set it in front of Xie Fengshi: "Take a break. You have class this afternoon, right?"

Xie Fengshi glanced at his phone: "Still got time."

Aunt Lin sat down across from him, propping her chin on her hand as she looked at him: "Xiao Xie, is there something you want to talk about?"

Xie Fengshi was caught off guard: "Aunt Lin, how did you know?"

"You've been distracted all morning. The moment you had a free second, you started daydreaming. Come on, what's up?"

"Aunt Lin, I want to take some gigs cooking at people's houses. A few orders a week. It won't affect the restaurant."

"Is that what your classmate mentioned last time?"

Xie Fengshi nodded: "Yeah."

Aunt Lin thought for a moment, walked behind the counter, pulled out a small notebook, flipped through it, and came back to sit down: "Xiao Xie, let me tell you something."

Xie Fengshi sat up straight. Aunt Lin placed the notebook in front of him: "We've run this place for over a decade. I've seen a lot of people come and go, but I truly like you, kid. I'm not going to stop you from taking orders, but you need to remember what I'm about to say."

As she spoke, she raised one finger: "First, don't undervalue your prices. You should know what your cooking is worth. Those kids all have money—if you charge too little, they might think your skills aren't good enough.

Second, don't take every order. Some people are easy to get along with, some aren't. When you go into someone's home to cook, you're going into their territory. Safety first. If something feels off, just turn it down. Don't feel embarrassed about it.

Third, this notebook has contact info for a few regular customers who previously asked if we could send someone to cook at their place. If you want to take orders, you can start with these."

The notebook densely packed with writing sat right in front of him. Xie Fengshi didn't know what to say for a moment. Seeing him not move, Aunt Lin thought he was worried about the restaurant: "I told you, if you find a better opportunity, you can leave anytime. You don't have to..."

Xie Fengshi quickly explained: "Aunt Lin, I'm not leaving."

Aunt Lin said, "I know, I know. What I mean is, you need to move forward. You're only twenty. You can't stay in our restaurant forever. While you're young, you should get out there and explore the world."

...

The afternoon class was in the old building of the art school—arched windows, the year the school was founded carved into the doorway. Xie Fengshi rushed into the classroom right on time. The room was already quite full.

Professor Johnson was in his fifties, with round-rimmed glasses and a khaki jacket. He stood at the podium, flipping through a roster. After taking roll, he snapped the roster closed and began his lecture.

Xie Fengshi had thought this basic class would be boring, but Professor Johnson spent half an hour talking about light and shadow, from Renaissance church frescoes to the use of light in modern photography, peppered with various anecdotes and gossip. The classroom was filled with laughter.

Xie Fengshi was completely absorbed. During the break, Professor Johnson came over, looked down at his sketchbook: "New student?"

"Yeah, I fell behind on some classes."

Professor Johnson flipped through Xie Fengshi's sketches for about five or six pages: "Your linework isn't bad, but what were you thinking while you drew?"

"Thinking... about how to draw it well."

Professor Johnson shook his head: "Wrong. You should be thinking about what you want to draw."

Even after the professor walked away, Xie Fengshi kept mulling over that phrase.

It felt like everyone was telling him the same thing, but he still didn't fully understand.

His phone buzzed. Xie Fengshi looked down.

"Xiao Lu Xiao Lu: Waiting for you downstairs!"

"Xiao Lu Xiao Lu: You cooking today? I still want that tofu."

Xie Fengshi shot back a reply. When class ended, he gathered his things and headed out. As he walked out of the teaching building, he spotted Lu Shiyan's round face.

"Didn't we decide on Thursday?"

Lu Shiyan opened the car door: "Get in. We don't have to cook today. I'll take you out to eat."

"Didn't you say you wanted to eat tofu?"

"Then let's cook! Let's go, go!"

Lu Shiyan asked as he drove, "About what I said earlier, have you decided?"

Xie Fengshi leaned back in his seat: "Yeah, I'll do it."

Lu Shiyan turned to look at him. "Are you serious?!"

"Watch the road!"

Lu Shiyan quickly turned back. "Great! I'm telling you, I've been asking around the past few days, and a lot of people want to have you cook for them."

"You were asking around for me?"

"Yeah, you never gave me a definite answer, so I did a little asking around for you."

Xie Fengshi felt a warm glow inside. He said, "Thank you, Lu Shiyan."

"Don't thank me. You cook for me, so I'll drum up business for you."

"..."

Xie Fengshi said flatly, "That's not how you use the phrase 'bring in customers.'"

"Then what should I use? 'Drum up business'?"

Xie Fengshi decided not to nitpick his wording. "Got any flour at your place?"

Lu Shiyan was reversing the car. Hearing this, he flinched and nearly scraped a nearby pillar. "What are you going to make?"

"I'm kinda craving some baozi."

"Baozi?!"

"Yeah, baozi."

Lu Shiyan was already unbuckling his seatbelt. "Let's go, let's go, let's head upstairs. Do I have flour? I don't think so. I'll have someone bring some over now."

Xie Fengshi found his enthusiasm both amusing and exasperating. "Why are you so excited?"

Lu Shiyan said matter-of-factly, "This is just basic respect for good food!"

In the elevator, Lu Shiyan was still browsing a food delivery app. "There's a Chinese supermarket nearby that has everything. All-purpose, cake, and bread flour. Which one do you want?"

"All-purpose is fine."

"What about yeast? Do you need it? Baking powder? I'll order it all together."

Xie Fengshi was a little surprised. "You know about this stuff?"

Lu Shiyan lifted his chin proudly. "I may not know how to cook, but I eat a lot. After seeing enough, you just naturally learn these things."

"Okay, that explanation is very Lu Shiyan."

The elevator doors opened. Lu Shiyan charged in and flopped onto the sofa. "Xie Fengshi, you're the only reason I can survive in this country."

Xie Fengshi walked into the kitchen. "You said that last time."

"Last time was last time, this time is this time. I reaffirm this every single day."

"Then you're reaffirming it way too often."

"Because your cooking is so good, I'm won over again every day."

Xie Fengshi turned to look at the young master. He was lying on the sofa, chin resting on a cushion, his round eyes blinking up at him.

The groceries arrived quickly. Xie Fengshi took the bag and started prepping.

He sifted the flour, dissolved the yeast in warm water, poured it in little by little, stirred it with chopsticks until it formed a shaggy dough, then started kneading with his hands. Xie Fengshi's kneading was practiced and efficient, using the heel of his palm to press and fold the dough repeatedly on the counter until it gradually became smooth.

Lu Shiyan had somehow snuck in. "You make kneading dough look so good."

"There you go again."

"I'm serious. It's so satisfying to watch. Have you ever thought about filming videos? Just film yourself cooking. You'd definitely go viral."

"We'll see. Let's just get through this first."

The dough was ready. He put it in a bowl and covered it with plastic wrap. Xie Fengshi wiped his hands and started preparing the filling.

"Didn't you say you wanted tofu? Today I'll make mapo tofu baozi."

"Can you put mapo tofu in baozi?"

"Why not? Mapo tofu is the filling, the bun is the wrapper. Together they're delicious."

Xie Fengshi took out tofu and ground pork from the fridge. He cut the tofu into small cubes, blanched them to remove the raw bean taste, heated oil in the pan, stir-fried the minced pork, added doubanjiang (chili bean paste), douchi (fermented black beans), minced garlic, and minced ginger when the meat changed color, stir-fried until the oil turned red, then added the tofu cubes, gently folded, and finally thickened it with a cornstarch slurry.

The whole kitchen filled with a spicy, numbing aroma. Lu Shiyan sniffed. "Smells great."

"Hang on, it's not ready yet."

Xie Fengshi poured out the cooked filling and turned to prepare something else. "I'll also make a mushroom chicken one to mix things up."

He minced the chicken to a paste, chopped the mushrooms finely, added scallion-ginger water, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, and white pepper powder, and stirred in one direction until it felt springy. After stirring for a bit and deciding it was ready, he handed the bowl to Lu Shiyan. "Here, you stir this for a bit."

Lu Shiyan took the bowl with a blank look. "How am I supposed to stir it?"

"Clockwise, use some strength, and don't stop."

Lu Shiyan rolled up his sleeves and started. After stirring for a bit, his expression changed. "Why is this so hard?"

Xie Fengshi took the bowl from Lu Shiyan, resigned. "Let me do it."

Lu Shiyan leaned against the counter watching Xie Fengshi cook. "How do you know how to do everything?"

This wasn't the first time Lu Shiyan had said that. Without pausing, Xie Fengshi said, "I practiced. When you live alone, you have to learn some things."

"So didn't you get lonely living alone?"

"At first I did, but later I got used to it."

Lu Shiyan was quiet for a moment, then suddenly said, "But you're not alone now. You have me, and your neighbor. Oh, the neighbor who came to get you last time, does he like you?"

Xie Fengshi's hand slipped and he nearly knocked over the bowl. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm just asking casually. Why are you getting so worked up?"

Xie Fengshi put down the bowl and turned to get the plastic wrap. "What do you mean, agitated? I'm not agitated at all. Stop with the nonsense."

"I'm not talking nonsense. He was waiting for you that night, wasn't he?"

"He wasn't waiting for me. He just happened to be passing by."

Lu Shiyan had been watching Xie Fengshi closely, and now a smirk was spreading across his face. "Xie Fengshi, your ears are red."

"It's hot."

"It's fall now."

"The kitchen is hot."

"You just turned off the stove."

Xie Fengshi turned his head and looked at Lu Shiyan blankly: "Do you still want the baozi?"

Lu Shiyan immediately made a motion of zipping his lips, and Xie Fengshi immediately turned back to continue working.

The dough had risen, doubling in size. When you poked it with a finger, it didn't shrink or collapse. Xie Fengshi took out the dough, kneaded and pressed out the air, rolled it into a long strip, and cut it into evenly sized dough pieces.

When rolling out the wrappers, Lu Shiyan came over again: "You're amazing. I can't even roll out dumpling wrappers."

"Want to learn?"

"Yes,"

Xie Fengshi moved aside half a step and handed him the rolling pin: "Come on, I'll teach you."

Lu Shiyan took the rolling pin, imitating Xie Fengshi by pressing the dough piece flat, then holding the edge of the dough with his left hand and starting to roll. But the wrapper came out unevenly thick, with an irregular shape.

Xie Fengshi reached out to adjust his posture: "Not like that. You have to rotate the dough with your left hand; roll once with your right hand, then rotate with your left hand. That way the wrapper will be thicker in the middle and thinner at the edges. Yes, like that. Gentle pressure, don't press too hard."

Lu Shiyan tried a few times: "Look, is this okay?"

"Good. Much better."

"Then I'll keep going!"

"Don't you want to fill a few?"

"Yes!"

Lu Shiyan confidently picked up a wrapper, scooped a big spoonful of Mapo tofu filling, and started making pleats. With the first pinch, the filling squeezed out from the side.

Xie Fengshi tried not to laugh: "You put too much filling."

Lu Shiyan tried a few more times. Xie Fengshi looked at the unidentified object and finally couldn't help laughing: "What is this?"

Lu Shiyan felt embarrassed: "It just looks abstract."

"This is practically postmodernism."

"You know about postmodernism?"

"I went to art school, you know."

They looked at each other and both burst out laughing.

They made over twenty baozi, neatly arranged in the steamer. Xie Fengshi brought water to a boil, then put the steamer on top and covered it: "Wait fifteen minutes."