Chapter Seventeen: Old Woman Miao

"My surname is Liang; you can call me Yunqing. Manager Yang, since you’ve invited me for tea, there’s no need for pleasantries. Please, speak your mind."

Manager Yang chuckled. He had intended to build some rapport before getting down to business, but the young girl before him was rather blunt.

"I came today because I heard there’s a stall on this street selling food that is astonishingly delicious, with a flavor profile unlike anything I’ve ever tasted."

Hearing this, Liang Yunqing had already guessed seven or eight parts of his intention. She smiled lightly and asked, "And after tasting it, Manager Yang, what is your opinion?"

"Extraordinary!"

Seeming to feel that wasn't specific enough, he added, "The texture is crispy and numbing, with a subtle heat and fragrance upon the first bite. It is truly a flavor I have never encountered before."

"Is Manager Yang looking to buy my recipe?"

Manager Yang was caught off guard by her directness. Looking at this girl, who appeared to be nothing more than a village lass, he hadn't expected her to be so sharp.

"The matter of the recipe must wait until my proprietor has tasted the shumai. My main purpose today was simply to meet the owner of the stall."

Liang Yunqing’s smile deepened. Even if this old fox wanted to buy the recipe, he wouldn't say so directly. He had to bring up his proprietor to imply that the recipe might not necessarily be good enough for him—a way to elevate his own status and signal that he wasn't desperate to make a purchase.

"Very well. Manager Yang, do take the shumai back and ask your proprietor."

"Aren't you going to ask what price the recipe might fetch, Miss?"

"Didn't you say you wanted your proprietor to try it first?"

Manager Yang paused. He looked at Liang Yunqing deeply before laughing. "I specifically tried to suppress the price, yet you refused to play along."

"Manager Yang is quite honest, aren't you?"

The two exchanged a look and tapped their teacups together. Feeling the lingering warmth of the shumai he carried, Manager Yang continued, "I believe that once my proprietor tastes it, he will surely have me seek you out again. Would you be willing to sell the recipe then?"

Liang Yunqing’s smile faded. "I just praised you for your honesty, so why are you beating around the bush again? Do you think the 'recipe' you speak of is just a matter of asking me how many ounces of rice or oil I used?"

Manager Yang straightened his sleeves, feeling a bit constrained. The fabric of his dark-patterned cotton shirt was rarely seen in town; for a manager of the Xike Restaurant to wear such material meant he was no ordinary person. He knew well that a simple shumai recipe wasn't what he was actually after.

"You are truly straightforward, Miss. Let me be direct as well: I only wish to buy the seasoning you mix into it."

"That's more like it. However, I won't sell it." Liang Yunqing watched the increasingly anxious Manager Yang and added, "But I can supply it."

Manager Yang understood. He nodded, indicating he would report back to his proprietor and that they would discuss further if the proprietor approved.

As they walked out of the teahouse, Manager Yang’s sedan chair was already waiting nearby.

"Manager Yang even has his own sedan chair. It seems the benefits at Xike Restaurant are quite good."

Manager Yang stopped as he was about to step into the chair and laughed heartily. "Why don't you come work at Xike Restaurant with me, Miss Liang? I'll get you a sedan chair, too."

Liang Yunqing quickly stepped back. "Manager Yang certainly knows how to scout for talent."

***

He laughed a few more times before boarding the chair and leaving. Liang Yunqing swung her arms, happily preparing to head back to her stall. She decided she would hand the shumai business over to Li Pinghua to manage, while she would earn a profit by supplying the ground Sichuan peppercorn mixture. That would leave her with plenty of free time to tinker with other ideas.

Just as she was lost in these pleasant thoughts, a familiar voice drifted to her ears.

"Grandma! Don't hit my grandma!"

She stopped, and before she could find the source of the sound, a scene unfolded before her. A bloated, elderly woman had been shoved to the ground, and a little girl in a lotus-colored dress was throwing herself over her, screaming.

"Grandma... Grandma!"

Wasn't this the woman who had tried to snatch the stall space from her yesterday?

Before Liang Yunqing could even ask, a young couple rushed over and began punching and kicking the old woman, shouting, "You can't even wash the dishes clean, yet you still have the nerve to ask for your wages, you old hag!"

"Don't hit my grandma!"

The little girl bit the young woman on the calf, only to be kicked away a second later.

"You brat! You fatherless and motherless thing, how dare you bite me!"

The woman prepared to rush over and strike the girl again. Liang Yunqing looked at the sobbing child on the ground and then at the old woman struggling to get up. Finally, cursing herself internally for being a bleeding heart, she rushed forward.

She gripped the young woman’s arm firmly and said in a cold voice, "It’s not right to hit a little girl, is it?"

"Where did you come from?" The young woman yanked her arm back, and her husband stepped forward, his face full of malice. "What kind of thing are you to dare stop us?"

Liang Yunqing helped the girl up and comforted her gently. "Yuanbao, go to your grandma."

The child, enduring the pain, obediently returned to her grandmother's side. Liang Yunqing freed her hands, stood tall, and looked at the two of them. "What is the reason for this violence?"

"Damn it, who do you think you are to play the hero? This old hag couldn't clean the bowls and still wanted her money. We were going easy on her!"

Liang Yunqing looked at the old woman, whose face was covered in blood, and asked, "Is what he says true?"

"It's not... I washed them clean. I washed every bowl three times. He didn't want to pay me, so he started hitting me." The old woman’s tears mixed with the blood on her face and dripped onto her neck. Yuanbao used her sleeve to wipe them away.

The young man sneered with utter disdain. "If I say they aren't clean, they aren't clean! Get out of here, the lot of you—"

Liang Yunqing wore an expression of sudden realization, but before he could finish, she landed a heavy punch squarely on his face. The impact sent the man reeling, stunned, onto the ground. The young woman next to him took a long moment to react before shrieking and charging at Liang Yunqing.

*Slap!*

A single strike left the woman caught off guard. Then, a series of slaps followed, along with a few more for the man who was just trying to sit up. After a while, feeling her hand ache, Liang Yunqing switched to using her fists.

"Stop hitting..."

"Don't hit us anymore..."

The two were huddled together, bruised and swollen. A crowd of onlookers had gathered. Liang Yunqing stopped, wiped her hands, and looked down at the man with a gentle smile. "I’ll ask you one more time: were the bowls clean?"

"Clean... they were clean..."

Liang Yunqing nodded. She then asked, "And can the wages be paid now?"

"Yes, yes, yes, I'll pay, I'll pay!"

The young woman scrambled into the shop and returned with ten copper coins, which she shoved into the old woman's hand.

Liang Yunqing felt her heart ache. She pointed at the coins and said, "You beat her into this state over ten copper coins?"

The old woman, slumped on the ground, ignored the blood on her hands and clutched the coins tightly to her chest, as if afraid the sight of them would frighten Yuanbao. She wiped her hands on her clothes before gently stroking the little girl's cheek.

"Don't be afraid, Yuanbao. Grandma will go buy you some candy in a bit."

"Grandma..." Yuanbao hid in the old woman’s bulky frame, refusing to look up.

Liang Yunqing’s nose tingled. A sense of self-reproach filled her heart. She calmed her voice and asked the woman, "Is this a full day’s pay?"

The woman shook her head tremulously. "This... this is three days' pay. She... she’s just an old woman who can only wash dishes. Ten coins is enough."

"Heh..." Liang Yunqing let out a cold laugh and cast a meaningful look at the shop. She didn't bother teaching the pair another lesson, instead helping the blood-stained old woman to her feet and leading them through the crowd.

"Thank you," the old woman said, her voice muffled by the blood in her throat.

"Grandma, what is your name?" Liang Yunqing asked peacefully, holding Yuanbao’s hand with her other.

"You can just call me Granny Miao."

As soon as she finished speaking, Granny Miao realized they were heading toward the medical clinic. She suddenly pulled her arm away.

"No, no, not the clinic!"