The next day.

At 4:50 AM, the alarm blared piercingly.

Outside, it was still dark.

Jiang Liu and Tongtong both got out of bed, their hair a complete mess.

Tongtong copied Jiang Liu, rolling right out of bed.

Then, the two of them brushed their teeth in front of the mirror with their eyes still closed.

They rinsed their mouths with identical toothbrushing cups.

Their movements were in perfect sync.

A true father and daughter.

Dressed in matching SpongeBob and Patrick parent-child outfits, Jiang Liu led Tongtong out, carrying the filling ingredients.

Jiang Liu planned to secretly procure the juice in the kitchen.

Without a car, it was hard to bring it from home without attracting attention.

The two of them arrived at the wet market.

Jun Qingmeng was already there.

"Good morning, Jiang Liu,"

she greeted him sweetly.

Today, Jun Qingmeng was wearing a cream-colored shirt and baggy jeans, with a belt accenting her waist. She looked sharp.

Jiang Liu glanced at her. "You could have slept in. You don’t have to come so early."

The three of them set off together.

"It’s fine. I can’t sleep in in the mornings."

"By the way, why did you have me wait for you at the wet market today?"

Jun Qingmeng looked around curiously at the busy vendors.

Jiang Liu said, "I’ve come up with a new filling, but we were out of fennel at home, so I came specifically to buy some."

He planned to mix egg and fennel. It was a filling Jiang Liu had been eating since he was a child, and it tasted great.

With the skills and knowledge he now possessed, creating another new filling was no problem at all.

"A new type of bun?!" Jun Qingmeng exclaimed in surprise. ’Jiang Liu is so motivated and dedicated.’

Tongtong jumped up excitedly, pumping her fist. "Oh yeah! Tongtong gets to eat something yummy again!"

Jun Qingmeng grew thoughtful. "A new shop opened up across from you, and they copied your buns. Are you... planning to fight back?"

"You guessed it. Nice job."

Jiang Liu praised her.

Jun Qingmeng felt a flutter of happiness. Being praised by Jiang Liu felt really good.

She asked, "But didn’t you say yesterday that you should just focus on your own work and not worry about others?"

Jiang Liu smiled. "It’s not what you think. The main reason for developing a new filling is to give my customers a better experience. As for dealing them a blow, that’s just a side effect."

"I don’t really care whether or not their shop is affected."

It wasn’t that Jiang Liu didn’t have a temper.

When people were walking all over him, he knew when to strike back.

He didn’t really care about the outcome, since he was guaranteed to win anyway.

If his rival was willing, they could just follow behind him and eat his dust.

Jun Qingmeng watched Jiang Liu’s faint smile, her own eyes sparkling. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

She really liked this subtly cunning side of his.

He had a good character, but he was devious when dealing with bad people.

Jiang Tongtong looked up at the two adults who refused to make a move and sighed softly.

’Love isn’t easy; it makes a little kid sigh.’

’She worried so much about this family.’

’Daddy won’t make a move, and Teacher Qingmeng won’t say anything either.’

It was all too much for a cute little girl like her!

「Ten minutes later.」

Jiang Liu bought seven pounds of fresh fennel.

More than enough to make 500 egg and fennel buns.

The moment they got to the shop’s entrance, customers already in line started calling out greetings.

"Good morning, Tongtong! You look so pretty today."

"Well, who’s this? Let me think... Oh, finally decided to wake up, Boss Jiang?"

"We’ve been waiting for two hours! Can you come at 2 AM next time?"

"Please, can you hurry up? I’m just a hair’s breadth away from starving to death!"

"This is clear-cut customer abuse! My body’s all worn out from lining up these past two days."

A student with dark circles under his eyes looked like he wanted to cry but had no tears left.

He had no choice; if he couldn’t buy the buns, his dad would be waiting for him with a belt.

Jiang Liu held Tongtong’s hand, walked up the steps, and took out his key. Without turning back, he joked, "Listen to you all. You might as well just lock me in a dark room and have me make buns for you all day."

’Come at 2 AM? They really think I’m some corporate slave. I, Jiang Liu, will never be a bondsman!’

The customers were amused.

"Great idea! C’mon, c’mon! I’ve got a basement."

"Works for us, as long as you’re willing."

"You’ll have to make a hundred thousand buns a day. If not, you’ll have to sleep with me."

Jiang Liu opened the door.

Then, under the puzzled gazes of the customers, he wrote on the blackboard: Egg & Fennel Buns, 2 Yuan Each.

The line immediately burst into an uproar.

The customers were all incredibly excited.

"Holy shit! Boss Jiang is the man! My one-hour wait wasn’t in vain!"

"I’ve been dying with anticipation! A new egg and fennel flavor, this is awesome!"

"Quick, call Brother Jiu and tell him to get over here to fill a spot in line! Tell him there’s a new filling!"

An auntie excitedly squeezed her way to the front. "Xiao Jiang, you’ve come out with another new product?!"

"Mhm. You can try it in a bit. Egg and fennel, a classic."

"I absolutely love egg and fennel! With your skills, I bet I’ll gain ten pounds from eating them."

"I’m going to buy thirty later!"

"There’s a limit of fifteen per person this morning," Jiang Liu said calmly.

He had to make sure that everyone who lined up could get some.

He couldn’t have people waiting for half the day only to leave empty-handed, right?

"Oh, all right then." The auntie smacked her lips.

She was hoping to take them back to her residential community to show off.

The day before yesterday, the appearance of the new juice had set off a juice frenzy in her neighborhood.

Anyone who managed to buy the juice earned major bragging rights; they’d want to carry it around the neighborhood for an hour just to flaunt it.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t afford it; it was that the supply was limited, and they couldn’t get their hands on it!

Jiang Liu went into the kitchen, poured the juice into a container, and put the lid on. After that was done, he started preparing the buns.

Jun Qingmeng and Tongtong started cleaning the shop.

"I’m a super-duper-invincible cutie pie~ Sometimes I’m good, sometimes a little bad~ I love to goof around and sometimes play the rascal."

The two of them sang the song from their kindergarten morning exercises as they wiped the tables.

After they finished cleaning, Jun Qingmeng and Tongtong went to the kitchen to bottle the juice.

Today’s juices were watermelon and orange.

The first rays of morning sun shone on the shop’s sign.

It chased away the morning chill, casting a warm, golden glow.

5:40 AM.

Jiang Liu wrapped the buns, listening to the pleasant singing of the woman and the little girl.

His mood improved considerably.

The line at the door grew longer and longer.

High school students sat on chairs reciting vocabulary from their English books as usual, the uncles and aunties chattered away, and the corporate drones kept their heads down, refusing to give up their entertainment time on their phones.

A "Closed" sign hung on the door, and everyone was sensible enough not to go inside and disturb Jiang Liu while he was making the buns.

Just then, Uncle Niu pushed open the glass door, panting, and poked his head in. "Boss Jiang, I heard there’s a new product today?"

As soon as he heard the news, he had pedaled his tricycle all the way from his old village.

Jiang Liu answered without looking up from his work:

"Yes, egg and fennel."

"Whew, glad I didn’t miss it."

Uncle Niu let out a sigh of relief.

He hadn’t believed it at first, but then he’d rushed all the way over, figuring it was better to be wrong than to miss out.

It was the middle of the busy farming season, and he hadn’t even finished his work in the fields, but he just had to come for the new buns.

"By the way, this won’t affect the other buns, will it?"

Uncle Niu was worried that with a new bun available, the quantity of the others would be reduced, and he wouldn’t be able to buy them.

He also loved the shrimp buns and the three-delicacy buns; those two were his absolute favorites.

He also really liked the chive buns and pork buns.

Jiang Liu shook his head and said, "I had to reduce the quantity of each by one hundred. I can’t help it; I’m too busy to make more."

Uncle Niu immediately offered to help Jiang Liu with the work, saying his arms and legs were still strong.

Jiang Liu declined his kind offer.

When it came to food, he had to be responsible for his customers.

He wouldn’t let an outsider touch it.

He didn’t mean anything else by it.

"All right then. Just call me if you need anything. I can help with whatever."

Uncle Niu gave a gentle smile, revealing his big, yellowed teeth, and shot Jiang Liu an encouraging look.

His biggest worry was that Jiang Liu would one day get tired of it all and suddenly disappear.

That would be a total disaster!