Chapter 8: The Pancake Craze

The bamboo basket of pancakes quickly ran low. Ye’s mother had initially thought she had made enough and was worried that they wouldn’t sell out, but now there was not a single one left. Apologizing to those who missed out, she shouted that there were none remaining.

The people behind her, hearing that there were no more, regretted taking too long to buy. They learned from Ye’s mother that she would set up her stall again tomorrow, and before leaving, they reminded her to bring more.

At the factory, Ye Xia hummed a tune while holding onto the fried dough sticks he had bought, feeling great as he sat down to eat.

Li Da walked over, surprised by the breakfast in Ye Xia’s hands. “Yo, Ye Xia, something good happened recently? I’ve never seen you buy food from outside before!” Since everyone worked in the same factory, they were quite familiar with each other. Both he and Ye Xia came from large families and usually didn’t have much money to spare. Even if he had some, he wouldn’t buy food for himself as he always bought things for his daughter instead.

Ye Xia smiled and replied, “Oh, it’s not really anything special. That annoying relative of mine finally left, so now I’ve got a bit more money to spend!”

“It’s not that I wanted him to stay longer, you know. My son is about to go to school, and we need money for that. There’s really no choice.”

“Which family doesn’t have troublesome relatives?” Every time Li Da heard about Ye Xia’s home situation, he sympathized, “Well, school is important. I saw a pancake roll stall on the walking street when I dropped my daughter off this morning. I heard it’s a new trend in the city! My daughter said it was delicious this morning; you should get some for your son.”

“City food? I have to try it.”

…

Around lunchtime, as Ye’s father slowly walked home with a hoe slung over his shoulder, he heard his wife’s high-pitched voice from inside the house. He quickly dropped the hoe and pushed the door open; even if they hadn’t sold everything, there was no need to argue!

Ye’s mother shot him a smug look and said, “If I put my effort into it, there’s no reason for things not to sell out! Those people were chasing me, asking if I would be here tomorrow!”

“Then let them know to bring more next time!”

Hearing this, Ye’s father felt relieved and happily lay back on a chair, smoking his pipe as he urged them to discuss what happened.

Ye’s sister-in-law handed Ye’s oldest brother a towel to wipe the sweat off his face, and while doing so, he excitedly described, “You guys should have seen it! A crowd surrounded our stall, wanting to buy! Mom was collecting money while I made the pancakes; she almost mixed up the payments!”

Ye’s mother rolled her eyes at his silly remark.

After work in the evening, Ye Xia followed Li Da’s suggestion to the primary school street but found no stalls lined up at all.

“What pancake roll nonsense, must be a joke!” Ye Xia wandered around the area a few times but found nothing. He was convinced that Li Da was just pulling his leg; how could he claim it was no money and still act all high and mighty, causing him to waste time chasing after cheap snacks?

An aunt buying vegetables nearby heard Ye Xia and cheerfully remarked, “Are you here for the pancake rolls too? If you wanted to buy, you should have come earlier; students are already in class by now, and the stall has long since closed.”

Hearing her words, Ye Xia blushed and stormed off. “You, Li Da! You didn’t tell me they only sell in the morning, now I’ve embarrassed myself!”

The vegetable-selling aunt watched Ye Xia’s retreating figure and thought, “Another one came looking for pancake rolls.”

Earlier, her stall was near Ye’s mother’s, and since she had run out of greens, she ended up buying quite a bit, making a nice amount.

After the successful first day of selling pancake rolls, Ye’s mother decided to increase the quantity for the next day, but they had run out of eggs. All the eggs were used that morning, so she had no choice but to buy some from her well-connected neighbours.

While Ye’s sister-in-law was cooking dinner, she met Ye’s mother coming out with a basket and assumed she was borrowing eggs because they had run out at home.

“Mom, how extravagant! Those eggs were gone in just two days, and now you’re borrowing from others!”

Here, there were no outsiders, so Ye’s mother didn’t need to care about the village gossip; she pretended not to hear and happily walked along with her basket.

Once Ye Xia returned home, his sister-in-law complained incessantly, feeling frustrated. It turned out that only her son and Ye Qiu had to eat eggs before, but now that they had split households, Ye’s mother had gone to borrow eggs. Why didn’t she do this when they wanted to eat eggs back then?

“It must be the third child again; she only cares about her son and is willing to give him all the eggs.”

Ye Xia thought she was just being greedy and called over Ye Chengcai to boast in the yard, “Son, Dad heard that there’s a new trendy food in town called pancake rolls. I heard it’s something that came from the city, so tomorrow I’ll get you some to try; let’s see if it’s as good as they say!”

Ye Chengcai was thrilled to hear about the food and jumped in place, “Yay! I want to eat, I want to eat!”

After ensuring his family was content, Ye Xia sighed and went into his room, lying on the bed while humming a tune like the elders at the village entrance.

Seeing no one was paying attention to him anymore, Ye Chengcai ran over to Xiao Hua in the corner and gushed, “Xiao Hua, my dad said he’s bringing pancake rolls tonight. Have you eaten them before?”

Xiao Hua had seen Ye’s mother and the others waking up early to sell pancake rolls, and she had been helping in the kitchen every morning. Ye’s mother wasn’t stingy; they had all been eating pancake rolls for breakfast these days. “Of course, I’ve had pancake rolls! I had them before you even did!”

“Stop bragging! How embarrassing!” Ye Chengcai made a face to mock her.

“Pancake rolls are trendy city food. There’s no way you’ve had them. You’re not talking about the mixed grain pancakes your mom sells every day, are you?”

“My mom makes pancake rolls!”

“You’re just making things up; how embarrassing!”

Ye’s sister-in-law watched Ye Chengcai play outside with a superior air, leaning casually against the kitchen door and pointedly said, “Son, do you know that one pancake roll costs three cents? If I buy one for you, it better motivate you to study hard when you go to school.”

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Translator’s Notes:

Do I keep the author’s notes even if it has nothing to do with the story? Please Advice!

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