I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 70. The Vanished Fried Food Stall 2
in the afternoon.

After lunch, Xu Qingfan and Xia Xiaoxiao went out early.

"Why aren't you riding your bike?" Xu Qingfan asked Xia Xiaoxiao, who was sitting behind him, panting after struggling to climb a hill.

"The bicycle chain fell off."

"Whew~ Why didn't you tell me it broke? I could have fixed it! I'm exhausted!"

"Why are you making such a fuss about riding a bike? Are you even capable? If not, let me ride!" Xia Xiaoxiao's disdainful tone came from behind.

Xu Qingfan, like a cat with its fur standing on end, suddenly stood up from his seat: "I can't? You think I can't?? You better hold on tight, I'll show you what a true racing god of Mount Akina looks like!"

Three minutes later.

"Huff huff huff~ I can't go on anymore, stretch out your leg and give me a kick!" Seeing that there was another uphill slope dozens of meters long ahead, Xu Qingfan said weakly to Xia Xiao behind him.

The little girl shook her head speechlessly, silently stretching out her two little feet and pushing off the ground in rhythm with Xu Qingfan's foot pedals.

"It's all because we're poor, but we have to grit our teeth and persevere!" Xu Qingfan's face turned red, and strange lyrics kept popping out of his mouth.

After climbing the last uphill section, the rest of the way was downhill. Xu Qingfan let his bicycle accelerate continuously. The afternoon sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, leaving dappled shadows on the ground.

"Hmm hum hum~"

Xia Xiaoxiao tilted her head to one side, letting the breeze blow her bangs around, and hummed the main melody of "Sunny Day" cheerfully.

"How much longer until I can be by your side~ Maybe I'll feel better when the sun comes out~" Xu Qingfan joined in, their playful voices carried far by the wind.

In early summer, the shadows of the trees are dappled, evoking a feeling of being on the road; such days are especially wonderful.

After the two sang Wang Xinling's "When You" together, they rode their bicycles to their destination.

In the early 2000s, there were a lot of bicycle thefts in society. If a bicycle was locked on the road, it would be pried off in just a few minutes. Uncle Li from Lianhua Courtyard is a good example of this.

Xu Qingfan didn't dare to openly lock the car on the street and incite crime, so the two children strolled around the park pushing their bicycles.

However, Licheng Park was so big that the two of them walked around for more than ten minutes without seeing any fried food stalls.

suddenly.

"Look at that!" Xia Xiaoxiao shouted, pointing to a couple passing by.

Xu Qingfan followed her gaze and saw a pair of lively people feeding each other!

"Why are you looking at them?" he asked Xia Xiaoxiao, puzzled.

"Idiot! What are they eating!" Xia Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes at Xu Qingfan and pulled him toward the couple.

"Oh right!" Xu Qingfan immediately realized, suppressing his urge to fawn over the popular girls, and politely asked, "Brother and sister, where did you buy your fried skewers? We want to buy some too!"

"Wow! What an adorable little kid! You don't need to buy any, I'll give you mine." The girl squatted down with a grin and handed Xu Qingfan the fried skewers from her bag.

"Thank you, sister. Mom said we can't eat food from strangers, so just tell us where you bought it," Xu Qingfan said, trying to sound innocent.

“You’re so smart! It’s just ahead. I’ll take you there!” The girl gave her boyfriend a look, signaling him to come and help push the bicycle.

"Thank you, brother. Thank you, sister."

"Thank you, brother. Thank you, sister."

The two little ones greeted each other politely, then held hands and walked forward together.

"Look! It's over there. Do you have any money? Would you like me to treat you to something to eat?" After walking a few hundred meters, the girl pointed to a stall not far away and said.

"No need, thank you, we brought money!"

"Thank you sister!"

"Hehe, you're welcome. Your parents must feel safe letting you go out on your own, kids. Goodbye, kids!" The girl waved goodbye to Xu Qingfan and the others.

After saying goodbye to the couple, Xu Qingfan got back on his bicycle and rode with Xia Xiaoxiao toward the fried food stall not far away.

"Auntie!" Xu Qingfan recognized Li Meijuan's face from afar and shouted loudly.

"Oh! How did you find this place?" Li Meijuan greeted them warmly after recognizing the visitors.

In just over a month, Xu Qingfan felt that Li Meijuan looked several years older. Her black hair was thinning, and although she smiled, anyone could see the fatigue on her face. "Auntie, how did you move here? I only found out by asking around!" Xu Qingfan went straight to the point.

"It's nothing, they just moved to another place because they weren't renting there anymore," Li Meijuan explained, her head bowed, but anyone could hear the unnaturalness in her voice.

"What do you want to eat? Auntie will fry it for you!" Li Meijuan seemed to not want to discuss this topic in front of the children, and enthusiastically pulled them to choose fried skewers.

Xu Qingfan didn't stand on ceremony with her and said while choosing fried skewers, "Auntie, I don't see many people eating fried skewers here?"

“There will be more in the evening.” Li Meijuan’s voice was a little soft, and it sounded more like she was talking to herself than to Xu Qingfan.

"Auntie, I heard from a grandma that the landlord cheated you out of your fried skewer recipe?" Xia Xiaoxiao couldn't help but ask.

Li Meijuan's pupils darkened, and she said somewhat dejectedly, "It wasn't exactly a scam. She said she would exchange a year's rent for my formula, and she gave me the money back after I moved out."

"Huh?" Xia Xiaoxiao suddenly couldn't tell whether the landlord was a good person or a bad person.

Xu Qingfan patted the little girl on the head, shook his head, and signaled her not to ask any more questions.

The landlord was undoubtedly a bad person. He had roughly calculated how much Li Meijuan could earn each month by selling fried skewers, and it was definitely no problem for her to earn a little over two hundred yuan a day.

Those old, dilapidated little houses, only three or four square meters in size, were only worth a few dollars in rent. If it weren't for Li Meijuan's fried skewers making the whole street popular, no one would be willing to rent them even for a hundred dollars a month.

As a result, now, with just a year's rent, probably less than two thousand yuan, they have swindled Li Meijuan out of her fried skewer recipe that earns her three or four thousand yuan a month!

"Auntie, why don't you rent another shop? Business here isn't even half as good as it was there before." Xu Qingfan was a little confused. Logically speaking, with the two thousand yuan from the landlord and the ten thousand yuan in compensation from those shrewish women last time, there should be more than enough money to rent a new shop.

"I haven't found a suitable one yet," Li Meijuan said, her eyes darting away.

"Oh, Auntie, could you fry some extra pork chops for me? I'll take them home for my parents!"

"Okay! Did you like the duck dishes last time? If you like them, Auntie will make them for you again." Perhaps because of Xu Qingfan and Xia Xiaoxiao's arrival, Li Meijuan rarely showed a precious smile.

"It's delicious! By the way, Auntie, why don't you sell duck necks? I think your duck necks are just as delicious as your fried skewers!" Xu Qingfan suddenly had a whimsical idea, thinking of the duck neck assassin from his previous life.

“Nobody buys this stuff. I made it once before, but I couldn’t sell it all,” Li Meijuan explained.

"That's impossible! I think it tastes delicious, how come no one is buying it?"

"Okay, Auntie will fry the ones for your parents later, they won't taste good if they get cold." Li Meijuan enthusiastically served the fried skewers to the table.

"Thank you, Auntie!" the two little ones said before starting to eat heartily.

"I'm glad you like it," Li Meijuan suddenly remembered what her daughter had said—that Xu Qingfan and Xia Xiaoxiao were both top students in their grade. She hesitated for a few moments before finally asking, "Auntie knows you two have excellent grades, but Auntie wanted to ask you about my daughter."

"Auntie, please ask." The two put down the bamboo skewers in their hands and sat up straight.

“My daughter was always first in her class last semester, but this time she dropped out of the top 20. The teacher said it was because she was under too much pressure. Do you know how to say that word again?”

"To relieve stress?" Xu Qingfan asked.

“Yes! Do you know how to relieve stress? I can afford any amount of money you need!” Li Meijuan said, her eyes welling up with tears.

Xu Qingfan and Xia Xiaoxiao exchanged a glance, and finally he spoke up: "Auntie, we both attended the math Olympiad training class with Wu Lingyu last semester. I think she's a very smart person and shouldn't have any academic pressure. I think it's possible that she's under pressure from other aspects as well."

After Xu Qingfan finished speaking, Li Meijuan remained silent for more than two minutes before finally saying, "I understand, thank you. The fried skewers are on you, Auntie won't take any money!"

"Hehe, thank you, Auntie. We can fry that pork chop now; we're almost done eating!" Xu Qingfan replied with a smile.

Xia Xiaoxiao secretly pinched Xu Qingfan under the table, as if to say, "How can you freeload like this!"
Xu Qingfan patted the little girl's hand to reassure her.

"Auntie, we'll come back another day. See you next time!"

"See you next time, thank you!" Li Meijuan waved goodbye to the two little ones warmly.

"Oh, by the way, Auntie, I saw a bug crawl into the tissue box when I was eating fried skewers. Remember to catch it so it doesn't scare the other customers." After saying that, Xu Qingfan waved and drove away with Xia Xiaoxiao in a flash.

"There are bugs?" Li Meijuan picked up the cardboard box on the table with a puzzled look, opened it, and found a hundred-yuan bill lying quietly inside.

For some time now, Li Meijuan's world had been gray and bleak. The red banknotes lying quietly in the box seemed to instantly recreate the colors of her life.

She stood there for a long time, watching Xu Qingfan and the others leave, her eyes already brimming with tears.

(End of this chapter)