Chapter 410: The 90s Contrast System (13)

Seeing Xie Yang looking like she was about to head out, Zhou Ru called out to her: "It's early in the morning, where are you going without eating breakfast?"

Hadn't this dead girl spent the last few days eating breakfast and then going back to the attic to sleep? Why was she heading out so early today? Was she really going to the hospital?

Xie Yang: "Oh, Sister Taohua invited me to the big market. She said she'd treat me to soy milk, fried dough sticks, and sesame flatbread."

"..."

The corners of Zhu Meijiao's mouth twitched.

She also wanted to go to the market, and she wanted to eat soy milk, fried dough sticks, and sesame flatbread.

At home, breakfast every day was rice porridge, at most accompanied by a fried dough stick or an egg; she was sick of eating it!

But she had just said she had a lot of homework and might not even finish it before returning to school even if she wrote without stopping for a moment; was it still in time to change her tune now?

Xie Yang didn't give her a chance to change her tune, nimbly changing into a pair of warm, high-top cotton boots, putting on her backpack, and heading out.

Zhu Meijiao stared at that backpack that originally belonged to her, feeling endless resentment.

Especially when she heard the ding of the Female Supporting Character Contrast System and saw the Contrast Value energy bar shrink by another notch, her hatred grew even deeper.

She really wished she could drag Xie Yang back!

While she sat quietly reading or writing essays while listening to the music channel on the radio, she wanted to make Xie Yang do the deep cleaning and laundry until she was covered in grime.

But Xie Yang had already walked far away.

She had no choice but to look at Zhou Ru with teary eyes: "Auntie Ru..."

Zhou Ru patted her soothingly to indicate she understood: "You eat first, I'll go buy fried dough sticks."

Zhu Meijiao: "..."

Was she wanting to eat fried dough sticks?

She wanted to increase the progress bar!

Xie Yang and Yang Taohua met at the foot of the bridge and went to the town together to attend the big market.

"Xie Yang, your complexion is much better than the day you came back from the hospital."

As they walked, Yang Taohua leaned in and scrutinized Xie Yang a few times.

Main System: 【Host, your sick-look makeup is lighter today.】

Xie Yang smiled and replied to Yang Taohua: "I've thought it through now. Working so hard and being so tired, only to end up with a serious illness—it shows that Heaven won't help us; we can only save ourselves."

Yang Taohua seemed to hear a trace of loneliness in Xie Yang's tone and said sympathetically:

"You're right to think that way! The body is the capital of the revolution; if your health is bad, everything else is empty.

I used to think you were so stupid, working so hard at everything, not even willing to spend your wages and bonuses, eating salted vegetable knots with steamed buns yourself. Do you know what Zhu Meijiao eats at home?

I heard from my mom that every time she goes back to school, she takes a big bag of food with her—apples, egg rolls, tea eggs... maybe she's even spending the money you send back."

Xie Yang nodded: "You're right! I really need to plan properly for myself."

Seeing that she had taken it to heart, Yang Taohua suddenly felt a sense of accomplishment for having coached someone who didn't understand, so she kept giving Xie Yang ideas, teaching her how to get back the money she sent home:

"... Just talking is useless; you have to learn from my mom and my eldest sister—make a scene and roll on the ground."

"..."

That probably wasn't necessary.

Xie Yang followed Yang Taohua to experience a 1990s rural big market.

Perhaps because it was the last exchange meeting before the new year, the entire market was packed with people.

Many manufacturers had driven large trucks to participate in the exchange meeting; they would park the trucks by the side of the road and shout to sell their goods.

A clothing factory brought a truckload of bed sheets and quilt covers; a kitchenware factory brought a truckload of pots, bowls, basins, and ladles; a porcelain factory brought a truckload of porcelain bowls and wine cups of various sizes; a woodworking factory brought a truckload of tables, chairs, and benches...

In short, every vehicle was surrounded by people.

Fortunately, Yang Taohua was very familiar with the stalls she frequented, pulling Xie Yang through the bustling crowd and successfully squeezing into a sesame flatbread, fried dough stick, and soy milk stall.

"Boss, two bowls of sweet soy milk, two sets of sesame flatbread and fried dough sticks. The flatbreads must be fresh out of the oven, and the fried dough sticks must be piping hot."

"Coming right up!"

The steaming hot soy milk was soon placed in front of the two of them.

The freshly baked sesame flatbread wrapped around the freshly fried dough stick, so crispy that the sesame seeds on the flatbread fell off with a rustle.

Yang Taohua waved her hand boldly: "Eat!"

Xie Yang was amused: "Thank you, Sister Taohua."

The two began to eat in unison.

"I haven't had such a multi-layered crispy sesame flatbread in so long! I really missed this taste!"

Yang Taohua sighed while eating.

She felt that everything in Shencheng was good, except that the food was too different from her hometown, and she wasn't used to it at all.

"If only our factory canteen sold this kind of flatbread. It's a pity that the flatbread there is just a thin sheet; it's quite boring to eat, not as delicious as our Pingcheng ones. If I had this kind of oven, I'd make it myself."

Xie Yang turned her head to look at her: "You know how to make it?"

"I do!"

Yang Taohua had a look of "what's difficult about this":

"My Second Uncle used to sell sesame flatbreads. When I was a kid, every time I went to his house, I loved to hang around him and learn how to make them. Besides this kind of crispy sesame flatbread, I can also make thousand-layer flatbread and scallion oil flatbread.

In fifth grade, when writing a composition, I even wrote that my ideal was to become a famous 'Sesame Flatbread King'. It's a pity that the year my Second Uncle got sick and passed away, I had just started middle school. If it had been two or three years later, I would have taken over his flatbread stall no matter what and realized my childhood dream, hehe."

Xie Yang encouraged her: "You can still do it now. You like Shencheng, so go set up a stall on the streets of Shencheng to sell sesame flatbreads. You'll earn more than on the clothing factory assembly line, and your time will be freer."

"Huh?" Yang Taohua was stunned, "Go to Shencheng to sell sesame flatbreads?"

"Yes, didn't you say you can't buy our flatbreads in Shencheng? Maybe other people would like this kind of flatbread too and want to eat it but can't buy it! If you order an oven to sell flatbreads and put up a sign, wouldn't you be able to realize your elementary school dream? The brand name is already ready-made: 'Sesame Flatbread King'! What a resounding title!"

"..."

Hopeful light burst forth from Yang Taohua's eyes.

She felt that ever since Xie Yang had fallen ill, her mind had become much more agile.

Can getting sick really cause such a big change?

Could this be what the older generation calls "a sudden, thorough awakening"?

It made her want to get sick too, to see if she would become smarter and sharper.

"Xie Yang, you're right! The work on the garment factory assembly line is too dull and tedious; I don't like it at all. I just love eating sesame flatbreads and making them."

Yang Taohua clenched her fist and raised her arm as if she had been injected with chicken blood: "I've decided! Next year I won't go to work at the garment factory; I'm going to sell sesame flatbreads! I want to carry forward the sesame flatbread craft that Second Uncle taught me!"

Xie Yang gave her a thumbs up: "You can do it!"

Overjoyed, Yang Taohua called the boss over to order two more bowls of soy milk and two sets of sesame flatbreads and Fried Dough Sticks, one portion for each of them:

"Thanks, sister! Today I can only treat you to a full meal, but later, once I've earned money selling sesame flatbreads, I'll treat you to something even better."

Xie Yang looked at the piping hot sesame flatbreads and Fried Dough Sticks, caught between laughter and tears.

No matter how good her appetite was, she couldn't finish two portions of sesame flatbreads and Fried Dough Sticks with soy milk!

In the end, unable to eat any more, Xie Yang asked the boss for a piece of oil paper, wrapped them up, and put them in her backpack to have as a snack later when she was hungry.

The flaky, multi-layered sesame flatbreads still tasted good even when cold.

"Right, right, right! Flaky thousand-layer sesame flatbreads are delicious both hot and cold."

Yang Taohua had been completely reawakened to the passion for sesame flatbreads she'd had since childhood, and she spent the whole way chatting with Xie Yang about sesame flatbreads and her future flatbread stall.