【052】The Middleman

Fang Dianqiu made a show of wanting to throw a book at Fang Chang’an, who caught it with his hand and grinned, “Just kidding. Studying hard is a good thing.”

After a bit of small talk, Fang Dianqiu got to the point, “I’m heading to the street tomorrow morning to buy some fried buns. Want me to get some for you?”

“Huh?”

“The food in the cafeteria is terrible. For the same money, it’s better to buy a few buns,” Fang Chang’an explained simply.

“How many will you have?” Fang Dianqiu asked.

“Five should be enough. The buns there are pretty big.”

“Then get five for me too,” Fang Dianqiu said, turning to the round-faced girl at the next desk, “Yuanyuan, do you want some?”

Yuanyuan? The name actually suits her, Fang Chang’an thought, glancing at the girl’s round cheeks, silently amused.

Yuanyuan hesitated. “I’ll have five too.”

“Alright.” Fang Dianqiu fished out a one-yuan coin and handed it to Fang Chang’an. “For the two of us.”

Fang Chang’an nodded. Fang Dianqiu then asked, “What about Yingying? Did you ask her?”

Fang Chang’an smiled, “I passed by her class just now and didn’t see her. She must have already left. If she wants any, you can ask her when you see her.”

After chatting a bit more with his niece, he returned to the classroom, where the familiar group of about ten students were reading.

Wang Ke was copying down English words from memory. When she saw Fang Chang’an come in, she glanced up at him before lowering her head to continue writing.

Neither Wang Hao nor Zheng Lili were there. Fang Chang’an took a carton of milk from his desk and placed it on hers. The girl looked up, her clear, lively eyes blinking.

He smiled at her without saying a word and turned to read his book. After a while, he felt a poke at his back and turned to see the girl handing him a slip of paper.

“Where did you get this?” she wrote.

Fang Chang’an replied on the note, “From Teacher Cheng.”

Wang Ke read it, blinked in puzzlement, and wrote, “Really? Didn’t you just spend money on this? Wouldn’t it be better to buy more buns instead?”

The slip was small, so she finished quickly. Fang Chang’an then picked up one of her exercise books and scribbled on it for a while before putting it back on her desk and turning it for her to read.

Wang Ke glanced at him, then lowered her eyes to the page, reading several lines:

“Just take it, since it’s for you. If I only had one, I’d drink it myself. And don’t tear up paper for notes anymore—just write here. Later, when we graduate, it’ll make a nice keepsake. And if we don’t drift apart, if one day you make me mad, I can take this out to cheer myself up.”

She read the first part carefully, but the last couple of lines seemed off. She looked up at him, blinking in confusion.

Fang Chang’an gave her a shameless grin and turned back to his book.

Counting the two with Fang Dianqiu, there were a total of 180 buns to be bought—carrying them all by foot was unrealistic. After returning to the dorm, Fang Chang’an asked around the class and borrowed a bicycle from Li Dongfeng.

Just in case, he also found a length of rope.

The next morning, after getting up, Fang Chang’an took Li Dongfeng’s key, unlocked the bike from the wheel, walked it to the bike shed behind the teaching building, then went for his run.

After morning exercises, he went to get the bike and happened to run into Cheng Mengfei giving Shen Mo a ride. Shen Mo waved her small, snow-white hand at him in delight.

Cheng Mengfei asked, “Where are you off to?”

“Borrowed Li Dongfeng’s bike to go buy buns in town,” Fang Chang’an replied honestly.

Cheng Mengfei nodded and rode away with Shen Mo. Outside the school gate, she considered for a moment before laughing, “Going all the way into town just to buy buns—the cafeteria food must really be awful.”

Shen Mo, holding her aunt’s waist, looked up and said, “He’s also helping our classmates buy some—so many, there are 170 buns.”

“That many?” Cheng Mengfei was startled. “No wonder he’s going by bike. Does he do this every day?”

“No, today’s the first time.”

Cheng Mengfei nodded, then praised him, “That’s a lot of buns. He really doesn’t mind the trouble.”

Shen Mo hesitated, thinking she could be honest with her aunt, and giggled, “He’s not being nice for nothing. He told me himself—if he buys enough, the owner gives him a discount and some extra buns, so he doesn’t need to spend any money himself.”

Cheng Mengfei was taken aback and, after a pause, burst out laughing, “Going all that way for a few buns isn’t unreasonable… and it’s clever to think of it.”

“Mm-hmm!” Shen Mo nodded vigorously. “I think he’s amazing. I’d never come up with something like that.”

Cheng Mengfei said, “That’s because you never have to worry about food… But even if you did, you probably wouldn’t have thought of it anyway.”

Shen Mo puffed out her cheeks, gave it some serious thought, and realized that even if she were hungry, she probably wouldn’t come up with such a good idea. She could only pout and stay silent.

Cheng Mengfei asked again, “Listening to you, it sounds like you and Fang Chang’an get along quite well these days?”

The little girl, freshly turned ten, blushed a little and replied softly, “We always have.”

Cheng Mengfei hesitated, wanting to say something more. In the end, she just gave a gentle “mm,” and said, “You should learn from his strengths and good qualities.”

As both elder and teacher, she had meant to give a casual reminder against puppy love, but thinking her little niece was only ten and would be transferring to a city school next semester, worrying about early romance seemed pointless. She held her tongue.

———

Physics tells us that rolling friction is less than sliding friction, so of course a bicycle is faster than walking… Wait, is walking even sliding friction? What category is that, anyway?

Even as he dismounted in front of the bun shop, Fang Chang’an couldn’t recall his old physics lessons, his mind instead on his stomach.

Business was still slow at the shop; only a couple sat beneath the awning eating their buns, with no line to buy. The shop owners, a husband and wife, spotted Fang Chang’an from afar.

Seeing him arrive on a bicycle, both were surprised and a bit expectant, guessing he might be buying more than usual today.

“Here already?” the shopkeeper’s wife greeted with a smile as he parked the bike. He returned the greeting and walked to the stall, where the owner asked, “How many today?”

Fang Chang’an flashed a bright smile, “Uncle, want to guess?”

Their mood lightened—mainly because it was clear he’d be buying quite a few today. The owner chuckled, “How would I guess?”

The wife asked, still smiling, “A hundred?”

“One hundred eighty!” Fang Chang’an replied.

They both froze, delight mixed with disbelief. Normally, Fang Chang’an ate only five—one hundred eighty would feed more than half a class.

Glancing at the couple eating inside, Fang Chang’an lowered his voice, “Uncle, Auntie, how much of a discount can you give me today?”

They had clearly discussed this before. The owner replied, “Nine cents each. How’s that?”

Fang Chang’an thought for a moment and smiled, “Thank you, Uncle, thank you, Auntie. But in the future, when I buy more, can you give me a bigger discount?”

The couple hadn’t expected the kid to be so shrewd. The owner was about to answer when Fang Chang’an continued, “Of course, if it’s too cheap, you might not make money. But if I can get over three hundred, could you do eight cents each?”

They both hesitated. Fang Chang’an pleaded, “I had to ask each of my classmates one by one. Even if our whole class ate buns, we still couldn’t finish three hundred. Uncle, Auntie, just give me something to hope for?”

The couple had been selling buns for years and knew their costs well. At eight cents each, they’d still turn a profit, though it was hard work. Still, their shop was in a poor location, business was slow, and idle days were harder than busy ones.

Thinking of selling at least three hundred buns, the owner gritted his teeth and nodded, “Deal. Ask your classmates, and sell as many as you can.”