Chapter 29 - 28: Earning Over 10,000 a Day

"Alright, I’ll stop by when I have time." Jiang Liu smiled and nodded.

After the group of five left, only the aunties remained.

Jiang Liu counted the buns. There were thirty-two left.

There should have been thirty-nine, but he had eaten seven of them.

’I can’t believe four hundred buns weren’t enough,’ Jiang Liu thought to himself. ’I totally underestimated the demand. I’ll have to try making more next time. It’s fine if it’s a little more tiring.’

He returned to the back kitchen and put the remaining four hundred uncooked buns in the steamer. Then, he went back to the counter, took out his phone, and calculated the day’s earnings.

Combining the morning and lunch rushes, and including the aunties’ table, the total income came to 2,596 yuan!

’This is great money! It’s as much as a regular person makes in a month!’

Jiang Liu was absolutely delighted.

And that didn’t even include the money in the care box.

Honestly, his slogan about going out of business and skipping town still had customers quite worried.

So far, Jiang Liu had taken out 950 yuan, but there was still a lot more that he couldn’t very well count just yet.

He’d have to wait for the aunties to leave.

"Boss, long time no see!"

Wu Lingling pulled up to the entrance on her small electric scooter, her hair a disheveled mess.

She looked like she had just woken up, yet a faint fragrance wafted from her.

Jiang Liu scratched his forehead.

"Didn’t we just see each other a few hours ago?"

"Tsk, you just don’t get it. It’s my way of saying I miss you, understand? A moment apart feels like an eternity! Give me ten buns, Boss!"

He was caught off guard by her flirting.

Jiang Liu rolled his eyes. "You don’t miss me, you miss my buns, don’t you?"

"Hehe, a little of both. But I miss the buns a little more than I miss you."

"Foodie!"

Jiang Liu chuckled.

As he opened the steamer, he suddenly remembered he only had thirty-two buns left.

"Uh, sorry, miss. I only have two buns at the moment."

"What? They’re all gone?"

"Yeah, sorry, they sold out pretty fast during lunch. How about you follow me on TikTok? I’m planning to start a group chat and I’ll post notifications when the buns are sold out."

Jiang Liu’s TikTok username was now: [Jiang Liu’s Gourmet Shop].

"Sure, sure! I’ll follow you."

"Okay." Jiang Liu pulled up his QR code.

After following him, Wu Lingling took the two buns and paid seven yuan.

"Bye, Boss! Mwah!"

She blew him another kiss.

"Uh... Bye."

Jiang Liu turned and gathered up the plates and other dishes. He placed them all in a wash bin in the back kitchen, added some dish soap, and left them to soak.

’Once things get busier, there will be a lot of menial tasks. Maybe I should hire someone to help out...’

Just then, the aunties finished their meal.

They started clamoring to pay the bill.

"Young man! Time to pay!"

"What’s with the holdup?"

"Hurry, hurry! Pick up the pace!"

Jiang Liu’s head was starting to ache.

’This bunch of aunties... their mouths never stop.’

He picked up his small notebook and gave it a quick glance.

"One hundred and fifty two-yuan buns and seventy-five shrimp buns... that’ll be 675 yuan."

"Not bad at all! So delicious and not even expensive. We’ve got high hopes for you, young man."

"Now, pack some more buns for us to go. Twenty for each of us. Make it snappy."

Jiang Liu held up his hands. "They’re all sold out. I don’t have any ready to go right now."

Hearing they were all gone, the aunties immediately grew anxious.

"I wanted to bring some home for my family! My husband is waiting for me to bring some back."

"My grandson wants to try them too! Young man, hurry up and make some more."

Jiang Liu said, "Well, you could wait a bit. I have a batch steaming in the back right now. It should take about half an hour."

"Alright. Half an hour isn’t long. We’ll wait."

"Okay, it’s a deal. When the next batch is ready, they’re for us first. Consider them reserved."

"No problem," Jiang Liu nodded.

The aunties were relieved.

’Buns this good are impossible to find. We’re lucky just to be able to eat them.’

They sat off to the side and started to gossip.

They talked about everything under the sun, from the nearby Phoenix District to the neighboring Picasso District.

There wasn’t a person or an event they didn’t know about.

Jiang Liu listened with great amusement.

He’d occasionally chime in with a witty remark, making the aunties slap their thighs and roar with laughter.

They kept saying what an interesting young man he was.

In the meantime, Jiang Liu also got the aunties to follow him on TikTok.

Jiang Liu glanced at the time. It was 1:13.

"They’re ready. I’ll go pack them for you."

"Quick, quick! My daughter’s at home, practically starving!"

"Oh, by the way, Mengmeng, where’s your Old Gao?"

Aunt Mengmeng, who was quite fashionable, slammed her hand on the table. "Oh, shoot! He’s still sitting over at Xinxiang City!"

"Then you’d better hurry and get him!"

Aunt Mengmeng hesitated. "Ah, forget it. He’s already been sitting there for an hour, a little longer won’t hurt. I’ll go after I get my buns."

「Ten minutes later.」

Jiang Liu placed several bags of buns, large and small, on the table.

"I packed them for you as assortments of twenty: five buns of each of the four varieties."

"Wonderful, wonderful, that’s perfect."

The aunties delightedly collected their bags of buns, carefully tucking them into their purses.

’If someone tried to buy these off them, they wouldn’t sell them for even ten yuan apiece.’

’Who knows, maybe one day you won’t be able to buy them for any price!’

"WeChat payment received: one thousand seven hundred seventy-five yuan."

The aunties had a group chat; they pooled their money together and sent the payment to Jiang Liu.

It came out to less than a hundred yuan per person, which made all of them beam with joy.

"What time do you open?"

"That’s right! You don’t even have your hours posted. We’re all waiting for these buns of yours."

"Around seven in the morning," Jiang Liu gave a conservative estimate.

"You’re a young man! Can’t you open at six? We’ll come be your first customers."

Jiang Liu shook his head. "I have other things to do."

"Alright, fine." The aunties were displeased.

"I’ll be here first thing tomorrow morning. Don’t you dare be lazy."

Once the aunties were a good distance away,

Jiang Liu excitedly opened the care box.

He pulled out wad after wad of cash.

Then he wet his thumb with a bit of spit and began to count.

"One thousand, two thousand... four thousand five hundred... nine thousand eight hundred!"

’Nice! I can buy Tongtong a tablet for her drawing!’

Just as Jiang Liu was counting the money, Zheng Qiang, who had come out for a stroll, happened to see him.

"Boss Jiang, why did you withdraw so much money from the bank?"

He simply didn’t believe that Jiang Liu had earned it.

Jiang Liu couldn’t be bothered to explain. He just kept straightening the bills, not even looking up as he said curtly, "It’s from customers. Why would I withdraw cash from the bank for no reason?"

"From customers!?"

Zheng Qiang’s voice rose several octaves. He refused to believe it, narrowing his eyes as he tried to spot any hint of a lie on Jiang Liu’s face, but he found none.

Whistling, Jiang Liu happily locked the money in the counter drawer.

"Boss Jiang, can... can you tell me how you made so much money?"

Zheng Qiang stammered.

After all, he only made five or six hundred yuan a day himself.

’His mind was in turmoil. He didn’t want to believe it, but the proof was right in front of him.’

’The guy didn’t seem to be bragging, either.’

"And why would I tell you?"

Jiang Liu shot him a sidelong glance.

’Even if I told you, would you have the vision? Or the ability?’

"Fine. Do... do you have any buns left? I’d like to try one."

"Sold out."

"..."

Xue Guang walked out of the fruit store.

"Hey, what are you two chatting about?"

He could see that Zheng Qiang looked upset, but he couldn’t be bothered with the selfish, mean-spirited guy.

"Xiao Jiang, I’m hungry! Buns, buns!"

Xue Guang made a gesture in the air as if kneading a bun.

Jiang Liu joked, deliberately slapping his own head. "Oh, look at my terrible memory! I seem to have sold out completely. You’ll have to eat tonight, Uncle Xue."

"What? You sold out? Ah, well. I’ll eat tonight, then."

Xue Guang rubbed his bald head in disappointment, his stomach letting out a loud GRUMBLE.

Just thinking about the delicious, piping-hot juices of the filling made his stomach burn with craving.

Jiang Liu watched the dejected Xue Guang with amusement.

He took a plate out of the steamer, on which was piled a stack of adorable little buns.

"Uncle Xue, look at this."

Jiang Liu called out to Xue Guang, who was just leaving.

Xue Guang turned around, his eyes lighting up. He strode forward and took the plate. "You little rascal! You’re messing with your Uncle Xue now, are you?"

He patted Jiang Liu’s shoulder.

"I call it a pleasant surprise."

"Pleasant surprise? More like a nasty shock!"

Xue Guang carried the plate, heading back delightedly to share his prize with his wife.

Zheng Qiang, standing off to the side, muttered sullenly, "Didn’t you say you were sold out? How come Xue Guang gets some?"

"He reserved them ahead of time. You didn’t."

"I have to make a reservation just to eat your buns?"

Zheng Qiang was dumbfounded. He fumed internally, ’A stupid bun, and he acts like it’s some kind of treasure.’

’It’s not like he was dying to try one anyway.’