Chapter 17 I Broke Down

Chen Yu lay in the driver's seat, his expression distant as he watched the cartoon on the car TV.

He didn't know if the recent time spent with Tong Ya had loosened something inside him, or if it was Tuan Tuan constantly mentioning Tong Ya to him.

Images of Tong Ya would flash through his mind every so often.

Possibly because he was so tired from the day's events, Chen Yu fell into a deep sleep before he could carefully sketch the figure in his mind.

When Tong Ya rushed back home, she found Tang Xiaowei clutching her sketchpad, eagerly staring at the door.

"You're finally back! Did you bring any fried cakes today?"

Tong Ya rolled her eyes. "Nope!"

"What? I haven't eaten all day, just waiting for the fried cakes! You actually didn't bring any for me, really, once there's a man in the picture, one forgets her own life-or-death bestie."

Tong Ya, helpless, put the stuffed turnovers she had brought onto the table.

"New products from the food cart! Give them a try!"

Tang Xiaowei quieted down, suspiciously unwrapping the bag.

The aroma that wafted out immediately made her taste buds react.

"Did your crush make these too?"

Tong Ya nodded proudly, as if Chen Yu was already her man.

Tang Xiaowei, touching the slightly cool turnovers, picked one up and took a bite.

"Oh my, this is delicious!"

Tang Xiaowei's exaggerated expression was as if she had been revived, and she wolfed down the remaining turnovers with relish.

"Tong Ya! I'm sold, your taste is really unique, I can't even argue with it. If it were me, I could eat something this tasty for a lifetime, no matter how many kids I'd have to bear!"

Tong Ya huffed. "So, you'd just sell me out like that!"

"It's not about selling out! Some people can't wait to sell themselves! But I still think yesterday's fried cakes were good. Remember to bring me some more tomorrow when you come back."

Tong Ya picked up a toy and threw it at her. "Eat this!"

...

At four o'clock the next morning, Chen Yu was woken up by the alarm in his earphones.

He quickly got up, shook his somewhat groggy head, and hurried out of the car.

As soon as he stepped out of the van, the supplier arrived with the ingredients.

"Whoa, brother, all this is for you!"

"How good is the business at your food cart anyway?"

"I deliver to five breakfast stalls, and they don't need as much as your one food cart."

...

Chen Yu wasn't much of a talker, and coupled with having just woken up and his head still feeling heavy, he simply smiled and asked them to come by for fried cakes and turnovers when they had a chance.

By five o'clock, Chen Yu had already prepared two large tubs of filling.

"Oh my, you got up so early?" Tong Ya had already brought the battery to the food cart.

Chen Yu quickly made a shush gesture. "Don't wake Tuan Tuan up!"

To their surprise, the curtain of the small room was suddenly lifted.

"Hmph, I've been awake for a while now!"

Chen Yu was resigned; Tuan Tuan seemed to have already gotten used to such an early routine.

Tong Ya didn't say much more and just put on her apron and gloves.

"Is there anything I can help with?"

Chen Yu looked around. "Each material corresponds to a meat grinder; you can just shred them according to the times listed on them."

This was already the easiest and most relaxing task in the food cart.

Without hesitation, Tong Ya got to work.

Chen Yu, on the other hand, was busily preparing the finished fried cakes and turnovers.

"Xiao Chen! You told me yesterday that the turnovers were unlimited today, give me ten of them!"

An old man didn't even wait for Chen Yu to reply, he just swiped fifty yuan.

"Well, old man, you're gonna have to wait a while!"

Chen Yu responded and then picked up ten vegetable dumplings to throw into the fryer.

By 5:30 in the morning, the area in front of the food cart was already packed with people.

"Chen, are you some kind of chef from a five-star restaurant? Otherwise, how could the food you make taste so good?"

"I thought the boss only knew how to make fried cakes, but it turns out you've got other skills too!"

"When will you add some new dishes?"

...

Most of the crowd here at this moment were regular customers, who no longer teased Tong Ya.

But there were still some new faces, incessantly praising how good-looking Chen Yu's family of three was.

Chen Yu had no time to explain; after adding the vegetable dumplings, his workload had almost doubled compared to yesterday.

Even though he had started preparations at four o'clock, he was still a bit flustered. If not for Tong Ya's help, he probably couldn't have managed.

And for some reason, today the crowd didn't decrease but increased even more around six o'clock.

However, Chen Yu seemed to think of something, looking at Tong Ya with a surprised gaze.

"Aren't you going to school today?"

Tong Ya chuckled, "It's Saturday today!"

Chen Yu slapped his forehead, he had been so busy that he had even lost track of time!

No wonder there were so many people today, probably many had come from far away.

And earlier, the office workers who ate fried cakes here squeezed four tables together, ordering a hundred vegetable dumplings and two hundred fried cakes.

They said it was for a weekend gathering.

It was not until eleven o'clock at noon that the stream of people gradually began to thin out.

Chen Yu hurriedly checked his raw materials, finding that more than half had already been used up.

Especially the ingredients for the vegetable dumplings, with only a third remaining.

Just as he was considering whether to restock, Tong Ya, very understanding, stepped forward.

"Finally, we can catch a breath. Today's Saturday—most people will choose to go out and gather, and what remains should be enough. Besides, you've been tired all morning, it would be great if we could close the stall earlier today so you can rest properly!"

Chen Yu took a deep breath, and moved his body to ease some of the soreness in his back.

"My goodness, I am indeed tired!"

But after merely sighing, Chen Yu moved a chair over, sat down, and continued to make semi-finished fried cakes and vegetable dumplings.

Tong Ya, feeling helpless, could only assist him on the side while restocking the self-service fridge.

Only after using up all the raw materials did Chen Yu satisfiedly stretch, leaning back on the chair.

Just as he was about to take a rest, he suddenly noticed many message notifications popping up on his phone.

"I want to see Tuan Tuan, let's set a time!"

"You dare not reply to my messages now, is that it?"

"Can you or can you not? Reply to me!"

"What do you mean Chen Yu? I have visitation rights!"

...

Chen Yu was somewhat annoyed by this barrage of messages.

On the day of their divorce, Fang Yuan had clearly written in the agreement that she permanently gave up the visitation rights.

Chen Yu thought for a moment and replied directly.

"Aren't you afraid of being caught by the paparazzi, affecting your career?"

Just after sending the reply, the phone screen suddenly went dark.

Chen Yu felt frustrated; this phone had already been used for five years, it was already malfunctioning, and being close to the fryer these past few days, it seemed to have finally broken.