booktalesy Chapter 4: Cream Puffs
Chapter 4: Cream Puffs
An hour and a half later, Lin Qi and An Xin arrived at the bus station.
At the entrance of the bus station, there were many vans and three-wheeled motorcycles parked around, with drivers loudly soliciting passengers at the exit.
Throughout his three years of high school, Lynch never rode in any of these vehicles in the city, let alone a taxi.
Most of the time, he walks to school, or at most takes the bus.
But today, he proactively asked the motorcycle taxi driver, "How much does it cost to go to the Cultural Palace?"
"Five dollars! Five dollars!"
"Take my seat, okay? It'll be delivered to you in a bit."
The chefs were all talking at once, trying to attract customers.
"Brother Lynch".
An Xin tugged at his sleeve and whispered, "Taking a taxi is too expensive. We can walk back, or we can take the bus."
"It's alright, I'll sit here."
Lin Qichong confirmed with one of the drivers, "It's five yuan for two people, right?"
"Five dollars, five dollars, let's go!"
The driver led Lin Qi and his companion onto his three-wheeled motorcycle.
"To the Cultural Palace, right?"
After confirming the price, the driver started the car.
"Cultural Palace?"
An Xin then noticed that Lin Qi's destination wasn't the No. 1 High School: "Aren't we going back to school?"
"I won't go back yet, I promised to treat you to something delicious!"
Lin Qi smiled and looked at the street scene outside the window.
There is still a significant gap between urban infrastructure in 09 and that twenty years later.
"No need, things outside are too expensive."
An Xin advised with some concern, "If you want to treat me to something, you can just go to the school cafeteria, okay?"
The red bean paste cakes at school are pretty good, shall we go get those?
"That won't work."
Lin Qi looked at her seriously: "This is the first time in my life I've treated you to something to eat, how can I offer you red bean paste cakes?"
"This is the first time in my life?"
An Xin asked in confusion, "Didn't you treat me to ice cream when we were in junior high?"
"That doesn't count."
Lin Qi explained, "I treated you to something, but I still have some errands to run."
Hearing him say that, An Xin said "Oh" and then said, "Then you can just go and take care of your business. You don't need to treat me to anything; it's a waste of money."
"Yes, you should invite me."
Lin Qi raised his hand and patted her head: "Be good, okay!"
The gesture was somewhat intimate, and An Xin shrank back, but she didn't try to persuade her any further.
Drip!
The motorcycle accelerated and overtook a bus.
Looking at the street scene rushing past the window, Lin Qi estimated the time.
It's about 3:30 pm now. The dormitory closes at 9 pm, so he has five and a half hours to do his activities.
For him, time is infinitely more precious than money.
Taking the bus, stopping at each station to reach your destination, will take at least twice as long.
Why not spend a little more money to save half the time?
Soon, the motorcycle taxi driver took them to their destination.
Lin Qi took out fifty yuan from his pocket, handed it to the motorcycle taxi driver, took back the forty-five yuan change, and then, carrying two backpacks and with An Xin in tow, headed towards a bakery next to the Cultural Palace.
This bakery opened last year and is brightly lit, looking very upscale.
Seeing Lin Qi leading her towards the bakery, An Xin instinctively shrank back and hurriedly asked, "What are we doing here? The things here are too expensive."
She also knew about this store.
One of her roommates, who was in a relationship, once boasted to her about the cream puffs her boyfriend bought here.
"As long as it tastes good."
Without saying a word, Lin Qi pulled her into the store.
Welcome!
The shop assistant, dressed in a clean apron-style uniform, greeted the customer, "What would you like to buy? You can take a look first."
The bakery was filled with its unique aroma, and customers, mostly couples, were selecting pastries in front of the brightly lit display cases.
Lin Qi and An Xin were both wearing the school uniforms of the No. 1 Middle School of the city, which made them very eye-catching and attracted the attention of many guests.
Lin Qi didn't care at all and pulled An Xin toward the display case.
An Xin was being led by the arm, and she felt that everyone in the store was looking at her, so she didn't dare to look up.
Lin Qi glanced at the pastries in the display case, then turned back and asked, "What do you want to eat?"
Hearing his question, An Xin finally looked up at the display case.
She was immediately drawn to the exquisite pastries inside.
Tiramisu cake sprinkled with chocolate powder.
Donuts covered in pink cream and decorated with colorful frosting.
There were also round, plump cream puffs filled with cream.
Seeing the golden, bright yellow cream puffs under the lights, An Xin couldn't take her eyes off them and subconsciously swallowed.
Lin Qi noticed her gaze and gestured to the shop assistant, "Excuse me, how much is this cream puff?"
"This is sold by the portion; a small portion is 18 yuan, and a large portion is 25 yuan."
Upon hearing the price, An Xin was startled and quickly pulled Lin Qi away, saying, "No, no, this is too expensive. We can't afford it. I'm so sorry!"
While pushing Lin Qi, she didn't forget to apologize to the shop assistant.
Lin Qi didn't touch it at all, and told the clerk, "Give me a large portion."
"Go to the cashier to pay."
The shop assistant quickly filled a box with cream puffs, put them in a bag, and went to the cashier.
Lin Qi led An Xin to the cashier, took out his money, and paid the bill.
"Why did you buy this? It's too expensive, not worth it."
An Xin complained, but the smile on her lips was as sweet as if she had already eaten a cream puff.
"It's a good deal if you like to eat it."
Lin Qi pulled her to a seat by the window.
This is a designated spot for customers to enjoy pastries in the shop.
Lin Qi took out the cream puff box, opened it, and pushed it in front of An Xin: "Try it, it's still warm."
Looking at the cream puffs in front of her, which smelled of cream, An Xin couldn't help but swallow.
How could she not like such delicious food?
She has loved sweets since she was a child, and she can never have enough.
But since she secretly gave half of her living expenses to Lin Qi last year, she hasn't bought QQ candy from the school supermarket for more than half a year.
"It smells so good!"
She pursed her lips, then couldn't help but smile, her eyes crinkling.
She glanced at Lin Qi before picking up a bamboo skewer from the box, sticking it into a cream puff, and popping it into her mouth in one bite.
With one bite, the cream filling inside the puff bursts out.
Instantly, her mouth was filled with cream, and the sweet, rich milky aroma made her squint her eyes.
Is this what happiness feels like?
Seeing the look of enjoyment on her face, Lin Qi secretly sighed in his heart.
How did this girl, who loves sweets so much, manage to eat salty, pungent pickles for so long?
"Brother Lin Qi, you should have one too."
An Xin used a bamboo skewer to put a cream puff on top and handed it to Lin Qi.
"I don't like sweets."
Lynch took the cream puff: "I'll just have this one, the rest are yours."
"hey-hey!"
An Xin puffed out her cheeks and smiled like a glutinous rice ball.
Lin Qi ate his cream puff in small bites, his gaze drifting to the window beside him.
Outside the window, a taxi stopped by the roadside, and several shady-looking young men got out, chatting and laughing as they walked into the building across the street.
Posters with the words "Elite Billiards Club" printed on them were pasted above and on both sides of the stairwell entrance.
There was an indoor billiards hall upstairs across the street, which was another reason why Lynch came here.
If he remembers correctly, it was here that Zhang Haozhe lost over three thousand yuan and eventually dropped out of school.