Gourd Farm Chapter 10
Translated by Etherna (ko-fi)
Chapter 10: The Fat Boss's Troubles
For the past few days, there have been continuous thunderstorms, but the fat boss still wakes up early to make buns as usual. As his shop is located inside the vegetable market, there is still a steady flow of customers early in the morning.
Other vendors who sell fish and vegetables also set up their stalls early, making the market bustling with activity. Therefore, most of the breakfast options in the market are provided by the fat boss.
He systematically arranges the orders and even employs two temporary workers. Despite this, the shop is still unable to keep up with the demand for takeaway orders. However, the fat boss's buns have a good taste and are priced affordably, which has ensured a stable business for him over the years.
As the fat boss walks past a table near the counter, a customer waves and calls him over. "Fat boss, the taste of your buns is different from the ones two days ago. What happened?"
Other customers from nearby tables chime in agreement, "Yes, it's true. The meat buns are the same, but the vegetable buns..."
The fat boss quickly apologizes and takes a bite of the bun to check. He frowns and realizes the reason for the change in taste.
……
Over the next few days, the fat boss received several complaints and noticed a significant decline in the sales of his vegetable buns, which caused him a lot of headache. Every morning, the first thing he does is run to the roadside to see if the young man who set up his vegetable stall two days ago has returned.
He is now even more diligent than when he was chasing after his wife. He waits eagerly every day, but unfortunately, the vegetable vendor hasn't shown up yet.
"Boss, why haven't our buns arrived yet?"
A table of three people impatiently tap their chopsticks on the table, urging the fat boss.
"Ah, they're coming."
The fat boss has been in business for many years and knows how to handle customers. He quickly and skillfully brings over the hot steamed buns.
"Boss, it’s been twenty minutes. If the buns don't come any sooner, we don't want them anymore."
Another woman frowns and speaks without reservation.
"I'm sorry, the previous orders were all taken by regular customers, and the freshly steamed ones take a bit longer."
The fat boss patiently explains, after all, in this day and age, customers are like gods and business is hard to come by.
"They may be your regulars, but we aren't?"
"I..."
The other people in the line watched, seeing that the boss had a good attitude, they stopped the middle-aged woman from speaking further.
After walking into the kitchen, the boss brought the porridge that several people had ordered and was just about to turn around and leave.
"Boss, I ordered the vegetable and mushroom one, what is this?"
The fat boss walked over and looked, "This is the vegetable and mushroom one, is there a problem?"
"What? You call this vegetable and mushroom? Even if you want to make a profit, you can't give us street vendor goods to eat."
The man with glasses threw his chopsticks on the table, obviously very angry.
"You are really mistaken. You can ask around the market. I, the fat man, have been doing this for many years. When have I ever used street vendor goods?"
The fat boss was a little annoyed as he had been receiving continuous complaints these days. "What, you're doing business and you won't let us consumers give feedback?"
Just now, when the man shouted out loud, people around turned to look. The fat boss remembered that being polite could help him do better business.
"That's not the case. You have every right to raise your concerns, but you shouldn't just attack me for no reason," he said calmly.
"Well, what about the mushroom and vegetable dumplings we had a few days ago? They were nothing like today's," said the man with glasses. "We even brought our friends here today because we heard your buns were good. But look at this vegetable today, it's all mushy."
The fat boss didn't want to explain any more. It seemed like everyone in the room agreed with the man with glasses. He had no choice but to walk straight into the kitchen and bring out a large bag of Shanghai greens. "Take a look, am I really using subpar ingredients?" he asked.
He had no choice. Several customers had complained in the past few days, and if things continued like this, the good reputation he had worked so hard to build would be ruined.
The customers in the room looked at the fresh Shanghai greens on the ground and realized they were indeed not subpar ingredients. They were silent and looked at each other.
"I'm sorry about today. I've been using a new variety of vegetables lately, and the taste is slightly different from that of Shanghai greens," said the fat boss.
"Well, can't you continue to use that Shanghai greens?" a customer asked. "The ones we had a few days ago were really good. We came all the way here early in the morning just to eat them."
...
Seeing everyone's reaction to the issue, the plump boss couldn't help but feel anxious. After all, the reason he was using the lower quality produce was because he couldn't find anything better.
"Alright, alright, I'll finish using what I have today, and from now on I'll use the new variety."
"Hmm, hurry up and switch, this vegetable tastes terrible."
"If you don't switch soon and keep serving this, we'll go somewhere else."
Watching the customers' emotions being calmed down, the fat boss finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had managed to get through the day.
The scene changes to a household in a certain residential area.
"You, child, why did you throw the strawberries on the ground after buying them?"
A girl was picking up the strawberries from the ground, which cost dozens of yuan.
"I don't want to eat this kind of strawberries. I want to eat cream strawberries."
"What's the difference between cream strawberries and non-cream strawberries? They are all the same. These are the good ones bought from the supermarket."
"Not this kind. I want to eat the ones that Grandma bought for me last time."
"Mom, come here for a second."
The young girl called out to the kitchen.
"What's wrong now? Can't you see I'm cooking?"
The old lady, wearing an apron, came out of the kitchen. She was the same elderly woman who bought strawberries from Yang Feng's place the other day.
"Look at your grandson. He just bought these strawberries and now he's throwing them away. He insists on eating the strawberries you bought."
"Sigh, I just happened to see a young man selling them on the roadside by chance. I went to see him a few times these days, but he's not there anymore."
"Waaah, I want to eat strawberry, I want to eat strawberry!" The little kid immediately sat down on the ground.
Unable to resist her grandson's pleas, the old lady sighed and took off her apron. "The pork ribs are stewing in the pot, watch them for a bit while I ride my bike to see."
When the old lady arrived at the roadside, she only found a girl selling watermelons, and there was no trace of the young man selling strawberries. Thinking of her precious grandson at home, she had no choice but to ask, "Miss, have you seen the young man selling strawberries?"
The watermelon girl shook her head. "He hasn't been here for several days."
She wanted to find him too, as she liked strawberries herself, but she was too strapped for cash. The other day, she spent half an hour haggling with Yang Feng and ended up paying 10 yuan for a small amount.
She intended to savor them slowly, but couldn't stop once she started eating, as they were unlike any she had eaten before. A few days ago, she asked her mom for another 10 yuan, but the strawberry seller still hadn't shown up, and the money was still in her pocket.
