The Girl and the Lemon Tea

"Come take a look, don't miss out, fresh chicken leg rice wraps here!"

"Volcanic stone grilled sausages, 2 yuan each."

"Takoyaki, classmate, come check it out!"

"Senior's original-flavor stockings, tasty and eye-catching—"

"Spicy skewers, spicy skewers~ only 1 yuan per stick~"

Various stalls lined the school pathway, transforming the entire walkway into a bustling food street. With the constant flow of visitors, it almost felt like a tourist attraction.

"Every year around this time, it gets so crowded… Yuyou… Yuyou?" Tang Keke turned her head, only to find Bai Yuyou already standing in front of a barbecue stall. In no time, the girl was holding a massive grilled squid skewer, bigger than her own palm.

Tang Keke watched as Bai Yuyou nibbled on the squid in small bites and couldn’t help but ask, "Yuyou, didn’t we just have breakfast not too long ago?"

Bai Yuyou’s cheeks puffed up as she chewed expressionlessly, mumbling incoherently, "Mmm… mmm…"

"Finish eating first before talking."

"Stomach… hungry."

"Alright, let’s buy some snacks then." Tang Keke was already used to Bai Yuyou’s appetite, though she couldn’t help but envy the girl’s figure—unlike her own, which the boys in class often teased as being "childbearing-ready."

At that moment, Bai Yuyou suddenly noticed an elderly woman selling candied hawthorns in a corner. The woman, dressed in floral-patterned clothes, sat on a small stool, her half-lidded, cloudy eyes watching the passing students.

"What’s wrong?" Tang Keke noticed Bai Yuyou staring at the corner.

"Elderly… no stall."

"Oh, that kind? Actually, our school doesn’t allow unlicensed vendors to set up stalls here," Tang Keke explained. "But these elderly folks don’t know the rules—they just go where the crowds are. The school usually turns a blind eye since they’re so old."

Bai Yuyou nodded softly and walked over to the old woman.

Seeing a customer at last, the woman’s eyes crinkled with a smile as she pointed to the candied hawthorns beside her. "Young lady, want some? 3 yuan per stick. I made them fresh today… very tasty. Try one."

"Mm." Bai Yuyou nodded and pulled out her phone to scan the payment code.

The old woman suddenly looked flustered, rubbing her calloused hands together. "Do you have cash? This old granny doesn’t know how to use phones…"

She then pulled out her own phone—an ancient button model from over a decade ago, its edges yellowed and held together with yellowed tape.

Bai Yuyou watched silently. Ye Shuang had once told her that many elderly people, left behind by technology, could only survive in their own ways, slowly fading from society’s currents.

"……" Bai Yuyou patted her pockets and finally pulled out a Pikachu wallet.

She took out a red bill and handed it over. "I’ll… take them all."

"All of them?" The old woman was stunned, wondering if she’d misheard.

"Mm."

But the woman hesitated. "Young lady, can you finish all of them?"

Bai Yuyou nodded. "Can…"

"Alright… just give me fifty, no need for a hundred." The woman had over twenty sticks, totaling more than sixty yuan, but she insisted on giving Bai Yuyou fifty in change.

After packing the candied hawthorns for the girl, the old woman hunched over and happily walked away. With this money, she could make more in the afternoon and finally buy her grandson the toy he’d been wanting.

"Yuyou, you’re really kind. I never understood why anyone would ever bully you," Tang Keke sighed.

"Ye Shuang said… helping others is good, even if it’s just a small thing…" Bai Yuyou didn’t elaborate, holding the bag of candied hawthorns as if planning to devour them all herself.

Tang Keke blinked. "You’re not seriously planning to eat all of them alone, are you?"

The girl thought for a moment, then opened the bag toward Tang Keke. "Keke… want some?"

"I still want to save room for other snacks, and who eats candied hawthorns by the handful?" Tang Keke wasn’t hungry after Ye Shuang’s pan-fried dumplings earlier. Then, as if struck by inspiration, she suddenly said, "Yuyou, come with me."

She pulled Bai Yuyou toward the less crowded end of the food street.

They stopped in front of a lemon tea stall.

"Senior Zhixia!" Tang Keke called out.

A voice soon answered from inside the stall. "You guys came!"

Zhixia and Linlin, both wearing aprons, had rented a stall to sell hand-shaken lemon tea—a great way to raise club funds before their performance later.

"Wow, so many candied hawthorns! Are you setting up a stall?" Zhixia noticed the bag in Bai Yuyou’s hands.

Tang Keke explained what had happened earlier. Linlin suggested, "In that case, why not sell them here? There’s no way you can finish all of them."

"Exactly what I was thinking!" Tang Keke grinned. "How about giving a free candied hawthorn with every lemon tea?"

"Here, Yuyou."

Bai Yuyou seemed reluctant to part with her treats, her eyes fixed on the bag as it was taken away—until Tang Keke noticed and handed her three sticks back. Only then did the girl brighten up.

"Such a foodie," Tang Keke teased. "If I hadn’t brought you here, would you really have polished off all of them?"

Bai Yuyou nodded.

"Uh…"

Meanwhile, Zhixia arranged the remaining candied hawthorns neatly and wrote "Free candied hawthorn with purchase" on a small blackboard. She then asked, "By the way, where’s Teacher Ye?"

"Brother’s at home writing novels for his side job."

"That’s tough. Is he short on money?" Zhixia was surprised Ye Shuang had a side gig.

Tang Keke thought for a moment. "Dunno. He doesn’t seem that poor—he drives a sports car, after all."

Bai Yuyou added, "Ye Shuang’s car… was a gift from Sister Chen Qin."

"Oh right, that big sister gave it to him…" Tang Keke suddenly remembered.

"Should we ask Teacher Ye to come help? We could share the stall’s profits with him."

"Wouldn’t that be awkward? I heard men have pride about these things."

"Then how do we help him?"

The three girls huddled together, deep in thought, while Bai Yuyou stood to the side, tilting her head in confusion.

Crunch. She bit into a candied hawthorn, savoring the crispy sugar coating in small, deliberate bites.