Republic of China, 1928: Starting from a Wonton Shop

The rooster crowed three times, and the sky was just beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn.

"The noise from next door is so loud, I didn't sleep well all night."

In his memory, the neighbors next door were a mother and daughter. The woman was named Yunniang, around thirty years old, and was a widow. Yunniang's husband was a rickshaw puller. Three years ago, in order to earn more money, he drove a long distance in the snow and fell into the moat with his rickshaw. When he was pulled out, he was already stiff.

Since then, the orphaned girl and her widow have lived in dire poverty.

"You rascal, be gentle, the baby is still here..." The woman's voice was pleading and trembling.

"Stop talking nonsense! I paid for this!" a strange man growled, followed by a sharp slap, like the sound of a hand hitting a piece of fat.

He was a modern man, and although he knew that anything was possible to survive these days, the thought of the miserable state of the mother and daughter next door still made him feel somewhat depressed.

About 10 minutes later, the noise from next door finally stopped.

Li Chunsheng looked out the window; it was still pitch black. But he couldn't sleep now, so he got up, put on his tattered cotton-padded coat, rubbed his cold face, and went out the door.

As soon as the door opened, a biting cold wind rushed in.

By the faint moonlight, Li Chunsheng saw a small, dark shadow huddled in the corner under the eaves of his house.

That's Yunniang's daughter, Yaya.

The little girl was only seven years old. She was wrapped in an old cotton-padded jacket that was obviously too big for her. Black cotton wadding was showing through the cuffs and collar. She hugged her knees with both hands, curled up into a small ball, and was shivering. Her lips had turned purple from the cold, and her eyelashes were covered with glistening white frost.

From the door behind her, a man was tying his belt and slapping the ground as he walked out.

The man saw Li Chunsheng by the moonlight. Instead of feeling ashamed, he whistled nonchalantly and muttered, "Damn, this is boring. He's not even as exciting as the prostitutes in the Eight Great Hutongs. He's just cheap."

After saying that, the man wrapped his coat tighter and swaggered out.

Li Chunsheng frowned. He really wanted to go up and beat the man up, but given his current condition, he decided against it. In this world, it's better to avoid trouble.

"Ya Ya?" Li Chunsheng called softly.

The little girl visibly trembled, raised her head, and her big eyes were filled with terror. She only breathed a slight sigh of relief when she saw that it was Li Chunsheng.

"Brother Li..." Ya Ya's voice was as faint as a whisper.

This is too cruel. To make a living in such a wretched way, they send their children out to freeze in the dead of winter.

Without saying a word, Li Chunsheng turned around and went back into the house.

He didn't make any accusations, because he knew that in this cannibalistic world, everyone was desperately trying to survive, and if Yunniang had a way, she wouldn't have had to sell herself to support her family.

He came out carrying a small coal stove.

"Come here." Li Chunsheng placed the stove against the wall to shelter it from the wind, and then moved a small stool from inside the house.

Ya Ya hesitated, not daring to move, her eyes filled with fear as she looked at her tightly closed door.

"Come and warm yourself by the fire, don't get cold." He pulled the little girl over and pressed her down on the stool, then took off half of his cotton-padded coat and draped it over her.

Ya Ya's stiff body slowly warmed up, and Li Chunsheng looked at her little hands covered in chilblains and sighed inwardly.

Just then, the door next door opened.

Yunniang stood at the door with her hair disheveled and her clothes in disarray. There was a faint red handprint on her chest. When she saw Li Chunsheng and her daughter sitting by the stove, a look of panic and shame flashed across her face.

"You brat! Who told you to bother your brother Li! Get back here right now!" Yunniang scolded, reaching out to grab Yaya. "That's their coal, don't you think it's free? I've already lost all face, you can't lose face too!"

Ya Ya shrank back in fright, tears welling up in her eyes, but dared not cry out.

Li Chunsheng reached out and blocked Yunniang's arm.

"Sister-in-law," Li Chunsheng said, looking at the woman in front of him who, though disheveled, still possessed a certain beauty, "Yaya didn't bother me. I just felt cold and came out for some fresh air and to warm myself by the fire. Don't scare the child so early in the morning."

Yunniang's hand froze in mid-air. She looked into Li Chunsheng's calm eyes, which held none of the contempt and lust she was used to seeing, only a faint pity.

Yunniang's lips trembled a few times, and tears finally welled up in her eyes.

She squatted down, hugged Ya Ya tightly, and burst into tears.

"I don't want to either! I want to be a decent human being! But I have no skills, all I have left is my looks, and Yaya is still so young!"

Li Chunsheng sighed and took out 10 copper coins from his pocket.

"Sister-in-law, don't cry, it's not good if the neighbors hear." Li Chunsheng stuffed the money into Ya Ya's hand, "If you're really hungry, you can come to my wonton shop for wontons, it's free; we can always get by."

After saying that, he didn't linger any longer, picked up the bucket, and turned to walk towards the well in the yard.

There's not much he can help with; there are too many poor people in this world to save them all.

As dawn broke, Li Chunsheng pushed the wheelbarrow out the door.

The morning market outside Qianmen is at its busiest right now. It's a market for the poor and a place for vendors to source their goods.

Li Chunsheng, relying on his memory, arrived at the meat counter with familiarity.

"Hey! Young Master Li, you're up so early today?"

Zheng, the butcher who sells meat, is a burly man with a fierce face. In the past, when Li Chunsheng's father came to buy meat, he would be stingy and only take some bones that had been cleaned up. But today, Li Chunsheng's generous spending made him look at him with new eyes.

"Brother Zheng, I'll take those big bone marrows, and these chicken carcasses too."

"Alright!" Butcher Zheng swiftly chopped the bone in half with his knife. "That's thirty-five coins in total."

"And this too," Li Chunsheng pointed to a piece of pork belly hanging on the cutting board, "I'll take this piece too. Also, save me two jin of lard."

Butcher Zheng was taken aback: "Brother Li, that's top-quality pork belly, and this lard is also in high demand. You've struck it rich?"

"It's a small business, I just want to make the food taste better." Li Chunsheng smiled, counted out a handful of copper coins from his pocket, and slapped them on the cutting board. "Could you weigh this for me? How much is it in total?"

Seeing Li Chunsheng's expression, Butcher Zheng didn't mince words: "Alright! I'll give you some more bones as a bonus, making it eighty copper coins in total!"

Li Chunsheng paid the money, picked up the meat, and started planning his business for the day.

Yesterday's bone broth wontons were a huge hit, but the broth wasn't quite perfect yet. My proficiency level in the system is stuck at 68/100, which means there's still a lot of room for improvement.

Moreover, selling only wontons is too monotonous. Those men who do hard labor can't fill up on just wontons; they need something more substantial.

Back in the courtyard, Yunniang and her daughter's room was quiet; they were probably catching up on sleep.