Chapter 7 Still A Steamed Bun

"This..."

"You like it, dear?" the old lady gave her trademark wrinkly smile. The look on the young man's face gave her extreme satisfaction and knowing he enjoyed it made her all the merrier.

"This tastes amazing!" Li Tian yelled, grabbing the attention of a few passersby. "Did you make this yourself, grandmama?"

"I sure did," her eyes twinkled as she stated. "I'm glad that you like it. Youngsters like you enjoying my cooking put a smile on my face. Not to mention you're so handsome."

Li Tian quirked his head sideways. He wasn't too caught up in his head this time so surely Grandmama was jesting. "But I'm anything but handsome, Grandmama. I mean, look at me! I look like a loser!" he gestured towards himself in disgust.

She smiled amusedly at him and raised her thin eyebrow. "Ohoh, that's not what you said earlier. I recall you agreeing with me the first time."

Li Tian blushed at his mistake again. When was he going to get better at this?? He smacked his forehead internally for his continuous blunders.

The old lady laughed merrily, her voice ringing through his ears like a soothing melody. "What I see is a stunningly handsome young man who's still trying to find himself. Whatever you think of your appearance," she motioned at him, "it is all just an exterior. A charming young man made this lady's day by enjoying my pao. If I were one to judge by looks, I wouldn't be very convincing when selling my craft now would I?" she winked playfully.

"No... you wouldn't," Li Tian was taken aback and after a thoughtful pause, agreed.

She grinned at his slow response. It seemed to her like this youngster was having self-esteem issues and troubles with social interaction. The way he spoke and his minute body language was very telling. There must have been some story as to why he ended up in such a place... "You are a sweet young man, dear. But your troubles are clear to see," she moved her wrinkly hand and gently took his smooth one. "People need other people. Even if things turned out to be difficult for you before, you don't need to become a lone wolf."

"How did you..." he stared at her wide-eyed. Did she know him somehow? Surprisingly he didn't pull away from her touch as he usually did with everyone else. He could feel a warm energy radiate from it and that she meant no harm.

The kind old lady smiled with her eyes, giving him a feeling as if she was looking at him as she would her own kin; full of affection. It made him feel... happy.

"You remind me of my son... or how he used to be," she said softly as she caressed his hand. "I hope you don't follow in the path he did and that you find the people that love and care about you."

"This..." he had to admit he felt a bit awkward. People that love him? That would mean his family right? They love him... and obviously, they care... kinda. How was he supposed to respond? Pulling his hand away felt like he would be doing an injustice at this point, and he didn't want to either.

So with his other hand, he stuffed the entire delicious spicy pao into his mouth, pulling himself back into bliss. If he couldn't answer her, then he would say nothing at all. At least eating the steamed bun made them both feel good. "I could eat this every day," he spouted happily with his mouth full. Remembering the few family members she had mentioned, he tried putting some input into the conversation. "Your son and grandson must be so lucky."

Contrary to his expectations, she sighed in regret, slowly letting go of his hand. "My son... my grandson won't even put it in his mouth."

"What!?" he nearly choked on a piece of meat and gripped his now cold hand. "But why?"

"It seems I haven't been a good mother or grandmother..." she lamented. She took out a steamed bun from the steamer and placed it on a paper plate in front of her. "My pao appear too bland and tasteless for them. Even when I try to decorate it, it wouldn't change their mind. After all, it is still just a steamed bun."

From the box by her feet, she took out what looked like a bottle of edible ink. Dipping in a clean chopstick, she used it as a brush to draw something on the steamed bun in front of her. When she was done, she picked it up and showed it to the young man before her.

"See? Still a steamed bun," she smiled like she normally did.

But Li Tian immediately noticed a difference. The smile didn't reach her eyes, and the usual sparkle she had was gone. It just looked painful. This was the first time Li Tian understood there was such a thing as a painful smile and how it hurt him unknowingly as well. When he looked at the bun in her hands, it made the pain worse.

On it was drawn an adorable smiley face, something any child would love to see on their food. If her grandson refused to eat something like this even from a young age, then who taught him such a thing? Could it be that son of hers?

"No matter how good my pao actually is, it will always be... cheap food," she sighed and lowered her hands. "Steamed buns are food for the poor."

Li Tian winced at her words. Food for the poor?? Cheap??

"Your pao is NOT cheap! It's the best thing I've ever tasted in my life!" he blurted in anger and grabbed the smiley steamed bun in her hands. Disregarding her startled expression, he shoved the whole thing into his mouth and chewed like crazy.

"C-careful, dear, it's still hot! Chew slower," she stood up worriedly.

But Li Tian had the whole thing down his throat seconds later. "It's fine, Grandmama. The heat never bothered me," he assured her. "You see! it tasted even better than the first one! Your decoration really did make a difference!"

Grandmama stood there speechless. She was old now, and her life was beginning to wane. There were many regrets she had in this life and she would soon have to leave all of them behind. When the person in front of her appeared in his dirty clothes and untied shoes, she somehow felt a connection with this odd young man. It led to her giving him some advice that would hopefully guide him in the future, leaving a piece of her before she left. But the connection slowly grew closer where she eventually brought up her own family, her biggest regret in this life, in hopes the charming young man would be different. However, she was wrong.

The young man was already different. He may have been a lone wolf, but he also had a heart as vast as the sky.

Her wrinkly eyes became wet, and with how small they were, it didn't take long for a few tears to drop.

"G-grandmama!?" Li Tian panicked. Did he make her cry?? "It's true! I've had the most expensive food you could imagine and spat them out like trash before! But I could finish all the pao you have here in a heartbeat!" he gestured to the giant steamer.

Grandmama giggled at his enthusiasm. The young man must have misunderstood her tears and was trying to make her feel better. Such a kind young man... It was a blessing to meet him before she left this world...

When she thought about it, she had never gotten his name. But it didn't seem like he was going to stop talking anytime soon.

"I had to wait seventeen years and come all the way to this god awful street to taste something like this yet your grandson had the gall to call it bad without even a single bite. My family forced me all the way here in this stupid getup to go through hell yet he-," Li Tian started to rant without thinking. But the more words that come out, the less it was about grandmama's grandson and the more it was just him venting out his own frustrations.

"Tian!" a bug suddenly spoke in his ear.

"Not to mention I got my ass dirty from this random dude that had golfballs for eyes and-"

"TIAN!!" the bug stung him.

"What!?" he yelled in anger.

"You're speaking too much!" it was Meilin, who felt that something was wrong.

That was when he realized that a crowd had started to gather. They were looking at him curiously as if trying to decipher what was off about him.

"Shit..." they were getting closer and closer, trying to peer at him from under those glasses.

Grandmama, on the other hand, was listening to his ranting patiently, hoping to get his name later, when the sudden arrival of people started to confuse her. What was going on? Not that many people would come to her little stall usually.

A few schoolgirls came up to him and boldly questioned him, scanning him from top to bottom to find any clues.

"Excuse me mister, but your voice sounds AWFULLY familiar..."

"Yeah, I definitely feel like I've heard it before."

A couple more people joined in when they heard the conversation.

"You guys feel it too? I thought I was imagining things."

"Maybe you should take off your glasses so that we can confirm, mister."

Li Tian tried his best to remain calm, but inside he was panicking. After the first few came, it just started increasing with the ongoing conversations they were having; all about his supposedly familiar voice.

Is that what he did wrong? Speak? Yell? Vent?

What the hell was wrong with these people? A lot of people had similar voices!

Meilin also got the info on the increasing number of people and informed him promptly, "Tian, if you don't get yourself out of there soon, I'm sending the men in."

"You ain't doing jackshit! I-" he cursed into the earpiece.

"What did you say, mister?" a girl gave him ogly eyes.

"Say it louder so we can hear it!" said her friend, the rest of the crowd looking at him with expectation.

"I... I..." he began to stutter. Talking in front of an audience was second nature to him, there was no reason for him to ever be scared. But usually, it was from behind fences, security guards or from the stage, which kept the people at a safe distance. He had to admit, with people clinging on him so close, he felt a bit alarmed.

Moreover, forget the consequences, just the thought of his identity being found out would bruise his pride so much he wouldn't be able to accept it. He scanned the area as he was trying to think of the words to say, when he noticed a bunch of casual looking men with, somehow, matching red scarves closing in from many sides.

He rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue in annoyance. This was definitely under Meilin's order.

He was Li Tian! He could handle himself.

Li Tian cleared his throat and tried changing it to be a bit deeper. "I think everyone is mistaken. I'm just a normal guy."

He felt more confident in himself after saying his bit. After all, he knew himself the most. The REAL Li Tian would definitely admit his identity.

Unfortunately, the girls' eyes instead grew wider and the people behind also started to push forward even more roughly. Many of them squealed in excitement, after all, that was definitely a voice they all knew well.

The ignored grandmama's old stall was rattled, and the weak hinges creaked under the pressure from the crowd.

"Oh dear..." Grandmama grabbed the stall, trying to hold it down with her meager strength amidst the confusion. "I feel it would be much more honorable if everyone would calm down and settle things temperately," she mentioned gently.

"Old lady, how can we be calm! If that is who we think he is..." a girl shrieked.

"Whoever you think it is, he is just a normal young man trying to find peace of mind," she advised the young women. Her stall was still creaking, and her face paled at the situation. "Men don't think too kindly of using force..."

"Tsk. What do you know," the young girl spat, clearly offended.

"Yeah, old hag. You just sell buns for cheap in this dirty place," her friend chimed in.

Everything happened so fast, that even though Li Tian saw what happening and was just a short distance away, he had no time to stop the next thing that befell.

The flashback of grandmama's sad smile echoed through his mind when one of the girls kicked the one table leg that was still strong enough to hold the entire wobbly stall in place. Everything fell down in a crash, spilling the entire contents of the steamer on floor.

The old lady had wasted her strength trying to hold everything together and fell down with it.

"GRANDMAMA!"

.....