“Bun delivery! Order your buns now, get them by noon! Bun delivery! Order your buns now, get them by noon!”
After dropping off ingredients at the shop earlier in the morning, Sun makes his way through the neighboring residential districts. He starts at the north-eastern district closest to the shop and works his way clockwise through the other districts, collecting lunch orders. Though he had been wandering the streets for a few days, Sun felt that today was the first day of his new life. Although he wanted to work yesterday, grandpa Liu was not having it.
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“You buffoon! How can you work looking like that? And what’s with your hair? It’s longer than Lia’s! For heaven's sake go get yourself cleaned up first and come back tomorrow morning.”
Suddenly remembering that this buffoon had no money, grandpa Liu handed him a small pouch of coins.
“That’s at least twenty-five coppers. Go get yourself a few sets of clothes first. Then get yourself cleaned up at the bathhouse. Oh, and don’t go splurging on anything fancy, you hear me boy? Get something comfortable. You’ll be running deliveries most of the day, no point in fancy clothes if you’re going to ruin them." And of course, after having been told that he’s a benevolent man, grandpa Liu couldn’t help but tack on a self-praise. “No need to thank me, I am quite benevolent after all. I’ll just dock it from your pay. Bahahaha."
Sun placed the coin pouch safely into his sleeve pocket and bowed. He started walking towards his first destination when he suddenly realized that he had no idea which way to go. Scratching his head, he turned to look at Lia for help.
“That way, dummy.” She giggled, pointing towards the south-east bridge. “There’s a large road just past the bridge with lots of garment shops. Just keep an eye open for a large entryway with large lanterns and ornaments.”
“Thank you.” He smiled at her before setting off towards the garment district.
Having made his way through the bridge junction and across the south-east bridge, Sun found himself standing in front of a large stone entryway with a wooden board-sign:
Gah- ming... Dis- stree- tuh... Garment District. I should probably learn to read...
Sun made his way through the entryway and found himself surrounded by colorful garments. Noticing many men coming and going from one of the stores, he thought that it might not be a bad idea to take a look around.
“Welcome to The Golden Cocoon, please let me know if there’s anything I can help you with!” The attendants greeted each customer as they entered the store.
Sun did not receive the same greeting when he entered, but he paid no mind to it. He simply wanted to look around. As he made his way through the selections of clothes, he stopped in front of a robe similar to his. It had a light blue silky underlayer and a sleek white robe over it. A deep blue sash, adorned with gold stitching, hung next to the robe. Well, sort of similar. They were both white-ish, sort of like a second cousin- twice removed. Sun reached out to pick up the price tag.
Twenty-three silvers… Is that a lot?
“Hey! Careful! Don’t touch anything if you’re not going to buy it!” The store manager rushed towards him, slapping his hand away. “There’s nothing here for you, move along!”
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Making his way down the main road of the garment district, Sun decided to check out one of the side roads. He passed by some humble shops on the way.
“Young man, are you looking for clothes?” An aunty, about fifty years of age, called out to him. “Come on in! I’m sure we have something that’ll fit you just right.”
Having made no progress in his search for clothes, Sun followed the aunty into the small shop. She carefully rummaged through layers and layers of neatly folded clothes.
“Hmm…” She muttered as she held up a simple gray top. “Too small.”
The aunty continued searching, layer by layer, through each pile.
“Ah, this should do!”
She unfolded the white top and held it in front of Sun’s chest.
“Simple and durable, befitting of a handsome and active young man like you. What do you think?”
Sun held the top in his hands. The coarse texture of hemp fiber reminded him of his childhood.
“It’s nice...” He spoke softly. “How much is it?”
“For you, handsome young man, just six coppers. You’ll probably want some pants and a sash to go with it. Let’s see…”
The aunty flipped through a different pile of clothes, pulling out a pair of dark gray pants.
“These pants would go nicely with it. Eight coppers, special price just for you. Twelve coppers for both.”
Sun held the set of clothes in front of him.
“Two sets, please and thank you pretty aunty.”
“Handsome and polite!" The aunty broke into a blushing chuckle. “Call me aunty Hong. Here, you look like you could use a new sash as well. Free of charge. Come by any time.”
As he left the shop, Sun asked for directions to the nearest bath house. The aunty pointed towards the general direction and explained how to get there. Having finished his first task, Sun cupped his hands and bowed deeply towards the aunty, saying thank you again before heading off towards the bathhouse.
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“Bun delivery! Order your buns now, get them by noon! Bun delivery! Order your buns now, get them by noon!”
“Young man, over here!”
Sun spots the group of elderly men playing chess underneath the overhang of a large banyan tree calling out to him. Sun makes his way towards them with his notepad in hand.
“Good morning elders, would you like to place an order for lunch?” Sun asks the elders politely.
After a quick headcount, they place an order for eight pork buns, four beef buns, and two veggie buns.
“Thank you very much for your patronage.” Sun bows as he speaks. “I’ll be back by noon.”
With only an hour left until noon, Sun finishes taking the final orders from the south-east district and makes haste back to the shop. With a single breath, he disappears from where he stood. Seconds later, he appears in front of the shop.
“GAH!" Lia screams out upon seeing his figure flicker into existence. She ignores it as there's no time to panic. "Sun! Do you have any idea what time it is? There’s less than an hour before lunchtime. Quickly, hand me the orders!”
Lia scans through the orders. As she flips through the pages, she makes mental notes of how many buns each district ordered as well as what type of buns.
“North-east: seven orders, thirty-one buns, eighteen pork, ten beef, three veggie. North-west: eight orders, twenty-five buns..."
As Lia lists out the buns for each district, Sun carefully moves each bun into a separate bamboo container. He has four stacks of containers, one for each district. Each container houses different types of buns. Each stack was held together by intersecting ropes that could be hung from a pole.
“Hurry esteemed dummy! Lunch is in thirty minutes!” Lia feels like she is a few moments shy from a panic attack. “And don’t forget to apologize to the customers!”
After tightly securing each stack onto the two bamboo poles, Sun makes his way up the bridge towards the north-east district. Lia watches as he picks up speed, disappearing into the crowd.
At least he’s fast. Esteemed fast dummy.
She giggles, letting out a sigh of relief.
Hurry esteemed fast dummy, or you’ll never hear the end of it from old man Liu.