Call Me Daddy

At 8 in the morning, it was the busiest time at the breakfast stall. The elderly couple wished they could split into two to handle the rush, when their son leisurely came downstairs.

They had no idea when he had come back last night.

“Are you hungry? Take whatever you want,” Miao Yinhua assumed her son woke up hungry; otherwise, he wouldn’t usually rise so early. But now she was busy, packaging breakfast for customers and returning change to those paying with cash.

“I’ll have a red bean bun.”

Su Aobai’s movements were still leisurely. He walked over to his parents, picked up the tongs used for picking buns, and grabbed a freshly steamed red bean bun from the steamer.

These buns were all steamed together; the meat buns were pinched with beautiful pleats, the red bean buns were decorated with a red dot made of cinnabar, and there were also buns with preserved vegetable and meat, and spicy tofu vermicelli buns, each marked with its own sign.

In the memories of his original self, his parents’ red bean buns were particularly delicious because of the well-balanced filling, not too greasy, but with the sweet fragrance of the red beans themselves.

The flour used by the couple was also good, not the cheap mixed flour type. Dough kneaded from such good flour had a beautiful color, and after steaming, it had a fluffy texture, soft and tender with a slight chewiness. Combined with the red bean filling that had been refined to the point of having no graininess, the aroma was endless.

Su Aobai casually ate a few buns and naturally stood between his parents, greeting the customers.

His movements weren’t as efficient as his parents’, but at least having one more person greatly relieved their pressure.

“Everything’s been bought. Just got a call; they said they’ll come to install it soon,” Su Aobai said to his parents while giving change to the customers, updating them on his work progress.

In addition to the dedicated smartphone and tripod he bought, he also purchased several fixed shooting devices, intending to install them in the kitchen and at a few challenging angles in the front restaurant.

The footage captured by these cameras could serve as supplementary material during editing, enriching the content of the videos.

Of course, the reason he was able to place the order yesterday and have them come to install it early this morning was surely because he paid extra. But for a spendthrift like him, paying extra was standard procedure.

“They’re coming soon?”

Su Quangen hadn’t expected his son to seem so serious this time.

“Alright, wherever you want them installed, you decide.”

Since he had agreed, he was prepared to accompany his son.

“Old Su, your son is helping out in the stall today, that’s nice to see. He’s grown up now, finally understanding responsibility.”

An elderly neighbor came to buy breakfast, surprised to see Su Aobai actually helping in the shop and couldn’t help but glance at the direction where the sun was rising.

Didn’t he usually sleep in?

Anyway, a child willing to share the burden for his parents was always a good thing. The old man smiled happily and praised Su Aobai a few times.

“Oh, by the way, I’ll take an order of sticky rice chicken today. Let me know when it’s ready at noon.”

While scanning the QR code, he added some extra money, reserving a dessert.

This was something only regular customers would do at the shop, because some dishes and desserts took a long time to prepare. For certain dishes, just the preparation of ingredients alone could take days. It wasn’t feasible to prepare them on the spot for immediate consumption, and with so many dishes needing advance preparation, small restaurants like Su’s couldn’t possibly have everything ready at all times. If no one ordered them, it would be a waste.

And so, the practice of customers pre-ordering dishes began.

“Alright.”

Su Quangen promptly accepted the money without hesitation. “The glutinous rice this year is very good. I’ll prepare it for you shortly.”

Listening to their conversation, Su Aobai suddenly knew what he could film today.

*****

The installation workers arrived around 9 o’clock. As soon as they entered the shop, they got to work. Installing several fixed shooting devices wasn’t too complex; in a little over half an hour, they had all the filming equipment set up as per Su Aobai’s instructions, and connected to the network.

They installed one in the dining room and two in the kitchen. These types of filming equipment had almost the same clarity as cameras and weren’t comparable to surveillance cameras. Although fixed in position, the cameras could rotate with mechanical arms and adjust their wide-angle lenses. Su Aobai experimented a few times and finally memorized how to control them.

By the time the workers left, the morning market had mostly ended.

The old lady and her newly hired assistant began cleaning the kitchen utensils and tidying up, while the old man started preparing for the lunch rush. The first ingredient he needed to prepare was for making sticky rice chicken.

“You’re filming already?”

The old man saw his son pointing his newly bought high-resolution phone at him.

It was the first time the old man appeared on camera and he felt a bit shy.

“Just wait a moment, let me wash my face.”

Actually, before preparing the ingredients, he had already carefully washed both arms and his face and neck. After all, hygiene was crucial in food preparation.

“Alright then.” Su Aobai waved his hand.

When the old man mentioned washing his face, Su Aobai was already livestreaming. The livestream channel was named ‘Su Family’s Century-old Snack Shop,’ categorized under the foodie community. Today’s content was tagged as a sticky rice chicken tutorial and a glimpse into the chef’s lunch preparations.

As it was his first livestream, Su Aobai also spent 1,000 yuan on promotion.

He had researched these costs beforehand; the promotion fee went directly to the livestream platform. This way, the system would increase the exposure of the new livestream room, boosting the chances of random viewers entering this particular livestream.

In the past, promotion fees on such livestream platforms were often undisclosed, but with more people venturing into livestreaming, platforms had formalized and standardized these processes.

1,000 yuan was considered mid-range; it could attract an additional 2000-5000 random viewers on the day of the livestream, on top of the initial exposure. How many of them stayed depended on the content itself?

By the time the old man mentioned washing his face, the livestream had already attracted twelve random visitors. Some quickly left, but a few stayed.

[Chicken Pecking Rice]: Is the host going to teach cooking? It looks like it’s in a restaurant’s kitchen. Is the host a professional chef?

[King of the Battleground]: Are we learning how to make sticky rice chicken today?

Those who stayed were generally interested in food.

However, when the old man mentioned washing his face, the barrage of comments suddenly changed.

[Chicken Pecking Rice]: Haha, Grandpa is so cute! Is he an idol?

[2333]: Grandpa is interesting, let’s stay longer and see Grandpa’s skills.

Since Su Aobai had his phone securely mounted on a tripod, he didn’t have to worry about shaky video. While the old man was away, he took the opportunity to show the audience around the kitchen.

“Hello everyone, later on, the one teaching you how to cook will be my Dad, the vain old man. Since he’s not here right now, I’ll give you a tour of the kitchen.”

Su Aobai spoke very casually, without any pre-prepared lines.

The kitchen wasn’t large; a quick look around revealed everything. However, Su’s parents were neat freaks, keeping this small kitchen spotless with no dirt in the crevices of the bricks.

The clear camera captured this modest kitchen where every item bore traces of time. Yet, meticulous care and cleaning by the owners preserved them well, despite being unable to resist the erosion of time.

Overall, it was a kitchen with a nostalgic feel from its decor, yet orderly and clean.

[2333]: We used to have that red peony porcelain basin at home too. It’s been how many years? Can’t believe I’m seeing it again.

[King of the Battleground]: I’m more interested in those enamel cups used for sauces. There are even portraits of leaders on them. My grandpa had one too, awarded to him during the days of the commune as a model laborer. He still uses it every day for tea, the tea stains have built up thickly over time. He won’t let anyone wash his cup. Didn’t expect to see a dozen of them at the host’s place. Your family really cherishes nostalgia.

Some of these enamel cups had chips on the rims from accidental bumps, and a few handles were dented. However, it didn’t affect their use. These cups held soy sauce, wine, oyster sauce, and other condiments, saving a lot of time when scooped with a ladle.

Many restaurants adopted this practice, but it was rare to find vessels with such a strong nostalgic ambiance like this one.

“These are all left by my Grandpa. He was a head chef at the Xijiang Youlian State Restaurant back then. The unit used to distribute pots and pans every year, and we couldn’t use them all. Later, when my dad opened the restaurant, he decided to put them to use.”