Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Can Pancakes Catch Fugitives? How is That Possible...

“Hey, little girl, watch out! What are you doing? The pancake’s burning!”

Chen Ran quickly spatulaed up the pancake, a bit nervous but still smiling: “Sorry, I’ll redo it right away! Please don’t worry, it’ll be ready soon!”

Xiao Li reacted quickly, rifling through the empty tray: “I remember, there are some sausages in the car, I’ll go get them.”

“Go ahead, go ahead,” Shepi watched Xiao Li leave and complained to his accomplice, “Look at that, even these small vendors can make money and have a car.”

“They cook pretty well, making money is normal,” the accomplice replied. “Unlike us, always with our heads stuck in hard work, earning this tough money.”

Chen Ran kept cooking the pancakes, controlling herself from looking that way. She was both angry and secretly impressed by these two human traffickers’ utter nonchalance!

Xiao Li returned, followed by Wang Changhai. Chen Ran caught sight of Liu Shihan quietly circling around the other side of the food cart and stealthily approaching behind the two traffickers.

Chen Ran grew tense.

Xiao Li came over, naturally without the sausages. He nodded and smiled awkwardly but spoke perfunctorily:

“Sorry, I was mistaken, there’s none left. We’re closing soon anyway. How about you take a look at these few items?”

Shepi’s face darkened. Most of the dishes in the metal trays had only some broth left.

These pancakes really were the best he’d ever eaten, but now, no pork knuckle, no chicken cutlet. Not even sausages left — was he supposed to just gnaw on plain pancakes?

“Who do you think you’re fooling?”

Wang Changhai immediately stepped in and shoved him: “What are you doing? What, you gonna make my buddy suffer like this just for running a small business?”

“You shorted me ten yuan on that pork knuckle before, was that you?”

At the mention of the previously sold pork knuckle, Shepi’s wariness vanished completely.

“A pork knuckle with a few lousy chili peppers costs seventy? You’re ripping off fools!”

The two pushed each other multiple times. One accomplice tried to mediate.

“Hey, stop fighting, brother. With your temper, how can your business ever succeed…”

Xiao Li also came over to separate them, but while it looked like breaking it up, his hands were secretly playing dirty.

Seeing the four of them in chaos, Chen Ran nervously but excitedly touched the kitchen knife inside the food cart.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Liu Shihan already approaching the traffickers’ van!

She checked the child inside the van, then stood between the van and the traffickers, coolly pulling out her gun.

“Don’t move! Police!”

Shepi was slick, never caught with evidence before, but in terms of force, how was he a match?

No one holds back with traffickers.

Wang Changhai suddenly lifted his leg and kicked Shepi down to the ground! He didn’t hold back at all, stomping hard on his neck.

His accomplice had no intention of helping; he tried to run. Suddenly, a white object flew at him, smacking right in the face.

It was dough thrown by Chen Ran!A group of people looked toward the food cart, and Chen Ran smiled brightly: “I just couldn’t help myself.”

Xiao Li hurried over, straddled the trafficker lying on the ground, forced his hands behind his back, and cuffed him with handcuffs.

Both traffickers were subdued. Liu Shihan quickly put down her gun and couldn’t help kicking Shepi: “Talk! What’s wrong with these kids? Why are they all sleeping so deeply?”

She didn’t hold back any strength in her kick. After kicking, she worried and quickly opened the van door to check each child.

Shepi stubbornly refused to speak. Xiao Li had already contacted the station; he pointed at Chen Ran: “What are you doing still holding that kitchen knife? Next time if there’s something like this, you stay quietly inside the car! No interfering!”

Chen Ran stuck out her tongue—this was the first time the police at the station had been so harsh with her.

That night, the traffickers were taken back to the station for interrogation. The children were sent to the hospital. Chen Ran, who hadn’t slept well for days, finally slept in.

Many of the university students who had eaten Guotai Min’an pancakes yesterday also slept in.

“I slept really well today…”

Xin Qingqing hadn’t slept so well in a long time. The other two in the dorm had already gone to the library. She and Rong Rong slept until ten.

“I told you, you have to eat enough! You can’t always skip carbs. Before, you slept like a night owl…”

Xin Qingqing remembered the carb-filled feeling from yesterday. Comparing it to the emptiness now, she couldn’t help herself: “I’m planning to go buy another pancake. Yesterday I had egg-stuffed pancakes, but I saw a lot of people buying tendon pancakes. Do you want some?”

Rong Rong also got up: “Yes! Let’s go together!”

The two quickly washed up and got ready, thinking of the supreme deliciousness of yesterday’s pancakes; even their steps quickened.

Walking toward the school’s east gate, their steps became lighter and livelier!

“Today is my last day to sleep in. After eating the pancake, I’ll go to the library…”

The two suddenly stopped.

Where’s the food cart?

The usual spot where the pancake food cart parked was empty, but a large group of students gathered around.

“No stall today?”

“Maybe the boss is sleeping in? Sold until late last night.”

“Did anyone get the boss’s contact info? Anyone have a phone number? Hurry and ask her to open the stall!”

After asking around, no one had the boss’s contact info.

Qingjiao Ge came too. He was pondering and came up with a new possibility.

“Could it be that Xinhua Vocational College blocked the cart again…”

Before he finished, two Xinhua Vocational College students nearby shouted: “Who blocked it? I even suspected you guys hid the boss!”

Zhao Chunguang suggested another possibility: “Do you remember, the day before this stall showed up, there was an undercover stall here?”

“I know, but that stall couldn’t even make Jianbing Guozi well. The boss can’t be an undercover cop, right? That skill takes years to learn.”

“So what? Can’t the police get outside help?”

“Hey, don’t say that, it’s actually possible… Otherwise, why is her business so booming but no WeChat pre-orders?”“Yeah, if I were running a stall that popular, I definitely wouldn’t skip a single day.”

A group of students’ guesses were ultimately settled by an official school announcement.

That noon, the east gate was sealed off, and notices appeared in every group. Because traffickers were caught outside the east gate, considering safety, students were not allowed to pass through the east gate until construction was finished.

“Damn! It really was an undercover operation!”

“No way, the police have zero service spirit. They caught the traffickers and immediately took down the stall? Couldn’t they let us eat for a couple more days?”

“No wonder the pancakes sold so cheaply. Yesterday I told my roommate, if I had those skills, 20 yuan a piece would still be cheap!”

“It must be that the previous undercover was discovered, so they brought in a master from outside to assist! Officer, can you please tell me where they hired this chef? I want to eat there!”

Not only the nearby university students noticed the food cart missing, but also Zhu Nan, who had seen Ms. Wang’s photo in the group chat.

On the way to Xinhua, he was already flooding the group with messages.

“In just one hour, I’ll be able to eat Chen Ran’s freshly made pancakes! Can anyone understand how I feel? I can eat ten by myself! I’ll eat all the elbows before anyone else gets any!”

Others in the group tacitly queued up.

“Don’t want to understand.”

“+1”

“Really don’t want to understand, no posting pictures in the group!”

This was Zhu Chenchen, who no longer had to feed pigs in the countryside but had already gone to school.

Although her school started late, it wasn’t by much. Five days had passed in September, and Zhu Chenchen had packed up to a city without lion’s head meatballs or pancakes.

Zhu Nan couldn’t help laughing and called to the photographer in the backseat of the taxi: “Mingzi, last time with the lion’s head, you only got a tiny piece because of the situation, but this time eat more pancakes.”

Before they even arrived, they had already planned exactly what kind of pancakes to order!

But plans were beautiful; reality was cold.

Following the location they had asked about in advance, the two accurately found the empty lot behind Xinhua Vocational College’s east gate—but the lot was deserted.

No pancake food cart, and since the east gate was closed, even boxed meals were no longer sold there. Even the trash cans had been moved elsewhere by the cleaners.

The two stood silently on the empty lot. A gust of wind blew a torn plastic bag, hanging it on the photographer Mingzi’s tripod.

—Desolate.

In this city of Xinhua, Zhu Nan was practically friendless; last time at the kindergarten eating lion’s head meatballs, he couldn’t even borrow a kid.

He really had no choice but to warmly call out to Ms. Wang in the group.

Ms. Wang didn’t respond, but her capable assistant Ji You was added to the group.

After carefully evaluating Ms. Wang’s liking of Chen Ran’s cooking, Ji You ranked replying to this group second in priority, right after Ms. Wang’s family group.

“Maybe the police undercover operation has ended? I’ll ask again.”

Ms. Wang had only mentioned the food cart in the group before but never said it was an undercover operation by the Qiaotou Road police station.

It was better to keep such things a bit confidential.Zhu Nan anxiously awaited Ji You’s reply, but she did not disappoint—her response was unbelievably fast.

“Yesterday the traffickers were caught, so the undercover operation ended.”

When she asked around, she also learned a small detail that even the university students didn’t know, which she included.

“Also... I heard that one of the traffickers initially escaped but then ran back to buy pancakes, and that’s when he was caught.”

What!

Zhu Nan was even more frustrated.

He was someone who had tasted Chen Ran’s lion’s head meatballs and knew how good her cooking could be.

Thinking about it, if even criminals would come back to buy those pancakes, they must be incredibly delicious.

But... he missed out on both the sour plum ribs and the pancakes.

Zhu Nan cried noodles of tears.

He could still find ways to get into the kindergarten, but the police station—that was truly off-limits. If anything went wrong, his career would be over.

Chen Ran didn’t know about Zhu Nan’s plight; she was busy making pancakes.

The three trafficked children sent to the hospital had regained consciousness. To be cautious, the hospital performed full-body examinations. But according to the results, aside from the sedatives given by the traffickers, there were no major problems.

The three trafficked children were already on their way back from the hospital to the police station.

Meanwhile, Chen Ran’s pancake special effect period had not yet expired.

She thought carefully and decided maybe the best use for these pancakes was right here.

Chen Shi Han, who was accompanying at the hospital, said that despite the sedatives’ effect, the children still kept crying and were terrified.

Among them, the youngest child was just over three years old. It was normal for him to be frightened after being kidnapped so far.

Chen Ran reread the pancake’s special effect description: eating this pancake makes the eater feel safe and clears all darkness from the heart.

It was meant to be eaten now!

The police officers at the station had all eaten some, and Chen Ran herself even ate one. Although she couldn’t taste it, she could still feel the effect.

The pancake’s sense of safety was a power that made her feel steady and focused—not a false comfort.

As for why those two traffickers came back after eating the pancakes, maybe the officers’ blessings only worked selectively.

Chen Shi Han held the youngest girl, gently coaxing her: “Smell it, does it smell good? There’s chicken cutlet inside, it’s fragrant. Take a bite, okay?”

The little girl cautiously bit a small piece, then soon chewed and swallowed bigger mouthfuls.

“Our Ranran’s pancakes are truly amazing.”

Song Yifan was also caring for a little boy, praising as he took care of him: “Did that fugitive really come back to buy pancakes? You guys weren’t paying attention yesterday, those out-of-towners got so mad their noses turned crooked!”

Brother Hao was there too, vividly recounting: “At first they were shouting to check the surveillance, saying our monitoring wasn’t strong enough and there were too many blind spots. Before they finished, the Wang Station already caught the guy!”

“Hahahahaha!”

Xiao Li couldn’t hold back laughing out loud, then quickly covered his mouth, afraid of scaring the little girl in his arms.However, he was surprised to find that the little girl was no longer so frightened, quietly sitting in his arms, looking like she was about to fall asleep.

“After all, it was you who rescued the children yesterday. They must feel safer here than in the hospital,” Brother Hao lowered his voice. “Those two traffickers wanted to eat here, but Director Gao quickly kicked them out.”

“Of course! Who can eat the food Ranran makes?”

Xiao Li laughed: “Ah, you don’t know, these past two days this food truck has worn me out. My arm can barely lift today. Those university students, they were all over the place...”

He thought a moment and described: “It’s like the zombie game I play! Raising their arms, all wanting to eat the pancakes!”

“So you didn’t set up your stall today? Not even a word?”

Xiao Li carefully laid the almost asleep little girl on the bed, spread his hands, and whispered: “What else can we say? Say our undercover mission is over, so we can’t sell anymore?”

However, there’s no wall without cracks—the news slowly spread.

Of course, when people heard that the fugitive was caught because he craved the pancakes from a food truck, most initially didn’t believe it.

But the students and workers who had eaten Chen Ran’s pancakes spoke with certainty.

“Really delicious, you don’t know, I’ve never eaten pancakes so good!”

“Who would lie? Even the professors from our school’s Culinary Department—the national top chefs—went to eat!”

“So good. Too bad that girl doesn’t come anymore, otherwise I’d go every day. So fragrant!”

With so many students’ firm guarantees, the initially doubtful began to believe.

Still, some firmly did not believe.

Lv Jiayi also saw this short video and sneered at the increasing replies in the comments.

“Businesses these days have no bottom line in hyping things!”

She showed her phone to her grandfather who was reading nearby: “Look at this stunt, says some pancake stall’s pancakes are so good that even fugitives can’t resist coming back to buy, and that’s how they got caught.”

“If they dare to hype like this, they’ll keep quiet once reported!”

Lv Jiayi didn’t expect a reply from her grandfather.

He was a national top chef, recently busy restoring several lost ancient recipe books. Even to his only granddaughter, he usually just grunted and kept reading his ancient texts.

But today, her grandfather actually responded!

He lifted his head, gently moved his neck, then reached out to look at her phone: “Let me see—was it a jianbing stall or a pancake stall?”

Lv Jiayi glanced and handed him the phone.

“Oh, I was wrong. It’s not jianbing, it really is pancakes,” as a former journalism student, she hated news that abused gimmicks like this. “Even if pancakes, it’s impossible—turning serious news about catching fugitives into entertainment like this—short video platforms really should regulate this.”

And how could ordinary small stalls’ pancakes be so delicious!

Unless...

Lv Jiayi thought for a moment: “Unless it’s that Jin Xiu He Shan dish I ate as a kid that has this kind of effect.”

Chen Tingwei looked at his granddaughter and smiled: “Still can’t forget it? That’s one of the Chen family’s culinary god’s recipes, could it be bad? But now, in the whole Chen family, no one knows how to make that dish anymore, right?”

Chen Yun had wholeheartedly gone into business, and his cooking skills had become ordinary.Back then, his older brother led their group and declared they would never have dealings with the Chen family again. Jin Xiu He Shan was the only recipe they took with them.

The two families strictly followed the rule of complete severance, and he hadn’t heard any news from that side for decades.

Now that his older brother has passed away, there is no one left who can make this dish.

“The records from back then say that this dish could inspire the discouraged, calm the melancholy, and ease the sorrow…”

Chen Tingwei couldn’t help but zone out a little.

The description sounded exaggerated, but only a dish like this could be worthy of the legendary reputation of the invincible Chen family ancestor.

Only then could it live up to a name like Jin Xiu He Shan!

Lv Jiayi looked at her grandfather and thought of her brother. Afraid he would be upset, she quickly changed the subject: “Yeah, only a dish like that could achieve such effects. Look at this video’s hype—it’s way too much!”

But Chen Tingwei didn’t immediately agree like usual; instead, he reflected for a moment.

“Not impossible... maybe.”

Lv Jiayi was truly surprised.

Chen Tingwei continued recalling: “Do you remember I made tendon pancakes a few days ago?”

Lv Jiayi nodded: “I remember, Grandpa hasn’t made these home-style pancakes in a long time.”

“Indeed, home-style, but if you want to make them well, the technique is not so ordinary.”

He hesitated, then sighed: “The tendon pancakes the stall owner made in that video—I might have made them better than her when I was young, but now... probably about the same as her.”

In front of Chen Ran, Chen Tingwei didn’t dare admit this so frankly. After going home, he made them several more times and only then told his favorite granddaughter.

He took the opportunity to teach her: “Look, you once stubbornly refused to learn cooking, but look at that young girl—much younger than you—and her skills are almost catching up to Grandpa’s.”

“By the way, your mom has set up another blind date for you. Will you go take a look tonight?”

Hearing the words “blind date,” Lv Jiayi quickly ended the topic: “Grandpa, I’m going to wash some fruit. Will you eat some?”

“No, my blood sugar has been high these past two days. I have to eat less carbs. Will you still stay at Grandpa’s tonight?”

“No! I’m going back to school!”

She ran out from Grandpa’s place and hailed a taxi back to school.

On the way, Lv Jiayi couldn’t help but ask about that pancake stall in the school work group chat.

“Has anyone eaten at that pancake stall?”

“The one that caught the fugitive? I have! It’s really delicious! But you can’t get it anymore.”

“I’m really craving it. Today I bought pancakes from all three windows in the cafeteria, but none tasted like that. I’m already planning to order tendon pancakes online.”

“Don’t bother buying online, they might not be as good as our cafeteria.”

“Don’t even mention it, I wanted to go eat there, but when I saw several of my students in line, I didn’t have the courage... Now it’s too late, I can’t eat there!”

The chat flooded with messages instantly. Lv Jiayi read dozens of replies, and not a single one said the pancake stall didn’t live up to its reputation.

She was even more dissatisfied.How could an ordinary pancake be made so delicious that even fugitives would come back to eat it and get caught?

She didn’t believe this was true!

Thinking about her students, Lv Jiayi made up her mind to use these short video clips as the topic for a small paper this semester and have everyone investigate together.

Is this news real or fake? If it’s fake, what kind of harm could it cause?

But without investigation, there’s no right to speak. As a vocational college teacher, she wouldn’t speak without evidence.

She had to try it herself first!

Lv Jiayi searched through many contacts for a long time and finally found one that seemed useful.

“This... Liu Shihan, isn’t she at Qiaotou Road Police Station? If what the videos say is true, she should know about this, right?”

The two had signed up for memberships at the same gym before. But after only two months, the gym shut down.

During the difficult fight to defend their rights, they got to know each other. At that time, Liu Shihan was still preparing for the civil service exam and hadn’t become a police officer yet.

Because of this experience, their relationship was pretty good, and they occasionally chatted.

Lv Jiayi didn’t hesitate and sent a message asking about the pancake stall, politely expressing her wish to try it.

Liu Shihan quickly replied with a troubled emoji.

“Sorry, Jiayi, there have been so many requests lately... Our boss Gao said, no matter what the event is, people can come, but absolutely no eating allowed!”

Huh?

Lv Jiayi put down her phone. She still didn’t believe it—was this pancake really that good?