The Urban Dao Child

The boy had a sunny smile on his face that made the old lady smile as well. He carried some money on him. The old lady took out two warm meat buns for him. Yang Dao ate with delight. He complimented her craft and even asked her for a few tips. After paying up, he secretly tucked in a few notes in her money box.

Then he went onto the next stall to try some other food. For the next thirty minutes, the boy dwelled around the town on his bike. He would stop whenever he found a nice fragrance of food. Yes, the nose detector was his weapon to detect food and hunt them down. The dao child was a demon who relished good food.

He had just finished a serving of chicken legs when his phone rang. the boy paid the bill and after washing his hands he picked up the phone. He said, “Hello.” his voice was slightly lazy as he was filled to the brim.

Ayaka asked him, “Dao, where are you? We are at the town gate.” she had told him to meet them at the gates.

The boy said, “I will be right there. Give me… Ummm. three minutes.” he disconnected the call and dragged his lazy body to the bike. He sighed and mumbled, “Walking is a good way to digest food.”

Then he pushed his bike to the town gate.

…

Near the bun stall where Yang Dao ate earlier, the old grandma glanced at a group of children with bikes and the bus behind them. She asked, “Excuse me, young sirs. Are you looking for your friend?”

Ayaka heard and she came to her. She asked with a smile, “Grandma did you see a young boy, wearing a white tight jersey and riding a black bike?”

The old lady smiled. She said, “He ate a few buns at my stall. Are you all hungry? You can try some, if you like it only then you pay.”

Ayaka would have said something bad but glancing at her stall, she asked, “Grandma, do you work on your own?”

The old lady sighed and said, “My son used to do it but he fell sick a few days ago. We eat from this stall so I had to come, my daughter-in-law wanted to do it but how can I let her come when she is about to give birth? It will be fine after a day, my son will be able to get back up.” she smiled.

Ayaka saw her smile she saw how the old lady suffered for the sake of her children. She smiled and asked, “How long before your buns go rotten?”

The old lady said, “One night. We feed them to the dogs before the nightfall.”

Ayaka glanced at her group and said, “I will take them all. These guys can use some light protein on the road.” her words surprised the old lady. She called over the guys and have them eat the buns. Soon, they spotted a boy pushing the bike over.

Thomas asked, “Don’t tell me did this kid break his bike?” ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀ​ꪶ​

Kiya chuckled and said, “Look at his tummy, he overate and is trying to digest it.” her words made everyone take a note of Yang Dao’s belly, and they all chuckle.

Icarus commented as the boy came near, “The mighty food hunter returns.”

He received a glare from the ‘Food hunter’ in return. The boy said, “Coach, I will carry some stuff on me on the way.” with that said the boy climbed into the bus and took out some things from his bags, and made a small bag to tie on his back.

The small bag was bought from the local handicraft shop. He liked the cloth bag with traditional design. He carried a roll of tissue paper and hand sanitizer in the bag along with some money. He did not want to think what to eat and what not to eat. This was particularly torturous to him.

He got out of the bus and walked around the place a bit, soon the bloated tummy went back to normal. The Dao Child returned to his former glory with just a few steps. After talking a bit to Ayaka the boy took a nap inside the bus.

After an hour when the rest have massaged their stiff muscles the group took off. This time Kiya and Sasha rode with them. Yang Dao was again asked to move forward. Will he hesitate? No, ditching the team the boy soared forward.

Icarus said, “We have not yet entered the mountains, this guy surely is not easy to deal with.” he sighed.

Thomas said, “Do you think he is rushing without consequences? The amount of food he ate is partially because of his foodie nature. He needs tremendous amount of energy to move forward at such a pace. That is why he consumed so much meat.”

His words made everyone realize how much effort Yang Dao was putting in. After riding for an hour and a half the girls went back to the bus and continued monitoring and reporting to Ayaka.

…

In prairie gate town, the place Yang Dao had just passed by, arrived ten people. All dressed up in suits and ties. One of them pointed his finger to the old lady and said something in the ear of the man leading them. The old lady was clearing up her stall, ready to go home and bring medicine for her son.

The man walked up to the old lady, giving her a scare, he asked, “Old Madam, can you share the recipe of your meat buns?”

The old lady thought her recipe was not anything special so she told him the exact stuff. The man snapped his fingers and asked his people to procure all the ingredients and had a professional chef make a few buns in front of the lady step by step under her guidance.

The old lady corrected him a few times, and she even made one bun, from start to end including the filling the covering. The procedure was recorded in a high definition camera. This made a lot of townsfolk gather.

One of them asked, “Granny Cotton, what is going on?”

The old lady said, “I don’t know, but these gentlemen asked me about the recipe.”

The man saw the townfolks and said, “Just now, our Young Master, Feng Yang Dao, passed your town along with a few people. So he tasted the buns. He liked them and contacted back home. He intents to buy out your bun recipe for 1 million carat coins, also, he would like to make you a permanent shop front here in the town or in the Jade City.”

The offer shocked everyone. Turned out the boy with a sunny smile was hunting for food.