Chapter 8

On the second day of taking over her late mother’s stall, she went to the market accompanied by Audy and Herman, who had purposely woken up earlier than her. Even though she still felt sleepy and the morning air was cold, she tried to endure it, resisting the urge to crawl back under her blanket.

“Health is important, so a morning walk is good for our lungs. Plus, the morning air is healthier because it’s cleaner. Especially since I’m still in my growing years,” Lana murmured, mostly to herself. After deciding to live relying solely on her own strength, there were a few important things she needed to pay attention to.

She treated herself harshly, as if she were more than the main character in that novel. If the main character’s life was hard, hers would be much harder. Although, in truth, the main character of the novel didn’t seem to have it as rough as she imagined.

First, physically, she wanted to live healthily. Grow taller. Become more beautiful and have a great figure. Sean Atmaja’s partner was described as a very beautiful, graceful, kind, and gentle girl. Skin as white as tofu. Lips as red as pomegranate. Hair as black as charcoal.

From deep within, Lana harbored anger, even though outwardly she had forgiven. She couldn’t allow herself to fall too far behind the female lead who hadn’t even appeared yet. She kept her grudge tightly locked inside.

“You two should take morning walks and exercise too. These days, illnesses don’t discriminate by age. Even people as young as twenty-five can get diabetes, high cholesterol, or heart disease. So it’s better to prevent it and make it a routine.” But sometimes, illness comes for no reason at all—perhaps it’s simply entrusted to someone so they can fight through it.

“How do you know all that, Miss? Does school already teach about those illnesses?” Audy asked in surprise. Lana spoke as if she were an adult.

“Oh… because I’m my parents’ only child, I’ve always been interested in health. You know my parents will only have me, right?”

Audy and Herman fell silent, lost in thought. Truthfully, Lana hadn’t thought that far. Because in her dream she still lost them, she was angry at any sign of weakness. Now, her interest as an only child came too late. She was doing it only for herself.

“Let’s buy a large snakehead fish first.”

---

One kilo of snakehead fish. Two chickens. Four pieces of gizzard and liver. Twenty mackerel. Two large catfish. Twenty-five salted fish. Three slabs of tempeh. Ten pieces of tofu. Five bunches of long beans. Five packs of yellow noodles, and a quarter of a cauliflower.

They also bought curry spices and red seasoning. One kilo of large chili, a pack of shrimp paste, shallots, garlic, and a sack of rice. Not to forget cooking oil, paper food wrappers, and plastic bags. Lana wondered if she could really cook all of this today. It felt like they had bought more than yesterday.

“Let’s hope our food sells well today.” She also said a silent prayer in her heart.

Her heartbeat quickened—whether from worry or fear of losing money, she couldn’t tell. On the other hand, she didn’t want any of her cooking to go to waste or spoil.

“Don’t worry, Miss. If needed, I’ll go around the city to sell your food,” Herman said, patting his chest with confidence.

“I think your cooking will sell like crazy because it tastes great,” Audy added, trying to reassure her.

Lana smiled, chasing away her worries. When they returned from the market, unlike yesterday, Audy and Herman immediately got to work with the ingredients they’d bought.

Herman was good at cleaning fish, while Audy chopped vegetables, boiled noodles, and prepared the spices. They were both so quick and efficient that Lana felt greatly helped.

Lana herself was busy cleaning the chickens, then cutting each into forty pieces. The cleaned chicken was placed into a pot of water with bay leaves, coriander, and garlic, then boiled.

Even with their efficiency, cooking still took time, especially with such a large quantity. While the chicken boiled, the frying pan hissed as Lana fried mackerel. They couldn’t cook everything at once, so when Audy finished her tasks, she took the initiative to go to the stall first, where two more stoves could be used to fry the salted fish and sauté the vegetables.

With that teamwork, the stall was finally able to open at seven o’clock. Not every menu item was ready, but they had fried fish and fried chicken available, as well as rice packets sold for six thousand rupiah with snakehead fish.

Herman stuck a cardboard sign reading Nasi Bungkus Ikan Gabus 6 Ribuan to the stall’s front post so many people could see it.

“Two rice packets?” a customer asked, going straight for the six-thousand-rupiah meals.

A rickshaw driver stopped by, bought a packet, paid, and left without much fuss.

“Here’s the money, on the table. Thanks,” he said before leaving.

Because of the sign advertising cheaper rice, customers didn’t hesitate. Some who had come yesterday also came back today to buy the same menu. Even though they were tired, Lana, Audy, and Herman wore bright expressions.

Some customers even wanted to eat at the stall. That made Lana a bit confused, but thankfully, the stall still had plates and glasses left from when her mother ran it.

The stall stayed busy until around 8:30. Then they rested and ate, even though they’d already had breakfast. Tiredness made them hungry faster.

“What are you doing?” Audy asked Herman, seeing him take a photo of a plate of rice, fried fish, mackerel, sautéed tempeh, and long beans. Not only was he taking a picture, but he was also sending it to an app.

“I’m posting an update,” Herman replied while typing.

Audy checked her Acebook. Herman had posted the photo with a long caption:

After working since before dawn, I got cooked for by my boss, who’s like my own child. The world is beautiful. The rice is plentiful, the side dishes overflowing. Free. But most importantly, it’s unbelievably delicious.

He even tagged the location of their stall under the long post.

For some reason, Audy didn’t like it. She commented on Herman’s post:

Don’t claim things that aren’t yours. My boss is way too good to be your kid.

“Hey, I can say what I want!”

“Oh yeah? Boss Julian got rejected by Miss, so what chance do you think you have?”

“Well, Boss Julian and I are different. We’ve gone through ups and downs with Miss together.”

“It’s only been two days. Two days means nothing. If you want to be called a parent, you need to provide food, pocket money, all necessities, and education. But you’ve seen it yourself—Miss can do everything on her own.”

“Exactly, Dy… isn’t it great to have a daughter that strong and independent? That’s why Boss Julian told us to watch over her. Honestly, Boss has already claimed her as his kid. But I’m still the dad.”

Herman then got a hard slap on the shoulder from Audy, while Lana kept a neutral face. She chose to eat in peace before more customers came. Who would have thought something unexpected would happen that day?

Ratri, Julian’s wife, visited the stall at noon. She ate a plate of rice, fried chicken, and sautéed tempeh with long beans.

“Did you seriously cook this yourself?” the woman asked, her eyes widening in amazement and surprise. She had initially looked at the stall with an unusual expression.

Lana smiled politely. “Yes, Auntie. With help from Kak Audy and Kak Herman.”

Ratri studied Lana carefully, deep in thought. Meanwhile, Audy and Herman grinned happily because Lana had called them “Kak” in front of someone else. They couldn’t be her parents, but she acknowledged them as older siblings. It was normal to call someone older “Kak.”

“Dear, would you like to be a cook at my house? I’ll prepare a room for you too so you can live there.”