Miao Chu

Chapter 10 Wild Onions
When Song Miao asked the question, the student, regardless of what was actually in the so-called breakfast set, nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

Song Miao gave a brief explanation.

The other person immediately agreed, and taking advantage of his large size, easily squeezed through the crowd, stood aside and called out: "Those who ordered yesterday, come over here!"

Suddenly, five or six people stepped forward.

The student stood behind the cart and opened the small steamer that Song Miao pointed to. It was filled to the brim with lotus leaf packets that had been filled with glutinous rice in advance.

He asked everyone what quantities they had ordered and helped deliver and collect payment for each order.

On the other side, Song Miao was already quick, and now she was even faster, serving rice so quickly that her hands were almost blurry.

Before long, order was restored to the scene.

Taking advantage of a break, Song Miao quickly wrapped two yellow steamed buns in lotus leaves, took a large portion of ready-made glutinous rice, and mixed it with a bamboo tube of drink. She handed it to the man and said, "Thank you for your help. There are fewer people now, so I can handle it. Young master, you should go to class. I'm really sorry to have kept you so long."

The student quickly waved his hand and said, "I can't accept this!"

As he spoke, he counted out the money from his purse, threw it into Song Miao's money basket, grabbed all the things, and ran away.

Song Miao couldn't stop her, so she had to let it go for now and planned to thank her later.

She had clearly prepared nearly double the amount today, but it sold out even faster. The queue behind her wasn't getting longer, but it was practically untouched.

Some people didn't even know what they were selling here—one student, after waiting in line and seeing the steamer, exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, so you sell sticky rice!"

He happily bought two large portions of glutinous rice and also picked up two yellow steamed buns.

Song Miao was worried that no one would buy the yellow steamed buns, but they were unexpectedly sold out very quickly.

Once everything was sold out, she finally breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against the cart to rest for a while. Looking down, she saw that the steamer and the large pot were empty. She felt tired but satisfied. Just as she was about to pack up, she realized that she hadn't even had time to hang up the signboard. She couldn't help but laugh.

She had finished packing and was about to leave when she heard someone call out to her from behind, "Young lady, please wait a moment."

She turned her head and saw that it was the student who had just helped her. She smiled and replied, "I'm so grateful for your help today, sir. I haven't had a chance to ask your name yet, but I will definitely repay you another day. May I ask what advice you have for me?"

The student then realized what was happening, quickly stopped, bowed, and said, "My surname is Cheng, and my given name is Zijian."

It turned out to be Cheng Zijian, whose favorite meal had been stolen by his classmate yesterday.

Song Miao also said, "My daughter's surname is Song, and she is the daughter of the Song family restaurant in Suanzao Lane."

Cheng Zijian listened intently, then stepped forward, somewhat embarrassed, and asked, "The yellow steamed buns that young lady sold today—are they called yellow steamed buns? I wonder where they're from?"

Song Miao then said, "It is a dish from the Northwest, but the taste in the capital is quite different from that in Guanzhong, so I changed the recipe a bit. It is not the authentic yellow steamed bun—did you have any problems after eating it, young master?"

Cheng Zijian hurriedly waved his hand and said, "No, no, that's not true!"

He then asked, "Will you still have these yellow steamed buns tomorrow? If so, I'd like to order four, along with two servings of glutinous rice and two servings of tangerine peel and mung bean drink."

Song Miao was taken aback for a moment, then replied, "This is quite a troublesome thing. It was just a coincidence today, and I probably won't make it tomorrow. If you like it, young master, I'll definitely save a few for you when I have some free time, how about that?"

Upon hearing the words "another day," Cheng Zijian's face showed a hint of disappointment. Song Miao, observing his expression, asked again, "Is there some difficulty?"

Cheng Zijian hesitated for a moment and said, "No, it's just that I have something to ask a classmate tomorrow, and it wouldn't be good to come empty-handed. I heard that he is from Guanzhong, and I happened to have these yellow steamed buns today, which I thought were quite suitable, so I thought I would like to order a few."

He hesitated and said, "Miss Song, if I give you an extra twenty coins, I don't know..."

Song Miao shook her head and said, "It's not about the money. There are many people from the northwest of the capital, but very few sell yellow steamed buns. It's not that no one wants to buy them, but it's really time-consuming and laborious to make them, and the profit is not much, so people are unwilling to sell them."

However, Song Miao had other plans for doing business here long-term and wanted to leverage the students' help so that she would need their assistance in the future. Therefore, she naturally wanted to get along well with them.

Moreover, after spending the last two days with Cheng Zijian, she had a very good impression of him and felt that he was a person worth befriending.

She thought for a moment and realized that making yellow steamed buns was just a bit troublesome, but not a big problem, so she said, "Alright, since you need them, it won't hurt to prepare some more—I'll take this order."

Cheng Zijian's face flushed red instantly, and he said, "How could I possibly accept that? Perhaps I should give the young lady more..."

He wanted to give a higher number, but he was short of money and couldn't come up with anything substantial, which made him even more embarrassed.

However, Song Miao suddenly had a thought and said, "There's no need to give more. Consider these yellow steamed buns as a gift from me to you, young master..."

"How can that be done!"

“It’s not a free gift,” Song Miao said. “I have a favor to ask of you, young master—do you know anyone who has the ‘Wei Criminal Code’? If so, could I borrow it for a few days?”

Borrowing books was not difficult for Cheng Zijian, so he readily agreed. He added, "I don't have any on hand, but those upper-class students often have written lawsuits with the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice, so they must have some. I'll go to see one of the upper-class students tomorrow, and I'll see if I can borrow them!"

***
A few yellow steamed buns solved a big problem, and both sides were happy.

However, taking only a few yellow steamed buns, a little glutinous rice, and two tubes of drink as gifts, along with asking for a book for herself—a deal that could save her two strings of cash—Song Miao felt that the gift was still a bit too meager.

Back home, she first soaked the various beans she would need for the next day, then gathered all the necessary items before going out to shop again.

As soon as the weather warms up, there are more pedestrians.

Porters were selling wild vegetables on the street.

When Song Miao stepped forward to take a look, she found that there were two baskets of wild onions.

Wild onions in early spring are naturally not cheap.

Seeing the lush green leaves, still glistening with dew and looking so fresh, she was reminded of Cheng Zijian's gift-giving ceremony the following day.

Knowing that the man was from Guanzhong, and thinking that her books would most likely end up here, she was determined to do more. At this time, she picked up a bunch of scallions, passed by a butcher shop, and bought a leg of lamb and a piece of pork shoulder. She also bought some miscellaneous ingredients along the way.

Back home, she prepared the necessary items and then went straight to sleep.

When she woke up, the night watchman's drum had just stopped, and it was the hour of Yin. Song Miao got up, washed up, and tidied herself up.

Although she had a lot to do today, she had prepared all the necessary ingredients the night before, so she was quite confident. Before long, she had cooked the glutinous rice and steamed it, and added all the seasonings before going to arrange Cheng Zijian's gifts.

Many thanks to SKE48_kino and Sanyu1 for the lucky charms! Mwah! :)
Today, Xiao Miao is trying her best to set up a stall to earn money, but she's so poor! If it's convenient for you, could you give her a few extra tickets?
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(End of this chapter)