Miao Chu

Chapter 16 New Arrivals
The next morning, Song Miao, who had arrived in a cart, met Cheng Zijian, who had been waiting for a long time, at the entrance of the food alley.

The other person came forward and called out, "Young Lady Song!"

Seeing his excited expression, Song Miao smiled and asked, "Young Master Cheng, did things go smoothly yesterday?"

Cheng Zijian chuckled sheepishly, nodding repeatedly. He looked around to make sure no one was nearby, then whispered, "Thank you, thank you! Those mutton buns you made yesterday were really delicious; they were a huge help!"

He paused, then asked again, "There's only one thing. I don't know who the young lady is borrowing the criminal code for?"

Song Miao replied, "I borrowed it not for others, but for my own viewing."

"Are you anxious?"

Song Miao did not hesitate and immediately said, "If it can be done as soon as possible, the sooner the better."

Seeing her in such a hurry, Cheng Zijian's expression changed, and he asked, "Why does Miss Song need to borrow the Criminal Code for no reason? Have you encountered any difficulties? Is there anything I can do to help?"

Song Miao didn't like to hide things, so she said, "I won't hide it from you, Young Master Cheng. My family lives at the end of Suanzao Alley. We used to have a restaurant, but recently some bad things have happened. If we can find a way out through the law, that would be the best."

He then smiled and said, "Young master's willingness to lend me a set of penal codes is a great help!"

As she spoke, seeing Cheng Zijian lost in thought, she asked again, "Is it because this book is difficult to borrow, sir? If it's inconvenient, perhaps..."

But before Song Miao could finish speaking, Cheng Zijian reacted and waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "No, that's not true! Although I haven't borrowed the book yet, I've already found a way. It'll just take a few more days. I'll send it to you as soon as I get it!"

Before Song Miao could ask any more questions, he threw down the money, opened the box, took out the three servings of glutinous rice he had ordered in advance, and hurriedly said goodbye.

Seeing how fast the person was running, Song Miao felt somewhat helpless.

She felt there might be more to the story, but there was nothing she could do about it at the moment, so she had to put the matter aside for the time being and go set up her stall first.

As soon as Song Miao had set up the cart and hadn't even had a chance to hang up the sign, the students waiting nearby gathered around.

The first one rushed over the fastest. After ordering, while Song Miao was serving the rice, he asked, "Miss Song, yesterday I smelled the aroma of those mutton buns, they were so tempting—why didn't you make some to sell?"

Song Miaoxiao replied, "It's troublesome to make, and mutton is expensive..."

The man glanced at the steamed bun vendor not far away, compared the smell of the buns he usually bought there with the smell he had smelled yesterday, and immediately shook his head, sighed, and said, "If you can't sell steamed buns, is there anything else you can sell? Although I'm short of money, if you were selling meat here, I would definitely save up for two meals to treat myself!"

Before the man could finish speaking, another person popped their head out from behind and interjected, "I smelled it yesterday too, it smelled amazing! Even if it's not good for lamb, it would be great for goose, chicken, or duck! More meat, even if it costs a bit more, it doesn't matter..."

But those who hadn't smelled the aroma of the mutton buns protested from behind, saying, "Hey, hey, what business is it of yours what that young lady sells! You may be tired of sticky rice, but I'm not—if you have the money, go to the restaurant and order chicken or duck, just leave the sticky rice to us!"

"Exactly! Exactly! Lamb is so expensive, but I find your glutinous rice to be the best. It's reasonably priced, and I could eat it every day without getting tired of it!"

Someone recognized the head that popped out and suddenly asked, "Hey kid, aren't you from the Imperial Academy? What are you doing in the food alley? What do you want to eat? Go back and eat your cook's delicious dishes!"

"From the Imperial Academy?"

"They really are from the Imperial Academy!"

"What are you babbling about here, you students? If the young lady really only cares about making meat buns and neglects the glutinous rice, I'll tell your schoolmaster!"

It turns out that although the Imperial Academy and the National Academy were both under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Academy and were located next to each other, the students came from different backgrounds.

Unlike the students of the Imperial Academy who came from various prefectures and counties and relied entirely on their own abilities to pass the exams, the students of the Imperial Academy were all sons of officials of the seventh rank or above in the capital. Almost all of them could obtain official positions through patronage, and attending school was just a formality. Among them were many纨绔子弟 (sons of wealthy and powerful families), who naturally disliked the students of the Imperial Academy.

The student from the Imperial Academy, after being humiliated, immediately turned around and shouted, "What's all the noise about? Are all you Imperial Academy students good at is complaining? The headmaster doesn't care about these things!" But seeing that there were many people behind him and that he was outnumbered, he obediently shrank back into the queue and remained silent.

When he got to the front of the line, he bought five servings of sticky rice in one go. When paying, he deliberately lowered his voice and said to Song Miao, "Miss Song, go back and make some meat buns. I'll buy them for you. Even if they're priced at twenty or thirty coins each, I won't mind!"

He wasn't very tall and still looked quite childish. As he spoke, his eyes darted around, and he would sneakily look behind him, as if afraid of being discovered.

Song Miao found it quite amusing and whispered to him, "Steamed buns are hard to make, but in a few days we might sell some other foods. This time we'll put more meat in them."

"You said it yourself! You can't lie to me!"

The student from the Imperial Academy grinned broadly, giving repeated instructions. He was about to speak when he suddenly noticed someone glaring at him from behind. He pouted, grabbed the five lotus leaf buns, and ran off.

***
Today, in less than half an hour, everything was sold out.

Many customers who were unable to buy any complained and urged stall owner Song to make more the next day.

Song Miaoyi smiled and responded.

She had been setting up her stall here for a few days and had already accumulated some regular customers. At this moment, several people surrounded her cart, each making their requests.

Some people wanted Song Miao to set up her stall later, otherwise they would miss it, while others wanted her to set up early so they could buy her goods sooner and avoid being stuck in this awkward situation and having to wait in line for a long time.

Some people said that yesterday's tangerine peel and mung bean drink wasn't sweet enough, but someone else immediately exclaimed, "Where is it not sweet enough? In my opinion, it's already very sweet—Miss Song, why don't you make some savory soup? This sweet drink is perfect for the morning."

Everyone chimed in with their own opinions, and before long, they almost started arguing about whether to have it sweet or savory. If the bell hadn't been about to ring, they would have really wanted to fight on the spot, as if whoever won would prove that their taste was better.

Song Miao dared not linger any longer, persuaded the group to disperse, and then packed up her stall and left.

After returning home, she rested briefly before going out on the street again.

Even without anyone urging her, she was already planning to make some new things to sell.

The mung bean paste glutinous rice was certainly good, but it only cost five or eight coins per serving, which was too low. I was currently heavily in debt and desperately needed to help out with some more profitable items.

Besides, no matter how little sugar is added to the tangerine peel and mung bean drink, it is still sweet. If you eat it early in the morning and for a long time, it would be better to add some meat and some salty soup to choose from.

She originally intended to make mutton offal soup, but the trip back and forth took half a day. By the time she arrived at the butcher shop, the mutton offal had already been sold out. At that time, mutton was very expensive, but mutton offal was relatively inexpensive. It was used to make soup, which was white and delicious, and was both affordable and inexpensive. Many restaurants used it to attract customers.

A small stall owner, without advance orders, naturally couldn't compete with the big eateries, and thus couldn't make mutton offal soup.

After thinking about it, she decided to only buy some mutton and then went to the pork stall.

The price of pork is much more reasonable now.

Song Miao bought two large pork bones and half a rack of spare ribs, asked the vendor to chop them up for her, and also bought some meat, so that she had all the meat she needed.

Spring vegetables had just come out, and any vegetables with even a hint of green were incredibly expensive. She only asked at a few shops before being scared off by the prices and left. She went to the street where she had bought wild onions the day before yesterday, and sure enough, there were a few porters setting up stalls and hawking their wares in a corner.

When Song Miao got closer, she saw vendors selling bamboo shoots, shepherd's purse, cabbage, wild scallions, and green garlic. Although they weren't cheap, they were still more affordable than those in the market. She picked out about ten short, plump bamboo shoots, a few bunches of shepherd's purse, and some scallions.

Many thanks to book friends 20170222134110318 and madoka1013 for sending me the sachet, hehe =3=
Thank you Miya for the two peace charms, and thank you to the Yellow Scorpio for the one peace charm :)

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(End of this chapter)