Miao Chu

Chapter 19: Slutty mouth
Song Miao prepared several more dishes today, which took longer, so she arrived at the food alley much later than usual.

This time, she didn't see Cheng Zijian at the alley entrance, but she saw many familiar students at the place where she usually set up her stall a couple of days ago.

It's important to know that the location of your stall is also important.

She arrived early the other day, so she naturally got a good spot.

The term "good" refers to its proximity to the dog hole of Nanlu Academy and the back gate of Taixue, making it convenient for them to find.

Having arrived late today, Song Miao thought she would have to find another seat, but as soon as she entered the food alley, someone called out "You're here!" and the students who were chatting in twos and threes or looking down at their cheat sheets all looked up in a flash.

Before Song Miao could react, everyone's eyes lit up and they started shouting one after another.

"Young Lady Song, come here!"

"Here! Here! I've saved you all the spots!"

"Would you like some salty soup with it today?"

“Salty soup can be served with it, but we can’t forget to make the tangerine peel and mung bean drink that I promised to bring two servings back for someone!”

"Miss Song, did you make extra glutinous rice today? I bought two portions yesterday, intending to save one for lunch, but that rascal snatched it from me. After eating it, he said he wanted to buy some more today, but he can't get up this early—could you save a couple more portions for him? I'm buying a lot for others, and I can't take any more for him!"

Everyone was talking at once, and some people were even eager to come up and help Song Miao set up her stall.

As soon as the lid of the steamer was lifted, the aroma of shumai filled the air, and the students who had been making a ruckus immediately fell silent. For a long while, no one spoke. Even the two stall owners on either side, one collecting money and the other frying dough sticks, looked over at the same time.

After a long while, someone behind them exclaimed, "What smells so good!"

What smells so good?

It naturally has the aroma of scallions and meat.

Song Miao hung up the signboard and pointed to it, saying to everyone, "Today we have added scallion mutton and scallion pork shumai, as well as shepherd's purse, bamboo shoot and tofu shumai. They are all sold individually. We also have pork rib soup. If any of you like meat or savory soup, you can order these to try."

One scallion and mutton shumai costs five coins, four cost nineteen coins. Two scallion and pork shumai cost seven coins, four cost thirteen coins. There is also the mustard green, bamboo shoot, and tofu shumai, which does not contain meat. At this time, mustard greens and bamboo shoots are just coming into season and are very expensive. In the end, it was sold at the same price as pork.

As for the pork rib soup, it costs eight coins per bamboo tube, and each bamboo tube contains three pieces of pork ribs and seven or eight slices of radish.

The prices of the newly made dishes are all on the high side, which is really because the cost is also high—meat is expensive, and scallions and other spring vegetables are also expensive.

Song Miao was initially worried that the students would have objections to the pricing and was about to explain the cost, but before she could speak, the student at the top of the line had already quickly ordered from the signboard.

"I want both mutton and pork shumai, four of each, plus two servings of pork rib soup and two servings of sticky rice!"

As he spoke, he couldn't help but swallow hard, gritted his teeth, and pulled out money from his purse. Halfway through, he seemed to remember something and suddenly said, "Then... give me four vegetarian shumai too!"

As he spoke, he untied the string of coins in his hand, counted them, and placed the small string of copper coins into Song Miao's small plate for collecting money.

Song Miao hurriedly served him glutinous rice and then took lotus leaves to put the shumai in. After she finished, she made a lifting motion to indicate that he should be careful when handling it. She explained, "The shumai skin is thin and there is a lot of soup inside. If you don't mind the trouble, you'd better be careful and not press it down, otherwise it would be a pity if the soup inside leaked out."

The man nodded hurriedly, mimicking Song Miao's gestures, but even more cautiously. He carried several lotus leaf bundles, hung the bamboo tube's rope on his wrist, and even his steps were much lighter than usual. As he walked, he called out to the people behind him, "Come, come, brothers, make way for me, please don't bump into me or knock over my mutton shumai!"

Those behind couldn't help but laugh.

Just then, someone he knew was also in line and took the opportunity to tease him, saying, "It's just breakfast, why are you being so nervous? Anyone who didn't know better would think you're carrying some kind of family heirloom!"

The man looked up, glared at his classmate, and stretched out his leg, about to kick him. But as soon as he raised his leg, his hand trembled, startling him so much that he quickly stopped and pulled his leg back, afraid of affecting the delicate shumai in his hand.

He could only say resentfully, "Let me wait and see if you have any family heirlooms!"

The classmate laughed so hard he bent over and almost fell over.

However, it was soon time for this classmate to be called.

When it was this classmate's turn to stand in front of the steamer, truly facing the aroma, and watching Song Miao gently pick up one mutton shumai after another from the pot with chopsticks, the smile on his face slowly faded.

As one diminishes, the other grows.

His anxiety, along with the saliva in his mouth, gradually increased.

It smells so damn good!
The flavors of this scallion-flavored lamb and pork are just too overpowering, too unreasonable!!
The wrappers for mutton and pork shumai are especially thin, almost like Xuan paper.

The pleats of the slightly open shumai were so fine and dense, like a half-bloomed flower, that they were quite beautiful.

The dough is so thin that it becomes almost translucent after steaming, and you can almost see the plump meat filling inside—chunks and pieces of mutton, interspersed with some scallions. It may have been stir-fried, as you can still see the browned color of the mutton skin. I don't know why it looks so tempting.

The meat, supported by the shumai wrapper, was soaked in the steaming broth, trembling slightly.

He couldn't even imagine how happy he would be when he tasted these scallion and pork shumai!

Although he knew perfectly well that Miss Song was moving very gently, the classmate still held his breath, afraid that if he exhaled too loudly, he would frighten the stall owner, Song, and ultimately scare his shumai.

When the lotus leaf was in his hands, he involuntarily became hesitant and awkward.

He gently carried the lotus leaf bundle, slowing his pace and taking smaller steps. He didn't dare to use much force. As soon as he turned around, he whispered to the people behind him, "Gentlemen, gentlemen, could you please make way for me? Don't bump into my mutton shumai..."

However, as he walked, after only a few steps, he suddenly felt someone blocking his way. He looked up to speak, only to see his classmate, whom he had just teased for "carrying family heirlooms," standing in front of him, holding several lotus leaf bags and looking at him mockingly.

"Let me talk first. What I have is nothing compared to your family heirlooms, brother!"

The man was hit by a boomerang, but he just kept laughing. However, now that he had food in his hand and was thinking about the aroma, he felt that saving face wasn't so important anymore. He quickly said, "I'm just being cheeky, I'm just being cheeky!"

Before long, the Imperial Academy and the South Slope Academy were filled with students carrying lotus leaf packages, hunched over and looking like they couldn't even walk properly.

The students of Nanlu Academy were the most pitiful. Not only was it difficult for them to squeeze through the dog hole with their steamed dumplings, but even after they managed to squeeze through, they had to carefully watch for any signs of trouble, lest they be caught red-handed by the instructors.

Many thanks to miya爱古言 for the sachet and SKE48_kino酱 for the good luck charm =3=
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(End of this chapter)