Miao Chu

Chapter 20 Doubled

There were several new dishes today, but they still couldn't last more than half an hour.

Seeing that there was not much left of each item, Song Miao quickly counted the items, asked the people in front of her how much they wanted to buy, and then told the people in line behind her not to line up anymore and to go get something else.

This approach, however, has drawn widespread complaints.

"Young Lady Song, is your heart so hard? Even a blacksmith couldn't forge such a cold and hard heart!"

"I told you to do more! What, is my money worthless? Isn't it as appealing as what those people in front of me are making? You really don't want to earn any more money?!"

"No matter how good-looking someone is, they can't be so cruel, and they can't be so irresponsible in their actions, can they?"

"I haven't had shepherd's purse and bamboo shoots for more than half a year. The headmaster is very strict and I can't easily leave the academy. Today I heard that there was such filling, and I ran over without even putting on my shoes. I just spotted one in the steamer that looks a lot like me. All you kind people who are ahead in line, please save two for me!"

"Leave it for me! I've been queuing up since early this morning!"

The people at the front of the line were secretly laughing, and some even spoke up for Song Miao.

"Who told you to come so late? I got up right after dawn!"

"Exactly! Do you even know what it means to 'get up early and eat early'?"

"Most of you are Imperial Academy students, right? There's nothing we can do about it. You Imperial Academy students are so lucky. Classes start late and no one wakes you up. Unlike us in the South Bank, we have to ring the bell after dawn. Damn it, the headmaster even comes to wake us up personally from time to time. It's louder, earlier, and more unpleasant than a rooster crowing. It's impossible for anyone to sleep!"

Although it is important to respect teachers, it has been a common occurrence since ancient times for students to privately criticize their teachers.

The man had started by cursing, but as he continued, once he received the lotus leaf wrapper containing the fragrant shumai, he suddenly felt a greater sense of understanding towards the strict headmaster he had often complained about...

It's good to get up early.

If you don't get up early, you won't get to eat such good food.

You know, the thought that it was snatched from the hands of the Imperial Academy students made the aroma seem even stronger!
Since the Imperial Academy and Nanlu are so close, they naturally know a lot about each other's situations.

The students of the Imperial Academy had also heard about the many deeds of the newly arrived Dean Xu from last year. In the past, when they discussed it, they would feel sympathy and naturally think, "Our Imperial Academy is still the best." However, today, as they watched helplessly as the last few servings of glutinous rice, shumai, and pork rib soup were all bought up by the people from the south, and they were not even left with a single serving of tangerine peel and mung bean drink, they suddenly felt a little uneasy.

Something's not right...

How come not having to get up early, which used to be a huge advantage and a source of great joy, has now become a disadvantage?

Headmaster Xu still wasn't strict enough!

You guys actually managed to crawl out through the dog hole one by one and try to steal our food!

However, besides complaining, everyone had no other choice but to repeatedly remind the stall owner, Song, that he must produce more tomorrow, otherwise... otherwise they would have to get up even earlier!
This is so cold, it's inhumane!
Song Miao could only verbally agree.

After everyone had dispersed, Song Miao stared at the back gate of the Imperial Academy for a long while.

She intended to wait for Cheng Zijian, but after waiting for a while, he still didn't come, so she had no choice but to slowly pack up her stall.

As she was putting the signboard back together, she suddenly heard a sound of running approaching from afar, the clattering of boots on the ground. The sound quickly reached her.

Song Miao looked up and saw that it wasn't Cheng Zijian, but the student who had asked for meat yesterday. Although he was wearing the clothes that imperial students usually wore, his boots were made of leather, of excellent quality and craftsmanship. He came running up to her, panting, and called out, "Miss Song... I... I'm late, where's my meat!"

Song Miao hadn't expected that her efforts to cultivate the flowers would not yield results, but instead she had encountered this person. Seeing his anxious appearance, she knew he must also love to eat, so she comforted him, "Unfortunately, young master, you've arrived too late, and we've already sold out—why don't you come again tomorrow, and we'll save some for you?"

The man's face immediately fell, and he muttered, "You said yesterday it would be a few days later, how come there are new ones today? I finally managed to take them off..."

As he was saying this, he suddenly noticed something flash by inside the large steamer covered by the lid, and hurriedly called out, "Wait a minute, stall owner Song, you forgot! Aren't there a few shumai left?"

Song Miao could only say, "I did leave a few for others, but not many..."

"But you're about to leave—that person hasn't come to collect it yet? If he doesn't come, can I have it?"

Song Miao also hesitated.

Cheng Zijian didn't actually order shumai; he only ordered three servings of glutinous rice.

These shumai were meant as a token of her gratitude.

Although the other party couldn't borrow the book for her yet, they didn't seem to be just going through the motions; they must have put in some effort. Even though things didn't go as planned, she thought she should still express her gratitude.

We had agreed on a time, but he was much late. Did something happen to him?

The young boy opposite was quite astute. Upon seeing this, he immediately said, "I'll give you... I'll give you double the price, young lady, just sell it to me! If the original buyer comes, I'll also give him a free side dish of food, so that he won't suffer a loss!"

Song Miao hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Young Master, although you are from the Imperial Academy, do you know if the students there have any important matters to attend to these past two days?"

The other person immediately laughed and said, "The Imperial Academy! They have their public examinations in a few days! That person definitely won't be able to come—he's probably too busy memorizing his lessons and has long forgotten that we ordered food here!"

Then he briefly explained to Song Miao what the public examination was.

Knowing that Cheng Zijian was a student from another school and might have to return to his hometown if he failed the exam, Song Miao knew that this was a very important matter.

She had originally left glutinous rice, four shumai, and two servings of pork rib soup for Cheng Zijian, and even brought a food box with her. Now she thought that if he didn't have time to come out, she could share some of the food with the person in front of her and ask him to take it in. She could also tell Cheng Zijian that he didn't need to worry about borrowing books anymore and could just focus on preparing for the exam.

Having made up her mind, Song Miao looked up again at the back gate of the Imperial Academy. She was just about to speak when a person suddenly emerged from the gate.

The man ran a few steps outside, stopped to catch his breath, and without bothering to wipe his sweat, carefully rolled up the book in his hand. He then squinted and looked around, and just then saw Song Miao looking up. He was overjoyed and rushed over to her.

Song Miao's stall was not far from there, and her appearance was still clearly visible—her clothes were wrinkled, her headscarf was crooked, her eyes were red, her eyes were tinged with blue, and there were still red marks on half of her face from lying down for a long time.

—It was Cheng Zijian.

She immediately breathed a sigh of relief and quickly pointed in the direction of the person who had arrived, saying to the young boy, "I'm so sorry, young master, that person has already come!"

"If you still wish to eat it tomorrow, young master, I will definitely save a portion for you!"

The other person's eyebrows drooped, and he said "Oh," stepping aside, but he still refused to leave, waiting for Cheng Zijian to run up to him.

Many thanks to book friend 20200119065256035 for the sachet! =3=
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(End of this chapter)