Miao Chu

Chapter 234 Submission
Upon hearing Master Chen's words, the others exchanged glances and began to press him for answers. However, the latter remained silent and waved his hand. Finally, he said, "If you really want Song Ji to set up a stall at the Imperial Academy, I have something to say—it would be best not to rush to find Xiao...Deng Jijiu first. Instead, you could find Song Xiaoniangzi and ask her to make some samples of various kinds of steamed buns for Xiao Jia to try."

"The kitchen is within his jurisdiction. You're going overboard. You're not afraid of anything, but if Miss Song really does come in, who will suffer if he, the one in charge, is unhappy?"

The group, who had been excited, fell silent upon hearing this.

Xiao Jia, whose real name was Jia Chang, was originally the Vice Director of the Imperial Academy, in charge of documents, student records, finances, and so on, and also coordinated the supply of meals and lodging.

Originally, the Imperial Academy's kitchen had a few decent cooks, but after he took office, he made changes and replaced them. The new cooks made increasingly worse food, and students, professors, and academic officials alike complained about it many times. Everyone had something to say about it.

When facing students, he would adopt the air of an experienced person and advise them: "When Heaven is about to place a great responsibility on a person, it will first test their will, strain their muscles and bones, and starve their body... so that they may be moved to patience and perseverance, and thus increase their abilities. Even Mencius, who was so capable, repeatedly advised that without hardship one cannot become a talent. You are at the age to study hard and prepare for the imperial examinations. How can you expect to amount to anything if you spend all your time eating and drinking?"

He added, "Besides, the subsidies allocated by the imperial court are decreasing year by year. Don't you even look at how much the food in the kitchen costs compared to what it costs outside? You only care about your own comfort and taste, but you don't realize that although the food in the kitchen is terrible, the portions are generous! You should at least think about your poor classmates!"

He then sent them back to their studies, ignoring the fact that the portion was actually not enough to eat.

When dealing with professors and academic officials, he would always use the tactic of "delaying". Today he would say that he had found someone, tomorrow he would say that he had tried a new chef, but it was really not good and was not as good as the original. When he wanted to find someone again, he would say that he was busy with something lately and could not spare the time. After this happened many times, everyone could see that he was just being perfunctory.

Firstly, he had an excellent attitude, and one shouldn't hit a smiling face. Secondly, he had powerful backers. Most of the teachers only ate lunch at noon, as they were too busy with their studies and teaching to find time to chat with him. So, they just let things drag on like that.

But it is never easy to go from extravagance to frugality.

When everyone was busy with the exams, they got used to eating at Song Ji's small dining table. Every day, as long as they could endure until evening, there would be good food and dishes. Occasionally, they could also bring home various meat and vegetable buns to make breakfast the next day. Later, Song Miao went to Huazhou, and suddenly they lost everything, which was unbearable.

As a result of the flooding in the capital, the prices of all kinds of ingredients have soared. In order to save money, the Imperial Kitchen has really made all sorts of unpalatable dishes. Several times, people have even vomited and had diarrhea from eating them and had to go to see a doctor.

The teacher is different from the one who manages general affairs.

The former devote their time and energy to their students, and most of them have the idea of ​​educating and nurturing students, hoping only for the students to do well. The latter deal more with money and material things, and when something goes wrong, they just feel it's troublesome and quickly clean up the mess.

Because several people had recently gotten sick from eating at the imperial kitchen, many gentlemen felt it was inappropriate and went to report it. However, Jia Chang still dismissed them with casual remarks, which inevitably led to some conflict between the two sides.

Because of this incident, the teachers were even more eager to introduce Song Ji's cooking to the Imperial Academy's kitchen.

Clean, delicious, and reasonably priced, it's good for me and good for the students.

Not wanting to argue with Jia Chang, the group decided to go directly to Chief Instructor Deng—you can't very well refuse when the superior has spoken, can you?

But when Master Chen revealed his meaning, everyone understood immediately, as they were not fools.

Seeing that everyone was silent, Master Chen continued, "There is another matter. Have you all gone to ask Miss Song about it? Although it sounds like a good thing, we should at least see what she thinks before making a decision."

Cao Du said, "It's still undecided. I was thinking of informing Miss Song once I had some ideas—you're right, it's better to inform her first!"

As expected, Cao Du took the lead and followed Xiao You to Song Ji. He told her about many of his previous plans and then said, "I originally wanted to tell you when I had some progress, but today I received some advice from Mr. Chen, which made a lot of sense, so I came to ask you a question."

This was quite a sudden matter. Song Miao thought about it carefully for a moment before replying, "Gentlemen, I am naturally very happy to have you come to my house for lunch to support my business. However, the weather is too hot right now. It's one thing to be covered in sweat after coming and going, but I'm afraid you might get dizzy from the sun and catch heatstroke. Can you really stand it?"

Cao Du said, "It's alright, we'll arrange for carriages to come. We'll put some ice in the carriages; it's not far..."

Song Miao then said, "As for setting up a stall in the school's canteen to sell meat, vegetables, and steamed buns, I am truly grateful for your consideration and concern. However, as Mr. Cao has also noticed, I currently only have two helpers here. If I set up a stall, I would have to hold onto at least one person, and then I would be too busy with business outside. It seems like a loss for me. What do you think, sir?"

"Mr. Chen asked the same question this morning. We've already discussed it. If you only need to make steamed buns, someone will come and pick them up once they're cooked. It'll be like the Imperial Academy buying your things every day—what do you think?"

Song Miao was taken aback and couldn't help but ask, "Is the Imperial Academy willing to do this?"

"Whether you're willing or not, we'll figure something out when we get back. Let's just ask you if you're willing to take on this business."

If Song Miao was seven or eight parts unwilling when she was first invited to open a stall in the Imperial Academy's kitchen, now that it's changed to the Imperial Academy buying breakfast from them, she's suddenly seven or eight parts willing.

If this is done, it's no different from delivering breakfast to the inspectors and officials at the Zhuque Gate patrol post every day.

The difference is that the former was handled by the Imperial Academy's kitchen staff, while the latter was a small group of guests gathered together.

If the Imperial Academy's kitchen staff were willing to come and collect it themselves, that would be perfect!

I just don't know how many they have to make each day, and whether the three people in the restaurant can keep up with the workload.

Song Miao carefully asked some questions, and finally said, "It still depends on the price and quantity. If it's suitable, Mr. Cao has gone to such great lengths to find such a good deal, so I have no reason not to accept!"

He added, "I am truly grateful for your efforts, sir, whether it succeeds or not!"

Cao Du laughed and said, "No need to thank me! We're just doing this so we can have something good to eat, and we haven't even thanked you yet!"

After exchanging a few words of thanks with laughter and seeing the person off, Song Miao couldn't help but start to seriously plan.

Actually, it's not that steamed buns can't be made. In the past, in order not to excessively take away the business of others, which caused dissatisfaction among her peers in the food alley, she was very careful in selecting products. But if she didn't have to transport and deliver them herself, and could just set up a stall to sell them, it would actually be a good business.

The only problem is the lack of manpower.

Currently, Song Ji only has two people. Among them, Cheng Erniang's cooking skills are mediocre, and she is even more reluctant to make noodles. This is due to her innate talent. Because her tongue is not sensitive enough, she also lacks understanding in cooking. If she wants to learn to cook, she often achieves half the result with twice the effort, and she herself suffers a lot.

Her strengths are her hard work, reliability, and resilience. Whether you entrust her with deliveries or shopping, you never have to worry about her.

Song Miao had been away for more than two months, but she hadn't forgotten a single character she had been taught. Since more people used abacuses than counting rods in recent years, Song Miao had also learned some and taught her a few simple ones. She practiced them day and night, and now that she had returned, she was quite proficient.

Not only that, but they are also working hard to correct their accents. Although they can be heard as people from other states, their Fuzhou accent has become much weaker.

While doing these things, she also visited all the bricklayers and other craftsmen in the city, and even painted the walls of her house herself.

Such fearlessness and perseverance earned Song Miao's admiration.

Unlike Cheng Erniang, Dabing is a different case.

He's restless and a bit impatient, but he's very willing to learn cooking and has a certain talent, especially in pastry making. He's quick to grasp things, loves to think things through, is diligent in learning and asking questions, and is willing to endure hardship.

Because of these circumstances, Song Miao originally planned to entrust Cheng Erniang with more purchasing and transportation matters. In addition, she also wanted Cheng Erniang to help with social interactions and accounting in the future. However, she wanted Cheng Erniang to teach Dabing more about practical tasks at the stove.

But if we want to increase the number of steamed buns we make each day, we have to start planning everything from scratch.

Even with a division of labor, it would be very good if two skilled workers could make about two hundred steamed buns in an hour. Besides, Dabing was young and weak, and when it came to actual work, he couldn't compare to Erniangzi's hard work. Song Miao didn't dare to rely on him too much and had to take care of him.

It also depends on the price offered by the Imperial Academy's kitchen and the quantity required.

If this matter succeeds, and the quantity of steamed buns required is large enough to generate sufficient profit, she will need to consider finding another trustworthy person to bring back.

***
While Song Miao was still calculating the manpower, Liu Hanlin from Jixian Academy took advantage of the lunch break to go directly to the Imperial Academy's teaching building and blocked Master Chen's way.

"Old Chen! I have a question for you." His face was serious, as if he was about to ask something extremely important. "How much of that plum dew do you have left? Could you give me some?"

When Master Chen saw the man's anxious look as he entered, he already had a bad feeling. When he heard the man ask for plum syrup, his expression changed completely. He said, "I only have one bottle! There are plenty of plum syrups outside, and many that taste good. Can't you have something else? Why do you have to covet my little thing!"

Liu Hanlin sighed, "Alas, I wouldn't have dared to ask for something so shameless if I hadn't been forced to—after trying many different things, your plum dew is the most effective!"

Since he needed someone's help, no matter how humiliating it was, Liu Hanlin still explained the whole story.

It turned out that when he went back to ask Master Chen for the plum dew again that day, he was indeed extremely happy after trying it a second time. He was in a good mood and felt good the next day. He even had energy to walk and the sky seemed brighter than usual.

Having confirmed that it was the plum syrup that was effective, he asked his family to buy many plum syrups on the market to try, but they were either not effective enough or too effective.

The former was somewhat helpful, but the latter almost made the old man's legs go weak so much he couldn't stand up.

After trying several rounds, he dared not gamble with his body any longer. Gritting his teeth, he decided to go to their door, even if it meant getting swollen up.

"...It's really the most effective, and it makes you feel better after taking it. If you only have one bottle, I don't know where this one came from. I don't know if the person originally had any left. As for the others, I don't know how many medicines I've taken for this problem. They work while I'm taking them, but the symptoms return as soon as I stop. They're ruining my stomach... Sigh, for the sake of our old friendship, why don't you help me introduce some to someone? I'll have my family go and ask them for some."

Hearing that Liu Hanlin almost fell because his legs were too weak from trying the plum dew he had bought, Master Chen dared not be negligent any longer.

He thought for a moment and said, "I'll go and ask for you, but I don't know if anyone has any left or if they're willing to sell. If no one has any, or if it's hard to sell, there's nothing I can do but give you half of my bottle!"

"Old Chen! I knew you were the most honest one!" Liu Hanlin was so excited that tears were about to fall.

Those who haven't personally experienced the agony of spending an hour in a snow shed without producing anything, while their stomach is unbearably bloated, cannot understand his feelings at this moment.

He wondered how long the plum dew would last. If it worked indefinitely, he would truly want to worship the person who made such a miraculous medicine and burn three sticks of incense for them every day!
***
Master Chen never shirked his promises.

Seeing that it wasn't yet time for the bell to ring for class, he went straight to Song's shop as soon as Liu Hanlin left.

Seeing that the person had come in person, Song Miao was extremely surprised. She quickly moved a chair, served tea, and brought a palm-leaf fan. She first asked if he had eaten, and after learning that he had, she said, "How could you come over in the middle of the day in such hot weather? If there is anything, you can send someone to deliver a message, or you can ask me to come!"

Master Chen was very pleased to hear this and laughed, "Little You is busy, so I won't call him. I'll just call a carriage myself. It's a short journey and not too hot!"

He took a sip of tea first, then told her about Liu Hanlin's matter, and asked, "Do you have any extra here?"

Song Miao said, "There are very few candied ones, and they are all taken. However, I made some candied ones. I originally intended to use them to make plum jam and plum drinks when the restaurant opens. I don't usually give them away, but since you are an old acquaintance of mine, I will pack a bottle for you. I just don't know if they will work."

Master Chen was even more pleased.

He hurriedly said, "Don't see him off. He's old and has plenty of money. Let me get you a big sum!"

Song Miao smiled and said, "If you ask me for money, wouldn't you be losing face? Fine, let him off this time and get a favor back—I'm satisfied with the favor you've done for me."

He added, "After all, it's not anything expensive. If you order too much, people will say you're stingy; if you order too little, it'll be too cheap—and you came here in the scorching midday sun!"

On this sweltering day, Master Chen sat in the front hall of Song's restaurant. There was clearly no breeze, but upon hearing Song Miao's words, it was as if a cool breeze had swept through the room, making him feel comfortable all over.

　Hi everyone, I'm on a business trip for the next three days. I have so much work that I get off work very late, so updates will be very irregular. Please get some rest and don't wait for updates!

　　(End of this chapter)