Chapter 308: Wonderful Kitchen Chapter 330: Knocking on the Door

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Protagonist:

Song Miao

After such an incident, Wang Sanlang and Doctor Lin's party naturally went to the Xunpu as well. After a whole commotion, by the time they left, the sky was already dark.

According to Da Wei law, false accusers must be punished in kind.

This time, the three fraudsters were also false accusers, and their conduct was particularly vile. Coincidentally, it was just after a meal when they had nothing to do, drawing many onlookers, all excited, who followed along to watch the spectacle.

The Xunpu did not give an immediate result, only saying they needed further investigation, and sent everyone away, but kept Wang Sanlang and the others' names and addresses for future use.

The matter was temporarily settled. Wang Sanlang hurriedly sent Doctor Lin and several young apprentices back to the Yi Guan, thanking them incessantly, saying that without them, he would surely have had no way to defend himself, and so on.

Doctor Lin had not yet spoken when a group of apprentices immediately began to chatter.

Everyone had no time for pleasantries, but instead started a new topic.

"Third Brother Zhang! Why are these steamed buns we ate today so soft, so fragrant! So oily! I really love the shiitake filling inside; shiitake is the most delicious thing under heaven! Can you tell Xiao Lian for me tomorrow, and when she comes to the Yi Guan, ask her to bring me two... no! three... no, four shiitake buns? My surname is Feng; just say that and she'll know!"

"Me too! Me too! I want the red bean paste one! My mother and my wet nurse love red bean paste filling! My father and my brother love meat filling, please bring me some too, okay? Third Brother Zhang! I want six red bean paste ones, six cured ham ones!!"

"Huh?? There's cured ham filling?? How come I didn't get to eat any?"

"I didn't get any either!"

"What does cured ham filling taste like??"

"Shifu, is there more? Can you open a cured ham one for us to taste!"

Doctor Lin laughed and scolded: "Don't think I don't know; did you secretly eat some on the carriage just now?? Earlier there were clearly twenty or so left, but now I count them, there are only eight in total—originally they were to be shared with your Shibo and Shushu, and your senior and junior sisters too, and now there aren't enough, yet you're still here asking to 'open a cured ham one'!"

"Say it again, and even if no one gets any tonight, just looking at the outside, you can't tell what filling is inside! What if it's another kind of filling?"

One apprentice immediately became excited: "Shifu! Don't worry! If it's another filling, leave it to the disciple! I'll help you eat them all! Definitely no waste! Open one, I'll eat one! Until you open a cured ham one!"

"You think quite well!" Lin Shifu laughed and patted the apprentice's back—calling it a hit, but it was really just a light pat—"Help me eat them all! Don't I know how to eat myself? Need your help?? You're dreaming!"

For a moment, several apprentices all giggled.

"Shifu has said many times, eat less at night! It hurts the stomach!"

"Exactly! Exactly! Shifu doesn't keep his word! Being a doctor himself, he doesn't cherish his own health!"

Seeing a group of young apprentices chattering here, Doctor Lin couldn't be bothered to manage them, only smiled and tapped her finger in the air one by one, then turned back to find Wang Sanlang, saying: "This Younger Brother Wang, what is this bun called today? Just called a bun? I heard Song Xiaoniangzi say it's a new food, but I don't know if it can be bought? Can you send some tomorrow?"

Wang Sanlang hurriedly said: "I heard the boss say it's called Broken Crust Bun, with fillings like dried pickled vegetable, cured ham, red bean paste, shiitake, and several others. It's not for sale yet, but if Doctor Lin wants to eat, I'll go back and ask the boss—how many do you want, and when? I'll deliver them to your door!"

Doctor Lin then said: "Go back and ask. If it's convenient, deliver some tomorrow morning, alright?"

She gave the numbers, how many of each flavor of Broken Crust Bun.

Quite a large order.

Wang Sanlang hurriedly noted it down, and asked which flavors needed improvement, so he could go back and tell the boss.

Several people seriously discussed for a long time. Finally, someone suggested: "Can we make one bigger? That way, eating one would fill me up..."

But as soon as these words were spoken, they were shut down.

"No, no! Making it bigger will definitely raise the price. Just this price, can't be bigger, otherwise I won't be able to afford it!"

"Exactly! If it's too big, eating one fills me up, then how can I eat other flavors! Can't be big!"

"Then you pool together, two people buy one, how about that?"

"No good! You can also buy two small ones!"

Several fellow disciples were seriously arguing about bun size here when suddenly someone said: "Wait, didn't a Broken Crust Bun fall on the carriage just now? What flavor was that? Who picked it up?"

"Hey, Fifth Junior Sister, where are you running! The bun!"

While several half-grown children were making a ruckus here, Wang Sanlang took a huge bun order and was very happy, feeling that today's accident didn't count for anything.

Since it was late, Song Miao had previously instructed that after sending off Doctor Lin's party, there was no need to return to the shop, so he honestly hurried home.

Back home, Zhang Siniang had already arrived, lit a small oil lamp, and was sitting in the room learning to move beads and calculate.

Wang Sanlang originally had a lot to say, but seeing this scene in the room, the words on his lips, he was truly surprised, and opened his mouth to ask: "Siniang, why did you bring the shop's abacus back?"

Zhang Siniang smiled with pursed lips, saying: "Today you went to send off Doctor Lin and didn't hear it. Cheng Erniangzi said my arithmetic is quite good, and asked me to start trying to do the accounts next month. The young lady saw me muttering mnemonics in my mouth and gesturing on the table whenever I had free time, so she gave me an abacus, saying to fiddle with it when I had free time, better than calculating in my head."

Her tone carried a bit of shyness, but more joy and pride, saying: "Sanlang, Cheng Erniangzi said she and the young lady discussed it, and if I can do the accounts well, they will add five hundred wen wages every month..."

Saying this, she sat forward a bit more, glanced at Wang Sanlang's shoes, and said: "The other day I saw a shop selling boots. Everything inside needs to be ordered. If I can really take on the food shop's accounts, after the wages increase, let me buy you a pair of hard-soled leather boots, okay? Once autumn comes, the weather turns cold. You run around outside all day; these cloth shoes aren't warm enough!"

"Buying them in winter is the same!" Wang Sanlang was both surprised and happy, but said: "I was just calculating that when we came to the Capital this time, our elder brother and sister-in-law said they wanted to repair the house. Let's save a bit ourselves, pile up the silver, and ask someone to bring it back—after all, they raised you. Now that they're building a house, we should contribute something."

Matters of her own family, Zhang Siniang naturally wouldn't forget.

Actually, they had only been in the Capital for a few months, and the saved silver was limited, but her husband thinking so much of her natal family made anyone who heard it truly happy.

She said: "I've saved some, but I sent them to my family. Your family also needs some. Rather than rushing this month, let's wait until after the New Year. Recently I've been calculating the shop's earnings. Once the shop opens, we'll get a dry share. By year's end, we'll have some profit, more or less. Then we can send things back—after all, both families need a share. Splitting it half and half would look very bad..."

"Mom and Dad know things are hard for us here. They said we don't need to worry for the first few years!"

Zhang Siniang rolled her eyes, saying: "Mom and Dad said not to worry, and you really don't worry? Aren't you trying to arrange a marriage for Fourth Brother? And Big Brother's little daughter is about to turn one. At least send a first birthday gift. You have a thick face, but I need to keep mine!"

Once married, social obligations increase.

Moreover, Zhang Siniang brought Wang Sanlang to the Capital and very much wanted both families to know she hadn't taken the wrong step, so Hua Prefecture wouldn't worry.

Though not to the point of returning home in glory, she didn't want to favor one over the other, be gossiped about, or betray both families' good intentions.

Working at Song Ji now, both are thrifty. Meals don't cost money. Later, with the shop uniform, even clothing money might be saved. Only lodging is a big expense, plus daily necessities. They can save quite a bit. Once there's profit, even more so.

Of course, all this is based on the premise that the food shop's business gets better and earnings increase.

Still speaking, Wang Sanlang said: "I was just about to tell you something, but got interrupted and almost forgot..."

He recounted everything that happened on the way sending off Doctor Lin's party today.

Zhang Siniang was startled and hurriedly asked: "Were the people caught? What did the Patrol Officers say?"

Wang Sanlang said: "They've been arrested, the Xunpu is still interrogating them right now, who knows what the interrogation will turn up."

"This old man's arrival is truly strange, how would he think to crash into your cart?"

"He says it's because he saw my cart moving slowly, fearing a real collision would cause trouble, he specially chose it."

Zhang Siniang thought more and more something was wrong, and asked: "Should we go to the food shop and report to the Young Lady?"

"I originally also pondered whether to go, but in the end nothing bad happened, and it all ended safely; saying it again, it's the middle of the night, exactly sleeping time, really not good to go disturb them, before long, at most four to six hours it'll be time to start work, should we..."

Wang Sanlang was more concerned about whether it would disturb Song Miao and Cheng Erniang's rest, after all the matter was already resolved, whenever it was said was the same, going to knock on the door in the middle of the night to claim credit was really unjustifiable.

But Zhang Siniang had another idea.

She had experienced the barren bean being put in the Hua Prefecture kitchen, and the matter of encountering tiger urine on the road, and also relied on recognizing barren bean to obtain the reward money Song Miao got for her, and when she returned home she made quite a splash.

Compared to her husband, Zhang Siniang's thoughts were more meticulous, most importantly she was closer to Song Miao, and also had a self-determined half master-disciple relationship, she was even more worried about the safety of the food shop and Song Miao.

"You don't know, Cheng Erniangzi said the Young Lady's food shop previously encountered many troubles!" She simply told what she had heard, such as Song Dalang owing debts, the opposite gambling den, and also the matters of that day's foot-stumbling, "You forgot what we went to sell the 'Song Ji Note' for this time? If there really is something, this time it's really aimed at the food shop, going first to let the Young Lady have some preparation is good."

Wang Sanlang only hesitated slightly, then agreed: "You stay in the food shop more, know everyone top to bottom, know the situation, however you say to do it, we'll do it, I'll go report to the shop right now!"

Zhang Siniang also stood up, saying: "Middle of the night, you alone going to the door is not good, I'll go with you."

The two each gathered their clothing, not delaying for a moment, went out the door, drove the mule cart straight toward Sanzao County Alley.

And in Sanzao County Alley, Song Miao who normally should have long since rested unusually did not rest, but was together with Cheng Erniang in the front hall sorting the silver money obtained from selling "Song Ji Notes".

Cheng Erniang was excited with a face full of red light, holding a large winnowing basket, one string after another of cash piling inside, while piling, she spoke of the daytime's experiences.

"Young Lady! I truly have never seen this much money in my life! One string after another! As if not copper coins, but like leaves, me and Wang Sanlang each took a bazi bag to pack, a moment and one bag was full, a moment another bag was full, in the past I never dared dream this big!"

"Those customers lined up in back were even anxious, just afraid a step late and they wouldn't get a turn, behind indeed every place had people who brought money to queue but couldn't buy — Young Lady, I've lived this long, first time being chased with silver money at my butt, I only hate my legs aren't long enough, can't run faster, truly barely caught."

"You say, if caught, do I sell, or not sell?!"

Song Miao heard Cheng Erniang describe like this, unexpectedly felt a bit of regret she didn't go out together, to see the daytime scene of "legs not long enough".

Looking at the several thousand strings of money before her, yellow copper color, truly beautiful — especially since they were all food shop earnings, truly her own money, made Song Miao's heart unavoidably give birth to a few parts of steadiness.

She smiled and said: "Today everyone supporting us like this, all gained from past reputation, this period the food shop has hired even more people, hiring people, teaching people, all rely on you to assign, also food shop top to bottom big and small matters, you properly put the suitable people below to use, don't alone dead-carry everything, must balance labor and rest to be good."

"I'm not working for nothing! Young Lady treats me this well, only ever generous, I naturally cannot betray — moreover at this time, absolutely cannot relax half a point, otherwise like Young Lady said, once the made things differ by a little bit, or greeting customers somewhere one bit bad, today customers trust this much, in future will be that much angry..."

Just as they were speaking, suddenly heard a burst of door-knocking sound from the front, and also door-calling voices.

By now the sky color was already completely black, deep night knocking, sound very loud, heard Song Miao and Cheng Erniang look at each other, hearts both gave rise to a thread of ill omen.

Cheng Erniang urgently said: "Could it be today we leaked wealth, causing people to target us? Shouldn't be, we were already extremely careful!"

Song Miao tilted her ear to listen, shook her head saying: "Doesn't seem like bandits — but also not good to where."

Sure enough, not a moment later, someone loudly shouted: "People inside Song Family Food Shop quickly open the door — we've invited Patrol Officers, Patrol Soldiers, also invited mediators, owing debts repaying money is Tianjingdiandi, if you don't open, we'll block here for a night, tomorrow you also don't set up stall, don't go out the door!"

Also a Patrol Officer through the door announced his name and affiliation.

This time, Cheng Erniang was even more surprised, asking: "Nanxun Gate's Patrol Officers, running to our place to do what?"

But no matter what, the current situation is not something closing the door and not coming out can solve.

Song Miao and Cheng Erniang exchanged a few words, also didn't delay, she took the lead out of the front hall and opened the door.

At the doorway, a row fully thirteen or fourteen people, the leaders each and every one were burly big men, at the sides two Guan Cha dressed people standing, not far away singly standing two people, looking at that clothing, clearly mediators.

Such a manner, even a fool knows there won't be good things.

The door opened, the lead person already stepped forward saying: "You're the one in charge of that Song Family Food Shop? You owe my family silver money principal plus interest seven hundred ninety-eight strings, hurry up and repay!"

He shook his hand, several debt notes unfurled in the wind.