Chapter 637: Imperial Examination Family-Raising System (46)

These students were recommended to enter the Imperial Academy for study only after performing excellently in the Provincial Examination and failing the Metropolitan Examination.

They were not from official families and would not reject street snacks, but their own circumstances were not that bad either. Those from truly impoverished backgrounds who could study to this level were few.

Moreover, Provincial Graduates entering the Imperial Academy to study enjoyed a fixed monthly subsidy, so supporting themselves was no problem; they could also copy books in their spare time to earn some pocket money. Thus, spending ten or twenty coins on breakfast was not a burden for them.

But the prerequisite was—first, it had to catch their eye, and second, it had to hook their taste buds. Otherwise, it would be just like the Imperial Academy Shantang, being complained about by students every single day.

As for this classic snack, the crepe with fried dough stick, there is a reason it has remained popular and retained countless repeat customers in the food-rich later generations; it relies precisely on its unique flavor and its soul-stirring sauce!

Furthermore, the sauce Xie Yang mixed was an exclusive secret recipe from the Eighties Gourmet Plane.

One bite in, the innermost layer is the crispy Fried Dough Stick, followed by the thin and crunchy multigrain crepe, and the outermost layer is the golden, fragrant, and soft egg crepe, topped with chopped green onions and black sesame seeds. The layers are distinct, the appearance is beautiful, the texture is rich, the sauce is savory, and paired with a hot drink, it is pure satisfaction!

The hot drink changes every day; sometimes it is date-scented soy milk with red dates added, sometimes it is health-conscious soy milk with sesame and black beans added, sometimes it is not soy milk but a milky-white, slightly sweet, fragrant rice milk, and occasionally there is red date and white fungus soup, rock sugar lotus seed soup... In any case, the main idea is that whatever her family drinks, the snack stall sells.

If her family steams blooming Brown Sugar buns, fluffy and sweet pumpkin buns, or green onion buns with meat filling that day, or if there are leftover pan-fried chive pockets, or black pepper meat-filled or shredded radish meat-filled pancakes, they are also sold at the snack stall.

However, not many people buy buns to eat, and the chive smell of the chive pockets is too strong, so the students are embarrassed to bring them to the school to eat. On the other hand, almost everyone brings a portion of meat pies or tea eggs.

The recipe for the tea eggs is the same as for the crepe with fried dough stick, also from the Gourmet System of the Eighties plane. No one who tries tea eggs made according to this recipe fails to love them, unless they are allergic to eggs and cannot partake in this delicacy.

Seeing that the tea eggs were selling so well, Xie Yang simply had Chun Niang boil a pot every night before bed and leave it on low heat to simmer until the next morning to sell, making them both fragrant and flavorful.

And so, after the tea eggs were launched, not only did every Imperial Academy student in the right-hand residence have several, but even the Libationer's family next door was so hooked by the fragrance of the tea eggs that they couldn't sit still.

You must know, when Xie Yang first set up the snack stall and the Libationer's wife saw it, the latter even muttered a few words to her husband when she got home.

Those who can buy a house and settle down here are, firstly, not short of Silver, and secondly, there must be a scholar in the family. Literati and scholars actually look down upon merchants.

Among the four classes of society—scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants—merchants are ranked last; among the nine social classes, merchants are also at the very bottom.

Therefore, the Libationer's wife found it very hard to understand why Xie Yang, a dignified Juren's Wife, would be so shortsighted as to set up a stall to sell food at her own front door. Even if it was the family servants doing it, just setting it up at the front door—was she not afraid of losing face for the Juren?

Thus, even after hearing from servants that the breakfast sold by the Song family next door was very popular with the Imperial Academy students, the Libationer's wife never thought of buying some to taste. She was afraid of hurting the Juren's self-esteem.

(Juren:???)

It wasn't until one night when she got up to use the restroom that the Libationer's wife smelled a fragrance wafting from the kitchen next door. Although it wasn't strong, it was precisely because it was elusive that it made one itch with curiosity: what kind of delicious food was the Song family making? Why were they making it so late at night?

The next morning, the Libationer's wife had the old woman who served her go next door to take a look, to see what novel food the Song family was selling, and to buy a portion to taste.

Once they tasted it, well! The entire Libationer's family became loyal customers of these tea eggs. The Libationer's wife sent her maid and the old woman to buy them almost every day, buying ten or more at a time.

There was no help for it; her family had many people, young and old adding up to more than ten people, and one each bought up nearly half a pot.

Gradually, the Libationer's family kitchen simply stopped making breakfast and just sent people to the Song family snack stall to "restock."

Whatever Xie Yang's family ate in the morning, the Libationer's family table had the same, almost never repeating, and the Libationer's entire family, old and young, ate it with endless praise.

Imperial Academy students: "..."

No! Why is the Libationer coming to snatch breakfast from them!

Although crepe with fried dough stick can be bought upon arrival and can generally be eaten, the portions of other things are limited, and it is first come, first served.

Especially the recently launched small wontons; they were only lucky enough to taste them once, and every time they asked afterward, they were told they had been bought by the Libationer's family.

Those small wontons looked like they were just made by wrapping fingernail-sized fillings in a thin wonton skin and pinching them casually, but when dropped into boiling water, they were as beautiful as little goldfish playing in the water.

The cooked wonton skins were as thin as cicada wings and melted in the mouth, the fresh meat filling was savory and delicious, and even the clear soup sprinkled with a little green onion and Salt was so fresh that it made people want to drink it again and again.

It was a pity that crepe with fried dough stick could be wrapped in oil paper and taken to the Imperial Academy to eat, but small wontons were not so convenient, so these students thought about buying them after school.

As a result, before they even finished school, the raw wontons left over at the breakfast stall were all bought out by the Libationer's family.

Xie Yang could feel the resentment of these students even while inside the house.

Regarding the Libationer's family's practice of frequently buying out the food at her stall, Xie Yang was truly between laughter and tears.

Fortunately, those students were clever; they didn't buy it once, didn't buy it twice, and the third time, they didn't wait until after school; they bought the raw wontons directly when they went out in the morning, along with a small bag of mixed soup base seasoning, and took them to the Imperial Academy Shantang.

The Shantang provided stoves for students to heat their meals, so they just cooked the wontons there to eat.

The savory and delicious goldfish wontons, paired with the still-warm crepe with fried dough stick, were so good they ate them in silence.

"Brother Lu, are you eating noodle skin soup? Why is there filling?"

"This is not noodle skin soup, this is small wontons. Small wontons with fresh meat filling. Brother Cui, have you had breakfast? Shall I share a few with you to taste?"

After this taste, there was one more customer who ate in silence.

The next day, the other party had his classmate and friend who rented next door to the Song family bring small wontons.

Oh, not just small wontons, a set of crepe with fried dough stick too! Two tea eggs! A cup of soy milk!

Gradually, more and more students were asking classmates to bring breakfast.

Even those children of official families who had eaten at home heard about it.

At first, they looked down upon the food sold in the alleys and lanes.

Even if it was opened by a Juren's family, so what? Wasn't it still low-class street food? No matter how good the skills of a woman or servant from a small, humble household were, could they surpass the master chefs hired by their families?

However, hooked by the fragrance of the crepe with fried dough stick and tea eggs, and seeing their classmates all eating them, they gave in and tasted one, and after that, they were silent...