Before dawn, Jiang Miao and Daniu had already gotten up to prepare. They had kneaded a lot of dough last night and made two baskets of buns. They had to steam them here first so they could sell them directly over there.
There are quite a few people living in this big yard, most of them are running small businesses, so they don’t need to prepare in advance and haven’t gotten up yet.
Jiang Miao's room was close to the kitchen, so they didn't have to worry about waking others up with the noise. After the buns were steamed, Jiang Miao first used chopsticks to pick up a few for Daniu, and then he started eating.
"Today's buns are better than yesterday's!" praised Da Niu.
Jiang Miao smiled and thought that Daniu must be hungry to feel this way. In his opinion, there was actually no difference between today's buns and yesterday's.
"I heard from my grandma before that she bought buns from your family and they tasted very special. It was true when I ate them today." Daniu ate with gusto. He was very nervous yesterday and didn't pay attention to what the buns tasted like. But ever since Jiang Miao gave him the reward, he had already regarded Jiang Miao as a good person in his heart and relaxed a little in front of him.
"Haha, the buns your grandma bought back then should taste a little different from this. They used to contain shrimp powder, but now they contain something else."
"Shrimp powder? Is it made from shrimp? My goodness, how much does it cost?" Daniu was a little surprised, and his voice was unconsciously louder. Liangjing is not near the sea, and the nearest one is a hundred or two hundred miles away, so seafood is relatively expensive here. When he welcomes guests, the shrimps in the dish cost at least two hundred coins, and even then, he only serves small ones to the guests.
"It can't be considered powder ground from shrimps. What I buy are all dry goods, ground from small shrimps." Jiang Miao felt a little embarrassed. They were a small business and had to control costs. It would not be worth it if the cost was too high.
However, even small shrimps are good things in Da Niu's eyes, so even when the two of them went out, he was still imagining what the shrimp powder buns would taste like.
The two chatted as they walked towards the stall at the foot of Luohua Mountain, and naturally did not notice that their conversation was overheard. After hearing it, the man took a few quick steps to pass them and hurriedly walked towards a house in front.
If Jiang Miao came to see the people living in that house, he would probably find them familiar. After all, he had just set up a stall near these people yesterday, and they had been looking at him with mysterious eyes all day.
"Are you serious? That guy really used shrimp to make buns?"
"Brother Xu, don't worry. I heard it with my own ears! The guy probably thought that most people have never eaten shrimps and would definitely not be able to taste the difference, so he secretly put it in to enhance the flavor of the buns!" The man who spoke was selling cakes, but Brother Xu was selling buns. After Jiang Miao set up his stall yesterday, it affected his business a lot. This was the first time he carried back leftover ingredients after holding a Buddhist meeting.
In fact, it was not just him, but others were also affected to some extent. That was why the cake seller came here to report the incident after eavesdropping on it.
“Hehe, I was wondering why the buns made by this kid sell so well! It turns out he put shrimps in them! He dares to put meat in the buns when setting up the stall, he will be in trouble later! You will do this later…” Brother Xu smiled viciously. It would be fine if he couldn't find any evidence against him, but the kid was asking for death, so don't blame him.
Jiang Miao didn't know that someone was waiting to target him. When he arrived at the place where he was yesterday, he found that they arrived relatively early. After showing the note to the manager, they went to the place where they were yesterday and set up the stall.
Originally, Daniu thought that since he came early today, he could set up his stall in the front, but Jiang Miao refused. He found that the stall owners who arrived today set up their stalls at the same positions as yesterday. If he rashly set up his stall at someone else's stall, it might cause some unnecessary disputes. Moreover, the customers yesterday already knew where he was setting up his stall. Maybe there would be repeat customers or people who were recommended. If he couldn't find them then, wouldn't he lose a lot of business
Just as Jiang Miao thought, the customers who bought his buns yesterday had more or less promoted him after returning home. Jiang Miao made good buns, was good-looking, and had a good smile, so the customers had a good impression of him. As soon as their stall was set up, customers who bought buns came over.
Jiang Miao was naturally very happy as he sold nearly half a basket of crabs as soon as he opened the shop today. With this happiness, he spoke even sweeter and coaxed the customers into paying for the crabs willingly.
Brother Xu and the others who came later were a little upset when they saw Jiang Miao's appearance and wanted to expose him directly. But Brother Xu stopped them because he felt that there were not many people coming to burn incense at this time. What if this kid was thick-skinned and went to set up a stall somewhere else? If he wanted to do it, he had to make this kid dare not set up a stall in Puling Temple again!
The sun gradually rose, dispelling the darkness and bringing a touch of warmth to everyone. At this moment, more and more people came from the city to burn incense. In addition to Liang Jing's accent, you can hear people from other places speaking from time to time. Most of these people have directly or indirectly received the grace of Puling Temple. They came from far away just to burn incense in front of the Buddha and add some incense money to the temple.
During this time, most people don’t eat much. In order to avoid being hungry when climbing mountains or burning incense later, they will buy some food nearby. For this once-a-year event, most people don’t care about the little things. Since we are here, this saying is universal no matter what era it is.
Just as people were choosing what they wanted to buy, angry curses suddenly broke out in front of a small stall, instantly attracting everyone's attention.
"Oh, isn't this harmful?"
"Yes, you dare to eat meat under the Puling Temple. Do you have Buddha in your heart?"
"That's right… "
At the right moment, voices of support came from the side, which were obviously intended to guide everyone to think in the direction of disrespecting Buddha.
Jiang Miao was so angry that he was shaking all over. But he knew that now was not the time to be angry. He stopped Daniu, who was blushing and eager to explain. If he couldn't explain this clearly, he might want to set up a stall in the future.
When this customer came to buy buns just now, he felt that there was something wrong with this person. He bought it, but he kept standing on tiptoe to look at the wooden basin with ingredients in the back. He thought this person wanted to steal my skills, but he didn't expect that he was even worse than he thought!
"Dear customer, I don't quite understand what you mean. You said that I put meat in my buns. Then I would like to ask the customers who bought buns before, did you taste any meat in them?" Jiang Miao took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. After asking, he looked at the customers standing aside. They still had buns in their hands, but they didn't dare to eat them for a while.
The guests were suddenly called upon. After a moment’s pause, they said, “We just ate steamed buns, and we didn’t taste any meat in them.” They were very sure that they did not eat any fish or meat.
"You heard it too. Why did you alone taste the meat while others didn't? You all saw it just now. He only took a bite of the bun that fell. How could you be sure that you didn't make a wrong judgment?" Jiang Miao spoke with reason and evidence, his eyes fixed on the man who had just wronged him. His calm and stable appearance made the people around him believe that this young man must have been wronged.
But looking at the one who wrongly accused others, he didn't feel guilty after being exposed, and still looked confident, which made everyone undecided.
"You say there is no, so there is no? Then let me ask you, what did you put in your buns to make them so delicious? You must have eaten buns before, but have you ever tasted like this? These are vegetarian buns!" The man laughed, his face full of sarcasm.
After hearing what he said, the people around him were really curious. Indeed, no one had ever been able to make vegetarian buns so delicious.
If Jiang Miao ignored his provocative look, he would think he was actually advertising for him? Just because his buns were tastier than others, was he being wrongly accused? It was ridiculous! Before Jiang Miao could speak, someone beside him spoke.
"Hey, Brother Jiang, just admit it. We all make buns. You can make these vegetarian buns taste like meat. How is it possible if you didn't put something in them? Just admit your mistake to the customers, I believe everyone will forgive you."
The person who was speaking was Brother Xu. He had a kind face and his way of addressing Jiang Miao showed a familiarity. People who didn't understand would think that they were good acquaintances after hearing his earnest advice! Even the acquaintance couldn't stand it anymore. Could it be that this guy really put something in the buns that shouldn't have been put in
For a moment, the customers who bought the buns were a little angry. They came here from far away, so they were naturally sincere to Buddha. Although they could not give up meat and fish on weekdays, they dared not eat meat on the day of worshipping Buddha. Isn't this blasphemy to Buddha? These people were naturally angry at Jiang Miao who might have made them violate a taboo.
Facing everyone's questioning eyes, Jiang Miao became calmer. He understood that he had been tricked today. This customer was deliberately trying to frame him. He just didn't know if the stall owner who was talking was their accomplice or just trying to take advantage of the situation. However, no matter what, he would not let their conspiracy succeed!
(End of this chapter)