“… Why does it smell so good?” Aunt Liu sniffed hard and found a scent of noodles mixed with salty and fresh flavors, which made her stomach rumble.
Jiang Miao turned his head to look at the pot. A layer of hot white mist covered the steamer, and the buns should be steamed. He took the steamed buns off and took the two newly wrapped baskets to steam.
The steamer was brought to the yard. Jiang Miao lifted the lid of the steamer and the fragrance wafted into the air. As the steam dissipated, big, white and plump buns appeared in front of the two of them.
"Wow, it's so big?" Aunt Liu was full of surprise. The buns were not even as big as her fist when they were made, but after being steamed, they were as big as two of her fists, even bigger than those sold on the street.
"The dough has risen well, so the steamed buns will be big. Don't just stand there and watch, try it." Jiang Miao took out the scalded chopsticks and bowl and let Aunt Liu taste it herself.
Aunt Liu was still a little embarrassed, Jiang Miao smiled and said, "I'll go see if anyone else is here. I'll share this basket of buns with everyone in the yard, so that everyone can taste it for me."
He turned and walked towards Old Man Mo's house, which was also in the north, and then raised his hand and knocked on the door: "Excuse me, is Uncle Mo home?"
The door opened slightly, and a timid voice answered in a low voice: "Grandpa is not home."
Jiang Miao asked again: "Is Aunt Mo here? I just steamed a basket of buns. Can you guys have a taste?"
As soon as the words fell, the door was opened and a fat lady came out with a smile on her face: "Why are you so polite? If it were me, you should just eat by yourself, why are you inviting us?"
"I haven't done business for a few days. I want to see if my steamed buns skills have deteriorated, so I'd like to invite everyone to try some."
"Well, I won't be polite, old lady?" She turned back to the house and got out a big bowl, then walked towards the steamer. She smelled it right away, it was delicious!
Jiang Miao saw a little girl behind the door. She looked about seven or eight years old. She was probably a little shy and kept hiding and didn't dare to come out.
Aunt Mo picked out the big buns and put five of them into her bowl. Aunt Liu was still eating her own bun, but when she saw that she had taken so many, she couldn't help but curl her lips.
Aunt Mo didn't notice, she happily took the buns back, thanked Jiang Miao and went back to the house. After Jiang Miao came back from informing every household, Aunt Liu pulled him aside and told him what happened just now, emphasizing that she took five big buns.
Jiang Miao smiled again when he heard it, and whispered: "It's okay, there are five people in her family, one for each person is just right." He should give the buns to Uncle Mo, who asked the original owner when he had no contact with him before. And the old lady was also sensible, she could put more than five in her bowl.
Seeing that he didn't care, Aunt Liu didn't say anything and just said that he had a good temper.
At this time, other people also came over. Old Mrs. Bai tasted one, her eyes lit up, and she immediately praised: "This bun is delicious, fragrant, and fresh. It's much better than what you made before!"
"Yes, it's soft and fluffy when you bite it, the radish is sweet and fresh, and the soup is so delicious!" Aunt Liu seemed to have found a confidant and started to praise it. She only took one bite and she felt the difference.
When the other people in the yard heard this, they also thanked him while tasting the food. They all praised the buns he made and said they were delicious.
"Dear ladies and sisters-in-law, if the food tastes good, please eat more and give me some suggestions. In the future, I hope you can talk about our small business with others and help me make more money." Everyone in the yard was much older than Jiang Miao. He had a young face and they were in public, so there was nothing to be shy about. They all laughed after hearing what he said.
"Of course I will. Will you open tomorrow? If you do, I won't cook. I'll just buy some buns and take them to the fish market." The two brothers selling fish were surnamed Yu. The one who spoke was the elder brother's wife, Mrs. Yu, who looked cheerful. Mrs. Yu didn't say anything, but just nodded. It seemed that she was thinking the same thing as the elder sister-in-law.
"Sell it, of course. I'll set up a stall at the entrance of the alley early tomorrow morning. When you come, just call me." Jiang Miao was also eating. He didn't know if the ingredients here were better, but he also felt that it tasted better than what was made in modern times.
The storyteller's surname was Meng, and his wife was also here, but his two daughters-in-law didn't come out, probably to avoid suspicion. After hearing what Jiang Miao said, she also said, "Then I will go to your place to buy it tomorrow, and let my old man take it to the teahouse to eat."
"That's great. There are so many people in the teahouse. Once uncle eats it, everyone will know about it." Jiang Miao was very happy and said, "Aunt Meng, my sister-in-law and nephews and nieces haven't tasted it yet. You can pick a few and let them have a try."
The group of people were so happy with the meal that they didn't go into the house directly as before. Instead, they each moved a stool, washed their hands, and came over to help Jiang Miao wrap the remaining buns. It didn't take long to wrap a large bowl of noodles. After wrapping the buns, these people didn't rush into the house, but continued to sit here and chat in the sun.
Jiang Miao took out a plate of sunflower seeds that he had bought in the morning, and everyone chatted while eating sunflower seeds. The atmosphere gradually became similar to the courtyard where Jiang Miao grew up. Jiang Miao laughed while listening. That's right. How can people living in the same courtyard develop feelings for each other if they stay in the same house every day
In the evening, several students from the courtyard came back. Two were from the Bai family, and the other was from Aunt Liu's family. After eating Jiang Miao's buns, they came over to express their gratitude with a child's etiquette. The little ones puffed up their faces and spoke seriously, which made Jiang Miao laugh and he wanted to rub their heads.
Later, Mrs. Bai came back from visiting relatives. After hearing about this, she took out a few red eggs and forced them on Jiang Miao. Jiang Miao couldn't refuse, so she packed a plate of buns and brought them to his door.
Just after delivering the buns, the man with the surname Yu came again. The two brothers gave a fish to Jiang Miao. Jiang Miao held them back and sent another plate of buns over.
When the storyteller from the Meng family came back, he asked if his bun shop had been named. It would be great if he had, so he could talk about it when he went to the teahouse tomorrow. After hearing this, Jiang Miao's mind was full of names like "Goubuli" and "Shiba Gezhe", but in the end he said, "Let's call it Jiang's Bun Shop."
"That's good. Easy to understand." Old Man Meng stroked his long beard and nodded in praise.
Jiang Miao smiled and cupped his hands to him: "Then I'll trouble Uncle Meng to promote it for me tomorrow." After that, he picked up a few more buns and took them back to him.
Old Man Meng had no choice but to take it, and planned to help him out a few more times tomorrow, and then ask the hero in the storybook to go to Jiang’s bun stall to buy some buns to eat.
Jiang Miao saw him off, looked at the table full of things, cleaned it up a bit, and hung the fish outside to freeze. He boiled some water to soak his feet, but he lifted his feet up as soon as he put them in, wiped them quickly, put on his shoes, and walked towards the main room.
In the main room, Boss Bai had just arrived home and was eating the buns given by Jiang Miao while listening to Mrs. Bai talking.
"… You didn't see it, that little face was so white and tender, it made my mother so happy." Mrs. Bai said, and she saw Jiang Miao out of the corner of her eye and hurriedly greeted him, "Brother Jiang, is there anything wrong?"
Jiang Miao put down his hand that was about to knock on the door, a little embarrassed: "Sorry to bother you, brother and sister-in-law. I just want to ask if the side door on the north side can be opened. I have to go out to sell buns tomorrow, and I'm afraid that if I go through the main door, it will disturb everyone's sleep."
He has observed over the past few days that the street has the heaviest flow of people during the morning market, so he cannot miss this time.
Boss Bai thought for a moment and said, "It's possible, but the original key is gone. You can only break it open if you want to. Then you can buy a lock yourself."
Jiang Miao quickly said "Hey", and just as he was about to walk out, he turned back embarrassedly and said, "Brother Bai, can you lend me your axe?"
Boss Bai looked at him, then stuffed the rest of the bun into his mouth, stood up and went to the kitchen, took the axe and walked out. By the way, he glanced at Jiang Miao, as if to say, you have such weak arms and legs, how can you use an axe
Jiang Miao didn't care about being looked down upon. He followed him out with a laugh and watched Boss Bai raise the axe and smash the rusty padlock down with just one strike.
Jiang Miao thanked him quickly. After seeing off Boss Bai, he opened the side door expectantly. A foul smell hit him in the face, which made him pale and almost passed out. It turned out that this place had not been open for a long time. Some wicked boy actually hid here to urinate.
Jiang Miao went back to his room and found some rags to plug his nose, then resigned himself to fetching a few buckets of water and cleaning the small area outside the side door.
Jiang Miao finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the clean door without any odor. He walked out through the side door and found that Yifeng Street was just around the corner, much closer than going out through the front door. This discovery greatly encouraged him, and the frustration he had just felt while cleaning disappeared.
He went back to his room to get some copper coins, went to the blacksmith shop which was still open and bought a padlock. He then made two keys, gave one to the owner and kept the other for himself.
Everything is ready, just waiting to set up the stall tomorrow, hoping to make money tomorrow! Jiang Miao, who only had a few dozen copper coins left in the jar, thought so.
It was past midnight and there was still no light outside. Jiang Miao got up, groped around the table to find a candle and lit it with a tinder.
Then he added water to the pot and put the buns that he had wrapped yesterday on the stove to steam. The firewood in the stove was crackling, and Jiang Miao sat in front of it and yawned to hide his tiredness. He was too cold to sleep in bed before, but now he felt a little sleepy again after being warmed by the fire.
The aroma of the buns soon spread out. Jiang Miao opened the steamer and pressed the surface with chopsticks. Finding that they were cooked, he brought up the large steamer and placed it on a shoulder pole beside him. Then he shoveled the fire from the stove into an iron basin under the shoulder pole to keep the buns warm.
The sky was already turning white at this time. Jiang Miao quickly rinsed his mouth and washed his face with cold water. Although he was shivering from the cold, his mind became much clearer.
He picked up two buns and ate them with cold water. This was the bad thing about ancient times. If you wanted to drink some hot water, you had to boil it first. Although some unsophisticated people would drink the water used to steam the buns directly, Jiang Miao still disliked it.
After everything was packed up, he carefully carried the load and walked out. After going out the side door and turning the corner, he arrived at Yifeng Street. There were already many people on the street, and there were many stalls. Jiang Miao looked around, carried the load and walked to a place selling tofu pudding and put it down.
The old man selling tofu pudding squinted his eyes and looked at him for a long time before recognizing him: "Aren't you the guy selling buns in front? Why are you here?"
Jiang Miao said with a smile as he put things in order, "This place is closer to where I live. I'll put everything here from now on. Do you mind, old man?"
The old man waved his hand and said, "The things we sell don't go together, so it's okay if you put them here." If they were the same, it would be a bit unpleasant.
Jiang Miao had also run some small businesses in modern times, so he naturally understood what he meant, which was why he chose this place.
In his opinion, tofu pudding is thin and buns are dry, and the combination of the two is a perfect breakfast. He and the old man can debut together, which is convenient for customers and economical for them.
(End of this chapter)