"Daniu, have you thought it through? Do you want to sell the recipe to me, or come with me to the government office? To be honest, you can't make much money working outside in the wind and sun. If you are willing to sell the recipe to me, I will tell the boss and let you come back to work in the reception hall. Maybe you can even learn the skills from the chef..."
On this day, the shopkeeper who was in charge of welcoming guests came to Daniu's house again to persuade him, with an expression that he was thinking about him. However, his ugly and hypocritical face made people feel uncomfortable.
In fact, the shopkeeper never took the booming fried buns business seriously before. No matter how popular the roadside stall was, it could never be put on the table, and it could not be compared with their restaurant.
But a picky chef in the restaurant ate the fried buns that the waiter bought and tasted something different besides the dried shrimp. He told the shopkeeper that the seasoning in the fried buns was special and that was what changed the taste of the buns. He couldn't make ordinary buns like radish stuffing taste this way even if dried shrimp was added. If they could get that seasoning, their restaurant's business would probably be better.
The shopkeeper was skeptical, and the cook made a few buns for him to try. After tasting the buns made by him, the shopkeeper had to admit that the buns on Daniu's stall were indeed tastier.
With an idea in mind, he came over to persuade him. Daniu refused outright, leaving no room for negotiation, which aroused his interest and made him think that the seasoning of the fried buns might be really special.
He went to the door again and again, and just when his patience was about to run out, the always resolute Da Niu suddenly looked hesitant.
"Manager Sun, I want to discuss something with my grandma." Da Niu's voice was a little shaky, and it was obvious that he was struggling inside.
Sun Zheng thought there was a chance, and generously said that they could discuss it. But as soon as Daniu and Aunt Zhang entered the main room and closed the door, he sneaked under the wall and eavesdropped.
“…Daniu, please sell the recipe! Your grandfather lost someone’s goods, and the owner wants us to pay a lot of money!” Aunt Zhang was very anxious.
When Sun Zheng heard this, he felt that the recipe was a sure thing, but the price could not be given as agreed upon before.
"But grandma, this recipe belongs to Brother Jiang... It would be bad if we sell it ourselves, right?" Daniu was a little nervous.
"What's wrong with that? They run a restaurant business, and we run a roadside business. There's no conflict at all!" Aunt Zhang insisted.
"I'm afraid Brother Jiang will be angry if he finds out. Besides, he didn't even tell me the most important ingredient in his recipe." Da Niu said dejectedly.
Sun Zheng's ears perked up immediately. Sure enough, there was a special seasoning!
"That's perfect. We can sell the recipe to Shopkeeper Sun. How would he know if it's missing something? If one ingredient is missing and the recipe is incomplete, we won't be doing it unfairly to Brother Jiang." Aunt Zhang thought that was just the right idea.
Sun Zheng's eyes flashed with ferocity when he heard this. What a cunning old woman, she was actually trying to cheat both sides! Before he could figure out how to respond, he heard footsteps from inside. Sun Zheng took two steps at a time and walked back to his previous position, looking at the big bull coming out.
"Shopkeeper Sun, we're selling this recipe!"
Sun Zheng sneered, "Really? You refused to give in before, why are you suddenly selling it now?"
"Uh... I haven't thought about it yet." Daniu's eyes were evasive, and it was obvious that he was lying.
"I think it's not that you haven't thought it through, but that you've thought too much. For example, did you learn this skill of making fried buns from someone else?" Sun Zheng said sarcastically.
Daniu was shocked, as if he had been seen through. Sun Zheng said no more to him, snorted coldly, and walked out directly.
After he left, Aunt Zhang came out and said, "I don't know if he believes it. Daniel, does Brother Jiang really have a way to deal with them?"
Daniu shook his head blankly: "I don't know either, but that's what Brother Jiang said." He was worried too.
After Sun Zheng left, he asked around and finally found out who Brother Jiang was and where he lived, but he felt that the name Bai's Family in Tianshui Lane sounded very familiar.
As he was talking, a waiter passed by and said casually, "Doesn't Xiao Wu live here?"
"Wait a minute!" Sun Zheng stopped him, "You said Xiao Wu lives here, which Xiao Wu?"
"The shopkeeper is Wu Youde, the clerk in the store. Doesn't everyone call him Xiao Wu?" The waiter looked confused.
"Go and call Wu Youde to me. I have something to ask him!"
"Oh, I'll go right away."
After Wu Youde came over, Shopkeeper Sun talked to him for a long time. At first, Wu Youde looked hesitant, but as the conditions offered by Shopkeeper Sun became better and better, he finally agreed.
On this day, Wu Youde, who usually went out early and came back late, was released back to the yard early. He lived with Aunt Liu on the same side, but the two had little friendship.
In Aunt Liu's opinion, this young man is not good-looking, has a bad mouth and is petty, and he never has a good face when he meets her. Because of this, Jiang Miao and Xiao Wu have no intersection at all. They have lived in the same yard for such a long time, but they have hardly spoken to each other.
While Wu Youde was still thinking about how to get close to Jiang Miao, he caught a glimpse of Jiang Miao going out to fetch water, and quickly followed him. When Jiang Miao looked at him in surprise, he came to his senses.
"Brother Jiang, come and get some water? Do you want me to help you?"
"Why are you being so polite to me? I'll help you carry it in!" Wu Youde picked up the bucket on the ground and went to Jiang Miao's room. As soon as he entered the main room, he saw a very handsome young man suddenly walk out of Jiang Miao's room.
"Who are you?" Pei Che frowned slightly, and seeing that he was still holding Jiang Miao's bucket in his hand and looking at him blankly, he asked.
"I... I'm Jiang Xiaoge's neighbor. I'm here to help him fetch water."
When Pei Che heard this, he immediately stepped over him and walked towards Jiang Miao behind him. Pei Che lowered his head to check Jiang Miao and found that he was not feeling unwell, so he felt relieved.
"If you need to fetch water in the future, just call me. Don't bother outsiders." Pei Che said. He had practiced martial arts for many years and was able to fetch water.
Jiang Miao looked innocent and whispered, "I didn't ask him to help me carry it. He snatched it away from me."
Pei Che glanced at Wu Youde unkindly, and lowered his voice to whisper in Jiang Miao's ear: "If someone is being nice to you for no reason, he is either a traitor or a thief!"
"I know." Jiang Miao turned his head slightly, and the hot air on his ears made him feel a little strange.
Wu Youde stood there awkwardly, watching the two people whispering not far away.
"Brother Jiang, where are you going to put this bucket?" He couldn't help but interrupt, always feeling that the way these two people got along was a little strange.
Jiang Miao said, "Just put it inside, Brother Wu, thank you for your trouble." Although Wu Youde's behavior was rather strange, Jiang Miao still thanked him politely.
"It's no trouble, no trouble. We are neighbors. What's wrong with helping to fetch water?" Wu Youde carried the bucket to the kitchen with a smile, and looked around, especially the bottles and jars on the stove wall. He wanted to go up and open them to see what was inside.
"Brother Wu, are you looking for something?" Jiang Miao asked.
Wu Youde was startled and said quickly: "Nothing, just looking around, my room is a little different from yours, I want to see what's the difference."
"Oh, these kitchens are all the same. Mine just has one more bedroom and one more living room than the others. Why don't you go to the living room and take a look?"
Jiang Miao said so, so he couldn't stay out, so he followed Jiang Miao to the main hall and chatted with him intermittently, with some tentative intentions. It can be seen that Jiang Miao was a little bored with the content of the chat, but he still managed to maintain politeness.
Pei Che sat aside and listened for a long time. He was very impatient with the man who kept pestering Jiang Miao to talk. He stared at Wu Youde and thought critically: he was too short, his eyes were too small, his skin was too dark, and he looked a bit wretched. He didn't know why Jiang Miao was still talking to him. Jiang Miao was obviously rude to him at the beginning!
"I'm a little hungry." Pei Che suddenly spoke up. Jiang Miao looked at Wu Youde embarrassedly and said, "Brother Wu, I'm going to cook now. What do you think?"
"Oh! I'm sorry, Brother Jiang. I was so happy chatting with you that I forgot the time. In fact, I came here to borrow some salt from you. We have run out of salt at home, and I can't cook for dinner." Wu Youde understood the subtext of his sending him away, and was getting anxious when suddenly he had an idea and came up with a good idea.
"Oh, I'll get it for you then." Jiang Miao suddenly realized.
"No need! I saw it when I went in to fetch water just now. You sit down, I'll go in and get it myself." After saying that, without waiting for Jiang Miao to respond, he ran to the kitchen and quickly opened the bottles and jars to check. In a small white jar, there was some gray-brown powder. Wu Youde was overjoyed and immediately poured out a little and wrapped it in the paper he had prepared.
Jiang Miao came in at this time, and seeing him staring at the small white pot in a daze, he said: "Put the salt in this jar. There is the thirteen spices I made in it."
Wu Youde's heart skipped a beat: "I said it smelled strange, it turns out it wasn't salt. Brother Jiang, I suddenly remembered that I have to go back to the restaurant in the evening, so I don't have to cook for myself, and I don't want the salt." After saying that, he left in a hurry.
"What on earth is he doing here?" Pei Che approached the kitchen. He was tall, and as soon as he walked in, Jiang Miao felt that the room suddenly became a lot more cramped.
"If I'm not mistaken, he should be here to steal the seasoning." Jiang Miao looked at the white can, which had been touched by him.
"Is this the man sent by the shopkeeper Yingkelai?" Jiang Miao couldn't keep the truth to himself and told Pei Che the truth. However, he warned Pei Che not to do anything before he asked for help.
Thinking of the experience of the teahouse owner who hired thugs to cause trouble for him last time, Jiang Miao couldn't help but shed a tear of sympathy for him. He thought he couldn't be punished before. But he didn't expect that after that incident, the teahouse would be inspected by a wave of officials every now and then. One time, he said that the tax accounts paid by his store last year were not clear and they wanted to check the accounts, and the next time, he said that someone reported that the teahouse's tea source was not legitimate. In just a few days, there were no less than five waves of officials.
It was also because the shopkeeper was not upright that these people found out that he had bought private tea. Salt, iron and tea were all government-run, and they were the focus of Daliang's control. No private trading was allowed. The teahouse was closed, and many of the waiters and storytellers inside were recruited by his rivals. When the storyteller Mr. Meng mentioned this, he was quite emotional, saying that he didn't expect that the shopkeeper looked honest, but was such a person in private.
"That's probably it. I didn't think of it before, but he kept asking about the steamed bun shop later, and I remembered Uncle Zhang once said that Xiao Wu from our yard used to work with Daniu, and he was the guy who greeted guests."
"Aren't you afraid that he might steal the seasoning and mix it up?"
"What a joke," Jiang Miao said with a smug look on his face. "If he can come up with a recipe with just this little knowledge, then it's not an exaggeration to call him a cooking god. What's more, there are some expensive ingredients in the food I eat that I simply can't bear to put in. If they can guess it, I'll chop off my head and let them kick it like a ball."
Pei Che never liked such arrogant people, but he thought Jiang Miao was the cutest thing.
(End of this chapter)