This time, Lu Yan cooked a huge pot of menzi, preparing ten extra portions. She also made ten additional servings of shredded potatoes for the next day, while keeping the amount of meat the same—two jin, enough for fourteen portions.
Before leaving, she chopped up more than a dozen sweet potatoes and woke Lu Sheng, telling him to continue grinding sweet potato starch.
As usual, Lu Yan arrived early.
But the customers waiting for breakfast had come even earlier than she had.
“You finally came! I’ve been craving your stuffed buns all day!”
“The guys I work with said your food is unbelievably delicious. I came to see if it’s really that good!”
“I came too late yesterday and everything was sold out. Today I got here early to line up.”
For a food business, the best advertisement was customers eating with gusto.
A group of burly workers stood there, holding hot lotus-leaf buns stuffed to the brim with shredded potatoes or menzi, eating with their heads down. The sight quickly attracted even more breakfast customers.
Is it really that delicious?
They asked about the prices.
Vegetarian: three coins.
Menzi: four coins.
Meat: six coins.
A huge chunk of meat, honestly stuffed right into the bun!
But what exactly was menzi?
As soon as someone asked, the half-grown stall owner would smile, cut off a piece, spear it with a bamboo skewer, and hand it over.
“Try it first. It’s free.”
The moment that thumb-sized piece of menzi went into your mouth, you had already fallen into her trap.
What is this?! Why does it taste so meaty? There’s even minced meat in it!
Four coins?
Then of course you had to buy one!
The young scholar who had said yesterday that he wanted to bring some home for his parents really did come back. After tasting the menzi, he immediately counted out ten coins and ordered one menzi bun and one meat bun.
The apprentice from the neighboring blacksmith’s shop couldn’t help asking, “Little Scholar, you’ve had her meat buns before? Are they good?”
The scholar nodded vigorously.
“Of course they’re good! Why else would I buy them?”
Lu Yan was stuffing meat into a bun. She took out a fragrant square piece of braised pork, swiftly sliced it into four pieces, tucked them into a lotus-leaf bun, wrapped it in oiled paper, and handed it over.
The scholar carefully tucked it into his robes and grinned.
“The meat one is for my parents to try. I’ll just eat the menzi one.”
The apprentice from the grain store looked on enviously.
“Six coins… I really can’t bear to spend that much…”
Lu Yan couldn’t help joking.
“I’m not bragging, but six coins really isn’t expensive for what we’re offering. This is a genuine, huge piece of meat! Look at wontons and steamed buns—how much meat filling do they actually contain? Their filling is so sparse that even if they wrapped dumplings for a whole year, not a single pig would get hurt.”
As soon as she finished speaking, everyone at the stall burst into laughter.
“You little girl are quite mischievous!”
“So young, yet so sharp-tongued!”
“Then I’ll try one of these big meat buns too!”
Someone gritted his teeth and counted out six coins. After all, it was only two coins more than the menzi version. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t afford it.
“Coming right up!”
Lu Yan answered briskly, her hands moving quickly as she scooped up the meat, sliced it, and stuffed it into a bun.
“Our braised meat is made with more than ten kinds of spices. Just eat it—I guarantee you won’t regret the taste.”
The worker took the six-coin meat bun and bit into it.
Then he froze.
This meat was simply too delicious!
He didn’t know whether it was because of the spices or something else. He only knew that—
How could meat taste like this?
Or perhaps…
Should meat have always tasted like this?
Compared to this, the meat he had eaten before didn’t even deserve to be called meat.
Maybe he hadn’t eaten at many fine establishments, but in his opinion, even the braised meat served at a grand restaurant couldn’t be much better than this.
Seeing how happily he was eating and smelling the rich aroma of the meat, several workers couldn’t resist ordering meat buns as well.
Some wanted to share one together. Lu Yan had no objections and simply chopped the buns into halves or thirds with a few swift strikes of her knife, wrapping each portion in oiled paper before handing them over.
What delighted Lu Yan the most was that Song Bowen, the scholar who had been attracted by Lu Sheng’s calligraphy yesterday, had returned with several classmates.
“I just have to see what kind of handwriting has left you, Song Bowen, so utterly captivated!”
“Haha, I’m actually more interested in the food. Brother Bowen rarely praises food so enthusiastically!”
Lu Yan immediately laughed.
“You’ve come at just the right time. There are only six pieces of meat left today.”
“Quick, quick, give me one!”
Song Bowen hurriedly fumbled for his money while excitedly pointing at the sign behind Lu Yan.
“Look! That’s the handwriting I was talking about! Isn’t it wonderful?”
The young scholars who had come with him all ordered meat buns, then turned to admire Lu Sheng’s calligraphy.
“Oh my, truly excellent handwriting! No wonder Brother Bowen couldn’t stop thinking about it,” one of them said.
As Song Bowen accepted the bun from Lu Yan, he asked,
“The stall is called ‘Lu’s Shop,’ so your surname must be Lu? Miss Lu, is your younger brother also a scholar? May I ask under which esteemed teacher he studies?”
While skillfully slicing meat and stuffing buns, Lu Yan replied,
“My younger brother is indeed a scholar, but he’s currently studying at home by himself and doesn’t have a teacher.”
Song Bowen froze for a moment.
Looking at Lu Yan, who was only a half-grown child yet already running a food stall, he felt he understood.
Even though he was the son of a wealthy merchant and had never known the hardships of poverty, he still knew how expensive studying was.
Many of his classmates from reasonably well-off families had to copy books from time to time to supplement their household income. It was obvious that for ordinary families, education was a bottomless pit.
Lu Yan looked to be only eleven or twelve years old. Her younger brother could only be younger.
For someone so young to possess such beautiful handwriting…
Song Bowen’s feelings were difficult to describe.
Fortunately, the boy was still studying on his own and hadn’t completely abandoned his education and buried his talent.
“Miss Lu,” Song Bowen said again, “I would very much like to become acquainted with your younger brother. Would that be possible?”
Lu Yan was taken aback.
“Making friends is his decision. I’ll tell him when I get home and see what he thinks.”
“Good, good, good.”
As he spoke, Song Bowen called over his servant and bought the remaining three pieces of meat.
“Miss Lu, I think your braised meat is exceptionally good. I’d like to take it home for my elders to try. There’s no need to cut it, and I don’t need the buns either. Just give me the whole jar.”
As he spoke, he tossed a piece of silver into her bamboo basket.
It looked to be about half a tael.
Lu Yan was stunned.
“Oh my, if you want it, just take it. What is one little jar worth? Why are you giving me so much?” she said, frowning.
The chubby scholar beside Song Bowen chuckled.
“Miss Lu, don’t worry. He’s very rich. Have you heard of A Drop of Ink?”
Lu Yan nodded.
A Drop of Ink was the largest bookstore in town, occupying an entire three-story building. In Lu Yan’s opinion, it was more like a cultural goods store, since it sold not only books but also brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones of every quality.
“That’s his family’s business,” the fat scholar said. “Go ahead and fleece the rich. Don’t feel bad about it.”
Lu Yan: “…”
My apologies, my apologies.
Who would have thought that this scholar was not only a scholar—
but also a rich second-generation heir?