“Xiaosi, what’s that in the small dish before you? It smells quite fragrant. I wonder how it tastes?” It was already morning, and quite a few tea drinkers had gathered in Xiake Ju. The speaker was a guest seated not far from Li Menglan. Judging by the way he called out to the waiter... he was likely a regular at Xiake Ju, right?
These sugar-roasted chestnuts had been stir-fried by Li Menglan using wild honey. A faint sweet fragrance permeated the air. A gentle breeze blew past, and instantly many people couldn’t help but inhale: “Mmm... so fragrant!”
“Xiaosi, has your Xiake Ju come up with some new pastry? What, are you reluctant to bring them out for your guests?” One could tell from these words alone that the speaker was an extremely familiar regular.
“Exactly! Xiaosi, we’re all regulars at Xiake Ju. If you have anything good to eat, you’re not allowed to hide it.” Another person chimed in to stir things up.
“Young Master, what do you think?” The waiter—Xiaosi—turned his gaze toward Zhao Qingyun, the young master of Xiake Ju.
“Little girl, what do you think?” Zhao Qingyun looked at Li Menglan. For some reason, he had a feeling that she had already made up her mind.
“Young Master Zhao, my name is Li Menglan.” Li Menglan straightened her small frame and said with a solemn expression: “Dad and Mom both call me Lan Girl at home. Young Master Zhao, you should just call me Lan Girl too.” Since Li Menglan had already chosen Xiake Ju as a long-term partner, it was naturally better to get familiar with them first.
“Yes, yes, yes.” Hearing his daughter say this, Li Dazhu suddenly seemed to grow clever. Nodding his head like a pestle pounding garlic, he said: “Young Master, don’t be so polite with her, just a little girl. Or you can just use her full name. We country folk don’t fuss over such things.” Li Dazhu was rarely so clever, and his tongue became remarkably nimble.
“Uncle Li, how about this!” Zhao Qingyun thought for a moment and said, “I’ll call you Lan’er from now on. Lan’er, you shouldn’t keep saying ‘Young Master’ and ‘Young Master’ either—just call me Brother Zhao!” Zhao Qingyun settled the matter decisively.
“Uh... the one with money is the boss, so of course you have the final say.” Li Menglan inwardly gnashed her teeth. Goodness... adding up both her lifetimes, she was almost pushing forty. And now she actually had to call a brat ‘older brother.’ Tell me—wasn’t that revolting?
Think what she may in her heart, Li Menglan’s face carried a sweet smile. “Okay, Brother Zhao.” She first gave Zhao Qingyun a sweet smile, then turned to Xiaosi and said, “Brother Sizi, please take these sugar-roasted chestnuts to the guests to taste. What do you all think?”
And so, under Zhao Qingyun’s gaze of satisfaction and pleasant surprise, Yunliang Kingdom’s tasting culture officially ushered in a historic day.
“Hehe, Lan’er, you’re truly quite capable. You’re even willing to resort to this kind of method.” Zhao Qingyun gave Li Menglan an appreciative look.
“Hehe...” Li Menglan smiled slightly without saying much more, merely watching the reactions of the crowd in Xiake Ju with a nervous expression.
Seeing Li Menglan’s nervous appearance, Zhao Qingyun casually offered a word of comfort: “Lan’er, don’t worry. The sugar-roasted chestnuts you made are very delicious. I’m sure everyone will like them—you can set your mind at ease.”
Zhao Qingyun didn’t know how others viewed these sugar-roasted chestnuts, but he himself loved eating them. He had already made up his mind: even if the tea drinkers didn’t like the texture and taste, he still planned to buy out her sugar-roasted chestnuts.
Well... actually, pairing sugar-roasted chestnuts with a pot of tea was the perfect combination. Very few people wouldn’t enjoy that sensation.
Sure enough, once the sugar-roasted chestnuts went down, Xiake Ju was immediately filled with all kinds of praise: “Mmm... not bad, really not bad... are these pastries or dried fruits? Fragrant and soft—truly delicious.”
“Xiaosi, when I settle the bill later, pack another portion for me to take home. I’ll let my daughter have a taste too.” Someone else spoke even more directly.
“Right, Old Song, you just reminded me.” Once someone took the lead, others immediately followed suit: “When settling the bill later, I’ll pack a portion to take home for my folks to taste something fresh.”
“Xiaosi, I want a portion here too.”
“Uh... don’t forget me. When I go home, I’ll bring a portion back too.”
It was the same everywhere in this world. Once someone took the lead, others would follow the trend. Inside Xiake Ju, the noise of chatter was tremendous.
“Lan’er, are you satisfied with what you’ve seen and heard?” Zhao Qingyun looked at Li Menglan, whose eyes had narrowed into happy crescents, and spoke gently.
“Satisfied... very satisfied.” Li Menglan seemed to already see a beautiful tomorrow for her family. Wow... all of these were silver taels! Money wasn’t everything, but without money, one could do nothing. These past days, Li Menglan had truly experienced the importance of money and felt it deeply.
The dilapidated house needed money, the family’s clothes needed money... in short, nearly every aspect of the Li family required money. You should be able to understand why Li Menglan’s young heart had become so fixated on money, right?
“Come, follow Brother Zhao to the back hall. Shall we have a proper chat?” Zhao Qingyun gestured for Li Dazhu and Li Menglan, father and daughter, to follow him toward the back hall of Xiake Ju.
Li Dazhu shouldered the two bags of sugar-roasted chestnuts and closely followed Zhao Qingyun and Li Menglan inside. Once they reached the backyard, Li Menglan gestured for her father to take out some of each type of chestnut from the bags—the two different qualities—and place them before Zhao Qingyun. She got straight to the point: “Brother Zhao, these sugar-roasted chestnuts come in two types.”
Li Menglan pointed at the plump, large-sized chestnuts and said: “Brother Zhao, this type is the best quality. I plan to sell them to you for eighty wen per jin. There are twenty jin in this bag.”
“There are fifteen jin in this bag.” Li Menglan’s small hand moved in another direction. “However, the ones inside are slightly smaller than the ones in your hand. Mm... I’ll sell this type for sixty wen per jin.”
Zhao Qingyun had barely even reacted before Li Menglan had already rattled off everything clearly and logically in rapid succession.
Li Menglan glanced at Zhao Qingyun, who had remained silent, and couldn’t help sighing inwardly. Ah... had she set her price too high after all? “Brother Zhao, if you think what I said is too expensive...” Li Menglan felt depressed! Tell me, your family is clearly very wealthy; why do you have to exploit a poor commoner like me?
Complain as she might inwardly, her expression remained unchanged, her smile sweet. “We can still discuss the price further?” Li Menglan said with an ingratiating smile.
“No need. We’ll go with the prices you stated.” Zhao Qingyun finally collected himself and, with a wave of his hand, agreed to Li Menglan’s proposal. Not only that... Zhao Qingyun also said very generously: “Lan’er, from now on, Xiake Ju will take all the sugar-roasted chestnuts your family produces. As long as you have stock, just send it over. As for the price? It will remain the same as today. The better quality ones at eighty wen per jin; the slightly inferior ones at sixty wen per jin.”
“Thank you, Brother Zhao.” Faced with Zhao Qingyun’s generosity, Li Menglan’s smile became even sweeter and more adorable.