readytorunbook Chapter 19 No Soy Sauce
Chapter 19 No Soy Sauce
Gao Mengli lifted the lid of the steamer, and the aroma of elm seeds could no longer be contained.
Instantly, the sky above the city gate was filled with a white mist of delicious food, like a group of graceful dancers dancing in front of the crowd at the city gate!
Who could stand this!
Everyone at the city gate seemed to be put on pause, even the soldiers guarding the gate were distracted, their eyes closed as they smelled the aroma of the food, their faces full of ecstasy.
It smells amazing, so incredibly delicious.
Suddenly, one person moved, then two people moved, and then three or four people rushed to the stall in a swarm.
The small stall was instantly surrounded by a huge crowd.
"Boss, give me ten steamed buns!"
"I want twenty!"
"Don't push, don't push, I was here first."
Gao Mengli and Lin Xi were startled by the surging crowd, but they quickly calmed down.
"Queue up, queue up, can't you see we're all queuing?"
The customers in line got angry and quickly pulled the rushing customers to the back of the line.
Even if the King of Heaven himself came today, he wouldn't be able to cut in line.
The queue grew longer and longer, and the number of people increased.
Gao Mengli could see far into the distance and couldn't see the end of the procession. Most importantly, they hadn't brought enough to meet the needs of so many people…
"Xixi, we have to limit purchases like this, otherwise customers who can't buy anything might devour us..."
"Yes, yes, that's what I think too..."
The two of them asked and answered questions, and numbly made their decision.
Da Niu, on his second visit to the county town, had never seen any food stall as popular as the one his parents sold.
However, remembering the taste of elm seed cakes, he nodded knowingly.
You can't blame others for being so crazy; you can only blame his dad for making such delicious food!
"Everyone, there's a purchase limit today: two per person."
As soon as Gao Mengli finished speaking, the customers in line were unwilling. "No way, boss! We came here early in the morning, and we can only buy two? We should at least buy three!"
Gao Mengli looked at everyone's anxious expressions and understood their feelings, but still shook her head helplessly. "We really can't do any more. Our ingredients are limited, and we have to make sure that people who come later can also buy some. Please understand. Of course, customers who help set up the stall today can buy one extra."
The customer who helped was overjoyed; they could buy one more!
Although the other customers were unwilling, they knew that the boss was right, so they had no choice but to accept the purchase limit.
Gao Mengli deftly took the steamed buns out of the steamer, and then damn it, they forgot to bring the banana leaves again.
The customers didn't mind and quickly caught it with their hands. They were going to put it in their mouths as soon as they got it, so they didn't care whether it was wrapped with leaves or not.
Lin Xi was in charge of collecting money, but she was surprised to find that their eldest son, Da Niu, was quite good at math.
Although the first seven people paid three coins each, and the rest paid four coins each.
But when a master counts coins, he never misses a single one.
Despite the purchase limit, more than half of the customers still couldn't buy the elm seed steamed buns.
Only after Lin Xi and Gao Mengli repeatedly promised to do more tomorrow did they "let them go".
Today I made 240 steamed buns. I ate four on the way, so I have 236 left, which is 472 coins.
They were the fastest at setting up their stalls and the fastest at packing up. They sold out in less than half an hour.
Zhao Chen was glad he was quick-witted and hadn't left early. He was waiting for the others to pack up before heading back.
Gao Mengli and Lin Xi put the things back into the oxcart.
Carrying a basket on his back and leading a large ox, he went into the city first to buy things.
On the way, Lin Xi was a little curious about who taught Da Niu math, so she asked Da Niu as well.
"Oh, it was my uncle who taught me!" Da Niu answered his father's question innocently.
Before the family divided their property, his aunt was not yet married. His future uncle would come to the house every few days and teach the younger children how to use an abacus and do mental arithmetic.
"Uncle??" Lin Xi and Gao Mengli exchanged a glance. Who was this person?
When Da Niu saw that his parents looked completely bewildered, he remembered that they had told him before that they didn't remember much after they fell into the water.
So he could only explain to his parents, "My uncle is my aunt Lin Meng's husband. They got married half a year ago. My uncle's name is Zhang Dongcai, and he is the owner of a general store. His store is the third one from the corner ahead."
He came to the city to accompany his aunt on her wedding day, which is why he knew about the shop where his uncle worked.
"Oh..." Gao Mengli and Lin Xi nodded in sudden understanding.
Okay, they also have a younger sister-in-law.
The two of them were thinking the same thing.
However, they would not go to shops owned by "acquaintances".
Thinking of Zhao Chen waiting outside the city, the two of them took Da Niu to buy things first.
The three of them entered a general store, which left Da Niu completely bewildered.
I thought his parents would ask his uncle if he went to his uncle's shop to patronize the business. But it turns out that after his parents asked, they just asked casually.
He had no desire to buy anything from his uncle's shop, and he didn't dare to ask.
But it's better not to go. If his parents have a relapse and try to "mooch" off his uncle's shop, that wouldn't be good. The two of them have done it before.
Thinking about this, he slapped his mouth in annoyance. He had told his parents and uncle about their shop, which was really wrong of him. Now, thinking back on it, he felt a wave of fear.
Gao Mengli and Lin Xi went into the shop and spent ten coins to buy five candles.
But after wandering around the shop twice, I still couldn't find any soy sauce.
"Boss, don't you have soy sauce?" Gao Mengli thought she couldn't find the soy sauce, so she couldn't help but ask the boss who was watching them from behind the counter.
"Soy sauce? What soy sauce?" The shopkeeper was completely bewildered. He couldn't understand what these two wanted to buy.
"It's a dark-colored seasoning," Lin Xi quickly added, afraid that the terminology used in this era would be different from that used in their post-apocalyptic world.
"Black? I don't know what you mean, but all the seasonings are in that spot." The shopkeeper didn't understand, but that didn't stop him from pointing out the location of the seasonings to the two of them.
"Could it be that there's no soy sauce in this era?" Lin Xi murmured to Gao Mengli.
Gao Mengli rolled her eyes. How would she know? She wasn't a native resident.
What difference is there between what she knows and what he knows? They asked three stores and found nothing, not even vinegar.
Even Da Niu doesn't know; isn't this just asking a question he already knows the answer to...?
The two decided to skip looking for soy sauce and go to the fabric shop first to buy some gauze and a suit for Da Niu.
It's better not to ask the price, because the two of them were shocked when they did.
A set of coarse cloth clothes costs 98 coins.
The cotton ones are more expensive, costing 150 coins per set.
These are children's clothes, so they don't use much fabric at all.
The reason they're expensive is that these clothes are all handmade these days, and the high price comes from the labor costs.
When Da Niu saw that his parents were really going to "compensate" him for his clothes, he was so excited that he couldn't speak.
His clothes are all altered from his father Lin Xi's old clothes; he's never worn new clothes before...