Chapter 56: Fame Spreads "Did you buy Meow Meow cookies?"...

Aduyuan found a good business for himself, and there is no other such good business in the world.

"Auntie, please buy a few bags."

Ah Du squeezed through the crowd and patted the shoulder of the woman in front of him. "Why don't you give me the remaining quota? I'll add five cents per bag."

The woman in the gray jacket glanced at him sideways. "Do you take me for an idiot? Like who needs your five cents? Don't give it to me. I'm hoping to draw a few lucky stars and hang them in my shop to bring more money to my rice shop."

Adu set his sights on the two children standing behind him.

She wore a light pink quilted jacket and light yellow cotton trousers, tucked into her boots. Perhaps her family, worried she'd catch a cold, had draped a small cape over her shoulders, tied loosely at the back of her neck.

Adu looked at her for a while and saw that she came alone.

"Kid, buy a few bags."

Wawa smiled at him and shook her bulging purse. "Uncle, I'll take the box and buy them all."

Ah Du sighed in his heart, it's hard to do business these days.

The fame of Yunlaixiang's Meow Meow Cookies had spread beyond Pingjiang Prefecture. While carrying goods at the dock, he heard that the nobles who came to Pingjiang Prefecture to collect folk songs wanted to buy some cookies to try, and also wanted to buy a sachet to take home as a souvenir, but they were troubled even if they had money.

Meow Meow Cookies are based on maple leaf cookies, each flavor featuring a different kind of dried fruit. You can't buy them directly from the shop; you can only wait in line during the pre-sale period and purchase them with a deposit.

If I don't want to eat that one, I can buy a Meow Meow sachet, right? But Chen Ji told me that I can only redeem it with the flower notes in the Meow Meow cookies, which are never sold in the shop. If any clerk sells it secretly, he will be fired immediately.

This is outrageous. There is nothing in the world that cannot be bought with money!

Adu’s new business was born under such circumstances.

He first collected more money from the nobles, and then got up early in the morning to line up in front of the Yunlaixiang shop. Some of them were even more ruthless than Adu, who just rolled up their quilts and slept there, snoring loudly.

Before the roosters had even crowed, the entrance to Yunlaixiang's shop was packed with people, all looking at them with eager eyes.

They are also waiting to make a good profit from the difference.

Ah Du bought Meow Meow cookies for the nobles. Some of the nobles were afraid of sweetness and weight gain, so they would only collect all the Meow Meow sachets and take two bags of cookies away. The remaining cookies all went into Ah Du's stomach.

After working for a few days, Adu was satisfied with the food and earned enough money. He almost gave up his job as a porter and kept squatting at the door of Yunlaixiang.

But before they could be happy for two days, Yunlaixiang came up with new rules.

On the first night, they would use hemp ropes and stones to tie up a winding aisle. Even if there were a lot of people queuing, the aisle would meander back and forth, squeezing people together and allowing them to queue in an orderly manner without hindering the business of the shops next door.

The rules state that the queues could only be filled at the beginning of the morning, and people were not allowed to reserve seats early in the morning, let alone arrive with their bedding rolled up. Ah Du clearly remembered that the brother lying on his rolled-up bedding tripped the night patrol officer on duty and nearly threw him into the river.

None of this would have a significant impact on Ah Du. After all, his running speed was quite impressive. He had once worked part-time as a "Xian Han" (a young man with a simple past). If he wasn't a foodie, and half of his time as a "Xian Han" (a young man with a simple past) was spent eating at the shop, he would definitely be the fastest runner in Pingjiang Prefecture.

The most terrible thing right now is that Shopkeeper Wei has limited the purchase of her Meow Meow Cookies!

In addition to the box, each person can only buy three bags at a time!

Ah Du had no other choice but to pay extra money at the entrance of Yunlaixiang to buy flower notes. But he didn't expect that these young ladies would get together and exchange flower notes. Some young ladies with a collecting habit would collect a lot of their favorite Meow Meow sachets and even exchange the Meow Meow cookies in their bags.

Who wants to sell it to him?

And, what's going on, the girls are starting to run faster than him?

How come the speed of this aunt, kid, big man and scholar also increased?

When asked, they would say they bought it for their daughter, or that their son bought it as a gift for the girl he likes, or that eating Meow Meow cookies makes them feel energetic and hopeful that they can become like the students in the provincial academy, get first place in the college entrance examination, become a noble son from a poor family, or even become a juren...

Now even when Ah Du is carrying goods, he can hear——

"Did you buy Meow Meow cookies?"

"I think the orange flavored one from Axue is good, and the olive flavored one from Qingniang is really novel."

"Did you draw the hidden item? The one on Lord Lu's waist is the family portrait of Liu Miao. It makes my heart melt. I didn't draw it, but when Lord Lu was training his archers, I would stare at him more and pray that I would draw it."

"After work, let's go to Yunlaixiang for some snacks. Let's go together. If you spend 88 coins there, you can get a small painting of Liu Miao or a straw weaving. Brother, I beg you, please go."

...and so on.

Before Meow Meow Cookies went on sale, apart from the sachets worn by others, the one on Lu Lan's waist was the most unique.

In the past, when people saw Lord Lu, they only dared to watch him from afar and did not dare to look closely.

But ever since Lu Lan started wearing the Six Cats Family Portrait sachet around his waist, there seemed to be a lot more people at Changmen Wharf during the day, staring at him from time to time. They didn't look at his face, but only at his waist.

Those looks left Zhan Wenxing and Jing Liulang confused.

Although they knew that Lord Lu had a strong build and slim waist, wasn't this gaze a little too scorching... Why were there so many big men?

In Yunlaixiang, Wei Jinyun was adding firewood to the mud stove in an orderly manner.

Zhao Xiangping was willing to teach Wei Jinyun all the skills, including how many pieces of firewood to add to maintain the appropriate stove temperature, the distance from the fire, and how to heat the copper pan just right.

On the table are pre-printed Meow Meow cookies of different shapes.

Meow Meow Cookies didn't require her to knead them piece by piece. She first melted the lard over a simmering pot of water, added brown sugar, and ground it into a dough. Before bed, she kneaded the dough in different colors, placed it on ice, and covered it with cotton cloth to refrigerate it.

Before putting it into the clay stove, the dough is rolled out thinly and the shape of the meow is printed with a mold. To distinguish the six meows, Wei Jinyun made orange, olive, hawthorn, sesame, and walnut flavors, and also made a special salty and scallion flavor to relieve the greasiness.

A clay oven can hold six copper pans, and each pan can hold fifty or sixty cookies, so a pot can produce about three hundred cookies.

The two clay stoves in the yard were burning non-stop, making Wei Jinyun's face red from the smoke.

Her bag of Meow Meow cookies contains eighteen pieces, three pieces of each flavor, and a sachet jointly branded with Shen Ji Cloth Shop, and the price of one bag is sixty-nine cents.

In fact, a stack of maple leaf cookies with candied date flavor costs 28 yuan for eight pieces at Yunlaixiang. Meow Meow Cookies is famous enough to be sold at this price.

"Sister, you've become more and more beautiful recently."

Wei Fuling squatted beside Wei Jinyun, resting her chin on her hand and praising him.

Her sister was in high spirits after earning more money. She could eat and sleep well, and she was full of energy. Now that winter was approaching, her sister had finally put on some weight, her face was rosy, and her lips were no longer pale. Especially when her sister tied the climbing armband, her exposed arms looked really nice, with toned and strong features.

She likes her sister Kangjian's appearance the most.

"Choose some snacks to bring to school today. Go get them from the kitchen. Sister is busy."

Wei Jinyun carefully used a spatula to scoop a batch of freshly baked Meow Meow cookies off the copper pan and slowly set them aside to cool.

She replaced the stove with a new one. "Tian'er likes sesame, right? Grandma bought two bags of sesame candy yesterday. You and Sister Qi should take one bag."

"Sister is so nice."

Wei Fuling stood on tiptoe and patted Wei Jinyun's face, then happily went to pick some snacks for herself.

"Sister, can I pack thirty maple leaf cookies? Mastermind loves them."

After feeding the first, second, and third, Wei Fuqiu thought about what to say. After all, thirty yuan was still too much, and it could be sold for dozens of coins.

"You need his help?"

"No."

Wei Fuqiu shook her head but smiled. "I know he's from the family of a military official. My sister said that after running a shop in Pingjiang Prefecture for a year, we can start our own business. I have to find out more about him. Besides, he does know a lot of articles and his handwriting is beautiful. I have to learn from him."

Wei Jinyun glanced at her and said, "You should stop imitating my usual tricks."

She felt that her daily behavior had affected her sister, and she had so many thoughts in her head.

Sister Qi is only seven years old.

"I'm the older sister's younger sister, so naturally I have to learn."

Wei Fuqiu stepped forward and took Wei Jinyun's arm. "Sister, can I... take it from my pocket money?"

"There, I hung two plates out to dry early this morning."

Wei Jinyun nodded towards something not far away.

"Sister is the best!"

Wei Jinyun got another smack.

The properly dried Meow Meow cookies were carefully sorted by Chaojiu and Wanwu and packed into bags, which were then covered with a piece of flowery paper and tied with a rope.

Wang Qiulan was not busy in the morning. She just sat at the counter, adding tea to the people who came to eat from time to time.

Gu Xiang was responsible for maintaining order in the queue outside the door. With just a shout, he could scare everyone, and the Meow Meow Cookie business went on in an orderly manner.

On the first day, nearly 300 bags of Meow Meow cookies were sold. Recently, even with the store opening every three days and a purchase limit, over 500 bags were sold in a single day. Yunlaixiang's courtyard was being shipped bags of flour and rice noodles, much to the delight of the first few vendors Chengxin and Wei Jinyun did business with.

There is also Uncle Li's straw weaving business, which is cooperating with Yunlaixiang to make Meow Meow straw weaving, as well as Wang, a carpenter who is certified by Yunlaixiang, who is so busy with work that he is exhausted.

Nowadays, everyone knows that there is a delicious dim sum shop called Yunlaixiang in front of Tianqing Temple.

After today's Meow Meow cookies were sold out, Wei Jinyun walked into the front hall, fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan. Even though winter was almost here, he was sweating profusely, muttering, "More workers! I want more help!"

After the high-intensity training of selling Meow Meow cookies, Gu Xiang and his friends found it very easy to do other work.

There were more and more customers dining in the restaurant, and the seats were already full. There was even room for two people in the small room outside, and a few small tables were set up at the door.

It was actually because Shopkeeper Wei launched an event where customers could get free Meow Meow peripherals when they spent over 88 coins, which made many people want to dine in, although Gu Xiang didn't understand what "peripherals" meant.

But she just knew that she had to do it and that she could make money by following Manager Wei!

Seeing that the winter solstice was approaching, they wondered how much lucky money the shopkeeper Wei would give them. Thinking of this, the three waiters became more vigorous, and the towels swished across the table with a "swishing" sound that could have caused fire.

Chang Siyan sat in her own private seat, thinking of jokes. Six Cats was always hot-tempered, but everyone also loved her story about the raccoon slave's return of gratitude. Especially at the climax, when the raccoon boy saw the dim sum lady looking at someone else and his tail popped out in anger, it suddenly ended... It kept the audience waiting until they went to sleep, wondering what mysterious, unspeakable, and bizarre story would unfold next.

By noon, everyone had a lot of free time, so Wan Wu showed everyone how to pickle cabbage.

Late autumn cabbage, at this time the white cabbage has a flavor of earthy paste, and is full of wind and dew. It tastes sweet, crisp and tender, and has an excellent flavor.

When the vendor brought it to them for the first time, they had already stewed the white cabbage and mutton together to make white cabbage and mutton soup for their delicious taste.

The lamb from Pingjiang Prefecture is not smelly at all. The meat is stewed to a tender, boneless consistency, falling off the bone with a single poke of chopsticks, and the fat floats on the milky white broth. The cabbage soaks up the broth, the savory flavor of the lamb wrapped in the cabbage's own sweetness. The soft, yet firm leaves and even the stems have absorbed the flavor, making it so fragrant that I wipe the rim of the bowl with steamed buns to feel satisfied.

The vendor had been delivering cabbages for days, and the yard was piled high with cabbages. Yi Er San, who always ate rice bran, coveted them. Wan Wu pickled cabbages every year, but only this year did she do it at Yun Lai Xiang, earning her praise.

The evening mist wiped the ceramic jar in the backyard clean. I picked the short, thick and firm white cabbages, peeled off the outer old leaves and gave them to Yi Er San as a snack, leaving only the tender yellow stems and bright green hearts.

She held the root of the white cabbage and gently cut it with a knife, keeping it close to the heart. She made a shallow incision along the heart, allowing the salt to penetrate without breaking it up. The cabbage's heart was broken, making it more flavorful and crispy. She placed the cut cabbage in a flat basket, next to it were shredded radish, each cut neatly into thick strips a few inches long.

Layer the cabbage with salt, gently pressing the cabbage stems to cling to the salt. Spread the cabbage halfway up the jar, then add a layer of radish strips, also sprinkled with salt and compacted. The radish enhances the flavor and crispness of the cabbage, so people in Pingjiang Prefecture often use both cabbage and radish strips for pickling.

After the last layer of white cabbage was laid, the evening mist sealed the jar, and a stone was moved in to press on top to press the vegetables tightly.

Every worker at Yunlaixiang was incredibly strong, pickling cabbages, carrying rocks, and doing whatever they could. Gu Xiang and Chaojiu praised Wanwu's pickled cabbages so highly that she brewed an additional jar of winter wine the next day, infused with osmanthus flowers.

Although the weather was getting cooler, Yunlaixiang was still warm and the clay stove in the shop was burning brightly. Even with the carved wooden windows open, it didn't feel cold at all. Instead, you could smell the fragrance of persimmons wafting in from outside.

Meow meow paper-cuts were pasted on the doors and windows, and Wei Jinyun was hanging meow meow paper-cuts on the osmanthus tree outside the shop as usual. However, every few days, some of the meow meow paper-cuts would disappear from the window.

The peddler carried a load, the poles swaying on either side of his shoulders. The persimmons in the baskets at either end were bright red and piled high.

"Xishan soft persimmons—freshly picked sweet persimmons! Bright red at the core, and juicy when you bite into them!"

He saw Wei Jinyun standing at the door and knew that Yunlaixiang was doing a booming business, so he bravely stepped forward.

"Manager Wei, take a look. These persimmons are freshly picked from the West Mountain. They're so sweet they look like honey. They're twelve cents a pound."

As he spoke, he picked up the reddest one and handed it to me, "Try it first, and buy it if you like it!"

The orange-red persimmon looked tempting. Wei Jinyun took it and gently broke it open. The orange-red flesh split open, revealing the persimmon pulp embedded in the sweet pulp. Before he even ate it, he could smell the rich persimmon fragrance.

She took a bite. The persimmon was not overly sweet, but soft and sweet. She could eat it all in one bite, leaving only a thin layer of peel.

“It’s sweet indeed.”

She smiled and nodded, "Weigh three pounds, grandma and sister will like it."

"Okay!"

The peddler happily took out a small scale and heard someone shouting, "Hey, who's that? I want to buy something too!"

Xu walked over slowly, and without waiting for the peddler to hand over the persimmons, she reached out and picked up the biggest one from the basket, broke it open and took a big bite. While chewing, she glanced at Wei Jinyun and reached out to take another one.

The peddler held up the scale and glanced at the persimmons in Xu's hand. He said nothing and just waited patiently.

After finishing the second one, Xu wiped her mouth and said slowly, "Well, it's okay. Let's weigh one pound."

The peddler's mouth twitched.

The peddler weighed three pounds for Wei Jinyun, and put another pound of persimmons into an oil-paper bag for Xu, then continued to carry his load and shout.

Holding the persimmon, Xu quickly turned to Wei Jinyun and said with a smile, "Miss Wei, oh no... now I should call you Manager Wei. Your Yunlaixiang business is booming."

Wei Jinyun was sorting persimmons with his head down. Upon hearing this, he simply raised his eyes and replied, "Thanks to the neighbors, it's okay."

Xu Shi didn't intend to stop there. She looked at you thoughtfully in her words, "I can see that your life is getting better and better. Sister Qi and Sister Ling have been sent to school, and even your grandmother has a job. Everything seems to be going well for you."

Her eyes fell on Wei Jinyun's face, and after thinking for a long while, she slowly spoke, "But, Shopkeeper Wei, what about you? You can't always be busy with business and not think about your lifelong affairs."

Wei Jinyun frowned slightly and looked up at Xu.

"Look at my Renbai. What do you think? You always said before that you are worlds apart from him and that you are not worthy of him."

Mrs. Xu seemed not to notice her expression, but instead smiled even more warmly. "But now I've come to my senses. I was wrong before. You're so smart in business now, and you've managed the shop so neatly. If you think about it carefully, you're worthy of my Renbai."

"Right now, I'm just thinking about running the shop well. Besides, I've already told Master Zhang that his ambitions and paths are different. I've made it clear."

"ah?"

As if not expecting her to be so direct, Mrs. Xu demanded, "Isn't my Renbai good enough? He's only in his early twenties, so young! It was an accident that he didn't pass the imperial examination this time. He just wasn't up to par yet. He'll definitely pass the exam next time. If you marry me, you'll be his wife in the future. Our shops are next to each other, so you'll have someone to support you."

Xu had originally been reluctant to agree, but she watched her son grow weaker and weaker, becoming a mere skeleton in just a few months. He'd previously ate little, but now he ate everything: sweet and salty, glutinous rice, and even greasy pork elbows, two at a time, which he'd vomit up afterward.

She didn't know what had happened to her son, and he refused to seek medical attention. Lately, he'd been insisting on doing things they'd previously forbidden him to do, going to great lengths to do them. If they tried to stop him, he'd scream, "Enough," "Are you annoying me?" and "Am I even alive?"

But her son went to Yunlaixiang every day, and it seemed that Wei Jinyun had become his obsession. If there were no more happy events in the family, she was afraid that her son would die one day.

Let her be the main wife, at worst we can have a few more wives in the future.

Zhang's father came out holding a teacup. He blew on the tea and said, "Manager Wei, my Renbai has been thinking about you. You should know this. Don't worry, as long as you agree, our Zhang family will never let you down. We will marry you off with all the necessary ceremony and respect."

"Are you kidding me? When did I ever say I wanted to marry him?"

Wei Jinyun's already existing anger was now rising up.

The smile on Zhang's father's face faded instantly, and he was a little angry. "What do you mean, Manager Wei? What's wrong with our Renbai? In terms of family background, we are a family of scholars. In terms of character, Renbai is gentle and polite, and he cares about you. What else are you not satisfied with?"

Chuntao came out with the freshly cleaned plates in her hand. She had heard everything that was said here with her sharp ears.

Before she even set the plate down, she couldn't help but mutter under her breath, not loud but just loud enough for those around her to hear, "Tsk, tsk, selling the four treasures of the study is called a scholarly family. Then our shop roasts duck every day, and the aroma spreads throughout the streets. Shouldn't we be called a duck-flavored family?"

As soon as these words were spoken, several passers-by couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Chun Tao still felt that this was not enough. She glanced at Zhang's father's sullen face and added, "Besides, it's not up to us to decide whether Manager Wei likes it or not. There's no point in forcing it..."

"I don't like Zhang Renbai. Let's not talk about this anymore. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I don't like Zhang Renbai!"

Wei Jinyun's voice was so loud that it was almost like a shout.

At this moment, all the shops in front of Tianqing Temple heard it - Manager Wei didn't like Zhang Renbai.

The door curtain of the stationery store moved, and Zhang Renbai stood at the door, staring straight at Wei Jinyun.

"Besides, I already have someone in my heart."

Wei Jinyun didn't look at him, but only stared at Zhang's father and Xu. "If you still insist on this matter and keep saying something irrelevant, then I think we won't even have to be neighbors in the future."

"Who?"

Lu Lingxiang suddenly poked half of her head out from behind her, "Who is it? Jinyun, are you in love with someone? Who is it? Tell me quickly!"

Behind her stood three of her servants, her grandmother, Zhou Zhuqing and Lu Lantang, as well as Chen Qixiang who was still embroidering sachets.

Chang Siyan looked at the scene and scratched his head with a pen.

“…You heard wrong.”

"I heard it right."

Lu Lingxiang shook her head and suddenly slapped her forehead, as if remembering something. "Oh no, oh no! If my second brother knew about this... he'd still be wearing the sachet and showing off. Poor second brother."

Casual clothes and official uniforms are changed frequently, but the sachet must be hung at all times.

"You always say that our Renbai is a hot commodity, so keep him and cherish him well. If he really passes the imperial examination in the future, there will be many people who want to marry him. There is no need to waste time talking to a shop like ours that sells snacks."

Wang Qiulan grabbed Wei Jinyun's wrist without even looking at Zhang's father or Xu. "Jinyun, let's go back to the shop. Don't waste time here."

The neighbors dispersed again.

Zhang Renbai stared at Xu and Zhang's father, his eyes red. "Did I tell you to say it? How many times have I told you not to bother her? If you say one more word to her, I'll hit my head against the wall and die!"

He finally managed to talk to her for a few words.

Finally... finally she said she didn't hate him.

Zhang's father, Mrs. Xu, was startled by her son's sudden harsh words. She even rushed forward to pull him back, "Renbai, are you crazy? Isn't this for your own good?"

"It's for my own good, it's for my own good. I've been saying this for twenty years. Isn't that enough?"

Zhang Renbai suddenly shook off Xu's hand, turned around and rushed into the shop.

Wei Jinyun was surrounded by Lu Lingxiang in the shop, asking her who this person was. In the end, she had to use several pieces of snacks to shut her up.

The wind chimes swayed, and outside came the sound of hooves, accompanied by Old Gu's resonant voice, "Xiang Jie'er! Daddy is here to see you!"

Old Gu was standing at the door, leading a brown donkey with a cloth bag on its back.

Old Gu looked at his daughter and asked, "How is it working for Shopkeeper Wei? Are you tired? Are you happy?"

Gu Xiang rolled up his sleeves, revealing his much stronger arms. He patted them with a smile and said, "Dad, look at my muscular arms. I have work to do and enough food to eat every day. How can I not be happy?"

"Hey, Lao Gu, long time no see. Come in and sit down."

Wei Jinyun also came out and greeted Lao Gu with a smile when he saw him.

When her eyes fell on the donkey, she reached out to touch its ears, but then stopped herself. "Where's the clever donkey?"

She stared at it for a long time before realizing it and saying, "This isn't the clever little donkey."

"you do not say."

Old Gu's eyes crinkled with laughter as he patted the donkey's back. "This is the clever donkey's cub. It's just one year old and very docile. I brought it here specially as a gift to Shopkeeper Wei. It'll save you a lot of effort when you go to deliver snacks. When it grows up, it can even pull the millstone."

"That's unacceptable. A one-year-old donkey normally sells for four strings of cash. It's too expensive."

"It doesn't matter whether it's valuable or not."

Old Gu waved his hand and said, "I have several donkeys in my donkey shed, so I don't need this one. Besides, thanks to you for taking care of Xiangjie, she has learned some skills here and can even save money. This little thing is nothing like a thank you."

The little donkey neighed twice, as if in agreement.

Wei Jinyun naturally wouldn't let Old Gu suffer any loss, so he stuffed some silver and money into his pocket. Don't worry, Gu Xiang hasn't even received a few strings of cash here, but he's already giving away a donkey.

She originally wanted to buy a donkey, and a smart donkey doll must be very smart too.

Wei Jinyun stared at the donkey. It was clean and strong, and was really suitable for transporting the wedding cakes ordered by Miss Liu.

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Author's words: Jinyun: Hiring employees, making money, hiring employees! [Rainbow fart]

Mr. Lu's daily life: (Did you see the sachet on my waist? [Poor]

Come up with a donkey name, wife [glasses]

I excitedly posted a sweet chapter yesterday, but ended up only hearing a few of my wives talking [burst crying][purple sugar][purple sugar][purple sugar]