Chapter 401 Ginger Candy Balls
Niu Niu still remembers that the first time she tasted Baiweifang’s pastries was at the flower-viewing banquet at the Princess’s Mansion.
After just one bite, she was amazed.
The wealthy families in Beijing always like to use Baiweifang's cakes for their banquets.
The pastries from Baiweifang are too expensive. Although Niu Niu loves to eat them, she won’t keep pestering her parents to buy them for her.
It is also for this reason that Niu Niu really likes to attend various banquets in the capital.
One time when she was particularly happy was when she attended a poetry reading with her father. Her friend Qin Jingshu, for no apparent reason, asked her maid to buy Niu Niu a bunch of Baiweifang cakes, including Baiweifang candies.
Baiweifang’s pastries are very famous, but Baiweifang’s candies are considered a less popular product. Not many people know about them, and even fewer people buy them.
Although Niu Niu had only eaten it once, she really liked the taste. The reason was simple: she liked Baiweifang’s ginger candy.
Niuniu put the candy wrapper to her nose and sniffed it, then said loudly to Gu Mingda, "This is Baiweifang's ginger candy ball. I love it!"
When the prefect of Jingzhao heard this, he could only sigh in his heart that children are just greedy. At such an important moment, they were only staring at a piece of candy wrapper on the ground.
Yes, in Gu Mingda's eyes this was important evidence, but in the eyes of the Jingzhao prefect it was just a piece of garbage on the road.
"Sir Li, it looks like we have to go to Baiweifang." Gu Mingda turned and said to the prefect of Jingzhao.
Jingzhao Prefecture Yin asked, "Why are you going to Baiweifang? Are you going to buy candy for your daughter?"
Gu Mingda: ...
Gu Mingda tried hard not to look at the Jingzhao prefect as if he was a fool. He pointed at the footprints on the ground and said, "The footprints extend from the entrance of the alley to here. This piece of candy wrapper must have been dropped by the other party accidentally.
The prefect of Jingzhao looked at the candy wrapper that Xiao Niuniu was holding in both hands as if she was presenting a treasure. The candy wrapper was only the size of a child's palm, and it was coated with a layer of wax seal, and a Baiweifang seal was stamped in the corner of the paper.
Baiweifang's pastries have always been very expensive. Each pastry is wrapped in waxed paper, which is convenient and practical, but also increases its price.
"Can we really find the other party with just a piece of candy wrapper?" The prefect of Jingzhao was skeptical, but he still had some thoughts of handing the case over to the Dali Temple.
Gu Mingda vaguely understood what this person was thinking, and said, "Don't worry, sir. If we can't find out, we can hand over the clues to the Dali Temple, and it won't take too much time."
When Jingzhao prefect heard what Gu Mingda said, he hesitated for a moment, nodded, and said, "It's just right. I haven't been to Baiweifang for a while, and my little daughter at home has been talking about wanting to eat the cakes here."
He found a reason for himself and accompanied Gu Mingda to Baiweifang.
Baiweifang is three streets away from the Ministry of Industry. But when we got there, the shopkeeper of Baiweifang said, "Selling ginger candy? Please forgive me, gentlemen, only the old shop in the south of the city sells ginger candy. These ginger candies are made by my young master himself, and others don't like to eat them."
When Niuniu heard this, she showed a look of regret on her face and said, "Why wouldn't other people like to eat such delicious candy? I really like it!"
When the shopkeeper of Baiweifang heard this, he did not dare to agree. He had also eaten ginger candy made by the young master himself. The pungent smell almost went straight to the top of his head as soon as he took a bite. He could not get used to that candy.
But business people always have some feelings for each other when they meet. The shopkeeper smiled and said, "If the young master knew that the ginger candy he made was so popular, he would be very happy."
Niuniu said: "Boss, now that you mention it, I really want to meet him. To be able to make such delicious ginger candy balls, your young master must be a very powerful person!"
The shopkeeper said, "Little girl, do you really want to meet the young master? You should probably go to the workshop in the south of the city to find him. He spends all day in there studying how to make candy and doesn't like to see outsiders."
The prefect of Jingzhao was listening to these meaningless conversations and felt extremely anxious, but Gu Mingda waited patiently for his daughter to finish chatting with others.
It took a long time before they left the Baiweifang branch and headed straight to the old Baiweifang store in the south of the city.
The old Baiweifang store is also the head office of Baiweifang in Beijing. It has a complete range of goods, including all kinds of pastries sold by Baiweifang in Beijing.
As they walked further into the store, they noticed that there seemed to be fewer and fewer buyers.
"The further you go in, the more niche the goods are, and the fewer people buy them. I guess the hard-to-sell ginger candies are at the very back." Gu Mingda sighed.
When some people were in the innermost corner, they saw the neatly wrapped ginger candies placed on the shelves.
Since it was the Jingzhao prefect who came in person in official uniform, he was naturally accompanied by the manager of the head office.
"Master Li and Master Gu, do you like ginger candy?" the shopkeeper asked, and signaled the waiter to bring out a few bags of ginger candy and some snacks.
The official came to the house, and although no one knew why, it was most likely not a good thing. The prefect of Jingzhao was used to such small bribes and was about to let someone close to him take it.
Who would have thought that Gu Mingda would wave his hand and say, "Boss, don't rush to do these things. I have something important to ask you."
The shopkeeper paused, but he also knew that it was not easy to offend these officials, so he gave a look to the waiter behind him. While they were talking, the waiter had already delivered the ginger candy and pastries to the officials behind the Jingzhao prefect.
"My lords, if you have any questions, I will tell you everything I know." The owner of the head office said respectfully.
Gu Mingda took out the candy wrapper that Niu Niu had picked up earlier and presented it to the owner of the head office.
"This is the wrapper for ginger candy. I would like to ask the shopkeeper if there has ever been a person with a limp who came here to buy ginger candy?" Gu Mingda asked.
The store owner frowned slightly upon hearing this, as if he was thinking about something.
Seeing the clue, the prefect of Jingzhao immediately shouted, "Since Lord Gu has asked about it, why are you still hiding something for that thief? Do you want to go to jail too?"
The store owner had not expected that the matter would be so serious, and he quickly called over the shop assistants, "Please forgive me, I am not usually in charge of sales, but I seem to have seen a disabled customer coming and going in the store, but I still need to ask the shop assistants for details."
The guys looked at each other and finally the focus fell on one of them.
The waiter stammered, "The ginger candies made by the young master are not easy to sell. Only a few customers like to eat them. Among them is a disabled customer who comes to buy ginger candies almost once every two weeks. He comes and buys ginger candies and then leaves. I don't know his specific situation!"
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