The vendor in the courtyard, with his greasy hands and a yellow cabbage leaf stuck between his teeth, was smiling at the woman selling steamed buns.
"Yes, yes, yes, I've saved everything for you. I wouldn't have sold it to anyone else if you hadn't come!"
"Go away, go away! You're still reluctant to sell to others? These rotten vegetable leaves and scraps of meat, who else would buy them but me?"
"That's true. But how do you manage to sell your steamed buns so well? The meat here smells so bad to me."
Upon hearing this, the proprietress smiled smugly: "In short, I have plenty of skills. Those new out-of-towners won't dare to act tough on my turf. They won't be able to do business at my doorstep."
The vendor grinned, showing his two rows of large teeth, and flattered, "Xu Niang's cooking skills are unparalleled in Xiaoye City! As for those out-of-towners, you don't need to worry about them at all. Just find an excuse to send them away. Why get angry? Not only will it damage our reputation, but it will also make the people who come to our house for dinner think that we are stingy and bully the weak."
The woman called Xu Niang didn't take it seriously at all. "Send them away? It's as easy as sending away a few rats. I just want to wear them down and see how much they can do to oppose me."
"That's true, but you can't win every battle if you know yourself and your enemy. We can't afford to be careless about their background. If they have powerful backers, what if we offend them one day? Wouldn't your shop and my vegetable stall be wiped out in one fell swoop?"
Xu Niang gave a cold laugh, said nothing, and deftly packed the rotten vegetable leaves and some scarred potatoes from the ground into a basket.
Song He'er could see clearly that most of these rotten vegetables were leftovers from the day before or picked up from the street. There was practically no cost to these things, so even if she sold them to Xu Niang for ten coins, she would still make a profit.
However, engaging in business against one's conscience will inevitably incur divine retribution.
In addition, much of the meat sauce is taken from pig bones, or leftover offal and meat scraps from meat purchases. It's basically either thrown away or sent to livestock farms as feed.
These heartless people are truly disgusting, selling this kind of meat and vegetables to customers?
Song He'er had some doubts about what kind of seasoning Xu Niang had used to mask the putrid smell.
Even in modern times, the smell of spoiled meat cannot be completely masked, let alone in this era.
Seeing that Xu Niang had stuffed all the 'garbage' into her basket and turned to leave, Song He'er had a sudden idea and quickly strode towards her shop.
When they returned to the shop, Zhang Xiue was kneading dough, while Song Xiaoyu was staring intently at the row of customers buying steamed buns across the street, muttering from time to time, "What bad luck! There's a long line of people buying steamed buns over there, but no one here."
"Alright, just shut up and do your job."
"Where is He'er? Where did she go so early in the morning? I just saw her!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Song He'er hurriedly ran into the shop, picked up the tea, and quickly gulped down a few mouthfuls.
"Third Uncle, come with me to the shop across the street quickly, I have something very important to do."
Song Xiaoyu was already extremely anxious about this matter when she heard Song He'er say this, and hurriedly asked, "What's wrong? Did something happen on the other side?"
Song He'er nodded excitedly, then leaned close to Song Xiaoyu's ear and whispered something in her ear.
"Really? She actually dared to do this, what a scoundrel!"
"Third Uncle, let's hurry over there and catch her off guard. Let's see if she dares to cause us trouble again!"
"Okay! Let's go!"
Zhang Xiue chased after them with a rolling pin, her face still covered in flour, looking ready to hit them. "What's going on? Are you going to get revenge? Take me with you! I'll go with you! I've got experience with these kinds of things. That old hag gave me a hard time yesterday, I'll teach her a lesson today!"
Song Xiaoyu was speechless. "Look at Madam Qin, she's diligently making soup in the kitchen, while you're so impulsive. What can you do there? Do you think hitting someone will solve anything? You should just stay home and guard the house properly. You'll see what's going on later!"
"I'm just worried you'll get hurt. Look at you, one of you is so young and the other is so thin, how could you possibly be a match for that couple?"
Song He'er smiled and reassured her, "Third Aunt, there's really no need to worry. We're just across the street. If something happens later, you can rush over then. It's better to avoid scaring people if so many of us go over now!"
Zhang Xiue hesitated for a long time before finally nodding. "Then be careful. I'll be watching you from the side. If anything happens, just wave to me."
"Um."
After saying that, Song Xiaoyu and Song He'er went to the steamed bun shop across the street.
"Third Uncle, go and block the back door to prevent that woman from sneaking in from behind. We need to catch her off guard and not give her a chance to switch the clothes!"
"Okay!" Seeing this, Song Xiaoyu walked towards the back door of the steamed bun shop.
Now, there are long queues of merchants at the front gate and Song Xiaoyu guarding the back gate. Even if this old woman had wings, she wouldn't be able to get into her courtyard.
"Excuse me, everyone, I have something to say here today!"
The first merchant in line frowned slightly. "Young lady, you're from that shop across the street, right? Don't cause trouble at such a young age. Hurry back, we need to get going after we've bought our things!"
Upon hearing this, Song He'er knew that this man had eaten noodles at their house before, otherwise how would he know her?
"Senior, I am speaking here today to uphold justice for everyone, so that no one will try to cheat us merchants who travel all over the country for a few taels of silver. That would be a morally reprehensible thing."
"I don't quite understand what you're saying, young lady. Are you saying the shop owner is cheating us?"
“That’s right, I have evidence in hand, and you will see it for yourselves in a moment. As for whether I’m just talking nonsense or making trouble out of nothing, you’ll know once you see it.”
"this......."
Hearing the commotion, the meat chopper in the shop rushed out angrily, holding a meat-slicing knife in his hand.
"You little brat, how dare you cause trouble in my shop? Get out of here right now!"
Song He'er was naturally not afraid of him. So what if he had a knife? Could it be faster than the gun in her space?
"If you don't want others to know, then don't do it in the first place!"
"Oh~ The landlady is here!"
Song He'er turned her head and saw Xu Niang carrying a basket, looking hurried as she was about to enter the courtyard through the back door.
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