Chapter 28 Chapter 28 Is the real cinnamon cinnamon or cassia bark?
She brought two jars of fermented bean curd to the busy street and chose a busy place.
I borrowed a stool from the noodle stall owner and imitated the vendors, shouting from time to time, "Selling fermented bean curd, selling fermented bean curd!"
The streets were bustling with people and vendors, with one or two people pausing in front of each stall. Hers was the only one that remained unattended for a long time.
Zhao Mingsheng stayed there for almost a whole morning and still hadn't sold a single piece.
She was a little unwilling to accept this. Aunt Zou’s fermented bean curd was really delicious, so why didn’t anyone buy it?
After a long time, just when she was feeling discouraged, a woman finally stopped in front of her stall.
"Are you selling fermented bean curd?"
Seeing that business was finally coming, Zhao Mingsheng nodded excitedly.
"Yes, one penny a piece. How many do you want, ma'am?"
The woman hesitated and asked, "Can I try it first?"
"Of course!" Zhao Mingsheng picked up the chopsticks and picked up a small piece for her.
The woman tasted it and her eyes lit up. "It's really delicious. Give me six pieces."
Zhao Mingsheng was a little disappointed. Why only six yuan? These two jars of fermented bean curd were worth at least three or four hundred yuan. It was almost noon. If they kept selling like this, how long would it take to sell out?
But at least it was an opening, so Zhao Mingsheng still gave her an extra piece.
"Ma'am, today is my first day of business, so I'm giving you an extra piece. Come back and buy more if you enjoy the food!"
When the lady heard that she could get an extra piece, she smiled widely and nodded immediately and said, "Okay, okay, I'll definitely give it to you next time!"
Zhao Mingsheng followed her back as she left and found that after buying the fermented bean curd, she walked to a stall selling steamed buns not far away and bought six large buns.
She sighed in her heart, this lady is quite good at eating, hot steamed buns with fermented bean curd is really a must-try.
As she was thinking about it, her eyes suddenly lit up.
Yes! Why didn’t she think of fermented bean curd with hot steamed buns?
Zhao Mingsheng immediately brought two jars of fermented bean curd to the steamed bun stall.
The uncle who was steaming buns had just taken a tray of buns out of the oven. The buns were snow-white, each as big as two fists, looked plump and white, and exuded the aroma of flour.
"Uncle, how much is the steamed bun?"
"One penny each."
"Give me two then."
"Okay~"
The uncle neatly packed two steamed buns for her and wrapped them in lotus leaves.
It was noon, and Zhao Mingsheng was feeling a bit hungry. She squatted beside the stall, unwrapped the lotus leaf that had wrapped the steamed bun, broke it in half, spread fermented bean curd on the middle, and began to eat right there at the stall.
Perhaps because she ate so deliciously, the man who was buying steamed buns behind her looked at the steamed buns in her hand and swallowed silently.
"Girl, are you selling this fermented bean curd?"
"Sell it, one penny for one dollar! How many do you want, big brother?"
The man was holding two steamed buns in his hand. Without hesitation, he said, "Give me two pieces first. I'll put them in this bun."
He was a worker working nearby, and his usual lunch was these white flour buns.
There were no other dishes to eat with it. The cheapest plate of stir-fried vegetables in the nearby restaurant cost ten cents, and he was reluctant to spend that money, so he usually just ate two steamed buns at noon.
Although these white flour buns are delicious, he is a little tired of eating them every day after all.
But today, the hot steamed buns were filled with red fermented bean curd. As soon as I took a bite, the fresh taste immediately filled my taste buds.
For the first time, the man found these white flour buns so delicious. He ate them in big mouthfuls, and soon, two buns were gone.
On weekdays, he would only eat two at most at noon, but at this moment he still didn't feel full, so he quickly bought two big steamed buns from the steamed bun owner, and then smiled embarrassedly at Zhao Mingsheng.
"Excuse me, sister, can you sell me two more pieces of fermented bean curd?"
Seeing that business was coming, Zhao Mingsheng didn't even bother to eat the steamed buns and quickly gave him two more.
"Of course! Big Brother, you can eat as many pieces as you want, it's all the same price."
The man ate two steamed buns with fermented bean curd in a short while.
After eating four steamed buns in a row, he was really full. He burped, took out four copper coins from his pocket and handed them to Zhao Mingsheng, then patted his round belly and walked away.
The uncle selling steamed buns has been in business for many years and is very thoughtful. After seeing this scene, he immediately started chatting with Zhao Mingsheng.
"Girl, your fermented bean curd looks delicious! Can I have a taste?"
Zhao Mingsheng had originally planned to do business with him, so he nodded immediately.
The uncle selling steamed buns picked up a piece with chopsticks, tasted it, and found that it was indeed very delicious.
I couldn't help but think about cooperation.
"Little girl, how about this?" The uncle discussed with Zhao Mingsheng, "For every steamed bun I sell, I'll put all the fermented bean curd in it, plus your piece of fermented bean curd. In the end, I'll give you one penny for every two pieces of fermented bean curd I sell."
Zhao Mingsheng thought about it, but if she sold it alone, she didn't know how long it would take to sell. If she sold it together with the steamed buns, it might be sold out in no time. So she agreed.
"Okay, but I want three pieces of fermented bean curd and two cents each." Zhao Mingsheng bargained with him.
"Okay, okay, I promise you. Although the little girl doesn't look very young, she is very good at bargaining." The uncle teased with a smile.
The steamed buns with fermented bean curd were indeed more than twice as delicious as the ordinary white flour steamed buns. People who came to buy steamed buns wanted to eat a second one after eating one.
After one lunch break, the uncle calculated that the number of steamed buns sold at noon today was more than double that of usual, and the fermented bean curd played an indispensable role in this.
He smiled so hard that his teeth were showing.
Zhao Mingsheng also got the reward she deserved. She used up all the two jars of fermented bean curd and finally got two hundred and twenty coins.
This is also a considerable gain.
The uncle who was steaming the buns knew that if it weren't for the fermented bean curd, he wouldn't be able to sell so many buns today.
So after he paid the copper coins, he said with a smile:
"Little girl, if you want to sell fermented bean curd again, you can always come to me. I'm here every day. I'll take whatever you have!" He also reminded her, "We still have the same price: two pieces of fermented bean curd for three cents."
"Okay, uncle, I'll come find you when the fermented bean curd is ready."
With his promise, Zhao Mingsheng no longer worried about not being able to sell Aunt Zou's fermented bean curd, and he agreed immediately.
She put the two hundred and twenty coins given by the steamed bun stall owner and the ten coins she had earned from selling the buns, a total of two hundred and thirty coins, into a clean earthenware jar.
With a slight shake, the sound of dingling came from inside. The copper coin made a crisp and pleasant sound, which was more beautiful than any music Zhao Mingsheng had ever heard.
When passing by a small shop, Zhao Mingsheng suddenly smelled a strong spicy aroma. He looked up and saw that it was a spice shop.
After Cui Cen bumped into the spice cabinet at home, a lot of the spice spilled out and can't be used. I happened to buy some more today to replenish it.
Seeing a customer coming, the owner of the spice shop greeted him warmly:
"What would you like to buy, young lady?" she asked, pointing to the spices on the display case. "These are all shipped all the way from Sichuan, they're absolutely delicious!"
The proprietress pulled out a cloth bag from behind the counter and said attentively, "And this cinnamon from our shop is freshly arrived, absolutely fresh!"
There is a lot of knowledge in spices, for example, the book "Cao Cao Jing" that Zhao Mingsheng read before recorded:
This cinnamon can be used as both a medicinal herb and a spice.
As a medicinal material, it can treat kidney deficiency asthma, yin excess and yang deficiency, impotence, and other symptoms of deficiency and cold; as a spice, it can enhance the deliciousness of meat and stimulate the aroma of food.
In fact, some of our daily minor body problems can be adjusted through diet, and the contribution of spices cannot be underestimated.
The cinnamon that Zhao Mingsheng picked up had a brown-red surface and fine grooves. It looked good from the outside.
There is a saying in the spice industry: "Guangxi in the South and Ginseng in the North." This means that some high-quality cinnamon is rich in value comparable to ginseng.
Generally speaking, good quality cinnamon will leave oil marks when scratched with a fingernail. However, good quality cinnamon cannot be distinguished by appearance alone; it is more important to rely on your nose to smell it.
There is a saying that nothing smells better than cinnamon, which refers to the aroma of cinnamon.
The various spices mixed together, creating a pungent smell. A normal person would be overwhelmed by the odor after just a moment. However, Zhao Mingsheng's nose was exceptionally sensitive, and he could still distinguish the aroma of cinnamon from all the other scents.
She sniffed it carefully for a while, and her delicate eyebrows gradually frowned.
Zhao Mingsheng gently scratched the surface with his fingertips, and sure enough, there were no traces of cinnamon's unique oil.
"Madam, you're not selling cinnamon, are you?"
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