Today, two steamers were set up on a cart outside Douxiangzhai. The frying pans usually used for pumpkin cakes had been replaced with steamers for zongzi. Layers of meat, red bean paste, and eight-treasure candied dates and egg yolk were arranged, the cotton threads all in a riot of color. Lin Yan sat at the table packing the gift boxes: two meat dumplings, two red bean paste candied dates, one egg yolk, and one zongzi. Well, that was it.
Another small table was taken and moved to the right side of the door. It was filled with gift boxes. One of them even had the lid open so that passers-by could see what was being sold.
"Boss, this is the gift box you mentioned yesterday." A customer who had come in early for breakfast picked it up curiously and asked, "What kind of fillings are in it?"
Lin Yan smiled and pointed at him, "The first two are fresh meat dumplings. They're filled with pork belly, marinated overnight in a special sauce to ensure they're salty and fragrant. The two in the middle are red bean paste dumplings, made with red bean paste and a little sugar, for a perfect sweetness. The last one is a candied date dumpling, filled with pitted candied dates from the bakery. They're big, and you can guarantee you'll taste them when you bite into them. The last one is a salted egg yolk pork dumpling, with half a salted egg yolk and a piece of pork belly. The salted egg yolk is marinated at home, and when you take it out, it oozes oil when you poke it."
The customer named Lin Yan was drooling, "Young boss, I can't wait to eat it now."
"We have them in the store, sold individually. Fresh meat dumplings and egg yolk meat dumplings are five cents, and red bean paste dumplings and candied date dumplings are three cents." Although the egg yolk and meat dumplings have two ingredients, only half an egg yolk is put into a dumpling, and the pork belly is also half of the fresh meat dumplings, so the price is the same, small profits but quick turnover.
"Then I buy what's in the gift box and make a gift box myself. Wouldn't that be cheaper?" the customer teased.
"That's right. If you have gift boxes at home, feel free to buy them and put them in the gift boxes for others. But I can only get a lower price if I buy more gift boxes. If you don't have any gift boxes at home, you can buy them yourself. The boss won't give you a hard time if you buy one or two. It's 20 cents each." Lin Yan didn't hide anything and talked about everything.
The guest was very impressed by Lin Yan's cheerful attitude and immediately said, "Give me a candied date rice dumpling with an egg yolk, eat it here, and a bowl of sweet soy milk, and take the two gift boxes with you when you leave."
Lin Yan narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Hey, I'll get it for you right away."
Zhao Shiyun quickly picked up the rice dumpling, untied the rope and peeled off the rice dumpling leaves in a few seconds, put it on a plate with the rice dumpling leaves and served it to the guests, asking the guests to eat it while smelling the fragrance of the rice dumpling. Yue Ge'er also brought a bowl of soy milk.
Other guests who were listening in on the meal also started to order some zongzi. "Hey, this zongzi with egg yolk is really delicious."
As the zongzi arrived, the steam, mingling with the delicate fragrance of the zongzi leaves, the aroma of glutinous rice, the salty aroma of salted egg yolk, and the meaty aroma of pork belly, filled my nostrils. A bite revealed the soft, glutinous rice spreading across my tongue, a delicate, dense texture. The salted egg yolk was crunchy and rich in salty flavor, each grain coated in fat, its fragrance instantly permeating my mouth. The pork belly was rich but not greasy, lean but not dry, and tender and juicy, perfectly complementing the glutinous rice and salted egg yolk.
"It's just a little small, not enough to eat." The customer licked his lips, still not satisfied. He also wanted to buy a gift box as a gift, but his friend didn't like sweets. "Little boss, I want a few salty dumplings to pack myself at home for my friend, he doesn't like sweets."
"Okay, I'll pack whatever you want."
"Three meat dumplings and three salted egg yolk dumplings, please. I'll also need a gift box for the Yue family. There's only one empty gift box at home, and I can't let them think I'm being rude. Also, give me a candied date and a red bean paste dumpling. My wife loves them." The man smiled. When he saw Zhao Shiyun open the steamer and take out his dumplings, he asked, "What's this dumpling with black cotton thread?"
"That's eight-treasure rice dumpling. It contains red dates, longans, peanuts, and lotus seeds."
"Hey, this one is good. Give me another one of this." The customer's eyes lit up, thinking that the lady would definitely like this one too.
Lin Yan was very moved when he met a generous guest not long after the door was opened, who was also a family-loving and caring guest.
"Here you go, a hundred coins, and I'll give you an extra eight-treasure rice dumpling." Lin Yan packed the rice dumplings the customer wanted. He wanted to tell the customer what color of cotton thread was for what rice dumpling, but he was afraid that the customer would not remember, so he simply packed them separately. One bag was for the customer to make a gift box, and one bag contained four sweet rice dumplings. Fortunately, the quantities were different, otherwise the customer would have been confused.
I spent a hundred wen to buy these old rice dumplings. Some people who were having breakfast thought it was too expensive and started grumbling to their table mates. But the buyer happily took it and got a free eight-treasure rice dumpling. Besides, every year I have to buy gifts for people, so it doesn't matter where I buy them. These Douxiangzhai ones are pretty good. When I go to my in-laws' house, I'll bring a gift box, a piece of meat or an old hen, and some malt sugar for the kids to sweeten their mouths. I guarantee it will be perfect.
"There's a dragon boat race on the Dragon Boat Festival. Let's go and see it," the customers in the inn were chatting. "It's right outside the city, by the river. The county magistrate has called together the village heads. Anyone interested can sign up, and then he'll organize the young and strong men in the village. Then there'll be a race, and there'll be prizes for the first place winner."
"Oh? What award?"
"I don't know. We'll find out when we go and see."
"Okay, it happens that we have a day off that day, let's go together." It turned out that they were two students again.
Lin Yan secretly listened and planned to ask his family whether they would go when he got home.
The loose rice dumplings sold well today, and more than ten boxes of gift boxes were also sold. Lin Yan ordered fifty gift boxes and was a little worried that they would not be sold. However, there were still two days before the Dragon Boat Festival, and when the dragon boat race came, he would push the cart to the river to sell the dumplings, so he should be able to do business.
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