On this day, three elegantly dressed young ladies arrived at Song Tantan's pastry shop. All three ladies wore veils and were accompanied by two maids.
"Welcome." Song Tantan stood up from behind the counter, and was about to ask what she wanted to buy when her gaze fell on a girl walking at the very back.
The reason she noticed her was simply because she was an acquaintance. Although they hadn't seen each other for a long time, Song Tantan recognized her at a glance. This person was Zhang Qingyu's younger sister, Zhang Qingling.
It seems she does have some social skills. Even though the Zhang family is struggling financially, she can still befriend these rich young ladies. It turns out she's not as stupid as she seems.
Zhang Qingling had obviously seen her too, but the other woman suddenly tensed up, looked away as if she didn't recognize her. Song Tantan secretly pursed her lips; she didn't want to greet her anyway, so it was better to pretend she didn't know her.
However, God is a customer, and she wouldn't do something as foolish as kicking them out. She gave a perfectly timed smile and asked, "What would you like to order? Have you tried our pastries before?"
Then she skillfully began to introduce the flavors of various pastries, and took out several plates, picked up a piece of each, cut it into small pieces with a knife, and placed toothpicks next to it, so that the customers could taste the flavor first and then choose to buy more of their favorites.
"This is delicious. I like the sweet and chewy filling inside." The woman was dressed in a light blue dress. She was petite and slender with a sweet voice. When Song Tantan lifted the light blue veil from her hat, she saw her extremely cute and sweet face.
The little girl just ate a coconut-filled cake, which Song Tantan took from the supermarket, not one that Xiao Tao and the others made.
Then, another tall, slightly plump woman in a blue dress pointed to the pineapple-flavored cookie and said, "I like this. It's fragrant, crispy, and not greasy at all. What is it made of?"
Song Tantan wasn't sure if pineapples existed in this dynasty either, since this was a fictional world with no historical records, and she dared not tell the truth.
"This is a new flavor, I'm not too sure, it was made by the pastry chef, not me." She was just a salesperson; it was made in a modern food factory and originally came in a bag, but the packaging was removed before selling it.
When asked how she made it, she didn't know.
"You're just a food vendor, and you don't even know what your food is made of? What if the ladies get sick from eating it? How are you going to take responsibility?" Zhang Qingling, who hadn't spoken until now, suddenly interrupted.
Song Tantan really wanted to say, "This stuff has been sold for a long time, and other people have eaten it without any problems. Are these ladies' stomachs made of paper? How could they have problems after eating it?"
Of course, as a proper pastry shop owner, she wouldn't reveal her true thoughts; she would have to explain politely.
"It's made from a fruit that was picked from deep in the mountains. Monkeys and people ate it and were fine. The pastry chef tasted it beforehand, and I also ate it. We're both fine now. We only dared to put it out for sale after confirming there were no problems."
She glanced at Zhang Qingling, who remained silent, and said, "Miss, you should try some. The pastries in my shop are all very delicious; you definitely can't buy them anywhere else."
Zhang Qingling wanted to try it, but she didn't have much money on her. She had heard that the pastries in this shop were particularly expensive. The shop had been open for more than three months, and this was the first time she had come in today.
If she tries it, will Song Tantan insist that she buy it?
No, she still wants to try it first. She'll insist that she doesn't like it and doesn't like the taste of these pastries, so that no one can say anything to her if she doesn't buy them.
The three ladies had already chosen several flavors they liked, each buying two pounds. They also tried instant noodles, pickled vegetables, fermented bean curd, and chili sauce.
"These are our Song family's secret recipe dishes that go well with rice. If you like them, you can buy some to take home and eat. If you enjoy them, you can buy more next time. The quantity is limited, and once they're sold out, they're gone." They only occasionally put them out for sale, and they often run out of stock because they're afraid of being discovered.
"You can make them yourself, so how come there aren't enough to sell?" Zhang Qingling always liked to contradict her. Just now she was wolfing down her pastries, and she had almost finished the plate.
They say that someone who eats another's food is bound to be compliant, but after eating so much, her mouth has become even harder to keep.
"You don't know, these vegetables are seasonal. They can only be harvested once a year. If you grow more, you can't grow more. Besides, vegetables that are originally moist shrink a lot after being dried. A basket of dried vegetables can only make this small jar. We also add a lot of fine salt, seal it, and store it for another six months before we can take it out to eat."
The three young ladies were completely taken aback, and the maids were also dumbfounded. Wasn't it a bit of an exaggeration that a basket could only yield a small jar of dried fruit?
"I'm telling the truth. This vegetable is different from the ones you usually see. No one else can grow it. Only my family knows how to grow it," Song Tantan continued to bluff.
"Your family is really good at so many things." Don't get me wrong, this is not meant to be sarcastic. Zhang Qingling really thought so. Just think about how many things Song Tantan and Ye Moxun did back in Songlin Village.
Now they've brought all the things they did in Songlin Village back to Fengcheng, like papermaking, cement making, brick firing... they've figured out everything they do, it seems like there's nothing they can't do.
"Thank you for the compliment. It's all for the sake of making a living. I don't know how to do anything else, so I can only think of more ways to cook. The past few years were too difficult. What haven't we eaten?" Song Tantan started rambling again, making people mistakenly believe that her family used to have a hard life and dared to eat anything. Unexpectedly, she turned misfortune into blessing and developed many delicious dishes.
"I'll buy one jar of this pickled mustard greens, but I don't want the fermented bean curd; I don't like the taste," said the little girl in the blue dress.
The lady in blue bought one jar of everything, saying she wanted to take it home for her family to try. Then the lady in the lotus root-colored dress, who hadn't said a word, also bought one jar of everything, and she bought the most pastries.
It seems she was the wealthiest in the family and carried the most money, so she could naturally buy more.
"Qingling, aren't you going to buy anything?" The little girl looked at her, gesturing for her to buy some as well.
"I... I'm a little tired of eating now, I'll come back another day to buy more." She had almost finished the plate, but she was too embarrassed to complain that the pastries were bad. Besides, everyone else had bought some, and if she said they were bad, wouldn't she offend people?
"You can take it back for your family to eat. Have your parents tried it?" The little girl in blue, whether on purpose or out of genuine naivety, insisted that people buy it for her too.
Zhang Qingling's eyes flashed, and she glanced at Song Tantan quickly, feeling a little guilty, as if she was afraid that Song Tantan would expose her. Her parents had fallen off a cliff and died four years ago while driving a carriage, so where were her parents now?
She concealed the truth in order to establish connections with the daughters of these wealthy families, and still considered herself a former noblewoman. Although she had fallen on hard times, even a fallen camel is bigger than a horse. With a slight hint, others would assume that her family still had a strong foundation and that she was at least capable of standing on equal footing with the wealthy families of Fengcheng.
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