Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 410: The food prepared by Miss Shen is really good

After eating for a while, everyone felt warm and ate slower, so they could think more about the meal.

Looking at the pancake in their hands, which was thicker than their palms and had a crispy bottom, and thinking about what Liu Shun had said, everyone looked at each other with a look of gratitude on their faces.

A man who had applied for the imperial service several times said with emotion: "The food prepared by Miss Shen is really good."

"I have been conscripted several times before, but never have I received so much food in one meal."

"This dish smells delicious, and the pancakes are thick. I don't know how much you eat, but I'm sure I'll be full with a bowl of dish and two thick pancakes."

There were several people nearby who had served in the military like him, and they all nodded, proving that he was telling the truth.

As everyone was whispering, a thin young man, about eighteen or nineteen years old, pursed his lips and suddenly couldn't hold back his tears, and actually started to cry softly.

He sniffed and said, "Miss Shen is such a good person. She cooked such a good meal for us, and we ridiculed her like that yesterday."

The person who joined in the commotion yesterday happened to be squatting next to him.

The man felt a little embarrassed and interrupted, "He is a good man, you are a man, why do you cry for this?"

The young man quickly wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve and grinned sheepishly: "The big brother who beat the gong said that Miss Shen told us not to drink cold water. I felt very sad when I heard that."

He took a long breath, squinted his eyes and looked at the rising sun, muttering to himself: "I miss my mother. When she was alive, she always told me this every winter."

After hearing this, everyone stopped laughing at the young man who was crying.

A friend from the same village beside him patted his shoulder and comforted him: "Don't be sad, eat quickly, your mother will be relieved only if you are well."

Everyone was touched by the young man and stopped talking and started eating.

When they finished eating, there was only one tall man who kept saying, "This pancake is so delicious. I can eat two more."

Everyone found the meal filling and warming.

One of the experienced ones said, "I did some calculations while eating. If I had this amount of food for three meals a day, I wouldn't be able to afford it with just 50 coins."

"Miss Shen is using her own money to supplement this."

Someone next to him also said, "It must be subsidized. I can taste the meat in this dish, and I can even taste some meat residue."

As soon as this was said, several people nodded and said, "Yes, yes, if we only use vegetable oil, the dish won't taste this good."

"And this pancake is so soft and thick."

"Although it's mixed noodles, I can taste the bean flour flavor. It's more filling than mixed noodles with only millet flour, but the price is also higher."

After everyone discussed it, they all felt that it would cost at least twenty-five cents to prepare a meal like this.

After settling the bill, everyone was stunned for a moment.

Someone murmured suspiciously, "I didn't expect that we would meet such a good person. He is willing to spend all his food money on us and even pay for it himself."

"That shouldn't be the case! Could it be that she has other ideas, to please us and curry favor with the government, so that we can take care of her restaurant's business?"

The man made wild guesses.

The people around him couldn't stand it anymore and angrily scolded him loudly: "Are they all like the black-hearted cooks we met before?"

"Every day I feed you a mixed cake that is half bran and half grain. When you eat it until the stones knock out your teeth, you feel happy and think it is your duty."

Seeing that the two were about to quarrel, Wang Dazhuang, the leader, hurriedly separated them.

He said to everyone in a tone of negotiation and command: "Everyone stop arguing and listen to me."

"I feel like we, as men, can't just sit there and do nothing and pretend we don't know what the girls are doing to us."

"First, when I go to deliver the dishes, push two people out, including Tian Daniu, and follow me to thank the girl and apologize for what I said yesterday."

"Second, starting tomorrow, when we come here early in the morning, we must chop as much firewood as possible so that Miss Shen can sell more firewood and earn more money, so that she doesn't have to pay for our meals herself."

Wang Dazhuang stared at everyone with his eyes as big as copper bells. Seeing that no one answered, he continued, "We are all here to enlist in the army. Why should they subsidize us?"

"Besides, she is still a young girl."

"If we really only know how to eat and don't put in some effort, we'll be criticized if word gets out. What do you think of these two points I made?"

Wang Dazhuang is as his name suggests, tall and strong with a strong body. He has always enjoyed some prestige in their village because of his upright character, good farming skills and fair dealings with others.

As soon as he spoke, everyone nodded, and someone took the lead with a smile and said, "Da Zhuang is right. I will definitely chop more firewood and bring it over tomorrow."

"If I could eat like this three times a day, it would be better than what I eat at home. I would be happy to chop wood every day."

Everyone laughed when they heard this, and they all quickly promised to chop some good firewood and bring it over starting tomorrow so that Miss Shen would not suffer any loss.

After discussing the candidates, Wang Dazhuang took Tian Daniu and two other people who were nominated as representatives. The four of them collected everyone's bowls and chopsticks in a basket and went to return them to Shen Yu.

After distributing the food to everyone, there were still seven or eight flatbreads and a pot of stewed cabbage left.

Although the food was much simpler than eating in a restaurant, it was enough for Shen Yu and the other two to share.

Lu Lang also came at this time. Seeing that the work was going smoothly, he was about to take a car back to the county government office with the yamen runners who had just changed shifts. There were still a lot of miscellaneous things waiting for him in the county government office.

Seeing that the food had been distributed in the watch room, he came over to see what Shen Yu was doing.

Shen Yu and the other two were just about to have breakfast when they saw Lu Lang come in. They asked Lu Lang if he wanted to eat something before leaving. They also took out the basket of meat buns that Li had packed and told Lu Lang that there was enough food.

Lu Lang attached great importance to it as today was the first day of the canal repair work.

I had some snacks when I woke up in the morning and made some oil tea for breakfast. I'm not hungry at the moment.

He smiled, thanked me and said he had already eaten.

Seeing Shen Yu take out a basket of meat buns, he frowned slightly and asked Shen Yu to put the basket away and not to eat it at this time.

Seeing Shen Yu's puzzled look, there were only Shen Yu, Liu Shun and Qi Xi in the room, and no outsiders.

He explained in a gentle voice: "If they eat bread and you eat meat buns in front of them, no matter how good the food is, it will easily cause misunderstanding and they will think that you have deducted their food expenses."