Chapter 17

Chapter 17

After Lin Chunyan introduced them, she handed each of them a small piece of crispy fish for them to taste.

Detective Sun took it without hesitation and put it directly into his mouth. Lin Chunyan had already told them that the bones of the crispy fish were edible.

This meant there was more of the little river fish to enjoy.

"Mmm, not bad!"

Detective Sun, after eating a small piece, still felt unsatisfied and asked Lin Chunyan to pack two catties for him.

Lin Taohong served them while Lin Chunyan put the copper coins into her purse and said some auspicious words.

Detective Sun wasn't in a hurry to leave and asked Lin Chunyan if she would make something new another day.

He could see that despite her young age, Lin Chunyan had real talent.

Like him, a bachelor who spent his hard-earned copper coins on food, others from the same office who weren't married yet preferred to spend their money on courtesans.

He had been to a courtesan's place once; a single cup of tea cost ten copper coins.

The fruit platter was even more expensive and didn't taste good.

Lin Chunyan smiled and nodded, "I'll try something different next time."

The scholar in a long robe wasn't wealthy. He disliked pork and rarely ate mutton due to its high price, which made him somewhat thin.

His family had struggled to support his education, but he finally passed the imperial examination as a scholar, not disappointing them too much.

Passing the examination exempted him from land taxes, lightening the family's burden, allowing him to indulge occasionally.

He discovered the fried little river fish while strolling around, finding it affordable, meaty, and tasty. When he brought it home, everyone enjoyed it.

Given his large family, he decided to buy five or six catties of the fish.

Seeing them buy so much, Hu Xiaolangjun lost interest in the spectacle and didn't bother tasting the crispy fish. Instead, he hurriedly asked Lin Chunyan to save some for him.

Lin Chunyan recognized Hu Xiaolangjun and couldn't help but smile at his urgency.

Even Lin Taohong felt a bit fond of this lively young man.

She weighed the items, and Hu Xiaolangjun gestured for his servant to hand over the copper coins, mentioning the beautiful woman's intentions.

"Be a maid?"

Lin Chunyan paused, seeing Hu Xiaolangjun's expectant look, and her smile faded.

Hu Xiaolangjun didn't notice anything amiss and proudly listed the benefits of being a maid in their household.

"You'd get five hundred copper coins every month!"

Five hundred copper coins equaled half a string of coins.

Lin Taohong, standing nearby, was tempted; she had never seen so much money.

Lin Chunyan glanced at her, noticing her eagerness, knowing what Lin Taohong was thinking.

"Thank you for your kindness, but we can't accept such an offer."

Hu Xiaolangjun didn't understand why Lin Chunyan suddenly turned cold. Could it be because they offered too little?

Wang Chuizi and his daughter couldn't help but stretch their necks to watch, envious that Hu Xiaolangjun wanted to take Lin Chunyan as a maid.

Being a maid in a wealthy household meant better food, shelter, and clothing than in ordinary homes.

Especially in a kitchen where wealth flowed like water.

Wang Chuizi couldn't sell any of his fried little river fish today, no matter how loudly he called out.

Seeing Lin Chunyan and Lin Taohong doing so well, Wang Chuizi stood up abruptly, taking some fried little river fish with him.

Before leaving, he also brought Wang Yingniang along.

As Hu Xiaolangjun was feeling awkward, Wang Chuizi approached with the little river fish. "These are made by my daughter Yingniang. Please taste them; they're excellent."

Hu Xiaolangjun disliked people crowding him unless he had chosen them himself.

He glanced at Wang Yingniang and the fried little river fish. They looked golden and similar to the ones he had eaten yesterday.

He suspected that his maid had bought them from her.

He had a peculiar ability: he could remember the taste of anything he had eaten.

Since it wasn't impressive, only the beautiful woman knew about it, and she dared not tell anyone else.

Unaware that Hu Xiaolangjun was already annoyed, Wang Chuizi eagerly handed over the little river fish, but a servant immediately intercepted it.

The servant noticed how dirty Wang Chuizi's hands were and thought he shouldn't crowd their young master. If the beautiful woman found out, he would be punished.

Wang Chuizi persisted, thinking Hu Xiaolangjun was interested in Lin Chunyan's looks. However, he saw that the young lady was quite thin and had no particular charm.

He pushed Wang Yingniang forward, and she, understanding his intention, shyly said, "Xiaolangjun, I'm also good at cooking..."

Before she could finish, Lin Taohong's cold snort interrupted her.

She called out loudly, "Clay pot crispy fish, specially made clay pot crispy fish..."

Wang Yingniang was cut off mid-sentence; she couldn't muster the courage to continue. Hu Xiaolangjun acted as if he hadn't heard anything and led his servant back.

Seeing that things didn't work out, Wang Chuizi's face turned dark, and he glared fiercely at Wang Yingniang, thinking her incompetent.

Wang Yingniang, upon being glared at by Wang Chuizi, couldn't help but turn red-eyed and sat down in her seat, sobbing quietly.

Lin Taohong was still fuming and started berating Wang Yingniang, "What do you think you are? Coming here to snatch everything! Can't you see if the young master even looks your way?"

Wang Yingniang didn't dare to respond. Wang Chuizi seemed lost in thought, as if he hadn't heard anything.

After venting, Lin Taohong turned to glare at Lin Chunyan, "Elder Sister, why didn't you respond just now?"

Lin Chunyan saw that there weren't many clay pot crispy fish left. Since she had nothing else to do, she took out some bamboo shoots and began peeling them.

Lin Taohong asked twice, but seeing Lin Chunyan not responding, she nearly jumped up in anger.

"If you want to go, why didn't you tell the young master just now?"

Annoyed by the question, Lin Chunyan looked up and countered, "He wasn't asking for me."

Lin Taohong felt frustrated. After all, it was the kitchen they were talking about, where she would have to cook and be covered in soot eventually.

If it were serving inside the house, she would definitely be willing.

Lin Chunyan could see through her thoughts and didn't blame her. She knew how tough it was, almost unbearable.

But common folk had limited information, and what they heard and saw was always about how good it was to be a maid.

Even if there were bad experiences, people would say it was because of their bad luck.

Just like Wang Chuizi and his daughter, despite losing face and being pointed at, they still came to try their luck.

Lin Chunyan directly asked her, "If I were to become a kitchen maid, what would you and Mother do?"

Lin Taohong opened her mouth, not understanding why Lin Chunyan asked this.

"Aren't there monthly wages?"

As soon as she said it, she realized it was wrong. With Lin Chunyan's personality, she wouldn't give them any money.

Neither she nor Mrs. Zhang were diligent. She would likely end up married early, serving her in-laws just to have food on the table.

Knowing she wasn't well-liked, Lin Taohong deflated and stopped glaring at Lin Chunyan.

Lin Chunyan handed her a few bamboo shoots. "Get to work."

Reluctantly, Lin Taohong took them. Her knife skills weren't as good as Lin Chunyan's, and the peels she removed were thick. Grandma Tangshui, who saw this, tutted several times.

Lin Taohong's face turned bright red, but remembering that Grandma Tangshui had reserved a spot for them, she couldn't lose her temper and had to hold back.

Besides the young master, Wang Niangzi from the steamed bun shop was also looking for Lin Chunyan.

During breaks between steaming buns, she would tiptoe to look outside. Not seeing anyone, she complained to her husband with disappointment.

Her husband seemed calmer, speaking words of comfort to Wang Niangzi but also sneaking outside twice during breaks.

Grandma Tangshui knew the couple and told them Lin Chunyan hadn't come today.

When she did, she would send someone to inform the couple.

After dealing with the young master, Grandma Tangshui mentioned the couple's search to Lin Chunyan.

Lin Chunyan guessed that adding shrimp flakes to plain buns must taste good.

After packing up, she led Lin Taohong over.

Seeing her arrive, Wang Niangzi's face lit up. "Young lady, you've finally come. We've been looking for you."

Lin Chunyan explained that she had something at home and brought up the shrimp flakes, "How did they taste?"

Wang Niangzi took two freshly steamed buns from the steamer and handed one to each of them. "Why don't you taste them and see if my flavor is good?"

Lin Taohong couldn't wait to start eating. She had eaten buns from this shop before, and while they weren't bad, they never tasted as delicious as these plain buns today.

She thought it must be because of the shrimp flakes Lin Chunyan mentioned.

Lin Chunyan took a bite. Even without mushrooms and wood ears, the shrimp flakes' aroma surpassed the blandness of the original plain buns.

Seeing her nod, Wang Niangzi spoke about buying more shrimp flakes.

"I sell over ten baskets of buns a day, including four or five baskets of plain ones. We need a lot of shrimp flakes."

They weren't near the sea, and relying on small shrimp from the river wouldn't be enough.

Lin Chunyan knew this was a big deal and thought carefully before responding, "I'm not sure how much we can produce. When we're done, I'll bring some for you to see."

Wang Niangzi was slightly disappointed but understood the difficulty of catching shrimp from the river.

Lin Taohong first got excited, then hearing Lin Chunyan's words, became anxious again.

Ignoring Wang Niangzi, Lin Taohong tugged at Lin Chunyan's sleeve and whispered, "Let's go catch shrimp right away."

Lin Chunyan thought that relying solely on the river's shrimp wouldn't be enough and needed a way to farm them.

They then discussed the price. Wang Niangzi's husband came out from behind the steamer and began negotiating with Lin Chunyan.

Their plain steamed buns are priced at one coin for two, with not much shrimp skin in each bun, just for the sake of a fresh taste.

"Fifty cents a pound, that's the maximum."