Miao Chu

Chapter 307 Knock on the Door
After such an incident, Wang Sanlang and Doctor Lin's group naturally went to inspect the post as well. After a lot of commotion, it was already dark when they left.

According to the laws of the Great Wei Dynasty, false accusations should be punished accordingly.

This time, the three extortionists made false accusations and acted in a particularly egregious manner. Ironically, the timing was perfect, as they had just finished their meal and had nothing else to do, attracting a large crowd of onlookers who were all excited and went to watch the spectacle.

The patrol did not provide immediate results, only saying that they needed to investigate further. They dismissed everyone, but kept the names and addresses of Wang Sanlang and the others for future use.

With the matter temporarily settled, Wang Sanlang hurriedly escorted Doctor Lin and his apprentices back to the clinic, thanking them profusely and saying that without them, he would certainly have been unable to defend himself.

Before Dr. Lin could say anything, a group of his apprentices had already started talking back.

Instead of exchanging pleasantries, the group started a new conversation.

"Brother Wang! These steamed buns are so soft and fragrant today! They're so oily! I especially love the mushroom filling inside, mushrooms are the best thing in the world! Could you please tell Xiaolian tomorrow to bring me two... no! three... no, four mushroom steamed buns when she comes to the clinic? My surname is Feng, she'll know as soon as you tell her!"

"Me too! Me too! I want the red bean paste one! My mom and grandma love red bean paste! My dad and brother love meat, can you bring me some too? Brother Wang! I want six red bean paste ones and six of those cured ham ones!!"

"Huh?? You still have marinated ham filling?? I didn't get to eat any?"

"I didn't get to eat any either!"

What flavor does the marinated ham filling taste like?

"Master, is there any more? Could you please make some marinated ham filling for us to try?"

Doctor Lin laughed and scolded, "Don't think I don't know. Did you secretly eat them all in the car just now? There were clearly about twenty left before, but now I've counted them and there are only eight left. Originally, we were going to share them with your senior uncles, senior sisters, and junior sisters, but now it's not enough. We're even 'opening another batch of pickled ham filling' here!"

"Furthermore, even if we don't distribute it to anyone tonight, we can't tell what kind of filling is inside just by looking at the outside! What if we end up with a different filling?"

One of the apprentices immediately perked up and said, "Master! Don't worry! Just give me the other fillings you cut out! I'll eat them all for you! There won't be any waste! I can eat one of each one I cut out! I'll keep cutting out until I get to the ham filling!"

"You've got a good idea!" Master Lin chuckled and lightly patted his disciple's back. "You even 'helped' me eat it all! Can't I eat it myself? Do you need to help me?? Dream on!"

The disciples burst into laughter.

"Master has said many times before that we should eat less in the evening! It's bad for our stomach!"

"That's right! That's right! Master doesn't keep his word! He's a doctor himself, yet he doesn't cherish his own health!"

Seeing the group of young apprentices chattering away, Doctor Lin didn't bother with them. He just smiled and pointed at each of them with his finger before turning back to Wang Sanlang and asking, "Young Brother Wang, what's the name of these steamed buns today? Are they just called steamed buns? I heard from Miss Song that they're a new food. I wonder if we can buy them? Can you deliver them tomorrow?"

Wang Sanlang hurriedly said, "I heard from the owner that it's called 'Broken Crispy Steamed Buns,' and it comes in several fillings, such as preserved mustard greens, pickled ham, red bean paste, and mushrooms. It's not for sale right now, but if you, Dr. Lin, would like to eat some, I'll go back and ask the owner how many you want and when you want them. I'll deliver them to your door!"

Dr. Lin then said, "Go back and ask around. If it's convenient, send it to me first thing tomorrow morning, okay?"

She gave the number of each type of crispy steamed bun.

That's a huge deal.

Wang Sanlang quickly wrote it down and then asked where the flavors needed improvement so he could teach his employer when he got back.

After discussing it carefully for a while, someone finally suggested, "We can make one bigger, so one will be enough for me to eat..."

However, he was immediately silenced.

"No, no! If we expand any further, the price will definitely go up. This is the price; we can't go any bigger, or I won't be able to afford it!"

"Exactly! It's too big! One is enough to fill me up, how am I supposed to eat the other flavors! It can't be too big!"

"How about you two pool your money and buy one together?"

"Not good! You could buy two smaller ones!"

While several fellow disciples were arguing earnestly about the size of the steamed buns, one of them suddenly said, "Wait a minute, didn't we drop a tattered steamed bun on the train? What flavor was that? Who picked it up?"

"Hey, Fifth Junior Sister, why are you running! Where's the steamed bun?!"

Several teenagers were making a ruckus here. Wang Sanlang had just received a large order for steamed buns and was very happy. He felt that today's unexpected events were nothing.

Since it was already late, and as Song Miao had instructed him earlier not to return to the shop after seeing off Doctor Lin and his party, he obediently headed home.

When he got home, Zhang Si Niang was already there. She had lit a small oil lamp and was sitting in the room practicing arithmetic with abacus beads.

Wang Sanlang had a lot to say, but seeing the scene in the room, he was so surprised that he blurted out, "Fourth Sister, why did you bring the abacus back from the shop?"

Zhang Si Niang smiled and said, "You went to see Doctor Lin today, so you didn't hear that Second Madam Cheng said I'm quite good at arithmetic and told me to try doing bookkeeping next month. She saw that I was always reciting formulas and gesturing on the table whenever I had free time, so she gave me an abacus and told me to play with it when I had free time, rather than just doing it in my head."

Her tone carried a hint of embarrassment, but more so of joy and pride, as she said, "Sanlang, Second Madam Cheng said that she and my wife have discussed it, and if I can do the accounts well, they will give me an extra five hundred coins a month..."

At this point, she sat down a little further, glanced at the shoes on Wang Sanlang's feet, and said, "I saw a shop that sells boots the other day. Everything there has to be ordered. If I can really take over the accounts at the restaurant, I'll use the money to buy you a pair of hard-soled leather boots when wages go up, okay? Once autumn comes, it gets cold, and you're always running around outside. These cloth shoes aren't warm enough!"

“Buying it in winter is just as good!” Wang Sanlang was both surprised and delighted, but said, “I was just thinking that when we came to Beijing this time, didn’t our brother and sister-in-law say they wanted to repair the house? Let’s save some money and ask someone to take it back with us—they raised you, and now that the house is being built, we should do our part.”

Zhang Si Niang would naturally remember her own family's affairs.

In fact, the couple had only been in Beijing for a few months and had not saved much money, but the husband's concern for his family was truly heartwarming.

She said, "I'll keep it, but if I bring it to my family, your family will inevitably have to too. It's better not to rush it this month or so, and wait until after the New Year. I've been calculating the interest from the shop. Once the shop is open and we get our shares, we'll have some profits at the end of the year. We can bring it back then. After all, both families will have to share, and splitting it in half would look terrible..."

"My parents know how difficult things are here, and they said we don't need to worry about them for the first few years!"

Zhang Si Niang rolled her eyes and said, "Father and Mother said we don't need to worry about it, and you really don't care? Aren't we going to arrange a marriage for Fourth Brother? Also, my eldest brother's youngest daughter is about to turn one year old, so we should at least send a first birthday gift. You're shameless, but I have to save face!" Once you get married, you'll have to deal with a lot of social obligations.

Moreover, Zhang Si Niang brought Wang San Lang to the capital, hoping to let both families know that she had made the right move and to reassure Hua Zhou.

Although it wouldn't be to the point of returning home in glory, I didn't want to show favoritism and invite gossip, nor would I want to disappoint either family.

Currently, both of them are frugal while working at Song's shop, and they don't spend money on meals. Once they have shop uniforms, they will probably be able to save a lot of money on clothing. However, the biggest expense is accommodation, and they can save a lot on daily expenses. When they start receiving profit sharing, it will be even more so.

Of course, all of this is based on the premise that the restaurant business is getting better and better and the profits are increasing.

While they were still talking, Wang Sanlang said, "I was just about to tell you something, but I got distracted and forgot to mention it..."

He recounted what happened on the way to see Dr. Lin and his party off that day.

Zhang Si Niang was startled and hurriedly asked, "Have they all been arrested? What did the police say?"

Wang Sanlang said, "They've been arrested. The police are still interrogating them. We don't know what they'll find out later."

"That old man's actions are really strange. Why would he think of crashing into your car?"

"They said they chose this car specifically because they thought it was slow and they were afraid of causing an accident."

Zhang Si Niang felt increasingly uneasy and asked, "Should we go to the restaurant and tell the lady?"

"I was also thinking about whether to go, but nothing bad can happen, and everything turned out fine in the end. Besides, it's the middle of the night, a time when everyone is sleeping, so it's really not good to go over and make a fuss. It won't be long, at most two or three hours, before it's time to go to work. So, shall we..."

Wang Sanlang was more concerned about whether he would disturb Song Miaotong and Cheng Erniang's rest. After all, the matter had been resolved, and it didn't matter when he talked about it. It would be unreasonable to knock on the door in the middle of the night to claim credit.

But Zhang Si Niang had a different idea.

She had experienced being put into the kitchen of Huazhou with croton seeds, and she also encountered tiger urine on the road. She even won the reward money that Song Miao asked for by recognizing croton seeds, and she made quite a splash when she got home.

Compared to her husband, Zhang Si Niang was more meticulous. Most importantly, she was closer to Song Miao and had a semi-master-disciple relationship with her. She was more worried about the safety of the restaurant and Song Miao.

“You don’t know, Madam Cheng said that you’ve encountered a lot of trouble at the restaurant before!” She briefly recounted what she had heard, such as Song Dalang’s debt, the gambling den across the street, and all the other things that happened that day. “Have you forgotten why we’re going to sell that ‘Song’s Notes’ this time? In case something really happens, and we’re really here for the restaurant, it’s good to go first so that you can be prepared.”

Wang Sanlang hesitated only slightly before replying, "You've spent a lot of time in the restaurant and know everyone there. You know the situation. Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it. I'll go and inform the restaurant right away!"

Zhang Si Niang also stood up and said, "It's the middle of the night, it's not good for you to go alone, I'll go with you."

The two men gathered their clothes and, without wasting a moment, went out the door and drove their mule cart toward Suanzao Lane.

Meanwhile, in Suanzao Lane, Song Miao, who should have been resting long ago, was unusually busy instead of taking a break. Instead, she and Cheng Erniang were tidying up the money they had earned from selling "Songji Paper" in the front hall.

Cheng Erniang was so excited that her face was flushed. She took a large winnowing basket and started piling up strings of money into it, while recounting her experiences during the day.

"My lady! I have never seen so much money in my life! It's in strings and strings! It doesn't look like copper coins, but like leaves. Wang Sanlang and I each took a bag to fill it up, and soon the bag was full, and soon it was full again. I never dared to dream of such a lot!"

"Those customers at the back of the line were even more anxious, afraid that if they were a step too late, they wouldn't get a turn. Sure enough, there were people in various places who had paid to queue up but still couldn't buy anything. My wife, in all my life, this is the first time I've been chased by someone with money on my back. I only regret that my legs aren't long enough to run faster. It was really close that I was caught."

"Tell me, if I get caught, should I sell myself or not?!"

Upon hearing Cheng Erniang's description, Song Miao felt a pang of regret that she hadn't gone out with her to witness firsthand the scene of "legs not being long enough" during the day.

Looking at the small thousand coins in front of her, so beautiful in their brass—especially since they were all from the restaurant, truly her own money—Song Miao couldn't help but feel a sense of security.

She smiled and said, "Everyone is helping us today because of our good reputation. We've been hiring more and more people in the restaurant lately. Hiring and training people all depend on you. Also, you need to make good use of the right people in the restaurant. Don't try to do everything yourself. It's good to have a balance between work and rest."

“I’m not doing this for nothing! My wife has been so good to me, always treating me well, so I can’t let her down—especially now, I can’t relax even a little bit, otherwise, as my wife said, if the food I make is even slightly subpar, or if I make a mistake in serving her, the more trusting the guests are today, the more annoyed they will be in the future…”

Just then, they heard a knocking sound on the door and a knocking voice from the front.

It was already completely dark when they knocked on the door. The knocking was loud, and Song Miao and Cheng Erniang exchanged a glance, both feeling a sense of foreboding.

Cheng Erniang said anxiously, "Did we lose money today and attract someone's attention? That shouldn't be the case; we've been extremely careful!"

Song Miao listened intently, then shook her head and said, "He doesn't seem like a strongman—but he's not much better than that either."

Sure enough, a moment later, someone shouted, "People from Song Family Restaurant, come open the door quickly! We've hired the police, the soldiers, and the middleman. Paying back debts is a matter of course. If you don't open the door, we'll block the place here all night, and you won't be able to set up your stall or go out tomorrow!"

Then, a police officer announced his name and affiliation through the door.

This time, Cheng Erniang was even more surprised and asked, "What are the constables from Nanxun Gate doing here?"

However, in any case, the situation cannot be resolved by staying indoors.

After exchanging a few words with Cheng Erniang, Song Miao didn't linger and went out to the front hall to open the door.

At the entrance, there was a group of thirteen or fourteen people. The ones in the lead were all burly men, with two men dressed as officials standing beside them. Not far away, there were two men standing alone, who, judging from their clothes, were clearly of middle-class character.

With this kind of situation, even a fool would know that nothing good is coming.

As soon as the door opened, the first man stepped forward and said, "You're the owner of the Song Family Restaurant? You owe my family 798 strings of cash, including interest. Pay it back right now!"

He flicked his wrist, and several receipts unfurled in the wind.

(End of this chapter)