The peasant girl has a private space, and her husband is handsome.

Because the first floor was already full and there were no seats available, Mu Hongyuan could only take a few members of the Mu family to a private room on the second floor.

The waiter brought the ordered tea and food to the table, and also gave us a complimentary snack.

"Sir, this is our teahouse's newly developed butter popcorn, unique in the entire Daqi. As we are celebrating our owner's father's promotion to centurion, this snack is being offered free of charge."

A small dish of pale yellow grains, each one distinct.

It smells so good! It has a milky aroma and a corn scent!

The Mu clan discovered a very serious problem.

As the most prominent family in the Great Qi Dynasty, they actually have snacks they've never seen before! That shouldn't be the case!

The waiter proudly explained, "The popcorn pot we use is made from a divine stone from outer space."

Mu Hongyuan wasn't surprised at all by the waiter's explanation. If even the pot for this creamy popcorn was made of celestial stone, then he had to try it and share in the good fortune.

Mu Hongyuan tasted a few kernels of popcorn and could tell they were made from corn, with added cream and sugar, giving them a very unique flavor.

Gu Ji is really amazing; they've made the tough corn kernels so soft and sweet.

It could also be thanks to extraterrestrial meteorites that the food tastes so delicious.

Several members of the Mu clan also enjoyed the meal very much.

"This tastes absolutely amazing!"

"This trip was definitely worthwhile, as I was able to try the only creamy popcorn in Daqi."

"The Su family in Qinghe County has such a narrow vision. They're just a hundred households, yet they attach such importance to it and even give away such novel snacks for free to celebrate."

The waiter who was pouring tea curled his lip, thinking to himself, "This creamy popcorn is nothing special to Master Su. But you guests at this table seem to have never seen anything like it, daring to laugh at our master."

The plump old man among the Mu clan elders laughed the most smugly, "That's right, our Mu clan has three officials of the fifth rank or above, and a centurion is only a sixth-rank official, nothing special. Sending such expensive snacks will make people mistakenly think that Master Su is among the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers, haha!"

After the fat old man finished speaking, he noticed that the dish of butter popcorn was empty. He was a little angry. These tribesmen were really something. While he was talking, they actually snatched all the butter popcorn.

The portly old man smiled and beckoned the waiter in. "Congratulations to your Master Su on his promotion to centurion! Could you please bring us an extra plate of butter popcorn? Or we can pay for it ourselves, please?"

The waiter apologized, "I'm sorry, sir, our new product is so popular that we can't sell it right now. We can only give you one plate per table."

The waiter heard it very clearly. The fat old man was dismissive of the boss's promotion just now, but now his tone has turned obsequious. Go ahead and keep looking down on our boss!

The fat old man couldn't believe it: as a member of the illustrious Mu clan, there was something he wanted to eat but couldn't get—this had never happened before.

Mu Hongyuan shook his head helplessly and said to the waiter, "Since it's limited to one serving per table, please open another private room for us. Don't forget to send a serving of popcorn to the new private room."

The waiter quickly replied, "Don't worry, sir, that's for sure."

Why are there still empty seats in the private rooms on the second floor? That's because the minimum spend here is 100 taels of silver.

The employees are naturally happy to make more money for their employers.

Mu Hongyuan sat in a private room on the second floor of Gu Ji Restaurant, looking out the window, but he could not see anyone. He could only see red, green and yellow umbrellas covered with a thin layer of white snow.

The heavy snow had been falling for many days, which seemed quite unusual.

Before long, Mu Hongyuan saw the carriage of the Duke of Anguo's mansion.

Curious, I wondered if the Duke of Anguo's family was also queuing up to buy rice candy.

Mu Hongyuan went downstairs and saw Princess Zhaohua go to the counter on the first floor.

Behind the princess were four maids carrying red brocade boxes, who placed all the gifts on the counter.

Mu Hongyuan stood not far away, listening carefully to the conversation between Princess Zhaohua and the shopkeeper.

Princess Zhaohua sincerely offered her congratulations: "Congratulations to Miss Su's father on his promotion to centurion. These are congratulatory gifts from our Duke Anguo's mansion to Miss Su."

Mu Hongyuan found it somewhat unbelievable that such a low-ranking official as a centurion could attract a noble family like the Duke's Mansion to send congratulatory gifts, especially with Princess Zhaohua personally leading the entourage.

It seems that Miss Su from Qinghe County has quite a lot of influence.

Standing behind the counter, Xu Ruofeng quickly instructed the shop assistant to fetch a return gift: "Bring a large box of rice candy and a large jar of butter popcorn to give to Princess Zhaohua."

Princess Zhaohua's smile widened even more when she heard Xu Ruofeng announce the return gift.

This is exactly what she wants most.

My sister relies entirely on these novel delicacies to win over His Majesty.

There was no other way; with three thousand beauties in the imperial palace, if you didn't compete for favor, you would only be trampled underfoot.

If you have to queue, you might not be able to buy rice candy.

Moreover, the butter popcorn is a new product and is not yet available for sale, but it's still a good item.

Princess Zhaohua didn't return to the Duke of Anguo's residence; instead, she sent the gifts directly to the palace because her sister said His Majesty liked rice candy.

About the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Mu Hongyuan discovered that the Meng family had also arrived.

The person who came was Meng Wulang, a member of the younger generation of the Meng family, and also the founder of Meng's Pastry Shop.

Mengji Pastry Shop has now spread to four surrounding countries, demonstrating its considerable strength.

The signature sponge cake, in particular, is very popular.

As the name suggests, sponge cake is made with eggs, but Meng Ji's is different. It is especially fluffy and soft, and many shops that try to imitate it cannot replicate its essence.

Mu Hongyuan pointed it out to his clansmen: "Even the Meng family, one of the five great families, sent a gift to that Miss Su, and just now the Duke of Anguo's mansion also came to send a gift."

The clansmen were puzzled; why did the Duke of Anguo's mansion and the Meng family attach such importance to a mere centurion?

Mu Hongyuan's next words finally cleared up their doubts: "Princess Zhaohua and Fifth Master Meng received a box of rice candy and a large jar of butter popcorn as a return gift."

The fat old man suggested, "Since the Meng family has already sent a gift, as we are also one of the five great families, our Mu family should also send a gift."

The other elders of the Mu clan echoed this sentiment.

"Yes, even if it's just for the butter popcorn, we should still send a generous gift."

"Send it, we must send it. The Meng family got butter popcorn, our Mu family should get some too."

Mu Hongyuan originally only admired Miss Su and didn't intend to give her gifts to curry favor, but in order to get rice candy and butter popcorn, he decided to go all out.

He immediately arranged for someone to go back and prepare valuable gifts, ostensibly to congratulate Miss Su's father on his promotion.

Like the Meng family, they received a large box of return gifts.

When I got home and opened the box, I found two hundred packets of rice candy wrapped in oil paper, and a jar of butter popcorn.

The jar for the butter popcorn had a picture of a chubby, snow-white cat on it; it was so cute and adorable.

Mu Hongyuan and his clansmen were filled with surprise.

I was just lamenting that I hadn't had enough at Gu Ji's, and now they've sent over a huge jar. The jar is so big that it's enough to fill at least eight plates with butter popcorn.

The elders couldn't wait any longer. The fat elder urged the maid to bring a plate, and they immediately started eating.

And those who lined up at Gu's to buy rice candy also got their results.

Most people didn't manage to buy them; only about ten people did.

Since each person is limited to buying 10 packs, a total of 130 packs were purchased.

The fat old man was a foodie; he savored the delicious food while pondering.

I think giving gifts is more cost-effective. The owner of Gu Ji directly gave me 200 bags of rice candy in return, which is much less effort than queuing up.

The Mu family is never short of money; it would be great if they could send gifts to Gu's Tea House every day.

It's a real shame; if I went to deliver gifts every day, I'd probably be mistaken for a madman.

Mu Hongyuan suggested, "Let's distribute some rice candy to the clansmen so that everyone can share in the good fortune, since it was made in a divine stone pot from outer space."

The next day, Xu Ruofeng was surprised to find that the Mu family had come to deliver gifts again.

The gift-giver this time was a highly respected, portly elder of the Mu family. The gift was quite valuable: a royal teacup used by the imperial family of the Great Xia Kingdom in the west.

It's really strange that the Mu family keeps sending gifts to the master.

Everyone says that the five great families are extremely difficult to curry favor with, but Miss Su did nothing, and didn't even come to the capital, yet she still managed to win over the Mu family.

If the other wealthy and powerful families found out, they would be furious.

The fat elder was overjoyed. After the return gift was loaded onto the carriage, he whispered to his servants, "Don't tell anyone that I received a return gift. Don't let any other members of the clan know."

The plump elder carefully climbed onto the carriage, carrying a beautiful jar of buttered popcorn, and sat on the soft cushions, rubbing his hands together excitedly.

He wiped his hands on his clothes repeatedly before starting to eat heartily.

On the surface, the five great families appear to be at peace and friendly, but in reality, they are all vying for power.

Although the Mu family tried their best to conceal their identities, the fact that they sent a hundred people to Gu's Tea House to steal rice candy was quickly discovered by several other prominent families.

The other four families all knew that the head of the Mu family was shrewd and would never do anything useless, so they all followed the Mu family's example and sent people to queue up at Gu's Tea House.

Because the Mu family and several other families joined the scramble for rice candy, the servants of the Luo family were unable to get any for several days in a row.

Vice Minister Luo was in great distress. His son was in prison, his wife had suffered a stroke, and he himself had been suspended from his post. Rice candy was his only solace, but he could never eat it.

This year's weather has been particularly unusual.

The heavy snow continued to fall until the sixth day of the Lunar New Year.

During the morning court session, more than a dozen county magistrates from the vicinity of the capital sent urgent letters.

Due to the continuous heavy snow, many houses collapsed under the weight of the snow, resulting in heavy casualties.