Sweet and salty milk tea was a rarity! Wen Mingtang thought for a moment and said to Lin Fei, “Lin Shaoqing, you can have some if you want! But instead of making the milk tea sweet and salty directly, it’s even more delicious to put the milk cream, made from cow’s milk, on top of the milk tea!”

Lin Fei looked at Wen Mingtang and pressed his lips together.

Although he didn’t say anything, the meaning in his actions was obvious: Since it’s delicious, why not make some?

Wen Mingtang understood the meaning in his actions and explained, “Recently, milk tea has been quite popular, and the cow’s milk from the Zhuangzi is a bit insufficient! When there is surplus cow’s milk in the future, we can make it!”

…

The popcorn, after being “tested” by Lin Fei, Liu Yuan, and others, was quite popular and naturally entered the takeout stalls without any surprise.

The students of the Imperial Academy, ever since they discovered that their “neighbor,” the Dali Temple’s public kitchen, sold delicious snacks, became regular customers of the public kitchen, and many students would come to buy snacks every afternoon.

After buying for several days, Ah Bing and Tang Yuan had figured out the students’ break times.

“There’s a half-hour break around Shen Shi (3-5 PM),” Tang Yuan said, munching on some sweet and salty popcorn. “It depends on which professor is teaching the class! If they’re easygoing, they can have a full half-hour break; if they’re not, it’s only the time it takes to drink a cup of tea!”

Ji Caimai, who was compiling the shopping list, seemed to remember something and asked Tangyuan, “I saw those students stop you and Ah Bing today and talk to you for a while. They said they wanted you to pass a message to me. What did they say?”

“That’s what we were talking about!” Tangyuan replied quickly. “Those students said they wanted to ‘offer advice’ to our public kitchen!”

Ji Caimai, who was writing the shopping list, froze, his lips twitching. “Just a snack, and they’re offering ‘advice’!”

This was just a public kitchen, not a court assembly or an academy!

Although the word “advice” seemed a bit comical, the students’ opinions still needed to be heard.

Tangyuan counted on her fingers and said, “The students said we should stock up on more popcorn, milk tea, millet rice crackers, tea eggs, and other snacks. And remember to regularly add new varieties of snacks!”

Ji Caimai added quantities to the list of Hu merchant corn, milk, millet, and eggs.

Tangyuan continued, “They also like braised duck, but compared to Yu Jijiu, they prefer duck necks and wings. They seem to prefer meatier duck legs, and they also said they like chicken legs and rabbit legs. We should stock up on those!”

“They’re quite picky!” Ji Caimai shook his head but then added chicken legs and rabbit legs to the list.

“Aren’t they picky?” Tangyuan rolled her eyes and said, “They don’t even know if they want braised food. They like all kinds of cooking methods, too. Just tell Chef Wen to bring out new ones. They’ll take anything!”

These students were about the same age as them, but they were really picky eaters. Of course, the most important thing was…

“These students are really generous!” Ji Caimai, who was making a list, muttered, “When I was their age, it was a big deal to have even a penny on me!”

Wen Mingtang shook her head and smiled, but she didn’t find it strange.

While there were ordinary people studying at the Imperial Academy, they were extremely rare. Only those with exceptional talent were admitted as an exception! The students there were mostly from powerful families in the court, and naturally, they were much wealthier than ordinary children their age!

With such a group of “diners,” the variety of snacks at the takeout stalls naturally increased. Wen Mingtang had already made a list, and preparations for the subsequent snacks were underway.

However, before that, today’s evening meal needed to be prepared!

Since eating popcorn in the public kitchen that day, Lin Fei, Liu Yuan, and the others had been busy and hadn’t been seen for several days. Usually, Zhao You would come and collect the food boxes, and today was no exception: Zhao You had just delivered the food boxes, which were placed here.

Wen Mingtang glanced at the stack of food boxes, a gesture that Tangyuan happened to see, and casually remarked, “Everyone has been really busy lately. Not to mention Liu Sicheng and Lin Shaoqing; even the bukuai are rarely seen. They have to take turns coming to eat!”

Although the people in the public kitchen were not very clear about the progress of the case, they had been there for a while and could glean some information from the order in which the bukuai and officials came to eat.

“If there’s nothing much going on, everyone rushes over to eat as soon as it’s mealtime!” Tangyuan said. “They come early, and the kitchen is packed. By the time it’s past mealtime, everyone’s already eaten, and there’s hardly anyone left to eat!”

“If it’s like now, we don’t even see Liu Sicheng or Lin Shaoqing. The bukuai come in shifts; mostly when a case is about to be closed, that’s when they’re busiest!” Tangyuan continued. “At this time, it’s just us, the odd jobs, and…”

Before she could finish, a soft, clear singing voice came from outside. It seemed like someone was passing by the kitchen gate. The voice was loud for a while, then gradually faded away, as if it had gone into the distance.

In the entire Dali Temple, there was only one person who liked to hum a tune when he had nothing to do and who hummed it so badly and without any regard for others.

“And Lord Zhao!” Ji Caimai, who was making a list, chimed in with a strange expression. “Lord Zhao is the most leisurely!”

Before anyone could respond, Ji Caimai jerked his chin toward the stall outside and said, “That portion of braised duck we kept hidden and didn’t sell to the students belongs to Lord Zhao! He’s taking it with him later today—I heard he’s taken leave these past two days to visit some friends!”

Although it was no secret that Lord Zhao would be retiring in a few years, ever since Lin Fei had taken the position of Dali Si Shaoqing, Lord Zhao had been letting him handle matters freely—all to make it easier for Lin Fei to succeed him in the future.

But this case was almost over, yet Lord Zhao was so leisurely, singing and going out to visit friends?

Tangyuan and Ah Bing exchanged a glance. After a long while, Tangyuan hesitantly asked Wen Mingtang and Ji Caimai, “Master Wen, Ji Caimai, do you think Lord Zhao knows that the case is about to be closed?”

Lord Zhao seemed completely unconcerned, as if he knew nothing about the matter.

“If it were any other case, that would be one thing. But that day, Liu Sicheng accidentally let it slip that this case involves quite a lot of people,” Tangyuan said in a low voice. “And for such a case, Lord Zhao still went out to visit friends?”

Upon hearing this, Wen Mingtang and Ji Caimai fell silent. After a long while, Ji Caimai coughed and said, “The affairs of the officials are none of our business. You two remember not to make a fuss, understand?” Without waiting for Tangyuan to speak, he got up and went to the takeout stall to retrieve the braised duck. Instead of handing it to Tangyuan and Ah Bing, who usually ran errands, he gave it to Wen Mingtang and winked at her, “Master Wen, quickly take this to Lord Zhao. It gets dark early, and if Lord Zhao is going out of town to visit friends, leaving too late might make the road difficult!”

Wen Mingtang glanced at Ji Caimai, took the portion of braised duck with a quiet “mm,” then stood up and went after Lord Zhao!

(End of Chapter)

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