Chapter 79: There’s A Strange Taste
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
At this moment, there were quite a lot of people coming and going. Although Ning Erlang spoke quickly, his words were very clear and his voice was loud. “Last time, Uncle, you said that Grandpa and Grandma wanted to eat it. Didn’t we also give them an entire jar without saying anything?” At this point, he suddenly became puzzled. “Did you finish such a big jar last time?”
Second Uncle Ning had a guilty conscience. He stammered, “Isn’t it because your food is delicious and I accidentally ate it a little faster?” He definitely couldn’t let the eldest branch know that he had sent the bamboo shoots to the Heavenly Fragrance Restaurant and accidentally shattered them. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to do his business today.
Fortunately, his mother had already marinated more than 10 jars of bamboo shoots at home according to the taste she had tasted. Now, he just had to persuade the shopkeeper of the Heavenly Fragrance Restaurant with the bamboo shoots from the stall.
Ning Erlang happily continued, “Of course. In terms of bamboo shoots, no one in our village has thought of how to make them delicious after guarding the bamboo forest for so many years. Only my sister can make them. Second Uncle, don’t you think so?”
Second Uncle Ning’s mind was filled with business. How could he have the time to care about what he said? After nodding, he took his things and left.
Rong Yan watched him leave silently and went forward to hand the Ning brothers the snacks he had just bought.
The two families had become familiar with each other recently, so they skipped the polite part. Ning Erlang even said to them, “Why don’t we go for noodles for lunch? We know a stall owner. His noodle soup tastes good and he gave us enough.”
Rong Yan turned to look at Xiaoxiao, who was smiling expectantly. He averted his gaze and hummed. Then, he saw her mysteriously pulling his brothers to the side to whisper. He couldn’t help but recall that when he was young, he wanted to stay in his mother’s palace for a while longer, so he specially looked for the crown prince to ask him to invite him to eat together with his mother.
He stole another glance at Xiaoxiao. Was she in the same mood as him now?
Xiaoxiao, who did not know what he was thinking, pulled Ning Erlang and asked him how he had dealt with Second Uncle just now. She wanted Second Uncle to think that she did not know that he had gone to Fragrance Restaurant, so she did not show up just now. After hearing Second Brother’s words, she gave him a thumbs up.
Ning Erlang asked her why she did this. Xiaoxiao asked mysteriously, “Guess what Second Uncle is going to do with our bamboo shoots?”
Ning Dalang had just figured out the ins and outs. Apart from being angry, he was also very curious about what his sister wanted to do. He probed, “Do you want to replace the broken jar of sour bamboo shoots and let the Heavenly Fragrance Restaurant inspect the goods?”
Xiaoxiao said exaggeratedly, “Brother, how are you so smart? You guessed it right!”
Ning Dalang was embarrassed by her praise. He tapped her nose and said, “Naughty.”
On the other hand, Ning Erlang was still confused. “Then won’t we help Second Uncle?” He had just followed his sister’s instructions, but he did not want to be a generous man and push his family’s money-making business to his bastard Second Uncle!
Xiaoxiao sighed and gave him a hint. “Second Brother, think about it. If Second Uncle uses our bamboo shoots to negotiate a deal and the goods sent don’t match, will the shopkeeper of the Heavenly Fragrance Restaurant admit defeat just like that?”
She had added ingredients to the pickled vegetable jar so that Second Uncle Ning wouldn’t be unable to do business. She didn’t expect him to be much bolder than she thought. The shopkeeper of the Heavenly Fragrance Restaurant wasn’t easy to deal with. Second Uncle Ning naturally could only wait to suffer the consequences of his actions.
Ning Erlang pondered for a while and immediately smiled like the silly son of a landlord. He even said to Rong Yan and the others happily, “The noodles for lunch are on me!”
Rong Yan glanced at Xiaoxiao’s smile. “Then I’ll go cut some braised minced meat.”
Hence, it was decided happily. However, Xiaoxiao still had something to do before dinner. She left her eldest brother to look after the stall and pulled her second brother back to the Heavenly Fragrance Restaurant.
Behind her, Rong Yan took a piece of ugly bamboo shoots from Yun Yi. He could not help but frown when he smelled it and threw it far away.. “Are you saying that the bamboo shoots that Ning Feng just took to Tianxiang Restaurant have such a strange smell?”