Chapter 178: Chapter 178: Sold Out
His words immediately piqued the curiosity of many diners in the restaurant. "Friend, what do you mean by that?"
The man let out a sly chuckle. "Mr. Xie Jiu said something he shouldn’t have. Think about it—if your biggest secret was suddenly exposed in front of a crowd, what would you do? Of course you’d want to kill him!
"That Second Young Master Xie, since he likes men, how could he possibly be sleeping in the same bed with his wife? The baby in his wife’s belly might really belong to some other man!
"Now that all of us know about this, how could Second Young Master Xie not want to kill Mr. Xie Jiu? The way I see it, it wasn’t an accident at all. It was clearly on purpose. He was just venting his anger!"
Evidently, quite a few people shared this man’s opinion, and the restaurant erupted in a clamor of discussion over the matter.
Ming Lingyi could hear the lively chatter from the main dining hall all the way in the back kitchen. But right now, she was in no mood to listen to the gossip about the Xie family. The thought that the Hidden Guard she had sent out still hadn’t returned had her stomach in knots.
When she heard Du Xuan and Mrs. Wei come into the restaurant saying they saw her eatery’s cart outside Xinghua Alley, Ming Lingyi’s mind filled with questions.
’Didn’t I tell my brother to take Xiao Chun and the others to set up a stall at Qujiang? How did they end up at Xinghua Alley?’
There were a lot of gawkers over there today, and with the chaos caused by the murder case, how could Ming Lingyi not be worried?
Fortunately, Ming Lingyi’s anxiety didn’t last long. Before the lunch hour was even over, the Hidden Guard returned to the restaurant along with Ming Chengyu and the others.
Hearing the news, Ming Lingyi rushed out. "Is everyone okay? No injuries?"
As she spoke, she was already looking the three of them over. She then let out a sigh of relief. All three were fine and all in one piece.
"Mr. Ming had us leave the alley early, so we’re all fine," Xiao Chun said.
Ming Lingyi shot her brother a glare.
’If Ming Chengyu hadn’t changed the plan on his own, would she have been this worried?’
Ming Chengyu knew he was in the wrong and spoke with an awkward laugh, "Well, I saw it was crowded and lively over there, so I just thought..."
In fact, it had been crowded, and their business had been truly excellent. By the time they reached Qujiang, there were hardly any zongzi or drinks left at the stall. They had sold out a whole day’s worth of ingredients in a single morning.
Ming Lingyi had been about to say a few words about how reckless he’d been, but when she saw the completely empty cart, she asked in surprise, "You sold out everything?"
Xiao Chun nodded. "We sure did! Miss, do we have any more zongzi in the restaurant? Your idea was brilliant, Miss! Whether in Xinghua Alley or by the Qujiang river, anyone who passed by and saw our restaurant’s zongzi couldn’t help but stop and ask about them. So many people bought them, we sold out in a flash!"
Even now, Xiao Chun could still picture the scene of Shangjing City’s residents, out for a stroll, lining up to buy zongzi from their stall. The sight of their bulging money pouch was just beautiful!
Before Ming Lingyi could answer, she heard a customer in the restaurant call out her name—
"Boss Ming, do you have any more lucky zongzi?! We went to Qujiang and came up empty, so we rushed over to the restaurant to check!"
Ming Lingyi looked up and saw a group of ladies dressed in silks and satins heading toward her restaurant.
Ming Lingyi recognized the lady in the lead. It was Lady Pingyang, who lived in a market district near the East Market.
Under normal circumstances, Lady Pingyang would never shop all the way over in Huaided Fang, which was near the West Market. It was all because of the stir at Liufang Bookstore on Vermilion Bird Street two days ago. Many of the dignitaries and their wives who used to frequent the bookstore had heard about Ming’s Restaurant and had since come to dine.
Lady Pingyang was one of them.
Lady Pingyang wasn’t skilled at cooking and was said to be fondest of wandering the streets in search of delicacies.
However, ladies of her station usually only frequented the grand restaurants in the East Market. When she first came to Ming’s Restaurant, Lady Pingyang had been quite hesitant.
But after just one visit, Lady Pingyang felt it was absolutely worth it!
"Greetings, my lady." Ming Lingyi immediately left her brother’s group and warmly ushered Lady Pingyang to the other side of the entrance, explaining, "We still have quite a few zongzi. Please, ladies, see which ones you like. At our restaurant today, if you buy six zongzi, you get a free bamboo basket. It’s a great deal."
Earlier, when these ladies were at Qujiang, they had been drawn to the zongzi from Ming’s Restaurant. Unfortunately, some big oaf appeared out of nowhere and bought up all the few remaining zongzi at the stall, leaving them with none.
Lady Pingyang picked up a zongzi with the characters for "Wealth and Honor" on its leaf and touched it curiously. "My, Miss Ming, you are so clever! The characters on here really don’t rub off! How magical."
Ming Lingyi had heard this sort of praise many times today.
But no matter how many times she heard it, Ming Lingyi couldn’t help but feel happy.
"If you like them, my lady, you should take some more home."
Lady Pingyang nodded. "Of course. Your little baskets are quite exquisite, and perfect for gifts! Alright then, pack a basket for me with one of each type of lucky zongzi. I’ll take five baskets!"
’She had just done the math: one for her parents, one for her parents-in-law, one for her younger brother’s household, another for her sister’s, and the final one, naturally, was for herself and her husband.’
Hearing this, Ming Lingyi couldn’t help but advise, "That’s quite a lot of zongzi in one basket."
Lady Pingyang covered her mouth and chuckled. "I have complete faith in your food. The taste will certainly be excellent. If we can’t finish them, I’ll just have them for breakfast tomorrow."
Not long after Lady Pingyang finished speaking, a squad of Patrols from the Jingzhao Mansion also walked over.
The one in the lead was an acquaintance of Ming Lingyi’s, Brother Ma, who had been a Patrol for over ten years.
"Boss Ming, does your restaurant have any lucky zongzi left? While we were on patrol today, my brothers and I noticed a lot of people carrying zongzi with characters on them. We asked around and found out your place has a new item on the menu," Patrol Captain Ma asked in a loud voice.
Ming Lingyi: "Brother Ma, how many do you need?"
"About fifty or so. We want to buy some to take back to the government office. A lot of the brothers are on duty today."
Ming Lingyi was suddenly in a bind. She had anticipated that the lucky zongzi would sell well, so she had prepared vastly more than the green balls she’d made for the Qingming Festival. But today proved that she had still underestimated the recent influence of Ming’s Restaurant in Shangjing City.
The lunch hour wasn’t even over, and the zongzi were already completely sold out.
Especially since Lady Pingyang had also brought two or three of her close friends.
Don’t be fooled by how delicate and fragile these ladies appeared; when it came to shopping, one of them could out-buy ten men. With a wave of a slender, bejeweled hand, they had bought out all the remaining zongzi in the restaurant, leaving not a single one behind.
Before Ming Lingyi could answer, Ma Dali and his men had already seen that the table where she displayed the zongzi was completely bare. Meanwhile, the attendants behind the ladies were all holding bamboo baskets filled to the brim with zongzi.
Although Ma Dali was a bit disappointed, he wouldn’t make things difficult for Ming Lingyi.
"Looks like there’s not a single one left. Oh well..." Ma Dali said with a sigh.
Ming Lingyi glanced at the customers in the restaurant. The lunch hour was nearly over. Although many diners were still seated, there was no longer a line of people waiting. The back kitchen had also quieted down, just waiting for the final cleanup.
"Brother Ma, please wait a moment!" Ming Lingyi called out. "We may not have any ready-made lucky zongzi, but we’ll have fresh, new flavors out of the steamer soon! You and your men patrol the markets of Shangjing City, and all of us citizens of Shangjing live under your protection. I can’t let you all go without a single zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival."
