Chapter 179: Chapter 179: "Mr. Ming Has Clashed with the Emperor!
Regardless, Ming Lingyi’s words were very comforting to hear.
Hearing this, Ma Dali and the others felt a little embarrassed. "Isn’t this too much trouble?"
Ming Lingyi shook her head. "No trouble at all. Our restaurant is open for business, after all."
As she spoke, a new idea flashed through Ming Lingyi’s mind.
If it succeeded, they could not only wrap zongzi quickly for sale but also save a lot of manpower.
"Ladies, perhaps you could wait a moment as well." Ming Lingyi turned to Lady Pingyang, who had bought some lucky zongzi but hadn’t left yet. Though a fair number of zongzi had been left, it wasn’t enough to handle the large orders from these ladies. A group of three or four had barely managed to get enough to split among themselves. Right now, one lady was quietly whispering to a companion, asking if she could spare a few. She had only managed to buy seven or eight, which was hardly enough for gifts, let alone for her own family back home.
"Ladies, I was wondering, would you be willing to personally prepare a blessing for your families? Our restaurant’s kitchen still has plenty of glutinous rice and fillings. If you’d like to experience wrapping zongzi for yourselves, we would be happy to have you."
As Ming Lingyi proposed this idea, she recalled the "spring rolls" she had introduced at the restaurant at the start of spring.
The restaurant had been short-staffed at the time, which was why Ming Lingyi had come up with a "semi-self-service" method.
If Ming Lingyi were to simply ask these noble ladies to wrap zongzi in her restaurant, many would likely think she was getting ahead of herself.
What right did she have to order around the wives and madams of such prominent families?
But Ming Lingyi hadn’t done that. Instead, she had asked the ladies present if they were willing to personally deliver a blessing to their families.
While the task was the same, the way she framed it made the meaning feel completely different.
The moment Ming Lingyi finished speaking, Lady Pingyang was the first to ask, "Make the zongzi ourselves?"
’That sounds quite meaningful.’
Ming Lingyi nodded.
"But I don’t know how to cook," Lady Pingyang fretted.
She had a wonderful relationship with her husband, and they had a son and a daughter. With no other women in the household, one could say her family life was perfectly blissful.
However, when it came to cooking, she was utterly clueless.
It wasn’t that she’d never had romantic notions of cooking for her husband, but even her simple attempts to make him a nourishing soup at night could turn into what felt like an attempt to "murder thy dear husband."
But Ming Lingyi’s words about personally wrapping up a blessing for her family had truly tempted her.
Ming Lingyi could see that Lady Pingyang was tempted, and the ladies beside her were clearly interested as well, though they shared the same reservations.
"Since our restaurant is inviting you, ladies, we’ll naturally guarantee that you learn how. If you try and still can’t get the hang of it, we won’t charge any silver. Just consider it a complimentary zongzi-wrapping experience from our restaurant, a thank you for your patronage," Ming Lingyi said.
The restaurant’s zongzi weren’t cheap, but these ladies were all very generous spenders and had been dining here frequently over the past two days. She naturally couldn’t be stingy in return.
Soon, Ming Lingyi had Ma Dali and his men seated inside the restaurant. Meanwhile, Lady Pingyang and the other ladies gathered around Ming Lingyi, watching her. They saw the various ingredients the staff had brought out, along with the zongzi leaves that seemed to have auspicious characters "growing" on them. In just a few moments, a perfect zongzi took shape in Ming Lingyi’s hands.
Wrapping zongzi isn’t a particularly difficult task to begin with.
With hands-on guidance from the staff of Ming’s Restaurant, it wasn’t long before the ladies were all wrapping zongzi that looked quite presentable.
"Oh my, it’s actually a zongzi!" After failing twice, Lady Pingyang finally produced a perfectly shaped one on her third try. She was so excited she almost leaped out of her seat.
The ladies beside her had also managed to make their own decent-looking zongzi.
Once a person succeeds, they gain confidence.
The ladies now seated before Ming’s Restaurant were completely caught up in the excitement of being able to "personally send a blessing to their families."
When more customers arrived wanting to buy zongzi, Ming Lingyi no longer needed to promote the idea of "personally wrapping a blessing for your family." The ladies who had just learned how did all the showing off for her.
As a result, most of the customers who came to buy zongzi ended up choosing to join in and wrap their own. This left Ming Lingyi and her staff to focus on simply preparing the order for Ma Dali and the other Patrols.
Ming Lingyi had just finished wrapping the lucky zongzi for Ma Dali and the other Patrols from Jingzhao Mansion. After taking their silver, she noticed that the zongzi leaves at her side were all gone.
"Boss Ming, are there any more leaves?"
"Boss Ming, you’re out of the salted egg yolk filling, too! The savory salted egg yolk green balls I bought from your restaurant during the Qingming Festival were absolutely delicious. I really wanted to make salted egg yolk zongzi this time. Can you bring out some more filling?"
"I love the red bean filling from Ming’s Restaurant! Boss Ming, it’s all gone over here!"
Listening to the cacophony of voices, Ming Lingyi felt both happy and a little helpless. "My dear ladies," she announced, "our restaurant’s lucky zongzi are all sold out. We have no more ingredients. If you’d like to have them, you’ll have to wait until next year!"
Ming Lingyi herself hadn’t expected this. The ingredients prepared for the entire day—including a large batch that was meant for the restaurant staff to enjoy together—were now completely gone. Even the last table of customers had only just left.
And she had earned at least a hundred taels of silver today!
They must have sold at least a thousand zongzi.
By the time they finished cleaning up and Ming Lingyi returned to the back courtyard, she was so tired she could barely lift her arms.
Just as she was wondering whether she should bathe before lying down to rest, Shi Mingyue knocked and rushed in.
"Miss, the Emperor is here..."
"Hm?"
Ming Lingyi was surprised. ’Every time Li Yun comes, doesn’t he just find me directly? Since when does he need Shi Mingyue to announce his arrival?’
"But... but Mr. Ming is outside, blocking the Emperor!"
Ming Lingyi shot up from her seat, all her previous exhaustion forgotten.
’If it were just Li Yun by himself, I certainly couldn’t be bothered to go out and greet him.’
’But Shi Mingyue said my brother is confronting Li Yun. How could I not know how much Ming Chengyu resents Li Yun?’
’Just two days ago at Liufang Bookstore, he declared the whole place was "classless" simply because it might have the slightest connection to Li Yun.’
’I can’t guarantee how much, or how little, my brother will restrain himself when he’s face-to-face with Li Yun.’
’And Li Yun has never been a good-tempered person. Never mind that he’s let me get away with being so difficult and causing so much trouble lately—he only tolerates that from me.’
’If my brother starts a fight with Li Yun over me, there’s no telling what Li Yun might do.’
Li Yun had originally wanted to wait for Ming Chengyu to take the initiative to see him. But after waiting a day, he realized his dear brother-in-law likely still held a grudge, and there was no way he would come to the palace.
Therefore, he had sent men to summon Ming Chengyu.
Alas, Ming Chengyu was not the type of man who prudently adapts to the times; he even dared to ignore a summons from the Emperor.
