Back in the cavalry unit, the cavalry captain distributed two braised beef buns to his two close subordinates.
"Captain, what is this? It's incredibly delicious!" one subordinate exclaimed after taking a bite.
The cavalry captain replied, "According to the boss, this food is called a bun, made from flour and beef."
The other subordinate picked up the steaming hot braised beef bun, took a taste, and the wonderful flavor seemed to elevate his soul.
With a look of deep intoxication, he couldn't help but exclaim, "I must write a poem to praise this great food. I'll call it 'The Song of Buns'."
The two subordinates wanted more after just one bun.
"Captain, we want to buy a few more buns," they said.
"Go and come back quickly," the captain replied.
The two of them turned around and rushed back to Cheng Yu's small store, each buying ten buns.
Returning to the cavalry unit, the two subordinates shared the buns with their other teammates.
The fame of the braised beef buns spread rapidly among this cavalry team.
The cavalrymen all turned back and scrambled to buy buns, holding their money up.
"Boss, I want five buns."
"Boss, I want ten."
"Dear boss, I want six."
...
In less than half an hour, all one hundred braised beef buns were sold out.
"All sold out, guys. Only one hundred buns are available each day. If you still want some, come back tomorrow morning," Cheng Yu told the cavalrymen who didn't get any buns.
Alas~
The cavalrymen who didn't manage to buy buns were as dejected as wilted eggplants, their heads hanging low.
Cheng Yu easily earned 2000 copper coins, and his positive emotional value increased to 1272 points.
...
In the morning, as the eastern sky started to turn a pale white, Cheng Yu and Mina left their residence and headed for the restaurant to make buns.
Before they even reached the restaurant, they saw several imperial cavalrymen waiting in front of it from a distance.
Cheng Yu was a bit taken aback. Bailu Town was fifty kilometers away from the northern fortress. These cavalrymen had come so early just to get a taste of the buns.
Truly, the early bird catches the worm.
One of the cavalrymen saw Cheng Yu and waved enthusiastically. "Boss, we'll take all your buns today."
"You're too early. I haven't even started making them yet. You'll have to wait a while," Cheng Yu said.
It was the first time he was selling buns, and he wasn't prepared at all. He still needed to knead the dough, cut the meat, make the buns, and steam them. All these operations would take at least an hour or two.
"That's okay. We can wait," the cavalrymen said amicably.
Cheng Yu opened the door of the restaurant and invited the cavalrymen to take a seat inside. Then he and Mina entered the kitchen to start making buns.
Before long, the aroma of the stir - fried filling wafted out from the kitchen.
Smelling the fragrance, the cavalrymen took big gulps of air, trying to inhale as much of the scent as possible. Their mouths were watering.
They couldn't believe that the food from this little - known eatery could be even more fragrant than the sumptuous dishes in the big restaurants of the main city.
The men wanted to enter the kitchen to see how Cheng Yu made the buns, but when they saw the words on the curtain at the kitchen door, "Kitchen - restricted area. No entry for unauthorized persons. Violators will be fined 100,000 gold coins," they held back.
Over an hour later, a cage of meat buns was steamed, and the steam filled the restaurant.
Mina brought out the steamer, put each of the one hundred buns into small paper bags for bread, and then packed them into several large cloth bags.
The cavalrymen took out 20 silver coins and placed them on the table, then hung the big bags of buns on their warhorses.
"Boss, we'll come back tomorrow," they said.
Such delicious meat buns, one day of eating them was definitely not enough. They wanted more.
"You don't have to come so early tomorrow. Come around seven o'clock, and I'll save them for you," Cheng Yu said.
He was quite happy to sell the buns to these cavalrymen. It was much easier to sell them all at once than one by one.
For the next week, the cavalry from the northern fortress came to the restaurant to buy buns every morning.
The limited - supply of one hundred braised beef buns was always bought by the cavalry team.
...
A week passed.
At noon, the busiest time of the day for business, Marcus, with his big belly, walked into the restaurant cheerfully, shouting at the top of his voice, "Brother Cheng Yu, I'm here for fried rice with eggs again."
Mina, who was serving fried rice with eggs to other customers, heard Marcus' voice and turned to look at the door.
When enemies meet, their hatred flares up.
Her pretty face turned extremely cold, almost as if it could drip water. Two sharp fangs appeared in her mouth, and her hands transformed into white wolf claws. She was full of murderous intent.
Stared at by Mina, the smile on Marcus' chubby face froze. He shrank his neck and forced a nervous smile. "Mi... Mina, how... how are you...?"
"Damn thing, die!"
With a fierce shout, Mina rushed towards Marcus, swinging her wolf claws without mercy.
Marcus, despite his fat appearance, was a nimble fatty. He narrowly dodged Mina's attack. The wolf claws swiped across his chest, leaving three long claw marks on his shirt.
Marcus was so frightened that his soul almost left his body.
With a sobbing voice, he cried out to Cheng Yu for help. "Brother Cheng Yu, your orc slave is trying to kill me!"
Cheng Yu came out of the kitchen and quickly stopped her. "Mina, don't kill him."
Glaring at Marcus viciously, Mina stopped her attack.
During this week, Cheng Yu had made all kinds of delicious food for Mina every day: braised pork, Yu - xiang shredded pork, tomato and rib soup, deep - fried spring rolls, braised pig's trotter, braised beef, sesame - roasted duck...
It wasn't that Mina wasn't stubborn; it was just that Cheng Yu offered so much delicious food.
Each dish struck deep into Mina's soul, making her favorability towards Cheng Yu keep rising. Now she listened to Cheng Yu very well.
Looking down at the three long claw marks on his chest, Marcus heaved a sigh of relief. He had almost died.
He found a seat far away from Mina and sat down. "Brother Cheng Yu, the same as before, a large - portion of fried rice with eggs, please."
"Just a moment," Cheng Yu said. He grabbed Mina's wrist and led her into the kitchen to prevent her from attacking Marcus again.
"Why did you stop me just now?" Mina asked, her face showing anger. She really wanted to tear Marcus apart.
She had been living freely in the southern forest, but was captured by humans, separated from her family, and became a slave for sale.
"There are rules in human society. You're my slave, and I'm your master. If you kill people casually, it will bring me trouble," Cheng Yu said.
He had always been a law - abiding person and didn't want to get involved in legal issues.
Hearing this, Mina fell silent. She didn't want to cause trouble for Cheng Yu either.
Half an hour passed.
Marcus' voice came from outside. "Brother Cheng Yu, is my fried rice with eggs ready? I'm starving."
"Coming, coming. I'm swamped," Cheng Yu replied. In the kitchen, he was leisurely sipping tea while the fried rice with eggs in the pan had been ready for a long time.
Letting Marcus starve a bit longer, he knew that people would generate more positive emotional values when they ate fried rice with eggs while hungry.
A few more minutes passed.
Cheng Yu walked out of the kitchen with a plate of fried rice with eggs and placed it in front of Marcus, putting on a professional fake smile. "The business is booming. I'm really busy."
"If you're too busy, buy a few more slaves to help," Marcus said. As he spoke, he looked at Mina warily, fearing that she would rush over and take his life.
After observing for a while, Mina didn't seem to be on the verge of attacking.
Marcus felt a bit more at ease. While eating the fried rice with eggs, he asked, "I wonder if Brother Cheng Yu is interested in a manor?"
"Manor? I'm very interested," Cheng Yu replied.
He had always wanted to own a manor of his own, where he could plant some fruits, vegetables, and enjoy a leisurely rural life.
However, he hadn't found a suitable one. Some manors were too big, some too small, some were too remote, and some had infertile land...
"I have a manor north of Bailu Town. The land is fertile, it's close to Bailu Town, and the transportation is convenient. I can sell it to you, Brother Cheng Yu," Marcus said.
"Let's go take a look this afternoon," Cheng Yu replied.