Chapter: Word of Mouth
Back with the cavalry unit, the captain handed two beef buns to his two trusted subordinates.
"Captain, what is this? It's incredible!" one of them exclaimed after taking his first bite.
"According to the shopkeeper, this food is called a 'bun.' It's made from flour and beef," the captain explained.
The other subordinate picked up the steaming bun and bit into it. The flavor was transcendent—it practically elevated his soul.
His face took on an intoxicated expression. "I need to write a poem to honor this magnificent food. I'll call it 'Ode to the Bun.'"
One bun wasn't nearly enough for either of them. They wanted more.
"Captain, we'd like to buy some too."
"Go. Be quick about it."
The two subordinates rode back to Cheng Yu's shop together and each bought ten buns.
When they returned to the cavalry unit, they distributed the buns among their teammates.
Word of the beef buns spread like wildfire through the cavalry ranks.
Soldiers returned in waves, scrambling over each other with coins in hand.
"Boss, I'll take five!"
"Boss, ten for me!"
"Dear boss, six please!"
In less than half an hour, all hundred beef buns were sold out.
"Sorry, brothers, we're out. Daily limit is a hundred. Come back tomorrow morning if you want more," Cheng Yu announced to the disappointed cavalrymen.
The soldiers who'd missed out looked like wilted vegetables—heads hanging, shoulders slumped.
Cheng Yu had easily earned 2,000 copper coins, and his positive emotion value had climbed to 1,272 points.
The next morning, the eastern sky was still pale when Cheng Yu and Mina left the apartment and headed for the restaurant.
Before they even reached the door, they spotted several imperial cavalrymen already waiting outside.
Cheng Yu blinked in surprise. Bailu Town was fifty kilometers from the northern fortress. These guys had ridden all that way just to eat buns.
The early bird really did get the worm.
One of the cavalrymen spotted Cheng Yu and waved enthusiastically. "Boss! We're buying all your buns today!"
"You're way too early. I haven't even started yet. You'll have to wait a while."
This was only Cheng Yu's second day selling buns. He hadn't prepped anything.
He still needed to mix the dough, dice the meat, wrap the buns, and steam them. The whole process would take at least an hour or two.
"That's fine. We'll wait."
The cavalrymen were perfectly pleasant about it.
After unlocking the restaurant, Cheng Yu invited them inside to sit.
He and Mina went into the kitchen and got to work.
Before long, the smell of frying meat wafted out from the kitchen.
The cavalrymen inhaled deeply, trying to pull as much of the aroma into their lungs as possible. Their mouths practically watered.
Who would've thought this unknown little hole-in-the-wall restaurant could produce food that smelled better than anything served in the capital's finest hotels?
They wanted to peek into the kitchen and watch Cheng Yu work, but held back when they saw the sign hanging on the kitchen curtain: "Kitchen is a restricted area. No unauthorized entry. Violators will be fined 100,000 gold coins."
Over an hour later, a basket of steaming buns emerged. The hot vapor filled the entire restaurant.
Mina brought out the steamer and packed each of the hundred buns into individual paper bags, then sorted them into several large cloth sacks.
The cavalrymen placed twenty silver coins on the table and hooked the sacks of buns onto their horses.
"Boss, we'll be back tomorrow!"
How could they eat food this delicious just once? They'd come every day.
"You don't need to come so early tomorrow. Just show up around seven o'clock. I'll set them aside for you."
Cheng Yu was thrilled to sell to these cavalrymen. They bought everything in one go, saving him the hassle of selling individual portions.
For the next week, cavalry from the Northern Fortress came to the restaurant every morning to buy buns.
The daily limit of a hundred beef buns? The cavalry bought them all.
A week passed.
It was noon—the busiest time of day.
Marcus waddled into the restaurant with his big belly and shouted in his booming voice, "Brother Cheng Yu! I'm here for fried rice again!"
Mina was serving food to other customers. When she heard Marcus's voice, her head whipped around toward the door.
When enemies meet, rage flares.
Her pretty face turned ice-cold. Mina bared her sharp fangs, and her hands shifted into white wolf claws. Killing intent radiated off her.
Under Mina's glare, the smile on Marcus's fat face froze. He shrank back nervously. "M-Mina... Mina, you... you..."
"Damn bastard, I'll kill you!"
With a cry, Mina lunged at Marcus, her claws slashing mercilessly.
Marcus looked fat, but he was surprisingly agile. He barely dodged her attack. Her claws raked across his chest, tearing three long gashes through his shirt.
He nearly died of fright.
Marcus cried out to Cheng Yu for help. "Brother Cheng Yu! Your orc slave is trying to murder someone!"
Cheng Yu rushed out of the kitchen. "Mina, don't kill him!"
After glaring daggers at Marcus one last time, Mina backed off.
Over the past week, Cheng Yu had cooked all sorts of dishes for Mina—braised pork, fish-flavored shredded pork, tomato pork rib soup, fried spring rolls, braised pork knuckle, beef stew, sesame roast duck...
It wasn't that Mina had lost her stubbornness. It was just that Cheng Yu had given her too much.
Every dish struck her soul directly. Her favorability toward Cheng Yu kept climbing. By now, she listened to him fairly well.
Marcus looked down at the three long claw marks torn across his chest and let out a shaky breath. I almost died.
He found a seat as far from Mina as possible and sat down. "Brother Cheng Yu, same as usual. Large portion of fried rice."
"Coming right up."
Cheng Yu grabbed Mina by the wrist and pulled her into the kitchen to keep her from attacking Marcus again.
"Why did you stop me just now?"
Mina looked furious, like she wanted to tear Marcus into pieces.
She'd been living freely in the southern forests before humans captured her, separated her from her family, and sold her into slavery.
"Human society has its own rules. You're my slave, and I'm your master. If you go around killing people, you'll cause trouble for me."
Cheng Yu had always been a law-abiding citizen. He didn't want to get dragged into a legal mess.
Hearing this, Mina fell silent. She didn't want to cause trouble for Cheng Yu.
Half an hour passed.
Marcus's voice drifted in from outside. "Brother Cheng Yu, is my fried rice ready yet? I'm starving!"
"Almost done! Sorry, just really busy!"
In the kitchen, Cheng Yu was leisurely sipping tea. The fried rice in the wok had been done for a while now.
Let Marcus starve a bit longer. When people ate fried rice while hungry, they generated more positive emotion points.
A few more minutes passed.
Cheng Yu finally walked out of the kitchen carrying a plate of fried rice. He set it in front of Marcus with his professional fake smile. "Business is booming. We're swamped."
"If you're that busy, just buy a few more slaves to help out."
As he said this, Marcus glanced warily at Mina, afraid she might charge over and finish the job.
After watching her for a moment and seeing no movement, Marcus relaxed. He started eating his fried rice.
Between bites, he asked, "Say, Brother Cheng Yu, are you interested in buying a manor?"
"A manor? I'm interested."
Cheng Yu had always wanted a manor of his own—a place where he could grow fruits and vegetables and enjoy a leisurely rural lifestyle.
But he'd never found the right one. Some manors were too big, some too small, some too remote, and others had poor soil quality.
"I've got a manor north of Bailu Town. Fertile land, close to town, convenient transportation. I could sell it to you, Brother Cheng Yu."
"Let's go take a look this afternoon."