Spring comes to the desperate place

Chapter 161 Shop

After buying the cloth, Song Chunlin took a look and saw that the pastry shop was called Shengji Pastry, which was just two streets away from here, not too far away, so a group of people walked to the front of the shop.

After walking two streets and turning a corner, they saw a shop crowded with people. It looked like it was doing very good business. Upon closer inspection, they saw the plaque at the door was Sheng Ji.

Song Dazhuang couldn't help but sigh: "It seems that their cakes are really delicious. So many people buy them."

Song Qin looked at so many people and didn't want to go in: "There are so many people, the children should not be squeezed."

Song Dazhuang took his daughter from her hands. The little girl seemed sleepy. She lay in her father's arms with her eyes almost closed. Song Dazhuang, who felt sorry for his daughter, became a little hesitant.

Song Chunlin stepped forward and volunteered: "I'll go take a look first, Dad, you lead everyone and walk slowly."

After saying that, Song Chunlin walked quickly to the front. He stood at the door of the shop and stretched his neck to look inside. The shop assistants and the shopkeeper were very busy, and every customer seemed to buy a lot. Song Chunlin could also hear the shopkeeper and the shop assistants explaining to the customers: "Each person can only buy one portion. If you buy more, there will be no more."

Song Chunlin looked at what they were holding with curiosity, and guessed that it might be a cake made from his own jam. Song Chunlin was very confident about anything produced in the space.

The people in the store were very focused. They were all buying jams and cakes. They left after buying them. After a while, there were fewer people. Song Chunlin quickly waved to Song Dazhuang and others to come over.

The waiter kept taking out cakes and pastries from the kitchen, but there were still so many customers waiting to buy. When Song Chunlin and his friends went in, the waiter said that these were all they had left and they would be gone once they were sold out.

"Sir, it's not that I don't want to sell. It's just that only our boss can make this kind of jam cake. No one else can. The boss has quit all other jobs and is only making this cake. But the boss is a mortal after all. Please be considerate of our boss."

When the customer heard the waiter's pity, he naturally couldn't force it any further. He just took his portion of cake and left angrily, planning to come back early the next morning to buy more. If he went a few more times, he could buy more.

Song Chunlin and his group who were standing nearby also heard it and knew that each person could only buy one portion. Considering that there were many people in their family, if each person bought one portion, that would be a lot, so Song Dazhuang stepped forward and asked the waiter to pack one portion for each of them.

The waiter saw that there were so many of them and thought that if he gave them the food according to the number of people, there would not be much left. More customers were coming in later, and the waiter was a little embarrassed for a moment.

"Look here, sir. These cakes are not food. Can you give me two servings?"

Seeing that he was in a dilemma, Song Dazhuang thought about just giving up on the children's portions. However, the shopkeeper who had been busy behind them recognized them and shouted in surprise.

"Boss Song!" The shopkeeper came over, pushed the waiter away, and began to personally pack cakes for them: "I'm sorry, waiter, you are ignorant. How can I limit the amount when you come? Go to the kitchen and ask the boss how many are left. Take them all out. Boss Song, you can have as many as you want."

He said this so loudly that Song Dazhuang felt embarrassed. Song Qinshi felt the same way and hurriedly said that five servings would be enough. However, the shopkeeper insisted on giving them ten servings. They argued with each other and made the guests next to them unhappy.

"Hmph, boss, are you still doing business? You don't have many copies left. If you give them all to them, what will we do? We agreed to give one copy to each person, and you gave us one extra copy."

"That's right, they said they only wanted five servings, why are you still forcing me to buy it?"

The shopkeeper explained to everyone in embarrassment: "Oh, you may not know that the jam in our jam cakes is made by this boss."

After hearing what the shopkeeper said, everyone fell silent. OK, it turned out to be a guy who you can't afford to mess with. Thinking of the delicious taste of jam and cakes, everyone immediately put on a fawning face and kept complimenting Song Dazhuang. Song Dazhuang was a little overwhelmed by the praise and backed away repeatedly.

Song Chunlin saw that his father was about to be forced behind the counter and was about to rescue him, but unexpectedly a strong sweet fragrance came from the door of the back kitchen. Not only Song Chunlin, but everyone present could smell it. The smell was fragrant but not greasy, sweet with a hint of freshness, and the mere smell of it made people drool.

"It smells so good!" Song Chunxiao moved his little nose and sniffed the sweet fragrance in the air. Song Chunming next to him did the same thing. The two little guys couldn't help it after smelling it for a while. They ran to Song Dazhuang, one on the left and one on the right, pulling their father's hands and yelling at him to buy it.

"Daddy, buy buy, I want to eat."

"Dad, Xiaobao wants to eat it too, it smells delicious!"

Song Dazhuang was pulled by the two big boys on the left and right, and had to keep saying "okay, okay".

At this time, the curtain of the back kitchen was lifted, and a young man carrying a huge tray walked out. The young man looked to be eighteen or nineteen years old, and was taller than ordinary young men, but he was still dressed as a single man. People in ancient times always got married early, and it was rare for a young man of this age to be unmarried. He seemed not to have expected that it was so lively outside, but then he came to his senses and smiled at everyone in a graceful manner.

"You all want jam and cakes, right? This is the last batch for today. If you want some, please come and line up." The young man's cold voice sounded. His tone was cold but calm, and convincing. Soon everyone began to line up consciously.

The shopkeeper ran over and whispered a few words to the boy. The boy's eyes widened slightly and the smile on his face immediately broadened a little.

"So this is Boss Song, nice to meet you."

Song Dazhuang then came to his senses and realized that this guy was the owner of this store.

"Oh, nice to meet you."

Song Qin saw that Song Dazhuang was embarrassed, so she stepped forward and took over the conversation: "I didn't expect that the boss of Shengji would be such a handsome guy. It's true that you can't judge a person by his appearance. The boss's craftsmanship is really good."

The boy lowered his head and smiled faintly, his eyes meeting the little girl in Song Qin's arms. Song Yuanyuan was well taken care of by the Song family. She had fair skin, round cheeks, and even the clothes she wore were delicate and cute.

At this time, the little girl looked at the boy's face, blinked her eyes, and the next moment she stretched out her hands to the boy, asking for a hug.

The brother was a little flattered: "You want me to hug you?"

Song Qin couldn't help laughing out loud: "She is smelling the cakes and pastries on you, you little greedy devil." As she said that, she lifted her daughter in front of her brother.

The boy hurriedly took the little girl over. The little girl was very attached to him. Her little hands held his neck tightly and her little head was buried in his shoulders. The boy stayed in the kitchen all day long, and the smell of cakes on his body was rich and long-lasting. The little girl obviously regarded this boy as a walking cake.

Song Chunlin watched his parents greeting the boy and frowned slightly, thinking that the man looked familiar.

The boy said his surname was Su. He followed his mother to seek shelter with relatives but failed, so he opened this pastry shop in the capital to make a living by relying on his good craftsmanship.

"It's thanks to everyone's support, otherwise I wouldn't be able to open such a big shop." The smile on the brother's face was faint, and it seemed that he was not willing to talk about his past.

When the Song family left the bakery, everyone had a piece of cake in their hands. Shengji's cakes were indeed delicious, not only the jam cakes, but also the shortbread in their hands. The crust was crispy and crumbly, and the inside was soft and moist. The sweetness was just right and not greasy. Even Song Dahao, who didn't like sweet food, thought it was delicious. On the contrary, Song Dazhuang, who liked sweets, was not very satisfied.

Song Dazhuang's comment: "Not sweet enough."

Song Dahe said, "Just right."

The rest of the people were confused. The tastes of these two brothers were so different that sometimes even Grandpa Song and Grandma Song couldn't help but wonder if they were real brothers.

Song Chunlin looked at his biological father, then at his elder brother and sister-in-law who were standing beside him with full of affection, and hesitated whether to say it out loud. He maintained his conflicted emotions until he got on the carriage to go home, then he looked at Song Qinshi with hesitation.

Song Qin reached out and touched his head in confusion: "You don't have a fever, why do you look so uneasy?"

Song Chunlin shook his head: "Mom, I'm not sick, I just saw someone I know."

"An acquaintance?" Song Qin was even more confused: "I haven't heard you mention it during our journey. Who is it? Do I know your father?"

Song Chunlin continued to shake his head: "No, you and Dad don't know him. To be exact, no one in our family has seen him, but his identity must be familiar to you."

Song Qin felt more and more confused. There was actually someone she had never met but knew. Could it be the emperor?

"It's the eldest son of the Feng family, the one who went to school as a boy instead of his elder brother."

"It's actually him?" Song Qin recalled the contradictions in that boy. Now she knew that he was the son of the former eldest son of the Feng family. Now everything made sense.

"No wonder he's still unmarried at such an old age. I thought he had some unspeakable secrets. But didn't you say before that he had left Changping with his mother? How come he came back to open a shop in the capital? Isn't he afraid that his former classmates would recognize him?"

Song Chunlin shrugged: "Who knows, but he now says his last name is Su, which should be his mother's family name. He didn't even have his own name before. Now he takes his mother's surname. I guess he doesn't want to be involved with the past anymore."

"Yes, with a father like that, his life is ruined. And with an old mother, I think ordinary families would look down on them. If they marry down... well, what good family can they marry into if they marry down?"

Song Chunlin disagreed, "It's not like he has to marry someone to be a way out. He's running a shop in the capital now, making a good living with his own hands, isn't that good? Why does he have to marry someone?"

Song Qin knew that he had lived in the modern world and his thoughts were different from those of people in this era. Therefore, she was not annoyed when she heard her son's words, but explained to him gently: "It is not easy for girls and boys to survive, and there are even fewer who go out to do business. Many people think that such girls and boys are not upright, and no matter how outstanding they are, they will not recognize them. What's more, that boy replaced his eldest brother to study in the academy. There are still many scholars in the Jing Dynasty who think it is unlucky for girls and boys to go to school. That incident caused such a big fuss at the time. How can you be sure that someone will not always hold a grudge against him? What if that person happens to recognize him in the shop?"

Song Chunlin understood the implication of Song Qin's words. He did not think that scholars would necessarily have broad minds and the tolerance of a prime minister. However, the same could not be said for literati. There might really be such extreme people who would hold a grudge against that boy.

Song Qin continued, "They are orphans and widows. If they don't find someone to rely on, it will be difficult for them to gain a foothold in the capital."

Song Chunlin felt a little uncomfortable when he listened to Song Qin's words. He knew that the ancient times were very feudal, but because of the indulgence of Song Qin and Song Dazhuang, Song Chunlin did not feel too much about this kind of social discrimination. Now after hearing what Song Qin said, he couldn't help but think of his previous life.

Women in modern society have long been able to achieve financial independence. However, there are still many men who believe that women's success is inseparable from men. They refuse to acknowledge women's excellence and can only prove their superiority by belittling women by any means and pulling them off the altar.

Modern people are like this, let alone the brothers of ancient times.

After returning, Song Chunlin told Song Chunsheng and Zhou Ning about the boy's situation. Zhou Ning felt complicated after hearing it. Although he had never met Feng Dalang, he had no good feelings towards anyone in the Feng family because of the Feng family's forced marriage. But when he thought about the boy's situation, which was even worse than his own, not only was his biological father not recognizing him, but he was also forced to pretend to be a man and replace his brother to go to school.

Song Chunsheng gently squeezed his wife's shoulder and comforted her: "Don't think too much. After all, he is also a victim. Let's forget about it now that the matter has passed. His father has been executed, and your two uncles have also been imprisoned. Let's just treat him as a stranger."

Song Chunsheng took out a cake from the paper bag and fed it to his wife. "Try it. This cake is really delicious. You haven't had a good appetite recently and you've eaten less."

Song Chunlin watched the two people begin to be affectionate and couldn't help rubbing their shoulders, then walked out unable to bear it.

Zhou Ning waited until Song Chunlin left the house before glaring at Song Chunsheng: "Chunlin is still here, what are you doing?"

Song Chunsheng chuckled: "What can a child like him know? Ignore him and eat more."

Zhou Ning was speechless. The cake on his lips tasted sweet. In the end, he couldn't resist and took a bite. The cake was filled with enough fillings and he could taste the sweet jam in one bite.

"Mmm, it's really delicious, sweet but not greasy, you should try it too."

"Isn't it delicious? This is all thanks to our jam. If it weren't for the jam, would the cake be so delicious?"