It was nearly dusk, and the street was full of busy people coming and going, and Yang Huairen pretended to be an old gentleman walking in the crowd.

In these years, scholars are looked down upon, and the old gentleman is more respected, Yang Huairen walked slowly and leisurely on the road, whether he knew him or not, the person he met always had to bow his head slightly.

Yang Huairen also bowed back to the people he didn't know, and then found the mouth of the alley where the small stone rested according to the location indicated by the spies.

The alley is very deep, not dark, but there are some twists and turns, and there is no end in sight. But not far from the mouth of the alley, a half-grown child could be seen curled up in a corner, as if asleep.

Yang Huairen smiled, but did not go into the alley, but turned to a steamed bun shop opposite the alley.

The chefs in Jiangnan, whether they are chefs in restaurants or small food vendors who open small shops or stalls on the street, have a kind of exquisite energy in their bones.

Let's just say that this bun shop looks inconspicuous and the façade is not big, but when I walked in, I found that there was a hole in the shop - there were seven or eight tables in the shop, and the arrangement was very clever.

If the place that looks small is full of people, there can be more than 30 people, and although there will be people next to each other, it will not seem crowded.

There are two couples, old and young, who are busy in front of the stove, and it seems that it should be their son, daughter-in-law and their father.

In front of the noodle table, the daughter-in-law rolled the dough neatly with her hands and feet, and the mother-in-law was busy scooping the stuffing of lean pork and green onion into the dough, closing it with one hand, and quickly kneading it with the other hand, and soon wrapped a xiaolongbao skillfully.

The old man watched the steamed buns in front of the stove, and added firewood to the stove from time to time, while the son was busy serving buns and collecting money for the guests back and forth, and the family was very busy.

The stove of the steamed bun shop is also different from the usual stove, it is the kind of three stove holes in the shape of a chain of gourds, and the stove hole is a steam cooker, and one end of the pot is followed by a small water tower-like bucket, which controls the speed of the water flow, just so that the water flow slowly flows into the steam pot.

The fire in the stove is the same, and it stands to reason that the steam coming out of the pot where the water is boiling will not make much difference.

However, the steam holes on the top of the pot are of different sizes, and they are enlarged from left to right.

In this way, the amount of steam coming out of the three vents of different sizes is different, the side close to the noodle case, because the air outlet is large, so the hot air is stronger, and the farther away from the noodle is relatively milder.

After the mother-in-law finished wrapping a few baskets of xiaolongbao, she brought it to the stove, and the old husband moved or stacked it, integrating the three stacks of cage drawers on the stove, and the new one must be the hottest air outlet hole to heat and steam.

The ones that are almost ripe are transferred to the middle steam hole and slowly steamed, while the steamed stack is moved above the smallest steam hole, and a small amount of steam will keep the buns in these cage drawers hot.

Yang Huairen looked at it with interest for a while, and felt that the stove of other people's small shop was also ingenious and reasonable, giving people the feeling that this small shop was also very old, and it could be regarded as a time-honored brand.

It is dusk, it is the time to get off work, and the men who have been tired all day walk into the small shop, shouting for one or two baskets of steamed buns, and occasionally a plate of brine beans or dried tofu, which is a dinner to relieve fatigue and satiation.

When the young man saw that he thought the old gentleman had walked in, he stepped forward with a smile and said, "The old gentleman would like to try our steamed dumplings?" ”

Yang Huairen stroked his white beard and replied with a smile, "I have long heard the name of your Yan family's xiaolong steamed buns, so I am here to taste it." ”

"The old gentleman has won the prize, where is our small shop so famous, but the price is real and the portion is affordable. There are 10 steamed buns in one cage, how many cages do you plan to have? ”

Seeing that Yang Huairen was still hesitating, he said again, "Our price is eight yuan per cage, if you want two cages, I will count you fifteen yuan, if you want three cages, I will count you as twenty yuan, and I will treat you as a repeat customer." ”

Hearing his son say this, the old man who steamed the steamed buns also turned his head, not because his son was too generous to sell the buns cheaply, but nodded slightly at his son, his eyes were full of fatherly approval.

It seems that the scholars in Jiangnan are really very respected, and it is no wonder that Jiangnan has always been an outstanding person.

Yang Huairen looked at the xiaolongbao in front of the other diners, it was really not big, it was the size of a small egg, and the filling was not much, only a small lump.

But the xiaolongbao in Jiangnan, the taste is the taste, and the price of this steamed bun shop is already very affordable, even if the grain in Jiangnan is cheap, the price of pork is not cheaper than in the north, the cost is there, and the price of eight cents a cage is really fair.

Yang Huairen calculated, if he eats normally, I am afraid that he still owes a little bit of steamed buns for one meal, and two cages seem to be too much to eat.

However, Xiaoshi is still a half-old child, this age is the time when he grows and eats the most, if he hasn't eaten all day, I believe that Sanlong Baozi can be eaten.

So Yang Huairen said with a smile, "Then trouble the little brother to bring me four cages, and I'll take them back to my family to taste." ”

"Okay!"

The young man went to smoke two pieces of oiled paper, and the old man who steamed the steamed buns took down four freshly steamed xiaolongbao, and one of the two baskets was picked up into the oiled paper.

The young man folded the four corners of the oiled paper in the middle, then used the soaked straw as a rope, and tied the two packets of buns with ropes, so that the diners who took them away could carry the two packets of buns with their hands.

"Old gentleman, your buns, a total of four cages, will charge you twenty-five wen."

Yang Huairen said, "This little brother, the four-long bun is thirty-two yuan, and I will thank you very much if you spare me two yuan, let you spare seven yuan, do you still make money?" ”

The old man spoke, "Sir, don't worry, what we have earns is just the difference between earning more and earning less, you are a gentleman who teaches people to read, and we feel uncomfortable when we earn your money." ”

The young man nodded, "Sir, remember to eat it while it's hot." ”

Yang Huairen was a little embarrassed, although it was only seven cents, but his heart was very warm, in addition to the two masters of the bun shop who respected the teacher and taught him, the simple and pure simplicity of the common people was very moving.

Of course, Yang Huairen would not be stingy, leaving a silver bean on the stove, and then turned around and walked out.

The son of the bun shop saw that he left a silver bean, picked it up and turned it upside down, thinking that such a big silver bean would cost almost two or three hundred yuan, and he was a little surprised.

But when he chased him out and wanted to find money for the old gentleman just now, he found that the old gentleman had long since disappeared, he scratched his head and muttered, "This old gentleman has such good legs and feet?" ”