"Yan Capital really is full of beauties!" Bobby exclaimed. "Even grabbing a bun, we run into such a knockout!"
"Not necessarily from Yan Capital," Grace replied.
"Why do you say that?"
Grace shook her head. "Hurry up and eat! We still have half an hour to walk before we arrive. We need to get into the city before the gates close at dusk."
Bobby stopped asking questions and stuffed a bun into his mouth.
Suddenly, there was a loud "smack!"
Bobby nearly choked on his bun. He looked up and saw the maid in black slam her hand on the table, shouting at the elderly couple selling buns, "You, bun sellers, get over here!"
Grace turned to look. The woman in white had just spat out her bun and was now rinsing her mouth with a cup of water.
The maid in black then grabbed the steamed buns in front of the woman in white, her face full of anger.
Could it be that they found something dirty in the bun?
But when she ate it just now, it seemed perfectly clean?
The old lady was startled and hurried over, asking, "Miss, is there a problem?"
"Didn't you say these buns were made with pure lean meat?" The maid in black held up the bitten bun in front of the old lady. "What's this inside?"
The old lady took a look and said, "These are lean meat buns! What's the issue?"
"Look at this!" The maid in black picked out a bit of filling with her chopsticks and held it up in front of the old lady. "This is clearly fatty meat!"
"Well..." The old lady looked at the tiny piece of fatty meat on the chopsticks, about the size of a grain of rice, and said, "Oh dear, miss, even with pure lean meat, there's bound to be a little bit of fat mixed in. That's perfectly normal!"
"Perfectly normal?" The maid in black sneered. "You're cheating your customers!"
"How am I cheating anyone?" The old lady looked wronged and called out to Grace and Bobby, "You two, help me judge!"
"The old lady's right," Bobby said. "Buns taste even better with a little fatty meat in the filling! Makes them juicier."
"Country bumpkin! What do you know!" The maid shot Bobby a disdainful look, then said to the old lady, "Our lady wants buns made with pure lean meat—no fat at all. Make a fresh batch now!"
"Oh dear!" The old lady looked troubled. "We make the bun filling at home and just wrap and steam them here. If you want us to chop up new filling... I don't even have the ingredients in my shop!"
"That's your problem!" the maid in black snapped. "Go make a fresh batch now!"
The old lady frowned. "Miss, why don't you go eat somewhere else? I won't even charge you for what you've already eaten."
"What? Afraid we can't pay?" The maid pulled out a silver ingot and tossed it onto the table like she was giving alms to a beggar. "Go make them fresh! As long as our lady is satisfied, you'll be rewarded!"
"Miss, the nearest butcher is an hour's round trip from here!" the old lady said. "It's getting dark, and these old bones can't handle all that running around. Our little shop just can't afford customers as wealthy as you."
As she spoke, the old lady pointed down the road. "Just ahead, about fifteen minutes by horseback, there's a town with a big restaurant. You two ladies might as well go there. Whatever you want, they'll be able to make it!"