After a male student transmigrated into the body of a widow,

However, the customers at the cold dish stalls were already used to the rules. Even though they were all eager to push forward, they would subconsciously move back when they saw people starting to line up. Soon, the huge crowd outside Xingfuju became orderly and formed two neat lines.

Facing the hundred guests ahead, Gu Lin and Sister Zhao quickly packed each bamboo tube.

Soon, the first hundred customers not only bought the cold dishes and braised food they wanted, but also received new snacks as a gift from Xingfulu.

However, this new food is a little different; it's a liquid called milk tea.

A customer who didn't know what milk tea was asked Gu Lin, but this time Gu Lin didn't answer. Instead, he smiled slightly and said to the customer, "Try it first. The taste will definitely be different from all the drinks you've had before."

Upon hearing this, the guest's curiosity was piqued by Gu Lin's words: "Then I'd like to try it and see what it tastes like."

The guest opened the bamboo tube and saw that it contained a slightly yellowish-white liquid. He frowned slightly and said, "Isn't this just goat's milk?"

Goat milk has a strong, pungent smell, which is disliked by many people at the time.

Gu Lin shook his head slightly: "It's not goat milk, it's made by boiling cow's milk and tea leaves together."

Upon hearing that it was milk, the customer immediately lost his previous aversion and became even more curious.

It can only be said that oxen were highly valued in this era, and even the milk produced by them was considered a good thing by many people, even if they had never tasted it.

The guest lifted the bamboo tube and began to drink. At first, he was afraid of the strong smell of milk, so he drank in very small sips. But when he tasted the silky, rich, and slightly sweet liquid, he immediately began to gulp it down loudly.

After the guests finished drinking the milk tea in the bamboo tube, they put the tube down, and everyone noticed that there wasn't a single drop of liquid left.

The customer wiped his mouth and said, "Great!"

Clearly, the customer adored this drink called milk tea. He had a sweet tooth and had tried all sorts of candies, preserves, and sweet drinks in the county town, but none of the sweets combined could compare to the milk tea in front of him.

The customer turned to Gu Lin and asked, "Boss, do you sell milk tea? How much is a tub?"

Gu Lin replied without even blinking, "Ten coins per tube."

"What?! Ten coins for a tube?!"

A middle-aged man exclaimed in surprise, "Is this milk tea inlaid with gold?"

Gu Lin patiently explained, "Uncle, the milk tea in our shop uses high-quality and precious ingredients. First of all, milk is scarce. You can ask around in the county town and you'll find that there are almost no places that sell milk. The milk in our shop is ordered at a high price."

"Making milk tea requires a lot of tea leaves. The tea leaves used in our shop are top-quality black tea. I believe that the customers who just drank the milk tea should have tasted the tea flavor."

"At the same time, we've added a lot of honey to remove the bitterness of the tea leaves, making the milk tea incredibly sweet. However, because the production cost of milk tea is high, our shop can only brew a few batches each day, which isn't enough to supply everyone. We ask for your understanding!"

Is that really the case?

The middle-aged man's tone was slightly doubtful, but his expression revealed his struggle; he was clearly wavering and beginning to believe Gu Lin's words.

"Of course, our shop is honest and fair to all, young and old."

Is everything Gu Lin said true?

It's only half true and half false. First of all, the ingredients used in the milk tea are indeed of high quality. The milk is specially ordered from a high-priced supplier. Although the tea leaves are not the top-quality black tea he claimed to be, they are not of inferior quality either; they are just the average batch. However, the cost of the honey used is indeed very high.

Fortunately, although people in ancient times had a sweet tooth, they had not been bombarded with modern artificial saccharin, so Gu Lin's "50% sugar" version of milk tea was already quite sweet for them.

"The milk tea is really delicious and thirst-quenching. Boss Gu, please pack me five tubes so I can take them home for my family to enjoy," said a customer who had just finished a tube of milk tea.

Someone angrily rebuked him after hearing this, saying, "Didn't you hear Boss Gu say that the milk tea supply was limited? How could you still buy so much?"

After the person who had been criticizing the customer finished speaking, he looked at Gu Lin with hopeful eyes, hoping that the other party would, as usual, announce to everyone that the milk tea purchase was limited. However, the young man in front of him said apologetically, "I'm sorry, because milk tea has an optimal drinking time, missing this time will affect the taste of the milk tea, so the milk tea in our shop is unlimited."

For a moment, some customers in front of the shop sighed, while others were overjoyed.

Those who sighed in despair knew they were destined to miss out on milk tea today, while those at the front of the line were overjoyed, finally free from restrictions and able to buy as many tubs as they wanted.

Seeing this situation, Gu Lin had no choice.

He's a businessman who needs to make money. If he introduces a new dish and then limits its availability because some customers can't buy it, it might seem like he'd make the same amount of money as before. But if he continues to operate in this way, Gu Lin will only be able to earn a few taels of silver at most in the future.

In the early stages, it was understandable for Gu Lin to implement limited quantities in order to stabilize customer base. However, now that the reputation of his cold dishes and braised food has been established, Gu Lin needs to take advantage of the fact that people are not yet fully accustomed to the limited-quantity model and quickly correct their old mindset.

However, he did not disappoint everyone too much, giving a pleasant surprise: "In addition to milk tea, the shop also has other delicious drinks."

A customer who couldn't buy milk tea asked, "Do you have any good milk tea?"

Gu Lin replied, "Although the flavors are slightly different, they are both delicious and have their own unique taste."

"Okay, give me two cans of each first. If you like it, I'll buy more from you!" The customer clearly wasn't short of money.

Gu Lin prepared the licorice drink and the sweet fruit drink and handed them to the other person. The other diners were also curious about how the other drinks at Happiness House would taste after the sweet milk tea.

The guest wasn't stingy either; under everyone's gaze, he openly opened the licorice drink and started drinking it.

The slightly cool and sweet drink slid into his mouth, moistening his dry lips and gliding over his burning throat. The guest swallowed the sweet liquid in his mouth, then looked at the expectant crowd and said, "The licorice drink is sweet and soothing to the throat, much better than the perilla drink and pear drink at Ruyilou."

Upon hearing the other party's evaluation, the diners who had eaten at Ruyilou Restaurant all exclaimed "Wow!"

If we're talking about the most famous restaurants in the county, besides Fumanlou, it's Ruyilou.

Unlike Tongfu Manlou, which focuses on researching dishes, Ruyi Lou focuses on developing pastries and desserts. It can be said that the best desserts and drinks in the county are all there. Nowadays, some people say that the drinks at Xingfu Ju are better than those at Ruyi Lou, which has aroused the curiosity of many people who want to try them.

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"I got it! I got the milk tea!"

A boy carrying a bamboo tube squeezed through the crowd, his voice so loud it was almost cracking, attracting everyone's attention.

Zhao Xing squeezed through the crowd from behind and called out to the boy who had shouted, "Brother Wang!"

Seeing the bamboo tube in Wang Yue's hand, a hint of regret flashed in Zhao Xing's eyes.

When Boss Gu informed him of the closure of the stall and the opening of the shop, he was preoccupied with the academy's exams. After finally finishing the exams, he left the academy wanting to buy some braised dishes from the cold dish stall to treat himself, only to find it deserted when he arrived at his usual spot.

He went there for several days afterward, but the guy didn't set up his stall. Zhao Xing was already somewhat discouraged, but today he came out again to try his luck. Unexpectedly, a shop on the same street as the academy was surrounded by people, and there was a lot of noise and bustling activity.

Seeing a somewhat familiar scene before him, Zhao Xing couldn't help but walk forward to take a look.

Taking advantage of his height, he tiptoed and peered through the dense crowd of heads to see the young man in the shop. He opened his eyes slightly and recognized him as the owner of the cold dish stall.

Before he could react, Zhao Xing saw Wang Yue, who lived next door, squeeze out from the front.

"Brother Zhao, what a coincidence!" Wang Yue said with an awkward smile, then raised the bamboo tube in his hand and said, "You're here to buy milk tea too?"

"Milk tea?" Zhao Xing's eyes were filled with curiosity, and even his face showed some curiosity.

He wasn't curious because he didn't know what milk tea was; on the contrary, Zhao Xing had read a travelogue in the academy's library, which recorded many of the customs of the northern barbarians.

In terms of diet, the northern barbarians especially love milk tea. Whether they are commoners or nobles, they cannot live without milk tea and drink it every day.

But Zhao Xing wrinkled his nose, a look of doubt appearing on his face. According to the travelogue, milk tea was salty and contained butter and dried meat. Zhao Xing asked suspiciously, "Milk tea contains oil and smoked meat, and it's salty and oily. Why would Xingfuju sell this?"

Wang Yue was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then burst into laughter, his eyes filled with tears: "Brother Zhao! Brother Zhao!"

Seeing Wang Yue laughing so loudly, Zhao Xing was a little confused. Wang Yue, holding his stomach, gradually stopped laughing and said, "Brother Zhao, the milk tea isn't salty, it's sweet."

“How could that be?” Zhao Xing expressed disbelief, firmly stating, “I personally read in a travelogue that the milk tea of ​​the northern barbarians is salty.”

Although Wang Yue hadn't read the travelogue the other party mentioned, he knew what the milk tea tasted like after just drinking it.

He said to Zhao Xing, "You said that's barbarian milk tea, but this is milk tea from my Great Qian. How could it be the same as theirs?"

Despite Wang Yue's friendly address to Zhao Xing when they met last time, as if they had a good relationship, Wang Yue and Zhao Xing actually don't get along very well.

As soon as he found a flaw in the other person's words, he couldn't help but jump up.

It's not his fault; their feud dates back to their childhood.

The Wang and Zhao families had been neighbors since the previous generation, and Wang's father and Zhao's father were very good friends. They married in the same year, and a year later, their respective wives gave birth to sons. So the two friends decided to let their sons grow up together, hoping to continue the friendship between the two families.

However, Wang Yue and Zhao Xing had never gotten along since childhood. Wang Yue was always the naughtiest one, while Zhao Xing was well-behaved and quiet, able to concentrate on her studies even at a young age. So, whether at home or at school, Wang Yue was always outdone by Zhao Xing.

As a result, parents, elders, and neighbors began to compare them, and unsurprisingly, they praised Zhao Xing and belittled Wang Yue.

With his youthful spirit, Wang Yue naturally refused to submit and constantly found fault with Zhao Xing. However, Zhao Xing, though seemingly well-behaved, was not someone to be trifled with, so the two secretly fought for over a decade, and even now, neither is willing to concede to the other.

You can tell from how they address each other that neither of them acknowledges that the other is older than them, but out of politeness, they have to force a smile and address each other as brothers.

Wang Yue opened the bamboo tube in front of the other party, then raised his hand to his lips and drank from it. After finishing, he sighed to Zhao Xing, "It's as sweet as honey."

Zhao Xing naturally saw through the other party's deliberate behavior, but he was used to it, and since Wang Yue meant no harm, Zhao Xing asked in return, "Is this milk tea still available?"

After asking the question, he looked at the crowded people in front of him, his brows furrowing slightly, his expression filled with worry.

Seeing the other party's calm and expressionless face, Wang Yue felt it was pointless and said, "It's only just started selling, you can still buy a tube if you go now."

"Alright, thank you, Brother Wang."

After thanking him, Zhao Xing quickly squeezed into the crowd.

Because of its rich and sweet milk tea, which is famous far and wide, Xingfuju's milk tea sold out as soon as it was served for two consecutive days.

Not only milk tea, but also cold dishes and braised food in the store are sold out every day.

An elderly woman asked Gu Lin, "Mr. Gu, is your shop open all day?"

Gu Lin: "Yes, it will be open in the morning and afternoon!"

The old lady beamed and said, "That's good. Before, you only opened for one morning, and my family would eat all the braised food and cold dishes I brought home before lunch. Now that you have a shop in the county town, we can come and buy them whenever we want."

Gu Lin smiled and said to the old lady, "Don't worry, our Xingfuju will be open until dark."

At noon, when Zheng Hao returned from school, Gu Lin had prepared a licorice drink for him.

When Gu Lin made milk tea and other drinks at home before, he let Zheng Hao try each one. Then he found that Zheng Hao didn't really like sweet fruit drinks and milk tea.

So Gu Lin asked Zheng Hao why, and Zheng Hao replied that milk tea was too sticky and sweet fruit drinks were too sweet. In the end, however, the other party actually developed a fondness for the slightly sweet licorice drink.

The three of them didn't eat any braised food or cold dishes for lunch; even the most delicious food gets boring if you see and smell it every day.

But they couldn't live without meat, so every morning Gu Lin would ask Zhao's wife to go to the market to buy a few pounds of meat, and then divide the meat into two meals, lunch and dinner.

These days, Aunt Zhao cooks for them. Aunt Zhao is a very good cook. She used to be reluctant to use oil and salt, but after Gu Lin's training, she is now willing to use seasonings, and her dishes are getting better and better.

When it was time to eat, Gu Lin closed the shop door and sat down at the table. He then said to Zheng Hao, "After you finish eating, go back to your room and take a nap before going to the academy."

Gu Lin initially thought that Wuliu Academy was harsh, but after learning from Zheng Hao a few days ago that private schools in Daqian did not give students time for lunch breaks, he had to admit that it was true.

The short lunch break meant that Zheng Hao would have to go to school after resting for half an hour, even though the house was close to the Wuliu Academy.

Zheng Hao was actually very energetic and not tired at all, but he really liked the feeling of Gu Lin caring for and loving him.

Zheng Hao lowered his eyes slightly and said to Gu Lin in a gentle manner, "Uncle Gu, don't overwork yourself."

He raised his hand, his chopsticks reaching past the vegetables, and picked up a piece of scallion chicken, placing it in Gu Lin's bowl.

Gu Lin looked at the chicken in the bowl and felt a little touched.

From Zheng Hao's recent behavior, Gu Lin could clearly sense the change in him. Between the two of them, it was no longer a one-sided affair where Gu Lin was being kind to Zheng Hao; Zheng Hao was also gradually accepting Gu Lin's kindness towards him.

They gradually became family to each other.