Tang Yue paused as she was pouring mango sago into the bowl, and the two girls holding umbrellas were also stunned.
Cui Er Niang was quick-witted and quick-handed. She stepped quickly to Tang Yue's stall and snatched the two bowls away, fearing that Tang Yue would pour the drink in and destroy the evidence.
"What's going on?" The two girls were shocked. Where did this lady come from? Why did she snatch the bowl from someone else? And she even said the bowl was not clean?
Cui Erniang grabbed the evidence and finally felt relieved. Like a victorious chicken, she said arrogantly, "Ladies, you don't know that one of these two bowls is dirty. It was used by someone else. The stall owner didn't have time to wash it, so I gave it to you to save trouble."
You give someone else a bowl that has been used, but you don’t even wash it, and just continue to use it to serve drinks to others?
The two girls were taken aback and looked at Tang Yue in shock.
"You are so sloppy, you didn't even wash the bowl before giving it to us sisters to drink?" One of the girls in yellow was impatient and couldn't help but said, "Fortunately this kind lady stopped us, otherwise if we had really drank it... it would have disgusted me to death."
Cui Erniang looked at Tang Yue with a proud look.
Tang Yue half-lowered her eyes and remained silent, thinking about the friendship between neighbors. Is this the end of it?
The other one in purple was more gentle and held the girl in yellow, saying, "Don't worry, sister. I see that this young lady is dressed neatly, and her hands and hair are very clean. She doesn't look like a sloppy person. Is there some misunderstanding?"
"Misunderstanding? There is no misunderstanding at all." Cui Erniang said, "The evidence is all here, you can see for yourself."
She displayed the two bowls in front of the two girls, with a proud look on her face as if to say, "See now?"
The girl in yellow took the bowl and examined it carefully. The bowl wall was spotlessly white, without any signs of having been used. There were only a few crystal water droplets on it, and it was obvious that it had just been washed with clean water.
The outer wall of the bowl is covered with sky blue porcelain glaze, the color is also very beautiful, she almost can't let it go.
Usually wine bowls and bowls for selling drinks are rather rough, and it is rare to see such fine bowls for selling drinks.
"These two bowls are clean, why do you say they are unwashed?"
Cui Erniang was stunned and subconsciously asked, "How is this possible?"
I clearly counted eleven guests just now, so there should only be one clean bowl left.
The lady in yellow pushed the bowl towards her: "See for yourself."
Cui Erniang's eyes widened. She was so focused on preserving evidence and telling the girls about the incident that she didn't even notice whether the bowl she snatched was really dirty.
I was too confident and believed the twelve clean bowls I counted.
Tang Yue looked at Cui Erniang deeply. She used to think that this woman was just fond of talking and was a little vain. But now it seems that she is just a mean person.
"This is impossible, absolutely impossible." Cui Erniang began to explain frantically, "I counted, she clearly only had twelve clean bowls. Before you, there were eleven guests, and there was only one clean bowl left. How could there be two more clean bowls out of thin air now?"
Seeing that Cui Erniang was very sure about what she said, the man looked at Tang Yue.
Tang Yue had no obligation to confirm anything to Cui Er Niang, but her guest was there and had the right to know.
She opened the bamboo basket in front of the two girls, took out the bowls one by one, and placed them on the table: "Sisters, count them."
The purple-dressed lady counted quietly, "Thirteen, including these two clean ones, there are thirteen bowls in total."
Cui Erniang was completely speechless. Aren't there... twelve? How did it become thirteen?
Did she count wrongly? She finally began to doubt her own eyes.
The lady in yellow now completely believed in Miss Tang's innocence. She looked at Cui Erniang with disdain and said, "You have bad eyesight, and you are too jealous. You can't stand Miss Tang's good business, so you deliberately come to ruin her reputation?"
This girl was a person with a strong sense of justice. After finding out the whole story, she stood up for Tang Yue and scolded Cui Er Niang harshly.
Cui Er Niang opened her mouth but could not say a word. Thirteen celadon bowls were placed in front of her. Even if there was dirty water in it, she could not spill it.
Tang Yue poured the refreshing Yangzhi Ganlu into a bowl and said softly, "Don't be angry, sisters. Drink a bowl of cool drink to calm down."
Then he turned to Cui Erniang and said calmly, "Erniang, just now an old man wanted to buy your jujube juice, but when he saw that there was no one in front of the stall, he left."
Cui Er Niang turned around suddenly. Not only did she fail to harm the person, but she also damaged her own business. It was not worth it, so she jumped back in a hurry.
The look of him loving money is so funny and hilarious that anyone who sees it will laugh.
The two girls laughed softly, and the one in purple said, "Ms. Tang is such a coaxer. There is no old man who wants to buy jujube juice at all."
From their perspective, both of them could see Cui Erniang's stall the entire time, but no one had been there for such a long time.
The lady in yellow also laughed: "I thought Miss Tang was a mute person, but it turns out she can fight back. I feel relieved now. For people like that, we should be merciless. Cheating her is the least we can do."
Tang Yue smiled and said, "Sisters, please don't laugh at me. After drinking this, I have to wash the dishes."
The two girls finished their drinks, paid the money, and left satisfied.
Tang Yue packed up the bowls and went to the South Canal to wash them again. There were thirteen bowls in the short bucket, one of which was not celadon.
There were indeed only twelve washed bowls in the basket, a complete set of imitation Tang celadon, and Cui Er Niang had not counted wrongly before, there were indeed eleven guests until the two girls came.
Tang Yue was originally preparing to wash the dishes, but the two girls came suddenly, so she had to serve them drinks first.
The bowl was washed temporarily in the dessert shop.
There was no way she would serve unwashed dishes to guests.
But Cui Er Niang suddenly jumped out and pointed out in a bad manner that the guests were being served dirty bowls.
If this wasn't an attempt to ruin Tang Yue's reputation, then what was this? Would a normal neighbor do this?
You really want to think about the guests, why not just remind the eleventh guest that everything is ready when the dishes are dirty? Why wait until the dishes are dirty before making a big fuss?
Fortunately, the two bowls she snatched were clean, as the girls witnessed with their own eyes.
As for the thirteenth bowl, Tang Yue took it from the dessert shop temporarily in order to prove her innocence.
One of the green jade bowls in a set, although not exactly the same, it cannot be easily found when stacked among the original green porcelain bowls.
The dessert shop helped a lot, and Tang Yue had a clear conscience. She did not give anyone dirty bowls, and all the desserts and drinks she sold were guaranteed to be clean. Cui Er Niang wanted to frame her, but she was looking in the wrong direction.
When she returned to the stall, Tang Yue saw Cui Erniang looking at her frequently with a smile in her eyes, as if after her frame-up failed, she wanted to "reconcile" the relationship.
In Cui Erniang's opinion, Tang Yue was a little girl who was very easy to coax. She would hold a grudge against someone if she was hit with a stick, but would be well-behaved again if she was coaxed with a sweet treat.
A good relationship means that I can continue to ask Tang Yue for advice on how to make drinks. This little girl is really good at making desserts and drinks.
Tang Yue was still busy with the work at hand and ignored Cui Erniang's "eye contact".
Cui Erniang felt embarrassed and looked away angrily.
Until closing the stall and going home, Tang Yue was busy with business and didn't say a word to the people around him.
On the way back to Zaohua Village, Cui Erniang caught up with Tang Yue's stall and started to make small talk.
"Tang Yue, wait for me, why are you walking so fast?"
Tang Yue was pushing a stall cart. Originally, there were two large bamboo baskets on the lower level of the cart. Since she started selling drinks, the two bamboo baskets had grown into four, one for desserts, two for pottery jars, and one for empty bowls.
Four bamboo baskets, two pottery jars, and thirteen bowls. With so many things piled on the cart, Tang Yue pushed the cart effortlessly.
On the other hand, Cui Erniang had only a basket, a pottery jar, five or six bowls, and a basket of charcoal on her stall, but even with all these, she was exhausted.
Panting heavily, he jogged a few steps before catching up with Tang Yue.
There was no other reason, it was just that when Tang Yue was closing her stall, she had already put all the odds and ends into the dessert shop and was pushing the empty cart away as usual.
"The little girl has quite good stamina."
Tang Yue turned her head and saw Cui Erniang looking disheveled, with sweat on her temples and her hair all messy.
She teased, "Why are you running so fast, Second Mother? Look at you, your hair is so messy. Eh? Didn't you say you bought several hairpins last time? Why haven't I seen you wear them?"
What Cui Erniang least wanted to mention was the hairpin. She had praised it in front of Tang Yue that day, but she had no money to buy it, so she asked Wang Dalang to buy it.
Unexpectedly, Wang Dalang was so angry that he said that she spent too much money and was a spendthrift. Why did Xu Niang buy a hairpin when she was middle-aged?
She was so angry that she almost had a fight with the nasty man.
When this matter was brought up again, she was left with embarrassment on her face, and she said casually, "I forgot, I forgot again."
Tang Yue didn't expose it and continued walking forward.
I had just taken two steps when I was entangled again. The other party was as thick-skinned as a city wall: "Tang Yue, that Yangzhi Ganlu...can you teach me how to make it?"
Look, isn’t it thicker than the city wall?
In the past, Tang Yue treated Cui Er Niang as a neighbor and was willing to teach her how to make egg tarts and date cakes. But after today, she will no longer be so kind.
He turned his head and glanced at her, then asked, "What do you think?"
Cui Erniang knew that the raw materials for mango sago were ridiculously expensive and she had no intention of selling it. She just mentioned it casually, but Tang Yue refused so bluntly, which made her even more unhappy.
Why is a poor little girl so arrogant?
Still smiling, he said, "It's okay. I plan to continue making jujube juice tomorrow. This pottery jar is not good. I have a new one at home. I just bought it during the Chinese New Year. I can't bear to use the other one."
Tang Yue asked: "How much did you spend on the bowl yesterday?"
"Five cents."
A five-cent bowl and a brand new pottery jar are quite an investment.
Cui Erniang asked again: "What about you? Do you plan to continue selling Yangzhi Ganlu tomorrow?"
Tang Yue shook her head: "The weather is bad tomorrow, I won't set up the stall."
She looked at the weather forecast at the dessert shop. The temperature will drop from tomorrow, and it will start raining tomorrow morning and will continue to rain for two whole days.
When Cui Erniang heard this, her first reaction was that there were finally no competitors left, and tomorrow it would be her turn to make a lot of money.
"What about you?" Tang Yue asked back.
Cui Erniang said without hesitation: "I'll go!"