"Make steamed buns!" Stone rolled his eyes, thinking the boy was hopeless.
"So, in other words, your so-called food culture is just steamed buns?" Manager Hua looked at Shi Tou with an expression as if he were an alien: "Steamed buns are sold on every street corner in the capital."
Shi Tou calmly put all the prepared ingredients into the last machine: "This is an automatic steamed bun machine. Look, it can make 50 steamed buns per minute on average! And look at this, a new-style stove. Just a gentle twist and it's on fire. See, if you put a large steamer basket on it, it can steam several baskets of steamed buns in less than 10 minutes."
Steward Hua's face was contorted with rage: "But we can't sell that many buns. And, Master, aren't the bun wrappers made by your automatic dough rolling machine too thick?"
Stone clapped his hands and grinned lewdly, "It has to be thick! Because I need to put soup inside!"
"The broth?"
"Yes, if you pour broth that's been simmering for hours into this automatic bun-making machine, the buns that come out aren't just ordinary buns. Hehe, they're soup dumplings!"
Steward Hua frowned, seemingly considering the feasibility of the bun: "That's an interesting idea. The bun will have soup inside, so people won't choke. And..."
Stone blinked, gazing affectionately at Manager Hua. Actually, for the past two years, she had been responsible for product production and brainstorming ideas; the real work was done by Manager Hua. Don't let her pretty face fool you; she's absolutely capable.
"Master, how about this? You could design a small house, preferably one that can move around, like a horse-drawn carriage. That way, the small house could go out and sell things on the street. And you could put these automated machines inside the small house, making them and selling them at the same time. What do you think?"
Stone looked at Steward Hua with shining eyes: "Without the new China, there would be no new China. What's the next line?!"
o(╯□╰)o
The usually expressionless face of the head steward was now contorted with embarrassment by the stone: "Ahem, Master, what's wrong now?"
So we're not from the same hometown after all!
Shi Tou sighed softly, utterly disappointed. She had thought the person who could come up with this mobile food stall idea, so popular in her previous life, would be from her hometown: "It's alright, I just wanted to say your idea is good. As for the small house, that's even simpler. I'll give you a sample this afternoon, and you can have someone make it!"
"Yes, beautiful master, you... are truly great." After hesitating for a long time, Steward Hua finally managed to utter a word of praise: "Then, may I ask what this delicacy should be named?"
"Let's call these steamed buns soup dumplings. You can add whatever filling you want, and cook whatever broth you like, just don't keep repeating the same thing." Stone waved his hand at Steward Hua: "If possible, we can also sell some drinks, um, let's sell milk. Wushuang, you should spread the word that eating soup dumplings and drinking milk will make you live a long and healthy life."
Steward Hua opened his mouth: "Live to be a hundred years old... but most people can live to be 150!"
"Anyway, it'll make you healthier, that's all that matters." Stone rolled his eyes. Okay, this is the generation gap!
"How should we name that little house?"
Stone rested his chin on his hand and thought for a moment: "Hmm, we only sell steamed buns, so let's call it the Steamed Bun Shop!"
"Yes, Master. Within a month, I will make sure the entire capital is filled with steamed bun shops!"
-----
Steamed bun shops will play a big role...
Of course, the main reason is that that lazy bum hasn't talked to me for days /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~
...
Chapter 161 The Eldest Son of the Lin Family is Getting Married
As the stone business flourished, her status in the Huo family gradually rose. Although she had no talent for magic or martial arts, Old Master Huo had already designated her as a lucky charm...cat.
Although Ironforge is solely owned by Stone and the Huo family has not interfered, the Huo family does retain the right to lease shops within Ironforge. This means that the other six major Eastern families must go through the Huo family patriarch to rent shops.
Furthermore, before each new product launch, Stone would always set aside a portion for Old Master Huo. If all of this were calculated based on the auction prices, it would amount to a substantial sum. Of course, Stone also benefits from this arrangement.
With the Huo family's protection, Shi Tou had never encountered a single thug in the capital during his years there. Of course, it was quite possible that the capital had excellent public security. Moreover, all of the Huo family's restricted servants were sent to Ironforge for parts assembly, forcing the Huo family to recruit a group of servants from other Eastern families to manage the family's daily affairs.
Despite this, there was still a shortage of manpower. Stone, however, remained calm. Money, of course, was endless; she was already earning countless gold and purple gold coins every day.
Faced with countless riches, Stone developed a new hobby: causing trouble at auction houses in the heart of the capital.
Hehe, that's right, it's all about causing trouble.
Basically, she'll bid high on anything that catches her eye. Generally speaking, the people who come to the regular auction hall aren't the real big shots from their families. Besides, everyone knows about the second young lady of the Huo family's peculiar hobby, but in order to buy some novelties from her, most people really don't dare to compete with her.
This was a real headache for the people at the central auction house in the capital. They watched their business dwindle while Ironforge thrived. Their faces were contorted with misery. But what could they do? Luckily, Stone himself wasn't very capable and couldn't get into the underground auctions; otherwise, the consequences would have been disastrous.
Before Shi Tou's 11th birthday, Lin An, the young master of the Lin family, suddenly came to visit.
Shi Tou stared at her fiancé, whom she hadn't seen for three years, unsure how to react. "Okay, I didn't cheat on you," she thought, "let's just do what we're supposed to do."
"Miss Huo, hello." If Lin An knew what Shi Tou was thinking right now, he definitely wouldn't be smiling: "It's been a long time, how have you been?"
Shi Tou swallowed hard, her eyes twitching at the sight of such extremely gentlemanly manners: "I'm fine."
"Miss Huo, may I call you by your name?" Three years had passed, and Lin An had grown from an incredibly cute, round-faced little boy into a handsome young man. Well, he still looked like a bottom.
Shi Tou blinked, trying her best to appear ladylike: "Young Master Lin An, you can call me Xiao Yi."
“I’ll call you Little Yi, and you can call me Brother Lin An, just like when we were little.” Lin An gave Shi Tou a bright smile: “Little Yi, you’re much prettier than you were when you were little.”
Shi Tou forced a shy smile, but in reality, she was screaming inside. "Damn it, what kind of brat is this? He's completely clueless! Can't he just say what he means? He's supposed to be a kid, yet he talks like he knows me so well. Heaven knows I've only met this little uke once!"
"Brother Lin An, it's been a long time. You must have become a very powerful Qi Master by now, right?" There was no way around it; her identity was special. Even though Old Master Huo doted on her now, he couldn't let her scare away her real fiancé.
Sigh, pretending to be a lady is so tiring!
"Little Sister Yi, I'm truly ashamed. Three years have passed, and I'm still only a three-star Battle Qi Master." Lin An's face flushed slightly, indicating that he was genuinely dissatisfied with his achievements.
Shi Tou lowered her head and silently calculated. In fact, she didn't have a very intuitive concept of the levels of magicians and battle qi masters. However, her grandfather was an eight-star magician, and her adoptive father was a seven-star magician. Although Huo Xiaoxiao was an unlucky child at first, her talent gradually emerged over time.
In just three years, Huo Xiaoxiao had advanced from an apprentice mage to a five-star mage. Although her advancement speed was not particularly outstanding among the six major families of the East, she was hailed as a genius among her classmates.
"My sister is already a five-star mage, you have to work hard!" Stone thought for a moment, not wanting to discourage her too much, but being a three-star battle qi master did seem quite embarrassing.
Lin An's pretty face flushed red. He couldn't explain to Shi Tou that the advancement of mages and warriors was different. Besides, in fact, his advancement speed was indeed relatively slow.
"By the way, what did you specifically ask me to come here for?" Of course, Shi Tou noticed Lin An's embarrassment. Recalling the conversations he had had at countless blind date banquets in his previous life, Shi Tou felt that he should change the subject now and save the man's face.
Lin An coughed, finally his face wasn't so red anymore: "Little Yi, it's like this. My cousin Lin Yao is getting married in three days, and I'd like to invite you to join me."
Shi Tou was taken aback, and blurted out instinctively, "Who is Lin Yao?"
"Cough cough." Lin An was genuinely choked this time. Who said Brother Lin Yao was the most popular man in the capital? And that all the unmarried women in the capital were admirers of Brother Lin Yao, so why was this guy's reaction so unique?
“Oh, I remember now, I saw him outside the Crimson Forest.” Although Stone’s memory wasn’t very good, she had a universal memory device—a certain bun who had suffered severe physical and mental trauma.
Since steamed bun shops have sprung up all over the capital, steamed buns have finally found their nemesis. Whenever a steamed bun makes a stone uncomfortable, the stone immediately launches a big discount, a buy-one-get-one-free promotion, or even a charity steamed bun donation event. In short, whenever a steamed bun sees its kind being devoured in large quantities, it becomes depressed and turns into a black diamond, remaining silent for half a day.
More importantly, Baozi finally stopped crying and making a fuss in Shitou's mind and only occasionally acted as a memo for Shitou.
“Yes, my older brother is the vice-captain of the Starshine Mercenary Group.” Lin An finally remembered Shi Tou and breathed a sigh of relief: “Little Yi, will you come with me to participate in three days?”
Attending weddings is definitely not a pleasant memory.
You see, in her past life, Stone was a total spinster, and nothing dreads a spinster more than attending weddings. First, seeing newlyweds get married while thinking about how she's still single is incredibly disheartening. Second, you have to give gifts at weddings!
"Okay, sure." After hesitating for a moment, Shi Tou nodded in agreement. After all, she was just an 11-year-old girl; marriage was too far off for her. Besides, look at that handsome young man, Lin An, in front of her—tsk tsk, she already had a fiancé for life. Logically speaking, she shouldn't be so unlucky as to become a spinster again, right?
Lin An had been looking at Shi Tou with trepidation, fearing she would refuse. So, when Shi Tou finally nodded in agreement, he breathed a long sigh of relief: "Great, little sister Yi, I'll come pick you up in the morning three days from now."
"Okay, see you in three days!"
After seeing Lin An off, Shi Tou felt more exhausted than ever before. Was it that all men in this world were so troublesome, or was Lin An, this submissive guy, just particularly annoying?
Therefore, for some people, being a "leftover woman" is simply their destined fate...
"What? You're going with Lin An?" In the Huo family's Red Maple Garden, Huo Xiaoxiao stared wide-eyed at Shi Tou in disbelief. "Why? Why aren't you coming with me?"
Shi Tou rubbed her throbbing head. Could someone tell her why the Lin family's wedding was so big? "I didn't know you were going too!"
Huo Xiaoxiao still had a look of utter confusion on her face: "Sigh, Xiaoyi, that's the wedding of the eldest young master of the Lin family! Do you know that Lin Yao will be the future head of the Lin family? It doesn't matter if it's other people, but as the eldest son and daughter of the six major families, they definitely have to go and show their support."
"Okay, so you mean I was tricked by Lin An?" Shi Tou looked completely innocent.
Huo Xiaoxiao was taken aback for a moment: "It's not that serious. Anyway, you're his fiancée, so it's no big deal if you attend together. It's just that I'll be very lonely because the people from the six major families are all seated separately. If you attend with Lin An, you'll have to sit in the Lin family's seats."
Looking up at the sky, the stone realized it had been tricked after all...
"Forget it, we'll only be sitting here for a short while anyway. Once we've heard the newlyweds' oath, we can freely attend the party. At worst, you can dump Lin An and come find me." Huo Xiaoxiao wasn't one to be dramatic, and after a moment of frustration, she came to terms with it.
The problem is, Stone can't see things clearly!
It's important to understand that although Huo Xiaoxiao and Shi Tou are nominally sisters, their social circles are completely different. Huo Xiaoxiao's friends are mostly girls of similar age from the six major families of the East, or her classmates from the Imperial Capital Academy. Shi Tou's friends, on the other hand, are... wealthy patrons who come to Ironforge to spend money.
Well, usually, these wealthy patrons aren't too young, and they naturally have their own social circles. In other words, at the Lin family's wedding banquet, Shi Tou probably wouldn't know anyone except Lin An and Huo Xiaoxiao.
Sure enough, wedding banquets can never be pleasant memories.
At this moment, Stone had no idea that three days later, what awaited her was not only unpleasant memories, but also a huge upheaval.
-----
It's time for the second watch!
☆, Chapter 162 The Lin Family Wedding Banquet Encounters a Shocking Turn of Events
A wedding in another world is truly bizarre...
Stone wore a pink princess dress and a small crown studded with jewels, exuding the air of a noblewoman from the Fallen Empire. Of course, it would have suited her even better if her face hadn't been so expressionless.
The Lin family wedding was held at the main Lin family home, because Lin Yao was the eldest son of the main family and the bride he was to marry was the eldest daughter of one of the six major families, so the wedding was extremely grand.
“Little Yi, this is my third sister, Lin Lan.” Lin An suddenly stopped and turned to introduce her to Shi Tou in a low voice.
"Hello, Sister Lin Lan." Shi Tou tried her best to make her smile natural. The wedding banquet hadn't started yet, so Shi Tou could only let Lin An link arms with her and try to get close to others. Heaven knows how frustrated she was right now.
Lin Lan was a girl of eighteen or nineteen, very beautiful, with a dazzling radiance. However, in response to Lin An's introduction and Shi Tou's greeting, Lin Lan only nodded slightly and didn't say a word, seemingly not caring much about the two of them.
Lin An glanced at Shi Tou somewhat awkwardly, then took her arm and continued marching toward the next target.
Stone really wanted to say, "Can we stop this nonsense?"
In fact, within just one hour, Shi Tou had already noticed something. It seemed that Lin An wasn't very popular. Not to mention the young masters and ladies from other families, even the Lin family members treated Lin An indifferently, with a very obvious sense of perfunctoriness.