Chapter 331 - 144: Another Serving! One for Each

Chapter 331: Chapter 144: Another Serving! One for Each

Her daily wear was usually simple, figure-hugging clothes like yoga pants. She secretly hoped to meet a wealthy husband soon, so that one day, like the other two, she could afford to wear whatever she pleased!

"You’re not the only one," Duoduo said, holding her forehead. "I don’t know why, but I feel a little insecure in front of this cake... I’m just so crude..."

It couldn’t be helped; she had inherited some of her father’s nouveau-riche air.

At that moment, as Duoduo looked at the two Imperial Consort Cakes before her, she felt as if she were sitting in front of a real imperial consort, overcome by a sense of her own inadequacy.

"Hah, who cares if it’s an Imperial Consort Cake or an Emperor Cake," Zhou Ya said, ever the straightforward one. "At the end of the day, isn’t it just something to eat? I’ll be the guinea pig!"

The main reason was that the circles she moved in were more interesting. Zhou Ya’s family was in the livestock business. In China, many people in that industry are considered unpresentable, almost vulgar, but the Zhou Family was different.

Their main business was in Australia, producing high-end beef. Because Father Zhou was a Jingzhou native who loved his hometown, he spent most of his time in Jingzhou whenever he wasn’t abroad.

So Zhou Ya never had to suck up to anyone, since they weren’t in the same industry.

With that, Zhou Ya picked up an Imperial Consort Cake and took a small bite.

"Huh?" she let out a strange sound.

"How is it? Is it good?" Zhang Jiayi asked worriedly.

"It’s hard to say. Let me take another bite."

This time, Zhou Ya took a bigger bite, finishing off nearly half of the Imperial Consort Cake in one go.

She chewed for a long moment before finally letting out a breath. "Wow, this is good! The crust is thin, and the filling is generous. It’s crispy yet soft, savory with a hint of sweetness—the texture is amazing. And the flavor is really unique. You guys have to try it!"

The Imperial Consort Cake is primarily made by baking. During the baking process, the moisture in the crust gradually evaporates, so the main textural characteristic of the crust is its flakiness!

"Try it? I can’t bear to eat a pastry this beautiful..." Jiang Lan held up the plate and took more than ten pictures of herself with it on her phone before reluctantly putting it down.

There was just one question on her mind now.

’Can I get this to go?’

’She wanted to take this thing home and put it on an altar!’

After Zhang Jiayi finished taking her pictures, she saw that the reaction in her live stream’s chat was pretty good, and the knot of anxiety in her chest finally loosened.

And by now, her live stream’s actual viewer count had already surpassed 500 people.

"Everyone, it’s not that I don’t want to tell you! I’ll report the address for today after my girls and I are done eating, okay!"

This was an unwritten rule.

What if she gave out the address and fans swarmed the place to mob them?

"A pastry that good-looking must have cost a fortune, right? Just tell us the price, Miss Tycoon. The price will be enough to scare us off!"

"No matter how good it looks, it’s still just a pastry. They sell Imperial Consort Cakes on the street, fifteen yuan for half a kilo."

"You think the ones on the street can compare to this? Look at this atmosphere, this presentation, this plating!"

"Pfft! You guys watch Douyin, don’t you? That Master Sui just has to offer a couple of pointers, switch the plate, and add a hot side, and the price will jump by forty or fifty yuan. You really can’t tell with this stuff."

Zhang Jiayi watched the comments for a moment, then beamed at her phone. "Oh, it wasn’t that much. Just a normal level of spending."

"Yeah, on average, just over four thousand per pastry!"

After saying this, she looked away from her phone, completely satisfied. She knew very well that for a long time to come, her fans would be able to say nothing but "holy shit."

’This was exactly the effect she was going for!’

The debut of the Imperial Consort Cake made Zhang Jiayi full of anticipation for the pastries to come. She chatted idly with her friends for about seven or eight minutes.

Then, the man with the black-rimmed glasses knocked and entered again. This time, however... they heard his voice before they saw him!

The moment the knock sounded,

a resonant voice drifted in.

"White hair, silver threads, ten thousand strands intertwined,

Fine, dense, and sweet, like a soft spring rain."

Then the man entered, carrying the same kind of wooden tray. This time on the tray were four small, high-stemmed plates shaped like plum blossoms, with blue bases and blue surfaces.

And on each of them, a single dessert was placed.

They hadn’t known how to describe this thing, but upon hearing the man recite the poem, the four women all nodded in agreement.

’It was too perfect!’

’White hair, silver threads, ten thousand strands intertwined, fine, dense, and sweet, like a soft spring rain!’

The confection looked just like white hairs and silver threads, tens of thousands of strands tangled together. At first glance, it seemed chaotic, but upon closer inspection, it held a strange sense of order.

As the four high-stemmed plates were placed in front of the four young women, Wang Rui said slowly, "Sesame oil and preserved fruits are wrapped within; pulled from sugar and snow by a delicate hand. Please, enjoy."

If the Imperial Consort Cake had been stunning and beautiful...

...then this Dragon Beard Candy, laid out before them, was utterly shocking.

The shock they felt was the kind one could only experience by truly sitting here and seeing this pastry in person.

Just like in Zhang Jiayi’s live stream, where the audience was currently baffled.

"No way. This is another four-thousand-plus pastry? Damn it, isn’t this just Dragon Beard Candy? I bought a box at the temple fair a few days ago for ten yuan!"

"You can’t put it like that. An apartment in Jingzhou costs a little over ten thousand per square meter, but in the Capital City, some are hundreds of thousands per square meter. By your logic, they’re all just apartments, so why is the Capital City so expensive?"

"Even so. Going from ten yuan a box to over four thousand for four pieces is still pretty outrageous, isn’t it?"

"Either way, it’s stuff we can’t afford... but that price really is ridiculously steep."

"This is just a toy for rich people. Don’t go challenging Miss Tycoon’s allowance with your monthly salary, OK?"