Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 242: Red Bean Paste Pancakes with Vegetable Oil

"When you arrive at Mo Qing Zhai, tell them that I reserved it, and the shopkeeper will give you the calligraphy."

"One copy costs five taels of silver, which is actually just the cost of printing paper.

Qi Xi was a little panicked: "Then, when I told the master that it was eighty taels, why didn't the young master stop me?"

"If the master knew that this copybook only cost five taels of silver, wouldn't it be like I was asking for an exorbitant price?"

"The master will beat me to death."

Qi Xi was about to cry when she thought about how angry her master was.

Lu Lang smiled and said, "Why are you panicking? Even though you are making it up, it's not far-fetched."

"Because it is a limited edition, if I hadn't known in advance that Master Yan was going to publish a new book, I wouldn't have been able to pre-order it."

"For those who want something but can't buy it, you can only ask someone to buy it privately. I heard that a book costs anywhere from 80 to 90 taels to 200 taels."

"I guess my father has heard about it, so he gave me two hundred taels of silver."

Qi Xi finally breathed a sigh of relief and murmured, "Oh my God, this book is really expensive. How many meat pies and buns can I buy with the money for this book?"

After listening to this, Lu Lang seemed to be thinking about something, but did not say anything else.

Early the next morning, Zhou Dalang made soy milk and began to prepare to make the sauce-flavored cakes.

Shen Yu also got up early today and planned to do it together with Zhou Dalang, which would be faster.

It was just daybreak, and Shen Yu had just rolled out the first dough and asked Zhou Dalang to take it, when he saw Qi Xi walking into the backyard carrying two food boxes, one of which was the one that his family had sent over yesterday.

Shen Yu was busy rolling out the pancakes, and called Qi Xi, "Why did you come so early today?"

Qi Xi put the two food boxes away, bowed to Shen Yu, and briefly told him what happened last night.

He smiled and said, "I have to trouble you again today, young lady. I need to make some red bean paste biscuits first. I will take them back to make breakfast for the master."

Shen Yu smiled and said, "Sure, it's not a difficult task. Go and call Yu Tao over for me."

She pinched out some small round pieces from the prepared pastry dough, rolled them into balls, and put them aside to relax for a while.

Yutao was originally helping out in the shop. After she came over, Shen Yu asked her to take some charcoal from the stove, light the small stove, put a small iron pan on it and add some vegetable oil, preparing to make some red bean paste cakes.

She first rolled out the dough for two pieces of sauce-flavored pancakes, and when the dough had almost risen, she took it to another clean dough board and rolled it into pancake skins.

Wrap the peach with red bean paste filling, roll the edge slightly, then put it on a small iron pan to bake.

Red bean paste pastries are small in size and cook quickly. It didn’t take long before the first batch was ready to be baked.

Shen Yu asked Qixi: "Do you only want red bean paste biscuits? I also have candied date fillings and chestnut paste fillings here. Do you want to make some too?"

Qi Xi nodded quickly and said with a smile: "My young master said that if the young lady has any vegetarian cakes, she can get some and bring them back for the master to try."

At this point, Qixi hurriedly said, "The young master has silver in his hand. He told me to pay the price according to the price. The young lady must accept it, otherwise I will not be able to explain myself when I go back."

Shen Yu did not refuse and said with a smile: "Okay, then I will calculate the money for you when I'm done. Anyway, your young master has money in his hands, so I won't be polite."

Shen Yu was busy at the noodle counter, and Qi Xi couldn't help, so he just stood aside and muttered about what he was going to do later.

Hearing that Qixi was going to redeem the jade pendant, Shen Yu apologized and said, "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Master Lu. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have to pawn the jade pendant."

Qi Xi said, "It's okay, don't worry about it, it will be redeemed soon, don't worry about it anymore."

The two chatted, and soon the cakes that Qixi ordered were ready.

Shen Yu charged a hundred coins for twenty small pastries at the price of five coins each, then put a dozen large meat buns into the bottom layer of his lunch box before closing the box.

When Qi Xi saw this, he quickly took out his purse to pay the money.

Shen Yu smiled and said, "Mr. Lu bought the red bean paste biscuits for the county lord. It was a gesture of filial piety on his part, so I want to collect the money."

"This bun is for Mr. Lu. It's the interest I lent him. So I'm the one who made the profit."

"Okay, stop talking nonsense and go back quickly."

After Shen Yu finished speaking, he gently pushed Qixi out of the store. Qixi couldn't insist any longer, so he had to take the purse and go back with the food box.

Shen Yu started making cakes with Zhou Dalang.

We were busy until the sun rose. There were fewer customers eating breakfast and the lunch customers had not yet started to come into the store. Only then could we take a break.

After taking a break from my busy schedule to have breakfast, I have to start preparing lunch.

At this time, Zhou Dalang was already very skilled in flipping and making pancakes, so Shen Yu no longer helped him make pancakes. Instead, he hid in a corner of the kitchen and began to think about the dishes that Lu Lang would prepare for his dinner party.

She sat in front of a pile of vegetables, wondering what kind of meal she should prepare so that Lu Lang's classmates would enjoy the meal.

There are still two days until September 16th, and Lu Lang has not come to talk about how to arrange the arrangements. I wonder if he is busy with something or has forgotten.

It is really difficult for a chef to cook without knowing the diners' preferences.

Shen Yu muttered to himself, regretting that he was so busy in the morning. When Qi Xi came over, he forgot to ask him when Lu Lang would come to arrange the banquet.

Just as he was thinking deeply, Yutao ran over and said, "I saw Brother Qixi come back again."

Shen Yu was puzzled. Could it be that he came to buy red bean paste biscuits again? This was too fast. 7-Up had taken away a lot of them in the morning.

Just as I was thinking about it, I saw Qixi coming over.

He was sweating from running, and when he saw Shen Yu, he asked anxiously: "Miss Shen, can you make flower cakes?"

Shen Yu was asked by Qixi without any reason, so he didn't dare to brag. He just said, "Don't be impatient, tell me slowly, what kind of flower cake is it?"

Qixi measured it and said, "It's the kind of flower cake used for offering to Buddha. It's this big, just like the kind offered at the temple during the sutra drying ceremony on June 6th."

Shen Yu smiled slightly, nodded and said: "I will do it. Who would do this to make you so anxious?"

When Qi Xi heard this, he almost jumped up with joy: "It's my master."

"He said he was going to the mountain to pray on September 19th and wanted to order a large flower cake to show his love. The matter of customizing the flower cake is left to the young master."

"Master, I thought that the small reunion cakes and chestnut cakes you made were so beautiful, so I asked you if you can make flower cakes."

"If you can, I'll let you make this flower cake. It will definitely be better than the cake shop in the county town."

Shen Yu agreed and said, "I have made a few flower cakes, and the guests all said they were good."

"Why don't you go back and ask your young master what pattern he wants to make and how many layers he wants?"