NOVPUB
Chapter 971: Chapter 974: That Scary?
Another Mid-Autumn Festival had arrived, and seized by a sudden impulse, Qiao Duo’er wanted to make her own mooncakes since the variety sold outside was too limited, offering only bean paste and mixed nuts fillings, neither of which she liked.
Early that day, Tan Zhenghong had rented an oven from the town’s pastry shop and brought it back.
Qiao Duo’er examined it and saw that the ancient oven was divided into two levels, the lower for burning firewood, the upper for the baking rack.
There was no major issue with the oven, except she didn’t know how to control the temperature.
Sigh, modern electric ovens were so much easier to use.
Simply set the temperature and time, and everything would be just perfect.
With an understanding smile, Tan Zhenghong said, "Wife, I’ve made an arrangement with the master baker from the shop, and he gave me two mooncake molds and shared the tricks of the trade with me. I’ll take care of the fire, and we’ll definitely bake the mooncakes till they’re beautifully done."
Among the tricks was to maintain a moderate fire, placing the mooncakes on the middle rack, and during baking, take them out to spray some water on them or brush them with an egg wash.
"You’re getting better and better at winning hearts, let’s get to work!" 𝚗ov𝚙𝚞𝚋.c𝚘m
With a loud call, Qiao Duo’er summoned all the maids and housekeepers to the courtyard.
Duo’er loved lotus paste and fresh meat mooncakes the most. She knew how to make varieties with egg yolks, sweet osmanthus, salty meat, and assorted nuts fillings.
Since she was making them herself, why not try a little of each?
No, that’s not right, her job was to direct others to do the work.
"Madam, is this much sugar with two bowls of water enough?"
"Hmm, slow cook it on a low flame, and it will turn into syrup. Once the syrup cools down, mix it with the flour to create the syrup crust; that’s the outer skin of the mooncakes."
"Madam, do we need to crush all these ingredients?"
"All except for the egg yolks."
...
As laughter and chatter filled the air outside, envy gnawed at the Wang Clan member.
To be fair, Tan Zhenghong and Qiao Duo had always treated her kindly, never shorting her on food, clothing, or necessities.
But she always felt like an outsider, struggling to fit into the family.
She felt that Tan Zhenghong and Qiao Duo were closer to the servants than they were to her, and she wondered where the problem lay.
Now she might have understood, it was because they seldom did things together, hardly ever communicated unless they worked together.
So, from now on, she couldn’t be as lazy, she too needed to pitch in and do some work.
After wrestling with her thoughts in the room for a while, she finally mustered the courage to come out.
"Can I... can I help you?" the Wang Clan member asked tentatively.
Qiao Duo glanced at her before asking, "Do you know how to make mooncakes?"
There shouldn’t be any task easier than this, right?
"Can I learn?"
Wang felt embarrassed, as a woman her age should know how to do everything, yet she only knew how to cook a few dishes, and they weren’t even particularly tasty.
Qiao Duo nodded, "Sure, I wasn’t doing anything anyway, I’ll teach you."
Wang did not expect Qiao Duo to agree, and felt overwhelmingly grateful.
Seeing Wang hadn’t moved for a while, Qiao Duo couldn’t help but ask, "What’s wrong?"
"Nothing, I’m just going to wash my hands."
Wang hurriedly replied, carefully washing her hands twice with the fragrant saponin before coming over, for fear that Qiao Duo might find her disagreeable.
Qiao Duo demonstrated with a piece of mooncake skin. It was actually quite simple, just slowly sealing the skin around the filling to completely enclose it.
Nevertheless, Wang, not being particularly dexterous, failed to wrap them correctly after several attempts.
Wang sneakily glanced at Qiao Duo and, seeing no expression of annoyance on her face, felt slightly relieved.
Qiao Duo, forehead lined with black sweat, wondered if she really was that intimidating.
"It’s natural to be a little awkward when you’re just starting to learn. Keep practicing, and you’ll improve in no time."
