Chapter 48 - Chapter 48: The Pig’s Contribution Was Great
Chapter 48: The Pig’s Contribution Was Great
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Save your stomachs for later. I’ll let you taste one piece at a time. This thing isn’t sweet, but there’s a lot of sugar in it. In order to protect your teeth, you can’t eat too much at once.”
“Yes, Mother.”
With this attempt, her confidence increased greatly. Next, she started baking twenty of them in a batch.
The fragrance of the mooncakes made the neighbors on the left and right swallow their saliva.
What was Madam Qiao doing? It was even more fragrant than the snacks from the shops in town.
They wanted to go over, but they felt embarrassed and endured it for an entire day.
For the entire day, she did not do anything but bake mooncakes. The family of three had mooncakes for lunch and dinner, except for breakfast.
It was not that she could not care less about cooking, but she wanted to try out every mooncake.
In the evening, Qiao Mai emptied a few wooden boxes, wiped them clean, lined them with white cloth, and stacked the mooncakes inside.
One box cost 100 yuan. The three boxes of mooncakes cost 300 yuan. There were more than 20 different mooncakes outside. She had saved them for the children.
After she moved the box into her room, she placed it directly into the space. Only in the space would it not change its smell and maintain its freshness. After a tiring day, Qiao Mai put the remaining mooncakes in the children’s room and gave them a few fruits.
“Eat some if you’re tired. Mother won’t cook tonight.”
“Mother, you’ve worked hard.”
“You guys have also worked hard.”
After closing the door for the child, she tidied up the courtyard and went back to her room to sleep.
The next day was the first day of the Full Moon Festival.
She used a custom-made rectangular wooden box to store the mooncakes. Each box had five kinds of mooncakes, and there were twelve pieces in it, with six pieces per layer.
She packed a total of 25 boxes and prepared to give them as gifts.
The families who helped her catch the thief that day had a box each. She did not send it to them personally. Instead, she sent her two sons to give it to everyone who came to help that day.
She gave the neighbor on the right three boxes because the house was rented by three families.
Yuan Jiaqi was both surprised and not surprised when he received the gift box.
Although he did not help her catch the thief, he explained the reason and even personally made a signboard for her. It was expected that she would give him a gift.
Madam Chen was also very surprised to receive the gift. In short, everyone concluded that the gift from Madam Qiao was a thank-you gift for helping to catch the thief.
Qiao Mai sent out nearly ten boxes to the neighbors alone. As for the remaining fifteen boxes, she kept three boxes in her space and personally delivered five boxes to the shop and handed them to Lu Sanniang.
After receiving the gift, Lu Sanniang was very happy. She immediately opened it and shared it with her family. Everyone said that it was delicious.
Qiao Mai smiled and carried five boxes of mooncakes in one hand and two boxes in the other. She went to the mayor’s house and handed the five boxes of mooncakes to the guard.
“Big Brother, please send this gift to the mayor. I won’t go in.”
“Alright.”
Not long after the guards came out, Qiao Mai handed the two boxes of mooncakes to the two guards.
“I’ve troubled the two of you a lot. It’s just a little token of my appreciation. It’s a holiday. I made it myself. Try it.” “Aha, there’s still a share for us?”
“Yes!”
“Thank you!”
Qiao Mai bid them farewell and went home. Although she had not opened the stall for the past two days, she did not lose anything. Everyone in town knew where she lived and went straight to her house to buy things.
Forget about the corn and peanuts, but fruits could not be missing during the festival.
If they wanted to eat fresh and good food, they could only look for her. Therefore, she sold a lot of goods at home.
Especially since she had added oranges, apples, pears, grapes, and other fruits during the Full Moon Festival. After resting for two days, she actually sold more goods than usual.
Fengyun and Yunfeng also benefited a lot. They would be able to eat whatever goods that Qiao Mai had in stock.
After delivering the gifts, she began to prepare the ingredients for tomorrow’s treat.
There were quite a number of people who came. There were five from the Lu family, two from the neighbors on the left, two from the neighbors on the right, and three from her own family. There were a total of twelve people.
The two tables had to be put together to avoid being forced to sit down.
If it was just passable, then so be it. Eating well was the main thing. Twelve people, twelve dishes, and each dish had to be large.
For this, she even made a list.
She threw away the home-cooked dishes she usually ate and made a garlic pork knuckle. They usually ate stewed pork, so she changed the way she cooked it.
She had pork ears in the freezer, and the pork body had already taken up two dishes. Dried pork intestines and steamed pork with rice flour had replaced the braised pork. This was not greasy.
With the garlic ribs, pork took up five dishes. It could be seen that the pig’s contribution was great.
If she had pork, then she would have chicken. Since she had children, then she would try to reduce the spiciness. She would have a braised chicken and a fish. The fish would be crispy, and the bones would be soft so that they would not make the children choke.
Seven dishes, still far from twelve.
These few seem to be meat, so she had to have a few vegetarian dishes.
She had tofu, so she cooked it with scallion oil and some sauce. In this era, there was no sesame sauce, but there was sesame. This was not far from sesame sauce. It wouldn’t be too strange if something new came out.
There were only three dishes left. Then, she made fruit salad. The children would definitely like it.
There were some shrimps in the market during this season. Buying two catties, picking them up, and stir-frying them with leeks was also a good dish. There was still one more dish to go, which gave her a headache. The small town only sold these few dishes, and there were not many.
After thinking, she thought she could make a black fungus salad. The dry food store sold this, so it was normal for her this.
Once the menu for the twelve dishes was done, she immediately carried the basket and went shopping.
Her sons wanted to go along and help her carry some things, so the three of them each carried a basket.
She had spent a lot of effort buying in the market for this meal.
When she came back, she asked Fengyun to steam half a pot of rice, then cooked braised pork and vegetables for them.
After eating, the three of them did not rest. They began to prepare the ingredients. After they were done, Qiao Mai kept them in her space to keep them fresh.
Then, he washed all the fruits in a basin.
The Full Moon Festival here was the modern Mid -Autumn Festival, but the meaning was different.
In modern times, the emphasis was on family reunions. This was the day of the year when the moon was the fullest, also known as the Moon God Festival.
Since others were celebrating, she would celebrate with them. It was just a festival, so they could gather together for fun.
That night, Qiao Mai personally went to Madam Chen and invited her to come home in the afternoon of the Full Moon Festival to have a meal together to celebrate the festival.
Madam Chen was very surprised and happy that she was invited to agree.
On the other hand, Yuan Jiaqi seemed to have something on his mind. “Lady
Qiao, who did you invite?”
“Shopkeeper Lu’s family, Madam Chen and her son, and then you and your son.”
“It’s all women, so isn’t it inconvenient for me to go?”
“Who said they are all women?”
“Is there another man?”
“My sons! You should have heard about them, right? And your son, and Miss Chen’s son. Aren’t they all men?”
Only then did Yuan Jiaqi reveal an embarrassed smile. His two rows of neat white teeth really dazzled Qiao Mai. He looked really good when he smiled.
“I might not be able to come tomorrow, but I might still come.”
“Oh? Is something wrong at home?”
“Yes, I’m going to buy a gift for the festival and will have to go back home. If I don’t stay at home overnight, I should be able to rush back in the afternoon.”
“It’s okay. We’ll wait for you. Also, I have something to talk to you about.” “Please speak!”
“I want to ask you to teach my two sons how to read. Can you do that?”
Yuan Jiaqi quickly waved his hand. “I’ve only learned a little, so how can I teach the children?”
“It’s just the basics. It’s good enough that they can read and write. I haven’t thought about their imperial examinations. If they are talented, it won’t be too late to send them to school. If you teach them, it’ll be two taels of silver a month. You can only teach them for an afternoon or a morning. It just so happens that your Chuan’er will also learn with them. If Madam Chen’s son wants to learn, she can also bring him along. I just want my children to be able to read and write.”
“Why don’t you let them go to the school in town?”
Qiao Mai rolled her eyes and could not help but complain.
“I wanted to send the children there, but my enemy’s grandson is studying there. His teacher temporarily stopped accepting students because of him. He only did this after hearing about my plans..”