Chapter 35 Making Moon Dumplings with Five Nuts, Red Bean Paste, and Lotus Seed Paste

Since there were only two beds in the house, they decided to help Wei Pan into Lu Xuan's bedroom.

Seeing a step underfoot, Lu Qiong warned, "Watch your step!"

There were no curtains in the bedroom, only a wooden bed and a small table. The clothes he wore on a daily basis were placed in a large wooden chest next to it.

Lu Xuan first spread out the bedding, while Jin Niang and Lu Qiong worked together to get Wei Pan onto the bed.

Seeing that she looked pale and was too weak to speak, Lu Qiong dragged out the basin from under the bed tower.

"I'll go boil some water."

After she left, Jinniang touched Wei Pan's forehead, which was a little cold, and then touched her palms, which were also cold: "Xuan'er, you stay here and watch over things, I'll go get some ginger water."

Ginger water can dispel cold and relieve pain caused by eating raw or cold foods. It can also be boiled and drunk when you get caught in the rain or feel cold.

Lu Xuan felt she couldn't be of much help, so she agreed to stay.

Everyone was busy, and even Xue'er stayed obediently in the courtyard, not causing any trouble for the others.

After drinking the ginger water, Wei Pan lay back down on the bed. Lu Qiong covered her with a thin blanket and placed a hot water bottle filled with boiling water on the bedding.

Seeing that she had recovered and her face was no longer so pale, Lu Qiong had the time to investigate the matter, and said with a hint of annoyance: "Didn't I tell you not to eat cold food? How come you ate two servings of crispy mountain in a row?"

Perhaps feeling guilty, Lu Xuan lowered her head and remained silent.

Lu Qiong wanted to say a few more words, but then she saw Jin Niang giving her a meaningful look. Knowing that it wasn't appropriate to lecture Wei Pan, she sighed inwardly, gave them a few instructions, and went out to finish processing the remaining bayberries.

As dusk approached, Wei Pan had almost fully recovered; at least her lower abdomen no longer hurt, and she could walk without assistance.

Lu Xuan then decided to take her home first, and then go to Lu's restaurant to help out. Looking at the blue bricks under her feet, she felt a little guilty: "It's my fault, I've made you suffer."

Originally, the crispy mountain was meant to be served one serving per person, but after eating one sweet potato, she couldn't eat any more. Since it wouldn't be good to waste the remaining crispy mountain, Wei Pan had no choice but to finish it all.

However, Wei Pan didn't blame her. Instead, she smiled and said, "Although I suffered a bit, the crispy mountain ahead is very sweet. Two sweet things for one bitter thing, I've actually made a profit!"

"Don't overthink it," she said, patting Lu Xuan on the shoulder.

Knowing that she was just trying to comfort herself, Lu Xuan felt even worse. She wanted to say something more, but Wei Pan pointed awkwardly to the alley entrance.

"I've arrived. You should hurry back too; your older sister is waiting for you!"

Wei Pan lived behind Tongjifang, some distance from Zhouqiao Bridge. The rent was cheaper there, but the house was larger and could accommodate more people.

A sliver of light shone from another courtyard, so Lu Xuan felt relieved: "Alright, be careful too."

Lately, Lu Ji's business has been slow in the evenings. A few customers come in, order a plate of cold rice balls and leave, or take away a few pastries. The Xie family, on the other hand, keeps sending people to pick up food.

With nothing else to do, Yang Jie'er wiped the water stains on the stove again and again: "Where is Xuan Jie'er?"

Lu Qiong then recounted the events of the day in detail, and at the end sighed, "It seems that I embarrassed Xuan'er just now, and I scolded her several times in front of Pan'er."

“Xuan’er isn’t that petty; she might even be blaming herself.”

Sister Yang had also noticed their recent interactions. Both of them were taciturn, but she didn't want to get involved.

"Maybe." Lu Qiong said absentmindedly, casually flipping through the account book.

Sister Yang suddenly leaned closer and whispered, "But there aren't many of these crispy mountain desserts. Even two servings won't make you sick. But... that time of the month?"

that?

"It's Gui water..."

Thinking about it, I do seem to have seen a touch of red under Wei Pan's dress, but the fabric was too dark to see it clearly.

No wonder she was feeling unwell; I wonder if she had prepared menstrual pads or wood ash...

The next morning, Lu Qiong opened the door and smelled a fragrance as soon as she stepped into the courtyard.

Who got up so early?

A stove was burning in the kitchen, and an earthenware pot was placed on it, making a muffled gurgling sound—bubbling and bubbling!

A small window was open on the side, and the mist in the room drifted towards it, making Lu Xuan's figure appear and disappear intermittently.

This is the Snail Fairy.

It was rare to see her up so early, so Lu Qiong couldn't help but tease, "Who is this for?"

Actually, it's obvious even without being told. Last night, when I saw Lu Xuan, I mentioned Wei Pan, so I guess she made this porridge especially for Wei Pan.

Lu Xuan lifted the lid of the pot, and the sweet and glutinous aroma filled the whole room. She saw that red dates and red beans had been added to the pot, and an egg was sizzling inside.

"Sister, I'll go and bring Wei Pan some food first."

It was so hard to find someone I could get along with in Bianjing, so naturally I had to put in a lot of effort.

“Okay,” Lu Qiong found a food box for her, “Remember to come to Lu’s Restaurant at noon.”

Lu Xuan had never been to Wei Pan's house before, and only learned of her address yesterday.

Walking along the back alley of Tongjifang, turning right at the end leads to another street. This street is adjacent to the Bian River, is quite lively, and is not far from the Rainbow Bridge, making it convenient to leave the city.

The food box was heavy; besides porridge, it contained dried dates and eggs, all of which had just been packed. She hadn't started her period yet, but her older sister often said that she needed to take care of herself during these days, not to eat too little, and not to catch a cold.

By the time Lu Xuan reached the alley, her forearms were already aching. Just as she was about to ask someone where Wei Pan's house was, she heard a noise coming from a courtyard not far away.

Wei Pan's furious voice rang out: "Don't run, or I'll catch you!"

All that's missing is a dog's bark, and then chaos will ensue...

This yard is half the size of Lu Qiong's house. The left side is fenced off for raising chickens, and the right side is planted with vegetables. Now the chickens have escaped and are pecking at the vegetable leaves in the garden!

"Oh dear, help me stop it, it's going to your place." Wei Pan didn't even bother to ask Lu Xuan why she came. Seeing that the chicken was about to run out of the yard, she hurriedly called for people to catch it.

Before Lu Xuan could respond, the chicken spread its wings and fluttered to her side, eyeing the food box in her hand and clucking incessantly.

Wei Pan tiptoed over, seized the opportunity and pounced, grabbing the chicken by both wings: "Now it can't escape, can it?"

Chicken feathers were scattered all over the ground, and even the two of them were covered in them.

"How did this chicken escape?" Lu Xuan asked, carrying a food box, as she watched Wei Pan catch the chicken and put it back in the coop.

The other chickens clucked and pecked at the rice. Seeing this, Wei Pan quickly ran outside, closed the fence tightly, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and let out a long sigh.

"I was feeding the chickens just now, and one of them accidentally ran away."

He patted his chest as he spoke, gritting his teeth in relief, "Luckily we caught it. We'll slaughter it and eat it on the fifteenth!"

They don't slaughter chickens on ordinary days, since they can collect eggs a few times. If they eat those eggs, there won't be any left, so they'll wait until a festival to kill one.

Lu Xuan was the same way when she was in Shangyuan Village, but recently life has improved, and she can buy whatever she wants to eat at the shop, so she has never worried about eating meat.

"Oh, right, this is for you, a porridge made with dates and red beans."

Wei Pan had noticed the food box early on, and now that she had taken it, she laughed openly: "It's perfect timing since I haven't had breakfast yet."

The jujubes became even softer after being cooked. Wei Pan ate one and squinted her eyes. They were so sweet!

The porridge was fragrant and sweet, even sweeter than the sugar pastries her family ate during festivals.

The porridge in the bowl was completely gone. Wei Pan felt warm all over after eating and couldn't help but exclaim, "You're so lucky to be able to eat so much good food every day. When I grow up, I want to open a restaurant, and I want it to be the biggest in all of Bianjing! Today we'll eat pickled crab, tomorrow we'll eat sashimi..."

“Running a shop is exhausting; you can’t rest every day,” Lu Xuan couldn’t help but pour cold water on the idea.

Everyone only sees the glamorous surface, but how many people know the hardships of running a shop?

They have to get up early to prepare ingredients, wash the floor and wipe the tables, deal with difficult customers, dispose of leftover food, do the accounting when closing time, and worry about the next day's business at night...

Wei Pan, however, was determined to overcome the difficulties: "As long as we can make money, these things are nothing. Otherwise, look at my brother, who spent most of his savings on school but learned nothing. Yesterday he even asked for money to buy paper and pens, I don't know where he spent it, asking for an ounce of silver right off the bat, what a spendthrift!"

She could start a business with that money, and might even make a lot of money.

With a creak, the wooden door opened, revealing a short, stocky figure—Wei Rong, Wei Pan's younger brother.

Lu Xuan was playing by the Bian River with Wei Pan when they ran into Wei Rong. After learning that Lu Ji was related to her, he went to order a table full of food, but then refused to pay!

Seeing that he wanted to dine and dash, Lu Qiong said she would report him to the authorities, which scared him into running back to get the money.

From then on, Wei Rong became enemies with her and the entire Lu family business, and he complained to his mother a lot, and also got angry with Wei Pan.

Upon seeing Lu Xuan this time, he naturally didn't give her a friendly look. He snorted, "What, is Lu Ji going out of business, so you're stealing food from my house?"

He had such a smug look on his face that Lu Xuan wanted to tear his face apart. She felt a lump in her throat.

Wei Pan knew they didn't get along, so she told Lu Xuan to go home early.

As Wei Rong was about to go inside, Wei Pancai stopped him: "Why aren't you at the academy right now? Where did all the money Mother gave you go? Didn't you say you were going to buy paper and pens?"

Wei Rong's face scrunched up: "Mind your own business! I can spend this money however I want on wine. You're really siding with outsiders, always helping the traitors. Even your mother says you're ungrateful! In a few days, I'll have her sell you to Xu San!"

Xu San was a widower living in the alley. He was not only old but also had a bad temper. He also had many children. Going to his house was just going to suffer. People would use this to scare their daughters.

But Wei Pan knew that what he said wasn't a threat, but that he really wanted to do it; that's just how vicious he was!

...

Aside from the fact that few people bought Lu Ji's soup dumplings, the beginning of August was quite uneventful, and the Mid-Autumn Festival was just around the corner.

Because she was making mooncakes, Lu Qiong ordered a batch of new molds from the shopkeeper in advance, and also purchased a lot of new dough.

At this time, mooncakes were called "small cakes" or "moon cakes," but people in Bianjing ate moon cakes on ordinary days, so it wasn't something unique to the Mid-Autumn Festival.

This mooncake was quite different from the mooncakes that were commonly referred to later. The filling was often a mixture of oil and sugar, similar to the pastries they had made before. There were no mooncakes with five-nut filling, red bean paste filling, or even snow skin mooncakes.

So Lu Qiong decided to make mooncakes with five kinds of nuts, red bean paste, and lotus seed paste fillings. These were all common ingredients, but she was able to create a variety of designs.

Yang Jie'er looked at the lotus seeds on the stove: "Young lady, do you mean we should grind these into mud?"

This is a huge basin!

The lotus seeds have been soaked overnight; once cooked until soft, they should be able to be mashed into a paste.

Lu Qiong huffed and puffed as she carried the bucket of water, her face flushed, and struggled to pour it into the pot: "This is to make lotus seed paste, which we'll use as filling for mooncakes. It'll be so sweet!"

People in Bianjing love sweets, so how can we not win them over?