Chapter 59 Five Blessing Mooncakes [Third Update]

Having received confirmation, Kong Zhenhua called Qu's mother the next day and asked her to give a red envelope to the owner of Wenji.

Qu's mother was somewhat surprised: "It's done?"

Kong Zhenhua's gratitude towards his wife's sister is now like a surging river. He talked incessantly on the phone, vividly describing how delicious the meal Chen Jiahe had last night was.

Qu's mother: "...That's good."

Kong Zhenhua had been so excited he hadn't slept all night. He had originally planned to accompany Chen Jiahe and the other two to explore the local area, but the good news Chen Jiahe gave him last night, coupled with the fact that the two of them only wanted to rest today and told him to do as he pleased, changed his mind.

So Kong Zhenhua drove for two hours on the highway and made his way home in the dark.

The first thing I did when I got home was to pick up my sleeping wife and spin her around several times.

"I did it! Honey, I did it!"

Kong Zhenhua sobbed, startling his wife. She didn't dare leave, holding his head and trying to comfort him.

Kong Zhenhua cried and laughed, laughed and cried again. Finally, looking at the cramped little house, all his unspoken words boiled down to one sentence.

"Let's buy a house!"

Kong Zhenhua is about to make it big.

The wife said helplessly, "It's all good. A big house is good, but a small house is just as good... Take off your shirt first, your back is showing."

Kong Zhenhua then realized his oversight; when he took off his shirt, there was a hole in it.

As Kong Zhenhua continued his incessant ramblings about his future plans, his wife knew he wouldn't stop until he'd gotten to the point. So she simply grabbed a needle and thread and sewed it up.

The couple were talking by the light of the lamp. The child in the house had woken up at some point and was standing at the door, rubbing his eyes.

"Dad, why are you back?"

Kong Zhenhua hugged the child and flew around twice, making the sleepy-eyed child giggle.

"Dad, why are you so happy?"

Kong Zhenhua used his beard to tickle his daughter: "Daddy's happy. What do you want? Daddy will buy it for you."

"Wow, then I want..."

"Okay, I'll buy them all for you!"

His wife looked at the father and daughter with a smile, but Kong Zhenhua suddenly slapped his forehead and remembered something.

"Honey, when my money comes through, let's go get a seafood feast!"

He had spent a considerable sum to invite Chen Jiahe this time; his wife had even asked him if he should temporarily sell his gold bracelet. Kong Zhenhua was initially quite distressed, but while eating, a thought suddenly occurred to him.

It was totally worth it!

The seafood, costing tens of thousands of yuan, was all delicious dishes he had never tried before.

He's taking his wife and daughter out to eat!

The wife had attended Qu Xiaoyu's college admission banquet, so she wasn't particularly surprised, but the daughter cheered and kept asking when it would be.

Kong Zhenhua: "Wait... let's buy a new house!"

Chen Jiahe is known for his reliability; if he says it's possible, then it's not impossible. Kong Zhenhua, full of energy, pulled out his laptop to write an explanatory email.

He negotiated with Chen Jiahe himself!

He must keep this credit firmly in his grasp!

*****

The moment Wen Fan opened his eyes in bed after Sunday, his mood plummeted.

School starts again.

Wen Fan sighed, got up, and quickly made several breakfasts before heading to school.

Today was Qin He's tutoring day. Qin He took her meal and asked Wen Fan with great interest what his plans were for the National Day holiday.

"This year there's an eight-day holiday, National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival are combined!"

With such a long holiday, many students in the class have already made their tutoring schedules.

Wen Fan's brows relaxed: "Eight days... I don't know."

Yay, I get a holiday!

Qin He counted on her fingers her plans: "I'll probably stay home and do my homework from the 1st to the 3rd, go back to my hometown on the 4th, and on the 6th... I want to go hiking."

Someone chimed in, "Going hiking again? I'm not going, I'm exhausted, I need to sleep for eight days straight."

Qin He: "Don't blame me for not reminding you, this time next year, we'll be those senior students on the first floor. If you don't take advantage of this time to go out and explore, when will you have another chance in the next year or so?"

Qin He's words immediately garnered numerous responses.

"Wow, that makes sense!"

"If you ask me, we should organize some group activities. We said we were going to do something in the first year of high school, but in the end we just went to People's Park. I hate it!"

"Come on, don't you know what our school's group activities are like? It's either People's Park or the suburban wildlife park. I'm really fed up. Can't we have some group activities that high school students should have? I've been at that lousy wildlife park since elementary school, and the monkeys there are all the same size as me!"

"Ask the class monitor, let's organize a group buffet!"

"I agree! We can either go to a restaurant or rent some barbecue grills or something, and cook it ourselves at the foot of the mountain!"

The class monitor, a boy wearing black-rimmed glasses, pushed up his glasses and said, "I have no objection."

"Should we tell the teacher about group activities? Will the homeroom teacher be there?"

As soon as he said this, everyone looked at him as if he were an oddity.

Boy: "...Never mind what I said."

That's true, it just doesn't feel the same without the teacher.

"Which mountain should we go to?"

"Yunshan, please."

"No way, let's go for a night hike up Qingtang Mountain."

"Don't go hiking at night."

"Hey, hey, hey, the night view of Qingtang Mountain is beautiful."

"...I'm begging you, you can tell with your bare hands that Qingtang Mountain will be packed with tourists during the National Day holiday, right? Hiking at night? Are you going to count heads then?"

"So where do you want to go?"

"Qingtang Mountain".

"Hello, what's the difference between this and what I just said?"

The girl who made the suggestion rolled her eyes: "What I'm saying is, my grandma's house is at the foot of Qingtang Mountain. The village there is quite fun, with a pond and ready-made venues. Everyone can go there to eat, bring their own food, and you can also see Qingtang Mountain."

Upon hearing this, Wen Fan actually seriously considered its feasibility and found it quite interesting.

A group of people had a lively discussion about what to bring.

"Go to the village to play? No way!"

Jin Rui's voice rang out, instantly silencing the room.

He loudly complained about the inconveniences of the village, saying it was dirty and chaotic, and then telling girls to be careful when they went there, while laughing strangely.

The girl who had just suggested going to her grandmother's house immediately blushed.

Wen Fan turned his head and looked at Jin Rui.

Jin Rui: ...

The mad dog stopped barking, and Wen Fan patted the girl's hand, casting a vote of approval.

“I have everything at home, so I can bring my pot and some seasonings.”

The girl looked at Wen Fan with red eyes and whispered, "My grandma's family grows tea. You can go to the tea mountain to play when you go."

She genuinely felt that her hometown was wonderful, which is why she hoped her classmates would visit.

Han Lulu looked at Wen Fan and then at the girl, and said encouragingly, "That's great, I've never seen a tea tree before."

The girl mustered her courage and said, "The tea trees on Qingtang Mountain used to be very famous, but later the main mountain was developed, so they stopped allowing people to plant them there."

Wen Fan scratched his chin, thinking that this was actually a pretty good place.

Hmm, I'll bring some flour later and see if I can knead some tea cakes to eat.

The news of the group activity during the National Day holiday excited everyone for several days. Finally, the class monitor brought out a piece of paper to start registering. Those who didn't want to go didn't have to go, and those who wanted to go had to count the number of people and their means of transportation. Since it was a self-organized activity, they didn't need to find a bus, and everyone discussed taking the bus together.

Han Lulu was overjoyed and drew eight little hearts on her pencil case. She planned to color one every day, and then she could have a holiday!

Wen Fan often didn't understand some of Han Lulu's behaviors that seemed unnecessary to her, but seeing how cute her chubby little heart was, she tolerated it.

As the little heart turned redder day by day, Wen Fan was even a little excited because of Han Lulu.

I must have developed a mental illness from all the academic pressure.

Wen Fan thought so.

While she was looking forward to the National Day holiday, Wen's mother received a phone call from Wang Zihao's mother.

Wen's mother was a little surprised. She thought everything was fine after the shredded beef with lamps was delivered. Why was Wang Zihao's mother calling again now?

Wang Zihao's mother on the other side was also helpless.

The shredded beef served in lantern-shaped sauce was, unsurprisingly, a hit with all the children at the kindergarten.

The product that Wang Zihao had boasted about in front of everyone before, with each child getting a bottle, and no one complaining about it after taking it.

But the problem lies with something else.

Wang Zihao's mother: "Didn't you send me a flower cake before? I took it to Wang Zihao's kindergarten. It was so delicious that the kids were pushing and shoving it around when they were fighting over it, and eventually their parents were called in."

Wang Zihao's mother was no exception. Although her good-for-nothing eldest son didn't push anyone, the dispute was caused by the things he brought, and of course, she was involved.

The child was called in, and the kindergarten was very helpful, explaining the whole story clearly. Finally, they took out the broken flower cake.

The flower cake was broken into several pieces, but when pieced together, the pattern was still faintly discernible, resembling a small rabbit.

Wang Zihao was born in the Year of the Rabbit. Only then did Wang Zihao's mother realize that the flower cake was not just a free gift, but also a birthday present for her child.

The kindergarten principal is quite young, with two dimples on her cheeks that make her look exceptionally approachable.

She laid out the flower cakes and joked, "I invited everyone here today, firstly to communicate, and secondly to get the parents' opinions. Our kindergarten has always adhered to the principle of focusing on children's needs... First, I must apologize to Zihao's mother, I just made a tiny bit of this flower cake... I must say, it tastes very good."

Everything she found surprised her; the mung bean skin was filled with red bean and taro paste, and remarkably, it was rich in milk flavor without being greasy at all.

"So I'd like to ask Zihao's mother if it's possible for us to propose a collaboration with this business."

The kindergarten principal had a clear plan: since it was about food, everything would be easy to handle.

The kindergarten already has a habit of rotating pastry vendors regularly. This flower cake is delicious, so we bought it.

Wang Zihao's mother inquired about Wen's mother's intentions over the phone.

"If it's inconvenient, is there any opportunity to make some mooncakes recently?" That's what the kindergarten principal said.

Wen's mother took this to ask her daughter.

Wen Fan: "Mooncakes...okay."

Originally, the palace would make mooncakes every Mid-Autumn Festival. Wen Fan used to dread the Mid-Autumn Festival most. Firstly, the masters celebrated while the servants suffered; secondly, how many people in the deep palace could truly reunite with their families? It was always a lonely time. Thirdly…

The empresses all had to show off their skills in making mooncakes. She ran from one palace to another, giving guidance to each one. By the end of the festival, her legs had become three times thinner.

But this year...

Wen Fan looked at her busy parents, and then thought of Wang Zihao's mother's generosity. Well, it's not impossible to make mooncakes.

"Then I'll make some Five Blessings Mooncakes."

The name "Five Blessings Mooncake" is also a clever one. It doesn't refer to the five kinds of fillings, but rather to five different kinds of mooncakes with completely different fillings and crusts. Wen Fan once put these mooncakes together on a plate and casually named them "Five Blessings Mooncake".

"It's simple, just bake a few batches, and keep some for ourselves too."