Chapter Thirty-Five: Taro Cake

Since we have salted duck eggs, making mooncakes is indeed a viable option. Making one is the same as making many, and most importantly, we can make money.

"Boss, the salted duck eggs my friend bought are absolutely delicious! They're so oily and fragrant!" Liang Hekang said with sparkling eyes. "Please, boss, please don't refuse! Please, boss, please agree to make mooncakes!"

This Mid-Autumn Festival wouldn't be complete without the mooncakes made by Boss Yu!

"Okay, I need to go and see how it goes first. If it's feasible, I'll do it. Of course, I've noted down the reservations you three made. I'll let you know as soon as they become available," Yu Miaoyin said, reassuring them.

"Okay, that's good." Having gotten the answer he wanted, Liang Hekang returned to his chair contentedly and continued eating his rice noodle soup.

After closing the shop, Yu Miaoyin went with Liang Hekang to look at salted duck eggs.

Xiao Tangbao followed along. As soon as they entered, Boss Zhao unloaded a box of salted duck eggs. Liang Hekang greeted them warmly, and Boss Zhao smiled at Yu Miaoyin and Xiao Tangbao.

"Want to buy salted duck eggs?" Boss Zhao quickly solicited customers, picking up a salted duck egg from his bamboo basket to show Yu Miaoyin. It was still covered in some wood ash. "My salted duck eggs are pickled with wood ash; wood ash is very pure..."

After introducing the salted duck eggs, Yu Miaoyin also thought they were quite good. Since everyone was also looking forward to her making mooncakes, Yu Miaoyin ordered several baskets and asked Boss Zhao to deliver them to Yu's Restaurant the next day.

"Okay, I guarantee it will be delivered on time." Boss Zhao wrote down Yu Miaoyin's phone number and address.

After he left, Liang Hekang exaggeratedly said, "Old friend, for my sake, you must give the best salted duck eggs to Boss Yu. Her food is exceptionally delicious, and with your best salted duck eggs, it will be even more delicious."

Mr. Zhao gently patted his shoulder. "My salted duck eggs are all top-notch; there are no defective ones."

"Hehe, of course I trust you."

……

After saying goodbye to the two, Yu Miaoyin went home.

After returning home, Yu Miaoyin took out the taro that Grandma Chen had given her, peeled it, and cut it into chunks. She also soaked the dried shrimp and diced the shiitake mushrooms, cured pork, and sausage. First, she sautéed the cured pork until the fat was rendered, then added the sausage, dried shrimp, and diced shiitake mushrooms and stir-fried for a few seconds. She also added the taro and stir-fried it for a while to make it more fragrant and flavorful.

Yu Miaoyin poured the stir-fried ingredients and taro into a large square plate, poured in the raw and cooked batter, gently tossed the plate, and then put it in to steam.

She went back to the living room to help Xiaotangbao with her homework. When she smelled the aroma of taro cake in the air, Yu Miaoyin said, "Sister, go check if the taro cake is ready."

Little Tangbao was looking forward to the taro cake, and nodded upon hearing this, "Okay."

Yu Miaoyin lifted the pot lid, gently poked it with chopsticks and pulled it out. After confirming that there was no more batter, Yu Miaoyin turned off the heat, cut the taro cake into roughly the same size pieces and took them out for Xiaotangbao to eat.

She preferred it pan-fried, so she took out a small portion and pan-fried it for a while; the charred patches on the surface looked especially tempting.

"Here, try some of the fried ones." Yu Miaoyin packed some fried and some uncooked ones, intending to give them to Grandma Chen.

Xiao Tangbao took a bite, and the pan-fried taro cake tasted slightly different from the unfried one. The unfried taro cake had a firmer texture and a delicate taro aroma. The pan-fried one had a slightly charred outer layer, making it crispy, while the inside was soft with a grainy taro texture and a powdery, glutinous consistency. The dried shrimp and sausage added even more flavor and a distinct savory taste. Xiao Tangbao smiled contentedly and said, "Delicious! Both are so delicious!"

“Let’s go, let’s take some to Grandma,” Yu Miaoyin said, after all, this was taro cake made from taro that Grandma Chen gave her.

"good!"

Grandma Chen lives alone. Yi Ling is in evening self-study class, and when she feels bored, she puts on some family dramas to make the house a little more lively.

"Xiaoyin, what's wrong?" Grandma Chen turned around and asked.

"No, I made some taro cakes with the taro you gave me and brought some for you to try," Yu Miaoyin said.

Grandma Chen loves these kinds of pastries, and she looked at them with great surprise. "Thank you, Xiaoyin, for making them and bringing them over. They smell so good!"

The dried shrimp, shiitake mushrooms, and cured meat on top of the taro cake are faintly visible, mixed with the flavor of taro, making the taro cake especially tempting with its salty and smoky aroma.

“Yiling just called me and said she was hungry again during evening self-study and asked me to make her a bowl of noodles. Perfect, I don’t need to make noodles anymore. I told her that Sister Ayin made her some delicious taro cake, and she’ll definitely be happy,” Grandma Chen said.

The school isn't very strict, so quite a few students bring cell phones. Even those without phones don't mind; many bring basic mobile phones to make calls and send texts, and they play with them during breaks. For a group of high school students, everything except studying is incredibly interesting, even playing a simple single-player game like Tetris is fun.

Grandma Chen took out her phone and sent a text message to Yiling.

Grandma: Sister Ayin brought over some taro cakes. You can eat them after class.

Xu Jiajia had just opened her phone to check how many minutes left in get out of class when she saw a text message notification. She gently tapped Yiling, "Your grandma sent you a message."

Fearing something urgent might have happened, Yiling immediately checked her text messages.

Oh, it's taro cake! What to do? She really wants some!

Sure enough, exams are incredibly draining. Everyone gets hungry right after finishing their evening study session, and Xu Jiajia was no exception.

Tomorrow she has history and English exams. Xu Jiajia is struggling to memorize the historical timeline while also trying to remember various English sentence structures that she can apply to the exams. Knowledge is consuming her energy.

What's even more infuriating is that quite a few students in the class went to the convenience store and bought some snacks. Some even made instant noodles. For a hungry person, the smell of instant noodles could make her drool.

Xu Jiajia passed a note to Yiling, which read: Let's go to the convenience store to buy some snacks after class. I'm so hungry! We need to be full to have the energy to study! ^_^

After seeing the note, Yiling thought for a moment and replied: Sister Ayin sent some taro cakes to our house. How about I ask my grandma to bring some over? I'm hungry too, so we can each have some!

Xu Jiajia was overjoyed when she saw the note; her heart was filled with joy.

Yiling took out her phone and sent a message to her grandmother—

Yiling: Grandma, could you please leave the taro cake at the security office? I'll go get it after class; I'm really hungry.

The next second, Grandma replied: Okay

Xu Jiajia was exceptionally happy, and the few minutes waiting for get out of class to end felt incredibly long.

Perhaps exams really do drain people's energy. As soon as get out of class ended, the class split into two halves. One half took out their food supplies, some eating potato chips and others eating instant noodles, while the other half went to the convenience store in groups of three or five.

The two of them rushed down, grabbed the lunchbox with Yi Ling's name on it, and left. Xu Jiajia was especially excited, chattering, "I used to eat taro cake when I had morning tea. I haven't had time to eat it since I started high school. It's been so long since I've had it. Sister Yin's version must be delicious."

As she spoke, Xu Jiajia thought of the golden cake she used to eat.

“Sister Yin’s cooking must be delicious, let’s eat it while it’s hot,” Yi Ling said, walking quickly alongside Xu Jiajia.

What should have been a five-minute walk turned into a three-steps-per-minute walk back to the classroom for the two of them.

The taro cake in the insulated container was still warm. As soon as the lid was lifted, the steaming aroma of the taro cake, along with a salty and slightly charred fragrance, wafted out. There were some small charred spots on the edges and surface after frying. The dried shrimp and Chinese sausage sandwiched in the middle of the taro cake were especially tempting.

Sister Ayin and Grandma probably felt sorry for the two children who were locked up in the "prison," so they gave them extra taro cakes, enough for the two of them.

"Eat quickly."

Xu Jiajia used chopsticks she had borrowed from the cafeteria to pick up a piece of food. It was still warm. She quickly took a big bite. It was crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. The sausage and cured meat mixed in were very salty and fragrant. Before Xu Jiajia could swallow it, she widened her eyes, nodded and gave a thumbs up.

Yi Ling was familiar with this; it was her way of expressing how delicious something was.

She also tried a piece of taro cake. She was already hungry, and Yiling was amazed by the fragrant and delicious taro cake. The taro pieces were very distinct, and the salty and savory flavor of dried shrimp and cured meat permeated every inch of the taro cake, creating a clear sense of layering.

The one she tried wasn't fried yet; the fried one was much more delicious, soft and chewy with a crispy texture, and sweet with a hint of saltiness—it was so delicious.

Xiao Du had just opened a bag of potato chips, but before he could even eat them, he was drawn in by the aroma wafting from behind him.

Just like last time when the stir-fried beef noodles caught his foot, Xiao Du turned around and saw that it was Yi Ling's lunchbox. He then realized that it must have been made by the owner of the small restaurant.

No wonder it smells so good.

Xiao Du stared longingly at the taro cake, "Yi Ling, you're so lucky."

Xu Jiajia agreed, saying, "It's really wonderful to have a neighbor like Sister Yin who's such a great cook. Of course, I'm most envious of Xiao Tangbao for having such a wonderful cook as her."

While eating taro cake, Xu Jiajia was probably overwhelmed by the aroma. She half-jokingly said, "I'd be willing to be Sister Ayin's dog. I can eat whatever they leave behind. I can eat anything."

Three seconds later, Yiling and Xiaodu burst out laughing.

Yiling handed over the taro cake, saying, "Here, have a piece."

Xiao Du was both surprised and delighted upon hearing this. He pretended to wipe away a tear, "Thank you, Yiling!!!"

He put down his potato chips and ate the taro cake in small bites, reluctant to finish it all at once. The taro powder was sweet, soft, chewy, and delicious. Xiao Du gratefully took out all the snacks from his snack stash and shared them with Yi Ling. "Thank you for the taro cake, Yi Ling. It's so delicious."

The other students in the class also smelled the aroma of taro cake. Some were eating instant noodles, some were munching on bread, and some were eating hamburgers. They all looked up at the taro cake.

They really wanted to eat it too. If only this taro cake could expand, they could each take a bite, just one bite!

Because there is an English exam tomorrow afternoon, both the history teacher and the English teacher are on duty, each in their respective classrooms answering students' questions.

Ms. Li sat on the podium, her train of thought momentarily interrupted as she explained the problem to her students. She smelled a delicious aroma, and she was hungry and wanted to eat, but the students asking questions surrounded her, and she couldn't leave.

"This is a fixed combination, there's no trick to it, just remember it." After explaining to the student, Teacher Li picked up her thermos and took a sip of water.

The aroma in the air made Teacher Li feel even hungrier. After a while, she decided to order takeout for herself via WeChat.