The next day, Chun'er went to the tea room to bring the girl a pot of Liubao tea. Xiang'er liked to drink this and would ask for a pot every morning without fail.

Even if you deliver it appropriately, you won't get a kind word. If you deliver it too late, you'll even get scolded.

But today was strange. The girl picked up her teacup, took a sip of hot tea, and smiled, "This tea tastes very good today. I am very happy."

After saying that, he rewarded her with a pair of golden lilacs. "Take them. Those who do a good job will be rewarded."

This was the first time Chun'er had received a reward. Being young, she couldn't hide her excitement and accepted it respectfully.

In the following days, Xiang'er often sent her to deliver things to Sister Fangtang, such as purses, beaded necklaces and other small items.

Unfortunately, Fangtang had a bad impression of Liu Xiang'er, and consequently she didn't treat Chun'er well either. Every time she went there, she would inevitably be ridiculed and mocked.

"Please forgive me, young lady, Sister Fangtang has returned the purse."

Liu Xiang'er sighed, "It's alright. Fang Tang just takes advantage of being the eldest maid and has always liked to cause trouble. It has nothing to do with you anymore."

Liu Xiang'er handed her a string of coins, "Go ahead, tomorrow is your day off. Take this and buy some cakes."

You don't need to serve me this afternoon; go back to your room and rest.

Chun'er accepted it with a face full of gratitude; the girl had been treating her better and better lately.

"Xingzi, I received a reward. I just bought some salted vegetable and pork dumplings from the peddler at the corner gate. I'll share some with you."

Xingzi forced a smile. "No need. This costs ten coins a serving, which isn't cheap. Just take it and eat it yourself."

Chun'er was rejected, her eyes reddened, and tears streamed down her face. "It was my fault last time, but so much time has passed, even if you're still angry, shouldn't you have gotten over it by now?"

We live in the same room and have played together for so long, why do you have to hurt me like this? I promise I won't do it again.

Xingzi felt angry. She had clearly done something wrong, but her pitiful and weak crying made it seem as if they had done something heinous to bully her!

Just as she was about to retort, Manjing walked in and witnessed the scene.

"What's wrong? Tell me what happened."

After hearing this, Manjing slightly twitched the corner of her mouth, but smiled as she took the dumpling.

"Alright, alright, let's share these. One for each of us. You go back to your shift now. Thank you, Chun'er."

After she left, Xingzi stomped her foot, her voice still filled with lingering anger, "Why did you do that, sister? Why did you still pay attention to her?"

She was right, but instead of admitting her mistakes, she insisted that others not complain.

Otherwise, they'll keep bothering you, saying it's just a few small things, why are they so persistent?

I just can't swallow this insult. Sister Ying pitied her, and she still had a grudge against Liu Xiang'er. She kindly gave her food and drink, and then she was sold off!

Manjing's face turned serious. "Liu Xiang'er has been treating her well lately. Don't you find that strange?"

Kyoko was taken aback. "What does my sister mean by that...?"

"Be careful around her. You can only know a person's face, not their heart. It's not worth it to be resented for a few words spoken to her face, or to be sabotaged behind her back!"

After hearing this, Xingzi lowered her head in thought. Seeing that she seemed to have taken it to heart, Manjing ruffled her hair, picked up a pot of tea, and left.

She didn't eat the meatballs, so Manjing took them back to the house and shared them with Wang Ying. Wang Ying, however, picked one up and ate it without hesitation.

"It tastes good. When I go home for vacation, I ask my dad to make some so I can share it with everyone."

Wang Ying hasn't spoken to Chun'er since being betrayed last time, but she doesn't give her the cold shoulder either—it's not worth it! She just keeps her distance from her.

Hearing Manjing say that Xingzi had also realized what was happening made her feel even more relieved. She had been trying to persuade her quite a bit these past few days.

Unlike the other two, Kyoko was completely disgusted with this person.

On the contrary, he still had expectations for her, hoping that she would stop arguing and admit her mistakes, which is why he kept giving her the cold shoulder. After he got over his anger, they would be hanging out together again soon.

………………

I must say, these dumplings are really delicious. When Wang Ying got home, she begged her father to make them for her.

Wang Pangzi's is much more refined than what you buy outside. He mixes glutinous rice flour with water to form a smooth dough, then divides it into small portions for later use.

Stir-fry garlic sprouts and diced pork until fragrant, then add a few pieces of crispy roasted pork skin, diced and added. Wrap each piece into a small dumpling and steam for 15 minutes. When you lift the lid, the steaming pot is filled with these meat-filled dumplings, a truly delightful sight.

I also made a sweet filling. I boiled the beans until cooked, mashed them into a paste, added yellow rock sugar, and stir-fried it in a pan over medium heat until dry. I wrapped it in the same way and steamed it. After steaming, I sprinkled another layer of powdered sugar on top.

It has a soft and chewy texture, a savory filling, and a crunchy texture when you bite into the pork skin.

The filling is sweet. The soft and chewy red bean paste, paired with the soft and chewy glutinous rice skin, is perfect for a comforting bite followed by a sip of hot tea.

After returning to the mansion, Wang Ying first went to her sister's courtyard and delivered a portion of eight sweet and eight savory dumplings.

Wang Yan shared some with her roommates, and Chunxi also sent her one sweet and one savory one.

Upon tasting this chewy treat, Wang Yan suddenly thought of making daifuku with apple filling.

So I went and told Aunt Sun that the spicy soup they made together last time was quite effective at keeping warm and warding off the cold.

The lady instructed that the recipe be given to the head chef and rewarded him with two gold ingots.

With the reward, Aunt Sun's confidence soared, and she spent her days thinking about and researching new soup recipes.

Mix 100g glutinous rice flour, 60g white sugar, 30g cornstarch, and 110g milk together and steam for 30 minutes.

Add an appropriate amount of green tea powder and stir the cooked dough until it turns green.

Add three spoonfuls of sugar to a pot and cook into a syrup. Cut the apple into cubes and put them in to coat them with the syrup.

Add one spoonful of agar, one bowl of milk, and two spoonfuls of powdered sugar to a well and let it sit for half an hour.

After taking it out, stir it continuously until it can be picked up with chopsticks without falling off.

It took an hour to stir this cream, whereas a modern electric mixer would only take a few minutes.

Roll the dough into small round wrappers, layer a thick layer of cream, fill the center with honey-coated apple filling, and finally seal with another layer of cream. Shape them into apples.

I chilled them in well water for half an hour, and only made six in total. I served them to my wife in the afternoon.

It has a smooth and light texture with a rich fruity aroma. The dough is rolled thin, and with the cream layer, it's not as sticky as glutinous rice balls.

The lady ate three in one go and instructed that several more portions be made and sent to the courtyards of the young masters and ladies.

The cream was difficult to mix and took too long. Only two were given to each person in the courtyard.

However, he received a considerable amount of rewards. Apart from the ten taels given by the heir apparent, the main reason for the rewards was for the things sent from his mother's courtyard.

The Eighth Miss gave the most, directly giving two small silver ingots weighing two taels each. That was most of her monthly allowance.

Qingyu, who delivered the pastries, also received a packet of copper coins. She even ran to the madam's courtyard, saying, "Auntie, these are so delicious! Could you ask Granny Sun to make some more for me?"

The lady happily hugged her and put a gold necklace around her neck.

"Little glutton, Aunt Sun said this is not easy to make and it's too sweet, so you can't eat too much of it."

"Can I have two more?" The eighth young lady was only six years old, and she couldn't control her appetite when she ate something delicious.

"Okay," the lady replied with a smile. "Go and ask Aunt Sun to make another one."

He also instructed the Eighth Miss's nanny, "Since it's cold today, store it in the ice room and give her one every day."

Aunt Sun made 12 and put them in an icebox. The Eighth Miss's wet nurse took them and also gave her a purse as a reward.

There were seven or eight silver coins inside, and half a bag of copper coins.

Although the green apple daifuku was delicious, the masters dared not make things difficult for the cook in the mistress's courtyard.

So, apart from the first time she delivered it to them, Aunt Sun would only make it occasionally.

At the end of the month, after tallying the rewards with Wang Yan, they received a gold bracelet with a floral design, ten taels of silver, two silver ingots, three purses of copper coins, two agate earrings, a thick jade bracelet, two gilded forks, and twelve silver coins.

Grandma Sun melted down the gold bracelet and divided it into two packets of gold coins. She gave the rough jade bracelet to Wang Yan, the agate earring to Fu Ling, and the remaining packet of copper coins to her as well.

The other two split the work equally. Fuling didn't do any work this time, except for stirring the cream, which was quite laborious. Even so, Aunt Sun wouldn't let her do it, wanting to learn how to do it herself first.

Well, it's only right to give her a share of the profits. I've been entrusting her with making the crispy rice and spicy strips for a while now, since they don't require much skill.

Wang Yan gave the bracelet to Wang Ying to wear. She took the rest home for Wang's aunt to store.