Miao Wan took the large bowl smeared with lard and poured the thick milk paste into it. Unable to bear the group of wet eyes staring at her, she could only use a spoon to scoop out a small piece for each person to eat.
If the boiled milk paste is dried and crushed using drying equipment, it will become ready-made goat milk powder. If it is directly freeze-dried, it will become milk cubes because it still contains a certain amount of moisture.
It’s just made now. After it cools down, I put it in the children’s hands. It’s a bit like jelly, but not as chewy and more soft and sticky.
Goudan and his sisters didn't dislike it at all. Even when Qiao Rui put the food in her mouth, her intoxicated eyes were as bright as laser light.
"Sister-in-law! This is delicious! It tastes better than pig liver and pig intestines!"
The Zhang family's children were in the same situation. After finishing the donkey egg in their hands, they couldn't help but look at the large bowl.
However, the children of the Zhang family were well educated at home. They all knew that Miao Wan was pregnant with her little brother, so they could not compete with Miao Wan for food. They all surrounded Madam Zhang and Da Zhuang's wife, Yu.
"It's so sweet and soft. Grandma, can we buy some goat milk?"
"Amu Amu, I still want to eat, make it for me, I promise to be obedient!"
"I want to drink goat's milk and grow taller!"
…
Mrs. Zhang and Mrs. Yu were at a loss whether to laugh or cry when they heard this. In the past, the family had bought goat milk to feed the child, but they couldn't get it in even by pinching the child's nose. Now they treated it as a treasure.
Miao Wan would not leave the adults behind, so she gave a spoonful each to Madam Zhang and Yu. After they put the spoonful in their mouths, they immediately decided to buy goat milk tomorrow!
After giving a spoonful to Geng, Miao Wan tasted it herself.
Maybe it was because the sheep were eating pure natural grass at that time, and the milk flavor was stronger than she thought. The soft and sweet taste made her want to drink a whole bowl of it directly.
But Miao Wan didn't have the face to do that in front of her children who were so greedy. Besides, after the half bucket of goat milk was concentrated, only less than one-third was left. The concentrated milk was very nutritious, and it would be impossible to absorb too much if she ate it at one time.
She suppressed her craving, covered the rest with breathable linen, and placed it in a cool place outside the kitchen.
After putting it away, Miao Wan looked at Madam Zhang and Mrs. Yu, who were at a loss as to what to do, and said with a smile, "It's not ready yet. It will taste better if you freeze it overnight and cut it into cubes. I'll have Xiao Rui bring it to you tomorrow, and I'll make another bucket."
In fact, goat milk is not a precious commodity. A large bucket costs only six cents, and there is no technical skill required to make it. Madam Zhang and Yu can just ask and go back to make it themselves.
But neither the mother-in-law nor the daughter-in-law asked Miao Wan to teach them, and they even said they would send double the milk and sugar tomorrow.
This behavior made Miao Wan very happy. The Zhang family was really not greedy and should be a good partner.
Madam Zhang was still savoring the soft, sticky milky taste of the food. Both the elderly and children loved it. "I see you're feeling much better now. Your mother-in-law can finally rest assured."
Miao Wan nodded. "When I first came here, I felt uncomfortable everywhere and was very scared. I felt better after taking the pregnancy-maintaining medicine prescribed by the doctor. Yesterday, I saw that your third sister-in-law's belly was much bigger than mine. I was a little worried about the frail baby in my belly, so I thought of trying to get some food."
This time Miao Wan did not say what benefits goat milk had. Everyone in this world likes its sweet taste, but if it is sold, the main customers will not be the common people of Yue Dynasty, but the people in northern Mongolia who raise the most cattle and sheep.
Only then would she really have to sell her house. Given the Qiao family's current situation, doing business with the Northern Mongolians would be asking for trouble, so she wasn't planning to make money with milk cubes and milk tofu, mainly for the baby in her belly.
As it was almost time for dinner, Zhang's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law took the children and went back with the braised offal.
This time there were the pig's trotters that Miao Wan mentioned, a total of eight, and both pots were braised.
The Zhang family still couldn't accept this thing, so they only took two and kept the remaining six. Miao Wan didn't mind, as she loved chewing pig's trotters the most.
There were only three people in the Qiao family, the mother and the two of them. They couldn't finish the extra food, so they kept one third of it and gave the rest to the Zhang family.
Geng fried some pork intestines with dogwood, cut up some pig's trotters and arranged them out, and mixed some cabbage. The staple food was the sorghum buns sent by the Zhang family.
She was afraid Miao Wan would be unhappy, so after setting dinner, she explained, "The Zhang family isn't greedy. They definitely wouldn't let our family suffer. I figured they'd slaughtered a lot of pigs and would need to braise new ones later, so I didn't leave any extra."
Miao Wan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She helped Geng sit down to eat. "I know, mother is the head of our family. You are much better at judging people than I am. You don't need to explain to me."
The Zhang family is currently headed by Mrs. Zhang and her husband. They understand Miao Wan's intention and will definitely wait until the whole family is present and they have discussed it before making a decision.
Otherwise, if we cooperate, the three sons and daughters-in-law each have their own little ideas. If things get complicated, not only will we not make money, but the chaos in the house will be unbearable.
So Madam Zhang didn't mention this matter today, but Miao Wan became more determined to cooperate with the Zhang family.
He is a kind and honest person, not a reckless one. He is also a butcher and has many strong laborers in his family. It is hard to find such a partner even with a lantern.
As for the possibility that the Zhang family wanted to try to learn how to braise food themselves, Miao Wan was even less worried.
Even if someone has a keen taste and can taste what's in it, the taste will be different if you put more or less spices in it, and it's not something you can just throw in all at once. Otherwise, why would she have spent so much money to buy the host's recipe?
Different spices have different proportions. Although the lazy recipe is simplified a lot, the proportions will be different when adding ingredients to the marinade later.
As the marinade becomes thicker with more and more braised meat, the fat in the soup becomes thicker and thicker, and it becomes even harder to taste.
Indeed, Zhang Sanzhuang returned home from work at the restaurant and muttered to his wife as soon as he entered the door, "My father-in-law only tasted schizonepeta, star anise, cinnamon, and dried tangerine peel in this dish. I don't know how much was put in. These are things only rich people would use to enhance flavor. The restaurants down the street can't afford to waste money on testing the recipe, so they'd rather buy from the Qiao family and then sell it on the plates."
He smacked his lips and added, "But Aunt Qiao wasn't exaggerating at all. My father-in-law happened to have some good wine left over, so we split it up. This stuff goes well with the wine, and it tastes even better than what we had at home this morning."
Sun had been scolded by her mother-in-law and father-in-law during the day, and now she felt particularly aggrieved. "I suggested at noon that we buy the recipe because I knew that this braised food would be profitable if it were sold to a restaurant. But my mother-in-law and father-in-law thought I was meddling."
Zhang Sanzhuang looked at Sun and smiled, "I think you're being petty again, aren't you? The Zhang family will belong to my eldest brother in the future. The three sons in my second brother's family aren't as promising as me, so Amada helps them out more. You want Gongzhong to buy the house, and the whole family will lose money, while the third branch and my father-in-law will make the most money. What's the matter? Are you going to divide the family for me?"
Sun's Ada is the head chef of a restaurant on the street. The boss gives her a 10% profit. If she also has a specialty of braised meat, 20% profit will not be a problem.
Sun was a little embarrassed, and quickly touched her belly and pretended to be wronged. "How dare I? I'm thinking that we have a boy at home, and I'm pregnant with another one. What if it's also a boy? I have to save more money to help them get married in the future, right? The Zhang family must have bought the recipe to do business. What does it have to do with my family?"
"Oh, isn't it to save more money for your brother to get married?" Zhang Sancai doesn't tolerate his wife's faults.
"My father-in-law hasn't even asked for the recipe, and you're still pregnant with one. You can't even remember which family you're married to? Don't blame your husband for being rude. Our Zhang family doesn't bully others. If you mess with me, Ada, and he asks me to divorce him, I won't dare resist."
Sun was furious. She was also a little scared by what her parents-in-law had said during the day. She covered her stomach and started yelling, "What did I say? I'm doing this for the good of our Zhang family. If what I said is wrong, I won't say anything. Why are you threatening to divorce me?"
In fact, Mrs. Sun had no intention of thinking about the Sun family. She just wanted her man to quickly become the head chef of the restaurant.
It was true that her mother had come to the Zhang family several times to borrow money using her brother as an excuse.
But Sun was married, so of course she knew who her future ancestors would be. She borrowed it once as a filial tribute to her mother and Ada, and never borrowed it again.
Zhang Sanzhuang also knew that his wife was quite petty, but she was not very courageous and was not a crooked person. He just had to be careful that her pettiness would not turn into a crooked heart, so he had to warn her a few more times.
Seeing that Sun was scared, he was also afraid that there was really something wrong with the baby in Sun's belly, so he hugged the crying Sun and coaxed her with sweet words for a long time. After she was coaxed, Zhang Dazhuang came over and called her to eat.
Sun quickly got up and packed up, afraid that her family would know that she had been scolded and cried, so she lowered her head and pretended to be honest when she entered the house.
As for the others, Yu was the eldest daughter-in-law specially chosen by Madam Zhang. She was calm and kind. Zhang Dazhuang listened to his parents and daughter-in-law, so he had no complaints.
What about the second wife and her husband? After what Butcher Zhang had said that afternoon and Zhang Erzhuang had said a few words to Yang, the couple decided that since they had the most children in the family, no one could ignore them, so they might as well just lie down and obey.
Mrs. Zhang and Butcher Zhang looked at their sons and daughters-in-law and said, "Okay, they are all well behaved."
The grandchildren didn't seem to be at all surprised. They knew that there was no quarrel and that they must have reached an agreement. They were satisfied and didn't say anything else and just went straight to eating.
Before going to bed that night, Zhang Sanzhuang asked about it, and Zhang the Butcher told him, "Tomorrow your mother will go to the Qiao family to talk, so you just need to control your wife's mouth and don't let her go out and talk nonsense."
Mrs. Zhang knew that pregnant women sleep a lot, so the next day after breakfast, when the sun was already high in the sky, she asked Zhang Dazhuang to carry firewood to the Qiao family.
After putting down the firewood, Zhang Dazhuang went to fetch water. When Miao Wan saw Madam Zhang coming, she cut the milk into cubes first and asked Qiao Rui to take most of it to Zhang's house. Only Madam Zhang was left to talk to Miao Wan and Geng.
"The Zhang family is run by me and your uncle Zhang. I'm not one to say nice things. I see that you, Qiao's sister and Awan, also want to use braised food to earn some money for the family, so I came to you after discussing it. What do you think?"
Geng looked at Miao Wan and said, "Since this is a recipe passed down from Awan's maternal family, Awan has the final say on this matter."
Both of them looked at Miao Wan.
Miao Wan had already prepared a plan in her mind. "The Qiao family just arrived in Xining Town and has been taken care of by the Zhang family. It's only right to sell the recipe directly to the Zhang family, but I can't make the final decision on this recipe. I have to write to my uncle's family and ask. Only if my uncle and his family agree can I speak.
My aunt knows the current situation of our family. The three of us would never dare to sell braised goods. If someone finds out, or if anyone has any bad intentions, we three would not be able to bear it.
So I thought, I can just give the brine directly to the Zhang family. I'll go there every day to mix the brine. They can cook it however they want and sell it, and the Qiao family only wants a 10% profit."
Madam Zhang's eyes widened. "One cent of profit? Isn't that bullying? If anyone knew about this, they would definitely stab the Zhang family in the back."
She was worried that Miao Wan would ask for too much and make things difficult for the Zhang family, but she didn't expect that she asked for so little that it was almost free, and the Zhang family didn't even have to pay for the seasoning. Miao Wan was even more cruel to her family than the Yang family.
"Auntie, please listen to me." Miao Wan smiled.
Mrs. Zhang thinks it is too little, but she doesn’t know how much money she can make after the braised food shop opens.
She also knew that a 10% profit was too little, but what the Qiao family needed most now was not a lot of money, but waiting for someone to rob their house.
If you want to do a job well, you must first sharpen your tools. She has to enclose the Qiao family's small, broken yard like an iron barrel before she can make money freely.
"I think Aunt Zhang is kind, so I want to adopt her as my godparent. From now on, our two families will be as close as one family, and there won't be any question of bullying one over the other." She took Aunt Zhang's hand and smiled even brighter.
"I help my godfather and godmother make money, and they help the Qiao family through the winter. What do you think?"
When she said this, Madam Zhang and Geng were stunned. Is this possible?
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