When Li's Workshop first opened, it produced a white jade cake, which is still a legend in the pastry industry of Shaoguan County.
Everyone who has tried it says it's delicious. I've even heard that many officials' wives are hoping the Li family will open a pastry shop in the county soon.
Now the Li family has produced mooncakes again.
Many wealthy families make their own mooncakes, at least designing the patterns themselves before placing orders with pastry shops.
Those who received Li's mooncakes were either amazed by the appearance of the snow skin mooncakes or attracted by the lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk mooncakes.
They sent their servants around to inquire, but they couldn't find a single household that had accepted Li's orders.
Hey, someone else made it themselves.
At the crucial moment of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Li family became famous again.
Many pastry shop owners went to the Li family hoping to buy the recipe.
However, Pan Jinhua did not intend to sell them. She had originally planned to open a cake shop, and she could make mooncakes in her own shop later.
It might even become a brand.
The Li family disagreed, which made lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk mooncakes and snow skin mooncakes even more popular.
Things are valued for their rarity. Families who received the Mid-Autumn Festival gift from the Li family felt that they were very fortunate to receive it. They had something that no one else had, and what wealthy person wouldn't like that?
Even the return gift to the Li family was a bit more expensive.
The craze for mooncakes finally subsided with the arrival of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Who first saw the moon by the riverbank? In what year did the river moon first shine on humankind?
The moon is bright and the stars are bright.
The family sat in the courtyard enjoying the moon and eating mooncakes, watching the children play games like "flying flower order" and "pitch-pot," creating a lively atmosphere.
On this rare festive occasion, Pan Jinhua was in a good mood and smiled broadly.
Liu Yun also asked the cook to make a digestive soup, worried that the children might have trouble digesting the mooncakes they ate.
Qi Qingpeng changes every day, and now he can walk on his own, albeit unsteadily.
She is dressed in a lovely and adorable way and loves to play with her older brothers and sisters.
Now she's making a fuss about finding "Guoguo" (a nickname), and she'll snuggle in Li Qingjun's arms and won't move. Li Qingjun can't stop her even if he doesn't want to take her; she just clings to him, and Qi Wan can't pull her away.
This situation made Qi Wan laugh in exasperation, but nothing could be better if her children were harmonious.
The three sisters-in-law also gathered around Pan Jinhua to talk, still discussing the marriages of their children.
Li Qingzhang and Li Qingruo are the eldest grandson and eldest granddaughter in the family.
The family, especially Li Qingruo, is concerned about their marriage. She will be eighteen next year and is of marriageable age. If they don't settle down soon, outsiders will laugh at her for being an old maid.
Li Qingzhang is a man, so it's understandable for him to get married a couple of years later, but right now he doesn't even have a wife in sight, so he needs to settle down as soon as possible.
Liu Yun and Mo Qiaoniang, being mothers, were naturally anxious. The only good thing was that their status had changed, which broadened their pool of potential partners.
Men fear choosing the wrong career, women fear marrying the wrong man. In this era, marriage truly is the most important test in a woman's life.
Pan Jinhua had no opinion on the matter and couldn't help them; she left it to them to figure it out themselves.
The reason the two were in such a hurry was because they were provoked by the Fang family.
It turns out that when Fang Da's family came to Lijia Village last time to help organize the banquet, they told the Li family about the situation of the braised food shop.
The Fang family is also very hardworking. Now their braised food shop has more and more varieties, including many vegetarian options. Recently, their edamame has become very popular, and they consume a lot of it every day.
Aside from pig ears and trotters, most of the meat in the store now comes from chicken and duck.
Another purpose of this visit was to sign a lease agreement with Pan Jinhua, under which the Fang family would have to pay Pan Jinhua a monthly rent, thus completely separating themselves from the Li family.
More importantly, Fang Xiang is now engaged to the niece of the rice shop owner, and they will be getting married this year.
The Fang family then told the Li family about this good news. Fang Da bought a small courtyard, and the whole family moved in to prepare for welcoming the new bride. Their life together was finally settled.
The Li family was happy for Fang Da's family, after all, they had been with them for so many years, and they were also happy to see them start a new life.
After the initial joy, anxiety sets in.
Their daughters-in-law/sons-in-law are nowhere to be seen yet.
"If Qingzhang's marriage can be finalized this year, the second son's marriage will have to follow suit. He's already sixteen this year, and which family doesn't spend years looking for a spouse?"
Liu Yun was anxious, but Mo Qiaoniang was even more anxious.
"And you're still talking, Qingruo is seventeen, and those two debt collectors down there are fifteen too. They're all getting impatient."
"Sister-in-law, we can ask Qingzhang what kind of women he likes. If we have a general idea, we can look for women in that direction."
Seeing that her two sisters-in-law were anxious, Qi Wan offered them some advice.
"Qingruo's situation is more urgent. Have the eldest and second brothers seen any promising young men while they're out and about?"
“I’m not afraid of my sister-in-law and brother’s wife laughing at me. I just want Qingruo to marry into a well-off family, preferably an official’s family. After what happened with Xu Yan and Cao’er, I’m really scared. I’d rather marry into a high-class family than enter into a poor one.”
"Sister-in-law, that's going too far. There are still good families out there."
Qi Wan also sighed. It's not so easy to marry into a high-ranking family. Back in Nanze, they had only arranged marriages with prominent families. The "high-ranking families" that Mo Qiaoniang mentioned were just these kinds of families.
But large families also have a lot of rules and troubles. With more people, there will be more problems.
“That’s certainly something we can look into. Let’s not just focus on Shao County; we can also search the prefectural city. Madam Cao should be familiar with the area; we can ask her for help.”
"That's an idea."
Little did they know, Madam Cao, whom they had their eyes on, was also anxious.
The Yang family matter has been resolved, but Cao Ying's marriage remains in turmoil.
"Mother, I don't want to get married."
Li Qingruo played with her younger siblings for a while, then came to talk to Pan Jinhua. She happened to overhear her mother worrying about her marriage, so she couldn't help but speak up.
"Silly child, what nonsense are you talking about? How can a woman not get married?"
Li Qingruo walked over and sat down next to Pan Jinhua.
“Grandmother, can’t a woman not get married? I can make hairpins and support myself, so why should I get married?”
"Mother, don't pay attention to her. She's a grown woman, and she's still saying such things. If outsiders hear her, she'll be laughed at. She can't say that anymore."
Mo Qiaoniang feigned annoyance, not taking Li Qingruo's words seriously.
Which woman in this world doesn't want to get married? Only a child would say such a thing.
"Then please answer my question."
Mo Qiaoniang was taken aback. Why was this child taking it so seriously?
"Whether you can earn money or not has nothing to do with whether you get married or not."
"What does it mean that it doesn't matter? I earn my own money and support myself without needing a husband's help. Doesn't that prove that I can live well even if I don't get married?"
"How can you say that? Now that you are at your parents' home, with the protection of your father, brothers, and clan, you can stay at home and make hairpins with peace of mind."
If you were an orphan, the world would have swallowed you whole long ago, leaving no trace of you. How could you possibly have the chance to support yourself?
"Leaving aside distant matters, have you heard anything about what happened in your Aunt Yao's family?"
Yao Niang wasn't here to serve me today, and Liu Yun had also sent the servants off to celebrate the festival. Now, only family members were present.
It was because of this that Mo Qiaoniang mentioned Yao Niang.
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