Tian An pulled Zhao Yiming into the yard and pointed at the picture on the ground and said, "Brother Yiming, help me take down the picture on the ground."
Zhao Yiming didn't ask what it was. He took a quick look at it, memorized it, and went back to his study, picked up a pen, and started drawing.
After a while, a picture was drawn.
Tian An took a look and found that it was indeed much better than the one he had drawn on the ground. The image was clearer and he could see where the problem was.
Tian An pointed out a few more places and asked Zhao Yiming to make some changes. Only after she said it was okay did Zhao Yiming take out another piece of paper and re-copy it.
After Zhao Yiming finished redrawing, he picked up the picture and blew the ink dry before handing it to Tian An.
Tian An took the map and walked quickly out of the house. When he was almost at the door, he turned back.
"Brother Yiming, can you help me draw some more patterns for the mooncake molds? They have to be nice-looking."
Zhao Yiming smiled and said, "What kind of thing looks good?"
Tian An thought for a moment and said, "Don't you scholars like plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo, and chrysanthemums? I'll draw these. I want four small ones and one large one. Hmm~~ and a seal with half a bowl of sweets on it."
Zhao Yiming knew that Tian An was in urgent need, so he immediately lowered his head and went into deep thought.
When the idea is almost complete, I dip the pen in water and draw a rough draft on the table. When I feel it is good, I dip it in ink and draw it on paper. After one drawing is completed, I draw the others in the same way.
Here, Tian An took the drawings and went straight to find Master An.
Master An took the drawings and looked at them while Tian An explained his requirements to him.
After listening to this, he thought for a while before saying, "This is somewhat similar to an earthen kiln for firing porcelain!"
Tian An nodded: "It is somewhat similar. How about it? Can it be made?"
Master An was hesitant to guarantee: "I've never done this before. I can only try it first. If it doesn't work, I'll think of other ways."
"Alright! That's all we can do. Let's get started now!"
Master An knew that Tian An was anxious, so he called his son and went to Tian An's house.
After determining the location, I hurried to prepare the materials.
When Tian An entered the room, Zhao Yiming had already drawn all the patterns. Afraid that Tian An would not be satisfied, he drew a few more as a backup so that she could choose.
After Tian An selected the pattern, he took the blueprint to the homestead to find someone to make a mold.
After the kind carpenter, Old Man Wang, had instructed us on the mold, he talked about the gift box.
The gift box should be square, with a large mooncake in the middle and four smaller mooncakes in the four corners. The boxes should be spaced apart to hold the mooncakes in place.
After Old Man Wang asked Tian An some more requirements, he said that he understood and would show the samples to Tian An later.
After returning, Tian An went back to his room, picked up a pen and started writing the ingredients for making mooncakes.
The wheat has been harvested, so we can just use the one we have at home. The rice will take some time to be harvested and will have to wait until after the Mid-Autumn Festival. I need it urgently to make mooncakes now, so I have to buy it first.
Glutinous rice, sticky rice, sugar, oil, mung beans, red beans, oil paper...
Tian An handed Chun Xi a long list and asked her to arrange for someone to buy it and then get some red silk from Pengji Silk Shop. He also asked her to bring Deng Shuang to the shop to familiarize herself with it for a few days and then bring Xiaogoudan and Niangqingmei back to help make mooncakes.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to pickle the salted duck eggs, so I can only make lotus seed paste with egg yolk.
After explaining the mooncake issue, Tian An started to tinker with the four pots of flowers in her room.
The other flowers only used a little space soil as fertilizer, but Tian An replaced the entire soil in these pots of flowers. This was her cash cow, so she couldn't afford to make any mistakes.
Just as she finished with the flowers, Chunxi came to see her. The gift box samples came out.
Tian An took a look and found that they all met his requirements, but they felt a bit monotonous.
Tian An flipped through the drawings the farmhand had brought, found the one with the half-bowl sweet stamp, and handed it to Old Man Wang: "Engrave this pattern on this side of the lid, and make it more three-dimensional."
Old Man Wang looked at the blueprint and said, "If you want it to be more three-dimensional, you can only carve it."
Tian An nodded: "Then do the carving. Find more people to do it, and make as many boxes as possible."
After receiving the task, Old Man Wang hurriedly looked for people to complete the work.
Tian An then asked people to start grinding wheat flour, which would then be made into starch.
I wonder if that fat kid Peng Zhang found any milk! If he had milk, he could make a custard filling. The mooncake skin would be even sweeter.
When Peng arrived, Tian An's house was a complete mess. Several people were planting chrysanthemums in the yard, and the ground next to the kitchen was covered in mud. No one knew what they were doing.
When he walked step by step to the door of the main hall, Tian An was discussing something with several businessmen.
After Tian An instructed the farmhands to grind flour, he turned around and saw Peng Zhang standing beside him.
"I was just thinking about you! I didn't expect you to be here right now."
Peng Zhang shrank back exaggeratedly: "Watch your words! You are a married woman, please don't hurt me. Zhao Yiming is a man who can fight a tiger."
Tian An looked at him speechlessly: "I was just talking about milk. Is there any news about the milk I told you about last time?"
Peng Zhang glanced at Tian An and asked, "Do you need anything urgently?"
Tian An poured him a cup of tea and handed it to him: "Of course, the taste of my Mid-Autumn Festival mooncakes depends on this."
When Fatty Peng heard the word "food", his eyes lit up and he reached out to pull Tian An.
Tian An retracted his hand: "Are you not afraid of my brother Yiming anymore?"
Fatty Peng retracted his hand, touched his head and said, "I got excited for a moment, but don't tell him! I just wanted to tell you that we found the milk."
Then he took Tian An to the gate and pointed at the two cows in front of him and said:
"This milk is fresh enough!"
Tian An: ...It’s really fresh and still hot!
Tian An touched the cows excitedly, touching one and then another, it was like seeing a moving vault!
However, after the excitement, she thought of a problem: "We have never raised dairy cows before, will there be any accidents?"
Peng Zhang looked at her with a fussy look in his eyes: "How could I not have thought of such a small thing?"
A middle-aged man dressed as a servant stepped forward and saluted, saying, "Miss, I am Liu Da, the one who is responsible for raising these two cows. I am an expert at both raising and milking cows."
As he said this, he handed his indenture and the cattle's documents to Tian An.
Tian An took the document, looked at it, and found that the owner of the cow was not him, nor was it someone he knew.
Tian An asked doubtfully, "Who is the owner of this cow?"
Peng Zhang said nonchalantly, "Don't worry about it. You can use the cow anyway. It comes from a legitimate source and has been through a good road. There won't be any problems."
All right! Since Peng Zhang said it's okay, then forget it.
"I've done such a big thing for you. How are you going to thank me?" Peng Zhang said with his chin raised.
"I made a few extra mooncake gift boxes this time, so I'll give you a few! Oh! By the way, I'll give you the amount right away."
Peng Zhang said proudly: "Do you think I need this little bit of money? Just prepare some more mooncake gift boxes for me and I'll make up for it."
Yes, yes, this friend’s teaching is really good.
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