Hearing what Qin San Niang said, Si Li Ren was quite pleased. The fact that she could hand over the recipe so casually showed that their level of trust had reached a new level. He quickly told the cook to thank Qin San Niang and to go back and study it carefully.
The cook also had the surname Si, and his given name was Mu Chun, which sounded like a woman's name. However, he was meticulous and even more cautious than a woman, truly living up to his name. This was why Si Liren trusted him with the kitchen.
Mu Chun happily tucked the recipe into his pocket, then carefully took a piece of cake and quickly slipped into the kitchen, ready to put on a great show and not let his employer down!
The next day, Qin San Niang got up very early and, with Mu Chun's help, successfully made the cake. To prevent damage, Mu Chun covered it with a bamboo basket that had been prepared earlier. The basket was exquisitely woven and was made from the same material as Si Ji's pastry gift boxes. It had taken a whole night of work to have a craftsman weave it.
Chen's Pastry Shop
After listening to his subordinate's report, Chen Yushan frowned, a faint glint of shrewdness flashing in his narrow eyes.
"You know what to do about this, right? You must do it discreetly, without letting the magistrate find out! Sili Ren, don't you want to show off? Well then, I'll let you show off properly!"
"Understood, Master!" Wang Laishun bowed and then strode out the door, clearly to assign tasks.
Today, he received news that the craftsmen at Siji's place had bought a lot of bamboo strips last night, saying they wanted to weave a gift box. He wondered what kind of gift it was that required such a large box, forcing them to weave it all night.
Wang Laishun had a clever idea. He found the young apprentices of the weaving masters, handed them a dime, and asked them a few questions. He roughly understood that the gift box was to be sent to the county magistrate's daughter for her birthday. As the head of the pastry shop, Ren didn't need to send gifts. Therefore, the large bamboo gift box contained the pastries they planned to offer at the birthday banquet!
This morning, an informant saw that shop assistant, Xiao Wu, hurriedly tidying up the carriage, presumably to transport gift boxes of pastries. He deduced that the pastries must be very precious and probably fragile, otherwise there would be no need for such a process!
If that's the case, wouldn't that give them an opportunity to tamper with things? Si Ji has ruined his own perfectly good pastry shop so badly? Shouldn't he pay some interest? That's why Wang Laishun reported to Chen Yushan, and the two of them discussed their plan.
"Sister, I'll be going now. I'll leave the task of delivering the birthday cake to you today. I'll have Xiao Wu go with you." Early in the morning, Si Li Ren was all dressed and ready to go.
Knowing he had a lot to do, Qin San Niang nodded in agreement and quickly sent him over!
Fortunately, many pastries were prepared in advance, and a few could be processed later. However, some pastries needed to be made on-site for better taste, so he had to personally oversee the process.
Such large-scale birthday banquets have very strict requirements for ingredients. At the very least, they must be fresh. If a guest gets sick from eating the food, the organizers will be held responsible!
"Madam Qin, the carriage is ready. The master said we can set off around 9:00 AM. There's still more than half an hour left. Why don't you rest for a while and go inside to sleep? I'll wake you up when it's time!"
Knowing that she got up before dawn to work, all for their company, Xiao Wu now considered her one of his own.
Si Shi Zheng? That's around 10 o'clock, which is indeed the perfect time to go to the birthday banquet!
"Alright, I'll go take a nap then. Wake me up later!" Getting up so early in the morning, Qin San Niang was a bit tired. Luckily, she had an egg beater and other tools to help her, otherwise, it would have been a real ordeal!
The magistrate of He County, Jia Gaojie, was a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) in the first year of the Dasheng era. The fact that he was able to become the magistrate of such a wealthy place as Jiangzhou shows that he must have powerful connections! His wife, Yang, is said to be the daughter of a prominent family in the capital, and she must have considerable insight.
Madam Yang has a son and a daughter. Her eldest son is six years old this year, and her daughter is only three years old. The reason for holding a birthday banquet for her three-year-old daughter is naturally partly due to Madam Yang's love for her children.
In addition, there is another important reason: Magistrate Jia might make some moves next year. If we don't take advantage of this year to collect more, where will we get our hands on the money later?
Although a prefect can earn 100,000 taels of silver in three years, there are over a hundred people in the prefecture, and money is always on their minds! Even Madam Yang, who is in charge of managing the household affairs, is finding it difficult to make ends meet!
These past few years have been turbulent, and the people are struggling to live and work in peace. Where would they find so much money to make? Most of her dowry shops are in the north, so there's even less hope for her!
Magistrate Jia was a Confucian scholar who knew nothing about such mundane matters as tea, rice, oil, and salt, but he couldn't resist his wife's constant complaints about being poor.
Magistrate Jia thought to himself, "My salary is indeed not high, but the golden hairpin on your head, my wife, is worth several months' salary of mine!"
Of course, he dared not say this, otherwise it would lead to another bloodbath. He could only agree to Yang's idea. After all, these were all tricks that others had already used, and he could not escape them in the end!
As for choosing Si Ji, Madam Yang had other plans in mind. She also owned a pastry shop, but business was not very good. However, Si Ji's pastries were diverse and delicious.
She had heard about the dirty tricks between Si Ji and Chen Ji, so today she would try to curry favor with Si Ji, hoping that the manager was shrewd and could revive her shop.
Therefore, when she saw Manager Si, she greeted him with a smile and cheerful conversation.
"You've really worked hard, Mr. Si!"
Master of Ceremonies hurriedly returned the greeting, respectfully replying, "Madam, you flatter me. This is all I should do. By the way, I haven't yet congratulated Miss on her birthday. This is a glass cup I obtained from overseas; it's a small gift, just something for Miss to play with on her own!"
A crystal cup? That's a real treasure!
A smile instantly spread across Madam Yang's face. "Oh my, this is a fine item! The master is so generous! I almost dare not accept it!"
A glass cup is no small gift; an exquisite glass cup can be worth a fortune!
When she saw Sili Ren open the gift box in his hand, Yang's surprise was almost palpable.
A pair of crystal goblets lay inside, sparkling and translucent, gleaming with an amber light, without a single flaw.
In the past, when she was at her parents' home, she had seen a pair of glass cups in her mother's room, but they were not as clear as these. Her mother treasured them and kept them in a sandalwood box. This pair was of even better quality than the ones she had seen before!
She quickly calculated in her mind that if her husband wanted a promotion, he couldn't neglect the usual holiday gifts, and this glass cup would be very useful...
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