Chapter 60: The Hundred Flower Cake Festival, Flower Festival, and the Application of Floral Hairpins...
After telling Jinniang about this, Pang Qiaoniang went to the embroidery workshop with her.
During the Song Dynasty, embroidery workshops were divided into government-run and private workshops. The most famous government-run workshop was Wenxiu Academy, which served the royal family and nobility.
Jinniang worked in a folk embroidery workshop. She was initially introduced to the workshop by a broker. The embroidery workshop was run by a pretty woman who spent all her time there. She was kind in private, but extremely strict with the embroidery.
Fortunately, Pang Qiaoniang was skilled in needlework. At the request of the embroidery shop, she performed flat embroidery and seed stitch on the embroidery cloth. Her movements were skillful and the embroidery surface was smooth, which satisfied the embroidery shop, so they kept her on.
After the Lantern Festival, Cheng Niang rarely came to Lu's shop, as if she was avoiding someone. However, Lu Qiong didn't have much time to pay attention to her.
That evening, Manager Qian, having nothing better to do than leave his own shop unattended, came to Lu's shop and asked for a bowl of mutton soup.
Lu Qiong wasn't surprised; after all, he was an unpredictable person. Seeing Yang Jie'er picking vegetables, she personally ladled a bowl of mutton soup from the pot.
After blanching the mutton and skimming off the foam, put it in a pot with ginger slices and scallions and stew it together. This pot of stew was stewed for more than an hour and the mutton was already very tender.
Finally, sprinkle with chopped green onions and some seasonings, and the freshly made mutton soup is ready to be served.
During this break, Manager Qian inspected the place, touching the table for dust and examining the seasonings on the stove. Finally, he nodded with considerable satisfaction.
Lu Qiong felt that he didn't seem like a diner, but rather someone who came to "inspect" the place, as if he was just missing a small sign hanging on his collar.
When he launched the congee-based hot pot last time, he even said that the mutton he made was gamey. This time, we'll see what faults he can find.
Manager Qian finally sat down obediently, looked at the delicious-looking mutton soup in front of him, nodded reservedly, and then reached out his dignified hand to scoop a spoonful of soup.
Lamb soup with ginger slices is even more warming, especially when it's windy outside.
This time he barely tasted any meat, but he finished the soup. He still casually commented, "The meat is stewed perfectly, it melts in your mouth, an improvement over last time, and the gamey smell is less..."
After finishing his meal, he strolled leisurely out of the shop.
Sister Yang then went to clear the dishes, and couldn't help but sneer, "Manager Qian comes to our shop every day, is he going to go bankrupt?"
I remembered her comment about the gamey mutton she made last time.
Without lowering his voice, the other diners laughed and said, "No matter who made it, they'll all be cursing him out of turn."
These words resonated deeply with Sister Yang, who excitedly echoed the diner's sentiments for several minutes before realizing her mistake only after Lu Qiong reminded her.
However, once the shop got busy, she forgot about the incident.
In early February, Bianjing (Kaifeng) warmed up, everything revived, and the Bian River showed signs of thawing.
Duanba and his men were also about to leave Bianjing. Before leaving, they asked Lu Qiong to prepare some dry rations for them to take on the journey. Although they could reach the shore by water, they would still be on the boat most of the time, making it inconvenient to start a fire, especially since they didn't have a good cook with them.
So Lu Qiong rushed to Lu Ji early in the morning, and Yang Jie'er was also called over. Right now, she was leaning against the stove kneading dough, sweating a lot: "They really have big appetites. Each of them ate three or four portions."
Lu Qiong was slapping the dough, and the wooden board shook, causing the flour sprinkled on the surface to fly up: "It's quite normal. When they get busy, they work day and night."
I made several kinds of pancakes, including meat pancakes, scallion pancakes, egg pancakes, and sesame pancakes.
The dough for the meat patties was fermented with sourdough starter, which made the patties softer. The meat filling was divided into lamb and pork, and each was seasoned with scallion and ginger water, soy sauce, and pepper. Each patty was stuffed with quite a lot of meat filling.
Duanba said money wasn't an issue, so she made more, twenty of each. But since they also needed some vegetables, she made scallion pancakes, brushed them with oil paste, and fried them in a pan; she made about twenty of those too.
Egg pancakes can't be made with dough; you have to add more water to the flour and mix it into a paste.
The pancakes smelled so good, with the aroma of oil, caramel, and dough all mixed together. Lu Qiong couldn't resist trying one after she had just finished making one.
Especially the scallion pancakes, she rolled the dough several times while rolling it out, and when she tore it off, several layers of crispness appeared. Both sides were fried to a golden brown, and they were chewy.
They also brought them some peach wine that they had brewed earlier, enough for them to drink for about half a month.
The bodyguards had to go to the dock to move the goods, and they could only ask others to transport them. Lu Qiong was worried about this, so she went along as well.
In recent days, officials from the River and Canal Administration have repeatedly gone to the Bian River to check the thickness of the ice. Once the ice melts to less than three inches, they will prepare to "open the river."
The sun was high in the sky, and cracks appeared in the ice. Horns sounded, and drums followed. Dozens of strong men pushed ice rafts, their prows wrapped in iron, breaking the ice with a "crack" as they hit it. The ice in the middle of the river then split open, and people were sent to dredge the river to prevent siltation.
Seeing the Bian River flowing, the onlookers also shouted and cheered. The first boat to enter the river was a government grain transport boat, followed by private merchant ships...
Some clever vendors took the opportunity to sell hot ginger tea, and even Lu Qiong, who had been waiting for a long time, couldn't resist having a bowl.
I have to say, it made me feel better after drinking it, and it warmed me up all over.
Why didn't she think of setting up a stall here? She's missed out on making some money...
Duanba and Pang Qiaoniang didn't have much time to spend together before he said with some reluctance, "Qiao'er, stay safe in the capital. If anyone dares to bully you, I'll come back immediately!"
These were just words of comfort. Once they left Bianjing, the two completely lost contact. They were not as fortunate as the demoted officials, who at least had a fixed place to live.
But Pang Qiaoniang responded fully, always smiling.
After a few more casual words, Duanba boarded the boat. While he wasn't looking, Pang Qiaoniang chatted with Liu Shan for a bit: "Brother, you're usually a bit annoying with your words, please bear with me."
Liu Shan's expression was unreadable. He didn't speak, just nodded, and then turned to board the boat.
Seeing his expression, Pang Qiaoniang's smile faded, and she left after finishing her sentence.
Watching her forlorn figure, Lu Qiong shook her head. This was probably a case of a woman's affections being unrequited by her lover…
The crowds at the dock gradually dispersed, and a new round of excitement swept through the streets and alleys. Today, in addition to the opening of the river, it was also the Flower Festival.
Many food stalls are offering "Hundred Flower Cakes," while vendors are displaying hairpins, floral ornaments, and leftover lanterns from the Lantern Festival at their stalls.
On her way back, Lu Qiong also bought some peonies, intending to display them in her shop.
Many children on the street held handfuls of dandelions in their hands. With a blow, the dandelions drifted around, and some even got some on their faces, causing onlookers to burst into laughter.
The Hundred Flowers Cake doesn't actually require a hundred kinds of flowers, and besides, the Awakening of Insects has just passed, so there aren't many flowers blooming in Bianjing.
The "Hundred Flowers Cake" commonly made by Bianjing people uses plum petals, rose jam, and tender pear leaves. The plum petals are salted after the pistils are removed, the rose petals are candied, and the tender pear leaves are blanched, otherwise they will have an astringent taste and be poisonous.
After preparing the ingredients, Lu Qiong mixed the flower petals with honey to make flower jam, and also added some peach wine fermented rice.
Sister Yang mixed glutinous rice flour and rice flour together, and finally sprinkled on some Poria cocos powder and mixed it well: "The flowers in Bianjing are blooming early this year. In previous years, the forsythia along the Bian River wouldn't have bloomed yet at this time."
When Lu Qiong went to the Bian River earlier, he also saw that the banks were full of tender yellow flowers, and nodded in agreement.
After mixing the rice batter, she sprinkled on the flower sauce. When it became thick, she poured it into a mold and then steamed it.
Sister Yang stuffed several pieces of firewood into the stove until the fire was blazing before she stopped.
However, steaming cakes requires high heat, otherwise the cakes will be loose and sticky. Cakes steamed over high heat are also more elastic than those steamed over low heat, and it also saves more firewood.
Although Lu Qiong was not short of money, she still tried to save as much as possible, since no one would complain about having too much money.
She sat down to rest for a while, ordered a cup of tea, and the dark green tea had a slightly astringent taste. She picked it up, blew on it, and took a small sip along the rim of the cup. She frowned; it was indeed a bit astringent.
In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the Hundred Flower Cake is ready. The rose fragrance is even stronger, but it tastes sweet and soft, similar in texture to other pastries like Osmanthus Cake.
Once the pastries were out of the oven, many customers bought them; pastries and similar snacks are indeed Luk Kee's signature products.
Diners sipped peach wine and savored Hundred Flower Cakes, chatting idly: "Next month is spring plowing, and the imperial court has postponed the imperial examinations."
Food is the most important thing for the people. Although commerce has flourished in this dynasty, agriculture is still the foundation.
Another diner chimed in, concluding with, "This peach wine is sweet and fragrant."
Before leaving, they also packed up a few pieces of Hundred Flower Cake to take with them. There were quite a few customers like this. Before noon, all the Hundred Flower Cakes that were made were sold out, and Sister Yang was in a hurry to make the next batch.
Lu Qiong was experimenting with other tea drinks. She sliced citron, steeped it in water, added a little honey, and it was somewhat like lemonade in later generations. However, it tasted too astringent and sour, so she gave up on it in the end.
Lu Xuan, however, was tricked into drinking a large gulp, her face contorted in pain as she kept sticking out her tongue, saying, "It's so sour..."
Sister Yang laughed along with her, and only after she had finished laughing did she hand over a cup of tea. Lu Xuan drank it and felt better, but the sour taste lingered.
When she tasted it again, she smacked her lips and realized it actually tasted quite good.
However, Lu Qiong had already gone to the street with a food box, rushing to deliver some Hundred Flower Cakes to the Xie family.
The plum blossoms in the Xie residence were in full bloom. As soon as she stepped into the courtyard, a breeze blew, and the pale pink plum blossoms fell to the ground.
He Mu finally came out to admire the flowers and chatted for a while before learning that Xie Xun had gone to inspect the fields. However, persuading the people to plant kapok trees was indeed a difficult task.
After all, scientific expeditions have to give way to spring plowing.
Just as they expected, Xie Xun did indeed run into a wall.
No sooner had he left than Granny Liu spat on the ground and said, "Advising people not to grow crops... I think people like that deserve divine retribution!"
Jiang Sheng pretended not to hear and continued to taste the pastries Xie Xun had brought. These were from Bianjing and must have cost a lot of money. It would be even better if there was some boiled water, since eating pastries alone was a bit dry.
Since his older sister got married, he hasn't been able to eat any delicious pastries. He tried making them himself, but his grandmother said he was wasting food and eventually wouldn't let him make them at all.
After scolding the man, Granny Liu felt a little better. Seeing that Jiang Sheng was still eating, she went up and patted his head: "Have you fed the chickens and swept the floor? All you do all day is eat."
Jiang Sheng immediately felt innocent. Thinking that he had already been beaten, he stuffed the remaining pastries in his hand into his mouth, and didn't forget to grab a few more pieces with his free hand.
Enraged, Granny Liu grabbed a broom and chased him all over the yard, yelling, "You brat, stop right there!"
Hearing this, Jiang Sheng ran even faster, dropping the pastry she was eating onto the ground.
In contrast to the bustling activity at Granny Liu's house, Madam Yu's house was completely silent.
Li Jie'er felt it didn't matter what she planted during the spring planting season, since she was going to Bianjing in the future, so she ate her pastries in peace.
Yu Niang glanced at her, then turned and went into the house, sighing weakly as she held her aching back.
......
The streets and alleys of Bianjing were filled with the fragrance of flowers. Peddlers carried freshly picked peach branches through the streets and alleys, leaving footprints on the damp blue bricks.
At night, Lu Ji also hangs several lanterns along the walls, doors, and eaves to match the festive atmosphere.
Lu Xuan also bought some flower ornaments from a vendor, stuck them on her cheeks, and rushed in laughing: "Sister! Come and put on these flower ornaments..."
There are gold and jade hairpins, as well as fish scale hairpins and paper hairpins. Lu Xuan bought the hairpins cut from five-colored paper, not only for herself, but also for Lu Qiong and Sister Yang.
Her face was beaming with joy; there were stickers on her cheeks and forehead, almost covering her entire face.
This was a shock to Lu Qiong, who was used to the simple makeup of later generations, no less than the blush on her face during a talent show when she was a child...
So she refused to have anything on her face, but unexpectedly, Sister Yang also tried to persuade her, laughing and saying, "Young lady, today is the Flower Festival. If you put on these flower decorations, who knows, even more customers will come to the shop..."
Lu Xuan also looked resentful, as if she would sulk if she disagreed.
Perhaps unable to refuse, or perhaps wanting to earn more money, Lu Qiong sighed and finally nodded.
Fortunately, it was only applied to the forehead. Afterwards, when I looked in the bronze mirror, I saw a touch of red between my eyebrows... and some of them were really quite nice.
The peach wine that had been brewed earlier was almost finished, and the Hundred Flower Cake was sold out again. It wasn't until midnight that the diners finally left.
Business was booming today, and there weren't enough seats for all the customers. This made Lu Qiong think that the shop seemed a bit small and perhaps it was time to expand it.
I also remembered another strange thing: Shi San Niang, who said she wanted to expand her shop last year, has never mentioned it again.
But the most important question is, where do we find a suitable shop?
Once she started thinking about it, she became increasingly unable to stop herself...
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