18 Chapter 18
His image
The Mid-Autumn Festival is over, the holiday is halfway through, and Jiang Jingyun has one day left to go back to school.
However, he hadn't written a single word of his homework.
Where has the time gone? How come two days have passed in the blink of an eye! Time Management Bureau, please turn off the accelerator that was secretly turned on, thank you!
Ahhhhhhhh…! ! !
The groundhog wanted to call again.
The three Jiang siblings looked at their brother scratching his head and ears and couldn't help wondering: Is studying so scary?
The eldest brother had told them yesterday that after the holiday, he and his brother would go to the old scholar in the village to study every day, and then come back to study with their sister. I was a little excited when I heard the news, but now seeing my brother going crazy, I feel inexplicably scared. What's going on? Can I change my mind and not go?
The three siblings looked at each other in bewilderment, and someone came from their uncle's house.
Seeing Jiang Jingyun looking weak, the second brother Jiang smiled and asked, "Oh, what happened to my fifth brother? Could he have gotten sunburned even when he was basking in the moonlight last night?"
Jiang Jingyun looked up at his second brother's happy smile, feeling inexplicably unhappy. He rolled his eyes and a bad idea came to his mind: "Second brother, I remember you are only one year older than me, right?"
"Yes, what's the matter?" Jiang Erge was puzzled, "Why are you asking this suddenly?"
"Brother, at our age, it's a good time to study." Jiang Jingyun just opened his mouth and said nonsense, "How about I talk to my uncle and the others and ask you to study with us, so that we brothers can have a companion."
"No, no, no, I don't want to study." When Jiang Erge heard the word "study", his teeth ached and he waved his hands to refuse. Besides, if I really want to study and take the imperial examination, I can get married and have a big fat boy in a few years, and then let my son go to school.
It’s better to raise pigs than to study.
No matter what I do, I can't study, not even a little bit.
"Don't, the teacher once said: Study hard to achieve harmony, travel far and wide..." Jiang Jingyun walked around his second brother and showed off his knowledge, "The teacher also said:..."
"Oh, Fifth Brother, stop reading, and quickly put away your magical powers." The buzzing sound of reading lingered in his ears. Brother Jiang had a headache and begged for mercy repeatedly, "Brother was wrong, I will never dare to laugh at you again."
"Really?" Jiang Jingyun didn't believe it. His second brother always liked to tease him. "Swear!"
"I swear, I swear," Jiang Erge was frightened by his scolding and swore to the sky, "You are a liar, little dog."
Jiang Jingyun snorted coldly and gave up.
Just as he was about to walk away, his second brother grabbed his neck from behind and tickled him with his other hand: "You stinky little brother, you are so bold that you dare to threaten your second brother. Today I will show you who is your brother!"
“Ahahahaha, it’s so itchy, stop it!” Brother Jiang pressed all his strength on him. Jiang Jingyun couldn’t break free and said angrily, “You’re cheating, little dog!”
"I only promised not to laugh at you verbally, but I didn't say I couldn't suppress you with force." Brother Jiang argued, "Tell me, am I wrong? Who is your brother?"
“Hahahahahahahahaha…you are wrong, you are my brother, stop it!” Jiang Jingyun laughed so hard that tears came out.
Only then did Second Brother Jiang let go of his hand with a grunt.
Jiang Jingyun straightened up and wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, then looked up and saw that everyone in the yard was looking at him and they were all covering their mouths and laughing. His face turned red instantly: his image was completely ruined!
He rolled his eyes at Second Brother Jiang angrily: It’s all Second Brother’s fault, this childish guy!
Brother Jiang was thick-skinned and didn't care about this. He sat down on the steps in the yard and talked about business: "On the way back yesterday, you said you wanted to add a new snack. Are you free today? Can you teach us how to make it?"
Jiang Jingyun turned his head and ignored him.
Seeing Jiang Jingyun was about to hide in the ground in shame, the aunt smiled and stepped forward to give him a chance: "Yes, yes, yes, I heard you say that this job should be done more delicately, so I called your sister-in-law and Xiaoya over. They are skillful, can you teach them?"
The steps were handed over, and if he didn't go down, he would have to jump down by himself. Jiang Jingyun took a deep breath and pretended nothing happened: "Well, I plan to make a small cream cake."
The main ingredient of the cream cake is cream. Milk was quite rare in that era. Jiang Jingyun asked his uncle to help him look for a long time before he found a family selling buffalo milk in the neighboring village.
The buffalo milk was delivered yesterday afternoon. Jiang Jingyun stirred it vigorously and let it sit overnight. The upper layer was cream; the whey on the lower layer was not wasted and was added when making the cake base to increase the milk flavor.
Separate the egg whites from the yolks, put the egg whites into an empty bowl without oil or water, add a few drops of white vinegar, and then use the bamboo egg beater that Xiao Muyan helped make yesterday to stir quickly in a clockwise direction until it forms a curved hook; add sugar and beat the cream in the same way.
Emmmm...Let Brother Jiang and Brother Jiang do this kind of strenuous work! He saw that it was Brother Jiang who was laughing the loudest just now, but he didn't even say anything to come over to help him.
"Hmph, even though Second Brother Jiang is hateful, First Brother Jiang isn't much worse." Jiang Jingyun was petty and drawing circles to hold a grudge.
Pour whey and peanut oil (without corn oil) into a large bowl and mix well. Then add flour, egg yolk, etc. in turn. After mixing into a smooth batter without particles, add the beaten egg white three times. Stir gently to evenly mix, then pour into a bamboo cup, shake out the bubbles, and bake in the oven for half a quarter of an hour. After the cake base is baked, take it out of the oven and cool it down. Spread the whipped cream on the surface of the cake and draw beautiful flower patterns. It will be an exquisite little cake! 【1】
The Jiang family members were dazzled and stunned as they watched from the sidelines. This little cream cake was so beautiful, but the process was too complicated. They watched the whole process but were unable to remember all the steps.
Jiang Jingyun finally finished and straightened up and took a long breath. He saw the stunned faces of his family members and was a little confused: "What's wrong with you? Come over and taste it."
"Is it really appropriate for us to eat such a precious thing?" Brother Jiang held a small cake carefully, looked left and right but didn't dare to eat it.
"Why is it inappropriate? How do you know if it tastes good if you don't try it?"
The second brother Jiang swallowed his saliva beside him, disapproving of Jiang Jingyun's wasteful behavior: "Do I need to taste it? I can tell how delicious it is just by smelling it."
"Don't smell it, just taste it." Jiang Jingyun was helpless. Except for buffalo milk which was a bit expensive, the family could afford other foods now, so it didn't matter if they tried one or two.
Jiang Jingyun stuffed a piece of cake into each of their hands and said, "Try it, our family is not short of this."
Then I took the first bite. The cream was sweet and smooth, the cake underneath was soft and delicate, and tasted like a cloud. It was delicious!
"Fifth brother, how much silver do you plan to sell this cake for?" Second Brother Jiang finished the cake in two bites like a cow chewing a peony. He was reluctant to take any more and could only smack his lips to savor the taste.
"I was so busy that I forgot to tell you," Jiang Jingyun took out a few food boxes, "I asked my third cousin to make these for me when I went to my uncle's house a few days ago. Each box costs twenty cents."
Brother Jiang picked one up and looked at it carefully. The workmanship was very delicate and the carvings were simple and elegant. He nodded and said, "The craftsmanship is pretty good, but what does this have to do with selling cakes?"
Early this morning, his fourth cousin came to him with ten ready-made lunch boxes. Jiang Jingyun looked at them carefully and was quite satisfied, so he readily gave him four hundred coins and asked his fourth cousin to make another fifty lunch boxes and five hundred bamboo cups. Jiang Jingan readily agreed and went back with the freshly earned money.
Now that Brother Jiang asked, Jiang Jingyun opened the food box and showed it to everyone: "I plan to put eight small cakes in this food box. The box and bamboo cup cost 28 coins. Buffalo milk is expensive and costs 500 coins per bucket. In addition, we need eggs, sugar, and flour... We sell mooncakes for 50 coins each. This, I will sell a box for 2 taels of silver. What do you think?"
"How much...more?" The aunt-in-law was also getting nervous. Her heart was trembling as she looked at the cake in her hand. How much silver had she just eaten in one bite?
"Two taels." Jiang Jingyun said affirmatively.
"Hiss..." There was another sound of gasps all around.
"Two taels of silver... Is there anyone who would buy it if it's so expensive?"
"How is it expensive?! Is our food not good enough? Have you ever seen desserts like this?"
Everyone shook their heads, the stuff was of course excellent.
"That's it."
"But..." There was still hesitation in everyone's tone.
"No buts!" Jiang Jingyun interrupted them, full of confidence, "The thing that is most abundant in this world is rich people. They are not afraid of things being expensive, but they are afraid that the things are not good enough or attractive enough."
"Okay... we'll listen to you." Everyone was convinced. After all, the result always proved that it's never wrong to listen to your nephew/brother/younger brother.
Jiang Jingyun smiled and assured, "Don't worry, we are the only one who sells this thing, so it's not expensive no matter how much we sell it for."
"There is no price protection law here anyway, so what's there to be afraid of!" thought the black-hearted businessman Jiang Jingyun.
After discussing the matter, Jiang Jingyun made the cream cake again and explained the process in detail until everyone had mastered it.
I filled ten food boxes with the finished cakes and divided up the remaining cakes that were not in good condition. I finally finished today's work.
After seeing off his aunt and the others, Jiang Jingyun collapsed in a chair due to exhaustion. Immediately, his sensible third brother came up to him and began to massage his legs and shoulders, asking him if the strength was enough. The younger sister next to him followed suit and came over to say that she wanted to massage Jiang Jingyun's hands.
Jiang Jingyun sat there like a big shot, enjoying the attentive care of his younger brothers and sisters. He looked up and saw his second brother wanted to come over but seemed a little reluctant. He stood there hesitantly, so he found something for him to do: "Second brother, help your eldest brother put a few cakes in the basket. I'll take it to your eldest brother Xiao later."
"Okay." The second brother was happy after receiving the instructions, and worked happily for his eldest brother.
Jiang Jingyun was extremely moved when he looked at his own children. They were so well-behaved that he didn't feel so tired while working.
After resting for a while, Jiang Jingyun took the basket and went to the next door. He asked yesterday and was told that Brother Xiao would go up the mountain tomorrow, so he should still be at home today.
As soon as I knocked on the door, Xiao Muyan came out.
Jiang Jingyun didn't say hello, but directly handed over the basket: "Here, here are the new dishes I made today, let me give you a try."
Xiao Muyan picked up one and tasted it, praising it directly and simply: "It's delicious."
"That's~" Jiang Jingyun put his hands on his hips, his nose turned up, "Don't you see who I am~"
Seeing him so proudly holding his tail up, Xiao Muyan flattered him and said, "The contemporary chef god."
"Well, I don't deserve that." Although he wanted to be proud of himself, Brother Xiao was very much like a parent who doted on his children without any limit. He always praised them mindlessly, which made him feel embarrassed.
"These are all for you. Be careful on the mountain tomorrow. I'm going back first." Jiang Jingyun stuffed the basket into Xiao Muyan's arms, then ran away with a blushing face.
But when he went back, Jiang Jingyun always felt like he had forgotten something.
What is it exactly?
【Author’s words】
【1】Practices refer to Baidu
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