Yu Tang was alone there, daydreaming for a long time, until Chen called him to learn how to make Chongyang Cake.

The soaked glutinous rice and stalk rice were ground into pulp, the red and green preserved fruits were cut into strips, and brown sugar, chestnut powder and lard were mixed into sugar, and then spread layer by layer on the steamer... The Chongyang cake made by her mother was a little different from that of other families. Other families used brown sugar, red beans and lard to make sugar, but her Chongyang cake used brown sugar and chestnut powder. The Chongyang cake made in this way was as white as snow, with the unique aroma of chestnuts, and not greasy. It was especially favored by Yu Wen's classmates and friends. Therefore, every year during the Double Ninth Festival, their family would make a lot of it to give away.

This year, Ma Xiu’s family is also included.

Chen told Yu Tang: "Go quickly and come back soon. We have to go to your uncle Wu's house for dinner later."

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Yu family invited the Wu family to a crab feast. During the Double Ninth Festival, the Wu family invited the Yu family to a crab feast.

Even Yu Bo's family was invited.

"Okay." Yu Tang responded loudly, changed his clothes, and went to Zhang's house carrying a box of hot Chongyang cakes that had just been taken out of the pot.

Ma Xiuniang has not yet recovered her former slim figure, while Qing'er is getting fatter and fatter, like a glutinous rice dumpling. Her neck cannot even stand up straight, but she refuses to lie in other people's arms. She insists that others hold her little head and hold her, and walk around so that she can look around everywhere, otherwise she will cry loudly.

"You must have accustomed her to it when she was on her period!" Ma Xiuniang walked around the house holding her daughter, pretending to be unhappy and complaining to Yu Tang, "This is all debt. You just wait for me."

Yu Tang smiled awkwardly at Ma Xiuniang.

Ma Xiuniang finally coaxed her daughter to sleep and handed her daughter to the wet nurse. Only then did she have time to sit down and have a private conversation with Yu Tang.

"Has your marriage not been settled yet?" She was very concerned about this matter. "If not, just get married. I think your cousin is a really good person. With him to support the family, and you to take care of them, your father and mother will not be left without someone to take care of them."

Yu Tang didn't want to get married at all. She responded with a few words without much interest and then changed the subject to the Zhang family: "I heard that Master Zhang has become the head of the family. Will he continue to be in the family in the future?"

Ma Xiuniang was also worried about this matter. She said, "Qing'er's father is a good student. If he doesn't have a career, wouldn't it be a waste? But he is also stubborn. After Qing'er was born, the family needed a lot of money. I wanted to use my dowry to help out, but he refused. Our sister-in-law is going to get married soon..."

She sighed.

Yu Tang then revealed his previous thoughts: "...Can we ask Master Zhang to draw a few patterns on our lacquerware? Don't write his name on it. If anyone asks, just say it was drawn by my brother. Do you think it's okay?"

Many scholars are ashamed to bow down for money. Mr. Zhang is just an ordinary scholar now. If he enters the officialdom in the future, copying books for bookstores is an elegant thing. However, drawing patterns for merchants for money is mechanical and it is stealing profits from craftsmen. It is disgraceful and will affect Mr. Zhang's reputation.

If someone else had brought up this matter, Ma Xiuniang would have kicked the person out without a second thought, but the person who brought it up was Yu Tang, and she knew Yu Tang very well, he was tight-lipped, but he had his own ideas, and he was trustworthy. But she couldn't say whether Master Zhang was willing or not.

"Let me ask for you!" Ma Xiuniang didn't dare to say anything final. "If he is willing, why should I worry?"

Yu Tang breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the Yu family's lacquerware shop was rebuilt, the business was not as good as before. The main reason was that during the period when Changxing Street was flooded, many families in Lin'an who needed lacquerware had to go to Hangzhou to buy it. After going there, they found that the lacquerware shops in Hangzhou not only sold more items than the Yu family's shop, but also had newer styles. Some wealthy families in Lin'an began to go to Hangzhou to buy lacquerware, and the merchants always make money from the wealthy, so their shops were not as good as before.

After the Double Ninth Festival, someone from the Pei family came to pick up Yu Tang to visit their home. This time, Yu Tang was well prepared. He not only brought a few silk flowers that he had made in the past few days, but also brought the osmanthus cake made by Chen.

This year's newly pickled osmanthus sugar has a rich fragrance and a fresh taste. When made into osmanthus cake, it looks like gold foil sprinkled in the white snow, which makes people feel hungry just by looking at it.

After Old Man Pei ate two pieces, Aunt Chen didn't dare to let him eat any more: "Please leave a few pieces for us greedy people to taste."

Old An laughed and gave the rest of the snack away.

Yu Tang was very happy and said, "If you like it, I will bring it to you next time I come."

"It's mainly because the sweet-scented osmanthus candy is so good." Old An praised, "Is this also your mother's craft? It seems that she makes good snacks."

Yu Tang pursed his lips and smiled.

Aunt Ji looked at this and called the tailor who had been waiting in the main building to come in.

The tailor was a woman in her forties, with two women in their twenties. The tailor was plump, like a soft steamed bun, and her eyes almost disappeared when she smiled. The two women were one thin and silent, and the other slender and smart.

The three men came in and bowed deeply to Lao Anren and Yu Tang.

Old Man An asked Aunt Ji to help the tailor up, accepted the greetings from the two ladies, pointed at Yu Tang and said to the tailor, "This is my niece, her surname is Yu." She pointed at the tailor again and said to Yu Tang, "This is the owner of Jinxi Tower in Hangzhou. Her husband's surname is Wang, you can just call her Aunt Wang." As for the two ladies, Old Man An just pointed at them but didn't say how to address them, obviously he didn't remember their names.

Aunt Wang immediately said attentively, "These are my two apprentices. One's husband's surname is Li, and the other's surname is Zhou."

Yu Tang went forward and greeted him.

Aunt Wang repeatedly said she dared not, and the two ladies turned away, not daring to accept her greeting.

Old An didn't care and asked Aunt Wang, "I heard you brought some new fabrics from Suzhou this time. Bring them here for me to see."

Aunt Wang responded immediately, and went with her two apprentices to bring in seven or eight rolls of cloth, unfolding them one by one to show Old Anren and Yu Tang: "Look at this moon-white silk with round patterns. In previous years, it was woven with either broken branches or water grass patterns, but this year it has the Buddha's Eight Treasures. Because it uses silver silk threads, it looks like a plain silk from a distance, but when you get closer, you can see the round pattern... and this one, Mo The green silk embroidered with white chrysanthemums is both simple and elegant, perfect for a jacket. And this one, a dark blue silk embroidered with fairy cranes and ganoderma lucidum, is perfect for a shawl when winter comes. I also brought some mink hair with me, although it is of good quality, it is not as magnificent as the one in Old An’s house, and it can be used to make a shawl. This one can only be used to make a forehead scarf at most, but fortunately it is white, so it can be used in any size…”

She kept talking on and on. Yu Tang didn't know whether the material or style was new, but the colors of the material were either black and white or dark green. They were all suitable for wearing during the mourning period, which showed that she put a lot of thought into it.

But Old An was critical, "Didn't I tell you that I have a niece here? Why are all the clothes made of plain materials?"

Aunt Wang and Yu Tang were both stunned.

Old An was already pulling the dark blue piece of brocade with cranes and ganoderma lucidum and said with disdain, "This pattern is too old-fashioned. Isn't there any pattern with four gentlemen or cherry, apricot or plum?"

Aunt Wang responded quickly, saying, "Yes, yes, yes! I just didn't know what Miss Yu likes, so I didn't dare to bring too many styles. I'll have someone pick them up. They'll be there tomorrow morning."

Old An curled his lips and said, "Waiting for you will make the flowers cold. Chen, take my key and go to the warehouse to select some fabrics suitable for young girls for Miss Yu to choose from."

Aunt Chen responded with a smile and left.

Yu Tang took a breath of cold air.

This is no ordinary reward.

She was about to refuse, but Old An spoke up: "I just like dressing up little girls. Ji, go and invite the eldest daughter and a few other daughters over, and make a few dresses for each of them."

Yu Tang couldn't refuse anymore, so he smiled and thanked Lao Anren, and even teased Lao Anren: "Thanks to you, I can wear clothes made by the masters in Hangzhou City. This year during the New Year, I can also stand out."

Old An laughed and waved his hand nonchalantly, then called Yu Tang over to discuss the style of the dress: "I remember that the horse-faced skirt with twelve pieces was popular last year, is it still the same this year?"

Aunt Wang said with a smile, "The moon-shaped skirt is in fashion this year. It is pleated like a quilted skirt, but spreads out like a loose skirt. This summer, almost every woman in Hangzhou has one. Old An, you have a slim figure, so you will look good in it."

As she spoke, she took out a skirt and showed it to Old An, but she looked at Yu Tang out of the corner of her eye.

I don't know what kind of relative this Miss Yu is to Mr. An. She has been making clothes for Mr. An for seven or eight years, but this is the first time I've seen this Miss. But she is really pretty! The relatives from Mr. An's mother's side are all tall, but Miss Yu is neither tall nor short, and doesn't look like a relative from Mr. An's side. But Mr. An likes her because she can make clothes for her.

Thinking of this, she winked at her apprentice Madam Zhou, indicating that she should pay attention to Yu Tang's preferences and come back next time so that she could recommend fabrics and styles based on Yu Tang's preferences.

Madam Zhou nodded and turned her gaze to Yu Tang.

Yu Tang didn't care, thinking that since it was a gift from Lao An, there was no need to be shy. When Aunt Chen opened Lao An's warehouse and brought a bunch of colorful fabrics, she picked out a piece of plain Hang silk that was so light green that it looked almost washed white, and said with a smile, "This piece of fabric is beautiful."

Aunt Chen looked at Yu Tang calmly, thinking to herself, no wonder the Third Elder looked up to this Miss Yu. Although Old An asked her to find some bright fabrics to make clothes for the young ladies, it was still the mourning period for the old lady, so even if she chose, she shouldn't choose fabrics that were too bright, so she still took a few pieces of plain fabrics in water green and water blue. Unexpectedly, this Miss Yu was also thoughtful, and did not choose those Shujin and Kesi, but chose this piece of Hangzhou silk called Bishuiqing.

Old An obviously noticed it too, and said with a smile, "This piece of fabric is too plain, not suitable for the New Year. I think the bright blue one would be a good choice."