It is already autumn. Early autumn in the southwest is much more comfortable than in other places. Other places are still experiencing the "autumn heat" and are hot both day and night, but here in the southwest it is only slightly hot during the day and you have to cover yourself with a thin blanket when you sleep at night.
Xu Qinyu has been busy making persimmon cakes recently.
Tao Qi and his friends picked a lot of wild persimmons in the mountains. These wild persimmons are not big in size and are very sweet when ripe. After removing the stems, they tear them open a little and suck the flesh inside into their mouths. The flesh is delicate and the juice is sweet. However, wild persimmons are relatively small and can be eaten one in one bite.
When persimmons are not fully ripe, they taste astringent.
There are many wild fruits on the mountain, and children nearby often run to the mountain to pick wild fruits to eat. These wild persimmons grow in the belly of the mountain, a little deep, and most children cannot go so deep into the mountain.
It was already late summer and there were not many wild grapes on the mountain, so Tao Qi and his friends did not continue picking with the winery. Instead, they went hunting in the mountain. They encountered wild persimmons while hunting. There were many wild persimmon trees in that area. The persimmons on one of the trees were ripe, while the others were not yet ripe. They were specially sent to Xu Qinyu to try. After tasting it, Xu Qinyu missed the sweet, sticky and soft persimmon cakes a little, so she asked Tao Qi and his friends to pick some unripe persimmons.
Persimmon cake is also a kind of dried fruit preserves, but it seems that there are no persimmon cakes here.
Most of the dried fruit preserves here are made by soaking in honey and sugar. The method of making persimmon cakes is slightly different and they are air-dried.
The method is actually simple, but most people don’t do it well because even if it is air-dried, a lot of attention needs to be paid.
To make persimmon cakes, you need to choose persimmons that have turned red but still have hard flesh. After peeling the skin, do not remove the stems. Spread them in a dustpan and place them in the sun to dry. At night and on cloudy days, you need to put them in a ventilated place, because persimmon cakes cannot be exposed to water or dew when they are drying. During the drying period, you must also remember to squeeze the persimmon cakes from time to time to better shape them and make the flesh inside softer and become a runny persimmon cake.
When the flesh is dried in the sun until it turns slightly white, the persimmon cake is almost ready.
But there is still one last step, which is to put it in a jar, seal it and wait for it to frost. After a period of time, a thick layer of white frost will condense on the surface of the sealed persimmon cake. The persimmon cake with sugar frost will taste sweeter and softer.
The persimmon cakes made in this way are not astringent at all, because the icing is exuded from the flesh itself, so you won’t feel greasy when eating them.
Making persimmon cakes didn't bother Xu Qinyu much. Someone helped her peel the fruit, and someone else helped her dry and press the fruit.
When she smelled the sweetness, she knew that the dried persimmons were ready. She then instructed the children to put the persimmons in a jar and seal it so that they would be truly frosted.
When Xu Qinyu taught her apprentices, she also told them that the sense of smell is also very important in cooking.
For example, when drying persimmon cakes, they were taught what kind of sweetness they would emit depending on the sugar content.
It’s the same when cooking on a daily basis.
Xu Qinyu made a lot of persimmon cakes. Tao Qi said that although there were only a few persimmon trees in that area, because not many people picked the fruits, each tree was full of fruits, with at least hundreds of fruits on each tree. The unripe persimmons were picked by them, so Xu Qinyu made at least thousands of persimmon cakes.
Persimmon cakes also cost nothing to make and don't need to be soaked in sugar. Tao Qi and his team bought them at the price of one penny per two kilograms, which was very cheap.
After Xu Qinyu dried the persimmon cakes and canned them, she gave a can to each of Tao Qi and the other two. The three of them thanked her repeatedly and went back with the cans.
Xu Qinyu also told them, "Although the dried persimmons in the jar are still edible, it's best to wait another half month. The dried persimmons will be frosted with sugar, and the skin will be sweet and glutinous, and the inside will be as runny as honey. So it's best to wait another half month."
The persimmon cakes she dried were different from the ordinary persimmon cakes in later generations. The time is also important for making persimmon cakes. The best time is around the time of frost. In this way, the frosting of the persimmon cakes will be better, the taste will be better, and the persimmon cakes will be soft and glutinous.
Tao Qi and the other two listened to Xu Qinyu's words and nodded, "Don't worry, Boss, we will definitely wait for half a month before eating it."
Xu Qinyu was a little amused and helpless when she saw how serious they were.
There are still thousands of persimmon cakes left, and the family can’t finish them all.
Because the weather will get colder, there will be no problem preserving these persimmon cakes until next spring.
But if there are thousands of them, they can last until next spring, and my family will be hurt after eating thousands of them.
No matter how delicious something is, eating it every day will harm you, and I will not be willing to touch such things in the future.
So Xu Qinyu kept three or four hundred persimmon cakes. She gave a few jars to the county magistrate's family, Xu Kongmu's family, the Xia family, the third branch of the Pei family, and Old Lady Zhu. There were more than three thousand persimmon cakes left. She planned to wait until the persimmon cakes were frosted and sell them at the door of Xu's as snacks, selling each persimmon cake for five cents.
In fact, five cents is not cheap, but it is not expensive at all either.
Even if a family is relatively poor, they can still grit their teeth and spend five or ten cents to buy one or two to satisfy their children.
The persimmon cakes she made could be sold for a few dozen coins each, not a lot. But even if she sold them for a few dozen coins, she could only make an extra 120 taels of silver, so it would be better to sell them at a lower price so that the children in Yuanbao Town could have a taste and satisfy their appetites.
The children from poor families here have a very hard time, even worse than when she was in the welfare home.
A small piece of malt sugar that costs five cents is not as big as her persimmon cake, and her persimmon cake tastes much better than malt sugar.
By the time the persimmons were frosted and ready to eat, it was already after the Frost Descent, and my fourth brother had been away for more than three months.
Xu Qinyu went home that night and kept talking to her family, "Fourth brother said he'd been away for more than three months. Now it's almost four months. Is he coming back soon?"
Mrs. Wen was also a little worried. Her son had been away on business for more than a year for the first time, and he had even gone overseas. She couldn't help but worry.
Unexpectedly, Pei Weixuan returned in the middle of the night. After selling the colored glass, he did not return to the island, but went straight back to Yuanbao Town.
When he came back, it was already midnight and the door was closed. He didn't want to knock on the door and wake up his family, so he jumped over the wall.
After entering, I saw Bai Yu coiled up as a snake, squatting under the courtyard wall with its head erect, looking at it.
Jumping off the wall, Pei Weixuan touched the white jade.
Bai Yu's big head also rubbed against Pei Weixuan, making a soft hissing sound, which was the sound of a snake spitting out its tongue.
Bai Yu grew very fast. It was much taller than when it scared Tao Qi and the other two at the beginning of the year, and its body was also thicker.
With its size, it can scare people when it goes out.
Last time, Tao Qi and his men were frightened by Bai Yu, but they did not tell anyone about it after returning. The yamen runners who saw Bai Yu were also ordered by County Magistrate Yang not to tell anyone about it, so as not to cause panic among the people.
In fact, the people of the Dasheng Dynasty were very respectful to white animals, believing that they were the guardian gods of the mountains. They would also be more awed when seeing a white python and would not think of reporting to the police to catch and kill the python.
But County Magistrate Yang was worried about causing trouble for Xu Qinyu, so he asked several yamen runners not to tell anyone about Bai Yu.
Otherwise, knowing that the owner of Xu's family also raised a very spiritual big white snake, there would always be curious people who would run to Miss Xu's house to watch the fun, which would cause a lot of inconvenience to Miss Xu.
After touching the white jade, Pei Weixuan returned to his room. When he returned, he glanced at Yu Niang's room.
Because there were Baiyu and Moyu at home, Yu Niang would leave the door ajar when she slept at night, allowing them to come in and out. She was not afraid of thieves because there was always one of Baiyu and Moyu guarding the house, and they would come out as soon as there was the slightest movement outside.
After taking a look at Yu Niang's room, Pei Weixuan went back to the house to get some clean clothes, then went out to the well to fetch a bucket of water. He took a bath in the cool autumn air, changed his clothes, and went back to his room to rest.
…
The next day, Xu Qinyu got up, put on her clothes, and sat in front of the bronze mirror to tie her hair into a bun. She then inserted the silver hairpin given by her fourth brother. This hairpin was beautiful and suitable for everyday wear, and she had been wearing it recently.
She is obviously a good cook and is quite dexterous, but she just can't tie her hair properly. So she just doesn't care, as long as the bun doesn't fall apart.
After tying her hair into a bun, Xu Qinyu went to the kitchen to boil water for washing.
In autumn, it was cooler in the morning, so she had to use warm water instead of hot water to wash. Before she entered the kitchen, she saw the light of an oil lamp in the kitchen, and thought that Wen had gotten up first and was boiling water in the kitchen.
Usually she and Wen were the first to get up. Sometimes Wen got up earlier than her and came to the kitchen to boil water.
Xu Qinyu walked into the kitchen with a smile on her face. She was about to say, "Mom, you get up so early." But just as she opened her mouth, she saw the tall man sitting by the stove and was stunned.
After a moment of silence, Xu Qinyu said in surprise, "Fourth brother, you're back."
Pei Weixuan nodded and said, "I came back at three o'clock last night. I was afraid of waking you up, so I climbed over the wall."
Seeing that Yu Niang's eyes were still moist and clear and she was smiling at him, Pei Weixuan's throat tightened and he said in a hoarse voice, "The hot water is ready, Yu Niang, wash up first."
"Okay." Seeing her fourth brother reply, Xu Qinyu felt very happy for some reason. She brought a copper basin over to scoop hot water and then added half a basin of cold water from the water tank before taking it back to the room to wash. After drying her face, she applied cream.
These creams were made by the fourth brother for the family. They are very easy to use. Xu Qinyu feels that they are better than those skin care products that cost tens of thousands of yuan a set in later generations. They can nourish the skin. Even though she is busy in the kitchen and is often exposed to oil smoke, her face is still white and tender, like a peeled egg.
She not only uses it on her face, but also on her neck and body.
Fourth brother made his own cream, which contained medicinal herbs and was good for the skin. It was not expensive and he even made several large jars, enough for the whole family. That’s why she used it to apply on her body.
She is also a girl, and girls love beauty and hope to have fair and tender skin.
After Xu Qinyu applied the cream and felt her face was smooth and tender, she went to the kitchen again and saw that her fourth brother had turned off all the fire in the stove, leaving only the hot water in the pot, which would be enough for the family to use in a while.
We don’t cook at home in the morning, so we eat breakfast at the restaurant.
Xu Qinyu touched her smooth face and walked into the kitchen, "Fourth brother, let's go to the restaurant to have breakfast later."
As she spoke, she couldn't help but mutter, "Fourth brother, this cream you made is really useful."
Pei Weixuan saw her face was as rosy as jade, with a natural blush on her cheeks from the rubbing she had just done, and said, "If it works, I'll make more tomorrow."
She doesn't use rouge or powder on a daily basis, just some cream.
Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Thank you, Fourth Brother. I'll give you something delicious later."
The first batch of persimmon cakes she made has been frosted and is ready to eat.
Half of the finished persimmon cakes were placed at the house, and the other half were placed in the backyard of the restaurant.
After Xu Qinyu went to the storage room in the rear building, she opened a jar of persimmon cakes, and the rich, sweet aroma immediately overflowed from the container.
She picked up a plate of persimmon cakes and went to the kitchen, handing them to Pei Weixuan. "Brother, try this. These are persimmon cakes made from wild persimmons from the mountains. They've just been frosted these past two days, so they're ready to eat."
The persimmon cakes in front of you are golden and translucent, and you can see the sweet flesh inside.
Pei Weixuan picked up a persimmon cake. He could smell its sweet aroma before he even ate it. It was soft and sticky when he pinched it. After he put it in his mouth, he found that the skin was also sticky, but with a hint of crispness. When he bit into it, the flesh inside seemed to flow into his mouth. The flesh was soft and sweet, leaving a lingering fragrance on his lips and teeth.
Pei Weixuan's eyebrows moved slightly as he praised, "Sweet, sticky and soft, sweet but not greasy, very delicious."
He used to think that he didn't like sweets, but after eating the sweets made by Yu Niang, he realized that it was not that he didn't like sweets, but that the sweets made by others were not very good.
The desserts made by Yu Niang taste just right, sweet but not greasy. Even the persimmon cake, which is already a bit sweet, will not make you feel sick. It will only leave a lingering fragrance on your lips and teeth, and your mouth will be full of sweetness.
Pei Weixuan ate five of them in one breath. Xu Qinyu didn't let him eat more because eating persimmon cakes can easily cause indigestion.
Xu Qinyu also tried one herself. She found that eating sweet and sticky food can make one feel better.
Wen also got up and came to the kitchen to see Pei Weixuan. She was also surprised and said, "Brother Xuan is back."
Pei Weixuan called out to his mother, and Xu Qinyu also picked up a persimmon cake and handed it to Wen, "Mother, the persimmon cake is ready. Come and try it. It's so sweet and sticky."
When Wen tasted it, it was indeed delicious. Nothing Yu Niang made was bad.
After eating the persimmon cake, Wen thought of the letter from the third branch of the Marquis of Dechang Mansion to Xuan'er, and told Xuan'er about it. "It's been almost two months, and I still have the letter in the box. I'll go get it, Xuan'er, take a look at it yourself."
Wen went back to her room to get the letter and came to the kitchen to hand it to Pei Weixuan.
Pei Weixuan took the letter, but there was not even a signature on the envelope.
Pei Weixuan didn't even open it to read it, but threw it directly into the stove. The remaining charcoal fire rolled up the corners of the letter, and the flames gradually devoured the envelope and the letter inside.
Wen couldn't help but ask, "Brother Xuan, aren't you afraid that there might be something important inside?"
That's why she kept the letter.
Pei Weixuan said, "It's not an important letter."
It is obvious that it is not an important letter, and it is even very likely a letter written to him by Xu Qinhui.
When his eldest brother got into trouble, he was also imprisoned. Xu Qinhui and the third branch of Dechang Marquis's Mansion avoided him like the plague. Now they suddenly wrote to him, so something must have happened in the Marquis's Mansion.
But the only change in the Marquis' Mansion was Xu Qinhui.
Even if Xu Qinhui broke off the engagement and put the blame on the old lady of Dechang Marquis for letting Yu Niang marry him, Pei Weixuan knew very well that it was Xu Qinhui who asked to go to the palace and seduce the new emperor, which led to the new emperor writing the edict. It was not because he understood Xu Qinhui, but because he knew the new emperor's personality too well. The new emperor valued beauty and liked the gentleness of women. Neither the old lady of Dechang Marquis nor the old concubine she knew in the palace would have asked the new emperor to write the edict. There was only one reason: the new emperor coveted Xu Qinhui's beauty. According to this, Xu Qinhui should have deliberately entered the palace to become the new emperor's concubine.
However, Xu Qinhui was supposed to enter the palace for selection a year and a half ago, but something happened and she injured her face and legs, so she did not enter the palace to become the new emperor's concubine.
The black-armored guard had been inquiring about the situation in the capital, so he knew everything that happened in the capital.
Xu Qinhui's broken leg and injured face were too coincidental, obviously intentional.
Then the biggest variable is Xu Qinhui.
What made her change her mind and stop entering the palace to enjoy the splendor and wealth of a concubine? She even wrote a letter to him seeking peace?
Pei Weixuan lowered his eyes and knocked on the edge of the table with his hand.
Xu Qinyu felt a little sorry when she saw that her fourth brother burned the letter sent by the third wife so quickly. She was actually very curious about who in the third wife had delivered the letter to her fourth brother.
But it's fine if it's burned. The letter from the third room must have bad intentions.
Xu Qinyu didn't feel sorry for long. Just as she went to the restaurant in the morning, she received a letter from the third room of the Marquis Dechang's Mansion.
It was the same middle-aged man who delivered the letter to Fourth Brother last time. Obviously, the man recognized her and handed the letter to her personally.
Pei Weixuan was also there at the moment. When the middle-aged man saw Pei Weixuan, he bowed to him and whispered, "Greetings, Fourth Prince."
He called him the Fourth Prince instead of the Prince appointed by the new emperor, which shows his change of mind.
Pei Weixuan didn't even pay attention to him. The middle-aged man didn't get angry either. He asked respectfully, "Did your Highness the Fourth Prince receive the Third Lady's letter?"
Xu Qinyu, who was rummaging through the letter nearby, widened her eyes when she heard this. The letter to Fourth Brother was actually written by Xu Qinhui?
I can’t believe it.
Didn't Xu Qinhui deliberately let her original body marry in place of her? She wanted to cut off all ties with Fourth Brother, so why is she writing to Fourth Brother again now?
She never mentioned the third wife in her letters to the second wife, and her parents never told her about the third wife, so she didn't know that Xu Qinhui was still at home and had not entered the palace to be the new emperor's concubine.
Xu Qinyu stopped opening the letter and listened attentively to her fourth brother talking to the middle-aged man.
She didn't recognize the middle-aged man, but he ran errands for the third house. He should be someone of Xu Qinhui or the third house's master Xu Shuping, or an unknown confidant.
Pei Weixuan's brows were cold and he didn't respond to the man.
The middle-aged man glanced at Xu Qinyu before whispering, "Second Miss, it wasn't Third Miss who asked you to marry the Fourth Prince. It was the Old Madam who went to the palace to ask for it. Third Miss has always blamed herself. She couldn't face you and the Fourth Prince the first year and was bedridden for a year. Because of her self-blame, the palace held a selection, but Third Miss even deliberately injured her face and legs to avoid the selection and didn't enter the palace to become a concubine. It was also in the past few months that Third Miss felt she shouldn't be so cowardly and wanted to explain things to Second Miss and the Fourth Prince, so she asked me to send letters to the Prince and Second Miss separately."
Xu Qinyu had a strange look on her face, she didn't believe it.
That was an edict issued by the new emperor. How could an old woman in her forties have the ability to make the new emperor issue such a foolish edict that would be reported to the emperor by civil officials?
Seeing that the two remained silent, the middle-aged man couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, have you received the letter from the Third Miss? She apologized to you in the letter and said that if Your Highness is willing, she would even be willing to exchange the Second Miss for you and stay in the border area to take care of the Queen, the Sixth Princess, the Seventh Prince, and the Little Princess."
Pei Weixuan said calmly, "I haven't read it yet. I burned it. Please respect yourself, Miss Three. My wife is Yu Niang."
Hearing him say in such a serious tone that his wife was Yu Niang, Xu Qinyu's heart skipped a beat for some reason, and something soft gently tickled her heart.
But the next moment, Xu Qinyu thought that she was not the real Yu Niang, but just an imposter. She couldn't help but pursed her lips, feeling depressed.
She occupied the body of the original person, who was the fourth brother's wife.
So she is not, and will only be, Fourth Brother's sister.
The middle-aged man didn't know what to say, so he just exchanged a few words of greeting. When he saw that His Highness and the Second Young Lady ignored him, he left.
After everyone left, Xu Qinyu said something to Pei Weixuan and went to the kitchen to make breakfast.
However, she still opened the letter Xu Qinhui gave her and read it first. The letter Xu Qinhui gave her was similar to what the man had just said. She first apologized and blamed herself, and said that if she didn't like the Fourth Prince and still liked Song Bingjian, she would be willing to help convey this message to Song Bingjian. Xu Qinhui was also willing to come to the border to take care of the Fourth Prince's family for her. She also encouraged her to pursue her own happiness, saying that she could open a restaurant in the border town first, and maybe she would have the opportunity to meet Song Bingjian in the future.
Song Bingjian?
Xu Qinyu turned her head and finally remembered who this person was.
Before being exiled, my original body had fallen in love with a young man from a poor family, Song Bingjian, and they were almost engaged.
The original body had a good relationship with Xu Qinhui at that time, and would talk to his cousin about anything that was on his mind.
I recalled Song Bingjian's appearance in my mind, and he did have a good-looking appearance.
But what does Song Bingjian have to do with her now?
Even if she was still her original self, this Xu Qinhui instigated her to wait for a scumbag in the capital who hadn't written a single letter to her in two years. Even though they loved each other, after her exile, Song Bingjian never wrote a single letter to her. If he wasn't a scumbag, what was he?
After reading the letter, Xu Qinyu couldn't help but mutter, "What a joke, there's no good intention at all."
After saying that, he threw the letter under the stove and burned it.
She had no plans to reply to Xu Qinhui, and next time she wrote to her parents, she would ask them to be on guard against Xu Qinhui.
I always feel that Xu Qinhui is weird.
Pei Weixuan outside had almost guessed something.
Xu Qinhui probably already knows what will happen in the future.
I just don’t know whether she was dreaming, or had experienced it, or was possessed by a strange spirit like Yu Niang.
Thinking of this, Pei Weixuan's eyes were filled with a strong and gloomy murderous intent.
If both of them were possessed by alien spirits, Pei Weixuan would only want to protect Yu Niang, but he would also want to behead Xu Qinhui immediately, fearing that her abnormality would affect Yu Niang.
After burning the letter, Xu Qinyu no longer cared about Xu Qinhui.
After breakfast, all the customers left the restaurant and the store became quiet again. Fourth brother did not leave the restaurant all morning and stayed in the backyard to help.
Now that she had some free time, Xu Qinyu brought the frosted persimmon cakes and asked Gong Ge'er to help sell them.
Although it was past breakfast time, there were still many people strolling around the market on West Street. In addition, there were small vendors doing various small businesses nearby, making the place very lively. Seeing a dustpan on the table at the door of Xu's house, with pieces of golden and translucent things in the dustpan, which looked like cakes, pastries and a bit like candied fruits, many people gathered over.
Because they all know that Xu Ji’s new food will not disappoint them.
Especially those sold at the door, the prices are usually not expensive and they can afford them.
Gong Ge'er immediately said, "Sweet, soft, and juicy dried persimmons. Five cents a piece. There aren't many left, so buy first and eat first. I'll only have two dustpans' worth today. If you buy later, they'll be gone."
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