Manager Yu boarded the carriage and pondered for a moment: "If the cold noodles are priced at 20 coins, and we add some vegetables as suggested by this woman, as long as the quantity is large, I believe the cold noodles will sell quite well."
The bound steward shook his head: "Master, can you untie this old servant now? This woman is a cunning person. She sells a bowl for five or six coins herself, but here she charges eight coins. That's outrageous! Forget twenty coins, even if we sell it for ten coins, we'd be lucky if anyone would buy it!"
"Alright, nothing's even started yet, and you're already spouting discouraging words. No wonder even this peasant woman doesn't respect you. If it weren't for my intervention today, she'd probably be furious every time Qiongxianlou is mentioned. You almost ruined Qiongxianlou's good reputation!"
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Liang Shuyan brought in the dried potato slices, poured them onto the cutting board, and rolled them out with a rolling pin until they were all finely rolled and no residue was visible. Then she found a strainer and filtered out the coarse layer on top. This made the jelly not only delicate and smooth, but also chewy.
Liu is pregnant and can no longer do heavy work, but she can still do tasks like tending a fire.
According to the proportions, Liang Shuyan poured an appropriate amount of water into the pot. She always makes three different colors of jelly, but this time she needed a large quantity. Considering the limited ingredients, she only made the original color of jelly. It was much simpler without adding vegetable juice. She added some salt.
In ancient times, salt was not properly filtered, resulting in a lot of sediment. Therefore, before using it, she would dissolve the salt into brine and let it settle. This way, she could filter out the impurities in the salt and prevent them from entering the jelly and affecting its edibility and appearance.
To make the jelly, she specially made a long stick to stir it. During the stirring process, she had to stir it continuously in one direction until it turned greenish and large bubbles appeared in the pot.
Zhang brought in three clean wooden buckets, placed them on the stove, and said, "Mother, I've washed them clean, and rinsed them again to make sure they're perfectly clean."
Liang Shuyan scooped the jelly from the pot and placed it in several wooden buckets.
When Aunt Liu heard that Liang Shuyan was making jelly, she came in carrying a bowl of buckwheat noodles and said with a smile, "Auntie, could I exchange my bowl for your jelly? I had your jelly last time and I still haven't had enough! It's so chewy and smooth!"
Liang Shuyan had just finished her work and was covered in sweat. While squatting down to wash her hands at the door, she said politely, "You're an old neighbor, why are you being so polite? You'll need to exchange this bowl of buckwheat noodles for several bowls. Let it cool down a bit and I'll give you two bowls to take home so the two girls can try some too."
"You are my neighbor, that's true, but haven't you helped me enough? You helped me bring Jinxia back. Thanks to you, otherwise, I don't know if I would ever have seen Jinxia again in this lifetime."
Liang Shuyan asked, "By the way, didn't Shen Dahai come to call Jin Xia?"
Aunt Liu sighed softly, "No, that little beast. Luckily, we didn't listen to him back then, otherwise, Jin Xia might have gotten on his pirate ship again."
"Well then, what else does Jinxia do besides farm work now?"
"It's just some needlework, and two meals a day at home. Yinxia and I will take turns doing it! There's no other work. Auntie, I'm sorry to trouble you again. This time, please find a partner for Jinxia. The girl is growing up, and it's not good for her to always stay by your side."
"Your old man hasn't come back either?"
"That old bastard, he follows Zhao Da Kui around all day, hunting wild game in the mountains. He never brings us three of us anything. He only cares about himself. I'm so unlucky. I just hope that his aunt can find a better husband for Jin Xia."
Liang Shuyan led Aunt Liu to her room, where Aunt Liu sat down on a bench.
Liang Shuyan poured a cup of tea and sat down next to her before saying, "Actually, what I want to say is, why don't you let your Jinxia come and do business with me? Doing business will make you more resourceful, and you'll have your own skills. When you want to get married, we'll be the ones choosing, not the other way around. What do you think? Once my family's tea workshop opens, I'll have Jinxia come and help out. She'll get 15 copper coins a month. What do you think?"
Aunt Liu's face immediately lit up with a smile, and she grabbed Liang Shuyan's hand, saying, "Auntie, how can I thank you enough? You're really going to open a workshop? Oh my, you're such a capable person in our Daling Village! Are you giving up on making jelly noodles or what?"
"No, I was just planning to set up a tea workshop and continue making jelly. Sanwang will still be in charge of delivering the goods to Qiongxianlou, and my eldest daughter-in-law will be in charge of making jelly. I will focus on making tea, but the process is complicated and we don't have enough people at home. I've decided to find more people to help."
Aunt Liu's family wasn't well-off either. Although Old Liu had passed away, the crops in the fields hadn't been harvested yet this year. They didn't know where their next meal would come from. Usually, Aunt Liu earned a little pocket money by washing clothes for others. When she heard Liang Shuyan say this, her eyes flickered, and she tentatively asked, "Then, Aunt Liu, can I come and help out? I'm very capable, hardworking, and I can help you take care of the workshop!"
Aunt Liu is a very honest person, and no matter what happens to Liang Shuyan, she will always stand by Liang Shuyan's side without hesitation. Thinking of this, Liang Shuyan nodded: "Okay, I will let you know when the time comes, and you and Jinxia can come over then!"
Zhang ladled out two bowls of cooled jelly and handed them to Aunt Liu, saying with a smile, "Here you go, Auntie, this is from my mother. Take it home and try it!"
Aunt Liu took the jelly and said with a smile, "Oh my, this looks so delicious, it's making my mouth water! It's so smooth and translucent, and just looking at the sauce makes my mouth water!"
Aunt Liu's saliva immediately started flowing, and she hurriedly wiped it with her sleeve.
Zhang saw it all and couldn't help but laugh: "Auntie, take care!"
"Alright, you're all so busy, I won't bother you any longer. Auntie, remember what I did for you?"
Liang Shuyan suddenly remembered what Li Zheng's wife had asked her to do. If she were to bring Qiu Dong and Jin Xia together, she wondered if Aunt Liu would agree to it, and if Jiao Shi would agree.
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