Li Xiang'an and Li Xiangjian returned when it got dark. As soon as Li Xiangjian got back, he excitedly went to Yan Qingqing to report on his work.
Li Xiangjian said, "Mother, I found three blacksmith shops and gave them the blueprints. The mold for the snow skin mooncake can be made in two days, but the oven will take at least three days."
We ordered five sets of molds for snow skin mooncakes. The oven is too expensive and we're worried it might not be suitable if we make it properly, so we've only ordered one sample for now. I've already told the blacksmith that if the finished product meets our requirements, we'll order more.
The shop owner even gave me a significant discount to attract repeat customers like us.
Yan Qingqing found it amusing to see Li Xiangjian so excited; it seemed her son had regained his confidence.
Of course, Yan Qingqing was generous with her praise, and after a string of compliments, Li Xiangjian's mouth was practically stretched to the back of his ears.
Finally, Li Xiangjian added, "It's all thanks to my mother's good teaching."
Li Xiangkang, who had been watching the commotion from the sidelines, suddenly felt a sense of crisis upon hearing this. Why were his sister-in-law and third brother all such sycophants? He was the only one who had praised his mother like this at the beginning.
Then he thought about how he was about to go to school, and how his older brothers and sisters would be able to keep their mother in check. Would he still have a place in her heart then?
Thinking of this, Li Xiangkang felt uneasy again. If Yan Qingqing knew, she would definitely sigh that she had really solved one problem only to have another arise.
Three days later, Li Xiangjian and Li Xiangan brought back the things Yan Qingqing needed from the blacksmith shop.
Yan Qingqing looked at it and saw that although the workmanship was not as good as in her previous life, it was still usable.
Now that we have everything we need, let's give it a try. After all, these things are different from what we had in our previous life, and we don't know what the mooncakes will look like yet.
Yan Qingqing decided to try making snow skin mooncakes first, so she wrote down a recipe and asked Li Xiangping and Yuan Huiniang to prepare the ingredients while she provided guidance.
After preparing everything, Yan Qingqing took the kneaded dough, wrapped the filling inside, and stuffed it into the prepared mold. After pressing it down, she took the mooncake out of the mold, and a beautiful mooncake was ready.
Looking at the small and cute mooncakes she had made, Yuan Huiniang said with great delight, "Mother, these are so beautiful! Now I finally know how other people make mooncakes."
But none of the mooncakes sold on the street look as good as the ones we make at home.
Yan Qingqing smiled and said, "Of course! These mooncakes are not only beautiful but also delicious. They have a sweet and soft texture that is suitable for all ages. They will be ready in ten minutes after steaming."
Yuan Huiniang nodded and then carried out Yan Qingqing's instructions step by step.
Soon, a fragrant aroma wafted out and filled the entire courtyard.
Wang Dagang's wife next door glanced at Yan Qingqing's house, swallowed hard, and said sourly, "Mom, what good stuff is Yan making at home again? Every day it smells like braised meat or some other aroma. Even if you're rich, you can't be so wasteful."
Aunt Wang glared at her shallow-minded eldest daughter-in-law and said, "Shut up! Qingqing has helped our family enough. If you had half her ability, I would have fed you fish and meat every day."
A while ago, Yan Qingqing's family was building a house, and all five of her sons went to help. They earned quite a bit of money; in just over a month, the group together made a total of five taels of silver.
Of course, with a large family, expenses were high, but even after deducting expenses, she still managed to save three taels of silver during this period.
This money will be enough to find Wu Gang a wife. Thinking of this, Aunt Wang felt very happy.
Yan Qingqing took out the freshly baked mooncakes, let them cool, and then divided them among the children, letting them choose which flavor they liked.
Yan Qingqing made mooncakes with red bean paste, mung bean paste, pumpkin, and egg yolk fillings. Originally, Yan Qingqing also wanted to make some fruit fillings, but fruits were too expensive and the cost was too high, so Yan Qingqing had to give up.
Li Xiangping and a few others liked the egg yolk filling, while Yuan Huiniang and the others thought the red bean paste filling was better.
In the end, Yan Qingqing only chose two kinds: red bean paste and egg yolk, mainly because she had limited manpower and energy.
The snow skin mooncakes turned out very well. Next up is the mixed sugar mooncakes. Mixed sugar mooncakes are actually quite simple to make as long as you get the ingredient ratios right. The difficulty lies in the baking process. If you don't control the heat properly, the mooncakes won't taste good.
Sure enough, just when Li Xiangping was full of confidence, a batch of burnt sugar-coated mooncakes came out of the oven.
Li Xiangping was somewhat unconvinced, so he baked two more batches, but either the heat was too low or they were burnt.
Li Xiangping was dumbfounded. Was mixing sugar into mooncakes really that difficult?
Yan Qingqing looked at the pile of burnt mooncakes in front of her and shook her head helplessly. Li Xiangping couldn't control the heat, so she had to do it herself.
While grilling, Yan Qingqing explained to Li Xiangping how to control the heat, when to flip the pancakes, and when to take them out of the pan.
As expected, the mixed sugar mooncakes baked by Yan Qingqing were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a wonderful aroma.
Li Xiangping was once again deeply impressed by Yan Qingqing's abilities, feeling that his mother was simply omnipotent.
Fortunately, with Yan Qingqing's guidance, Li Xiangping finally baked a qualified mixed sugar mooncake.
Looking at the pile of "defective" items at home, Yan Qingqing asked her children to deliver some to Grandpa Li, the village chief, and Aunt Wang.
Although these mixed sugar mooncakes weren't baked very well, they were made with plenty of ingredients, and most people wouldn't be able to afford them.
Aunt Wang and the village chief each gave ten eggs as a return gift, while Grandpa Li came over in person. Just by looking at the oven in the yard, he knew that these mooncakes were no ordinary mooncakes.
After asking a few simple questions, he scolded me, "If you're going to sell it for money, why give it to me? What a waste. I have children at home who need to go to school."
Grandpa Li was now completely like a loving father, so Yan Qingqing could only smile and explain, "I've never made mooncakes before, so I have no experience. These are all burnt and can't be sold, so I'm giving some away for everyone to try."
Grandpa Li was amazed that even burnt mooncakes tasted so good; he imagined how delicious they must be if they weren't burnt. He was sure these mooncakes would be incredibly popular. Then his grandson's school fees would be covered!
With that thought in mind, Old Master Li stopped worrying about the few burnt mooncakes he had eaten and left humming a little tune.
Now that the mooncake experiment has been successful, the next step is to consider sales volume.
The Mid-Autumn Festival only comes once a year, and Yan Qingqing thought that if she was going to do something, she should do something in the mid-to-high-end market. Only in this way could she differentiate herself from most mooncakes on the market and earn more money.
After much thought, the key to opening up the high-end and mid-range markets is packaging.
Wasn't that how most merchants did things in the past? They could sell the same product for half the price more with fancy packaging, and some people would still enjoy it even though they knew they were being ripped off.
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