16 Red Bean Ice
◎The eldest lady ran away from home◎
After a while, a little kid of about six or seven years old came running over. She was wearing a pink jacket and had two small buns on her head. She pointed at the ice cream in Xie Wuyang's hand and said to the person behind her, "Mother Li, I want to eat this."
Judging from her clothes, she was a young lady from an unknown family. Following behind her was probably her wet nurse. She asked, "How much is it?"
Seeing that business was coming, Song Jinyi immediately put on a smile and said, "Ten cents."
Xu Ruolan leaned over and asked gently, "What ingredients do you want?" She introduced them one by one, "This is acacia honey, dried osmanthus flowers, red beans, and lotus seeds."
The little girl added some red beans, took a bite, and said, "Hmm—it's delicious."
It is icy cool and has a silky texture. It spreads in your mouth with a light bite, with a light milky aroma, not too sweet or greasy.
The little girl finished a bowl of ice cream in just a few bites and kept clamoring for more. The wet nurse beside her didn't want her to eat too much snack, so she carried her away.
When people saw this, they came over to ask the price. He continued selling on and off for an hour and sold out all the twenty servings of ice cream cheese he brought.
Song Jinyi packed up her things and prepared to go home. Today was a trial run, so she didn't prepare much. She originally thought it would be good enough if she could sell out everything in the evening, but she didn't expect that everything would be sold out in just one hour.
After selling the ice cream, the three of them went home early while it was still daylight. As soon as Song Jinyi returned to the yard, she couldn't wait to count the bill.
One bowl costs ten taels, and twenty bowls cost two hundred wen. Excluding the fifteen wen for the ingredients and the slightly more expensive ice, this small bucket of ice costs fifteen wen, leaving me with one hundred and seventy wen.
Song Jinyi was thinking about adding something new. After all, ice yogurt was delicious, but the ice cubes were too expensive and only served to cool the food. It would be better to make shaved ice and use the money for ingredients to make her feel better.
******
By noon, the number of people in the teahouse gradually decreased, and there were only two or three tables of people in the hall. Manager Sun took a glance from not far away and found the snacks on the table quite familiar. They seemed to be the same style that Song Jinyi had made last week.
He frowned, his mouth corners turned down, the fat on his cheeks drooped, he put his hands behind his back, and walked slowly towards the east kitchen.
Lifting the curtain, I saw Song Jinyi standing in front of the stove, with her head lowered, carefully turning over the ingredients in her hands, muttering to herself, and it seemed like she was researching a new dim sum.
The shopkeeper walked in and asked, "Are you researching new refreshments?"
When Song Jinyi saw the shopkeeper asking, she rolled her eyes inwardly, but said with a forced smile, "Of course not. After all, developing a new snack is quite expensive. How could I be so ignorant? Don't worry, shopkeeper."
Oh, she wouldn't bother making refreshments that wouldn't be accepted.
Her words choked the shopkeeper, who was silent for a long time. After a long while, he said, "The tea customers have been saying they want something new these days. Although the previous ones are delicious, they get boring after a long time. You can make something simple first."
"How about White Jade Frost Square Cake and Pan-fried Cherries?"
"The name sounds good. I'm confident in your craftsmanship."
Song Jinyi hummed softly twice, and then calculated the cost like pouring beans: the cherries needed for this cherry pancake must be picked freshly in the morning. I was greedy before and asked about the price at the morning market, and it was not cheap.
As for the White Jade Frost Cake, it would require ten kilograms of milk alone, at least two ounces...
The cost issue needs to be made clear. Let her do it first, and don't complain about it later and deduct money from her salary.
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper waved his hand and said, "You are a young lady who doesn't know where you came from. Why should you be so particular about what you sell to others? The milk doesn't necessarily have to be fresh.
I think aged milk is very cheap, only a few coins per pound. There's also cherry pancakes, but cherries are expensive and hard to preserve, so why not try orange pancakes instead?
Song Jinyi's mouth twitched as she stared at him expressionlessly. Milk is a cold food in nature. Some people have gastrointestinal intolerance to fresh milk, let alone stale milk.
Besides, it would be fine if nothing happened. If something happened, the shopkeeper would definitely throw all the dirty water on her. A ruined reputation would be a small matter. I'm afraid she would be sued.
Song Jinyi was talking nonsense. "That won't work! I've never heard of this orange omelet, and I don't know how to make it. As for the white jade frost square cake, it needs to react with flour. If it's not fresh, it won't form and will be soft. I'm afraid the customers won't buy it."
When the shopkeeper heard this, a layer of frost covered his fleshy face. He was obviously displeased with the words, but he was helpless and finally turned and left.
Song Jinyi looked at her boss being humiliated, raised the corners of her mouth in a good mood, and continued with what she was doing.
Seeing this, the waiter working nearby asked, "Sister Jinyi, you're still working here. If you don't give him any face, aren't you afraid that he'll make things difficult for you?"
Song Jinyi didn't want to bother with the waiter because of what happened before, but since he was kind-hearted, she simply replied, "Why bother? He won't fire me for the next couple of days anyway. If he doesn't want to pay my monthly salary, I'll go to the city government and sue him for unpaid wages."
After this month's work is over, she doesn't want to work anymore. She'll set up a stall at Luojin Bridge these past two days, making two hundred coins a day. If she works for another ten days, she'll be able to rent a stall..."
Of course, these words cannot be said to the waiter.
In the blink of an eye, it was afternoon again, under the Luojin Bridge.
As soon as Song Jinyi and the other two arrived, a young lady with flowers in her hair came forward and asked, "Madam Song, what new snacks do you have today?"
She hadn't put the food on the table yet when a customer arrived. She looked up and felt that the man looked familiar. After thinking carefully, she realized that it was a returning customer whom she had seen yesterday and the day before.
This small business selling sweet soup has a fixed location, tastes good, and is not expensive. She has accumulated many repeat customers, and there are new customers who go to the night market every day to see her stall.
Song Jinyi wiped her hands and introduced, "We have ice cream, red bean shaved ice, and today we even added snow bean water."
After selling for seven or eight days, the variety of things gradually increased, and it was no longer possible to rely solely on physical strength to pull the things over. Song Jinyi rented a Jiangzhou cart from the old lady who sold braised food next to the teahouse. It cost five yuan a week, which made things much more convenient.
Xie Wuyang pushed the cart, while Song Jinyi and Xu Ruolan took some lighter items to help him share some of the weight.
The young lady ordered a bowl of red bean ice.
This red bean shaved ice is made by boiling and crushing the red beans in advance and mixing them with hot milk. The shaved ice is scooped out from the bucket and Xie Wuyang uses a long knife to cut the shaved ice into a small hill, which is then topped with red bean milk.
Song Jinyi handed the prepared red bean smoothie to the young lady with a flower in her hairpin.
The young lady took it and said as she ate, "Madam Song, I must have gotten up early today! I was a little late yesterday and didn't get to eat this red bean shaved ice."
Song Jinyi greeted her words with a smile and praised her, saying how good her taste was and how beautifully she wore the flowers in her hair today.
******
Yunzhou Wharf.
Several gorgeous cruise ships slowly approached the shore. The cruise ships were about ten meters long, and one was as long as a two-courtyard house. The patterns carved on the ships were all exquisite and detailed.
More than a dozen thick hemp ropes were thrown down from the cruise ship, and a group of porters waiting on the shore hurried forward, took one end of the rope and tied it to a wooden stake on the shore.
People on the shore could not see the people on the deck, they could only see a rectangular sampan extended from above, connecting the deck with the landing place on the shore.
After a while, the sampan made a "da da" sound, and a group of people walked down the sampan. The person in the lead had white hair mixed in his temples, bright eyes, and was wearing brocade clothes. His long beard fluttered under his chin, and he had an extraordinary demeanor.
The people who had been waiting below saluted respectfully and led them to the south side of the pier. From a distance, they saw a long dragon-like convoy of carriages waiting there, with forty or fifty servants waiting beside the convoy.
Someone couldn't help but ask curiously: "Whose house is this? Such a grand occasion."
"Look at the carts of silk fabrics being transported in the back. Such a large sum of money must belong to the Song family."
"So it's the Song family's patriarch who's back. No wonder there's such a grand ceremony."
In the carriage, Song Zhangye rested his hands on his knees, leaning against the carriage, with a look of fatigue between his brows. Beside him sat the butler, who was wearing a ochre long gown and had a slightly hunched back. He respectfully reported all matters to Song Zhangye.
"Someone from the monthly finance department came over, but they didn't do much. They just checked the accounts. The shopkeepers have already taken care of everything..."
The carriage was a circle larger than ordinary carriages. It was not only equipped with a soft couch inside, but also had a coffee table on the outside. On it was a complete set of green-glazed carved porcelain tea sets, and next to it was a cloisonné enamel plate with yellow background and red flowers, filled with snacks.
A little maid was kneeling in front of the coffee table, making tea for Song Zhangye.
Song Zhangye pinched his brows and did not take the tea immediately. The maid gently placed the teacup on the table beside him.
Seeing Song Zhangye's unhappy and worried look, the housekeeper asked, "Master, did things go wrong during your trip to Shengjing?"
"Merchants in Shengjing only took half of what they took in the past. Because of my visit, they reluctantly increased the price by half. They said that Changzhou had produced some new cloth this year, so I bought some as well to see if there was any difference."
After Song Zhangye finished speaking, he asked about the recent situation at home: "I've been away for more than a month. Is there any problem at home?"
"Madam has managed the household affairs in an orderly manner, and everything is fine." The housekeeper knew that the master loved Madam Shen the most, so he praised Madam Shen as much as he could.
Then Song Zhangye asked, "Where's Jinyi? She was acting up before I left, but has she become more sensible in the past month? I should prepare a dowry for her when I come back this time."
The housekeeper's face froze, not knowing how to respond. He hesitated for a moment and then said slowly, "The eldest lady has run away from home."
Song Zhangye suddenly opened his eyelids, his face darkened, and he looked at the housekeeper coldly, intimidatingly without anger, and asked, "What's going on?"
"You were leaving home for Shengjing at the time, and everyone in the mansion was busy making arrangements. They weren't paying attention, and the young lady slipped away."
Song Zhangye frowned and asked directly, "Have you found the person?"
The housekeeper shook his head. Seeing that Song Zhangye was about to get angry, he quickly said, "But now we have some news. A pawnshop on Qiaoge Street sent a hairpin belonging to the young lady. The young lady should be near Qiaoge Street."
"Why don't you send someone to look for it!"
The butler agreed repeatedly and bowed before getting out of the car.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com