Chapter 543 Return Gift
Xu Da had also heard of Lin Yuesha, the person he wanted to arrest; she was the "Miss Lin" he had unintentionally impersonated before.
"Cousin, could you bring me something back when you go to Cangzhou this time?"
Lin Yuesha realized it was a good opportunity and quickly made a request.
For the past two days, she had been so busy thinking about the dishes for the flower viewing banquet at the Prince's Mansion that she almost forgot that she had received a gift from Xiao Qiuyue in return. It consisted of two large boxes of things, including embroidery and fabric, as well as a small box of jewelry.
The jewelry wasn't particularly valuable; it was from the south and not easy to buy in the capital. Xiao Qiuyue said in his letter that it was a reward he received for performing in an opera, and he was giving it to Lin Yuesha so she could keep it without worry.
Her encounter with Qiuyue Class was purely coincidental. Everyone in Qiuyue Class was lovely, Lin Yuesha remembered. Sometimes she would think that although she hadn't even been on stage for a quarter of an hour, she was still a member of Qiuyue Class.
"Okay, but you have to give it to me now."
Xu Da glanced at the sky outside. The official boats at the dock were heading straight for Cangzhou that night, and if all went well, they would be back around the Mid-Autumn Festival.
"If you need anything, use my jade pendant to ask someone at the Prince of Luo's mansion for help."
Xu Da originally wanted Lin Yuesha to find his mother, but after thinking about it, he realized that finding his mother would only make things worse, so he decided against it.
"I can't accept this."
Lin Yuesha was startled. Xu Da had given her his identity seal, which represented his official position. She couldn't bear the consequences if she lost something so valuable.
Besides, she's an honest person and shouldn't cause trouble for others.
"Okay then."
He was away for about half a month, so nothing should happen. He took Lin Yuesha to the Luo Prince's Mansion a few times, and the gatekeepers would announce his arrival even without the jade pendant.
Time was of the essence, so Lin Yuesha brought over two boxes. Xu Da opened them and found that they contained small bottles and jars.
"The box contains wound medicine that I obtained from Sister Yan. It's a family recipe passed down through generations in the Yan family, and it's the best for stopping bleeding and relieving pain."
Being in the Qiuyue Troupe, Lin Yuesha realized that being an actress was not easy. Sometimes when performing on a high stage, it was inevitable that she would misstep or fall. It was good to have these injury medicines on hand.
The other box was sent by the daughter of Song, a woman rescued a few days ago. Song's family originally ran a rouge and face powder business. They didn't use lead powder, but used flowers and herbs to make rouge. Her mother, Chen, kept praising it after using it, saying that the face powder was delicate, had a light fragrance, and the lip rouge had a very accurate color.
Xiao Qiuyue wears makeup year-round when she performs opera, and using lead powder all the time can cause her a lot of damage.
After receiving the box from the Song family, Lin Yuesha immediately thought of Xiao Qiuyue and took it very seriously.
"Okay, I'll take it to you."
Xu Da nodded in agreement, but inwardly he sighed. Lin Yuesha never divided people into different classes. As long as someone was considered a friend, she would treat them with sincerity, purity, and kindness.
...
The next day, Lin Yuesha went to the Xu residence through the small gate between the two residences. She found the training ground with Bai Cha and found it by heart. She saw Madam Xu sitting in the pavilion in a daze, with stir-fried potato shreds, braised pork and egg drop soup in front of her.
"Auntie, haven't you had breakfast yet?"
Lin Yuesha stood behind Madam Xu for a while without Madam Xu noticing, so she had to speak up.
"Moonlight Gown is here."
Madam Xu was startled and realized that she had been lost in thought.
Recently, the relationship between mother and son has entered a period of improvement. Xu Da returns home for dinner every day, and Madam Xu has become accustomed to her son's company. When Xu Da leaves, she feels somewhat lost.
She lost her appetite for her favorite braised pork for breakfast.
Since our son isn't here, we'll stop for the next few days and continue when Xu Da returns.
Lin Yuesha twitched her lips. No wonder Xu Da ran away. No one could stand eating the same dishes every day.
To rescue Xu Da from his predicament, Lin Yuesha carefully considered her words before saying, "Auntie, the Mid-Autumn Festival is just over half a month away. Why don't you learn some new dishes, like making mooncakes or dumplings?"
"Is there enough time?"
Mooncakes are something we eat every year during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Madam Xu suddenly remembered that her husband would be returning home for the Mid-Autumn Festival; she had almost forgotten about such an important event.
She was alone every day, living a muddled life. Every year she set a goal to marry Xu Da, but every year it ended in failure, which greatly frustrated Madam Xu.
She liked Lin Yuesha and was initially very enthusiastic about her, but after getting to know her, she realized that Lin Yuesha could not be her daughter-in-law.
It's not that Lin Yuesha isn't good enough, it's that she's too good for Madam Xu to bear dragging the little girl into a fire pit. Who would want to marry a homosexual? It's just that her son is useless.
However, if we don't act now, we'll eventually have to harm a woman, otherwise the Xu family line will end.
Madam Xu gave Lin Yuesha a very complicated look. Lin Yuesha, not understanding what was going on, thought that Madam Xu lacked confidence in her cooking skills, so she said, "Auntie, I know you like to eat meat. Mooncakes can also be filled with meat, and they taste incredibly delicious."
Modern Yunnan ham mooncakes, with finely chopped ham, are specially made for people who don't like sweets, and become more fragrant the more you chew them.
Meat filling is a good option for mooncakes. You can add salted egg yolk, lotus seed paste, or red bean paste to make them sweet or savory.
Lin Yuesha thought that chopping meat filling was a simple task for Madam Xu, but she found that Madam Xu's hands were trembling the whole time.
After trying for a long time, it was all in vain.
“When I was five or six years old, my whole family was in the Northwest. When foreign tribes invaded, my father was ordered to fight against them.”
At that time, foreign tribes were roaming the northwest, capturing innocent civilians. In order to intimidate the Qi soldiers and disrupt their morale, they chopped the civilians into minced meat.
This incident left a shadow on Madam Xu. Although she loved to eat meat, she could never bring herself to chop minced meat because she would always remember that scene.
Actually, Madam Xu could have had a servant help with chopping the meat, instead of doing it herself. However, having someone else help her always felt like something was missing.
"Auntie, leave this to me. Look, we have a potato grater and a meat mincing tool."
Lin Yuesha thought of the design of modern tools; electric tools couldn't do it, but manual tools could.
A meat grinder can not only make meat filling, but also vegetable filling.
Learning to cook isn't about complicating simple things, but about simplifying complex things quickly and efficiently, saving time. That's the point of using tools.
Are there any other tools like this?
Madam Xu rarely cooks; she had never seen her cook.
"Yes, and no one else has seen it either, but I can do it."
Since the tools weren't ready, Lin Yuesha put her cooking lessons on hold. After practicing her horse stance, she went to the blacksmith's shop to order a custom-made blade.
Place the blade at the bottom of the container, set a pull rope, and pull the rope to rotate and stir the blade. As long as the blade is sharp, it's not a problem to chop the minced meat into smaller pieces.
However, although it sounds simple, Lin Yuesha herself only had a vague understanding of it. It took her three days of experimentation to make a finished product, which she then gave to Madam Xu.
"Moon Sa, you are so smart."
After pulling the rope, Madam Xu opened the lid and found that the meat inside had been minced.
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