Chapter 88 Glutinous Rice Daifuku

"Me?" Xiao Que's eyes were full of confusion. "Isn't it enough for me to know a few words? Why should I learn these? It's useful for young ladies and gentlemen to read these."

When Meng Taotao was here, he and Si Li taught Xiao Que to read together. Most of the lessons were about menus and recruiting speeches, and he didn't learn many serious books. When he heard that he was going to attend the academy, his first reaction was to refuse.

In the past life, the country had taken a long time to popularize education. Reading and learning characters were too far away from daily life, so people kept a distance from them. Si Li thought for a moment, "A Zhuang and the others, as well as Xiao Chong, will grow up slowly, and the menu in the store will also increase. Since you have studied, you can help me teach them."

This reason convinced Xiao Que. She counted on her fingers and began to worry, "Will there be no one to manage the store then? Wang Ting is a very cunning guy. He might do something bad. Besides, and I don't need this material either..." She got anxious and her accent, which hadn't appeared for a long time, came out again.

She herself was not aware of the natural intimacy and contempt when she mentioned Wang Ting. Si Li's eyebrows moved slightly, noting the undercurrent between the two of them, and comforted her, "Asheng and Azhuang are still here, it doesn't matter. You, just study hard, it doesn't matter how well you study, don't be too hard on yourself. Whatever the teacher taught you today, you can come back and teach it again, that's all."

Si Li's original intention was to comfort her, but Xiao Que shook her fist and made up her mind, "Tao Tao said that hard work can make up for lack of talent. If I read it a few more times, I will at least know more than Wang Ting! Then I can help the shopkeeper keep an eye on him!"

Seeing such lofty sentiments, Si Li burst out laughing.

Xiao Qi glared at Si Li hatefully and said, "You are so careless!" When the carriage was halfway there, she jumped off and went straight home.

When night fell, Minister Xiao returned home from the government office and saw his daughter in the study, leaning her head and looking at him gloomily. "Mother," Xiao Qi told her what she had seen and heard, and concluded, "Repaying evil with kindness, what kind of reason is this!"

Xiao Qian was stunned. "I didn't expect that you have such an open-minded personality." She touched her daughter's hair. "Repay evil with good, how to repay good? Repay evil with justice, repay good with good. This is correct, but Aqi, you have to see who is wrong. Si Da has already got the result she wanted, which is the justice she asked for, but you are confused."

"Mother, I don't understand." Xiao Qi has always been a person who clearly distinguishes between love and hate. She could not accept what her mother said before, that the matter would be over if Liu Weiling paid a price. She also did not understand what kind of justice Si Li was seeking now.

"She and Si Er are in a state of decline."

While Xiao Qi was still thinking about what her mother meant by the increase and decrease, she heard two explosive news when she arrived at the academy the next day.

One is a restaurant clerk who is enrolled in school, and the other is the second daughter of the company who is dropping out of school.

On the surface, he said that he went home to take care of his sick mother, but secretly everyone was guessing that it was related to the visit of Chief Assistant Si to the academy yesterday.

Xiao Qi carried her schoolbag into the dormitory. She was used to going to her home to eat in the morning. The kitchen at home didn't prepare breakfast for her. She felt empty after walking a few steps. She pressed her stomach secretly and saw Liu Wuling sitting upright with pen, ink, paper and inkstone ready. She felt an unknown irritation in her heart.

Si Tang didn't come today, so Xiao Qi walked over and took her place. She poked Liu Weiling in front of her with a pen and said in a low voice, "You didn't even change your clothes. Who are you planning to cry to and forget your grudges with?" As she spoke, she felt hungry again and frowned.

Liu Wuling turned around and saw her unhappy expression, and handed her a coarse flour steamed bun, "I registered at the academy's residence yesterday. This was made by the canteen supervisor this morning. Would you like to try it?"

The academy's residences were for students from other places or poor families. They could pay for their board and lodging by doing some odd jobs for the academy every month, which was a pretty good salary. But for these officials, living in a residence was nothing like going home. When Xiao Qi heard Liu Weiling mention it, she was stunned.

"You didn't go home?" After she said that, she realized that she had said something stupid. Liu Wuling smiled faintly, and her past recklessness and arrogance were completely restrained. "I heard about what happened to Mr. Si yesterday, and my father has already removed me from the list. Well, don't worry, the gift list for Wanglaiju has been sent."

A woman being expelled from the clan was like having no home to return to. Adding to the gift list she specifically mentioned, Xiao Qi knew that Liu Ge Lao was probably angry because he failed to please the Prime Minister, and the little girl he once held in his hands became a sacrifice. However, compared to the ending of being sent to the family temple or dying, it is still fortunate that Liu Wuling can still sit in the academy.

Seeing Xiao Qi's complicated look, Liu Weiling chuckled, "That's not bad. I'll stay in the academy in the future. Maybe your children will study with me."

She seemed to have unloaded some burden. In the subsequent classes, her eyes were always clear and she was eager to learn. She was completely different from the girl who used to live a carefree life and only thought about going astray.

When the afternoon classes at Qun Ying Academy were over, Xiao Qi specifically went to look for Xiao Que, who was attending the class on her first day, and left together. Xiao Que had a weak foundation, so she was grouped with the new girls who were less than ten years old. She did not feel excluded, but because of the basket of snacks she brought, everyone soon affectionately called her sister.

When Xiao Qi arrived, the little girls pointed the way for her. She went to the catering department and saw Xiao Que saying goodbye to Di Leyu. Di Leyu was holding a dumpling in her hand and smiling, "Come again tomorrow."

"What is this?" Xiao Qi bowed and took Xiao Que away. When she left, she took another look at the dumpling in Di Fuzi's hand. She had never seen that look before. Could it be that she hadn't been to Lai Ju for just one day and new food appeared?

Xiao Que waved the empty food box in her hand and said as she walked, "Please remember to give everyone some freshly made glutinous rice balls. The shopkeeper is still worrying about the name, but the options include glutinous rice balls, daifuku, and lava donkey rolls. I think they are all good. It just so happens that Mrs. Di is looking for someone to move the table, so I came to help and ask for her opinion."

"Mr. Di likes you very much." Xiao Qi said. Although Di Leyu always greeted people with a smile, she had never seen Mr. Di standing outside the door to eat without paying attention to his image. What he did today was already out of line.

"Is there?" Xiao Que was a little confused. "She seems to prefer being the shopkeeper?"

On the way, they chatted for a while, and Xiao Que rubbed Xiao Qi's horse and was taken back to Wanglaiju. Before stopping the horse, Xiao Qi was still thinking that she was arguing with Si Li, and wanted to put on airs for a while, so she was ready to put Xiao Que down and turn around and leave. Who knew that Xiao Que ran into the store as soon as she got off the horse, shouting, "Boss, boss, Miss Xiao sent me back! Is there any Dafu left? Give her one?"

Hmm... I haven’t eaten it yet. Let’s eat it first before leaving.

Xiao Qi was dragged into the store. In the backyard, Xiao Que was dancing with joy and talking to Si Li and Princess Jin He about what she had seen and heard in the academy today. She showed no reluctance at all like she had yesterday. Seeing Wang Ting leading his nephew past, she grabbed Wang Xiaochong and said, "Xiaochong, can I give you a lesson? Today we are learning Thousand Character Classic!"

Wang Ting's forehead twitched. "Isn't it too early for Xiao Chong to learn this?"

"Learning is endless, regardless of age!" Xiao Que said back. Wang Ting felt a headache and waved his hand to let her go. Princess Jinhe, with her face covered, leaned on Si Li's shoulder, smiling. Si Li looked over the jumping Xiao Que and saw Xiao Qi behind her, and smiled, "You've worked hard on the way back. Dafu left four for you in the kitchen. Go get them yourself."

Although they were from different families, they lived a life of warmth and home. Xiao Qi forgot her original plan, and the anger in her chest instantly disappeared. She nodded, "Okay."

The Daifuku in Xiao Qi's hand was the modified version made by Si Li during her visit at noon. The Daifuku developed by Guan Zhiyu with the help of his apprentice was quite different from the modern fruit-filled Snow Meringue. Due to the lack of suitable fruits in winter, it was closer to glutinous rice cake.

The salted egg yolk filling only appeared once before it was abandoned. The current flavors are taro, sesame and red bean paste. The variety of fillings complements the monotony of the old-fashioned donkey rolls, which can be regarded as an innovative move. Now we just have to wait for Guan Ji's apprentices to perform stably so that they can be officially sold.

In Si Li's eyes, it was just an ordinary innovative glutinous rice cake, but Xiao Qi was amazed after taking a bite. It was icy, smooth and sweet, with a texture similar to donkey rolls but different from the chewy texture. The sesame paste aroma filled the air with one bite, and the special nutty aroma made people linger.

Xiao Qi's eyes lit up, "This is good, I will take it back for my mother to eat!"

"There are only four left. You can eat one and take the rest home. There are only so many left. The rest..." Si Li thought for a moment, "I'll go and urge them to practice tomorrow. We should be able to start selling them in the next two days. Xiao Que brought a batch to the academy today, and the store also put some of them as after-meal desserts. The response was pretty good. If it weren't for the previous traffic jam, the impact might have been even greater."

Si Li strictly controls the outflow of glutinous rice balls, and currently only gives them away for free, to avoid a sudden explosion of popularity and arousing resentment. The reputation of a steady stream of income is just right for her, who already has the two jokes of "debating with scholars at a tea tasting party" and "amazing tea drinking at girls' school".

This joke was told by Wang Ting, who had gone out to buy vegetables and condiments, and came back to imitate the storytelling tone that came from Wuweilou. The shopkeeper Wu is also a talented person, as he was able to make a story about his competitor.

However, it is said that the content is not out of line, and it is just exaggerated. Si Li just thinks that he is promoting his company and doesn't care.

Xiao Qi was stunned for a moment after hearing what Si Li said. She picked up another plate with four glutinous rice balls in front of her and waved it in front of the window to signal Si Li to look at it. "Isn't there more?"

"…That belongs to the Prince of Yue." Si Li felt as if something he had done secretly had been discovered, and his expression became unnatural for a moment.

Jiang Shizhi has been elusive these days. It is said that the Yue Palace is preparing a flower show. In previous years, the Yue Palace has widely sent invitations to invite people from Beijing to appreciate plum blossoms, listen to the snow, write poems and paint. Most of the noble ladies will bring their own snacks to taste each other at the banquet. The security and banquet procedures that need to be prepared are very complicated. Princess Jinhe can't help, so he was arrested and had to stay at home with the Yue Princess.

Si Li pressed her forehead and threw Jiang Shizhi out of her mind, "If you want to eat it, tell Ah Fei. I have no objection if she is willing to give it to you."

"Hehe." Jiang Rufei laughed, "For my brother."

Xiao Qi was frustrated, pointed at Si Li from a distance, and said with a smile, "You value women over friendship."

"No, I didn't. Don't talk nonsense." Si Li quickly denied three times, "They are all my customers, so of course one for each."