Develop beverages
The next morning, the improved pine nut cookies were officially put on the shelves for tasting.
As usual, a long queue formed at the entrance of Sushan Market.
However, several suspicious individuals soon infiltrated the waiting crowd.
They were dressed plainly, but their eyes darted around.
"Shopkeeper, we all came here for the spiced clove cakes, but your sign says pine spice cakes? We've never heard of them!"
As they were about to reach the front of the line, a man with a pointed face and monkey-like features deliberately shouted, "Are you sure you're not out of lilacs and are just using some random tree roots to make do? Who are you trying to fool?"
As he spoke, he glanced sideways at the sample cookies that Qian Tao offered, his face full of disdain.
“Exactly!” someone nearby immediately chimed in, pointing inside the shop: “Smell this! What a strange smell this shop has now! It’s bitter and astringent. The ingredients must be shoddy, they used bad materials!”
His loud voice attracted the attention of many unsuspecting passersby, who craned their necks to sniff and, sure enough, showed some confusion on their faces.
The aroma of spikenard is indeed quite different from that of cloves; those unfamiliar with it will find it quite unique upon first whiff.
Qian Tao's hand holding the tasting plate froze slightly, her cheeks flushed red with anger: "You, you're all making false accusations! The pastries at Su Shan Xiao Ji have always been made with the finest ingredients!"
"You're a worker at Su Shan Xiao Ji, so naturally you're speaking on behalf of your own shop," the man sneered. "Everyone's here for the clove cakes, but where are the cloves? Where did they go?"
Seeing this, Pei Qingwu, who had been standing behind, knew perfectly well that these people had been sent to cause trouble.
"Master, they've gone too far!" Gu Heng said angrily, unconsciously tightening his grip on the hilt of his knife. "I wonder which heartless bastards are trying to trip you up like this!"
"Don't rush, I'll go and meet them first." After reassuring Gu Heng, Pei Qingwu stepped out from the back and said loudly, "Please be at ease, everyone."
She didn't argue with the few who were causing trouble. Instead, she picked up the tasting plate from Qian Tao's hand and walked straight to a few regular customers at the front of the crowd. With a warm and sincere smile, she said, "Ladies and gentlemen, arguing about right and wrong is pointless. Since cloves are expensive these days, I've substituted pine resin. Whether this cake is good or not, it will ultimately be judged by the taste buds and the heart. Why don't you try it yourselves and let the world decide? If you're not satisfied, just turn around and leave. Su Shan Xiao Ji will not complain."
Her humble yet assertive and persuasive demeanor instantly won over the onlookers.
The guests who were chosen were already curious, so they readily accepted the small cakes, took a small bite, and savored them.
"Wonderful! This cake is even more refreshing and lasting than when the ingredients are cloves, and it also has the fragrance of pine and cypress."
"That's right, it's Master Pei's cooking. Everyone who's tried it says it's delicious!"
Seeing that the customers who had tasted it all said it was good, the others no longer had any doubts and readily opened their wallets to buy it.
He was busy entertaining the guests, and when he looked up again, the troublemakers had silently left.
No problem. If there's one person behind this, there will be two. We'll deal with whatever comes our way.
Pei Qingwu is now thinking about something else.
Nowadays, the shop only sells pastries.
Spring has already arrived, but spring in the north is extremely short; summer arrives in the blink of an eye.
If so, wouldn't it be more attractive to customers if the shop offered drinks that quench thirst and relieve heat, along with snacks?
Although nowadays, Qian Tao will serve tea to the guests, that is not enough.
After much deliberation, I decided on two options: Gonggui Rice Wine and Bihe Qinglu Tea.
Both of these are characteristic drinks from the Song Dynasty. The former is a sweet wine tea served in the imperial court, made by simmering rice wine with osmanthus flowers. It is warming to the stomach and is perfect for the season. Now that spring is still chilly, a bowl of this is just the right thing to do.
Although it wasn't really hot yet, there were definitely people who loved ice and would drink a bowl of icy, refreshing ice cream no matter the time of day.
Pei Qingwu is like that. Even in the dead of winter, when she goes to buy fruit tea, milk tea, or coffee, she always asks for extra ice.
Therefore, the Green Lotus Dew Tea, a drink enjoyed by literati during the Song Dynasty, was of exceptional quality.
It uses the dew from lotus leaves in the early morning, which is then brewed with fresh tea. The result is a refreshing tea with a lotus fragrance. No ice is needed; simply steep the tea leaves in well water to enjoy its coolness.
These two drinks are just for trial launch; if the response is good, she will launch new ones.
Then it became obvious that the shop had become much smaller.
However, since Wu Niang and Yu Yi have not yet completed their apprenticeship, the matter of opening a branch store can only wait.
That day, as Pei Qingwu was copying down the recipes for the pastries currently available in the shop, in preparation for compiling them into a book, Nianci came looking for him.
"Sister Dongjia, I don't understand this poem. Can you teach me?"
Pei Qingwu put down his pen, rubbed his tired eyes, and looked at the book that Nianci was holding.
The poem above is from the Book of Songs, specifically the section "The Ballad of the River" (卫风·氓).
"I understand many of the poems in the Book of Songs, but this one..."
Pei Qingwu nodded, pulled over a small stool for Nianci to sit down, and said gently, "This poem tells the story of a woman, which is also a common thing in the world. Let me tell you about it slowly."
She pointed to the opening line: "Look at this sentence, 'The seemingly honest man carries cloth to exchange for silk. He doesn't come to exchange for silk, but to plot against me.' It means that a seemingly honest man carries cloth to exchange for silk. In fact, he doesn't really want to exchange for silk. He comes to plot against me and wants to marry this girl."
She tried to explain it in simple terms.
"The girl agreed?" Nianci's eyes widened.
“Yes, ‘I saw him off across the Qi River, all the way to Dunqiu. It’s not that I’ve delayed the wedding, but that he has no good matchmaker.’ The young lady saw him off across the Qi River all the way to Dunqiu. It’s not that the young lady is deliberately delaying the wedding, but that she’s upset that he has no good matchmaker to bring them together.” Pei Qingwu paused, softening his voice even more: “Can’t you still see the young lady’s joy and anticipation in this beginning? Like the new buds in spring.”
Seeing Nianci nod, she continued: "'Before the mulberry leaves fall, they are lush and green,' how wonderful it is when the mulberry leaves are abundant, but 'when the mulberry leaves fall, they turn yellow and wither,' the mulberry leaves will always wither and fall, just like people's hearts can change. The man was 'so confident' at first, but later 'did not think of going back on his word,' forgetting his vows and his original intentions. The woman married him, working hard day and night, but 'once the promise was fulfilled, the husband became violent,' once life was stable, the husband became rough, even 'fickle,' his mind unsettled..."
Nianci frowned upon hearing this and instinctively grabbed Pei Qingwu's sleeve: "What about the girl?"
At this moment, Wu Niang, who was tidying up the accounts, also stopped writing. She was clearly attracted by the story and her face showed indignation.
Pei Qingwu gently stroked Nianci's hair: "She has naturally come to her senses. 'If she doesn't think about it, then so be it!' Since he broke his vow and doesn't care about past feelings, let's just let it go."
“Look how resolute he is—'We promised to grow old together, but old age only brings me resentment.' He once vowed to grow old with me, but now all he feels is resentment. 'The Qi River has its banks, the marsh has its boundaries,' the Qi River, however wide, has its banks, and the marsh, however vast, has its boundaries, but his cruelty has no end. So she says, 'At our childhood banquet, we laughed and talked happily,' recalling the beautiful vows of our youth, and then, 'I no longer think of it, it is over!'—Enough, enough, it's all over!”
Fifth Sister couldn't help but slam her hand on the table: "Well said! Such a heartless man should be kept far away from!"
Pei Qingwu looked at Nianci and saw that although she seemed confused, her eyes were full of seriousness. He then summarized, "This poem is about the heartbreak of meeting the wrong person and the change of affection. It also tells the story of a woman's courage to go from being infatuated to realizing her mistake and finally leaving. Nianci, remember that while love is beautiful, women need to be self-reliant and independent, just like our shop, and make a living through their own abilities. If one day you entrust yourself to the wrong person, you must have the clarity and backbone to say, 'I will not think about it again, it is over.'"
"Like, like my mother?"
When asked about Jinniang's new life after divorcing Sun Laizi, Pei Qingwu felt that this example was appropriate: "Yes, just like your mother. It wasn't her fault that she met Sun Laizi. She later had the courage to take you and Mingyi out of the sea of suffering."
Gu Heng just happened to return at that moment.
Entrusted by Pei Qingwu, he went to the Persian residence to investigate the matter of lilacs being maliciously overpriced. After making some progress, he hurriedly came to find Pei Qingwu.
But then I saw this scene.
The orange light, like a gentle veil, enveloped the two figures, one large and one small, beside the desk.
The woman, dressed in a light blue, narrow-sleeved short blouse, was leaning slightly forward, whispering to Nianci. Her fingertips lightly touched the open book. She wore a light blue, high-waisted, two-tone long skirt, the hem of which fell smoothly beside her kneeling silk shoes. Her black hair was loosely tied into a bun with a simple, plain silver hairpin, and a few strands of hair fell to the side of her neck, gleaming softly in the candlelight.
Her eyes and brows exuded a gentle, watery charm.
She was turned to the side by Gu Heng, the candlelight flickering on her delicate nose and full lips.
Gu Heng could clearly see her long, thick eyelashes drooping, casting a faint fan-shaped shadow under her eyes—a look unique to her when she was focused on thinking.
Nianci's small body nestled close to her, one little hand still tightly gripping the edge of her sleeve, full of affection and admiration.
Suddenly, he remembered that she had once said she would teach him to read poetry and write characters, and then teach him about peach blossoms, but later she became too busy with other things and couldn't take care of it anymore.
The peach tree is young and tender, its blossoms are bright and beautiful.
He knew his employer was capable and intelligent, but the scene at this moment was inexplicably suitable for living and working...
"Guard Gu is back!"
It was Wu Niang who spotted him and shouted out.
Gu Heng suddenly came to his senses and quickly said, "Yes, I have made progress on what the master asked me to investigate."
Pei Qingwu smiled and said, "No rush. Nianci is learning poetry. As for Aheng's recitation of the Book of Songs, where is he on it?"
"I..." Gu Heng didn't expect the topic to shift to him, and immediately blushed.
"Alright, alright," Pei Qingwu said with a smile. Seeing Nianci cover her yawn with her hand, he asked Wu Niang to take her back to sleep, and then called Gu Heng over.
"You must be tired after running around all day?"
"Hmm..." Gu Heng didn't know what to say before his stomach rumbled again.
His face immediately turned even redder.
Pei Qingwu chuckled: "Come on, Yinlan is resting. I'll make you some noodle soup."
The firewood crackled softly in the stove as Pei Qingwu rolled up his sleeves and kneaded the rested dough on the cutting board.
The dough is rolled out, folded, and cut into even strips.
In a separate small pot, a rich, milky-white mutton broth was simmering, its steam carrying the unique, mellow aroma of mutton.
She quickly sliced off a few pieces of cooked mutton, sprinkled in a handful of bright green cilantro, scooped the perfectly cooked noodles into a large bowl, poured in boiling mutton soup, and finally added a few drops of flavorful vinegar.
The movements were fluid and efficient; in no time, a steaming bowl of fragrant mutton soup noodles was ready.
The rich aroma of mutton soup, combined with the pungent flavor of coriander, fills the lungs.
Gu Heng took a deep breath of the aroma, picked up a mouthful of noodles soaked in broth, and put it in his mouth. The noodles were chewy and smooth, and the delicious mutton soup melted on his tongue.
Take another sip of the soup. The broth is rich and mellow, with no gamey smell. Only the unique sweetness of the mutton and the layers of flavor created by the spices spread in your mouth, soothing your empty stomach. Warmth instantly flows from your throat to your limbs.
He ignored the heat and buried his head in his food, eating with great relish, until beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
Only when the bowl was empty and the soup was gone did he put it down with satisfaction, wipe his mouth, and his expression immediately turned serious.
“Master,” he lowered his voice, “we’ve found out… it’s the Liang family’s Ruifangzhai in the east of the city that’s causing trouble. Their manager saw that our Sushan Xiaoji business was booming, especially the five-spice clove cakes that were all the rage, which stole many of their customers, and he held a grudge. I don’t know how he managed to collude with Said, the owner of the Persian mansion.”
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