The Mid-Autumn Festival is the most important festival for ordinary people, second only to the Spring Festival.
Early on, Grandma started collecting ingredients to prepare for making mooncakes: peanuts, sesame seeds, red dates, almonds, walnuts, and so on. These were all extremely precious raw materials. In those days, everything was valuable, let alone these dried fruits, which were scarce and even harder to collect.
Besides these things being hard to find, sugar was also difficult to buy. Grandma bought some a month before the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Just by looking at the ingredients, Xiao Jiu knew that the mooncakes Grandma was making were filled with five kinds of nuts.
This was the first time the three Cuihua sisters had ever known that mooncakes could be made at home, and they eagerly rubbed their hands together, expressing their desire to learn from their grandmother.
Tao Zui and his four brothers proudly said, "My grandma is amazing! She can make so many kinds of pastries. She used to make them all the time, but now, well, she's getting old."
Xiao Jiu, however, felt that it was probably because conditions were not as good as before, and many things were too expensive to buy, so there was no need to bother. After all, her grandmother was still very strong and agile, except for the difficulty of walking with her bound feet.
In a corner outside the Tao family's kitchen, there was an ancient-style stove built of earth, mainly used for baking food. It was not usually used, but it was only used on major holidays.
There's really not much to learn about making mooncakes. As long as you have the flour, oil, dried fruits and nuts, and sugar, you can press them into shapes in a mold, bake them in the oven, and that's it. Ningmeng used to enjoy tinkering with baking when she had nothing to do at home, and she successfully made quite a few delicious ones!
So now she only needs to look at the raw materials to know what her grandma is going to make!
There were many people this year, but mooncakes can't be eaten as a meal, so Grandma made a total of thirty. On average, each adult can eat two, and the children can eat two or three.
As for the mooncakes to give when visiting relatives, they plan to buy them directly instead of making them at home, mainly because the ingredients are not as good as homemade ones.
Moreover, when visiting relatives and friends during the Mid-Autumn Festival, people don't necessarily bring mooncakes. Too many mooncakes are too much to eat, so they usually bring fruits, snacks, cigarettes, alcohol, canned goods, etc. as side dishes. Giving four kinds of gifts is usually quite good. Among the snacks, glutinous rice strips, cat ear-shaped pastries, peach crisps, and sponge cakes are commonly purchased.
Grandma intended to make these mooncakes for our own family from the very beginning, and didn't plan to give them away. She wanted to give one mooncake to each person after baking, and wrap the rest in oil paper to eat slowly. One of them, which was as big as a plate, was saved to be eaten together on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Holding freshly baked mooncakes in their hands, the aroma made Cuihua and the other two swallow hard.
"Sis, is this really a mooncake? So this is what a mooncake looks like! It's golden yellow, and it smells so good!"
"That's right! I've always seen Grandma eat white mooncakes, why are these yellow ones? I've never eaten a mooncake before!"
"It smells so good, I really want to eat it, but I'm afraid that if I eat it, I'll never be able to taste this flavor again. Sis, can I eat it?"
The three sisters didn't dare say these words when they were eating in the yard, afraid of being laughed at. It was only after they finished eating, washed up, and went back to their own room that they dared to say these seemingly unseemly things. But if you listened carefully, you would know that it was their heartfelt desire. They had never eaten this before, only seen it at their grandmother's house. Their older cousins could at least eat some crumbs of the snack, but what about them? They couldn't even get a crumb.
Grandma would rather let it spoil and grow moldy than give them a single piece.
The trauma of their childhood still haunts them, so when they were able to receive a mooncake from the Tao family on an equal footing, they were already moved to tears.
They kept thanking the old lady, who took pity on them and kept urging them to eat, but none of them were willing to take a bite. They insisted on enjoying the food slowly after they finished eating. Seeing this, the old lady didn't say anything more.
So when the three sisters finished washing up and returned to the east wing where the grain was stored, although the room was filled with the smell of grain, they could still enjoy the aroma as they held the pastries in their hands and gazed at them with great relish. Because they were reluctant to light the oil lamp, they could only make out the outlines of the pastries, but that did not stop them from enjoying the smell.
Cuihua felt sorry for her two younger sisters, sniffed, and spoke to them with a heavy nasal tone.
"Eat up, this is what Grandma gave us. If you don't have enough, I'll give you this piece too."
Zhao Di quickly shook her head, "How can that be? We should each have a piece. We don't want to take advantage of our sister, so how about the three of us eat together?"
Cuihua smiled at them and softly replied, "Alright, one, two, three, let's eat!"
Taking a gentle bite, the unique sweet and crispy texture of the mooncake instantly fills the mouth. The sweet taste makes the three sisters' pupils dilate at the same time, and their taste buds seem to open up a new world, experiencing an unprecedented sense of novelty.
"So this is what mooncakes taste like! They're so delicious!"
Zhao Di excitedly took another bite. She had only tasted the skin before, but this time she got to the filling. The sweet aroma was even stronger than before, mixed with the unique flavors of peanuts, sesame seeds, and walnuts. With each chew, it was crunchy and fragrant, each with its own sweetness. Together, they were a savory-sweet treat that was incredibly delicious!
Pandi was already in tears as she ate: "Sister, I feel so happy and joyful right now. We're only able to eat this because of you, little sister. Otherwise, how could we eat such delicious food? I thought it would be good enough if I could just eat enough every day. I never imagined that I could eat such delicious pastries. Sister, even if I can't eat these in the future, I won't feel like I've lost out. It was all worth it because I ate such delicious mooncakes!"
Cuihua was filled with mixed emotions. Her own parents, grandparents, and other relatives were all unreliable. In the end, it was outsiders who provided them with enough to eat and warm clothes, and even gave them a special Mid-Autumn Festival gift.
Who would want to leave a family like that? They'd love to stay forever!
pity--
They ultimately do not belong here.
On the other side, Zhao Lingli and her husband were also talking about the three Tang sisters.
“These three girls have really had it tough. They’ve never eaten mooncakes before. Seeing their cautious and uncertain eyes reminded me of our Xiao Jiu. If Xiao Jiu had grown up in their family, would she have survived? I really can’t understand how they could have parents like Tang Youtian and Cao Amei. Looking at them and then at myself, I really feel like I’ve hit the jackpot to marry you, Yi Ge.”
Tao Changyi's face darkened. "What nonsense are you talking about? I would have said that marrying you was my good fortune. Marriage requires both of us to work together. How can one person manage on their own? The reason their lives are such a mess is because they're all clinging to each other. No one wants to do anything extra, afraid of being taken advantage of. It's no wonder they can't make it work. I really feel sorry for those three sensible girls. If you ask me, as long as we can afford to support them, let them stay here for now. It'll save them from suffering back home. Anyway, they won't waste much food!"
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