When the school year started in September, Xiao Jie was sent to the village primary school. After teaching others activities during this period, Shen Qingmiao found that Xiao Jie's enthusiasm for learning had increased. Compared to his previous impatience, Xiao Jie could now sit still.
Shen Qingmiao also asked Xiaojie this question out of curiosity, and the answer he got was, "They are too smart. I can't teach them without working hard."
Xiaojie, realizing his lack of knowledge, naturally needed to study harder. He had finally become the boss, and he didn't want to lose his position.
As the eldest brother, he naturally has to be smarter than others, which is why Xiaojie works hard.
No matter what the reason was, everyone in the Shen family was happy to see Xiaojie working hard. Mother Shen would even steam an egg for Xiaojie every now and then to help him get enough nutrition.
On the first day of school, Shen Qingmiao took him to school. Without any obstacles, Xiaojie went into the classroom obediently. After seeing Xiaojie attending class seriously, Shen Qingmiao went back home with peace of mind.
Working during the day and resting at night had become Shen Qingmiao's daily routine. On the rare occasions when he wasn't working, Shen Qingmiao would go to the mountains with his mother or Li Zhaodi to dig for wild vegetables, or go fishing in the river with his older brother. Sometimes he was lucky enough to catch a big fish, but more often than not, it was just small ones.
Those small fish are delicious when fried at home. Or they can be pan-fried and stir-fried with chili peppers, making them a great dish to go with rice.
Shen's father particularly liked eating this kind of small fish, but Shen Qingmiao was not a big fan of it, mainly because the fish bones were difficult to remove and too troublesome. However, Shen Qingmiao did like fried small fish. At this time, the bones of the small fish were also fried crispy, so they could be eaten directly without removing them.
Whenever Shen Jianguo and Shen Qingmiao went to the river, there were already many people there. Meat was too expensive, so they could only find some meat to improve their meals.
Besides fish, the river also boasts snails. These snails cling to rocks in shallow water, making them easy to find. Women and children would carry small baskets to the riverbank, collecting snails. The snails they found couldn't be eaten immediately; they had to be kept for a few days. Once they had spit out all the impurities in their bodies, they could be cooked.
Generally, a little rice water or a little oil will be poured into the water used to raise the snails. This will make the snails spit out more cleanly.
Adding some sugar when frying snails will make them taste better.
Shen Qingmiao would also go to the woods with her mother to pick mushrooms, especially after a rain, as the chances of finding mushrooms would be higher. To prevent the leftover mushrooms from spoiling, they would dry them and turn them into dried goods, which would preserve them for a long time. Whenever they wanted to eat them, they would take them out, soak them in water, and then process them.
In addition to mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms are also commonly found. Wood ear mushrooms grow on broken tree trunks, so when looking for wood ear mushrooms, you have to focus on those broken branches.
The rabbit they had caught had successfully given birth to six babies. The newborns looked like little mice, their skin red and hairless. Shen Qingmiao had also noticed that the mother rabbit had become more timid after giving birth. At the mere sound of a sound, her eyes would dart around and her body would shrink.
Except for feeding and cleaning, Shen Qingmiao would not go to the mother rabbit most of the time.
This way it won’t be scared by itself one day.
In the blink of an eye, Shen Qingmiao had been here for almost two months. Before he knew it, the Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching.
The last time my third brother Shen Jianmin came back, he said he would be back during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
When thinking of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the first thing that comes to Shen Qingmiao’s mind is mooncakes.
The common mooncakes are Cantonese-style mooncakes and Suzhou-style mooncakes. In the future, there will be other varieties of mooncakes. Now, these two are the common ones.
Shen Qingmiao had made mooncakes before. As the Mid-Autumn Festival approached, Shen Qingmiao volunteered to her mother, "Mom, why don't you buy mooncakes this year? Let me try."
"You?" Mother Shen looked doubtful, "Can you do it?"
"Let's give it a try." Shen Qingmiao had an idea in mind. Mooncakes are a must-have item for the Mid-Autumn Festival. If he can really make them, he can sell them.
There will definitely be no worries about sales.
Mother Shen was still a little worried that Shen Qingmiao would waste food. But after Shen Qingmiao's persuasion, she finally agreed to let Shen Qingmiao give it a try.
However, don't make too much, just try a little first.
The next day, Shen Qingmiao and her mother headed to the county to buy the ingredients for mooncakes. This time, Shen Qingmiao was going to make mooncakes with five-nut fillings and egg yolk fillings. So, she had to buy some sunflower seeds, peanuts, and maltose.
As for salted duck eggs, the Shen family already has their own pickled salted duck eggs. Of course, flour is also indispensable.
After buying it, Shen Qingmiao started making it.
First, she needs to prepare the mooncake filling.
Shen Qingmiao called her sister-in-law, Shen's mother and Xiaojie to help peel melon seeds and peanuts. During this time, Li Zhaodi always secretly stuffed them into her mouth when they were not paying attention.
There is strength in numbers. With everyone's efforts, the peanuts and melon seeds were peeled quickly.
Add peeled peanuts and sunflower seeds to your homegrown black sesame seeds, stir-fry until cooked, then crush. Chop the raisins into small pieces and add them to a pot. Add maltose, corn oil, warm water, and white wine, and stir. After stirring, let it sit for a few hours before using.
The filling of salted egg yolk is similar. Since there is no lotus seed paste, Shen Qingmiao uses chestnuts from his own garden instead.
After the filling is prepared, you need to prepare the mooncake skin.
First, you need to make the syrup yourself. Shen Qingmiao is very familiar with this and puts the ingredients into the pot one by one in an orderly manner.
Then pour the syrup into the flour and start stirring and kneading it into a dough, just like making buns. It needs to be left for two or three hours.
After working from morning till night, Shen Qingmiao finally finished making all the mooncakes. The only step left was to bake them.
Shen Qingmiao has an oven, but he can't use it.
What should I do now?
Later, Shen Qingmiao suddenly remembered that he had seen a blogger make a simple earthen oven, so Shen Qingmiao found his father and eldest brother and told them his idea.
After listening to this, the eldest brother and Shen's father thought it was worth a try, so they started working again.
The mooncakes that were baked at first were not that good looking. After Shen Qingmiao figured out the pattern and adjusted the temperature, he was able to bake decent mooncakes.
After seeing the mooncakes she had finally baked, Shen Qingmiao shed tears of sadness.
It’s not easy for these mooncakes.
The freshly baked mooncakes were still hard on the outside and would only soften after being left for two or three days. But that wasn't important right now. Shen Qingmiao brought out the baked mooncakes and placed them on the dining table, saying, "Everyone, come and try them and see if they're delicious."
If everything goes well, Shen Qingmiao decided to make some money during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
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PS: I have been eating mooncakes since I was a child. Yeyue’s favorite is the one with red bean paste filling. What about you?
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