Zhuang Qing had just delivered all 200 orders that Zi Xuan had placed.
She even put the 520 card in Sister Zixuan's flower cake to express her affection.
He just got back and is holding that autographed photo of Zixuan, looking at it over and over, occasionally letting out a silly grin.
Seeing this, Qin Yi flicked Zhuang Qing on the forehead.
"Ouch!" Zhuang Qing cried out, clutching her head. "Sister, what are you doing!"
Qin Yi handed Zhuang Qing a large mesh sieve. "Wake up! Time to get to work! We need to restock. Use a fine mesh sieve to filter out this powder."
Zhuang Qing quickly put on gloves and crushed the coarse powder particles in the sieve, filtering them into fine powder.
"Sister, what are we doing now?"
In no time, Zhuang Qing finished filtering all the cooked rice flour and handed it to Qin Yi.
Qin Yi explained to Zhuang Qing that she hadn't stopped working.
She brought out a bowl of liquid that looked like milky white honey from the kitchen and poured it into a large bowl of cooked rice flour.
"This is the wet sugar that was prepared last night. It can only be used after it has fully dissolved overnight. Knead the sugar together with the cooked rice flour that you just sifted."
Qin Yi quickly stirred and kneaded the mixed sugar powder in the large bowl with both hands, explaining as she did so: "The cake flour is perfectly mixed and has the right moisture. Like this, if you grab a piece and squeeze it, it will form a ball, but if you rub it, it will crumble. This is what it looks like when it's mixed properly."
Then Qin Yi picked up a fine mesh sieve and handed it to Zhuang Qing: "I'll leave the sifting to you again. This step will be a bit difficult because the moisture content has increased compared to the previous cooked rice flour. You'll need to use some force to press the powder down, but this step is essential and is the key to a delicate texture. It's all up to you!"
Upon hearing this, Zhuang Qing worked especially hard, rubbing the food in the sieve with her hands. Qin Yi then boiled the water in the pot and placed the steamer on top.
After successfully sifting the fine rice flour, take a rectangular stainless steel mold and pour it into the mold in batches, then use a rolling pin to firmly tamp it down.
The more firmly this stuff is packed, the finer the cake will be.
After the water boils, put the pressed cake into a steamer and steam for three minutes before removing it.
Place a sheet of parchment paper on the table, invert the cake onto it, remove the mold, and steam for three minutes.
After steaming, remove the cake and sift a thin layer of cooked cake flour onto the surface of the cake. This step can prevent moisture loss.
Once it has cooled down, you can start slicing it.
Qin Yi sharpened the large kitchen knife with a whetstone until it was sharp, and then cut the snow-white cake into slices one millimeter thick.
"This is called Yunpian Gao (Cloud Piece Cake)," Qin Yi explained to Zhuang Qing in detail. "When Emperor Hongli was enjoying the snow in Jiangnan, he ate a salt merchant's family heirloom snack. He immediately felt that its color and shape resembled thin snowflakes flying in the sky, so he named it 'Xuepian Gao' (Snowflake Cake). However, when Hongli inscribed the name, he carelessly wrote 'Yunpian Gao' (Cloud Piece Cake). So he simply went with the mistake, and from then on, this pastry was renamed 'Yunpian Gao'."
"Good cloud cake is as white as snowflakes and as thin as paper. It can be kneaded and wrapped around paper, and shaken into pieces. It still has a name today, called 'book cake,' which describes the shape of the cake after it is cut and stacked together, like a cold and mysterious wordless book."
Qin Yi tore off a piece of the sliced cloud cake and handed it to Zhuang Qing.
Zhuang Qing took a small bite.
"Sweet, soft, and melts in your mouth, sister! This pastry looks so simple, but it leaves you wanting more."
Qin Yi smiled and said, "You have quite the appetite, young lady. The beauty of Yunpian cake lies in its thinness, softness, and sweetness. If the cake were too thick, it would be too sweet and make your throat feel heavy. A thin slice makes it easy to eat without feeling guilty, and you'll want another slice."
Just as the two were enjoying their meal, a customer gently tapped on the front desk.
"Is anyone there? Is the boss here? I'm back again. Can I place an order now?"
Qin Yi turned her head and saw a young male customer who had come twice that morning but had not been able to buy any food.
She quickly greeted them with a smile: "We're free right now. You can take a look at the instructions next to us and try your luck with the cards. We sell blind boxes featuring intangible cultural heritage items."
Jiang Yuze's assistant quickly glanced at the instructions and asked Qin Yi, "Did Sister Zixuan buy two hundred blind boxes here this morning?"
Qin Yi nodded.
The assistant looked at the message on her phone and continued, "Then I'll also order 200 food blind boxes. I'll deliver 100 boxes to the 'Red Dust Drunk' dressing room on the third floor at noon, and another 100 boxes to the lobby on the first floor for the fans to enjoy."
"Oh, right, remember to tell the fans that Jiang Yuze treated everyone to this. How much were these two hundred blind boxes?"
Qin Yi pointed to the instruction manual next to her and said, "Our blind boxes use a 'free gift' model."
"Huh? How much did Sister Zixuan give?" the assistant asked.
"Twenty thousand."
"Oh my god! Let me ask my boss first." The assistant quickly typed and sent a message on her phone.
A few seconds later.
Qin Yi's phone also received a transfer of 20,000 yuan.
The assistant pointed to the cloud-shaped cakes in Qin Yi and Zhuang Qing's hands and said, "The money has already been transferred. Pack me a box of these white cakes you're holding. My boss is a sugar addict, she'll definitely love them!"
...
After finishing filming his morning scenes, Jiang Yuze returned to the dressing room to change his makeup and costume. He stared blankly at the two boxes in front of him.
One of them was the box of flower cakes that Zixuan had given him that morning. He couldn't bear to throw it away and kept it carefully along with the 520 card.
There was also a cloud-shaped cake that the assistant brought up from downstairs.
Jiang Yuze carefully searched the cloud cake, but couldn't find the small black card.
So, was the card in the flower cake that morning really put there by Zixuan?
Is this a test for him?
Jiang Yuze couldn't sit still any longer and stood up, pacing back and forth in the dressing room.
The assistant couldn't help but ask, "Brother Yuze, you're making me dizzy. What are you thinking?"
What are you thinking about? He's thinking about that black card.
He was wondering whether he should believe it was an illusion or trust his intuition...
"Take this black card to a nearby advertising shop and make an identical card. I'll send you the numbers and content on it. If the anti-counterfeiting mark in the lower right corner can't be made exactly the same, just make a token one."
The assistant opened her phone and saw a message from Jiang Yuze.
[No. 1, Intangible Cultural Heritage Food – Cloud Cake: Once upon a time, in a picturesque mountain village, there lived a kind-hearted girl who rescued a sickly scholar. They spent their days together and fell in love. However, the girl was summoned back to Heaven, and they were separated forever. Unable to descend to Earth, the fairy transformed into a white cloud, forever hovering above the scholar's head, protecting him from wind and rain. The scholar missed the girl dearly, so he made a cloud-shaped cake, 'Cloud Cake,' to carry with him. Whenever he missed her, he would gaze at the cloud and savor a piece.]
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