Sweet Fermented Rice
No sooner had Fu Zhiqiao returned to the Fu family from the countryside than Zhou Miaosi's maid came over, "Miss Fu, my young lady requests your presence."
Fu Zhiqiao recognized the person in front of her as Huang Li, Zhou Miaosi's personal maid.
She learned from her inquiry that Zhou Miaosi had noticed a positive effect on her complexion after drinking plum wine for a while and wanted to invite her to her residence for a get-together.
Fu Zhi Qiao never expected that she would become the spokesperson for plum wine by accident. With her as a living advertisement, the beauty-enhancing effect of plum wine is convincing enough.
No wonder Defu recently reported that plum wine sales have gone up; Fu Zhiqiao guessed that Zhou Miaosi must have contributed to this.
The next day, Fu Zhiqiao brought Yinxing to visit Zhou Miaosi. Someone from the gatekeeper of the Zhou residence had already informed them, and Huangli came out and led Fu Zhiqiao directly to Zhou Miaosi's courtyard.
Looking at the high-ceilinged entrance hall and the imposing gate, Fu Zhiqiao sighed that it was indeed worthy of being the governor's mansion. The entire courtyard was very well-organized, with winding corridors right inside the entrance and multiple gates separating different spaces within the courtyard.
After walking for about half an incense stick's time, we arrived at Zhou Miaosi's courtyard.
Zhou Miaosi was waiting for her in the main room. When she came in, the servants immediately came up to bring her water and tea.
"How have you been lately, Sister Zhiqiao? I'd like to invite you to my residence today for a chat because I have a favor to ask."
"Sister Miaosi, please speak your mind."
Since hearing Fu Zhiqiao's recommendation, Zhou Miaosi bought plum wine to drink, and she did feel that her complexion had become much rosier. In addition, Fu Zhiqiao was beautiful and knew about beauty and skin care, so Zhou Miaosi had the idea of asking her to take care of her.
Fu Zhi Qiao was speechless after hearing this, as she had no idea how to take care of her health.
In Fu Zhiqiao's view, Zhou Miaosi's request for her to recuperate was just an excuse.
Why would the eldest daughter of a high-ranking official's family, with all the good things in her household, seek out an unknown person like me to help her recuperate?
Under her subtle probing, Zhou Miaosi revealed the real reason.
It turns out that Zhou Miaosi's coming-of-age ceremony is in half a month, and she must dazzle everyone on that day because her cousin will be coming to witness the ceremony.
Fu Zhi Qiao immediately understood that this cousin must be the person she loved.
The young girl couldn't tell her elders her secret thoughts directly, but she also wanted to dazzle everyone that day, so she set her sights on Fu Zhi Qiao.
Looking at Zhou Miaosi's eager eyes, Fu Zhiqiao couldn't bring herself to refuse. Besides, this was a great opportunity. The fact that Zhou Miaosi had come to her meant that she trusted her abilities.
Fu Zhi Qiao agreed, but kept her in suspense, saying he would come to her home in three days to treat her.
Back home, Fu Zhi Qiao pondered what quick beauty and skincare methods she could find, and even went to ask Yu Rou Lan. Yu Rou Lan had a lot of private recipes and for a while she was particularly obsessed with making porridge and soup for her to nourish her body.
Yu Roulan thought she was just a woman who liked to look pretty and told her directly that there was no way to beautify and nourish the skin in a short period of time. The previous methods were all internal conditioning methods. Yu Roulan also taught her that conditioning a woman's body is a long process and she should not be too hasty.
Since Yu Roulan couldn't offer any help, Fu Zhiqiao had to figure it out on her own.
Zhou Miaosi's natural features are not bad. In addition, she is young and her skin is smooth and delicate without any blemishes. The only minor issues are uneven skin tone and lips that are not pink enough. There is not much room for improvement.
Wait, uneven skin tone? Dark lips? These problems can all be changed with makeup!
Fu Zhiqiao immediately grasped the key point; she was confident that Zhou Miaosi would amaze everyone on her coming-of-age ceremony.
As for recuperating, since there was no effect in the short term, Fu Zhi Qiao was too lazy to look for those complicated prescriptions. She planned to simply replenish Zhou Miao Si's qi and blood!
When it comes to replenishing qi and blood, the first thing Fu Zhiqiao thinks of is making sweet fermented rice.
It just so happens that she sells wine, and coincidentally, there's someone in her family who knows how to brew sweet wine.
Laozao is another name for sweet wine.
When Fu Zhi Qiao first met Xiao Yue, she was selling homemade fermented rice on the street. However, at that time, Xiao Yue's fermented rice was not fermented well, and the wine flavor was not strong and it also had a sour taste.
Sweet fermented rice is a folk snack that a noble lady like Zhou Miaosi must have eaten. Naturally, the food made for a young lady of high birth cannot be as simple as what Xiaoyue eats.
Fu Zhiqiao plans to make an upgraded version of sweet fermented rice balls.
The servants bought the ingredients, and under Fu Zhiqiao's supervision and guidance, Xiaoyue focused on making the improved version of fermented rice.
Rinse the glutinous rice thoroughly and soak it for two hours. After steaming, let it cool to lukewarm. Add yeast and a small amount of cooled boiled water and mix well. Flatten the glutinous rice with yeast and put it in a dry, oil-free container. Make a small hole in the center and place it in a dry place to ferment for two or three days.
The yeast used in this improved version of fermented rice wine is the same as that used in Taibai wine, so there's no need to worry about the yield.
In addition, Xiaoyue also learned to make glutinous rice balls in the kitchen using the method taught by Fu Zhiqiao. She ground glutinous rice into powder, added water, and kneaded it into small balls that were soft and not sticky. She then cooked them in a pot until they floated and took them out.
Xiaoyue was making this for the first time and couldn't get the proportions of glutinous rice balls and the cooking time right. The cooked ones were either too soft or had a hard center. After practicing again and again, she finally made glutinous rice balls that satisfied Fu Zhiqiao.
Soft, chewy, and adorably round – perfect!
On the third day, Fu Zhiqiao opened the fermented sweet wine. It had no mold and was not sour. The glutinous rice had released a lot of juice and the wine had a rich aroma.
Cook the glutinous rice balls in a clay pot until soft, then add sweet fermented rice and goji berries.
Fu Zhiqiao took Yinxing in a carriage and headed to the Zhou residence. This time, there was no need for the gatekeeper to announce her arrival; Huangli was already waiting for her at the gate.
Inside Zhou Miaosi's room, Yinxing carefully placed the food box on the table.
Zhou Miaosi couldn't wait any longer. She urged, "Huang Li, hurry up and open it."
Huang Li walked to the table, gently opened the lid of the stew pot, and immediately, a refreshing aroma of wine filled the air.
In the delicate stewing pot, the fermented rice wine is milky white, with round white balls floating and sinking faintly, and a few red goji berries are sprinkled on top for decoration, making the color combination very tempting.
Fu Zhiqiao explained to her, "This soup is called sweet fermented rice. It is warm and nourishing, strengthens the spleen and stomach, and also has the effects of nourishing blood, beautifying the complexion, and relaxing muscles and promoting blood circulation."
Zhou Miaosi took a bite with great anticipation.
The fermented rice wine has a rich, sweet flavor. One sip fills your mouth with a refreshing sweetness. The glutinous rice balls are soft and chewy, and the aroma of the fermented rice wine blends perfectly with the chewy texture of the glutinous rice balls. The sweetness is just right, so it doesn't feel cloying.
Zhou Miaosi was instantly drawn to the bowl of sweet fermented rice. Although she didn't say it outright, the joyful expression on her face said it all.
Zhou Miaosi quickly finished the stew, wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, and smiled with satisfaction: "Zhi Qiao's cooking skills really don't disappoint."
Zhou Miaosi was very satisfied, and the matter of Fu Zhiqiao helping her recuperate was settled.
As the eldest daughter of the governor's mansion, Zhou Miaosi was not only wealthy but also sensible, paying a thousand taels of silver in one go.
Fu Zhi Qiao didn't refuse and accepted it directly.
The raw materials for sweet fermented rice wine weren't even worth a thousand taels of silver, but the time and effort Fu Zhi Qiao spent on helping her recover far exceeded that price. If you really wanted to be honest, a mere thousand taels of silver wouldn't have been enough to hire her; she only agreed to help because of her friendship with Zhou Miao Si.
For a merchant family with no power or influence, befriending the governor's daughter is definitely not a bad thing!
Fu Zhiqiao took some nourishing medicinal food from Yu Roulan and made various kinds of sweet fermented rice for Zhou Miaosi, such as original sweet fermented rice, sweet fermented rice with eggs, and sweet fermented rice fruit tea. Among them, Zhou Miaosi's favorite was sweet fermented rice balls.
Knowing her preferences, Fu Zhi Qiao asked Xiao Yue to make the meatballs in different flavors: original flavor, pumpkin flavor, fruit juice flavor, etc.
In the small kitchen in the backyard of Taibai Wine Shop, Xiaoyue was busy making sweet rice wine, with Fu Zhiqiao directing her from behind.
Grind glutinous rice into powder, then mash steamed pumpkin into a puree, add glutinous rice powder and roll into small yellow balls about the size of a fingernail. Bring a pot of water to a boil, and once the pumpkin and glutinous rice balls float to the surface, add sweet rice wine and rock sugar and simmer for a while. Before serving, sprinkle with dried osmanthus flowers, and a bowl of sweet rice wine dumplings is ready.
One bowl was sent to Zhou Miaosi at the governor's mansion, one bowl was sent home to Yu Roulan, and the remaining bowl was drunk by himself.
In the days leading up to her coming-of-age ceremony, Zhou Miaosi sent someone to Fuyun Pavilion every other day to fetch sweet rice wine.
To expand Taibai Wine Shop, Fu Zhiqiao specifically bought the shops on both sides. She originally intended to use the larger one as a reception room for female customers, but later thought that it would be a waste to only sell wine. After all, she decorated the place so beautifully, not so that people would come in, buy a bottle of wine, and leave.
She decided to rename the shop Fuyun Pavilion, transforming it into a place where people could both buy goods and have afternoon tea, specifically for entertaining ladies and young women.
Although the beauty and skincare treatments for Zhou Miaosi were carried out in private, it was public knowledge that her maid would run to Fuyun Pavilion the next day.
And so the story of how the governor's daughter loved plum wine spread.
*
Only one bottle of plum wine was displayed in Fuyun Pavilion.
"Is this plum wine? It smells different from regular wine."
"Mmm, it's sweet."
"Is this the wine that the governor's daughter likes to drink?"
Two women were talking around a glass of plum wine. The older one looked to be a mother and daughter. The younger one looked to be in her thirties, while the younger one looked to be about eleven or twelve years old with a childlike face and big, watery eyes.
The mother and daughter also came because of the reputation of plum wine. They had heard that noble ladies loved to drink this wine, so they came out of curiosity to see it for themselves.
The waitress nodded repeatedly and began to introduce the plum wine to them: "This plum wine is golden and clear. Its biggest feature is its rich fruit flavor, fresh and fragrant taste. It tastes sweet and sour without being intoxicating, and has a smooth and sweet taste. You will definitely like it once you try it."
"Even the governor's daughter loves this wine. Mother, isn't Cousin Lin's birthday coming up? Why don't we buy a bottle and give it to her as a birthday gift?"
The waitress pressed her advantage: "The plum wine is served in a white-glazed plum vase, and paired with this plum blossom-carved gift box, just look at the exquisite craftsmanship! It would be an impeccable birthday gift for you!"
The mother and daughter walked out of the gate of Fuyun Pavilion with the gift box in satisfaction. When they left, the maid bowed at the door to see them off. Ping did not look down on them because they were commoners.
Gradually, Fuyun Pavilion's reputation also improved.
Taking advantage of the situation, Fu Zhi Qiao introduced beauty-enhancing teas and snacks to enrich the menu at Fu Yun Pavilion. At the same time, she didn't forget Zhou Miao Si, who was Fu Yun Pavilion's most prominent figure, and Fu Zhi Qiao paid even more attention to her.
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