After the recording of the farming reality show ended, the production team allowed the guests to use their phones in private.
Jiang Hexi lay in bed, typing furiously on her phone:
Smiling: [Why did you give Wanwan a seven out of ten?]
Smiling: [The score suppression is so obvious, isn't this just like protesting too much?!]
Smiling: "Even an eight out of ten would be fine, at least no one will notice."
Rank: [80% doesn't guarantee you'll rise to the top, 70% does.]
Jie: [For you, I even lowered the minimum score I could give.]
Jie: [I only gave Chu Yang a score of three...]
Smiling: [Yan Jie, we've broken up.]
Smiling: [Please recognize your place. In the future, try to control your emotions before acting.]
Smiling: [I don't want to cause another online storm.]
Jie: [Who was it that looked at me so affectionately and kept giving me flirty glances before the competition?]
Jie: [As my soon-to-be boyfriend, how can I not make a good impression?]
Smiling: [I didn't...flirt with you...]
Smiling; [You're overinterpreting the meaning behind my eyes.]
Smiling: 【So what should we do now?】
Jie: [After the breakup, everything between us is completely innocent. I have nothing to hide.]
Smiling; [You're ruthless.]
Jiang Hexi threw down her phone, lay flat on the bed, and looked up at the ceiling with a depressed expression.
Yan Jie caused such a mess and then washed his hands of it. Since he's just giving up, she might as well not care about anything either.
With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, the task of making traditional farm-style mooncakes has been put on the agenda.
The seven people divided the work: two went to the free-range chicken farm to collect eggs, two went to the woods to clean the beehives, and the remaining three plowed the wheat field.
In the afternoon, the group arrived at the open-air square, found their team members with the list, and began to work in their respective areas of responsibility.
As a quality inspector, Jiang Hexi had nothing to do except taste the freshly baked mooncakes.
She and the village chief squatted on the steps, supervising the chefs as they built a mud oven in the open space.
"Making this oven is quite an art."
The village chief gestured with his hands:
"First, crush the loess bricks into mud, spread it on the red bricks to build a four-door oven, and then coat the inside and outside with a layer of yellow mud. The oven is divided into two layers, with an iron mesh placed in the middle to bake the mooncakes, charcoal added to the lower layer, and a chimney placed in the middle to ventilate and control the temperature."
Jiang Hexi cupped her face in her hands and said with a greedy look, "The mooncakes made this way will definitely smell amazing."
"We can't lose the old craftsmanship passed down from our ancestors. The newly expanded clay oven can bake 100 mooncakes at a time. With six ovens operating simultaneously, the supply will definitely be sufficient."
The village chief said with great pride:
"The ingredients for this mooncake, such as flour, diced fatty pork, double-yolk eggs, and beef strips, are all made from agricultural products from the village. Even the charcoal used is the best fruitwood charcoal from the neighboring county."
Jiang Hexi said with slight surprise, "Village Chief, you've really gone all out this time."
The village chief clenched his fist and said:
"I know you want to make a name for your homemade mooncakes, so we have to do our best."
The most difficult part of making traditional farm-style mooncakes is the baking process.
Unlike electric ovens, the temperature in a clay oven is variable and difficult to control. If the temperature is too high, the mooncakes will either burn or crack. If the temperature is too low, the mooncakes will not develop a flaky crust, and the overall taste will be significantly worse.
The three batches of mooncakes baked by the chefs were not very good.
"This aroma is just right."
Jiang Hexi squatted in front of the oven and sniffed hard. "Chef Fang, I guarantee with my life that the five-nut mooncakes that come out of the oven this time will be soft, delicate, not oily, not burnt, and not dry and cracked."
Chu Yang, drawn by the aroma, came closer. "Sis, I could smell the bursting fragrance of nuts from a mile away. I'm almost overwhelmed by the aroma."
Yu Xiangwan also rushed over, saying, "The aroma is amazing even before you taste it; this mooncake must be delicious."
Jiang Hexi glanced left and right at the two uninvited guests, then stood up abruptly, alarm bells blaring:
"There are taste testers here, what business is it of yours?"
Yu Xiangwan pulled her down and made her continue squatting. "Don't think you can stand up and strike first. You're still too green to play tricks on me."
As soon as Jiang Hexi squatted down, the two men grabbed her from both sides, squeezing her in the middle like a sandwich, making it impossible for her to move.
She was a weak and helpless little thing, unable to fight back, so she could only swallow her resentment and endure it.
Chef Fang took the whole plate of mooncakes out of the oven.
"Freshly baked mooncakes shouldn't be eaten immediately; they need to be left for two days to allow the oil to seep back into the mooncakes for a better texture—"
Before he could finish speaking, Chu Yang took out a pair of chopsticks wrapped in a napkin from his pocket and nimbly picked up a mooncake.
"Sisters, this way the heat will dissipate faster."
Jiang Hexi and Yu Xiangwan were surprised to find that he had a backup plan: This kid is getting more and more cunning, and we really can't underestimate him in the future.
Seeing that the mooncakes had cooled down enough, Chu Yang opened his mouth to swallow half of one, but before he could, his arms were slapped hard twice. His hand wobbled, and the mooncake fell into the plate.
Yu Xiangwan coldly stared at that innocent little face, and said without any sympathy:
"Is this the first bite of mooncake that you should be eating? It's one thing to spoil you at home, but you're so unruly in an outdoor live broadcast venue."
Jiang Hexi stood aside, complaining, "Think about it carefully, who are our providers? Who should we give this first batch of freshly baked mooncakes to?"
Chu Yang looked at the live stream camera in front of him, suddenly slapped his forehead, and took the initiative to admit his mistake:
"I'm sorry, sisters, I was wrong."
He picked up the mooncake that had fallen onto the plate and showed it to the camera from all angles:
"These are homemade mooncakes from our Canglang Village. They're slowly baked in a clay oven over a small charcoal fire. The golden, crispy crust wraps around a generous filling of five kinds of nuts. Let me break one open and show it to my family..."
Behind him, Jiang Hexi and Yu Xiangwan picked up mooncakes from the plate next to them and were happily eating them one by one.
[I counted, and in just that short sentence, Little Poplar swallowed three times.]
[Hey Xiaobaiyang, turn around right now! Your two female assistants are sneaking mooncakes!]
[So, experience really matters. Chu Yang could have been the one to taste the first bite of the mooncake, but he was pushed to the front to be the anchor.]
Am I the only one who feels offended? Watching this live stream late at night made my mouth water. This isn't showing filial piety to our customers; it's clearly an attempt to tempt us into placing orders!
The filling has a rich variety of layers; it must taste fragrant and soft. My grandparents have trouble chewing, and since they come from the countryside, they'll definitely love this mooncake. As long as the price isn't too high, I'll buy a box for them to take back home.
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