Chapter 12 A Bowl of Wontons "Stingy bastard!" "A heartless wretch..."
"You stingy bastard!"
"You heartless, wretched old woman!"
As soon as Wang's wife left the house, she couldn't help but mutter to herself, her face dark as she walked towards the back door. Clutching the five copper coins in her hand, she thought about the increasingly prosperous Jiang family, and the fire of resentment in her heart burned ever brighter.
She didn't want to be controlled by Granny Wang forever, only to have her chance to rise again after the old woman died. Granny Wang glanced at the vendors hawking their wares outside. She looked down on these jobs, thinking they were dirty and didn't earn much money. She longed to work in the mansion and earn a future for herself.
Besides, rather than letting Granny Wang be a useless, lowly servant for over a decade, it would be better to teach her to stay home and look after the children while I go into the mansion to do chores.
Thinking about this, Wang's wife suddenly understood. Originally, she wanted to persuade Wang's mother to go back to the mansion to work as soon as possible, so that someone else would take her job.
But now, she doesn't want to try to persuade her anymore.
She planned to wait a couple of days until her husband and Sanlangjun returned, then use the excuse of Wang Pozi staying at home every day without doing her duty to have a good talk with him and ask her to come and do her duty at the mansion.
With that thought, Wang's wife's initial annoyance at leaving the house vanished, and she picked out three fried lotus root cakes and went home.
But as soon as she reached her doorstep, her face fell again. For no particular reason, it was just the sound of chopping meat coming from the Jiang family next door. Wang's wife stopped and listened for a moment, then whispered, "Are those two born in the Year of the Pig? Cooking something at this hour?"
Inside the Jiang family's house, the mother and daughter were making dumplings.
馉饳 is a type of dumpling with a thin skin and little filling, and its texture is similar to wonton.
As Jiang Zhenniang chopped the meat filling, she watched her daughter make the dough. The more she watched, the more shocked she became. She saw Su Zhihan patiently sifting the flour until it gradually turned white and most of the coarse particles were removed before she stopped.
She then poured the flour onto the cutting board, made a fist with her right hand, and gently pushed out a circle. Next, Su Zhihan added an appropriate amount of salt, cracked in an egg, and added a little water.
Her left hand gently stirred the batter, while her right hand occasionally added a little water. With the continuous movement of her hands, the tangled dough clumps intimately blended together, intertwining and gathering into a dough of the right size.
Su Zhihan's movements were so skillful, even graceful, that they seemed like art. Jiang Zhenniang only glanced at her before becoming completely captivated, speechless with astonishment: "Sister Han, where did you learn such technique?"
"It's that grandpa who sells dumplings at his stall in town. He taught me." Su Zhihan casually mentioned someone from the past, since neither her mother nor she would be going back to that place anyway.
"Sigh..." Jiang Zhenniang was puzzled. She did remember the old man who sold dumplings, but the old man had a fiery temper and had once argued with a customer over whether he had paid or not. He even ended up in the yamen for breaking someone's head. How could he be so kind as to let her daughter learn the craft for free?
Jiang Zhenniang thought for a moment, then remembered the delicious fried sauce and roast pork. She quickly realized that her daughter was clever and had secretly learned how to make them by watching.
As the cutting board gradually became clean, all the dough gathered in Su Zhihan's palms. She crossed her hands, sometimes gently, sometimes forcefully, and the dough, which was initially cracked and hard, gradually became soft, boneless, and elastic, finally turning into a smooth and flat dough.
After Su Zhihan covered the dough with a blanket and set it aside to rest, Jiang Zhenniang also put the chopped meat filling into a large bowl. She wiped her hands and smiled, "Sister Han, what's next?"
Su Zhihan wiped her hands, added a pinch of coarse salt, sugar, and pepper, and while preparing the scallion and ginger water, she instructed Jiang Zhenniang to stir the meat filling by hand: "Stir in one direction, Mother, relax a bit... Yes! Just like that, use even force, and the meat filling should feel sticky."
Next, she added some scallion and ginger water and instructed Jiang Zhenniang to continue stirring. After several rounds of stirring, the meat filling became visibly smooth and fine, not only able to stick together completely but also very elastic.
Finally, Su Zhihan added some sesame oil and instructed Jiang Zhenniang to stir it a few more times to allow the meat filling to fully absorb the sesame oil. At the same time, she sprinkled some flour on the cutting board, then reached out and lifted the towel covering the dough, took out the rolling pin, and prepared to start making wonton wrappers.
In Su Zhihan's hands, the dough was incredibly obedient. After Jiang Zhenniang finished what she was doing and washed her hands clean, she turned around and found a thin sheet of dough in front of her daughter that was wider than the cutting board.
Even before Su Zhihan stopped, she unfolded a portion of the dough and continued to roll it slowly with a rolling pin. The dough became wider and thinner, leaving Jiang Zhenniang dumbfounded. A question popped into her mind: "Are the dough wrappers for those old men really that thin?"
Roll up, press down, unfold, roll, then roll up again...
Su Zhihan was extremely patient. She kept sprinkling powder to prevent the dough from sticking together, and pressed the dough with even pressure until it was as thin as rice paper and the flesh color could be seen through it when placed in the palm of her hand.
Jiang Zhenniang held her breath, watching her daughter's every move. She watched as her daughter pulled out a rolling pin, cut the dough into sections, flattened it, cut it into pieces, and then stacked them together: "All done!"
It wasn't until Su Zhihan spoke that Jiang Zhenniang finally let out a long breath. She picked up a piece of dough and examined it closely. The dough was so thin and translucent, and it could even be stretched further with force from both hands. She was truly amazed.
Dumplings and tarts are among the most common foods these days. She has eaten countless good and bad ones, but the crust like the one in front of her is definitely a first!
Her daughter... could she be a culinary genius?!
Jiang Zhenniang was excitedly pinching the wonton wrappers, and it took her a while to come back to her senses amidst her daughter's series of shouts. She responded blankly, "Huh?"
"Mother—would you like something to eat?"
"Huh? Ah? Oh! Eat!" Jiang Zhenniang was quite curious about what was so special about this thin skin, and nodded repeatedly.
“Okay, Mother, you go boil some water, I’ll make the dumplings.” After assigning the tasks, Su Zhihan picked up a dumpling wrapper and placed it between her fingers. With her other hand, she picked up a pair of chopsticks, picked up a large piece of minced meat, and put it into the dumpling.
In the blink of an eye, a wonton appeared on the cutting board.
Once the water boiled, Su Zhihan picked up sixteen wontons and threw them into the hot water. Finally, she used the chicken oil, coarse salt, and pepper left over from last time to season the soup and make a base. Then she put the cooked wontons into two porcelain bowls and said, "It's done."
Su Zhihan picked up the porcelain bowls, placed one in front of Jiang Zhenniang, and the other in front of herself: "Mother, please try it."
Jiang Zhenniang sniffed. She had clearly watched her daughter make it, and there were only a few seasonings, but the chicken oil soup in front of her was so delicious that it made her feel dizzy.
She looked down and saw eight plump dumplings floating in the porcelain bowl. Unlike the dumplings on the market that had thin skins and little meat, and looked more like noodle soup, the dumplings in the porcelain bowl were all full and plump, with the tender pink meat filling almost seeping through.
The broth surrounding the dumplings was clear and bright, with a few bright green scallions on top, and golden chicken fat creating a round halo.
A soft, warm aroma rose with the rising steam, like a feather landing on her heart, making Jiang Zhenniang's heart itch. She swallowed, and unconsciously picked up a spoon, scooping up a plump dumpling: "Let me try it..."
Before she could finish speaking, Jiang Zhenniang put the dumpling into her mouth. She knew the dumpling skin was incredibly thin, but she was still surprised when she tasted it. With just a slight purse of her lips, the skin burst open in her mouth, and the filling of meat and broth burst out, filling every inch of her mouth.
Before she had even finished one, Jiang Zhenniang couldn't wait to scoop up a second one, only remembering to inhale and exhale to avoid being burned by the scalding soup: "Hoo...hoo...hoo! So delicious!"
Seeing Jiang Zhenniang's reaction, Su Zhihan couldn't help but smile. She poured some vinegar into a bowl, then scooped up a piece and put it in her mouth.
The sweet soup burst in her mouth, making her feel warm all over. If she didn't have to go to work at the manor later, Su Zhihan would have wanted to crawl into bed and stay there for a while.
...
For the next two days, Jiang Zhenniang and Su Zhihan continued as before, selling braised tofu by the river whenever they had free time.
With the praise of that Mr. Sun, their braised tofu was very popular, and every time they set up a stall, it would sell out in about half an hour.
This time when she went to the butcher shop, Jiang Zhenniang directly ordered a pound of mutton belly, and after thinking about it, she added two more pounds of pork shoulder.
As soon as she entered the gate of the Marquis's mansion, some sharp-eyed old women and servants noticed the mutton in Jiang Zhenniang's bamboo basket. They approached with smiles on their faces, their usual sharp and mean demeanor completely gone: "Oh, Madam Jiang bought mutton today?"
"Lamb is not cheap lately. I went to ask yesterday and the cheapest one was sixty cents a catty."
"Madam Jiang is destined for great fortune." The woman said, glancing at Su Zhihan and flattering her with a cheerful smile, "Sister Han is truly capable, much more so than my daughter."
At first, the news of the second young lady giving her money hadn't spread, but as she ordered cakes more often, the story gradually spread among the servants.
As the Jiang family mother and daughter gradually gained a foothold in the mansion and came into the masters' sights, the attitudes of the servants in the mansion gradually changed. There were fewer people who made sarcastic remarks and more people who chatted and made small talk.
As the saying goes, one shouldn't hit a smiling face. Faced with the old woman and servants who were boasting about herself and her daughter, Jiang Zhenniang smiled and greeted them warmly: "You're too kind. I heard that your youngest daughter has already entered the Fourth Miss's courtyard? That's really impressive!"
"Sigh, it's just going to be a needlework maid."
"You're being too modest!" Madam Jiang said with a smile. "I've always admired the beautiful embroidery on your cuffs and collar, Sister Tao, but I've always been too shy to ask you how you did it."
"Now it seems that your youngest daughter must have learned from you, which is why she has such a good skill!"
"Oh my, oh my, what are you saying?" Madam Tao beamed with joy and replied, "If you want to learn, come to my room next time, and I'll teach you!"
"That would be wonderful!" Madam Jiang's eyes lit up, and she happily agreed. Although Madam Tao was only a third-class servant who watered flowers in the Third Mistress's courtyard, her eldest daughter had already learned to comb hair from the Third Mistress's maid, and her youngest daughter had gone to the Fourth Miss's courtyard to work as a needlework maid. It was clear that she was trusted by her masters and had some skills.
She didn't want to do all the work for her daughter, thinking that if she worked hard herself, she could also climb the social ladder and save money for her daughter's dowry.
Jiang Zhenniang spoke a few words with Tao Niangzi, chatted with the other old women and servants, and then led her daughter home.
Before entering the courtyard, they encountered Wang's wife again.
Just like yesterday, the day before, and the day before that, Wang's wife sat upright at the door, diligently washing clothes. Apart from the task at hand, nothing else seemed to have changed.
Su Zhihan glanced at the Queen's wife, calmly looked away, and led Jiang Zhenniang into her own courtyard. She noticed the Queen's wife's gaze on her back, a gaze so intense it made her skin crawl.
"That Wang's wife's eyes, why are they so creepy?" Jiang Zhenniang muttered to herself after entering the house. She told her daughter to stay away from the Wang's wife, and then placed the things she had bought on the stove and the corner cabinet.
Immediately afterwards, the two poured all the money they had earned that day onto the table and began to count it carefully.
"Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred!"
"Five, ten, that's a total of thirteen coins."
"I just bought pork belly for thirty coins, pork belly for twenty coins, and spices for three hundred coins..."
Jiang Zhenniang counted on her fingers, recounting the money she had spent that day: "Today we received a total of 486 coins. After deducting the cost of 120 coins, we made a net profit of 366 coins."
"I made a net profit of 182 coins on the first day."
"I made a net profit of 403 coins on the second day, 385 coins on the third day, and ..." Jiang Zhenniang picked up her pen and carefully wrote down the daily income and expenses on the paper. Finally, she muttered, "I made 366 coins today."
After Jiang Zhenniang finished recording, she took out her abacus and quickly typed a string of numbers. Looking at the numbers, she gasped, "Wow! We've made 3,011 coins in eight days of business!"
That's three strings of cash!
Su Zhihan's expression was calm, her mood neither good nor bad: "It's a little too little."
"Hiss—you little rascal, how could you be so heartless?" Jiang Zhenniang scolded, her eyes full of excitement: "Didn't you look down on this little bit of money after you got the reward? Let me tell you, as servants in this household, it's extremely difficult for us to even see our masters. How could we possibly get their rewards so easily?"
“We only need to go out for an hour or two each day to earn enough for the whole family’s monthly allowance, and in eight days! We earned three strings of cash in eight days.” Jiang Zhenniang reached out and poked Su Zhihan’s forehead, laughing, “You still think it’s not enough? I was worried that others would be envious if they found out.”
Ordinary people today earn about 60 or 70 coins a day and about 2,000 coins a month. However, they often have to pay taxes and pay for food, clothing, housing, and transportation. In the end, a family can only save up to 200 or 300 coins a month.
As lowly servants in the Marquis's mansion, they only received a monthly salary of two hundred coins, but the mansion provided food and lodging, as well as clothing and other items. In the end, the amount of money they could save was about the same as that of ordinary families outside.
If you are ranked third, second, or even first, or even become a supervising mother, your income will increase several times over.
When Jiang Zhenniang was still living in Sujia Village, she would collect eggs, wild vegetables and other things to sell at the market. She would often have to hawk her wares all day long, but she would only earn a few dozen copper coins at most.
She had never imagined that doing business could be so profitable, let alone making money so quickly. The more she thought about it, the more radiant she became, and she smiled as she said to Su Zhihan, "Earning three or four hundred coins a day, that's at least 130,000 coins a year, which is 130 strings of cash!"
It's not as simple as Mother makes it out to be!
Before Su Zhihan could reply, Jiang Zhenniang, who was getting more and more excited as she calculated, clattered away on the abacus. She pulled her daughter aside and started talking about what was going on: "I see that tiger-skin eggs are selling quite well, but they seem to taste better when they're hot. They don't taste as good when they're cold, and the weather is getting colder and colder. I'm afraid cold things won't sell well... How about we rent a stove?"
“Then we’ll have to rent a room outside.” Su Zhihan was both annoyed and amused to see Jiang Zhenniang go from reluctantly helping her at the beginning to being greedy for money now. “Besides, are we really going to be out for two or three hours? The servants and maids have already started asking what we’re going out to do.”
After a pause, Su Zhihan added, "Moreover, some people have already started to learn from us and sell dried tofu."
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