"It's not tiring. I'm used to it. When I was young, my family ran a shop and I had to help my dad prepare hundreds of kilograms of meat every day."

She wanted to say that she didn't feel tired doing these jobs, but she was worried that others would find it annoying, so she stopped talking.

Gu Qinghuan noticed her reserve.

"Really? You're so amazing! I'm not good at making pastries. My hands don't obey me, and what I make is not what I imagined. This one you made is very good, it looks good and tastes good, better than the ones sold at the counters in department stores.

I will order some for gifts first, and I will contact you if I need them later."

Xia Lian's eyes light up when she talks about her expertise, and she instantly becomes much more confident.

“My craft was passed down from my ancestors, but unfortunately my father didn’t have a son. Later, many things happened in the family, so we withdrew the business and stopped.

Nowadays, ordinary people are not allowed to start their own businesses, so I can only secretly make some and sell them to regular customers. Everyone who has eaten it says it is good.

If you like to do this, I will teach you when I have time." Xia Lian is very gentle, like a daughter of a noble family in the old society, speaking politely but making people feel very comfortable.

Gu Qinghuan couldn't help but slow down his speech.

"Farewell, your craft is a skill that you have mastered for many years. There is no way I can learn it.

Don't worry, things will get better and better. If you don't have a son, you still have your daughter, right? Maybe one day you'll be able to put up a sign again."

"Really? I'll take your good words. I'm really looking forward to that day when my father dies and remembers our house sign!"

The two sat for a while, and Gu Qinghuan took out the money he had prepared and gave it to her.

"This is the price I agreed with Uncle Xu a long time ago. Please order."

Xia Lian waved her hands: "No, I've already received your deposit, just enough for the materials, you can keep these."

"That won't do. We've already agreed that these pastries won't be sold in just one or two pieces. No, you have to accept them, or I won't want them." Gu Qinghuan pretended to be angry and stuffed the money into her arms.

"Little Gu, I really shouldn't have taken this money from you. Old Xu's family was poor back then, and it's thanks to your family's care that he is where he is today. Making some cakes is nothing, I'm just helping out." Xia Lian said sincerely.

Gu Qinghuan thought that both Xu Lei and his wife were kind people.

Precisely because they are kind people, we should not bully them.

Besides, she ordered these pastries to help them and ease the financial pressure at home. If she didn't charge them, that would be useless.

"Auntie, don't make excuses anymore. We need to visit each other more often in the future. I'm not just making an appointment with you for this one. Even brothers have to settle accounts clearly, right?" Gu Qinghuan advised earnestly.

Xia Lian's heart was shaken.

"Well... this money is still a bit too much. How about I take half? I'll give you the rest." Xia Lian gave her half.

Gu Qinghuan stepped back and said, "You came so early, have you eaten? I just made some rice noodles, let's eat together."

It’s almost time for dinner.

Gu Lanting had already glanced at her a few times in the kitchen, asking her with his eyes when dinner would be served.

"Lanting, put breakfast on the table. Dabaobeibei and Youran, help your uncle! Don't forget to call Aunt Ruxue!" Now Ming Ruxue basically eats at their house.

Several children were reading picture books on the sofa, but upon hearing the words, they immediately rushed into the kitchen.

These picture books were all Gu Lanting's former collection. When he left Gu's house, he only brought some simple daily necessities and some books.

The three children loved Gu Lanting telling them picture books.

Even You Ran could listen to it with great interest.

Soon the meal was served.

Xia Lian had no choice but to accept the money and have breakfast with Gu Qinghuan and the others.

Zhong Luoxi couldn't eat all of this, so Gu Qinghuan had already cooked millet porridge for her.

Her stomach needs to be healed slowly, but recently she drinks a cup of Lingquan every day and takes some Chinese medicine. There seems to be obvious improvement. Before, she couldn't even eat millet porridge, but now she can drink a big bowl of it.

During this period, she needed to rest, so Gu Qinghuan didn't let her go out of the house. She bought her many books and put them in her room to read slowly. Reading can make people forget many worries.

Let's get back to the point. What Gu Qinghuan cooked was really delicious. It was mainly because he put enough ingredients, the stuffing was made from chopped meat with alternating fat and lean meat, and it was full of oil and water. How could it not be delicious?

Gu Lanting ate five or six of them in one go with millet porridge. He was quite a eater despite his small stature and had become visibly stronger recently.

Ming Ruxue also stuffed a big piece of meat into her stomach, which made her belly full.

"Sister, if I continue to eat this kind of food in your house for another month, I will definitely gain 2 kilograms."

The three little ones each ate two dumplings and half a bowl of porridge.

As a guest, Xia Lian would definitely feel embarrassed to eat someone else's big piece of meat, which is a good thing.

She drank half a bowl of porridge and ate a dumpling, and that was all. Seeing this, Gu Qinghuan forced a dumpling into her hand, and she ate it.

Before leaving, Gu Qinghuan wrapped the remaining five large pieces of meat for her to take away with her in oil paper.

Xia Lian couldn't refuse, so she accepted it gratefully.

After Xia Lian left, Gu Lanting asked her who these cakes were intended for.

Gu Qinghuan only said: "Secret."

She pretended to take the cakes out in batches, but actually left them in the space.

Yes, her vending machine hasn't had any goods in a long time, and she is going to put these authentic old Beijing pastries on the shelves and sell them.

Just leave enough for the family.

These pastries have no preservatives and will not last long, so they must be disposed of as soon as possible.

The pastries made by Xia Lian are delicious and have authentic flavors. She had tasted them when Xu Lei brought them to her before.

Today's delivery has more flavor.

Xia Lian introduced it when she came. The cakes she sent were mainly Beijing delicacies, including blessing cakes, fortune cakes, longevity cakes, happiness cakes, Taishi cakes, pepper and salt cakes, jujube flower cakes, and sachima.

Because Xu Lei said she was going to give it to someone as a gift, so she specially made a set of Beijing accessories to make it look more beautiful and presentable. It must be said that she was quite thoughtful.

In addition to Beijing snacks, there are also some like donkey rolls, pea yellow, ox tongue cakes, hawthorn pot helmets, starter buns, Ai Wo Wo, etc.

There are so many varieties. I don’t know how she manages it all by herself.

A set of Beijing jewelry weighs about one catty. There are five sets of Beijing jewelry, which weighs five catties.

In addition, the assorted pastries weighed more than 50 kilograms, or about 100 kilograms in total.

Gu Qinghuan paid her by weight, at a uniform price of two yuan per pound. There were about one hundred pounds in total, so he gave her two hundred yuan in total.

If you buy them on the market now, the prices of each type of pastry still vary, but they are generally between one and two yuan.

Gu Qinghuan directly gave them the highest price, because he originally wanted to help them as a reward for Xu Lei's help during this period.

Moreover, she actually made some money from selling these cakes, which was quite a profit.

The cakes here are sold by the piece.

For a Beijing item like this, if you put it in a nice box, wouldn’t it sell for 99 yuan after the box is completed?

She doesn't sell it at such a high price. She buys it for two yuan a set and sells it for only one yuan.

As for other pastries, they are sold by the piece, 30 cents a piece.

Gu Qinghuan ordered a batch of packaging boxes for Beijing items from the vending machine, packed five sets of Beijing items, and then put them on the shelves.

As for the others, they are sold by the block.

According to the vending machine's initial estimate, she could earn around 320 yuan after selling all the cakes.

In other words, after deducting the money she gave to Xia Lian, she could still make a net profit of 120 yuan.

No matter how small a mosquito is, it is still meat. I have been spending a lot recently and haven't had any money come in for a long time.

This business is worth doing. It can not only help Xia Lian increase her income, but also allow her to make some money from the price difference.

If the products here sell well, I can place another order from her in a couple of days.

On her way back on her bike, Xia Lian did some calculations in her heart. Xu Lei had previously taken back a deposit of 5 yuan, and today she received 150 yuan. In total, Gu Qinghuan had given her 200 yuan.

I spent about 60-70 bucks on buying the materials myself, and the rest was just labor, which wasn't expensive.

This means she earned more than 130 yuan in total after working for two or three days.

It is equivalent to her husband’s salary for more than two or almost three months.

Xia Lian couldn't help but curl up the corners of her mouth and was in a good mood.

Although she would secretly take orders from some regular customers, they were not as kind as Gu Qinghuan. They only went to her because they could bargain with her and her products were well made and cheap.

Some customers would even deliberately lower the price, leaving her with virtually no profit.

In the past, it was good to earn a few dollars a month, but now I can earn more than a hundred in two months.

She was glad that she did not cut corners when she knew she might not get the money back, but made every cake well. Now she can collect the money with confidence.

As soon as Gu Qinghuan's pastries were put on the shelf, someone noticed them.

Many people set reminders so they can see it as soon as it’s available.

Regular customers who have bought things from her shop would place their orders without hesitation, fearing that they would miss out if they were too late.

I don’t know how the products changed from agricultural products to pastries this time, but the food here can’t be bad.

Some people even directly snatched a set of Beijing items.

Some people were selecting cakes one by one, but were suddenly told that they were out of stock. They couldn't help but beat their chests and stamp their feet, hating themselves for being too slow.

In short, the batch of cakes she had just put on the shelves were sold out at the speed of light, and she received a total of 320 yuan.

Although these cakes do not have the addition of Lingquan, they are authentic and delicious. The ingredients used are carefully selected by Xia Lian and they are hand-processed using ancient methods. Even the molds are made by herself, which gives them a unique flavor.

Everyone who bought it thought it was worth it.

The guy who bought a box of Jingdong even posted a video on Tik Tok to show off.

I can’t finish it. I can’t finish it at all.

Some people even sent him private messages, wanting to buy his stock at a high price.

After a pastry chef tasted it, he was immediately amazed.

He said that this store is simply a treasure shop. The Beijing furniture here is exactly the same as the old-fashioned Beijing furniture his grandmother had mentioned before.

It’s as if a craft from a hundred years ago has suddenly been revived, and while eating it, I feel like I’m having a conversation with time and space.

I have to tell him the truth.

His son even asked him to make a video, the copy was: a century-old craft, pastries that dialogue across time and space.

By comparing the Beijing pastries bought from Gu Qinghuan's store with those sold on the market one by one, we found that the pastries sold by Gu Qinghuan are really well-crafted, purely handmade, without any traces of machinery, and are very conscientious pastries.

Everyone who has tried it says it's delicious; even people who don't like sweets can eat two pieces.

As a result, Gu Qinghuan's shop became very popular, and many people waited there every day just to be the first to grab her products when they were put on the shelves.