With money in hand, Li Hehua took action immediately. The first thing he did was to go to the town to buy ingredients for making pastries.
I bought some red beans and some fresh eggs from a villager who came to the town to sell things. Then I bought a bag of sugar from the shop. Finally, I ran to a place that sold oil paper bags and bought a stack of paper. I would use it to pack cakes for customers when I sell them tomorrow.
After buying these, she ran to the town's cake shop to inquire about the prices.
The pastry shop she came to was considered the most affordable one in town. She planned to set her prices based on this one's prices in the future, so that customers would definitely not think the prices were too high.
This shop also has red bean cakes, the price is seven cents per catty. Li Hehua stood aside and watched. A customer bought one catty, which contained about four pieces of red bean cakes, which means they cost about two cents each. Li Hehua had an idea in mind and planned to cut the pieces a little bigger than this shop's, and then sell them by the pieces at two cents each. The cakes were also priced the same.
After buying the items and agreeing on the prices, Li Hehua returned home with a smile on his face.
After everyone else had finished dinner and Zhang Lin had cleaned the pots and bowls, Li Hehua carried the purchased ingredients into the kitchen and started kneading the dough, beating the eggs, and steaming the red beans...
Outside, the Zhang family sat in the yard and talked. Hearing the clanging sounds in the kitchen, Zhang Lin couldn't help but mutter, "What are they doing? Are they destroying our things?"
Zhang Qingshan was also very unhappy, "Brother, this woman is so annoying, I really don't want to live with her."
Zhang Tieshan said nothing, but hugged Shulin and patted him gently.
Seeing that Zhang Tieshan was silent, Zhang Lin had also gotten used to her eldest son's taciturn nature, so she started talking to her younger son about other topics.
But after a while, a strange fragrance suddenly came from the yard, so fragrant that people couldn't help but drool.
Zhang Qingshan sniffed hard, "Is this the smell of cakes? Who bought cakes? It smells so good!"
Zhang Lin also sniffed hard, "It's cake, but it smells different from the cakes in town. It smells better than the ones sold in the shops. What kind of cake is this?"
Zhang Qingshan stood up involuntarily and sniffed the source of the fragrance in the air. After a while, he said in disbelief, "Mom, why do I feel like this is coming from our house?"
Zhang Lin subconsciously denied it, "How is that possible? When did our family buy cakes?"
Zhang Qingshan said, "Mom, it seems to be real, it's the smell of our house, it seems to be from the kitchen..."
Zhang Lin glanced towards the kitchen, a look of doubt in her eyes. Could it be that the woman bought some pastries and was eating them in the kitchen?
Zhang Tieshan, who had been silent, spoke up at this moment, "Mom, Qingshan, sit down, this is our kitchen."
Zhang Lin and Zhang Qingshan looked at each other and sat down.
Zhang Lin couldn't help but mutter, "This woman is just like this, she is always lazy and likes to eat. She bought something as expensive as cakes and ate them. Not only did she eat them, but she also ate them secretly in the kitchen. It's really unfortunate for our family to marry a woman like this. If it weren't for her father..."
"Mom!" Zhang Tieshan's scolding interrupted Zhang Lin's next words. Zhang Lin pursed her lips and didn't say anything else.
Zhang Qingshan looked at his brother and then at his mother, and tactfully said nothing more. He just subconsciously looked towards the kitchen, and saw Li Hehua coming out with a plate and walking towards the yard.
Li Hehua had just made the red bean cake and cake, cut them into pieces, found a basket and covered it with a layer of clean white cloth, waiting to go out early tomorrow morning to sell them.
However, she deliberately left out four pieces of each dish, intending to give them to the Zhang family. She borrowed money from Zhang Tieshan for the ingredients, used the Zhang family's kitchen, and had to let the Zhang family taste them. Moreover, she wanted to give the little guy some of the cakes she made, so she personally brought out the cakes.
Li Hehua walked up to the group, ignoring the unfriendly looks from Zhang Linshi and Zhang Qingshan, and placed the plates on the small square table. "These are the red bean cakes and egg cakes I made. They are fresh out of the oven. I'll bring them here for you to try."
Zhang Lin and Zhang Qingshan's eyes flashed with surprise. They thought she bought the cakes and ate them, but they didn't expect that she made them. How could this be impossible? How could someone like Li Hehua make such fragrant and beautiful cakes? Could she be lying?
Li Hehua also noticed the distrust in their eyes, but he said nothing and pretended not to see it.
Zhang Lin hated Li Hehua to the core. How could she accept her kindness now? Even if the cake was indeed very tempting, she would not give her face. "Humph, when did you become so kind? I dare not eat your food. I'm afraid you'll poison me!"
Li Hehua was silent, not wanting to pay attention, and said lightly: "You guys eat, I'm going back to my room." After that, he turned and went into the woodshed.
Forget it. She had been polite anyway. If they didn't want to eat, then forget it. She didn't need to care.
In the yard, Zhang Linshi and Zhang Qingshan watched Li Hehua enter the woodshed, then they retracted their gaze and saw the pastries on the table with hesitation in their eyes.
This pastry not only looks good, but also smells very tempting. It tastes delicious at first glance, but it was made by that woman. Isn't it a shame to eat something made by that woman...
At this time, Zhang Tieshan took the lead and took a piece of egg cake, "Mom, Qingshan, eat it."
Hearing him say this, Zhang Linshi and Zhang Qingshan looked at each other, and without hesitation, they reached out and took a piece.
Eat! Why not? That woman has embezzled so much money from their family. What's the big deal about this little egg cake? Why not eat it?
After taking a bite, several people were stunned at the same time. Zhang Tieshan was okay, but the disbelief in Zhang Linshi and Zhang Qingshan's eyes was obvious.
Zhang Qingshan chewed quickly while glancing at the woodshed, his voice full of doubt, "Did she make this? Can she make such delicious pastries?"
Zhang Lin also suspected the same thing, but she knew that the cake was not bought because she had never seen such an egg cake before. She had seen red bean cake before and had eaten it before, but it didn't taste as good as this one.
After Zhang Tieshan finished a bite, he was silent for a moment, tore off a small piece and handed it to his son in his arms, "Shulin, eat the cake."
Shulin always responded to Zhang Tieshan's words. He opened his mouth obediently, took the pastry at the corner of his mouth, and chewed it slowly. He never showed any expression of rejection. Although he ate slowly, it could be seen that he enjoyed it very much.
Zhang Tieshan couldn't help but think of the bowl of fried dumplings he had in the morning. It was just like this at the moment. Shulin ate it very happily and ate it all without vomiting at all.
When did this woman acquire such cooking skills?
................................
Li Hehua in the woodshed was packing things for selling cakes in town tomorrow. After finishing, he ate a piece of cake and started doing slimming yoga. He did not stop until he was tired and sweating all over. He heard no sound outside, so he went out to the kitchen to boil water for washing.
The next morning, Li Hehua got up while it was still dark, and after a quick wash, he walked towards the town. When he arrived in the town, it was already bright and the market began to become lively.
Li Hehua squatted in a slightly cleaner place, put down the basket, slightly lifted the white cloth covering it, revealing the red bean cake and egg cake inside, then took out an oil paper bag and opened it. Inside were cakes cut into smaller pieces. These were cut by Li Hehua at home for the purpose of giving them to guests to taste.
After getting ready, Li Hehua opened his voice and shouted: "Selling egg cakes and red bean cakes, big and fragrant egg cakes and red bean cakes, free to try, don't buy if they don't taste good!"
Hearing Li Hehua's free tasting, many people were attracted to come over, especially the children, who stared at the fragrant and beautiful cakes and drooled, and kept standing on tiptoe and shouting, "I want to eat, I want to eat."
When the adults saw their children wanted to eat some, they asked, "How much is this cake?"
Li Hehua replied: "Red bean cake and egg cake are both two cents each."
When some people heard that it was two cents per piece, they thought it was expensive and shook their heads.
Li Hehua smiled and said, "These pastries are made with a secret recipe passed down from my ancestors. I guarantee that the taste is top-notch. Moreover, each of my pastries is quite large. I sell them at two cents each, which really can't be any cheaper. Come, try them first. If you don't think they taste good, don't buy them." As he spoke, Li Hehua distributed the pastries in his hand to the children and adults.
The result was just as Li Hehua had expected. Everyone who ate it thought it was delicious. The children even clamored to eat more. The adults were so annoyed that they had to pay to buy one or two pieces from Li Hehua.
After that, Li Hehua stopped shouting and just kept busy wrapping cakes for the buyers and then collecting their money. Seeing how lively her place was, other people also gathered around her and started buying as well.
On the first day of sales, Li Hehua didn't dare to make too much and only made one basket. As a result, they were all sold out in less than half an hour. Some people didn't get any and became anxious.
"Why do you have so few cakes? We can't even buy some if we want!"
Li Hehua smiled and apologized: "I'm sorry, everyone. The amount I made today is a little less, but it doesn't matter. I'll come again tomorrow. If you want to eat, you can come and buy it."
Many people who wanted to buy but didn’t manage to buy felt relieved after hearing what Li Hehua said and decided to come back and have a look tomorrow.
Li Hehua looked at the empty basket and smiled happily. She picked up the basket and went to buy some red beans and eggs to prepare for tomorrow's ingredients. This time she would buy more and make two baskets to bring back tomorrow.
After buying things, Li Hehua returned home in a good mood. As soon as he entered the door, he went straight to the woodshed, locked the door, and then poured all the money in his sleeve basket onto the bed. For a while, the only sound he could hear was the clattering of copper coins.
Li Hehua was so happy that his eyes narrowed. He began to count the copper coins one by one. In the end, there were fifty copper coins in total. After deducting the cost and the money for buying materials today, he could save thirty cents.
Li Hehua had never liked the money so much as he did at this moment. He couldn't help but roll over on the bed and lie with the money.
After the excitement, Li Hehua strung the money together with a rope, held it in front of his eyes, looked at it reluctantly for several times, sighed, and got up to find Zhang Tieshan.
She planned to return the money to Zhang Tieshan as she didn't like owing others money.
Zhang Tieshan was not at home. Li Hehua waited for a while before seeing him coming back with a bucket of water. He hurriedly followed him and waited until he poured the water into the water tank before handing him the money. "Here, this is to pay you back."
Zhang Tieshan looked down at the copper coin handed to him, reached out to take it, casually put it into his chest, and then continued to carry the bucket out.
Li Hehua didn't care. Anyway, her money was repaid and she felt relieved. She went back to the woodshed and lay on the bed for a while. She waited until the other members of the Zhang family had finished dinner before she went out to continue making pastries.
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