My name is Chang An, your name is Gu Li

"Oh, you are a kind-hearted man."

Chang An was checking the bookcase at this time, and said as he checked: "Alright, alright, stop flattering. Go ask those useless officials and students if I have a kind heart."

"Instead of kissing my ass here, why don't you think about whether you forgot to take anything. For example, I have to copy Gu Niang's name on the notebook for class today. Have you prepared it?"

"Everything is prepared. Just in case, Huaiqin has even prepared two books." Huaiqin said.

"That's fine." Chang An nodded.

"By the way, sir, Mid-Autumn Festival is coming in a few days. Should we start preparing?" Huaiqin said at this time.

"Mid-Autumn Festival?" Chang An raised his head slightly and said, "It's the seventh day of the first lunar month now, and it's time to start preparing. Should we prepare mooncakes as well?"

Chang An asked this because he was not sure if there was such a thing as mooncakes in the Tang Dynasty, so he just asked this question for the time being. This way it doesn't seem too strange.

Huaiqin was a little confused and asked, "Mooncake? What is a mooncake?"

Okay, the identification is complete, there were no mooncakes in the Tang Dynasty.

"Mooncakes are... a new food I came up with. They are best eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival." Chang An explained, "They are a kind of pastry with some fillings inside. They are delicious."

"Well, young master is going to research new food again, right?" Huaiqin immediately became interested.

"Almost, but this idea is still at the stage of a blueprint. I will study it when I go back today." Chang An nodded and said.

......

After returning home at noon, Chang An and Gu Li performed the "homecoming ceremony" at the door, and the former said, "Mother Gu."

"Hey."

Gu Li took Chang An's hand and walked towards the yard, and turned back to respond.

"I have thought of a new food that can be eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is called mooncake," said Chang An.

"Mooncakes? Are they something that is eaten during certain festivals, just like dumplings and glutinous rice balls?" Gu Li had already begun to imagine what mooncakes looked like, and then asked, "What does this look like? Can Chang Lang tell me about it?"

"Mooncakes are round, with a pastry crust on the outside and lotus seed paste and egg yolk as fillings, or they may be made of five kinds of grains. The crust is golden yellow, and is about the size of Gu Niang's palm." Chang An recalled the appearance of the mooncake in his mind and then said.

After Gu Li imagined the appearance of mooncakes in his mind, he said, "When Chang Lang goes to make mooncakes, I want to help him too!"

"You can go, but not for too long." Chang An agreed, but not completely, "Because there is a lot of smoke and dust in the kitchen, it's not good for Xiaoguai and Gu Niang."

"Okay!" Gu Li nodded obediently, indicating his agreement.

The two returned to their own courtyard, where the food was already laid out in the pavilion. Chang An first put away the bookcase, then took a piece of paper and returned to the pavilion, instructing Huaiqin:

"Huaiqin, go outside now and find a few people who have time and are smart, and ask them to prepare the things above. We will need them this afternoon."

"Yes, son."

Huaiqin took the paper and ran out quickly. Gu Li asked, "Is that what we need to prepare for the mooncakes?"

"Yes, I still don't quite understand how to make this mooncake. And there's still some time before the Mid-Autumn Festival, so I wanted to take advantage of these few days to study it, and then make it for Mother Gu to eat during the Mid-Autumn Festival." Chang An nodded, then picked up the chopsticks and picked up some food for Gu Li.

Gu Li nodded, then held the chopsticks and stood there blankly, without any movement, as if she was thinking about something. Then she raised her head, looked at Chang An, and asked, "I don't want to eat anymore..."

Chang An was stunned for a moment, then asked, "What's wrong? Don't you have an appetite?"

He didn't recognize Gu Li's voice at first, and thought that Gu Li had suddenly lost her appetite due to pregnancy, so he asked. Gu Li shook her head and said:

"No, I mean, I don't want to eat mooncakes anymore."

Chang An was a little puzzled and asked, "Why don't you want to eat again?"

"Because... because Chang Lang wants to make this mooncake, he has to go and study it these few days. It will definitely take a long time to make new pastries, and Chang Lang will have to work very hard for a long time." Gu Li said.

"Chang Lang has to stay in the kitchen for the next few days just for this palm-sized thing, so I'd better not eat it. This way, Chang Lang won't have to work so hard and study so much."

It turned out that he was afraid that his research would be too hard, so he didn't want to let himself go, and found a good excuse saying that he didn't want to eat anymore.

Chang An smiled and said, "But studying also takes a long time and is very hard, right? Why didn't Gu Niang stop me?"

Gu Li's face turned red at this time, and then he hesitated for a long time before he said, "Because... because when Chang Lang was studying, I was next to Chang Lang, so I could... I could let Chang Lang accompany me."

"But Chang Lang has to go to the kitchen to make that...mooncake thing. And I can't go to the kitchen, so Chang Lang can't accompany me..."

Hearing this, Chang An and Zhen Er both laughed, and then Chang An said, "Okay, okay, I know what Gu Niang thinks."

"Then...then we won't make mooncakes, okay?"

Gu Li thought Chang An agreed, but he never thought:

"Mother Gu wants me to accompany her. Okay, then Mother Gu can follow me to the kitchen for a few days." Chang An said.

"what?"

Gu Li didn't expect this answer, and then Chang An said, "It's just that every time Gu Niang stays in the kitchen for a while, she needs to go outside to get some fresh air, and then come back in, is that okay?"

"This way, even if I'm making mooncakes, Gu Niang can accompany me while she's pregnant with Xiaoguai."

Gu Li blinked her eyes, was stunned for a moment, and then her eyes were filled with joy. She nodded and said, "Okay!"

Now that everything had been discussed, Gu Li was no longer anxious. He simply picked up the bowl and started eating.

......

After finishing dinner, Chang An and Gu Li took a short rest and went to the kitchen. At this time, the prepared ingredients were also placed on the table.

On one side of the table, a piece of dough had been made according to Chang An's instructions. Chang An looked at the dough, thought about it for a while, and then shouted:

"Someone is coming!"

"My lord, what do you want me to do for you?" At this time, the cooks came forward and waited for orders.

"Send two people to preheat all the pots. Then send one person to spread oil all over the dough. It cannot be lard. Use the vegetable oil we have at home. After it is covered with oil, fold it and knead it a few more times. Put it on the cold water tank and let it dry for a while." Chang An began to give orders.

"Go get two people to separate the yolks of the salted eggs and put them in the wine to soak. Take them out after about a cup of tea and put them in the pot to roast for half a cup of tea."

"Then, you two... you three, peel all the dried fruits, and then fry them separately in the pot. After frying, take them out and chop them into pieces. The other two of you, go get some sugar and boil it in the pot until it becomes a paste."

"Then add the syrup and chopped nuts together and mix thoroughly."

"Yes, Lord Marquis."

After Chang An gave the order, the cooks at home started to work. While they were working, Chang An and Gu Li came to the outside of the kitchen, found a clean place, and started to talk to each other in private.

After a while, a cook came running over and said, "My Lord, everything you want is ready. You can go over and take a look now."

"it is good."

After hearing this, Chang An stood up with Gu Li and went to the kitchen. He then took the dough, took a kitchen knife, cut the dough into portions, and asked someone to flatten them.

Then he picked up a piece of dough, pressed it with both hands, and after confirming it was flat, he put a salted egg yolk on it. Then he gently pushed the mooncake filling with his other hand, and gently pushed the mooncake skin with the palm of his other hand, so that the mooncake skin slowly expanded until it completely covered the mooncake filling.

Then he took a homemade pastry mold and sprinkled a little dry flour into the round mold, shook it evenly, and poured out the excess flour. Then he gently spread a layer of dry flour on the surface of the wrapped mooncake, put the mooncake ball into the mold, gently flattened it, and finally took it out.

He took an egg, broke it in a bowl, sprinkled some sugar in it, and began to stir it. After stirring evenly, he brushed some egg liquid on the surface of the mooncake as a starter.

In this way, a complete mooncake was completed, and then Chang An placed the mooncake in front of Gu Li and said, "How about it, Gu Niang? This is the mooncake."

Gu Li looked at this round thing with a slightly golden surface, her eyes seemed full of curiosity. She wanted to reach out and touch it, but finally gave up, and asked: "Chang Lang, is this a mooncake?"

“Yes, this is the mooncake.”

Chang An nodded, then put the mooncakes in the big steamer on the pot, covered it with a lid, and asked the servant to add more fire. Huaiqin came in with a basin of water and placed it in front of Chang An.

Gu Li took the initiative to come forward and wash Chang An's hands. While enjoying the service of his beloved daughter-in-law, Chang An said:

"Have you memorized the instructions?"

"My Lord, I have remembered everything."

"Then get to work! Let's finish packing all the materials here."