Traveling to an ancient peasant family: I got rich by doing business

Three people came from the East Palace, a nanny and two guards.

The nanny smiled kindly, "Madam Li, the Crown Princess asked me to bring you some food and daily necessities."

As soon as he finished speaking, the guard placed two food boxes and a small wooden box on the table in the main room.

"In the box are mooncakes and snacks made by the palace chef, and in the box are some pearl hairpins and jewelry selected by the Crown Princess herself."

Li Yu immediately thanked the Crown Princess for the reward.

Seeing that she was neither humble nor arrogant, the nanny thought to herself that it was no wonder that the Crown Princess, who was obviously very busy, still remembered her and personally selected things for them to deliver.

*

Thinking this in her mind, Mammy looked around calmly.

The house that Your Majesty rewarded me with is really nice. It is 80% new, spacious and bright inside, and it is comfortable to look at.

Seeing the molds on the table, Madam asked, "Madam Li, are you going to make some snacks?"

Li Yu hummed, "I plan to make some mooncakes."

The nanny took the mold and looked at it. "Look at the thickness. Could it be that Madam Li is also going to make the mooncakes with egg yolk and lotus seed paste that have been popular in the capital these past two years?"

Last year, a kind of mooncake with egg yolk and lotus seed paste filling became popular in Beijing and was quite popular. The imperial chefs in the imperial kitchen also made a lot of it.

"Not really. I want to make some with fruit and meat fillings." Li Yu told the truth.

It was the first time that Nanny heard about fruit mooncakes and was surprised: "Using fruit as filling?"

Li Yu: “Yes.”

Madam thought for a moment and asked, "Madam Li, do you have any freshly made fruit mooncakes?"

Li Yu: "It hasn't started yet. If you need it, Madam, I'll make it this afternoon and have someone send some to you."

The nanny was not polite and said, "Then I'll trouble you, Madam Li. However, fruits are expensive in the capital right now. If you need any, just tell me and I'll send them to you."

Li Yu thanked him with a smile.

*

Before leaving, Madam told Li Yu how to find her, "Madam, go to Danyang Gate and look for the imperial guard named Shi. He is my nephew from my mother's family and he happens to be guarding the gate today. When the time comes, find him and tell him your name, and he will help pass on the message."

Li Yu agreed.

Only then did the nanny leave with peace of mind.

Li Yu looked at the food given by the Eastern Palace. The mooncakes were filled with lotus seed paste, egg yolk and five nuts, and the snacks included mung bean cakes, osmanthus cakes, water chestnut cakes and hazelnut cakes.

There were more than a dozen pieces of jewelry in the wooden box. All of the styles were popular in Beijing and both she and Han Xiaomei could wear them.

After asking Han Xiaomei to look at them, she put them together with the previous hairpins and rings, and Li Yu went back to the yard to continue working.

*

The oven is not difficult to make. Li Yu put out the blueprint he had drawn in advance and followed the steps above.

After just a quarter of an hour, Fang's father suddenly said that he could build it. "Boss, when I was at home, I did all the housework. I think I can build the oven you need."

Li Yu looked at the blueprint, then at Father Fang, and stood up and said, "Then you come, I'll do other things."

Since there was help available, she used it.

*

Leaving the job of covering the oven to Fang's father and Lu Xuan, Li Yu called Si'er, Han Xiaomei, Fang's mother and Fang Erya to help her make mooncakes.

First, the meat filling. Li Yu planned to make mooncakes with bacon filling. He took out two pieces of bacon made during the Chinese New Year, washed them, cut them into slices, and soaked them in clean water.

Because the soaking process will last for half an hour, Li Yu used his free time to find the winter melon and peaches he had bought in advance and started making the fruit filling.

In modern times, for quite a long time, Li Yu thought that fruit fillings were really made of fruit. Later, he discovered that most fruit fillings were actually winter melon fillings. Conscientious merchants would add a quarter or more of fruit to the winter melon fillings, while unscrupulous merchants would directly add flavors and pigments to the winter melon fillings, with almost no fruit.

Hearing the popular science voice that he had heard in modern times, Li Yu shook his head, peeled the winter melon, cut it into small pieces, and mashed it in a stone mortar. Then he put the winter melon paste into gauze to filter out the water.

This was a strenuous job, so Li Yu called on Madam Mu for help.

The peach filling she made today needed to use winter melon as the base filling, otherwise it would not be possible to make a ball with only peaches.

*

Li Yu was busy, and Han Xiaomei was not idle either.

She and Fang Erya peeled and washed all the peaches, cut them into pieces, and finally Fang's mother made peach jam according to Li Yu's instructions.

Si'er sat in front of the stove and made a fire.

Several people were busy according to Li Yu's division of labor. Half an hour later, Li Yu put the soaked bacon slices on a plate and steamed it. After another quarter of an hour, he cut the bacon into cubes, added fried flour, sugar, lard and honey, stirred and kneaded it, and the bacon filling was ready.

Another half an hour later, the peach filling was ready.

Thinking it was almost done, Li Yu called Madam Mu and asked her to make the mooncake skin with him.

When making mooncakes this time, she did not avoid the people who bought them.

She wasn't too worried, because the indentures of these people were in her hands. If they had any brains, they wouldn't tell anyone about it.

*

It is indeed much faster to make mooncakes with a few people.

A quarter of an hour after noon, Li Yu tasted the freshly-made mooncakes.

It was still made in a frying pan. Although Father Fang spent a whole morning making the oven that Li Yu wanted, it had just been made and could only be used tomorrow.

"One for each person, everyone try it first. If you want to eat it, we'll make it tomorrow." Li Yu gave one to each of them, then kept a few and divided the rest into four portions.

There were two copies in the East Palace, one larger copy was given to the Crown Princess, and one smaller copy was given to the maid who came to deliver the gifts today. The other two copies were sent one to Prince An's Mansion and one to the Su family.

Since these families are relatively important, Li Yu went to deliver them personally.

After wrapping the mooncakes, Li Yu changed into clean clothes, re-combed her hair, and prepared to go out.

Before leaving, Madam Mu called her.

Li Yu turned around: "What's the matter?"

Madam Mu said, "Mid-Autumn Festival is not here yet, the boss must still be making mooncakes. Since we have nothing to do, why don't we make some fillings."

Li Yu thought it was okay, and said, "You guys go ahead and make it. Don't worry about the bacon stuffing. You can go out and buy some winter melon first." She paused, and then reminded, "Also, you should all know that the two stuffings I made today are not available outside for the time being, so don't tell anyone."

"Don't worry, sir." Madam Mu said, "We know what to say and what not to say."

Li Yu nodded and went out.

*

Li Yu planned to go to the East Palace first to deliver it.

It’s not that she doesn’t care about Mr. Su and Princess Jianing, but the Eastern Palace has the highest position, so it’s best to go there first to avoid leaving any handle.

The carriage stopped outside Danyang Gate. Li Yu asked Lu Xuan to wait while she went forward to find Shi Jinjun.

As soon as I said the word "Excuse me", a young man in his early twenties spoke up, "Is that Madam Li in front?"

Li Yu said: "Yes."

The young man said, "My surname is Shi. Madam Li, please wait a moment. I will ask someone to invite Madam Shi over."

Li Yu agreed and stood back beside the carriage to wait.

After waiting for nearly two quarters of an hour, Nanny Shi finally showed up.