My Lord, my wife said she doesn't have time to talk to you.

The next day, Huaying got up early in the morning and started to work. She carried glutinous rice and asked Aunt Zhang about the location of the stone mill in the village, preparing to grind glutinous rice into flour.

Before I had walked far, I saw Dongqing coming towards me with a pile of books.

He saw that Huaying's round face had become thinner and her nose was taller. When he learned that she was going to grind rice flour, he gave the book to Aunt Zhang who was standing at the door and looking at them with a smile.

Huaying smiled and said, "Brother Dongqing, I have discovered that whenever I have physical work to do, you come back." Dongqing's hearty laughter came, "That's good, just treat it as exercise."

At the village's millstone, Huaying followed Dongqing to learn how to turn the millstone more easily. A few women passing by saw Dongqing and joked, "You two are really like that word in the book... What's it called?"

Another woman said, "A talented man and a beautiful woman." Several people laughed.

Dongqing's face turned red. Huaying lowered her head and swept the rice flour, pretending she didn't hear anything. The two of them quickly ground the rice flour and returned home.

Boil water and cook the brown rice, glutinous rice and various beans that have been soaked overnight. Put them in a bowl and add the chopped red dates.

Add glutinous rice flour and sugar while stirring. When it feels almost done, roll it into balls. Coat the surface with glutinous rice flour and then coat it with another layer of water. Finally, steam it for half an hour.

Fu Shiyan smelled a faint bean fragrance in the room. When he came out, he saw Huaying busy in the kitchen. She had a remade apron tied around her waist and a few strands of hair hanging down in front of her forehead, making her look even more delicate against her pink and clean little face.

Huaying carefully opened the steamer and knew she had succeeded when she saw the round and crystal clear sticky rice dumplings.

She happily shouted, "Fu Shiyan, come and see, the sticky rice dumplings are ready."

He had never seen this kind of dessert before, and it was the first time he heard of this name. Huaying handed him one. He took a bite and found it sweet but not greasy. The fragrance of glutinous rice was wrapped in the bean paste that melted in the mouth. It tasted good.

Huaying knew it was delicious from his expression, so she asked me what would be a reasonable price for it in town.

Without waiting for Fu Shiyan to speak, Huaying turned back to her room, picked up a pen and paper, calculated the silver needed to buy the beans and the time and effort spent, and finally set the price at fifteen cents per bean.

Huaying took a few more to Aunt Zhang's house, and Aunt Zhang and her family kept saying that they were delicious. Dongqing looked at the sticky rice dumplings in his hand and couldn't tell that they were made from the rice flour ground in the morning.

Huaying placed the sticky rice dumplings layer by layer in a round wooden box and went to Wufangzhai in the town with it.

She was greeted by the shop assistant. After she explained her purpose, the assistant called the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper was a middle-aged man of medium build and plain appearance. He had a pair of smiling eyes that sparkled brightly. Upon learning the purpose of Huaying's visit, he picked up a sticky rice dumpling and started to taste it.

The taste was much lighter than the desserts in the store. It was also the first time for him to taste dessert made in this way. It was a bit novel, so he asked Huaying how many of them there were in the store and ordered them all.

Huaying thought that as long as the dessert master tasted it carefully and tried it a few times, he would be able to make it properly. By then, she would be in a difficult position in selling these sticky rice dumplings.

Then he changed his mind and said, "I'll sell the recipe to you exclusively, for 100 taels. Once the corn and hawthorns are available, we can make three flavors."

"Fifty taels at most. I'm just trying this for fun." The boss replied after taking a sip of tea.

"Sorry to bother you. I'll go to Xiangye Garden to ask. I think green tea with crystal buns will be a good snack." Huaying closed the lid and turned to leave.

"Wait a minute, young lady. It's eighty taels." It's a one-off dessert, and eighty taels is worth it when it's packaged.

"One hundred taels, shopkeeper, you know I didn't ask for too much. It has many other improvements, not just this one."

The shopkeeper looked at the girl's lively eyes, and could not help but admire her for being an extraordinary woman, as she was only sixteen or seventeen years old but had a clear mind.

"Okay, one hundred taels." The shopkeeper went to get the banknotes, paper and pen, and Huaying wrote down the steps and time in great detail.

After saying goodbye to her boss, Huaying slowly loosened her clenched hands. Her calmness just now was all forced, but it was a success.