Opening a Tavern in the Tang Dynasty

Xiaoyu first picked up a piece of dough rolled to the right thickness and placed a ball of delicate lotus seed paste in the center of the dough.

She pinched, pressed, and rotated it gently, and the lotus seed paste was perfectly wrapped in the dough without a single gap.

"Look, when wrapping lotus seed mooncakes, you have to be gentle and the filling has to be round." Xiaoyu said as she demonstrated, her eyes full of concentration.

Yuyu followed suit. She imitated Xiaoyu, picked up a piece of dough and put red bean paste filling on it.

But her technique was still a little unfamiliar, and when she was kneading it, the red bean paste mischievously popped out a little from the side.

Yuyu stuck out her tongue, hurriedly pushed the bean paste back with her fingers, and then carefully pinched it. She looked so cute: "This bean paste seems to be harder to wrap than I thought, but I won't give up easily."

Yu Yu said with a smile, a stubborn look in her eyes.

Li Hao chose the date paste filling. He casually placed the filling on the dough and pinched it hard.

As a result, the jujube paste stuffing squeezed out from the other side, making his hands full of it: "Haha, this jujube paste stuffing is really hard to deal with."

Cheng Chumo and Qin Huaidao were not to be outdone. They watched Xiaoyu's movements carefully and slowly started wrapping mooncakes.

When Cheng Chumo was wrapping the lotus seed mooncake, his movements were as graceful as if he was painting. Every step was methodical, and soon a round lotus seed mooncake was wrapped.

He looked at his work with satisfaction and said to Qin Huaidao, "Packing mooncakes is a technical job, but it's not difficult as long as you put your heart into it."

Qin Huaidao nodded while trying hard to wrap the red bean paste into the dough, with beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.

Hua Dajiao walked over with steady steps, a kind smile on her face, her eyes full of eagerness to try: "Oh, you guys are so busy wrapping, I want to join in the fun too." As she spoke, she rolled up her sleeves.

Hua Da Jiao picked up a piece of dough, and with her rough but dexterous fingers, she gently twisted it, and made the dough smooth.

"You guys, you have to be clever when making cakes, you can't just use brute force."

Hua Da Jiao said to everyone with a smile, her eyes showing confidence. She picked up another piece of dough and prepared to wrap the red bean paste mooncakes.

Xiaoyu smiled slightly: "Haha, yes, yes, we can't just make lotus seed paste, red bean paste and jujube paste. Let me make five-nut mooncakes." As she said that, she started to work.

Xiaoyu first put the prepared five-nut filling aside. The five-nut filling contained crispy almonds, plump peach kernels, salty and fragrant melon seeds, fragrant sesame seeds and sweet peanut kernels.

She picked up a piece of rolled dough, which was soft and chewy.

After placing the five-nut filling in the middle of the dough, Xiaoyu's fingers nimbly pinched the edge of the dough. She carefully pulled the dough upwards so that each nut was firmly wrapped inside, and the folds were pinched neatly and tightly.

As her fingers moved, the outline of the five-nut mooncake gradually emerged: "This five-nut mooncake is delicious because it has enough ingredients. You can taste different flavors in every bite."

When Li Hao heard Xiaoyu's words, he hurried over and rubbed his hands excitedly: "Mom, I'm here! I haven't made these five-nut mooncakes yet."

He picked up a piece of dough and prepared to start wrapping it, imitating Xiaoyu's behavior.

Xiaoyu reminded him, "Hao'er, you have to be careful with these five-nut mooncakes. Remember to add every ingredient: almonds, peach kernels, melon seeds, sesame seeds, peanuts. Don't leave anything out. That way it will taste delicious."

Li Hao nodded seriously, his eyes fixed on the filling. He first scooped some almonds with a spoon and put them into the dough. The almonds were white and clean, emitting a faint fragrance.

Peach kernels have a unique woody aroma. Melon seeds are small and fall into the dough with a rustle. There are also sesame seeds and peanuts.

Li Hao carefully gathered the filling together and then tried to wrap the dough.

His movements were a bit clumsy. Either the dough on one side was not pinched tightly, or the filling on the other side was exposed. He was so anxious that sweat broke out on his forehead: "Mom, this five-nut mooncake looks simple, but it's really not easy to wrap it."

Li Hao worked hard to knead every piece of the dough together, wanting to make a perfect five-nut mooncake.

Hua Da Jiao looked at the table filled with all kinds of wrapped mooncakes, her face beaming. She clapped her hands and said loudly, "Alright, alright, look at these mooncakes, they're really well wrapped! These ones with lotus seed paste, red bean paste, jujube paste, and even five-nut ones, they look so tempting."

"Just waiting to be baked. I can imagine the aroma when it's baked. I'm afraid it will waft from far away."

Cheng Chumo nodded beside him, closing the fan in his hand, his face full of anticipation: "Indeed, after participating in the pastry making today, I learned that there is such a thing as mooncakes, and there are so many tricks involved in making them."

Qin Huaidao echoed, "Right, right, right. Just looking at these wrapped mooncakes, I can already see everyone sitting together on Mid-Autumn Night, savoring them and admiring the beautiful scene of the bright moon. We must hurry and get them baked so that these delicacies can be baked as soon as possible."

As he spoke, he rubbed his hands. His eager and excited look made everyone around him laugh.

As time passed, with everyone's concerted efforts, the five-nut mooncakes were finally wrapped.

Li Hao looked at the five-nut mooncakes he had wrapped, his face full of pride. He wiped the fine beads of sweat from his forehead with his hand and said to Xiaoyu with a smile, "Mom, look, I wrapped these five-nut mooncakes pretty well, right? Although I was a little clumsy at first, they look pretty good now."

Xiaoyu smiled and nodded, her eyes full of praise: "Hao'er, it's wrapped very well. This five-nut mooncake is full of ingredients. It will definitely taste delicious when it's baked."

Yuyu also came over and walked around the table, looking at the various tempting mooncakes: "Wow, our lotus seed paste, red bean paste, jujube paste, and five-nut mooncakes are all wrapped."

Hua Da Jiao watched from the side, grinning from ear to ear, and kept praising, "You guys are so skillful, each one of these is wrapped so beautifully, once they're baked, I'm sure the diners at Zuixianlou will be drooling over them."

Xiaoyu folded her arms, a gentle yet resolute smile on her face as she looked at everyone and said, "There's nothing we can do about the gluttony. We're eating these mooncakes ourselves, and we're saving some for the Emperor. We can't bear to sell them."

Yuyu nodded obediently and said, "Mom is right."

Li Hao also scratched his head and said with a smile: "That's right, we make mooncakes for fun and to share the feeling of reunion. We can't just think about making money."