After dying early, I traveled to ancient times and became a boy

The custom of eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival has a long history. China is a vast country, and each region has its own unique mooncakes.

Cantonese mooncakes feature soft crusts and rich fillings, with their salted egg yolk and lotus seed paste mooncakes being the most famous. Suzhou-style mooncakes boast crispy, fragrant crusts, with layers of texture that are most delicious. Yunnan-style mooncakes often use fresh flowers and ham, creating a unique texture. Beijing-style mooncakes are light and sweet, making them a better choice for those who don't like sweets.

Ye Xunqing prefers Suzhou-style mooncakes, which are simple to make and have a delicious crust. But Cantonese mooncakes are also good, so he decided to make both. He didn't need to participate in the mooncake factionalism, so any filling would work.

Whether it is Cantonese-style mooncakes or Suzhou-style mooncakes, the most important step is to bake the mooncakes. In this era, the baking technology is not perfect, and people still use open flames to bake food, which also leads to uneven quality of the baked goods.

Ye Xunqing's simplified oven was slightly larger during its second construction, so it could bake two trays of mooncakes at a time. Without an open flame, it ensured that the mooncakes wouldn't burn immediately.

"The core of Suzhou-style mooncakes lies in the crispy crust. If the crispy crust is not good, then the mooncake is a failure." Ye Xunqing taught Liu Xiaojing while kneading the dough. "The crispy crust is usually a mixture of water-oil dough and oil-based dough. To make a good water-oil dough, you need to be patient. First, add lard to the dough, and then knead the dough until it is very smooth."

Ye Xunqing placed a large ball of water-oil dough in front of Liu Xiaojing and said, "Pinch a little bit and knead it yourself to feel it."

Liu Xiaojing pinched it and said, "It's very smooth."

Ye Xunqing nodded, "Okay, let's put the water-oil dough here to wake up first, and then make the pastry."

The method of making the pastry for mooncakes is similar to that for pastry cakes, but mooncakes are more delicate.

Ye Xunqing placed the kneaded dough in front of Liu Xiaojing and asked, "What do you think is the difference between dough and water-based dough?"

"Water-oil dough can be stretched, but oil-pastry dough cannot be stretched." This is Liu Xiaojing's intuitive feeling.

"Yeah." Ye Xunqing was very satisfied. "Today I will teach you how to do it. Next time you will need to do it yourself."

Liu Xiaojing didn't give in. "I understand, Master."

Ye Xunqing just smiled at her new title and did not correct her.

After working hard for an entire afternoon, Ye Xunqing's mooncakes were finally out of the oven. He made mooncakes of many flavors, including sesame and red bean paste, five-nut mooncakes, and fresh meat mooncakes.

Cantonese-style mooncakes have not been made yet. He needs lotus seeds to make lotus paste, which the family does not have and cannot be bought in the village. The molds for making mooncakes also need to be made.

"We're having mooncakes tonight." Ye Xunqing and Liu Xiaojing brought two large plates of mooncakes to the table, each type of mooncake was different.

The black sesame mooncakes are sprinkled with black sesame seeds, the fresh meat mooncakes are dotted red in the middle with a pen, and the five-nut mooncakes have nothing on them.

"This one's black sesame, sweet." Liu Xiaojing introduced them one by one. "This one's five-nut, fragrant. This one's fresh meat, expensive. No, I mean fresh."

If the cook doesn't steal, the crops won't be harvested. As Ye Xunqing's kitchen assistant, Liu Xiaojing tasted all the flavors as soon as they came out of the oven, and there was nothing she didn't like.

In fact, the raw materials for mooncakes are not expensive, but the process is complicated and the labor cost is high, so they are sold so expensively.

Ye Xunqing had nothing to do, and he had so many free workers around him, so the cost of his mooncakes was reduced. However, scarcity makes things valuable, so Ye Xunqing couldn't set the price of his mooncakes too low because his target customers were not ordinary people.

Mooncakes only have a big market during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and Ye Xunqing must seize this opportunity.

"You guys eat first." Ye Xunqing took the basket to fill with mooncakes, "I'll go take the mooncakes to my aunt and the others."

Feng Jingheng took two mooncakes and ate them, "I'll go with you."

Ye Xunqing handed him the basket and said, "The basket is heavy, Ah Heng, carry it."

Feng Jingheng knew that Ye Xunqing said this on purpose, but he was happy to accept it.

Like Liu Xiaojing, Ye Xunqing was the first to eat the mooncake, so he was already full.

After explaining everything, Ye Xunqing and Feng Jingheng went out with baskets.

"Is there a carpenter in the village? I want a carpenter to help me make a few things." Ye Xunqing talked as he walked.

"Yes, I'll take you to see him tomorrow." Feng Jingheng replied.

"I want to go to Wangjia Village tomorrow morning to buy some lotus seeds from Uncle Xie." Ye Xunqing said last time that he would go to visit someone, but he hasn't gone yet. I guess the old man has forgotten him.

Feng Jingheng didn't remember who Ye Xunqing was for a moment, "If you want to eat lotus seeds, I can buy them for you."

Ye Xunqing insisted on going alone. "Didn't the village chief say that he had an appointment with people from Wangjia Village and Liujia Village to discuss something tomorrow? You go with the village chief, and I'll take Xiaoyan and Xiaobai with me."

Feng Jingheng agreed, "Okay, be careful and run away if you see bad guys."

Ye Xunqing raised his arms and said confidently, "I've been exercising recently and I'm already pretty good."

Feng Jingheng remembered that he liked to beat people with a whip, so he said, "Take the whip with you when you go out, so as not to encounter any danger."

Ye Xunqing did not refuse, "Okay, I understand."

They first went to the village chief's house to deliver mooncakes, and by the way, asked Wang Qiumei what kind of mooncake fillings people in Yutong Town liked to eat.

Wang Qiumei replied, "There are mostly ones with mung bean and red bean fillings, as well as ones with green and red shredded walnut fillings. There are also ones with meat fillings sold in town, but they are not as fragrant as yours." She liked the crispy mooncakes made by Ye Xunqing very much. When she took a bite, not only was it full of fillings, but the skin was also crispy and fragrant. She really wanted to stuff it into her mouth.

"Xunqing, do you have any mooncakes left?" Wang Qiumei wanted to take advantage of her proximity. "I want to buy some to send back to my parents' home for my old lady to try. Can you sell me a few?"

The mooncakes sold in town are not only not as delicious as this one, but also very hard. Not to mention an old lady, even a grown man would have difficulty biting them.

"No problem." Ye Xunqing set the price. "Auntie, the fresh meat mooncakes are 15 cents each, and the other two are 10 cents each. If you want to buy them, I'll charge you 10 cents each."

Wang Qiumei had no objection to the price. After all, it was delicious and different from the cheap ones sold on the street.

"If you say so, I'll buy meat." Wang Qiumei joked.

"If Auntie really wants it, I'll give it to her for free." Ye Xunqing also joked with her, "But if Auntie decides to take it, you have to tell me in advance. I will make as much as you want, so as not to waste too much."

"Okay." Wang Qiumei confirmed the number. "Prepare fifteen for me, five of each."

Ye Xunqing took note of it and said, "Okay, okay. When does Auntie want it?"

"I want it on the 14th." Wang Qiumei confirmed the time, "Send it to me on the 13th. I have to go back to my parents' home on the 14th."

"Okay, I'll take note." Ye Xunqing took the deposit from Wang Qiumei, and the first order was taken. Wang Qiumei also said that she would introduce him to a few more people, and Ye Xunqing had no objection. If nothing unexpected happened, Ye Xunqing would have to make mooncakes every day for the next period of time.