Ties of Love, Ruan Wan

"What are you thinking? I'm thinking that it would be too boring for just a few of us to celebrate the New Year in such a big house. I was thinking that we could close the door and celebrate the New Year together, regardless of whether we're masters or servants."

Lou Qianyuan smiled and said, "That would be great, but I'm afraid Uncle Li won't agree."

"As the current mistress of the Lou family, can I ask him to agree?"

Lou Qianyuan stared at Ruan Wan, unable to believe that these words actually came from her mouth.

Lou Qianyuan was overjoyed and said, "Of course! I was a little embarrassed to talk to him myself, since he raised me. If you speak for him, Uncle Li won't dare to object."

Ruan Wan smiled and said, "Then it's settled. I'll make the arrangements."

Meanwhile, in the Seventh Prince's residence, Rong Yufen, who had been married into the family for more than half a month, finally consummated her marriage with Xia Changfeng.

Rong Yufen nestled shyly in Xia Changfeng's arms, her face flushed with spring-like joy. Xia Changfeng had ignored her for half a month, and she was heartbroken.

Moreover, Rong Yufen learned from Linglong that Xia Changfeng was ignoring her because her second aunt had stood up for her at the dinner table.

This is why Xia Changfeng has ignored her for so long, and his hatred for Ruan Wan has only intensified.

Xia Changfeng's eyes were vacant. If it weren't for the fact that the New Year was just around the corner, and that General Rong had come in person today to offer some subtle advice, he would have been disappointed.

Xia Changfeng wanted to leave her hanging for a while, so she would know the consequences of offending Xiaozhu.

And today, I was originally planning to go celebrate Lou Qianyuan's birthday, but after thinking about it, I decided against it.

Xia Changfeng was afraid that if he saw the two of them being affectionate in person, he wouldn't be able to control himself.

Starting from the 25th, Ruan Wan began preparing for the New Year.

Ruan Wan originally wanted to go to the street to buy some things needed for the New Year herself, since her family only had some wild mountain products.

Qiu Shuang stepped in front of her, saying, "Miss, what noble lady would personally go to the street to buy New Year's goods? You are now the wife of the heir apparent; you cannot casually show your face in public."

Ruan Wan scoffed. She had already shown it to everyone when she attended Xia Changfeng's wedding and when she went to Zhenbaofang to buy things.

It's simply to prevent the poor, the so-called "lower nine classes," from seeing it.

However, these nobles and royalty did not watch the play through the curtain.

So these rules are only in effect when you need them, and can be ignored when you don't.

However, in order to shut Uncle Li up, Ruan Wan still wrote out a list and had Qiu Shuang give it to Cui Mo and the others so they could buy it.

Ruan Wan and Qiu Shuang, on the other hand, started to think about those practical items.

The two women rushed into the kitchen, where the housekeeper greeted them with a smile, "Young Madam, is there anything I can do for you?"

Ruan Wan smiled and said, "You don't need to worry about me. Just go about your own business. I'm going to check on the storeroom."

"If there's anything you need, young mistress, please let me know."

Ruan Wan went straight to the warehouse, and Qiu Shuang opened the five burlap sacks containing dried goods.

Hazelnuts, chestnuts, peanuts, pine nuts, walnuts.

Ruan Wan looked at these things, pacing back and forth, thinking about what kind of tricks she could make with them.

After figuring out how to utilize this valuable information, Ruan Wan began to put it into practice.

Qiu Shuang used a small stone mill to grind hazelnuts into a paste, while Ruan Wan peeled chestnuts.

The two women were busy in the courtyard. After a while, Aunt Fang and Aunt Li gathered around, stood aside to watch, and whispered among themselves.

They had all eaten the birthday feast that Ruan Wan made yesterday. Not to mention that it tasted much better than what they could make, they had never even seen the style before.

So today, Ruan Wan came to the kitchen to work again, and they all wanted to see what new things the all-powerful young mistress was going to make.

Besides making roasted chestnuts, what else can you do with chestnuts? But you don't need to peel them when making roasted chestnuts.

Hazelnuts can be eaten raw, stir-fried, or added to desserts; I've never seen them ground into a paste.

Looking at the five cooks beside her, who were idling around anyway, Ruan Wan instructed, "Sister-in-law Fang, go and shell the peanuts and walnuts, and sort through the pine nuts as well."

The housekeeper's wife immediately led them to the warehouse and carried out the remaining sacks.

Several people divided the work of processing these dry goods.

Rinse the peeled chestnuts with water, then boil water and simmer the chestnuts and rock sugar together until the chestnuts are soft. Seal the chestnuts and sugar water together in a jar.

Next, they processed the hazelnut paste. Qiu Shuang wasn't very good at starting a fire, so Fang Saozi took her place.

Ruan Wan poured the hazelnut paste into the pot and said to her sister-in-law, "Sister-in-law, keep the heat low the whole time."

"Yes, young mistress."

Ruan Wan scooped in a large spoonful of lard and began to stir the hazelnut paste quickly.

This huge pot of hazelnut paste was really tiring; Ruan Wan's forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat.

Sister-in-law Zhuang stepped forward with a smile and said, "Young Madam, why don't you let this old servant cook it? You can just watch from the side."

Ruan Wan's arm was getting quite sore, so she handed the spatula to Sister Zhuang and said with a smile, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Sister Zhuang."

"No, it's our duty."

"Sister-in-law, you have to keep stirring the pan constantly, you can't let it burn. We'll take turns stirring, and when you get tired, we'll switch."

Sister Li and the others immediately stepped forward and said, "Yes, if you get tired of cooking, we can take over."

Sister-in-law Zhuang laughed and said, "How could I get tired so easily? How could I not have to cook for more than thirty people every day?"

As the water in the pot decreased, the raw, astringent taste of the hazelnuts evaporated with each stir-fry, leaving only the unique aroma of hazelnuts.

As expected of a seasoned cook, Sister Fang kept the heat low the whole time, and nothing in the pot burned.

Ruan Wan kept her eyes fixed on the pot, and slowly saw the lard separate out, with a layer of oil jumping around the edge of the pot. She immediately poured in a jar of maple syrup.

Li's wife, who was standing to the side, was stunned. She wanted to speak but didn't dare to say anything, because maple syrup was expensive, more than ten times more expensive than honey.

However, considering the young master's doting affection for his young mistress, he would bring over not just maple syrup, but mountains of gold and silver.

Soon, a sweet aroma, accompanied by the fragrance of hazelnuts, filled the entire kitchen. Even the sisters-in-law, who were used to seeing this, couldn't help but swallow their saliva.

It smells so sweet.

Seeing that the hazelnut paste had turned a glossy brown color, Ruan Wan hurriedly asked Sister Zhuang to scoop out the paste.

Ruan Wan instructed, "Sister Li, go and watch this jam. If it's cool enough to handle, come and let me know immediately."

After receiving instructions, Sister Li carried a basin of jam out.

Ruan Wan then said to Sister-in-law Fang, "Sister-in-law, you can turn the fire up a little, I'm going to fry some peanuts."

The Zhuang sisters-in-law also roast peanuts every year. The peanuts that the young mistress had when she entered the house were also roasted by them, but why did they remove the shells?

Ruan Wan poured a large bowl of peanuts into the container, and Sister Zhuang, who was standing nearby, asked, "Don't you need to add sand?"

Ruan Wan smiled and shook her head. "No need to put it in; you can't put it in once you peel it."

Sister Liu stepped forward and took the spatula from Ruan Wan's hand, smiling as she said, "I'll do this. Just stir-fry it until it's cooked and fragrant, right?"

Ruan Wan smiled and nodded, "Yes, the outer red skin can be easily rubbed off."

Looking at the steam rising from the pot, Sister Liu called out to Sister Fang, "Turn the fire down! It was fine just now, but it got bigger as soon as I took over. Are you doing this on purpose?"

Sister-in-law Fang laughed and said, "Adding new firewood naturally makes the fire bigger. You've been overcooking the rice, don't you even know that? If the fire is bigger, you can stir-fry it faster."

The kitchen was filled with laughter and chatter; everyone got along well, just like a family preparing for the New Year.

Just then, Sister Li ran in smiling, "Young Madam, the hazelnut jam is no longer hot!"

Ruan Wan immediately went outside, and Aunt Liu's eyes followed her out. Aunt Fang hurriedly scolded, "Look, put it in the pot! Don't burn the madam's peanuts!"

Ruan Wan touched it and found it was no longer hot. She said to Qiu Shuang and Sister Li beside her, "Let's roll these jams into balls the size of fingernails while they're still warm."

The three of them gathered around a large porcelain basin to roll the meatballs together. It was Li's sister-in-law who was quick; she could roll three meatballs at a time without getting burned.

Aunt Liu ran out and called out, "Madam, the peanuts are ready! Would you like to take a look?"

Ruan Wan didn't stop what she was doing. She turned around and said, "If my sister-in-law says it's ready, then it must be ready. Just take it out and let it cool. Next, we can roast the walnuts too."

When Ruan Wan and the others finished making the meatballs and returned to the kitchen, Sister Zhuang and Sister Fang were chatting about something and laughing unrestrainedly.

Ruan Wan asked with a smile, "What are you chatting about? You seem to be having a lot of fun."

Sister-in-law Fang laughed and said, "We'll talk about it later. Luckily, the young master married you, Madam. You're beautiful, kind-hearted, and treat us like human beings. If he had married Miss Cousin, we'd probably have to save up to buy our freedom."

Sun Shiren is a bit arrogant, and she was a little extreme in dealing with Lou Qianyuan's matter, but she seems to treat the two maids around her fairly well. Are they really that bad?

Ruan Wan smiled and asked, "Is Miss Biao very strict with her servants?"

Sister Liu laughed and said, "No matter how late it is at night, if she wants to eat something, we have to get up and serve her. And it has to be all five of us eating together, a whole table of food for one person."

Sister-in-law Li sighed and said, "Madam, you don't know, Miss always asks us to cook greasy and meaty dishes for her two maids. She herself is very picky, refusing to eat this or that, and we have to cook the same meal over and over again."

Aunt Fang glanced at the door and said, "It's all because Butler Li spoils her; that's why she's so lawless."

"Fortunately, you've married into this family and become the mistress of the house. The other night, A-Qiao came over asking for food, but I refused, and they didn't dare utter a single word."

Ruan Wan was about to say that at least they should prepare food for the other person.

The housekeeper's wife immediately added, "Madam, you know what she wants to eat. She wants to roast the roe deer that was sent from your estate. It's the middle of the night, and she wants to roast a whole roe deer to eat."

Ruan Wan was stunned. Could a human being say such a thing?

Sister-in-law Zhuang, hands on her hips, mimicked the scene from that night, saying with great enthusiasm, "I said, 'This is Madam's private property. If you want to eat it, you must first get Madam's permission.' Then his mother slunk away."

Everyone burst into laughter.

They were genuinely happy. The new lady had saved Fang Saozi's life, and she was also humble and unpretentious. She even gave them a day off and prepared food for the prince's birthday.

She can even manage Miss Biao's affairs; she's practically a goddess descended to earth.

Ruan Wan glanced at the roasted peanuts; they were completely crisp, and the red skins crumbled at the slightest touch.

Ruan Wan said to Sister Liu, "Sister, remove these outer skins, divide them into two basins, and crush them in one basin."

Ruan Wan then looked at Sister-in-law Fang and asked, "Sister-in-law, where is the flour?"

Sister-in-law Fang immediately stood up from the stove doorway, smiling, and said, "I'll go get it from the storeroom."

"Could someone go and get me some Sichuan peppercorns, bay leaves, and star anise?"

Sister-in-law Li immediately ran out, shouting, "I'll go, I'll go!"

Ruan Wan stir-fried the spices until cooked, then had Qiu Shuang grind them into powder using a mortar and pestle, while Fang Saozi brought out the flour.

Ruan Wan mixed the spice powder into the flour, added salt, and then water to make a batter. She then added shelled peanuts and fried them in oil.

As the golden peanuts floated to the surface, everyone was overwhelmed by their aroma.

A plateful was scooped out, and everyone gathered around. Sister Li exclaimed, "It smells so good!"

Ruan Wan smiled and said, "Everyone should try some. They're best when they're freshly fried."

No one dared to make a move. Ruan Wan handed the plate to Qiu Shuang, who picked up a piece and popped it into her mouth. The crisp sound was particularly pleasant.