After a male student transmigrated into the body of a widow,

Xiao Cui took out mooncakes from the food box. The golden and round mooncakes were specially placed on a white porcelain plate. Each one was about the size of a woman's palm. Because they were fresh out of the oven, Gu Lin could smell the unique sweet aroma of mooncakes even though he hadn't eaten any.

Xiao Cui placed the white porcelain plate in front of the young man and said to Gu Lin, "Uncle Gu, please have a taste."

However, Gu Lin lowered his eyes and stared at the mooncake for a long time without touching it. As he watched her slowly furrow her brows, Xiao Cui pursed her lips, and the faint hope in her eyes dimmed.

After a moment, Gu Lin looked up at Xiao Cui, his mouth slightly open. Xiao Cui clenched her hands in her sleeves, waiting for his criticism.

Gu Lin said, "Could you go to the kitchen and get me a bamboo knife to cut the mooncakes?"

"Ok?"

As soon as Gu Lin finished speaking, Lin Xiaoyao and Xiao Cui turned their heads. They thought they had misheard, but seeing the young man's expression, which didn't seem to be joking, they realized they hadn't misheard.

However, after eating mooncakes for so many years, they had never heard of cutting them open and sharing them.

Noticing the change in the expressions of the two people opposite him, Gu Lin felt a little helpless. First of all, the mooncakes were delicious, and secondly, he was from the south. Even after eating half of a mooncake the size of an adult woman's palm, his throat was almost choked by the sweetness.

Speaking of cutting mooncakes, Gu Lin recalled his first Mid-Autumn Festival after he came into this world. Because his family was poor and he had just arrived in an unfamiliar environment, he didn't feel like celebrating the festival, so he didn't prepare any mooncakes.

However, on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhao's three sisters came to their door to deliver mooncakes. By then, Gu Lin had become familiar with Zhao's family and found it hard to refuse their kindness. So the two families sat together in the Zheng family's courtyard to enjoy the moon and eat mooncakes.

Gu Lin grew up in the south, so he didn't know about the northern custom of eating mooncakes.

So he got up, went to the kitchen to get a bamboo knife, and then went to the yard. To the astonishment of Zhao's wife and the others, he cut the already small mooncake into pieces about the size of a fingertip. Then he looked up at Zhao's wife and the others and asked, "The mooncake is cut. Sisters, you can eat it."

Looking at the young man's thin, fair face, and recalling how he had cut the mooncake earlier, Sister Zhao's eyes were filled with complex emotions, and upon closer inspection, a hint of heartache was also evident.

She said to Gu Lin, "Brother Lin, let's each have a mooncake, you don't need to worry about us not having enough to eat."

Only then did Gu Lin belatedly realize that he seemed to have done something wrong.

He turned his head and glanced at the other three. From Zheng Hao to Uncle Zhao, each of them had a mooncake in their hand. Among them, Zhao Dagen, who ate the fastest, had already finished half a mooncake.

Then, Gu Lin turned to look at the pity on Zhao's face and immediately understood what she had misunderstood.

Thinking back to the many funny things he did when he first arrived, Gu Lin couldn't help but shake his head and laugh.

Although she didn't understand why Gu Lin wanted to use a bamboo knife to cut the mooncake, Lin Xiaoyao still got up and went to the kitchen to get the bamboo knife.

Taking the bamboo knife, Gu Lin, under the still uncomfortably surprised expressions and gazes of Lin Xiaoyao and Xiao Cui, picked up the mooncake and placed it on an empty porcelain plate, then began to cut the round mooncake.

The bamboo knife, though thin, was still sharp. It sliced ​​the smooth surface of the mooncake one cut at a time, and soon the mooncake was divided into small pieces.

Gu Lin pushed the sliced ​​mooncakes in front of the two of them and said, "Come and try them while they're hot."

Lin Xiaoyao and Xiao Cui didn't react, still staring at the unfamiliar yet familiar mooncakes on the disk. Gu Lin picked up a mooncake and ate it. The rich and delicate lotus seed paste entered his mouth, sweet but not cloying. Then, the slightly salty and sandy egg yolk danced on his taste buds. After eating red bean paste mooncakes and five-nut mooncakes for several years, Gu Lin felt that his tongue had been saved.

Watching the young man savor the mooncake, Xiao Cui snapped out of her reverie. She observed what kind of filling he was eating and then said, "Uncle Gu, you are eating a lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk mooncake. The lotus seed paste is made from lotus seeds that I bought from the dried goods store, and the salted egg yolk is made by our restaurant itself."

Lin Xiaoyao added from the side, "We're only making these for ourselves now, so we don't need many salted egg yolks. We can use our own salted duck eggs. But if we start selling mooncakes later, we'll have to find a supplier."

Upon hearing Lin Xiaoyao's words, Gu Lin, though not agreeing to sell mooncakes, nodded in agreement with her idea.

Then he considered the feasibility of selling mooncakes. The ingredients for rose bean paste mooncakes were not difficult to obtain; dried roses could be bought from dried goods stores. However, the salted duck eggs used to make custard lava mooncakes and lotus seed paste with salted egg yolk mooncakes were not easy to buy.

Although there are shops selling salted duck eggs in the prefectural city, there are very few of them, far fewer than those selling chicken eggs. If they want to start a mooncake business, they first need to find several salted duck egg suppliers. Otherwise, let alone selling mooncakes, it would be a problem whether they can even make mooncakes at all.

While Gu Lin was eating the lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk mooncake, Xiao Cui started cutting up the custard lava mooncake and the rose bean paste mooncake.

Gu Lin picked up the mooncakes and tasted them. Although he liked sweets, he didn't like overly sweet pastries. The mooncakes made by Xiao Cui were just right, not too sweet and not too bland.

Gu Lin tasted all three types of mooncakes in turn.

Among them, the red bean paste mooncake has a delicate and soft red bean paste with a rose fragrance that is rich and tempting; the lotus seed paste and egg yolk mooncake has a rich and delicate lotus seed paste with a sandy and oily egg yolk; and the custard lava mooncake has a mesmerizing blend of milk and egg yolk.

Of the three types of mooncakes, Gu Lin's favorite is the custard lava mooncake, which has a slightly salty and savory flavor mixed with rich milky taste.

Gu Lin shared his opinion on the mooncakes, and Lin Xiaoyao said, "Although these three types of mooncakes have different flavors, they are all delicious. The fillings are all made by Xiao Cui herself, so they are fresh and delicate. Most importantly, I have never heard of these three flavors of mooncakes in the city. Among them, the custard lava mooncake is something I have never heard of before."

Unlike the other person who was tasting these three kinds of mooncakes for the first time, Gu Lin, although he was poor in the past, had the opportunity to taste all the flavors of mooncakes. It was then that he learned that mooncakes could also be savory.

Although Xiao Cui's mooncakes weren't as rich in flavor as modern mooncakes due to limitations in ingredients, Gu Lin felt they were about 70% similar. If he hadn't known beforehand that the mooncakes in front of him were made by Xiao Cui herself, Gu Lin would have thought they were made by a master chef with decades of experience in making pastries.

Gu Lin pondered for a moment, then looked up at Xiao Cui and said, "You made the mooncakes. No one knows the process of purchasing ingredients and making them better than you. I'm entrusting you with the responsibility of selling the mooncakes. Are you confident in taking on the task?"

As soon as Gu Lin finished speaking, Xiao Cui's sullen face visibly froze, but soon, under the young man's clear and bright eyes, Xiao Cui's dull expression gradually became firm as she said, "I have confidence, boss, I will do everything well."

Xiao Cui had never taken on such an important task before, but she would never forget the scene when she first approached Uncle Gu to ask to work at Haoyunlou and made a silent promise in her heart. Now that Uncle Gu trusted her and gave her this opportunity, Xiao Cui would not miss it.

Looking at the girl in front of him, who was usually introverted but acted decisively, Gu Lin said with certainty, "I believe in you and trust your own judgment. Since I have entrusted the matter of selling mooncakes to you, I will not interfere before the fifteenth of September."

"Thank you, boss. I won't let you down."

Xiao Cui's numb heart was stirred by Gu Lin's trust in her.

She will not let the other party down.

.

Good Luck Building.

With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, the number of diners at Haoyunlou Restaurant has noticeably decreased.

Mid-Autumn Festival is a day for family reunion. In the past, the traveling merchants who had spent money at Haoyunlou had already taken their carriages home in advance, while the gentlemen and young masters in the city had to return to their mansions to prepare for the ancestral worship on the day of Mid-Autumn Festival.

Therefore, compared to the usual bustling crowds, Good Fortune Tower is quite deserted at this moment.

However, this is only in comparison to the past when it was called Hao Yun Lou. Compared to other restaurants, Hao Yun Lou's business is not bad at all.

Today, diners at Haoyunlou noticed that the waist-high potted plant that used to be placed next to the counter in the lobby is gone. Now, a counter has been placed in that spot, and a young woman is standing behind the counter.

The diners were very curious about the counter that had appeared out of nowhere. They walked to the counter in a scattered manner and saw the mooncakes displayed on it when they lowered their eyes slightly.

Golden and round, it is engraved with auspicious patterns such as "flowers in full bloom and the moon in full bloom".

These diners were all regulars at Haoyunlou Restaurant. After seeing the mooncakes, they turned to Lin Xiaoyao, who was standing behind the counter next door, and asked, "Manager Lin, is Haoyunlou going to sell mooncakes now?"

The customer's tone was slightly teasing, but Lin Xiaoyao didn't mind and readily replied, "These are new flavored mooncakes developed by our head chef at Haoyunlou. There are some cut ones on the counter. You can try them and give us some suggestions later."

It was Gu Lin's idea to say that the mooncakes were invented by the master chef. If he were the one who created all the new and interesting things in the restaurant, even the most oblivious person would notice something was amiss.

Moreover, he only mentioned the mooncake casually; it was Xiao Cui who actually made it. He wanted to give the title to Xiao Cui, but she refused.

The diners found Lin Xiaoyao's words comforting and thoughtful. One diner even said, "Your restaurant is so generous and considerate. Whenever you make something delicious, you let us try it first and you listen to our opinions. You mentioned that the boiled fish was too spicy, so you made improvements and now offer a mild version. No wonder your restaurant does better business than others."

Xiao Cui took out bamboo skewers and distributed them to the diners in front of her. She then picked up a bamboo knife and cut the mooncakes into pieces, placing them in front of them and saying, "These are rose bean paste mooncakes, lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk mooncakes, and custard lava mooncakes, respectively."

As Xiao Cui explained the mooncakes, the diners used bamboo skewers to pick them up and put them in their mouths to taste.

As the golden, thin, and soft mooncake enters the mouth, diners first experience the sweet crust. Unlike the flaky and crumbly crusts of the past, the mooncakes in front of them are soft and smooth, without any of the roughness that used to irritate the throat.

Immediately afterwards, the diners tasted a mooncake unlike any they had ever eaten before.

The rose red bean paste mooncake is rich in rose fragrance. Paired with red bean paste, even though several diners who originally did not like such sweet mooncakes did not mind the richness of the red bean paste mooncake and ate it all.

Meanwhile, lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk mooncakes and custard lava mooncakes were even more popular.

In the past, diners either ate savory or sweet mooncakes. They had never tasted these two kinds of fragrant, sweet and savory mooncakes before. Several older diners did not like these pastries, but after tasting the mooncakes in front of them, their eyes involuntarily fell on the mooncakes on the counter.

The customer who first teased Haoyunlou about their mooncakes shook his head and chuckled slightly as he said to Xiaocui, "I really underestimated Haoyunlou. I don't know where your owner hired the pastry chef, but the mooncakes you make are even better than those from pastry shops."

Xiao Cui said, "It is a blessing for Good Fortune Restaurant that you enjoy your meal."

Upon hearing this, the diner chuckled again. He knew that the owner of Good Fortune Restaurant was a male entertainer. He didn't discriminate between male and female entertainers when hiring, and he dared to use anyone with talent who could stand on their own. Manager Lin was one, and the young girl in front of him was probably one too.

The diners sighed slightly, thinking that it was no wonder that such a capable and magnanimous man could make the restaurant grow bigger and bigger; they, the old folks, had no reason to lose.

The customer smiled and said, "Your mooncakes are made fresh every day. The Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon, and I would like to order some mooncakes from you."

On the first order, Xiao Cui said to the customer, "Our Lucky House mooncakes are freshly baked every day. We don't accept any that have been left overnight. If you want to order mooncakes, you can place your order now, and we will make them and you can send someone to pick them up."

“Not bad.” The diner nodded, then changed the subject and asked, “Do you have gift boxes for mooncakes here? I want to buy some as gifts. If you don’t have any, I can send someone to buy some.”

"Don't worry." Xiao Cui turned her back and took out a wooden gift box from behind her. The box was smooth and had colorful patterns printed on it. "Our boss specially commissioned a batch of Mid-Autumn Festival gift boxes for gifting. As you can see, not only are there patterns of flowers and a full moon printed on them, but the poem 'May we all live long and share the beauty of the moon, even though we are thousands of miles apart' is also engraved on the side. They are very presentable for giving as gifts."

After glancing down at the gift box the young woman was holding, the diners nodded in agreement; the gift box was indeed quite nice.

Good Luck Tower has such a clever idea. Other pastry shops that sell mooncakes also have gift boxes, but they are simple and without any patterns or poems. The phrase "Mid-Autumn Festival reunion" has been seen for decades and people are tired of it.

Having learned from the experience of selling out cakes and other treats as soon as they were released, several customers, fearing they might not be able to buy mooncakes later, ordered mooncakes from Xiao Cui.

"I want twenty boxes of mooncakes, ten boxes each of custard lava mooncakes and lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk mooncakes, to be delivered to the Wang family in Wutong Street on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month."

"I want thirty boxes of mooncakes, ten of each of the three flavors, to be delivered to the Chen family on Guihua Street on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month."

"Thirty boxes of mooncakes, fifteen boxes each of rose bean paste mooncakes and custard lava mooncakes, are to be delivered to the Ning family in Jinhua Street."

……

The commotion caused by the diners quickly attracted the attention of other diners in the main hall. Even the diners in the private rooms on the second floor noticed the commotion through the wooden windows and sent their servants down to check on the situation.

Soon, more and more people gathered around the counter in front of Xiao Cui.

What kind of mooncakes do your babies like to eat?