Transmigrated into a seven-year-old child, my fate is in my own hands, not in the heavens.

Qiao Feng has been coming here frequently lately and has become familiar with everyone.

Gradually, everyone realized that Young Master Qiao's real intentions were not what they seemed. He claimed to be visiting his niece, but he was probably actually in love with Zhao Lian and was using this as an excuse to see her. However, everyone kept quiet about it.

Seeing that this young master Qiao was tall and strong, not only was he good-tempered, but he was also the manager of the restaurant, everyone was happy for Zhao Lian.

With only a month left until the Lunar New Year, many people have started preparing for the holiday. There are many wealthy people in the capital, especially many high-ranking officials and nobles.

During the Lunar New Year, people visit relatives and friends, and are particularly willing to spend money on gifts. These wealthy people don't worry about food and drink; they only care about novelty, deliciousness, and presentable gifts.

She had seen many videos of people making those local snacks before, and she remembered some of them, which came in handy now.

Zhao Lian plans to make some specialty snacks, turn them into New Year's goods, package them as high-end gifts, and sell them to wealthy people.

Having made up her mind, Zhao Lian began to conduct experiments. She first went to a carpenter to order several molds. These molds were round, with the characters for "fortune, prosperity, longevity, and double happiness" carved in the center.

Next, steam the glutinous rice that has been soaked in sugar water, press it evenly onto the mold, and then pat the rice cake out.

The rice cakes made this way have the Chinese characters for "fortune, prosperity, longevity, and happiness" embossed in the middle, and then they are placed in a cool, shady place to air dry.

The steps for making this snack are only half complete; there is still a crucial step: deep-frying.

Heat the oil in a wok until it reaches 80% of its maximum temperature. Hold the rice cake in your hand and heat it over a flame on a stove before putting it into the oil to fry.

These rice cakes are specially placed in a frying pan. When they come into contact with hot oil, they expand instantly. By pressing them down with chopsticks and flipping them over repeatedly, they can expand to three times their original size when they are finally made into finished products.

Once this is made, it's called rice puffs. You can eat them after scooping them out and letting them cool. Rice puffs made this way are crunchy and delicious.

Soon, Zhaolian had made dozens of rice cakes, and she took a few, broke them into small pieces, and gave them to everyone to taste.

Looking at the golden rice puffs, everyone was immediately intrigued, as they had never eaten anything like it before.

"Zhao Lian, what is this?"

Yan Guihua picked up the rice puffs and sniffed them: "Mmm, smells so good~" She couldn't help but take a bite.

Yan Guihua praised the rice puffs repeatedly as soon as she took a bite. She had never eaten anything so delicious before; the rice puffs filled her mouth with the aroma of oil.

Seeing that Yan Guihua said it was delicious, everyone picked up a small piece and tried it. As soon as they put it in their mouths, their eyes lit up.

"Mmm~ This is so delicious! I've never eaten anything this good before!"

"You bet! It smells amazing!"

Everyone ate so much they couldn't stop, and even after they finished, they still wanted more.

"Cousin, I want more, can you share some with me?" Liu Yao stared longingly at the rice puffs in Da Ni's hand, swallowing hard.

"I want some too!" Liu Yao exclaimed, wanting more to eat as well.

Zhao Lian smiled: "This stuff is delicious, but you can't eat too much at once, because it's deep-fried and can cause internal heat."

"You little glutton! You want to eat everything. Your cousin is right, this stuff is too hot to eat, so you can't eat too much of it." Jiang Si smiled and poked her daughter's head with her index finger.

Upon hearing Zhao Lian say that it was made of glutinous rice and had been deep-fried, Yan Guihua's expression immediately changed, and she looked distressed: "Oh my goodness, how much oil did it take to fry this? Wouldn't it be better to use this rice for cooking? It's such a waste!"

Zhao Lian was speechless. Her grandmother had praised the rice and oil when she was the first to eat it, but now she was complaining about how much rice and oil were wasted.

Zhao Lian glanced at everyone and said in a serious tone, "I'm just asking you all, do you think this tastes good?"

"Delicious!" Liu Yao exclaimed without hesitation.

"It's so delicious, I want to eat it again and again."

"Mmm~ Not bad, it's really delicious."

Even Liu Laogen said it was delicious.

This item was well-received by everyone, which gave Zhao Lian a lot of confidence, and Zhao Lian shared her plans.

Hearing that Zhao Lian was going to do business, Yan Guihua was worried: "This stuff requires a lot of capital, so how much do you plan to sell it for?"

“Grandmother, don’t worry. I’ve thought it over. We’ll make them into gift packaging, with 10 in each box, priced at 450 coins, or 50 coins per piece.”

"Five flatbreads for 450 coins? You're insane!"

Everyone's eyes widened in disbelief at Zhao Lian's words.

Zhao Lian was brimming with confidence, her face beaming with self-assurance: "I'm sure this stuff will be in high demand and short supply!"

“Little sister, I support you. I’ll set up a stall with you when the time comes!” Zhao Di’s eyes were full of anticipation.

"it is good!"

No matter how much everyone tried to persuade her, Zhao Lian remained determined. Seeing that they couldn't change her mind, they had no choice but to let her have her way.

Zhao Lian divided the remaining 20 pieces of rice into two portions, having her maid deliver one to Song Wenjie and the other to Qiao Feng, telling them to attend the opening of her new shop on [date].

She had already chosen the location and spent a couple of taels of silver to rent a small storefront at a busy three-way intersection.

Eating the rice puffs brought over by the maid, Qiao Feng and Song Wenjie were eating them for the first time. They never expected that Zhao Lian would open such a shop.

Since deciding on the opening date, Zhaolian has been working non-stop to prepare goods.

Zhao Lian asked her sisters-in-law, including Sun Shangxiang, to help her make rice cakes, paying them 20 coins a day.

In addition, I made a lot of flyers and asked Liu Tiezhu and his brothers to distribute them. The flyers advertised a big sale on the new store, with free gifts with purchases. Order ten boxes of these three, and so on.

Soon the opening day arrived. Early in the morning, people gathered at the shop entrance. Zhao Lian fried some rice on the spot and broke it into small pieces for everyone to taste for free.

The shop was newly opened and offered free samples, plus they were making fried rice on the spot, which immediately attracted a lot of people.

After some people tasted it, they started asking the price: "Young lady, how much is this?"

Zhao Lian, carrying a lotus, saw that the other party was dressed in fine clothes and looked like a gentleman from a wealthy family. She immediately smiled and said, "Sir, it's 50 coins for a piece of rice. If you order gift wrapping, you can save 50 coins."

To his surprise, the other person's eyes widened: "What? This one flatbread costs 50 coins?"

Zhao Lian, without blushing or showing any remorse, said, "This is a local specialty snack that's hard to buy even if you have the money. It would be perfect for visiting relatives and friends during the New Year."

"Sir, don't worry about the price. This is not only delicious, but also novel. It's a very impressive gift."

"Sir, if you really want it, you have to make a reservation and pay a deposit of 100 coins first, otherwise I can't guarantee that it will be available."

"Girl, give me five boxes, this is my deposit."

The lady ordered two boxes right away. She was a concubine of a wealthy family and was just thinking about what to give as a New Year's gift. But she happened to see this group of people gathered together and came over to watch the fun.