mtl008 Chapter 102 The boy appears again and decides to go to the banquet
Chapter 102 The boy appears again and decides to go to the banquet
The helpers had their meal and did not rest for long before getting up to work again. Since they had received wages and eaten such a good meal, of course they had to work harder.
Everyone wanted to come to the young lady's house to help next time, and no one was lazy.
An Qiao looked at it for a while, gave Lichun a few instructions, and then returned to the shop. She would go to the milk tea shop in the afternoon and bring some desserts over.
Candied haws, sugar-coated fruits, and today’s pudding.
Pudding has to be made every day, and the milk tea shop has ice cubes every day, which can be stored overnight, but they are not as fresh and delicious as those made daily.
Although it took some effort, it was still worth it at only five taels of silver for one pudding.
Five taels of silver is just a drop in the bucket in the eyes of the rich and powerful. But in an ordinary well-off family, you can buy one by saving some money.
I decided to make some sugar-coated fruits. Sugar-coated fruits are not difficult to make, but like many foods in restaurants, they are only sold sometimes due to lack of manpower.
The glutinous rice balls kneaded by Lixia are now quietly staying in the kitchen. An Qiao kneaded them and made them fermented just right.
Roll the glutinous rice balls into round balls, put plenty of oil in the pot, add brown sugar, wait for the oil to heat up, and then put the glutinous rice balls in. After a while, the small balls become golden and crispy, and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Sugar-coated fruits are good.
The candied haws were coated with sugar syrup in the morning and have become crispy at this moment. As the weather is getting colder recently, there is no need to worry about them becoming sugary.
In addition, An Qiao imitated the candied haws shops of later generations and made a lot of all the fruits that can be bought, including oranges, apples, hawthorns, and mangoes.
It’s a pity that I haven’t seen any strawberries, otherwise they would look good and would definitely sell better if made into candied haws.
She put a layer of oil paper inside the bamboo basket, put a few things in it, and looked inside. "Qitao, come with me to the milk tea shop."
Qi Tao responded from a distance, put down the snails he was cleaning, and walked out.
Inside the milk tea shop, Xiaolu and Xiaohong were not too busy at this time. Generally, many people would come to the milk tea shop at the end of the afternoon. Compared with restaurants and grocery stores, the business of the milk tea shop seemed to be more targeted at wealthy and idle women.
"Young lady, you're here." Xiaolu saw Anqiao coming and greeted her.
An Qiao nodded and handed today's dessert to Xiao Lu. "Besides these, what else did you make? Let me see."
Little Green and Little Red looked at each other and glanced at the dessert cabinet with some guilt.
An Qiao didn't understand what was going on. After taking a quick look, she felt that this dessert chef would have to be hired at a price of five taels of silver a month.
Forget about the red date cake, mung bean cake and other pastries sold in ordinary sweet shops. There are only red dates and mung beans, and neither of them looks good.
If the filling wasn’t fried by myself and made with real ingredients, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to sell a single one.
"This is too ugly. You two make such great milk tea every day, but how come these pastries are so weird?" An Qiao couldn't help but sigh as she looked at the pastries on the counter.
"I'm sorry, young lady, we are really clumsy. Otherwise, you might as well not pay us and we will just do the work." Xiaohong also blushed a little.
What she and Xiaolu made was indeed not very good, but no matter how they tried, their hands were out of control and the snacks they made were always ugly. Although they tasted good, they just couldn't be shaped.
"Okay, I'll go find a dim sum chef, but you guys better practice hard because of that expression of covering your face and laughing in WeChat in your previous life.
After looking at the snacks, An Qiao took Qi Tao to the second floor. Looking at the clean environment, An Qiao nodded with satisfaction and went downstairs.
"Then we'll go first. I'll go to the dental shop and ask if there's a suitable dim sum chef, and we'll hire one. Let's put up a notice at the door, recruiting dim sum chefs." An Qiao said to Xiao Lu, and then said, "If there's anything, you must tell me. I don't want this kind of thing with dim sum to happen a second time. If you feel that you didn't do it well, come and report it early. It doesn't matter if you can't do it, don't force yourself, otherwise who will be responsible for the loss."
Xiaolu and Xiaohong lowered their heads and nodded desperately like two children who had done something wrong.
When An Qiao was about to leave, the young man who was going to prepare the banquet that night appeared at the door again, "I was just about to go to the restaurant to look for the young lady."
An Qiao looked at him suspiciously. Is it really such a coincidence?
The young man took out an invitation from his arms, with a few big words printed on it: Huizhou Bai Family.
This era was also very similar to the history that An Qiao knew. Several major families divided the country into many pieces and did different businesses. They usually fought overtly and covertly, but also checked and balanced each other. Marriages between families were common.
The Gu family that Gu Qingyun belongs to is one of them. This is Gu Qingyun’s grandfather. He was originally just a bastard in a side branch. Unexpectedly, he turned out to be so successful, so this branch was also taken in as the main family.
The Bai family mainly worked at the trading ports, specializing in ship business and export business.
In this era, he has already surpassed many people in terms of financial wealth in this lifetime.
"The Bai family of Huizhou? Sir, please don't flatter me." An Qiao didn't want to be involved with these aristocratic families. After hesitating for a moment, she decided to refuse.
"I'm not asking you to come to my house to fight in the palace. I'm just asking you to prepare a banquet." The young man's patience was almost worn out by An Qiao's repeated rejections.
"If you want me to prepare the banquet, it's not easy for me to buy those delicacies. You have to make a list of what you want to eat and buy it. I will just cook and the ingredients have to be prepared by your family. I also have to bring my maids, otherwise I can't handle it alone. If there are many people coming, I have to bring at least three maids and servants." An Qiao calmed down. If it is a blessing, it will not be a disaster. If it is a disaster, it cannot be avoided.
Go ahead and cherish it.
An Qiao was able to leave the palace because she had a good relationship with the housekeeper, spent money, and was given the recipe.
But the main reason is that many people feel that An Qiao is not presentable enough.
Whenever there was a competition, talent show, or even a reward in the harem, An Qiao would always keep her head down and not say anything. The food she made was not very novel, she would just occasionally change the order and steps of cooking.
Many people think that the pregnant concubines like to eat the food she cooks only because it is light in oil and salt, and they don't take her seriously.
In fact, it was just because An Qiao had been hiding her innocence. She didn't want to be trapped in the palace for the rest of her life, nor did she want to be noticed by too many people. If she was seen by too many people, although she could probably make a lot of money, the problem was that she would also easily lose her freedom.
Seeing An Qiao was in a daze, the young man waved his hand in front of her, "I said yes, did you hear me?"