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墨書 Inktalez
The cute silhouette remained on the cold, hard face, creating a harmonious contrast; warmth within coldness and coldness within warmth. However, when those beautiful eyes opened, it would reveal a different scene.
The next day at dawn, Ten Li Pu began to bustle with activity, the sounds of roosters crowing and dogs barking echoing far and wide.
Liu Qingxi, along with two maids and Liu Qingyan, who had been staying at their home for the past few days, had just finished their meal when cheerful laughter rang out from outside. "Qingxi, are you home? Have you eaten?"
"Grandma Liu, Aunt, you’re here so early! We’ve already eaten, just wait a moment!" Liu Qingxi greeted them with a smile. "Yan, go get some stools for Grandma and the Aunts."
Liu Qingyan hurried back inside and brought out a thick stack of stools.
"Oh my, this child is really capable. Qingxi, I’ve heard Yan is doing well in her studies. Such a good seedling shouldn’t be wasted; studying is important."
Grandma Liu's drooping eyelids and deeply etched wrinkles made her smile narrow her eyes into slits. She gently stroked Liu Qingyan's head.
"By the way, why haven’t you gone to town yet? Haven't they almost finished the repairs?" Grandma Liu was very concerned about the younger generation, especially about lovable ones like Liu Qingxi and Liu Qingyan.
"Don’t worry, Grandma Liu! Master Zhu is making sure the house is built sturdily this time with good materials. There are still some things that aren’t ready yet. As soon as everything is set, I’ll send Yan to town to study. But don’t worry; his progress at home hasn’t fallen behind either. I supervise him to study for several hours every day."
Upon hearing this, Grandma Liu’s smile grew even brighter. "That’s great! Our village will have another Juren soon."
Liu Qingyan felt delighted by the praise from her elders and proudly raised her face with a grin, saying, "I will definitely pass the Juren exam."
Her enthusiasm drew hearty laughter from the women around her. "Very good! You have ambition!"
After joking with her elders for a while, Liu Qingxi patted Kid on the shoulder. "Go on now, off to study!"
Finally, she said to the several women, "Grandma Liu, Aunts, I will trouble you again today."
Just then, Zhang San, who had delivered the iron plate yesterday, walked into the house carrying a large box. " Miss Liu, I've finished the box. Come take a look and see if it's good."
Liu Qingxi quickly stepped forward and carefully examined the tinplate box that Zhang San had set down. She noticed that the bottom of the box was hollowed out, with tinplate fixed together on three sides, leaving no gaps.
The other side was designed with a movable latch that could rotate like a door, and the top was also fixed in a nearly square shape.
When she opened the box door, she saw that the inside was lined with wires about three millimeters in diameter, stacked layer upon layer, just the right height to hold a tinplate tray for mooncakes.
A simple version of a modern oven had been created just like Liu Qingxi had envisioned.
"Great, this is exactly it. Thank you for your hard work, Uncle Zhang." Then Liu Qingxi took out a string of coins, deducting the payment for yesterday's mooncake mold along with the cost of making this tinplate box.
"Uncle Zhang, you must not have slept last night?" Otherwise, he wouldn't have delivered the needed box so early today.
The man smiled sheepishly but stubbornly refused to accept Liu Qingxi's payment. "I can't take it."
It was just a small effort; if he accepted money for this, what would that make it?
Living in the same village, Liu Qingxi had helped the villagers so much that he felt he couldn't accept her money.
He waved his hands repeatedly, pushing back the coins she offered. "Really can't take it; you should quickly take it back."
Liu Qingxi would never allow someone to work for free; that wasn't her character. It wasn't about the money for her, but for an ordinary farmer like Zhang San's family, that amount was significant.
"Here, take this. You've been busy and haven't had a good night's sleep. You deserve it. If you don't take it, I won't dare to ask for your help in the future."
Liu Qingxi noticed the awkwardness on Zhang San's face and could no longer refuse. Blushing, he took the Copper Coin and left. As he walked out, he turned back and said, "If you have any problems, just let me know. Don't hesitate!"
Liu Qingxi nodded and sent Zhang San off. The remaining women stood in the courtyard. "Let's get started; the Oven has arrived."
"First, let's mix the filling. Grandma Liu, Aunt, you can choose whatever filling you want; we can make them all."
"Haha, Qingxi, you've prepared enough varieties; this will do."
Thus, the women rolled up their sleeves and began a new wave of busyness under Liu Qingxi's direction.
As for that strange Oven? Liu Qingxi kept them in suspense: "You'll find out when we start baking later."
Time passed minute by minute. Liu Qingxi first made the Five Nut Filling, which included walnut kernels, sunflower seeds, almonds, dried tangerine peel, rock candy, and so on. She mixed them evenly with cooked dough and then added golden vegetable oil to achieve a suitable softness.
In addition, the dough for the wrappers also required oil: "When kneading the dough, be careful not to let it touch water. If it gets wet, it can spoil easily. We use oil entirely so that it lasts longer."
The women seemed to understand but concluded from their cooking experience that oil doesn't spoil over time, so using oil for everything made sense.
"Alright, the Five Nut Filling is almost ready. How about we try making a basket first?"
With Liu Qingxi as the lead, no one else had any objections.
They first cut the dough into individual pieces, then wrapped a portion of filling inside each piece like making buns, forming small dumplings before placing them into the prepared molds.
Manually pressing down, the mold is lifted, and a mooncake with the Five Blessings Pattern is completed.
Round and plump, it looks very cute. Under Liu Qingxi's demonstration, the skillful women immediately exclaimed, "Qingxi, yours looks so beautiful! When we made them before, they were just round cakes; nothing looked this good."
"Yes, just looking at them makes me want to eat them, especially since they are filled with such good ingredients."
"The aroma makes my mouth water. We've never seen mooncakes made like this."
"I saw it once at a bakery in town. Their mooncakes are made this way, but they are so expensive! One is enough for a whole family to enjoy several times; I can't bear to buy one."
While the women discussed, their hands moved swiftly and efficiently. In no time, fifty to sixty mooncakes were prepared.
Liu Qingxi on the other side cracked a few eggs, separating the egg whites from the egg yolks. She took a brush and applied a thin layer of egg white on the bottom and top of the mooncakes.
Then she sprinkled a few black sesame seeds on top.
The oven has three layers, with three iron trays holding the cute and beautiful mooncakes being slowly pushed inside.
On the lower rack, a lively fireplace was tended by one person while others continued to wrap the mooncakes.
The red flames roasted the oven, creating an even and suitable temperature inside. Before long, a light fragrance began to waft out.
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