Border Cook

"Zhang Lizheng also said that he should have come to apologize to Madam Xia in person, but the journey was a bit far, and he had some trivial matters in the village that he couldn't get away. In addition, he didn't want to make a big deal out of this matter, so he had to go to the orchard first. Madam Xia, please don't blame me."

"I saw that the village chief Zhang was very sincere. During this time, Zhang Chunwang was a little impatient. Zhang was also very disrespectful. He started to curse and hit him. His beatings were quite heavy. His attitude was very low."

"Could it be that Zhang Lizheng is a man of good character, and he realized that his son made a mistake, and felt that it was the father's fault if the son was not well educated, so he came to apologize?"

Xia Mingyue frowned slightly, and after expressing her guess, she shook her head, "But it's not right. If Zhang Lizheng is a decent man, he shouldn't have raised a son like this."

"I thought so too, so I came to find Madam Xia to ask if it was because Madam Xia reported Zhang Chunwang to the authorities and the Zhang family was punished that they hurriedly expressed their attitude?"

After Guo Kanglai said this, Xia Mingyue suddenly remembered that Lu Qiyan had been out for the whole day the day before yesterday.

The journey from the county town to Zhangjiazhuang and back, plus the time spent on inquiring on the way there...it's almost a whole day.

When Lu Qiyan came back that day, he brought back a peach blossom. Didn’t she have peach trees in her orchard?

Xia Mingyue frowned and asked, "Did a young man in his early twenties come to the orchard the afternoon before yesterday and ask for a peach blossom?"

"As Madam Xia said, there was indeed a man who went to the orchard the afternoon before yesterday. However, he did not ask for anything. Instead, he spent money to buy a peach blossom. At that time, I saw that the man was very handsome and I thought he was a young man from a wealthy family. I also took the opportunity to promote the orchard as a place to enjoy the peach blossoms, hoping to attract more customers." Guo Kanglai answered truthfully.

That's right.

It was Lu Qiyan who taught the Zhang family a lesson, which led to them coming to apologize.

It was also because of the Zhang family's matter that Lu Qiyan gave many instructions before leaving, asking them to notify him in time if anything happened, or to go to the county government.

This Lu Qiyan...

Xia Mingyue smiled and shook her head, and said to Guo Kanglai, "Since the Zhang family father and son know their mistakes, let's leave it at that for now and talk about it later. But you just mentioned the matter of admiring flowers in the orchard, which I think is interesting. Can you tell me more about it?"

Seeing Xia Mingyue smiling knowingly at this moment, Guo Kanglai guessed that she probably knew the reason for this matter, so he stopped talking and just changed the subject.

"Because the master's family had the custom of inviting relatives and friends to enjoy the flowers in spring, I thought that many people like to go outing in spring. If I could take the opportunity to attract some guests, collect some money, and sell some peach and pear blossoms, I could also make a good income."

"There are courtyards and houses over there for guests to stay and rest. They are fully equipped and very convenient, and can fully meet the needs of guests."

"It's just that I'm thinking that when guests come to enjoy the flowers, they always need some snacks such as tea. If we can provide some unique snacks, it will probably attract more people and make them remember us more."

As for flower viewing, you can do so everywhere, even in the mountains and fields there are wild peach blossoms, apricot blossoms, etc., which can all be used as places for outings and recreation. But if there is food that makes people unforgettable, that would be a completely different story.

"That's a good idea." Xia Mingyue nodded. "I'll think about it for a couple of days to see what kind of food I can make. Once it's ready, I'll send it over for a try."

"Okay." Guo Kanglai agreed, "Now that I'm in the city, I'll spread the word everywhere and see if I can attract people to the orchard to enjoy the flowers and buy fruit."

Make the most of all your time and resources.

"Go ahead." Xia Mingyue nodded in agreement. Spring is short, and the flowering period of various flowers is not long. In order not to delay the economic benefits brought by the flowers blooming, Xia Mingyue began to think about what kind of snacks to make after seeing Guo Kanglai off.

However, since we are here to enjoy the flowers, the snacks related to flowers will naturally be more attractive.

Since the peach and pear blossoms are in full bloom in the orchard at this time, let's make some peach and pear blossom cakes.

With this in mind, Xia Mingyue immediately sent Zhuang Cui to the street to buy all the necessary ingredients.

She was at home cleaning and tidying up her oven.

When Liu Caisheng was asked to repair the stove, two larger ovens were also built at the same time, one for making roast duck and the other for baking.

After the New Year, things were busy everywhere, so Xia Mingyue rarely used the oven for baking. She only baked a few alkaline breads occasionally as a staple food for breakfast.

From now on, we need to make full use of this oven.

Xia Mingyue cleaned up completely, lit the charcoal fire, tested the temperature and overall sealing of the oven, and started to make it after Zhuang Cui came back.

Red beans are made into soft and sticky red bean paste and rolled into small balls, which are convenient for making fillings for peach blossom cakes and pear blossom cakes.
The water-fried dough made of flour, lard, water and white sugar and the oil-fried dough made of flour, lard and red yeast rice powder are mixed separately, rolled into small dough pieces, and then wrapped with the former into the latter and rolled into long oval shapes.

Roll it up from top to bottom, cover it with a wet towel, and relax it for a quarter of an hour. After repeating it twice, press the dough down into a dough, roll it into a round pancake, wrap it with the prepared red bean paste filling, and pinch it into a round ball.

Gently press it into a small round cake of a certain thickness, divide the cake into five parts with a knife, cut out five petals, pinch them into shape, brush the pistil with appropriate amount of egg liquid, and sprinkle some dried petals on it.

Logically speaking, the stamens would be more beautiful if they were made of golden osmanthus, but in order to make the peach blossom pastry more suitable for the occasion, Xia Mingyue directly used dried peach petals.

Put the prepared peach blossom pastry directly into the preheated oven and bake for one stick of incense.

The method of making pear blossom pastry is similar, but since pear blossoms are white, no red yeast rice powder is added to turn the pastry into pink. The original white color is retained. Xia Mingyue also uses dried pear blossoms to decorate the pear blossom pastry stamens.
The first batch of peach blossom cakes and pear blossom cakes were quickly prepared. When they were taken out, they were steaming hot and fragrant.

After it cooled down, Xia Mingyue tasted one herself first.

Both kinds of snacks are of excellent appearance. The peach blossom pastry is pink and beautiful, crispy and delicious when put into the mouth, and the red bean paste is soft, sweet and delicious.

Pear blossom pastry is also very fragrant. The pear blossom petals specially decorated in the stamens leave a lingering fragrance on the teeth and cheeks, and are even delicious.

Xia Mingyue thought it tasted good and gave it to Lu, Jiang Zhuguo and others to taste.

"This snack is really good." Mrs. Lu nodded repeatedly, "It's even better than the snacks sold in Zhao's shop."

"Indeed." Lou Shanzi also agreed, "It's crispy and delicious, but not greasy. I can't stop eating many pieces in one go." (End of this chapter)