Having left the Chang family and the harassment of Madam Zhang and her lot behind, Shen Qingru’s life became much more leisurely. With only a few days left before her postpartum confinement ended, she could finally put her grand plan for making money into action.
Both she and the little bun were still very weak, and the daily herbal tonics were a significant expense. The silver she had on hand would only last a few more days.
When the families split, Aunt Liu’s household had essentially left with nothing, receiving only a few acres of poor-quality land. Recently, Chang Dazhuang had been pouring all his energy into it. Meanwhile, Chang Shan and Chang Shui had been wandering the back mountains and brought back plenty of game, most of which ended up in Shen Qingru’s stomach. The whole family felt they owed her and the others, so they made sure she received the best of everything they had.
Shen Qingru counted down the days on her fingers. Finally, on a bright, sunny day, she bid a complete farewell to her life in confinement.
“It’s finally over! I can go out now, can’t I, Aunt Lan?”
Aunt Lan couldn’t help but smile at her joyful expression. “Of course you can. But you still need to be careful; don’t catch a cold.”
“Aunt Liu, where are the supplies?” Two days ago, when Aunt Liu went to town, Shen Qingru had asked her to buy a large amount of flour and eggs.
“They’re in the kitchen. How about I do the cooking instead?” Over the past few days, Shen Qingru had been constantly talking about making something called “cake.” Aunt Liu had assumed she was just speaking idly and hadn’t expected her to actually do it herself.
“Don’t worry, Aunt Liu.” Shen Qingru smiled. Back in the day, she loved making her own food whenever she was free. Although the materials and tools of ancient times were incomplete, food from a thousand years in the future should still have a strong market here.
Shen Qingru planned to start with a few simple small cakes. She mixed milk and eggs into the flour, stirring until smooth. She then added some diced fruit. Finally, she poured the mixture into prepared molds, covered them, and steamed them in a steamer for fifteen minutes. The moment the lid was opened, a fresh fragrance filled the small kitchen.
“Sister Shen, it smells so good!” Xiao Yu sniffed the air. The freshly cooked pastries were fragrant and soft, looking incredibly enticing.
“Quick, try some. How does it taste?” Shen Qingru gave a piece to everyone.
Aunt Liu took a careful bite, and her eyes lit up. “This might be even better than the pastries from Xiangman Pavilion.” Xiangman Pavilion was the best pastry shop in town, where even the cheapest pastry cost one mace of silver. Aunt Liu had never eaten their food, but even the smell wasn’t as good as this.
“When did you learn this, Miss?” Aunt Lan was also surprised. This taste was comparable to the chefs in their old manor.
Shen Qingru smiled. “Didn’t I study it for a while back then? I haven’t made them in so long, I’m surprised I still remember.” To please the little bun’s father, the original owner of this body had spent a long time diligently learning culinary arts. However, after hearing that the pastries she sent were given away to servants, she stopped. This was one of her “dark histories”; at that time, they weren’t even engaged yet. A young lady of the inner chambers sending food to an unrelated man had caused many people to gossip and mock her behind her back. Because of that, the original owner had been punished by being forced to kneel in the ancestral hall for three days.
Speaking of which, Shen Qingru often admired the original owner’s courage—she was bravely foolish.
Mentioning this reminded Aunt Lan of the past, and her mood soured instantly. She wanted to throw away the pastry in her hand but couldn’t bring herself to do it.
Shen Qingru laughed softly. “It’s all in the past. Do you think these pastries will sell?”
“They’ll definitely be a big hit,” Aunt Liu said.
“Good. Let’s make more, then. We’ll take them to town tomorrow to sell.” Shen Qingru’s spirits were high. Aunt Lan, Aunt Liu, and Xiao Yu all came over to help, and Shen Qingru taught them the process step by step. The steps weren’t difficult, and the three of them learned quickly.
When Chang Dazhuang and the other two returned that evening, they could smell the fragrance from far away and thought they had taken a wrong turn.
“Mother, what are you making? It smells so good.” Chang Shui came in and immediately saw the table covered in pastries. He couldn’t wait to grab one and pop it into his mouth. “Wow, this is truly delicious!”
“Sister Shen taught us how to make these! We’re going to sell them for silver,” Xiao Yu replied crisply.
Shen Qingru explained her plan to sell the pastries to the three men, receiving their enthusiastic support. After some discussion, they decided that Aunt Liu would take Chang Shan and Chang Shui to town early the next morning to sell them.
The next morning, as the sky was just beginning to turn grey, Aunt Liu took Chang Shan and Chang Shui and set off for town in a borrowed ox cart.
By mealtime, they still hadn’t returned. Shen Qingru felt a bit anxious; logically, they should have been back long ago. Although she was confident in her cakes, she wasn’t sure about the purchasing power of people in this era.
It wasn’t until after lunch that the three of them returned home, their faces brimming with excitement. Only then did Shen Qingru’s heart finally settle.
“How did it go?” Aunt Lan was the most impatient, asking as soon as she welcomed them back. “Why are you only back now?”
Aunt Liu wiped the sweat from her forehead. Just as she was about to answer, Chang Shui cut in, “We went to the county seat, that’s why we’re late.”
“To the county seat?” Shen Qingru was curious. Qingshui Village was a two-hour journey from the county seat; even by ox cart, it took over an hour.
“Yes. When we got to the town, there weren’t many people, and sales weren’t great. Seeing that it was still early, Mother decided to take them to the county seat. There are many wealthy people there; we knew we could get a good price.” At this point, Chang Shui chuckled foolishly. “Sure enough, not long after we set up our stall, the pastries were snatched up. Many people who didn’t get any even asked if we’d be back tomorrow.”
Aunt Liu pulled a coin purse from her robe and emptied it onto the table. Among a small pile of copper coins were two small pieces of broken silver. “Fifty pastries sold for a total of five taels of silver. One mace each!”
“You sold that much?” Shen Qingru was pleasantly surprised. They had originally planned to sell two pastries for one mace, thinking it would be good if they could make two taels. She hadn’t expected the amount to double.
“Our pastries are both delicious and affordable; they’re very popular. Should we make more today?” Aunt Liu suggested.
Shen Qingru shook her head. “If we make too many, we won’t be able to keep up. Besides, we should aim for quality over quantity; selling too many at once might actually be worse.” She and Aunt Lan had to take care of the baby, and Xiao Yu was still young, so there was only so much they could do. Aunt Liu had to make the cakes and then run off to sell them; she certainly wouldn’t be able to handle it for long. “How about we ask Sister-in-law Zhuzi to help us? We’ll pay her a monthly wage.”
“Alright. I’ll go talk to her.” Aunt Liu said, preparing to head out immediately.
“Hey, eat something before you go!” Aunt Lan was caught between tears and laughter.
Aunt Liu had already walked quite a distance, only calling back from afar, “I’m not hungry, I’ll eat when I get back!” She was still in such a state of excitement that she truly didn’t feel hungry.
When Aunt Liu arrived at Zhuzi’s house and explained her purpose, Zhuzi’s Wife agreed without a second thought. However, when Aunt Liu mentioned a monthly wage of three taels, she would only agree to take two.
“I’m nursing Ji-ge’er, which brings in one tael a month already. With this extra two taels, that makes three. That’s already more than what the family earns in several months,” Zhuzi’s Wife said. Aunt Li also chimed in from the side. Unable to persuade them otherwise, Aunt Liu didn’t insist further.