Chapter 257: A close friend (1)

“Tomorrow morning.” Su Xiaoxiao said. 

“So soon.” Father Su was reluctant. 

Su Xiaoxiao said, “We go early so we can return early. Oh, by the way, I left Liu Ping here because the business in the town needs to continue.” 

She was not feeling well and had been resting for two days, while she and Su Ergou would go to Fucheng for at least three days. 

If they didn’t set up the stall for five days, not to mention that their customers would be dissatisfied, their customer base would also be gone.  

“Fine, do it!” Father Su did not feel that this matter had anything to do with himself for the time being. 

“Liu Ping is responsible for running errands, while Mrs. Wu is responsible for making the snacks.” 

Su Xiaoxiao has not stayed idle these days. She didn’t go to town to do business, so she taught Mrs. Wu how to make the snacks. 

Mrs. Wu was very capable, and after following her instructions, she was very familiar with the process of making snacks. 

Except for the egg yolk pastry, which she still feel unconfident about, she basically had mastered how to make the wife’s cakes and chestnut cakes. 

 

-Egg yolk pastry 

 

-Wife’s cakes / Lao Po Ping (老婆饼)

 

Anyway, it tasted better than the ones Jinji made. 

What Su Xiaoxiao gave to Jinji was just a formal recipe. But in fact, to make the snacks delicious, there was a lot of knowledge needed. Not to mention the heat of each stage, even the water quality required for each snack was also different. 

A slight difference could make a difference of a thousand miles. 

The masters of Jinji could certainly study it by themselves, but didn’t it take time? How could it be faster than her teaching by hand? 

Mrs. Wu made another pot of wife’s cakes and brought them over for the family to try. 

After tasting them carefully, Su Xiaoxiao chose the ones with mung bean filling, red bean filling, and chestnut filling. The meigan cai filling was a little inferior and could not meet her standards. 

 

-Red bean filling

 

-Mung Bean fillings

 

-Chestnut cake

 

-Meigan Cai with pork meat filling

 

-A bundle of Meigan Cai (梅干菜) A type of dry pickled chinese mustard. The pickle consists of a whole head of various varieties of chinese mustards and cabbages that has undergone an elaborate process consisting of drying, steaming, and salting. The vegetables are harvested, trimmed before the Qingming Festival, and sun-dried until limp. It is then salted or brined, kneaded until the juices are exuded, and left to ferment in large clay urns for 15 to 20 days. The vegetable is then repeatedly steamed and dried until reddish brown in color and highly fragrant.

 

They were actually acceptable, it was just that Su Xiaoxiao had too high of a benchmark. 

On second thought, if it weren’t for her constantly high standards and requirements, how could she have done everything to the best of her ability? 

Being excellent was a habit. 

Liu Ping also came to try it out, but his cooking skills were really not as good as Mrs. Wu’s. 

Mrs. Wu had been the daughter-in-law of the Liu family for so many years, and she cooked every meal, which could be considered as her practice. 

Su Xiaoxiao said again, “These are just a few types of cakes to sell these days. Dad, you and Wei Ting have to support sister Xiao Wu making cakes or taking care of sister Xiao Wu’s children.” 

*Sister Xiao Wu is Mrs. Wu. 

Mrs. Wu would definitely be too busy to do it alone. 

In addition, besides from the academy, she also instructed Liu Ping to try taking as few orders as possible. 

“I understand.” Father Su replied. 

“And also.” The next part was the main point. Su Xiaoxiao looked solemnly at her father who was still in his prime, “Dad, you have to go sell the cakes!” 

Father Su: “? ? ?” 

  …… 

“Suji’s stall cart, signboard, trays, snack boxes, bamboo leaves, paper bags……” 

In the hall room, Su Xiaoxiao counted out the necessary items for setting up the stall one by one. 

”Do you remember everything I said? If you really can’t remember, ask Liu Ping. He is familiar with it.” 

The business of braised meat could only be suspended for a few days. Otherwise Mrs. Wu would have to be exhausted.

 

-Braised meat / braised pork

 

Fortunately, there was not much competition for the braised meat, and it was sold at Luo Dazhuang’s pork stall, so the impact was not significant. 

“Daya, I can make the braised meat.” 

Mrs. Wu came from the kitchen. 

Making the braised meat was easier than making snacks, because the brine was made by Su Xiaoxiao. She only needed to put the meat in and cook it, then add some salt, and it would be done. 

Su Xiaoxiao asked, “Can you really handle it? Don’t expect too much from my dad and Wei Ting, they very likely couldn’t help you.” 

Considering their slacking work ethic and bad previous experience, Su Xiaoxiao would never dare to give them any high expectations. 

Mrs. Wu said in a low voice, “I can handle it.” 

Really, she really could do it. 

She had experienced these in the Liu family, and this kind of work was really nothing, especially since this was something she liked to do, she did not feel tired at all. 

This was probably…… what Daya often said…… passion, right? 

Mrs. Wu’s eyes were bright, she really wanted to do something for Daya. 

“It’s just, that……” She lowered her head and nervously pinched the corner of her clothes, “I don’t know if I can really do it well? Will it impact your business?” 

Thinking of this, Mrs. Wu regretted speaking too quickly and carrying the responsibility. 

How capable she thought she was, what should she do if she messed up the business?