When Yingbao heard this, she couldn't help but look at the fat shopkeeper Qiu.
He had a round face, a mustache, eyes narrowed like those of a Buddha, and a kind expression. He was a shrewd man and he took a liking to his eldest cousin at first sight.
However, my eldest cousin is indeed not young anymore. He will be 18 after the Chinese New Year. If he doesn't find a wife, my aunt will probably be very worried.
She tugged at her eldest cousin's sleeve and winked at him.
Seeing that his eldest cousin ignored him, he had no choice but to say to Shopkeeper Qiu: "I'm going to your house to learn how to make pastries. Uncle Qiu, do you really not mind?"
Qiu Fugui smiled and said, "Young lady, you are joking. My neighbors can also make those dim sum. What's there to mind?"
"Then I'll go to your house and take a look." Ying Bao smiled with curved eyes, "It's a good opportunity to go and pay my respects to Aunt Qiu."
I guess the fact that I stole his skills couldn't be hidden from the woman's sharp eyes, so it would seem bad not to tell her.
"You're most welcome." Qiu Fugui looked at Jiang Cheng eagerly again: "Brother Jiang, how about we go together?"
Jiang Cheng nodded helplessly and bowed to Qiu Fugui: "Then I'm sorry to bother you, Shopkeeper Qiu."
So, Jiang Quan stayed behind to look after the house, while Jiang Cheng and his little cousin got on the donkey cart of Manager Qiu and headed to Qiu's house.
On the way, Jiang Cheng bought a few bags of candied fruits as gifts.
Shopkeeper Qiu did not stop him. He just looked at the young man with a smile on his face the whole time. The more he looked at him, the more he liked him. He felt that he was as handsome and sensible as he was when he was young.
When they arrived at the door of Rongfuji Pastry Shop, Yingbao and her cousin got off the carriage.
Qiu Fugui happily led the brother and sister to the backyard, and did not forget to tell the shop boy to pick out some snacks and send them to the backyard.
"Rong'er Rong'er! Guests are coming, come and serve tea!" Qiu Fugui started calling before entering the main house.
"I'm coming!" A crisp voice answered, and a little girl of about fourteen or fifteen years old in red clothes came out from the inner room, lifting the curtain.
At a glance, he saw a handsome young man in plain robe standing in the yard. He was startled and quickly covered half of his face with his sleeves and looked at the person quietly.
Qiu Fugui said with a smile: "Rong'er, this is the owner of Jiang's Specialty Shop who has business dealings with our family. Come over and greet him."
Qiu Rong then put down her sleeves and bowed to Jiang Chengfu politely: "Greetings, Manager Jiang."
Jiang Cheng resisted the urge to run away and reluctantly returned the greeting.
Qiu Fugui had been paying attention to Jiang Cheng's performance. Seeing that he didn't even look at his daughter, he felt both relieved and disappointed.
Could it be that Mr. Jiang looks down on his own daughter
That's impossible. Although his daughter is not stunningly beautiful, she is still a pretty girl. How could he not even bat an eyelid at her
Qiu Fugui had no choice but to introduce Yingbao to his daughter: "This is Shopkeeper Jiang's sister, her name is... um, what's the young lady's name?"
"My name is Jiang Yingbao, and good night to Sister Rong." Yingbao saluted Qiu Rong in a very formal manner.
Qiu Rong held her hand and said with a smile: "Sister Yingbao, come in with me and sit down."
Qiu Fugui also grabbed Jiang Cheng and followed him into the house.
Soon the waiter brought over a box of assorted snacks, which contained several kinds of cakes and fruits, as well as his family's most famous three-color bean paste pastry.
This kind of red bean paste pastry is made of three-color fillings of red bean paste, mung bean paste and chestnut powder. It is crispy on the outside and glutinous on the inside, sweet and delicious.
Qiu Rong brought tea and poured it for Jiang Cheng and Ying Bao herself, then sat aside and talked to Ying Bao.
Qiu Fugui also pretended to chat with Jiang Cheng, asking questions indirectly from time to time, and finally found out the situation of the Jiang family clearly.
When Qiu Fugui heard that the Jiang family was a farming family, that all the children in the family had received education, and that Jiang's third uncle was the village chief, he became even more satisfied and wanted to find a matchmaker to talk to Jiang Cheng right away.
Being able to serve as village chief, the Jiang family must be a respected family in the local area, and they are also second- or first-class farmers.
If my daughter marries him, even if she doesn't become rich, at least she won't starve.
Soon, Qiu Fugui's wife, Aunt Qiu, also came, holding a boy of five or six years old in her hands.
"Oh, isn't this Shopkeeper Jiang? What a rare guest." Aunt Qiu looked 70% like her husband, with a plump body, a round face, and eyes that narrowed into crescents when she smiled.
Jiang Cheng quickly stood up and saluted: "Aunt Qiu, I'm sorry to bother you."
"What do you mean by disturbing or not? Your presence makes our home shine. Come and sit down." Aunt Qiu turned her gaze from her daughter and Jiang Cheng to Ying Bao, and smiled more kindly: "Isn't this Miss Ying Bao? Come, come, come, let me have a look."
Yingbao bowed to her obediently: "Hello, Auntie."
Aunt Qiu pulled her over and praised her, "Young Miss Yingbao has become more and more beautiful, just like the fairy child in the painting. Oh, I wish you were my daughter."
She pulled her son over and said with a smile, "They are a perfect match under the constellation of longevity."
Yingbao glanced at Jintong who was sniffing, and her eyelids twitched.
Jin Tong smiled broadly at her, sucked up the snot that had reached his mouth, and said, "Sister Yingbao."
"Golden boy..." Facing a little boy of the same age as her, Yingbao really couldn't call him brother.
That’s right, the boy’s name is Jintong, and he is the only son of the enemy. I have seen him once before at the door of his shop. He was squatting under the tree at the door and poking ants with a small stick.
Qiu Fugui secretly winked at his wife and said, "Yingbao wants to learn how to make our new pastries. You can take her to have a look." This would also allow his daughter to spend some time alone with Jiang Cheng.
Aunt Qiu understood and immediately took Yingbao by the hand and asked, "I have a new cake. Do you want to take a look?"
Yingbao nodded immediately: "I will go, thank you Aunt Qiu."
Not everyone can enter the kitchen of Qiu's pastry shop. The last time they came to discuss business with Qiu, Dani, Erni and Jiang Quan were not allowed to enter. Only she was allowed to enter by Aunt Qiu because of her young age, and she watched for a long time.
So, Aunt Qiu took Yingbao's youngest son to the kitchen.
From a long distance away, you can smell the sweet fragrance emanating from the kitchen, which makes your mouth water.
Two or three women were busy in the kitchen, they were about thirty or forty years old, and they were all helpers hired by the enemy.
Aunt Qiu took her to an old lady and said, "Sister Xue, please teach Ying Bao how to make crispy milk cake."
Mrs. Xue agreed, glanced at the little girl, and felt a little worried.
I don’t know if such a young child can remember how to make pastries if I teach her that.
But who cares about her? Just teach if the boss asks you to. It’s not a complicated matter.
Since we are teaching you how to make pastries, we must start from the beginning and not miss any step.
Aunt Xue took out a few large steamed buns and told Yingbao: "Peel the skin off the buns first, and then make the crispy crumbs."
Yingbao followed her instructions, washed her hands and peeled the buns with Aunt Xue.
After peeling off the skins of several steamed buns, Aunt Xue cut them into small pieces, then poured them into a clean iron pan and fried them over low heat to dry out the moisture and make them crispy.
Take out the crispy steamed bun crumbs, place them in a plate to cool, then pour them onto a panel, cover with gauze, and crush them with a rolling pin.
The crushed steamed bread crumbs need to be sifted through a flour sieve to filter out the coarse parts and leave the fine parts for later use.