After the crowd dispersed, Zhou Xiaoxiao sat in the neatly tidy room and felt very satisfied.
Although the furniture is old, it is better than simple and simple. Zhou Xiaoxiao rubbed the cracks and wormholes on the wooden table and wooden chairs over time, and did not dislike it but found it very interesting.
The attic is facing the street, and a closed window is opened, and the loud and noisy voices come through the window.
Zhou Xiaoxiao was not too noisy at all, she sat on the chair by the window, poured herself a cup of rough tea, and sipped a cup of clear tea with the sound of the market.
It's just like this kind of firework, she thought, so that I can live here seriously and save me from being sad all day long and being in a trance as if I haven't woken up from a big dream.
It was night, and Aunt Wu and his wife were chatting in the room.
"This week's girl is young, but she is a wonderful person. She was rich and prosperous at the General's Mansion. She didn't show any signs of cowardice or flinch, and she got along with the lady like a sister." Aunt Wu was sewing needles under the lamp. , "Now living in our dilapidated house, I looked carefully, and she didn't complain and pity at all, on the contrary, she was more calm and content."
Her husband, Wu Daoquan, buried his head and crushed the end of Sanqi with an iron powder, and did not answer.
Aunt Wu seemed to be accustomed to this, so she only spoke to herself, "I think she has neither father nor mother, she is very pitiful to be alone, and she is unwilling to be a concubine for the fifth master, and living in the general's mansion is also uncomfortable, since If she wants to rent a house to live in, why not let her live in our house. We can also take care of her for a while."
"Since she saved the fifth master and we are taking care of her, we should pay this favor for the old man. Why should you charge her for the rent?"
"Master, don't be annoyed, but you don't know that this week, the girl looks soft and really proud. She doesn't want to come here if she doesn't charge her rent. When I saw her, she was hurt so badly. But there are no tears, and she is smiling at me." Aunt Wu stopped sewing, as if recalling the past, "If our daughter didn't go away in the military disaster that year, she would be as old as her now. I think of her living in here. It is also more lively, saving us and Lao Chen in this house, which makes it uncomfortable to be empty."
Wu Daoquan put away the medicine grinder and coughed, "I'll stay here, and I'm doing these old things again."
So far, Zhou Xiaoxiao has lived in Wu's house.
She is not in a hurry to open a store, and visits the market every day to taste various local snacks.
Then invite craftsmen to decorate the shop and create utensils.
In his spare time, he undertakes the various labors of carrying water and chopping wood in Wu's house, and trying to make various pastries, he often invites Aunt Wu and his wife to taste them first.
Aunt Wu packed three meals a day, and came to invite Zhou Xiaoxiao to eat together.
Over time, the two got closer and closer, and even Lao Chen in the concierge smiled when he saw Zhou Xiaoxiao.
It's just that Wu Daoquan is still lukewarm to Zhou Xiaoxiao, and Zhou Xiaoxiao doesn't care either.
One day, Zhou Xiaoxiao got up early and filled the two water tanks first. I wandered around the yard with nothing to do, and saw the weapons in the yard being itchy for a while, I couldn't help but grab a stick and follow the instructions of Father Zhou in my mind to get up, and for a while, the yard was filled with sand and dust. , splendid, consciously at ease, and proud.
Suddenly heard, "It's all messed up, empty has brute force, but it's useless to go into battle."
Zhou Xiaoxiao held back the momentum, but didn't feel annoyed, and said with a smile: "I learned three punches and two kicks with my father when I was young. My father died early, so I can't make it up. Since Wu Boshan is good at spear and stick, please give me some advice."
Wu Daoquan didn't say a word, went to the gun stand with a stick in his hand, and stood still and took a stance.
Zhou Xiaoxiao said: "Forgive the rudeness."
Going straight to Wu Daoquan, he slashed in the air.
With the stick in the air, Zhou Xiaoxiao thought in her heart that she was full of strange strength, and the old man was just a retired military doctor. If he pretended to be a sloppy sack inside, but he knocked him over with a stick, Aunt Wu had a bad face, so Pro received seven or eight points of strength.
But I don't know how Wu Daoquan moved, Zhou Xiaoxiao only felt that his elbow was lightly rubbed, and suddenly his entire right arm was sore and numb, unable to hold the stick, and dropped his hand on the ground.
Zhou Xiaoxiao was stunned on the spot, in shock. After kneading his arms for a while, he picked up the stick, and this time, he used a set of five plum sticks taught by Zhou Dujuan's father. With a shake of the stick, the shadow shadows are shattered into five stick shadows, like a blooming white plum.
But before the plum blossoms fully bloomed, Zhou Xiaoxiao felt that her heel had been hit by force, and she suddenly became unsteady and fell to the ground. Due to the excessive force in her hands, she could not stabilize her body, and she rolled twice on the ground. Just got up.
Zhou Xiaoxiao climbed up, turned over and bowed: "Master is on top, I didn't know how high the sky was when I was young, and I will ask the master to correct me in the future."
Wu Daoquan didn't answer and went back to the house with his hands behind his back. Zhou Xiaoxiao patted the soil on her body and followed behind. When I got to the hall, I asked Wu Daoquan to sit down on a bench. I worshipped three times with candles inserted, and respectfully brought a cup of tea, "Master, please accept my apprentice."
Wu Daoquan didn't take the tea and pondered for a moment, "You are a girl, what are you doing to learn how to dance with a knife and make a stick."
Zhou Xiaoxiao, as long as he really wants to get something, he can be a hundred times more entangled than usual. This meeting is like smearing honey, and if you open your mouth, you will come.
"Master, look, there is no boy in our family now, so you have the right to raise your disciples as men. As long as you can learn three or two points of the master's skills," Zhou Xiaoxiao knelt on the ground, holding tea again and again, "in the future, the disciples will support the master and the wife. At that time, if some pickled thieves come and bully the door, the disciple can also support the door, and there is no need for the master to do everything himself, right?"
"Practicing martial arts is not a trick, and there is no room for cheating or slipping."
"If you are lazy, you will be punished by the master."
"So," Wu Daoquan took the tea and took a sip, "Wait in the yard from the 5th watch tomorrow."
Zhou Xiaoxiao was overjoyed. Since then, Wu Daoquan and his wife have been called masters and mothers, and they have been treated with respect. Wu Daoquan also taught Zhou Xiaoxiao the eighteen martial arts from the beginning.
When Wu Daoquan was young, he was really a martial arts idiot. It was best to use a knife and a gun. Because his family practiced medicine for generations, he was recruited as a military doctor, and his martial arts skills were of little use. middle. Therefore, when I first saw Zhou Xiaoxiao's strange strength and aptitude, and it was a good material for practicing martial arts, I had already seen Hunting Xinxi, but only assumed the air of a master according to the rules. Now seeing that Zhou Xiaoxiao is a woman, she is not afraid of hardships, smart and eager to learn, and she is also happy in her heart.
The gossip is resting, Zhou Xiaoxiao wakes up early every day to practice martial arts, buys people in the afternoon, decorates the facade, and prepares the cake shop.
One day, Zhou Xiaoxiao carried two food boxes to the General's Mansion to visit the General's wife, Xia Qinglian.
Xia Qinglian welcomed her into the room, held her hand affectionately and looked at it for a while before the two of them sat down as the guest of honor.
"It's been a long time since I haven't seen her. My sister looks more and more energetic."
"It's because I miss my sister so often, so I brought some new desserts to my sister." Zhou Xiaoxiao opened the food box and brought out a black-glazed porcelain plate with partridge patterns, "I also want to I will use my wife's golden tongue to give me a review, and the foolish girl can improve it when she goes back."
On the black thick porcelain plate are six pieces of delicate cakes, which are in the shape of delicate snow-white plum blossoms, in the shape of autumn chrysanthemums with transparent milk skin, and in the shape of young leaves like muddy jade. The six cakes are small and compact. Different shapes, pink or translucent appearance with a faint hint of tender color, faintly wafting out a fragrance.
Xia Qinglian first heard that Zhou Xiaoxiao was going to open a dim sum shop, but she didn't really care, she expected it to be just some hard cakes, but when she saw it, it was so delicate, she couldn't help being surprised.
"I can't believe that my sister has such skillful craftsmanship, which makes me almost can't bear to eat them."
"My sister comes from a noble family, and I have never seen any kind of fine food. Don't make fun of it, give it a taste, and give some advice is serious."
Xia Qinglian stretched out her finger and pointed at Zhou Xiaoxiao, and just then smiled and picked up a piece of plum blossom-shaped dessert. I saw that this cake was clean and tender, and its shape was lifelike, like the first snow piled up. When you enter the mouth, you can feel that the skin is fragrant and smooth, but the inside has a slightly sweet and sour taste. Xia Qinglian's diet is light and light, not sweet and greasy, and this snack is just right for her appetite.
Yin asked, "The stuffing here is bergamot?"
"It's the bergamot. After marinating, take its light taste to complement the sweetness in the cake. I wonder if it can be used?"
Xia Qinglian nodded without saying a word, but she said in her heart, she didn't expect this little sister to have such a skill, no wonder she dared to stand on her own. But underestimated her.
I picked up the pink and tender cake in the shape of a leaf to taste. It was a common mung bean cake. The taste is no different from the popular ones, but the texture is extraordinarily delicate. After eating, there is a lingering taste in the mouth, and it also has a refreshing feeling of unobstructed heart and lungs.
Xia Qinglian stopped and said: "It's really good, it's both novel and ancient, but what's the point?"
"This set of cakes has a total of 12 kinds. Because it is made of roses, white lotus, bergamot, mung beans and other seasonal flowers and fruits, it is commonly known as the December Flower God Cake. It is planned to be the main food in the store. . Therefore, the name of my shop is also called December Moon Cake Shop."
"It's a name that is appreciated by both refined and popular people. You are very clever and smart. It seems that I don't have to worry about you."
"What, I'm here to ask my sister to help me." Zhou Xiaoxiao opened the second layer of the food box, took out a plate, and said, "These snacks are quite laborious in workmanship, if they are in the market place I'm afraid it won't work. I only hope that the wives and young ladies of the big families in Fengxiang City can personally favor one or two, so that I can hope to maintain it."
Xia Qinglian glanced at her with a smile, and looked at the plate first, and saw that there were still six desserts on it, three puff pastry and three milk skins, round and square. The first is a pastry, round and round, covered with a golden oily skin and decorated with sesame seeds. Looking a bit cute, Xia Qinglian held a small silver knife and cut it crosswise, and saw that the outer layer was covered with thin skin like cicada wings, the middle was the delicate red bean paste, and the inside was a Oily salted egg yolk.
"Oh, Miss Zhou is so clever, it's rare to use egg yolk as a stuffing." The big maid who was waiting in the house couldn't help but praised when she saw it.
Oh, I haven't even seen Qinglian's family. It seems that egg yolk cakes and Cantonese-style moon cakes have not appeared in this era, but I have taken advantage of them, Zhou Xiaoxiao thought.
Xia Qinglian tasted one piece and handed the rest to the maids to share, and everyone praised it.