Baozi Xishi's Struggle

She told the whole story of what had happened in the past two months in one breath, and the three of them fell silent again.

Shen Yu was thirsty after talking so much that she took a few sips of water from the bowl. Li asked again in confusion, "You silly girl, when did you learn how to make flower cakes? We have never made them before. Did you make up a lie to deceive your mother?"

The question of how one learns cooking skills will be asked sooner or later, so Shen Yu has already thought about it carefully and has a ready answer.

She answered without hesitation, "I have always known how to make noodles, but the noodles we use are mixed and not chewy, so we can't make thin silver noodles. When I went to the restaurant, they used the best noodles, which are white and thin, so the noodles they made are naturally thin and chewy."

"The chef at the restaurant taught me how to make flower cakes. It's almost the same as steamed cakes. I know how to embroider, so after I learned how to make flower cakes, I used the patterns on the embroidery to mold them out of dough. I didn't expect everyone to say they looked good."

"The honey-giving flower cake won first prize on the Tianfu Festival, which brought honor to the restaurant owner, so the owner's wife rewarded me with silver ingots. The same reason applies to the birthday cake. The Nanshan offering of longevity on the cake made Old Master Zheng think it was a good omen for longevity. Everyone said that the birthday peach was well made, so Old Master Zheng was very happy and rewarded me with gold ingots. In fact, I was also surprised at the time. I didn't expect such generosity to reward me with one or two taels of gold at once."

Shen Yu gave a convincing explanation and she felt that this answer was perfect and had no loopholes. It was worth her not sleeping well all night and trying hard to cover up the lie.

Li didn't seem to be suspicious, and asked curiously, "Why did the chef in the restaurant teach you so quickly? I heard that if an apprentice wants to learn the cooking skills of a master, he must first help the master and do odd jobs for free for at least three years. How can you get paid and learn cooking skills at the same time? How can such a good thing happen?"

Shen Yu pretended to be sad and said, "Mom, of course it's impossible for pie to fall from the sky and let others teach me for free. All these are earned by my hard work."

"In addition to making the wide and narrow noodles and silver thread noodles every day, I do all the other kitchen work I can. Sometimes I work until the middle of the night, and when I go back to bed, my arms ache from exhaustion and I can't sleep well. Even so, Chef Lu saw that I was diligent and willing to endure hardships, so he taught me a little. Look at my hands, aren't they much rougher than before?"

As she said this, she coquettishly handed her hand to Li and asked her to touch the thin calluses on her hand.

Li touched her daughter's hand. It was no longer the smooth, boneless hand that she had maintained for embroidery. Although her hand shape was still delicate and slender, a thin layer of calluses had formed on the palms and fingertips, making her grip much stronger.

Holding Shen Yu's hand, Li believed it. She believed that her daughter earned her money through hard work through her cooking skills, and not by selling her smiles in a brothel as she thought.

Looking at my daughter's sincere eyes and thinking about her hard work, I still doubted her and threw dirty water on her.

Li couldn't help but feel her face burning with shame, but she was used to being tough on her words and couldn't say anything to express her guilt or heartache. She opened her mouth several times but had to give up, but tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.

Shen Yu heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that he had convinced Li, thinking that he had finally passed this hurdle.

Sorry, I didn't mean to lie to you, just take it as a white lie.

Yutao and Yucheng were listening in, just like listening to a story, and they looked at Shen Yu with admiration. They thought that their elder sister was so capable and amazing. In just two months, she was able to teach cooking and earn so much money.

Shen Yu cleared his throat and continued, "Mom, you can see that being a cook can make money. In less than two months, I have made so much money. This is much better than farming at home. I wonder if we can rent out our land to others to farm, and we can move to Anping County or Jiqing Prefecture and set up a food stall there. When we make more money in the future, we can open a restaurant and live there. Is that okay?"

Li just listened, his eyes fixed on the string of money on the table, and said nothing for a long time.

Shen Yu was not in a hurry. After all, leaving hometown and going to a strange place was not an easy thing in ancient times. He had to let Li digest and think about it carefully.

Yutao and Yucheng were very happy to hear this and immediately agreed with Shen Yu's idea.

One asked: "Sister, can we really set up a food stall in the county and make a lot of money like you?"

Another asked: "Sister, can I buy delicious food and go to school with the money I earn?"

Shen Yu immediately said confidently, "Of course I can. I am just working as a cook for a restaurant and earning a little money. If we set up a food stall, all the money we earn will be ours. It will be much more than this. Then, we can buy whatever delicious food we want. If Yu Cheng wants to go to school, he can also hire a good teacher, pay the tuition, and buy writing brushes, inkstones, and paper."

Yucheng's eyes lit up when he heard this. He used to go to school with his father, but after his father passed away due to illness, there was no money left in the family for him to go to school in the neighboring village, so his studies came to a halt. Now that he heard that he could continue his studies, he was even more determined to follow his elder sister to the county town.

Li initially rejected Shen Yu's words. She had never been to the county town, but she had heard people in the village say that the county town was good, but everything cost money, even the firewood for cooking. The daily food and drink for a family of four was not a small amount. How could she earn so much money? But when she heard that her youngest son could continue to study, she was immediately moved. What could be more noble and promising than being a scholar?

If I continue to farm in the countryside, I will just be enduring a hard life. After a few years of hardship, when my daughter gets married and my son gets married, I will still be a farmer who depends on the weather for my livelihood.

It would be better to listen to my daughter and try hard. Maybe life will be different. It is better than living like this, with no food to eat and having to rob Peter to pay Paul.

Li looked at Yutao and Yucheng's pale faces, then at Yuzhi, who looked much better after two months away from home. She touched a pile of copper coins on the table and spoke with determination: "Can you really do what you said? You have only been in the restaurant for less than two months. Even if you have learned how to make flower cakes, people don't eat flower cakes every day. Can you make money from this?"

He said worriedly, "What if we move to the county town with our whole family and fail to make money? When we come back, the land has been rented out. What will we do? Won't we just beg for food?"

Shen Yu smiled playfully after hearing this: "Mom, your daughter is so capable, how could she only learn how to make a flower cake? In fact, I have also learned how to cook many dishes and meals. Don't worry, we will definitely make money if we set up a food stall."

Li still didn't believe it in her heart, but seeing her daughter's confident and determined look, she couldn't help but believe it.

This daughter, who was originally shy and introverted, has become different after going out, but she can't tell what's different. But she feels that she is more pleasing now.

Before Shen Yu could say something else to get Li to agree, Yutao and Yucheng grabbed Li's sleeves and started to pester her with words.

"Mom, just agree to it. My sister has said that she can cook many dishes. I will learn from her when the time comes. We will definitely be able to make money."

"Mom, I will learn from you too. Let's do it together. I want to make a lot of gold and silver like you so that you can have meat every day."

Li was already moved, and after hearing her children's caring words, she couldn't help but nodded in agreement.

When Yutao and Yucheng saw that their mother agreed, they were so happy that they almost jumped up. It seemed that they would have meat to eat and live a good life soon.

Mrs. Li looked at her three children, all of whom were smiling happily, and she started laughing too.