Baozi Xishi's Struggle

We had a late meal today, and after cleaning up, I saw that it was getting late, so I decided not to take a nap and instead slowly began to prepare the filling for tomorrow morning.

Li saw Shen Yu wearing an apron and preparing to knead the dough. She said uncertainly, "Should we prepare meat filling for tomorrow's meal? In the countryside, we have to eat vegetarian food all day tomorrow. I wonder if it's the same in the county town."

Shen Yu had already gotten a rough idea from the discussion among his fellow waiters, and he also asked the owner of the butcher shop, so he had already agreed with the butcher shop not to send the minced meat for tomorrow's delivery.

She told Li what she had found out and said, "I only know that we will eat vegetarian food tomorrow, but she didn't mention what kind of vegetarian food we will eat. At this time, Madam Qi may not have returned from closing her stall yet. I will go to Zheng Sanniang's house opposite to ask." As she said that, she took off her apron, tidied her clothes, and went to Zheng Sanniang's house opposite.

Zheng Sanniang was at home, busy in the kitchen. When she heard Shen Yu asking about this, she quickly told her what she knew.

The Ghost Festival in this county is the same. On the first day, July 14th, people eat millet rice at noon and sticky rice cakes at night. On the second day, which is the actual day of the Ghost Festival, they eat sweet foods such as red bean paste buns, honey cakes, and candied date cakes, so that their ancestors can rest assured that their descendants are living a good, sweet and abundant life.

Shen Yu thanked Zheng Sanniang and told Li and the others about it after returning. Li sighed and said, "People in the county town really know how to enjoy life. When I was in the village, I was already jealous of being able to eat milk cake. I didn't expect that such good milk cake would be put at the back of the queue in the county town."

Shen Yu smiled and said, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do. I'm sure those who come to buy buns tomorrow will want to buy some sweet buns, so let's just make red bean paste buns."

Li felt that if she only made the same kind of stuffing to set up a stall, she would not be able to steam many baskets, and it would be troublesome and she would not make any money, so she asked, "You mentioned that you made good honey flower cakes in the restaurant, so can you make honey sugar cakes and candied date cakes?"

Shen Yu didn't know why she asked this, so he nodded and said, "When I was in the restaurant before, customers would occasionally order these kinds of candies and cakes. I saw Chef Lu make them."

After she finished speaking, she understood what Li meant, and smiled, "Mother is really smart, and is born to be a business person. However, I don't know whether these sweet cakes are made by each family for their own consumption, or whether they are all bought ready-made. If I make them and no one buys them tomorrow, I will have to eat them all by myself."

Mrs. Li shook her head and said, "Most people in this county are lazy and are not willing to make their own cakes. When I went to East Street to buy offerings this morning, I saw many women queuing in front of the cake shop where we bought the old dough starter. I curiously asked them what they were waiting to buy, and one woman said she was buying candied date cakes. I guess they bought some to eat tomorrow. If you make some and sell them tomorrow morning, you will definitely make some money."

Shen Yu thought it made sense and said: Then let's make a few kinds of sweet cakes and sell them together.

I did it as soon as I said it. I looked at the ingredients at home. Flour, snowflake sugar powder, white sesame seeds, and candied dates fillings were all available, except for whole candied dates, shredded green plums, and shredded red fruits.

Li called Yucheng over and told him what fruits he needed, and asked him to go to the fruit shop on the street to buy some. Shen Yu thought about it and asked Yutao to go with him to buy some pine nuts, walnut kernels and other nuts.

The fruit shop was not far from Liushu Lane. Within a stick of incense, Yutao and Yucheng returned with several large bags of fruit fillings including candied dates.

At this time, Shen Yu's Shen Yu had just kneaded the dough needed.

Because they were going to make sugar cakes, the dough was a little different from the dough for buns. When kneading the dough, more water was added to make the dough softer. Shen Yu stopped kneading it until it was a smooth, soft and elastic dough. Then he put the dough into a basin, turned it upside down with another basin, boiled some water in an iron pot, and when the water was warm to the touch, he turned off the fire, put the basin in the iron pot, covered it with a lid and simmered it.

Mrs. Li watched from the side and asked in confusion, "Does this mean that the dough is to be cooked? Doesn't the dough for making dumplings need to be kneaded and left aside to rise?"

Shen Yu placed the dough in place, checked to see if the lid was tight, and explained, "Because we are making sugar cakes, we need to let the dough rise softer and bigger. Putting the basin in warm water will make the dough rise faster. We can't wait for the dough to rise slowly. After it has risen, we need to add snowflake sugar powder and knead it. Then we can use it after it has risen."

Because they had eaten late lunch and had eaten cakes and candies, no one was hungry. While waiting for the dough to rise, they sat at the small table and discussed tomorrow's Ghost Festival.

Li planned for tomorrow and said with a smile, "When I went to the street to buy things today, I heard from the ladies that there will be a dance competition at Guang'an Temple in the east of the city tomorrow. The incense there is said to be very effective. Tomorrow morning after we close our stalls, we will go there to burn incense and offer sacrifices."

Yutao and Yucheng cheered after hearing this, and asked Li what the dancing lion and dragon looked like, and whether they really moved around like real people. Also, were there any stalls selling snacks and fruits in front of the temple, and whether they could go for a walk after burning incense.

This was also the first time that Li had heard of the dance battle. She had only heard about it when she was shopping in the morning, and had never seen it with her own eyes. When the two children asked her about it, she opened her mouth but could not answer.

Shen Yu had no interest in burning incense, but since she came to the county town, she had been busy renting a house, shopping, and opening a food stall without stopping for a single day. She would be able to rest for most of the day after closing the stall tomorrow morning and visit the county town's temple fair, so she was very happy about it.

Seeing that Li was stumped by the two children's questions, she smiled and continued, "I heard that the lion and dragon dance teams were all hired by the rich families in the county at a great price. The dances are so vivid that they look just like the real thing."

Yu Tao and Yu Cheng's eyes lit up when they heard this, and they looked at Li eagerly. Li readily agreed, "After burning incense and offering sacrifices tomorrow, we will go to the temple fair."

Shen Yu listened to the three Li family members talking and laughing, and she felt dazed inside. She remembered that when she was a child, her parents were still alive, and she also pestered her parents and acted coquettishly to ask them to take her out to play.

Shen Yu felt a little sad inside, but he smiled to hide it and said, "You guys discuss what to do tomorrow. I'll go check if the dough for the sweet cakes has risen. Tomorrow I'll be the hands-off boss and go shopping with you guys."

Because the basin was placed in warm water, the proofing time was shortened a lot. After washing his hands, Shen Yu opened the dough and took a look. It had become a dense honeycomb structure, so he could proceed to the next step.

The dough was soft and tough after proofing. Sprinkle a thin layer of dry flour on the dough board, transfer the dough to the dough board, press it to release the air, sprinkle an appropriate amount of snowflake sugar powder on it and start kneading it. Roll and knead it a few layers, sprinkle some more sugar powder, and don't stop until the prepared half bowl of sugar powder is kneaded into the dough. Finally, Shen Yu unfolded the dough again, added a small bowl of vegetable oil while kneading it, and kneaded the dough into a shiny white, delicate and soft dough again. He applied a thin layer of oil on the wall of the ceramic basin, carefully rounded the dough and placed it in the basin, and covered it with a cloth towel.

Shen Yu only planned to steam two baskets of each kind of sweet cakes. People would be busy going to the temple tomorrow. Each person could eat at most two pieces of this sweet cake, which would keep them from feeling hungry for half a day. The demand for this kind of sweet cakes was different from that for buns used as a staple food.

Yutao saw Shen Yu coming over to knead the dough, so she followed to see if her sister needed help. But she had never made this kind of dough before, so she sat beside Shen Yu, helping her pass this and that, calling her sister in a sweet voice. Shen Yu looked at Yutao's sweet smile, and listened to Yutao happily planning to go to the temple fair tomorrow. The sadness just now disappeared without a trace.

After making preparations for setting up the stall tomorrow, Shen Yu started making glutinous rice cakes.