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- Chapter 51 - The Fragrance of Wine is Afraid of the Deep Alleys (1)
The Fragrance of Wine is Afraid of the Deep Alleys (1)
After she finished off Chen Li’s lifetime event without any hiccups, Su Tang’s menstrual affairs were almost over as well. Her stomach hurt when she had nothing to do. Su Tang now felt relaxed as she watched the pastry shop become lively again.
Before long, she thought of how she couldn’t run out every day and her face turned cold, not to mention there was an old lady in the Fu Rui courtyard. One morning, Aunt Jinxiu, when she delivered a well-made bird’s nest, told her that the old lady said that the young master was still at the learning stage and asked her not to be irresponsible.
Look, look, what a great old lady she is, she doesn’t directly say it, she just beats around the bush, leaving her meaning implicit, leaving her looking all decent and proper! Tsk, tsk, what a spicy old ginger!
Because of that, although Su Tang always had the outdoors in her mind, she could only nest in the house and comply with the old woman’s words; going out once every three to five days. It was very boring in the mansion. All she could do was to urge Xuan Zi to study, and then she would pretend to go around and inspect. This was how she lived for a year.
However, all her people were outside the mansion, as such, she couldn’t sever ties with the pastry shop. Since she cannot go out on her own, she naturally had to send a valiant general in her stead, as such, Xi Que was called in again.
If she sent Xi Que, she could not only convey the message to Xiao Mo, she could also know the progress of the pastry shop in time. Additionally, he would chatter less around her, and what’s more, Xiao Mo would also have a lot more opportunities around Xi Que. It was earning big; like hitting four birds with one stone!
Boring days always went by slowly, but seven or eight days have passed since then, and today, it was natural for her to fulfil “going out once every three to five days”, as for why she said it was “natural”, Su Tang’s official reason was: Xuan Zi has practised his calligraphy hard and has made great strides in his learning, and to reward him, it is natural that I take him out to play.
Song Shi’an was acquiesced by those words; the old lady was also accepting when she heard those words. So, Su Tang got up early, happily hopped on the carriage and went all the way to the pastry shop.
When she got to the place, she got off the carriage in men’s attire and watched Xuan Zi, who was still in the carriage, sulking with a pout on his face; dissatisfied. To remedy it she asked the carriage driver to drive him around and also asked Shao Yao to accompany him.
The shop was already bustling, and the girls working there all wore a very tidy pigmented garment. Everything was in order, and everyone was full of smiles and enthusiasm.
Xiao Mo was wearing his shopkeeper-style gown and was dressed up all proper like an old man, but when he saw Su Tang come in, he subconsciously relaxed and a smile made its way onto his face. When he saw Xi Que walk close behind her, he straightened up slightly. Su Tang looked into his eyes and just smiled. Looking back at Xi Que, she was still ignorant and innocent. Su Tang shook her head at her—When would this girl realise?
Seeing that everyone was involved and busy with their work, Su Tang did not stop them. She pulled Xiao Mo to a corner and sat him down to talk. Without any event, another carriage pulled up by the door.
Su Tang looked at Chen Li alighting from the carriage and could not help but notice that she too was dressed as a man, but she seemed to have forgotten to tie her chest. She walked in with a girly attitude about her.
After getting along these days Chen Li and Liu Chun had become very familiar with each other. Su Tang felt that things had come to an end on a good note, so she first accepted Chen Li as her sworn sister and fixed the wedding date for a month later. Because it was inappropriate for her to continue living at the General’s mansion she found her a yard nearby to live in. This way, Chen Li enjoyed much freedom.
As for Chen Li’s fiancee, who was always mindless about these things, asked her to move about with a maid accompanying her. This made Su Tang very angry—Why couldn’t her husband be like that?!
“Sister.” Chen Li was very happy to see Su Tang. She took out a booklet from within her sleeves, and said, “This is the list of cakes we have in the shop, I’ve compiled it as you’ve instructed.”
Su Tang turned to look at the small beautiful characters—becoming embarrassed and self-aware about her writing.
After perusing through the list carefully, Su Tang nodded, satisfied. “Now that it’s becoming cooler in autumn, pastries can be stored for a longer time, so you can increase the production of the dry ones. As for those who want it fresh, you can prepare them in the morning or during noon, you can more later on.
“Mung Bean Cake, Red Bean Cake, Sesame Cake, Osmanthus Cake, Chestnut Cake, Jujube Paste Cake, Hundred Fruit Fragrant Cake, Sesame Cake, Peach Crispy Cake … these are the most common ones, Xiao Mo, you have to bring variations in their traditional forms and methods of these cakes.
“Recently, I happened to come across an idea, I will write it down for you, later. As for Chen Li’s medicinal cakes, they cost a lot, and it isn’t appropriate to bake more of them after the store opens up, so it is better to just present two to four of them on display.
“After business sees an improvement, new products will be launched every seven days. Those stove cakes and steamed cakes should be the ones promoted by our shop. The filings must be fresh and clean, but remember that quantity we produce must not be too much, and neither too little—”
“Why is that? Shouldn’t producing more be better?”
Su Tang was suddenly interrupted by someone, she couldn’t help but look at the person, only to see Zhan Yizhi coming in through the door. He was standing behind her, directing his affection towards her. Su Tang shuddered. Since that time when she was caught, Lord Zhan had begun exuding this unwarranted enthusiasm towards, overwhelming her every time.
“Why are you here?” Su Tang asked.
Zhan Yizhi smiled softly and said tenderly, “I knew you were coming, so I had to come too.”
Su Tang shuddered. Although she had a lot of opinions about Cold Noodles, she still was a married woman; she couldn’t let a man have his way with her. So Su Tang decided that it would be in her interest if she found the time to give him a piece of her mind later!