Leisurely Farmer's Family: A Strong Man and His Broken Leg Son-in-law

The water droplets in the pot evaporated quickly. Zhao Tianyu used a spatula to spread some rapeseed oil to the bottom of the pot, and then used a spatula to spread the oil evenly so that the area where the cakes would be placed was soaked in oil.

The rapeseed oil quickly soaks into the pot layer with the help of the shovel.

Zhao Tianyu asked Chen Jinmei, who was lighting the fire, to remove the firewood. After using a low fire, she put the cake embryos on the chopping board into the pot one by one.

He didn't stop until he put in five.

"Let's have a look at the five kangs first." Zhao Tianyu explained.

Tiny oil splashes began to appear at the contact point between the cake embryo and the layer of the pan. Zhao Tianyu waited for a while and then began to turn the chestnut cake over. When turning it over, she turned the bottom piece over to the top, and then flipped the top piece over to the bottom.

After doing this several times, a pot of chestnut cake that was golden and without any burnt flowers came out of the pot.

"Come and try how it tastes."

On a small green-yellow bamboo plate, five golden shortcakes are stacked on top, which looks quite pleasing to the eye and mouth-watering.

Liu Yu took a shortbread and quickly divided it into four portions. As soon as they took it into their hands, they felt the kitchen darken, and then a voice sounded: "It'll be ready so soon."

"Second brother, you must have paid homage to the Stove Lord a lot this year. It's such a coincidence."

Liu Yu joked with a smile.

He took another shortbread and divided it, giving Liu Yan a quarter of it.

The sweet fragrance of chestnut lingered in the noses of several people. They bit into the slightly hot skin and crisped it up layer by layer. Liu Yu hurriedly picked up the fallen puff pastry with her other hand.

The sweet chestnut filling melts in your mouth, it is soft and slightly sandy, sweet and dense.

"Wow, it's so delicious." Liu Yan finished the food in his hand and raised his fingers to several people.

"How delicious, you guys made the chestnut shortbread so quickly."

Nian brought the dishes to the door of the kitchen and turned to greet Liu Fusheng who was holding a rake and shovel.

The two of them washed their hands, picked up the shortbread that Liu Yu handed over and bit it carefully.

The chestnut shortbread was not big to begin with, and when it was divided into four parts, it became even smaller. The two of them took a few bites before finishing it.

"This tastes really good, not much worse than the ones made in dim sum shops." Nian sighed.

"How does Grandma know the taste of chestnut cakes in the pastry shop?" In Liu Yu's impression, her family had never bought any cakes from the pastry shop.

The cakes used as New Year gifts are all bought from street stalls, which are cheaper and more affordable than those in shops.

"I ate it when I was a kid, decades ago, and it tasted just like this, sweet, as if it had been mixed with honey." Nian's expression was full of nostalgia and regret, and finally she looked at Liu Yu and the others standing in the kitchen with joy. .

"When grandma was a child, my great-grandma's family was quite wealthy." Chen Jinmei said casually. Most people would not be willing to go to a pastry shop to buy those expensive pastries.

"Hi! It's not bad. Your great-grandpa is an accountant. With the 2 taels of offerings every month, the family is doing well." Nian calmed down and said.

"Then what..." Chen Jinmei hesitated. Her great-grandmother and great-grandfather had passed away a long time ago. The uncle's family left behind also traveled around during the New Year and festivals. Their family background was similar to that of her own. It didn't look like they had ever been out and could give two taels as an offering. of people.

Nian rarely mentioned her natal family's predecessor, but Liu Yu knew a little bit, but not much. Seeing that there was no anger on Ah Nai's face, she looked over curiously.

"So I always warn you not to gamble." Nian said slowly as he glanced around the crowd.

It turns out that when Nian was about ten years old, an uncle in the family got involved in gambling and went to a gambling house. Once you entered the gambling house, people would not let you go until you were skinned.

Nian's uncle was happy when he won the bet, but when he lost the bet, he borrowed money from the gambling house to make up for the loss. After a few days, the debt became a huge amount for ordinary people.

People from the gambling house came to the house with their young uncle who was beaten and injured to ask for money. Nian's grandma felt sorry for her young son and immediately forced the other two sons who were married to redeem him with money.

Nian's mother was not weak, but her father was indeed filial. All the money in the family was just a drop in the bucket.

“Then came the selling of land, and finally houses.”

"The old woman was hanging at the gate of my uncle's house, forcing my uncle and aunt to sell their two daughters to pay off the debt."

"My aunt didn't agree. In the end, my uncle couldn't resist the old woman and forced her to die. After a few days, he took my aunt back to her parents' home... Two girls in their mid-teens and sixteens were born very well and sold for a good price, forty taels." silver."

Everyone in the kitchen was silent. No one dared to ask what happened to the two aunts. They knew that it must not be a good place to be at such a beautiful age and sold at such a high price.

"That's not enough. My mother was afraid that this old woman would come to our house, so she hurriedly sent me to a relative's house. She only said she was lost, so I escaped."

Nian didn't say any more, but repeated the old words with a stern look on his face: "If I find any of my children or grandchildren going to a gambling house, I don't have to wait for the gambling house to take advantage of them. I'll give him a discount on his legs first. I think It is impossible to force me to sell my land and house to redeem such a ruined family."

These words can be said to be very stern, and no one dared to interrupt them by playing around. Liu Yan nodded and swore in response that he would never enter a gambling house in his lifetime.

"Our Ayan is the most sensible and considerate person. I believe what he said." Nian's face softened and she looked at her second grandson lovingly.

"Grandma, don't worry. I have the money to do something wrong. Even if I buy a ruler, I can make clothes for my little girl. If I buy a pastry, I can sweeten my children's mouth. Gamblers can ruin my family's career. , even relatives can be dragged down."

After that, Liu Yan took out Ren Dabao and talked about it.

Chang Sheng, who was quietly leaning on crutches at the side, seemed to have thought of something when he heard the words, his eyes flashed thoughtfully.

From the time Chang Sheng entered the kitchen to help, Liu Yu had focused half of his attention on him. Seeing Chang Sheng's behavior, she glanced at him, but he was just a talkative person, so she ignored him for the time being.

The old lady was relieved to see that Liu Yan was quite aware.

"Grandma, grandma, why are they all in the kitchen?" Liu Fan and Liu Shan walked through the fence door and heard what was being said in the kitchen.

When I finally squeezed into the kitchen, I saw at a glance the golden chestnut cakes on the stove.

"This chestnut cake is ready. Let me try it quickly. Do you dare to discuss how to sell this cake in the kitchen?"

Liu Fan and Liu Shan took the chestnut cake from Liu Yu and stuffed it into their mouths.

"It's delicious, it's delicious. We're going to sell it for whatever price we want."

Liu Fan and Liu Shan looked at the few people, waiting for answers.

Everyone quickly calmed down their emotions and looked at Liu Yu.

This is really a problem. According to Liu Yu's previous thinking, retail sales were one penny per piece, and if bought in packages, they were five cents or six.

It's just that when I make this today, even though I don't have any money for chestnuts, it consumes a lot of lard and sugar. I wonder if I will lose money by selling it this way.

"Second sister-in-law, how much does one chestnut cake cost for us?" Liu Yu couldn't figure out how many cakes she could make per kilogram of flour, so she asked Zhao Tianyu, who was often around the stove.

"A pound of flour can make about thirty cake crusts, a bag of sugar can make about eighty shortbreads, and a pound of lard can make fifty or sixty cookies."

Zhao Tianyu thought for a while and said.

The current market price for a pound of flour is three cents per pound, granulated sugar is more expensive than caramel sugar and brown sugar, fourteen fifty per pack, lard board is sixteen cents per pound, and chestnuts are free and not included.

Compared with Zhao Tianyu's words, several people were calculating the accounts in their minds. Based on the sugar and lard used for one pound of flour, the cost would be between seventeen and eighty cents.

If a pound of flour produces thirty chestnut cakes, and if they are sold for one cent each, the profit will be only twelve or thirteen cents, and it will only be hard-earned money.

They all figured it out quickly.

"Either we raise the price, or use less sugar and lard to reduce the cost." Liu Fan tried his hand.