Chapter 54: For Mooncakes!

Jiang Mixia took the basket, scooped water from the tub, and poured it into the bamboo basket. She lifted it to check if there were any water droplets leaking from the bottom.

It was perfect – there were none.

“It looks like it’s woven well, doesn’t it?” Song Jingyun sighed in relief.

“We still need to observe it for a while, to see how long it can hold water without leaking,” Jiang Mixia placed the bamboo basket on the table and rolled up her sleeves. “Let’s have lunch first.”

“Okay!”

After a busy morning, Song Jingyun was famished.

Jiang Mixia sliced some streaky pork, blanched it, stir-fried it with caramel, added seasoning, and then poured the meat and vegetables, along with the gravy, into the rice pot to steam.

The steamed rice absorbed the rich meat juices, and the pork, cooked until tender, was aromatic. Combined with potatoes and radishes…

Jiang Mixia herself had two servings.

After finishing their meal, Jiang Mixia once again observed the bamboo basket filled with water. It was still not leaking.

In the evening, Jiang Youcheng and Liu shi returned home, bringing with them a leg of lamb, a small jar of fermented soybeans, half a basket of pears, and some mooncakes they had bought while passing through town.

“The leg of lamb is from a sheep at your maternal grandfather’s place. It got into a fight with another sheep and didn’t survive. It couldn’t be sold at a good price, and coincidentally, it’s the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, so your maternal grandfather suggested we share it with everyone to celebrate the festival. We happened to be there, so we received a portion of the leg of lamb,” Jiang Youcheng explained. Liu Shi added, “Tomorrow night, on the 15th, we’ll stew it. These fermented soybeans are well made. I’ll heat them up later, and we can enjoy them slowly. The pears were picked from the tree in our yard. They aren’t very big, but this year, there hasn’t been much rain, so these pears are exceptionally sweet. You can have these mooncakes first.”

As they spoke, Liu shi gave each of them a piece of mooncake.

Jiang Mixia took a bite of hers, which was filled with five types of nuts. Peanuts, sesame seeds, walnuts, melon seeds, and almonds along with the classic green and red threads. It was rich and flavorful, with a sufficiently soft and flaky crust. Even Jiang Mixia, who had disliked five-nut mooncakes in her past life, couldn’t help but praise how delicious it was. It seemed that the issue wasn’t with the five-nut filling, but rather the way it was made.

Jiang Mixia savored the five-nut mooncake with great delight.

Song Jingyun’s mooncake had a date filling. After taking a bite, he found it to be soft, sweet, and quite delightful. It was so delicious, like a delicacy fit for the gods. Song Jingyun was so moved that he nearly shed tears. He wanted to devour the whole mooncake in one go, but he couldn’t bear to do so. Instead, he savored it slowly, bite by bite.

“Mom said these were bought in town, but why have I never seen them before?” Song Jingyun was somewhat puzzled.

During this period, he had scoured the town for all kinds of food. Whether delicious, moderately tasty, or not so good, he had tried almost everything, but had never come across these mooncakes.

“Mooncakes are only sold on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, not usually at other times,” Jiang Mixia explained. “It’s like zongzi eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival – it’s a special item for a specific festival.”

“So, does that mean they won’t be available after tomorrow?” Song Jingyun asked.

“Pretty much. Even if there are any left, they’ll just be the leftovers from these days. Once they’re sold out, they won’t make any more this year. If you want to eat them, you’ll have to wait until next year,” Jiang Mixia replied.

“Even though our parents bought quite a few mooncakes this time, at most, they’ll only last for another two or three days. If I want to eat such delicious mooncakes again, I’ll have to wait until next year?” Song Jingyun was disappointed, even a bit disheartened.

“Every month has a 15th day, and the moon is always so round. Why can’t we have mooncakes every month?” Song Jingyun tried to argue, hoping to negotiate.

“That’s just the custom, the rule everyone agrees upon,” Jiang Mixia explained.

“But…” Song Jingyun looked regretful and even a little distressed.

Seeing his expression, Jiang Mixia comforted him. “However, if you really enjoy these mooncakes and want to have them regularly, there are two ways to do that.”

“The first method is for us to learn how to make mooncakes ourselves, and the second is to pay a bakery to make mooncakes specifically for us.”

“To make mooncakes, you need an oven, various ingredients, precise ratios, and specific techniques. It would take a long time to learn, and this skill is the livelihood of those who run mooncake bakeries. Even if we wanted to learn, they might not be willing to teach us. So, the feasibility of the first method is quite low.”

“The second method, as the saying goes, ‘money talks.’ As long as we pay enough, any business would be willing to make money, and they would also be willing to make mooncakes for you if you pay them enough,” Jiang Mixia explained.

Song Jingyun blinked.

In other words, having enough money equals having mooncakes to eat. If he wanted to have mooncakes at any time, he needed to have a lot of money. Moreover, if mooncakes were like this, then other types of food might be the same. For example, zongzi during the Dragon Boat Festival! So, what he needed to do now was to work hard to earn more money.

Yes, he needed to earn more money!

For mooncakes, for more delicious treats like mooncakes!

That night, under the bright moonlight, Song Jingyun embarked on a frenzy of basket-weaving. Despite Jiang Mixia urging him twice, Song Jingyun was reluctant to go to bed. Jiang Mixia eventually dragged him to bed, made him take off his shoes and clothes, and after he obediently freshened up, he finally went to bed.

Seeing him sleeping soundly, Jiang Mixia heaved a sigh of relief, closed her eyes, and fell asleep peacefully.

The next morning, as dawn broke, Jiang Mixia woke up.

She was awakened by a faint, rhythmic sound in the courtyard. Rubbing her sleepy eyes and yawning, Jiang Mixia put on her coat, opened the window, and peered outside. She saw Song Jingyun splitting bamboo pieces, slicing bamboo strips, and weaving bamboo baskets in the courtyard.

Jiang Mixia: “…”

He was really diligent.

Although diligence was a good thing, being overly diligent…

Her husband had finally gained some weight after being so lean. She didn’t want him to exhaust himself and fall ill again.

Dressed, she went out to the courtyard, picked up her husband, and brought him back inside. With a serious expression, she asked, “Why are you suddenly working day and night? Is something wrong?”

“It’s nothing,” Song Jingyun said, feeling a bit embarrassed. “I just want to earn more money.”

“What do you want to earn more money for?” Jiang Mixia felt that, although their family wasn’t as wealthy as the rich households, they were relatively well-off in the village.

“To buy mooncakes, to buy food,” Song Jingyun replied frankly. “To buy all kinds of delicious food I want to eat.”

Ah, she knew it. It was because of what she had said last time about being able to order mooncakes with money. Given his love for good food, it wasn’t surprising that he would take this matter to heart.

While it was good to work hard and be ambitious, it seemed that her husband was becoming overly ambitious.