Chapter 18: Testing An-ge

“Auntie, of course what I said still counts.”

Qin Jin acted as if he didn’t notice Zhu Erhong’s darting eyes and kept a smile on his face: “But, like I said last time, for An-ge’s own good, his wages will be recorded for now. When he gets married, I’ll give them all to him at once, along with a big red envelope. If you agree, then let An-ge stay. What do you think?”

“You’re the one paying, it’s up to you.”

Zhu Erhong retracted her gaze and replied cheerfully.

Hmph, if he dares not pay wages, she’ll spread the word all over the village entrance and city gate, and Qin Jin’s business won’t survive!

Besides, maybe before the day wages are paid ever comes, An-ge will have already figured out how to make the pea cakes and tofu sheets.

“Alright then, An-ge can stay. Starting today, wages will be calculated monthly.”

Qin Jin kept smiling as well.

“It’s settled then.” Zhu Erhong said as she raised her hand to pat Qin An, putting on a loving appearance: “An-ge, your Brother Jin is giving you a chance, so you must remember his kindness. Do whatever he asks you to do, be diligent, understood?”

“Okay.” Qin An still kept his head lowered, looking dull and honest.

Zhu Erhong smiled in satisfaction.

At that moment, Qin Jin said, “Auntie, have you and An-ge eaten yet? If not, stay and have something.”

“We’ve already eaten at home. An-ge is here to work, not eat. Whatever work you have, feel free to assign him.” said Zhu Erhong.

“Hmm… how about this: in a bit, he can go with Miao to the village chief’s house to carry pumpkins? Sister Chunlan said her family grew too many pumpkins and they can’t finish them, so Miao wanted to buy a few more to make pumpkin cakes.”

Pumpkin cakes?

Zhu Erhong’s eyes lit up. Pumpkin can be made into cakes? How? Like the kind you fry on a pan?

She quickly nodded, “Sure, you arrange it.”

Her smiling face wrinkled even more with glee: “You guys eat quickly, then get to work. I’ll head back now, there’s still a pile of things to do at home.”

She declined Qin Jin’s offer to sit and rest for a bit, and walked off cheerfully, her heart aflame with curiosity.

Pumpkin cakes, huh.

Qin Jin walked her to the door. Seeing that she really left, he called Qin An into the kitchen to eat.

Qin An had indeed already had lunch, but Ye Miao enthusiastically pulled him to sit, and he couldn’t refuse, so he ate half a bowl of steamed noodles.

Though the noodles had some cornmeal mixed in and no meat was added, they had plenty of lard, and after eating, his mouth was greasy.

And that oily tofu skin—it tasted somewhat like meat.

His cousin’s meals were really good!

After lunch, Qin Jin pushed the little cart and went with Ye Miao and Qin An to the village chief’s house.

Huang Chunlan had mentioned the day before, when she came to buy pea cakes, that their pumpkin vines were ready to be pulled up. The vines had aged and needed clearing, but they still had more than twenty pumpkins left. With so many, her family alone couldn’t finish them before they spoiled, so she told Ye Miao to come take some.

They would take them, but not for free.

Qin Jin planned to pay for them.

Now that he was earning cash daily, he could afford to spend a bit more freely.

And at the same time, he could test An-ge.

He felt sorry for Qin An, but when it came to his own business, he had to be cautious.

When they arrived at Huang Chunlan’s home, she looked a little surprised to see Qin An.

Qin Jin smiled and explained, “Second Aunt thought that if An-ge could receive wages every month, it’d be easier to arrange a marriage for him, so she had him come work at my place. To avoid any accidents, she agreed to let me keep his wages here and give them to him when he gets married.”

“Sister Chunlan, if you know of any suitable matches, you should mention An-ge. He’ll be earning wages every month from now on.”

As soon as these words fell, Qin An lowered his head even more, seeming a bit embarrassed.

Huang Chunlan was quite surprised. That stingy Zhu Erhong could actually go this far for An-ge?

You have to know, Zhu Erhong was the type to hold a wedding banquet and still not let the guests eat their fill!

Suppressing her astonishment, she smiled and said, “Don’t worry, if there’s a suitable young man, I’ll definitely bring it up with An-ge. Everyone knows he’s diligent and capable.”

After speaking, her gaze fell on the handcart in Qin Jin’s hand.

Qin Jin, Ye Miao, and Qin An each brought a small handcart. She curiously pushed one around for a few circles. Her family members also took turns trying it out—it was indeed handy and fun. After confirming the address of the He family, Huang Chunlan finally went into the kitchen to fetch the pumpkins for Qin Jin.

When Qin Jin tried to offer coins in payment, Huang Chunlan shook her head and refused outright: “No need for money. Aren’t you making pumpkin cakes? Just bring us a few to try once they’re done.”

It was pumpkin season, and they weren’t worth much money. She’d rather exchange them for some delicious pumpkin cakes.

Qin Jin thought for a moment, then put the money away and nodded in agreement.

He had Ye Miao and Qin An push the carts home while he headed straight for the county town.

They were running low on sugar and candied dates at home and needed to restock. He also had to buy some glutinous rice, which was needed to make pumpkin cakes.

Dongyang County didn’t grow rice; both regular and glutinous rice at the grain shops were transported in from other places, so these items were more expensive than local grains.

Qin Jin bought five jin of regular rice and two jin of glutinous rice. These few things cost him a full forty wen.

After returning to the village, he went to Zhang Qi’s house to borrow a stone mill and ground the glutinous rice into rice flour.

When he came home with the flour, Ye Miao and Qin An had already steamed the pumpkins.

Steamed pumpkins had to be drained of moisture—if there was too much water, you’d need to add more glutinous rice flour while kneading, which would drown out the pumpkin flavor.

The pumpkin also had to cool down. If mixed with glutinous rice flour while hot, the flour would gelatinize and become very sticky to knead.

Once the pumpkin had cooled, they added sugar and glutinous rice flour, kneading it into dough, then shaped it into small cakes and fried them.

Qin Jin explained the process in great detail, and Ye Miao and Qin An listened attentively.

Actually, Qin Jin had wanted to make the traditional style of pumpkin cakes—like a cookie sandwich with pumpkin filling—but sadly there were no cookies available here, so he had to skip that step.

Still, even without the cookie part, the fried pumpkin cakes were delicious—crispy on the outside and soft and sticky inside. Ye Miao beamed with joy as she ate and kept praising Qin Jin for being full of clever ideas.

Qin Jin looked modest and still claimed he had only heard about it from someone else.

The entire afternoon passed in making pumpkin cakes.

At dusk, Qin An returned home.

As soon as Zhu Erhong saw him, she pulled him into the kitchen and hurriedly asked, “Did Qin Jin make pumpkin cakes?”

“He did,” Qin An replied, eyes lowered.

Zhu Erhong’s eyes lit up. “How did he make them? Were they tasty?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t in the kitchen when he made them. I didn’t see how.”

Zhu Erhong frowned. “He kicked you out of the kitchen on purpose?”

“I left on my own.”

“What?” Zhu Erhong raised her voice and suddenly jabbed a finger at Qin An’s forehead. “Are you stupid? I sent you there to work just so you could find out the recipe!”

Qin An stepped to the side, dodging her finger just in time. He explained, “If I had tried to get close on purpose, Brother Jin would’ve immediately known what I was up to. He might’ve found an excuse to send me back in a few days.”

“Weren’t you supposed to find out how to make the tofu sheets and the pea cakes? A pumpkin cake isn’t worth it.”

“Besides, the pumpkin cake needs glutinous rice and has to be deep-fried. Even if we made it, we couldn’t sell it. Pea cakes are already hard enough to sell.”

That made sense. Zhu Erhong’s brow furrowed, but she was slightly swayed by his words.

Pumpkins weren’t worth much, but glutinous rice was precious—she’d lived her whole life and never even tasted a bite!

If they really did make pumpkin cakes, they’d have to sell them in town. Rural folks couldn’t afford that kind of treat.

After thinking it over, her expression softened. “Then forget it for now. Don’t bother about the pumpkin cakes anymore. Focus on the tofu sheets—they sell the best.”

She had observed carefully at the city gate—those sold much better than pea cakes.

Qin An responded with an “mm” and rolled up his sleeves to start preparing dinner.

The next day, he only left for Qin Jin’s house after having breakfast.

Actually, Zhu Erhong had wanted him to go over in the middle of the night, but he used Qin Jin as an excuse to push back. It wasn’t exactly a lie—whether it was pea cakes or tofu sheets, they didn’t need him at the moment.

After all, Zhao Feng was still working in the fields every day, and Ye Miao had free time to pick wild vegetables or embroider handkerchiefs.

When Qin An arrived at Qin Jin’s house, Ye Miao had just woken up and was getting ready to do housework.

Seeing him arrive, he greeted him, “Take a break for a bit. Once I feed the chicks, we’ll head up the mountain to gather firewood.”

“How about I go work in the fields with Uncle Feng?” Qin An suggested.

“No need, just come gather firewood with me. Let’s collect more so we won’t have to go back up tomorrow,” Ye Miao shook her head.

She and Qin Jin had discussed it the night before—they’d start An-ge off with lighter tasks.

Qin An thought for a moment and nodded.

So the two of them took some hemp rope and headed up the mountain to gather firewood.

By noon, both returned with a large bundle of dry wood on their backs. Qin An’s load was heavier—he was stronger than the average young ger.

They washed their hands and were just about to start preparing lunch when Qin Jin came back.

The weather was cool that day, and many people had gone to the market in town, so sales had been fast.

Qin Jin had bought some apples—grown by local farmers. They were small, only about half the size of his fist. Not very sweet, but not sour either.

Qin An washed a few apples and placed them on the stove counter.

Seeing Qin Jin taking one and walking out of the kitchen, he quickly followed after him. “Brother Jin.”

“Hmm?” Qin Jin turned to look at him. Seeing his hands empty, he said, “Why aren’t you eating? Try one, these apples aren’t sour.”

Upon hearing that, Qin An smiled slightly. It was clear that his cousin’s kindness toward him was genuine.

There weren’t many people who truly treated him with sincerity, and he didn’t want to make things difficult for Qin Jin. Moreover, even though Qin Jin hadn’t said it outright, Qin An knew that this was a way of testing him—which was normal, as they hadn’t been very familiar before.

Besides, even if it was a test, Qin Jin had still genuinely taught him how to make pumpkin cakes, and for that, he was grateful.

“Brother Jin, there’s something I want to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“My mother wants me to find out the recipe for the pea cakes and tofu sheets. But I don’t want to do that. First, it would offend you and Miao-ge. Second, even if I did find out, the benefits wouldn’t go to me. But if I never find out, she’ll definitely call me back.”

“She won’t last more than a month.”

At most, he could stall for a month. Any longer, and his mother would lose patience.

“In this one month, I’ll surely cause trouble for you and Miao-ge. You don’t need to pay me wages. Just let Miao-ge teach me some needlework when he has time.”

Actually, when it came to embroidering handkerchiefs, it was Zhu Erhong who paid a deposit at the fabric shop to get the handkerchiefs and embroidery thread. Once he finished embroidering, she’d take them back to the shop to sell. He never even touched any of the money in between.

But Zhu Erhong couldn’t control him forever. Once he got married in the future, she’d have no hold over him.

So, he wanted to learn some real skills to rely on.