On the fifteenth, they celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival at the husband’s family, and on the sixteenth, they returned to the wife’s family for the holiday.

Chen Yuping made a total of nine different flavors of mooncakes, two of each flavor, totaling eighteen mooncakes in a box that looked particularly generous.

That seemed like too many, especially since they were so beautifully crafted and delicious.

Chen Yuandong and his wife thought it was excessive and decided that ten would be enough. It was clear that making mooncakes must be quite a hassle. Even though they were homemade, it was hard to know how much the ingredients cost, but they were certainly made with great care, deliciously fragrant, soft, tender, crispy, and tasty. Each of the nine fillings had its own unique flavor. Third brother must have invested a lot of time and effort, and taking away eighteen felt like too much.

“It’s not as complicated as you think. I made over a hundred in one go. Besides giving some to Second Brother’s family, I’ll give eighteen to Eldest Brother when he comes tomorrow. Don’t worry too much, I just enjoy making food. You might find it difficult, but for me, it’s easy,” Chen Yuping said.

After Chen Yuping finished speaking, Dad Chen also offered some words of encouragement, and in the end, the mooncakes were taken away.

They consumed fifteen themselves, and each of the older brothers’ families got eighteen, leaving fifty-five at home.

Looking at the translucent mooncakes, Chen Yuping felt a deep sense of satisfaction. They were small and cute, beautiful and delicious, made by his own hands. He had never made mooncakes before, he had only seen a few videos about it and always thought it would be quite troublesome. Unexpectedly, this time he managed to make them all.

No wonder he had unlocked culinary skills, his “golden finger” was truly powerful.

After this experiment, he was sure he had a golden finger. Heaven had not treated him poorly, and he felt grateful.

With fifty-five snowskin mooncakes remaining, he set aside fifteen and decided to sell the remaining forty. Chen Yuping felt thankful for the support from neighbors and villagers over the past two to three months. The snowskin mooncakes weren’t meant to make a profit and they were sold at cost price, for five wen each!

Sales would start at the hour of the rooster on the sixteenth day of the eighth month. If anyone arrived late and couldn’t buy, they would have to wait until next year’s Mid-Autumn Festival.

Chen Yuping shamelessly hired two young men in the village for five wen each, who beat drums and shouted, spreading the news to nearby villages.

By the afternoon, several neighboring villages knew that the Chen family from Kuzhu Village was selling snowskin mooncakes at cost price, for just five wen each.

“Pfft! Five wen each, and not even making a profit. Who do they think they’re fooling?”

Some were just curious, others were malicious, but there were also loyal customers who trusted Ping ger’s skills. The name “snowskin mooncake” sounded impressive, and at five wen each, it might indeed be sold at cost.

With nothing else to do, many people came in groups to see what was happening before the hour of the rooster.

The crystal-clear snowskin mooncakes were neatly arranged on clean white plates, stacked like a small mountain, looking beautiful like a painting.

The villagers who came to join in were stunned!

“Is this really a mooncake?”

At five wen each, it really was Ping ger! Only he would dare to speak so boldly. Just looking at these mooncakes made them seem rich and exquisite, and worth a lot of money!

In town, mooncakes were twelve wen per pound, and with the weight of the mooncakes, there weren’t many per pound, making them two to three wen each. Ping ger’s snowskin mooncakes were only five wen! This was truly a bargain!

Seeing the crowd grow, Chen Yuping had anticipated this. It wasn’t the busy farming season, and it was a holiday, so, many people were free. For his stall, he asked Father Chen and his uncle to put two tables together to create a stand, making the snowskin mooncakes clearly visible from afar.

As more people arrived, the scene became increasingly noisy.

The Chen family stood guard around the stall to prevent anyone from knocking it over or causing a commotion.

“Third Chen ger, there are already enough people, let’s start selling. Don’t wait for the hour of the rooster, they can’t all fit in here!”

“Exactly! You’ve only got forty mooncakes, which is hardly enough, why set up such a big show? Hurry and start selling!”

“How will we buy it? Is it first come, first served? Ping ger, come out and let us know how to prepare. I’m not short on money and came prepared. I knew you wouldn’t disappoint me. These snowskin mooncakes look incredibly appetizing!”

“It’s too crowded, just start selling!”

The chatter turned into a single voice, all clamoring to begin selling the mooncakes.

Chen Yuping glanced at the time, noting that it was still a little before the hour of the rooster. “Calm down, calm down! Since everyone wants me to start selling, we’ll begin shortly. However, before we start, I have a few words to share. The mooncakes at five wen each truly don’t make any profit. If we account for the time, effort, and heart that went into making the snowskin mooncakes, it’s a losing deal.”

“The price is purely because of the holiday spirit, to express gratitude for the support from our fellow villagers over the past few months.” He bowed deeply.

“I know everyone is eager. I’ll start selling soon. One important thing to note is that the snowskin mooncakes come in nine flavors: five nut mooncakes with peanuts, walnuts, almonds, sesame, and pine nuts, lotus seed paste mooncakes, pork floss mooncakes, red bean paste mooncakes, egg yolk mooncakes, date paste mooncakes, braised meat mooncakes, osmanthus mooncakes, and ham mooncakes. Some of these flavors may be unfamiliar, but I guarantee that once you taste them, you’ll be amazed by their wonderful and magical flavors.”

“The snowskin mooncake, from its outer skin to its filling, is something I’ve put a lot of thought and effort into. Five wen each might seem expensive to some, but strictly speaking, it’s not expensive at all. When you taste the deliciousness of the snowskin mooncake, you’ll feel it’s worth ten wen each!”

“Finally, supplies are limited, each person can only buy one. Just grab one from the top down. You’ll get whatever flavor you pick. Unfortunately, I can’t cater to specific requests. Next year, I’ll make more, and they’ll be separated by flavor, but this year, I only have forty to sell.”

Dad Chen subtly nudged his third son, indicating that it was time to start.

“Now, let’s begin selling mooncakes. My father has bamboo sticks in hand, when I count to ten, quickly line up to get a stick and come buy mooncakes.” After finishing, Chen Yuping began to count.

Father Chen stood under a large tree in front of the house, a little distance from the stall.

As soon as people saw Father Chen, they rushed under the tree.

Chen Yuping counted to ten, and Father Chen shouted, “Line up, take a bamboo stick!”

“I got one! Hahaha, Third brother, I want a mooncake, here’s five wen! I want the ham one, I’ve never had ham before. It’s such a rare treat, and Third brother is generous to use ham for mooncakes.”

“I also got a bamboo stick! I’m getting a mooncake!”

“I didn’t get one! Is anyone willing to trade a bamboo stick? I’ll give you one wen for it. Anyone?”

No one was willing to trade, everyone was pushing to line up for a bamboo stick. Most of them had a few spare coins and were doing well financially, or they were simply foodies who wouldn’t trade tasty food for mere money.

“It’s really delicious!”

“Is this a mooncake? It’s so tasty!”

“My lotus seed paste mooncake is smooth, tender, fragrant and delicious. This must be made with lotus seeds! Ping ger put a lot of thought into it! Amazing!”

“The osmanthus mooncake we bought in town can’t compare to Ping ger’s. This snowskin is so glutinous and chewy! It has a great texture, and combined with the filling, it just gets better with each bite.”

Many who bought mooncakes started eating right there. The crowd hadn’t fully dispersed, and the Chen family’s entrance remained crowded, but it was quiet as everyone watched the others eat. Just by observing them enjoy the mooncakes, the onlookers felt their mouths watering.

It was truly stunning, the snowskin mooncake was not only visually appealing but also incredibly appetizing inside.

“Ping ger, I’ll pay ten wen each. I want nine, so I can try all the flavors,” said a young man from the Shen family, surrounded by several others. The young man wasn’t very lucky, out of a dozen people, he only two got bamboo sticks, and a small bite wasn’t enough to satisfy his growing hunger.

“I want nine too.”

“Everyone wants them, Ping ger, are you taking this order?”

There were ten young men from the Shen family, each offering ninety wen, totaling nine hundred wen.

Wow! As expected of the Shen family, they really know how to spend. They are rich!

“I’m not short on money either! I just want to eat, I want nine too.”

“I want nine as well, to take home for my father and dad to try.”

The speakers were all from the surrounding villages, while the people from Kuzhu Village hadn’t spoken up yet.

Fu Ger, held by the village head, looked longingly at his grandfather and said in a soft voice, “Grandpa, I want to eat more.”

A circle of little boys gathered around the village head, and upon hearing Fu Ger speak, they all chimed in eagerly: “I want to eat! I want to eat!”

They had just bought one, tasted it, and now it was gone!

“Fu Ger, that’s ninety wen!” The village head felt pained.

Fu Ger pulled out his money pouch: “Here, Grandpa.”

The five little boys also pulled out their savings. It’s not much, just one or two wen. Together with Fu Ger’s seven wen, they had almost twenty wen.

“Grandpa, please buy it for us. I can already cut grass for the pigs.”

“I catch earthworms, chop them up, and feed the chickens. The chickens lay lots of eggs, and I sell them for money.”

“I can sweep the yard.”

Though his grandsons were a bit unruly, the village head might complain but still loved them. Not to mention little Fu Ger: “Alright, but remember what you said and work hard when you go home.” Then he turned to Chen Yuping and said, “Ping ger, I’ll have nine mooncakes too.”

“We’ll get nine together,” said two local ne’er-do-wells who never seemed to do any proper work but were around twenty and didn’t attract any young men or women.

“Where did you get the money for nine mooncakes? Each of you has to pay forty-five wen!”

“Where did I get it? Naturally, I earned it. Am I supposed to steal or rob?”

That was fair, these two slouches didn’t steal, but just laze around without doing much.