Chapter 1855
The Late Northern Song Dynasty
The Crystal Cake spread from Yanggu County to various other places.
Crystal cakes are not like oil tea.
Oil tea is so down-to-earth that it looks cheap.
Crystal cakes look elegant and are favored by the upper class.
Therefore, not long after the teahouse launched the Crystal Xuanbing (a type of tea cake), people came to buy the recipe.
Madam Wang refused to sell it; it was her family's exclusive secret recipe, how could she sell it?
Lady Wang was about to scold the man away when Liu Dong stopped her.
Liu Tong: "Godmother, we are just ordinary people, we can't protect the prescription. The people who come to buy it now are still kind. If it were a bully, he might steal the prescription and hurt people."
Lady Wang remained silent for a long while, then sighed and said, "I'm sorry to have wronged you!"
Lady Wang then sold the recipe for making Crystal Cakes, and announced that anyone who wanted the recipe could come to her to buy it, as she would never keep it to herself.
Upon hearing this, the ladies and young women of wealthy families immediately sent people to buy the son.
As a result, Madam Wang made a fortune.
The recipe for Crystal Cake spread beyond Yanggu County, reaching other counties, the prefectural capital, and even Bianliang.
Afterwards, Liu Dong gave Wang Niangzi another type of food.
He couldn't make any more of those elegant and beautiful foods—he had originally planned to make a cream cake—in the end, Liu Dong only taught Wang Niangzi the recipe for steamed chicken cake.
It's just a cake, without cream, so it's still quite down-to-earth.
The cake is fluffy and soft, making it perfect for people with dental problems.
The elderly folks in wealthy families love this dish, so it sells very well.
Five years later, a wealthy family moved to Yanggu County, and the master of the house was named Ximen Qing.
Liu Tong: "..."
Liu Dong looked up at the sky: All 108 constellations in the sky have descended to earth. Has the starry sky changed?
Liu Dong and Wang Niangzi had no contact with Ximen Qing.
Wang Niangzi is not Wang Po from Water Margin, nor would she act as a pimp for Ximen Qing.
However, Ximen Qing's father quite liked cake and often sent servants to the teahouse to buy cakes.
Ximen Qing liked to eat oil tea. Whenever his servants came to buy cakes, he would have them pack a portion of salty oil tea to take home.
One of them lived in the east of the city, and the other in the south; they almost never met.
Ximen Qing wielded immense power in Yanggu County, yet he couldn't surpass Liu Dong.
Three years later, the palace eunuch Hua retired and returned to his hometown to live out his days, bringing with him his adopted son, Hua Zixu.
The eunuch Hua arranged a marriage for Hua Zixu, named Li Ping'er.
Liu Tong: "..."
Erotic fiction has infiltrated this world too!
Two years later, a family moved in next to the tea shop.
The man was short and thin, while the woman was incredibly beautiful. Who else could they be but Wu Dalang and Pan Jinlian?
Pan Jinlian and Wang Niangzi hit it off immediately and quickly became close friends.
Liu was still a little worried, but when he thought that Wang Niangzi was no longer in the pimping business and that Ximen Qing would not help Pan Jinlian kill Wu Dalang, he was relieved.
He had met Pan Jinlian. This girl was not a bad person, just an ordinary woman. She would not have gone astray on her own initiative if no one had seduced her.
Wu Dalang was an honest man with a good temper. Even though Pan Jinlian disliked him, he didn't get angry.
Wu Dalang was very friendly to Wang Niangzi and Liu Liu, and often helped Wang Niangzi fetch water.
Although Wang Niangzi was attracted to good looks and initially disliked Wu Dalang, she changed her attitude towards him after spending more time with him.
Wu Dalang had a lot of strength, and the sesame seed cakes he made were very chewy.
But he only knew how to make plain white flour flatbread, which was bland and tasteless, so not many people ate it.
Rich people don't like bland flatbread, while poor people can't afford to buy plain white flour flatbread. Liu Dong gave Wu Dalang an idea: to make minced meat flatbread and brown sugar flatbread.
When Wu Dalang was making the cakes, Liu Dong gave him guidance, and the cakes he made tasted very good.
After eating it, Madam Wang ordered a batch to sell at her own tea shop, where it became quite popular with customers.
Lady Wang then told Wu Dalang to stop selling sesame cakes from going through the streets and alleys and instead set up a stall downstairs from their house, next to the teahouse, to make and sell sesame cakes on the spot.
Freshly baked brown sugar and minced meat sesame cakes are even more delicious.
Customers who come to drink tea will buy a freshly baked sesame seed cake from Wu Dalang's shop to eat with their tea.
Wu Dalang's pancake shop became very successful, and he made a lot of money every day.
Liu taught Wu Dalang how to make Jianbing Guozi.
Now, the sesame seed cake stall is even more popular.
Wu Dalang couldn't manage the workload by himself, so he hired Yun Ge as a long-term laborer, but they still couldn't keep up.
Pan Jinlian therefore stepped forward to help collect the money.
Before long, the whole of Yanggu County knew about the "Pancake Beauty".
Ximen Qing was very curious after hearing about it from his group of cronies, and wanted to see what the pancake beauty looked like.
Is she more beautiful than the woman beside him?
He has no shortage of women around him, each one as beautiful as a flower, and recently he even managed to seduce Li Ping'er.
He felt that all the most beautiful women in Yanggu County were his, and there couldn't possibly be any woman more beautiful than Wu Yueniang and Li Ping'er.
Ximen Qing took Hua Zixu and Sun Tianhua to the pancake shop.
Through the crowd, Ximen Qing spotted Pan Jinlian at a glance.
There was a woman in her early twenties, with fair skin and a rosy complexion. She was naturally beautiful, charming, and graceful. Her eyebrows were like willow leaves in early spring, often carrying a hint of sorrow and resentment; her face was like peach blossoms in March, subtly conveying a sense of romance and beauty.
Ximen Qing was completely stunned.
Beautiful! Absolutely gorgeous!
Ximen Qing chuckled and walked towards Pan Jinlian.
"Young lady, give me ten sesame seed cakes."
Pan Jinlian's eyes lit up when she saw Ximen Qing.
The main reason is that Ximen Qing was indeed very good-looking, tall and strong, with handsome features, thick eyebrows and big eyes.
Compared to Wu Dalang, he was truly a handsome man.
Looking at Ximen Qing's clothes, he was dressed in fine silks and satins, clearly indicating that he came from a wealthy family.
Pan Jinlian's heart fluttered.
However, her infatuation was fleeting; she was now a married woman and could not possibly develop a romantic relationship with this man.
Otherwise, it would be considered adultery, and she would be drowned in a pig cage.
and……
Pan Jinlian frowned. The man's eyes were too sinister, ruining his handsome appearance and making him unpleasant to look at.
Pan Jinlian said calmly, "Young man, would you like a sweet sesame seed cake or a minced meat sesame seed cake?"
Ximen Qing looked at Pan Jinlian and fell in love with her more and more, even finding her frowning face extremely beautiful.
Ximen Qing: "Five sweet ones, five minced meat ones."
He took out a handful of copper coins, not caring about the quantity, pulled Pan Jinlian's hand, and placed the coins in her palm.
"So tender and smooth! Even more tender and smooth than the hands of Hanyan, the maid of Xinghong Tower," Ximen Qing teased.
Pan Jinlian was furious and forcefully pulled her hand back.
Don't think she didn't know; Xinghonglou was a notorious brothel in Yanggu County. (End of Chapter)