"What’s this?" Xu Nian’an asked as he looked at the snow-white stuff.
"Cream!" Xu Nianhua replied. At the same time, she reached out, scooped up a fingertip’s worth, and put it in her mouth. The sweet cream seemed to dance on her tongue, making Xu Nianhua’s eyes squint with delight. She had been busy all afternoon, and it finally worked!
Xu Nian’an asked skeptically. Meanwhile, he mimicked Xu Nianhua’s actions and tasted it. Smacking his lips, he said, "Too sweet."
"How can it be tasty if it’s not sweet?" Xu Nianhua said, enjoying the sweetness with her eyes closed. She loved eating such sweet things. How long had it been since she’d had cream?
Xu Nianhua looked at the small bowl of cream and regretted not making more.
She tried hard not to eat all the remaining cream, instructing Xu Nian’an to hang the basket over the well water to keep the cream from melting. Then she went to prepare the cake base. Compared to cream, the cake base was much easier. Today she made a small cake in a cup; after the cake base was done, she put the cream in a bag, patiently and carefully piping small flowers onto the cake. It looked especially beautiful.
"Little sister, what is this you’re making? It looks good." Xu Nian’an scrutinized the small cake. Although it wasn’t enough for him to devour in one bite, it looked so delicate that it made one want to eat it.
"Second brother, please don’t touch it. I’ve counted them out; we each get one!" Xu Nianhua warned while carefully packing them up to take home.
After dinner, Xu Nianhua took out the small cakes, and Gu Mingcheng recognized them at first glance, saying, "Oh, does the county also sell cakes?"
Gu Mingcheng remembered that the city had only recently opened a cake shop, and the cakes there didn’t look as small and exquisite as the ones Xu Nianhua brought.
"I made them myself," Xu Nianhua said, distributing the cakes one by one. Although each portion wasn’t much, there was no helping it; she made little cream and used quite a bit. It was quite nice that there were even this many left. She said, "Big sister-in-law, Zhuangzhuang can eat too, but be careful not to choke."
Xu Nianhua reminded them.
"Alright, Nianhua really has amazing skills." Zhou He sincerely praised; such a beautiful cake was pleasing to the eye, with the snow-white layer like snow itself, so much so that she was reluctant to eat it.
"It was all thanks to second brother beating the cream. He worked hard today!" Xu Nianhua joyfully shifted the credit to Xu Nian’an.
"I just helped beat the cream; the rest I didn’t do."
Xu Nian’an answered honestly. Although he arrived late, seeing the wasted milk, he knew that Xu Nianhua must have tried many times.
"It’s delicious." Ji Ying had already started eating with a spoon. The sweet cream and soft cake tasted incredibly fragrant!
Zhuangzhuang took a bite and couldn’t bear to stop, continually opening his mouth for more.
"Isn’t what Auntie made extra delicious?" Zhou He gently coaxed while feeding Zhuangzhuang with a spoon, bit by bit.
The atmosphere in the Xu family was lively.
Far away in Ningbei, however, there was a heavy air! Official source ıs 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡⁂𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⁂𝘯𝘦𝘵
"Tianhua Department Store is a major project, unlike Xiyue Hotel. It’s normal not to win the bid this time," Pei Guozhong said as he hurried over upon hearing the news that Pei Yicheng’s design had not been selected. Fearing that the usually excellent Pei Yicheng might not take this blow well, yet the words he spoke contained not a hint of consolation.
Back when the Xiyue Hotel was being designed, it was indeed Pei Yicheng’s design that won everyone over. But this time, the Tianhua Department Store project was exceptionally large, with several seasoned competitors who had been in the industry for decades revealing their best-kept skills.
For Pei Yicheng to win the bid for this was nearly impossible.