Chapter 54
"Long time no see, you came," Ding Sha smiled and brought him a glass of mint lemonade, then sat down, "What would you like to eat?"
"Do you still have those peony flower noodles you made in your video a few days ago?" Lin Jiayu said with a smile, "I wanted to come over after watching the video."
"Not difficult to make, there happens to be some today," Ding Sha stood up and called Du Rourou over to brew tea.
Chinese desserts taste best with tea.
Du Rourou brewed a pot of Wang Wenhao's precious Taiping Houkui tea, making Wang Wenhao distressed.
Du Rourou got a little excited and put down the tea, "Excuse me, are you Professor Lin?"
Lin Jiayu paused for a moment, "Do you know me?"
"Yes, yes, yes, I'm Professor Liu Yongfang's student. The professor often mentions you in class." Du Rourou nodded quickly.
"It's Professor Liu," Lin Jiayu smiled gently, "Professor Liu is a great teacher who taught me a lot of knowledge. You have to learn well from the professor."
Du Rourou nodded vigorously and couldn't help but ask again, "Um, Professor Lin, most of Sister Sha Sha's videos were edited by me, could you review my work?"
She was a little embarrassed.
Lin Jiayu was very happy. Students' eagerness to learn is what every teacher likes to see. He thought for a moment and also gave some suggestions for improvements.
Du Rourou grabbed the menu and started taking notes.
When Ding Sha came out, she saw this scene.
Du Rourou hugged the notebook and shrank back to practice. Ding Sha smiled and brought it to him, "Here, try it?"
Lin Jiayu looked at it carefully, "It's so beautiful."
"Could you tell me more about it in detail?"
"Of course." Ding Sha also sat down.
"This is a small dessert mentioned in Dream of the Red Chamber when Granny Liu came to Grand View Garden for the second time."
"Prepare glutinous rice flour and wheat starch, then pour in hot water while stirring until it forms strands, then place on a pan and knead with lard into a dough."
"Take out the pomegranate seeds and juice them. Because there are a lot of seeds, it’s best to filter with gauze after juicing with a juicer, or smash with a stone mortar."
"Knead part of the dough into a light pink with pomegranate juice, and part into yellow with pumpkin juice."
"It's not that hard to grasp, the main thing is pinching the dough into flower shapes takes some skill."
Ding Sha pushed the plate to Lin Jiayu as she spoke, "After pinching into flowers, steam for four to five minutes and it's ready to eat."
Looking at the exquisite and beautiful desserts, Lin Jiayu couldn’t bear to eat them for a moment.
The pink and white flower petals, the yellow stamens, layer upon layer, extremely beautiful.
It looks vivid and lifelike.
"It's really a work of art!" Lin Jiayu exclaimed.
"Try it?" Ding Sha said, "It doesn't actually taste as good as it looks, but it looks so pretty."
After finally making up his mind to take a bite, Lin Jiayu had to agree.
After drinking some tea to cleanse his palate, Lin Jiayu brought up his reason for coming.
"I also have something I want to discuss with you this time." Lin Jiayu took out a stack of papers, "Because of the peculiarities of our course, we actually place great emphasis on practical work. I want to bring my students here to shoot."
"They are about to graduate and also need graduation works to attach to their resumes."
What Lin Jiayu brought was a contract, clearly stating the location, time, needs of the shoot, and the payment.
"In previous years we would rent a small garden, so there would be more variety as well to ensure quality, but this year's situation is special, so I have no choice but to target you as an excellent 'shooting material'."
Lin Jiayu blinked playfully, a rare mischievous look.
Ding Sha flipped through the contract and agreed without much thought, "Okay, let me know a day in advance when you come over so I can clear the place."
"No need. The guests in the restaurant are also a kind of scenery. As long as they get permission from others themselves, it counts too." Lin Jiayu shook his head.
After settling everything, Lin Jiayu stood up and patted his clothes, "It’s getting late, I should get going."
Ding Sha sent him to the door, “Please come again next time.”
“I definitely will.” Lin Jiayu waved casually and walked away with big strides.
"Why are you so nice to him? Sha Sha?" Xiao Jun came over, feeling a little unhappy.
"Don't you think he's amazing?" Ding Sha was still looking at Lin Jiayu's straight back.
"I'm amazing too!" Xiao Jun raised his arm to show her his muscular arm.
"Different." Ding Sha casually grabbed his arm, “Professor Lin is the kind of very gentle yet very strong person."
"He is really heartbroken, but also very determined. His eyes can’t stand the slightest bit of sand. More than ten years of feelings dismissed just like that. And he adjusted himself so quickly."
"It's as if nothing can beat him down."
"It's as if he can always take big steps forward with love and gentleness."
Xiao Jun understood what she meant, patted her head and let her lean on his shoulder, "We will too, always move forward with love."
Ding Sha smiled.
"Sister Sha!" Du Rourou rushed out from the room, "Something big happened!"
"What's the matter? Slow down, don't panic," Ding Sha was startled by her.
"Do you know that famous pickle factory 'Fan Xiangxiang'?"
"I know, we have a lot of their stuff," Ding Sha pointed to the kitchen. When her homemade pickles ran out, she would use Fan Xiangxiang’s pickles. They were delicious and clean.
"He... he he he sent me a message!" Du Rourou excitedly pointed at her phone.
"What happened? Did they invite you to work there?" Wang Wenhao chimed in.
"Get lost!" Du Rourou yelled at him angrily before continuing, "Not to me, to Sister Sha Sha's account!"
"To me?" Ding Sha was a little confused, "Why did they message me?"
"They said two things. First, they wanted to ask if you could collaborate on a new line of pickles, and second, they wanted to ask if you would help promote them."
"Promote? Collaborate??" Ding Sha was puzzled.
"It's like this. Although Fan Xiangxiang is well-known, profits have been low for years and the factory is about to go under. So they want to make a breakthrough as a last gamble." Du Rourou explained. She was also puzzled, so she looked it up to find out. She was surprised that such an outstanding factory was already in such dire straits.
Ding Sha hesitated a little. Du Rourou thought and said, "Sister, if you're worried, why don't we go inspect their factory first to see if it’s true, and then consider whether or not to collaborate, okay?"
"Good idea!" Ding Sha thought it was feasible and immediately had Du Rourou reply to the message.
Fan Xiangxiang readily agreed as well, and even covered the round-trip airfare and accommodation fees.
Xiao Jun stayed behind to watch the restaurant. Ding Sha took Du Rourou with her.
After about three days, they hurried back.
Bringing back a signed contract.