The wicked mother-in-law doesn't try to whitewash herself; she only abuses her awful children.

Chapter 80: Longevity Peach
Gu Taohua was tending the small kitchen, while Tong Huaqiong sat in a chair at the back, her eyes slightly closed.

Soon, Tong Huaqiong entered the space, and then Man'er followed her in, carrying cherries.

Tong Huaqiong went to the kitchen with practiced ease. Man'er put down the cherries and followed Tong Huaqiong into the kitchen. Without being told, she opened the refrigerator door directly.

"Wow, this longevity peach is so beautiful!" Man'er clapped her hands excitedly when she saw the real longevity peach in the refrigerator.

She knew these were prepared for Old Mrs. Huang, and her task was to take them out.

"Don't rush, have some ice cream first." Tong Huaqiong opened the freezer compartment and replenished various flavors of ice cream.

Man'er was already used to everything in the room. She reached out and grabbed a brightly colored ice cream, tore open the wrapper, and started eating.

After finishing her ice cream, Man'er started taking things outside as instructed by Tong Huaqiong.

Longevity peach, red bean paste, shredded coconut, cream, condensed milk.
After moving these things to Grandma Huang's small kitchen, Man'er thoughtfully brought two ice creams for her aunt, Gu Taohua.

"Oh, my dear niece, you're so thoughtful." Gu Taohua smiled, her eyes sparkling.

Gu Taohua was chubby. By this time, the weather had already gotten hot. When Gu Taohua got the ice cream, it was like she had found a life-saving weapon. She tore open the wrapper and ate it, not forgetting to throw the wrapper into the stove to burn it.

Gu Taohua licked her ice cream and sighed. If it were Yaozu, that kid would definitely eat it all by himself and wouldn't think of her. Man'er is so thoughtful, even in such a rush to move things, she still thought of her. She used to be so foolish and blinded by greed, treating her sister-in-law and Man'er so badly. Luckily, her mother woke her up.

"Grandma, when are we taking this beautiful cake out?" Man'er asked Tong Huaqiong as she walked in.

"We'll take it out when the birthday banquet is almost over," Tong Huaqiong said.

Tong Huaqiong is using an electric mixer to whip butter and cream.

At first, she cursed God for only giving her a third of the golden finger, but now she is grateful. Although she can't take things out of the room, she can use all the tools in the room.

For tasks like whipping cream or butter, it's sheer manual labor to do it with just chopsticks and your hands without any power tools.

Before she knew she could use spatial tools, in the Gu family's kitchen, she made Gu Dashu whip cream and egg whites. Gu Dashu stirred two pairs of chopsticks from morning till night until his arms were swollen, and he lay on the bed groaning incessantly.

Upon hearing that he was being called into the kitchen, his face turned ashen.

Using only tools, you can achieve the desired dense and fluffy effect in just a few minutes.

If only Tong Dajiao's era had such a tool for passing the time, then Man'er could take it out. But there's no electricity in this era, so it's useless to take it out.

Tong Huaqiong wants to open a pastry shop. To stand out, she must combine Chinese and Western pastries. Western pastries require whipping tools. Hiring people to whip the pastries with chopsticks held in both hands would probably break both hands and still not be able to meet the shop's demand.

She can't keep hiding in the space to pass the time, otherwise she'll be exposed sooner or later.

Therefore, she planned to have Man'er take the chopsticks out and find skilled craftsmen to disassemble and replicate them, making them into tools that could be easily used by hand. Even if the efficiency was not as high as that of electric tools, it would still be better than simply using chopsticks.

She believes in the wisdom of skilled craftsmen throughout history. She believes that many of the brilliant aspects of Chinese civilization, such as ancient textile machines, irrigation tools, and earthquake testing instruments, were invented by these skilled craftsmen.

The ancients may have had low productivity, but they weren't stupid.

She believed that if she gave them an idea, they would definitely be able to create the tool she wanted.

Just as Gu Jingzhe could draw an oven based on her description, Qin Qingyou could build an oven based on Gu Jingzhe's drawing.

This era is not lacking in intelligent people like Gu Jingzhe and Qin Qingyou.

Thinking this way, Tong Huaqiong felt much more at ease. She put the whipped butter and cream into a bowl, and Man'er worked with her very well. When she saw that Tong Huaqiong had turned off the power tools, she picked up the bowl and took it to Old Mrs. Huang's small kitchen to give to Gu Taohua.

Tong Huaqiong tidied up the room and then followed her out of the space.

Gu Taohua had already lit the fire in the stove and placed a large steamer on top, covering it with a cloth. Tong Huaqiong knew that they were preparing to steam longevity peaches.

Steaming longevity peaches is very simple; just follow the method for steaming buns, and you don't even need to control the heat much.

Once the water boils, steam the buns for about 20 minutes, then let them sit for a while before taking them out of the steamer.

Because of a huge longevity peach as the grand finale, the time needs to be extended by twenty minutes.

The Huang family's small kitchen was much more advanced than the Gu family's; it even had an hourglass to keep track of time, which made it much easier for Tong Huaqiong to operate.

"Peach Blossom, rub more oil on the cloth," Tong Huaqiong carefully instructed Gu Taohua.

The fire from an earthen stove is not as easy to control as that of a modern electric steamer or gas stove. Earthen stoves and steamers are prone to causing the bottoms of steamed buns to burn. Although those burnt buns are very fragrant, they are longevity peaches for birthday celebrations, and their ornamental value outweighs their edible value. The burnt bottoms affect the appearance.

"I understand, mother."

Gu Taohua deftly brushed oil onto the steamer, then carefully placed the longevity peaches into it. After covering the pot with the lid, she moved to the pot doorway to tend the fire.

Tong Huaqiong cleared away anything irrelevant from the cutting board and began making various Chinese pastries with high ornamental value, such as peach blossom pastries, plum blossom pastries, and lotus blossom pastries. In addition, she also planned to make some cake rolls to serve as desserts after the meal.

To make a splash at Grandma Huang's birthday banquet, you need to have something like a cake roll that no one has ever tried before.

Tong Huaqiong made a set of peach blossom pastries and put them in the oven.

The timer on the drip clock indicated that the longevity peaches were ready to be taken out of the pot, and Gu Taohua stood up and lifted the lid.

After the steam dissipated, Gu Taohua grinned with delight and said, "Mother, the steamed longevity peaches look just like the real ones."

Tong Huaqiong leaned over to look, a smile spreading across her face.

A huge peach lay in the center of the steamer, perfectly steamed. The red blush on the top of the peach and the surrounding leaves did not change color at all after being steamed. In particular, the leaves surrounded the peach so lifelike that it looked as fresh and delicious as if it had just been picked from the tree.

After the steam dissipated, Tong Huaqiong brought over a bowl of cold water. Together with Gu Taohua, they wet their hands and carefully took out the longevity peaches, placing them on a bamboo rack on the shelf next to them.

Tong Huaqiong inspected the peach-shaped longevity peach from all sides and the bottom. There were no burnt edges or bottoms, and the large "longevity" character on the side of the peach facing Tong Huaqiong was not deformed. She expressed her satisfaction.

Once the longevity peaches have cooled down, Tong Huaqiong will arrange the smaller longevity peaches she made in advance around the perimeter.

The large longevity peach was surrounded by smaller longevity peaches, creating a festive and lively atmosphere that would delight any old lady.

Tong Huaqiong was confident that this round would make Grandma Huang extremely happy.

Yuqin had said that if Old Madam Huang was happy, there would be a generous reward, and Tong Huaqiong had already seen the money beckoning to her.

"Mother, these longevity peaches are so beautiful!" Gu Taohua exclaimed.

"That's right, don't you even look at my idea?" Tong Huaqiong couldn't help but boast.

"What's next?" Gu Taohua asked.

"You go and wrap the lotus-shaped pastries, I'll do the shaping. You'll also need to tend the fire later; the lotus-shaped pastries need to be deep-fried to bloom," Tong Huaqiong said.

Tong Huaqiong thinks that lotus flower pastry is the most beautiful of all pastry types. The lifelike lotus flowers blooming on the plate are so fitting for the occasion, especially when paired with longevity peaches.

Serving that together perfectly suits Master Huang's character, emphasizing style!
Watching the women's table tennis team, I'm happy no matter who wins.

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(End of this chapter)