With manpower, it was difficult to find out what kind of pastries to sell in the shop.

Among the four orchids I bought, there was an orchid named Qingzhu who was born as a chef and could make sugar shortbread and soft jujube cakes, but these snacks were not unusual, and the taste made by Qingzhu was only mediocre, not enough to support a pastry shop.

"Go buy some hawthorn and brown sugar, and I'll teach Qingzhu to make rock sugar gourds." Li Changan thought about it for a while, and soon found an easy-to-use dessert.

Rock sugar gourd, appeared in the Song Dynasty, and now there is no such snack that has endured for thousands of years.

"Rock sugar gourd, do you have to use gourd to make pastries? And what kind of sugar is this rock candy? Qingzhu pinched the corner of her clothes and asked in a low voice.

She only thought that her new master was a young lady from a wealthy family, so although she spoke cautiously, she was not too restrained.

"You'll find out in a moment." Li Chang'an said.

This place is not far from Dongshi, and the things that Li Changan wanted were quickly bought.

Then Li Changan commanded Qingzhu to boil the pot, add a scoop of water to the pot, scoop two scoops of brown sugar and water together in the pot, and cook over low heat until it bubbles out.

The sugar water was quickly boiled into a caramel color, and it was much easier to boil some brownish-yellow brown sugar into a caramel color than rock sugar.

"Take a chopstick and dip it in cold water again."

Qingzhu did as she said, leaving a crystal icing icing on the chopsticks, which is enough to boil the heat.

The stove in the back kitchen of this shop is for adults, and Li Changan's height is just half a head taller than the stove now, and he can only step on the crescent stool to direct Qingzhu to work.

At this time, another orchid had already put on the washed hawthorn and put on a bamboo stick.

Li Changan commanded Qingzhu to quickly wrap the hawthorn with sugar, and after a while, the rock sugar gourd with some brown-red but still crystal clear was neatly placed in the porcelain plate, and the crystal clear sugar coating was wrapped in red and bright hawthorn, which was very beautiful.

"Like a gourd, one by one, no wonder the little lady named it rock sugar gourd." The guys in the shop are all amazed around the rock sugar gourd.

Even the guards who had been following Li Changan couldn't help but take a look.

"How about a quick taste?" Li Changan had already picked up a string before speaking.

Take a gentle bite and the sweet and sour taste explodes on the tip of the tongue.

Not as delicious as what she had made in the palace before.

After all, the sugar and hawthorn that were paid tribute to the palace were the best ones, but what is used today is only ordinary brown sugar and hawthorn bought from the east.

The rest of the people tasted this sweet and sour sugar gourd for the first time, and they all gave a thumbs up.

"The old man has lived to be fifty years old, and it is the first time he has eaten such a delicious pastry." Du Zheng and Du Qing, two old men, praised Li Chang'an for having nothing in the sky and on the earth.

A few of the orchids and servants who had just been brought back were stupid, and they only nodded desperately in agreement with the words of the two old servants.

However, even though there is an ingredient of "my wife's beauty and my self", this rock sugar gourd is indeed a novelty in today's Datang.

At present, most of Datang's dim sum is fried and steamed, the most famous Jushengnu, that is, honey fried twist, crystal dragon and phoenix cake, that is, glutinous rice and jujube cake, all add a lot of sugar, eat the first bite and feel delicious, eat more is greasy. And this rock sugar gourd is different, the hawthorn itself is sweet and sour and wrapped in a thin layer of sugar coating, the acid of the hawthorn just neutralizes the sweetness of the sugar coating, and the sweetness of the sugar coating makes the hawthorn not sour and lose teeth, sweet and sour but not greasy.

Du Zheng Du Qing has been the shopkeeper of the pastry shop for many years, and after eating only a sugar gourd, he can conclude that this novelty pastry will definitely sell well.

"I don't understand the business thing, you just have to watch it." Li Changan did not plan to force herself to become "the first female businesswoman in Chang'an", and her main purpose in opening the shop was not to make money - at least the main purpose of this pastry shop was not to make money.

"I also have a house in Xuanyang Fang, Qingzhu Abai stays in the shop to entertain guests, and Liuli and Jade will go to the house with me to take care of the housework." Li Changan quietly looked at the figures and appearances of the four orchids, and took away the two orchids who looked more similar to her.

Li Changan does have a mansion, which was given to her by Cao Ye Naji. At that time, Cao Ye Naji originally just danced for Tang Xuanzong, but who knew that because Hu Xuanwu danced too well, she was left in Chang'an by the emperor's words, and Cao Ye Naji's father, that is, her maternal grandfather, did not dare to resist His Majesty the Tang Emperor, so he could only endure the pain and leave his cherished daughter in Chang'an. It's just that he didn't know that the concubines of the Tang Dynasty couldn't leave the palace after entering the palace, and he thought that the wives and concubines of the leaders of the Tang Dynasty and the Hu people could move around at will, so they spent a lot of money to buy such a house for their daughter in Xuanyangfang before leaving Chang'an.

Half a year ago, when Li Changan left the palace for the first time, Cao Ye Naji took out this key from her arms, and took out the title deed of this mansion from the bottom of the dressing box, and transferred the house left to her by her father to her daughter.

This is one of the few possessions that Nahime Sono can give to her daughter.

"You'll live here from now on." Li Changan brought the two orchids to the mansion, "By the way, are you literate?" ”

"I can read words." The orchid named Hongyan spoke softly, "The person who brought us to Chang'an taught us to read, and he said that literacy can only be sold at a good price. ”

Most of the people who can afford to buy orchids are the children of the powerful, everyone in the Tang Dynasty is good at literature, especially the powerful are good poetry and opera, if you buy a beautiful orchid, but the orchid doesn't know a single big character, isn't it a big scenery?

"Since you're here, let's stay well." Li Changan was silent for a while, "As long as you work hard, I won't sell you again or transfer you to others." ”

The two orchids looked grateful and thanked each other.

Because of the huge demand for singing and dancing in the Tang Dynasty, countless beautiful bearded women were transported from the Western Regions to Chang'an, they were either captured slaves, or daughters of poor families, or the younger sisters and daughters of profit-hungry merchants, and then forced to learn singing and dancing instruments and Chinese, and were sent to Chang'an from outside the customs to enter the restaurant, and when they were older, they were taken back by their employers to be concubines or driven out of the restaurant to fend for themselves.

But even if it is easy to be miserable when they are old, Chang'an, which is highly open, is also the only place where orchids can give full play to their talents, as long as they are willing to work hard, there is always no problem in supporting themselves, which is much better than their hometown where they can't even eat.

It was not easy to have a stable place to stay, and the two finally chose the smallest subordinate room in the backyard to make their dwelling, and then began to clean the house diligently, as if they were going to clean this huge mansion with only two people.

Li Changan didn't let them work for too long, she took the two of them out, went around three streets, and crossed an alley, and came to the gate of the old Benzhai.

"Someone else will do the cleaning at home, and since you two are literate, come and help me do something else."

It was inconvenient for Li Changan to leave the palace by herself, so she planned to let these two orchids come over every day to take a look and see if she could catch the old man with familiar handwriting.

Alas, how good it is to keep his own name, he has to leave the name of "Wei Zhuang" who was born a hundred years later, and he is not afraid that Wei Zhuang's grandfather's grandfather, Wei Jiansu, will come to him to ask for copyright fees.

Li Changan, who couldn't find anyone, thought bitterly.

After entering the door, Li Changan first went to the counter and asked the shopkeeper if he had seen the owner of the handwriting in the past few days, but she didn't report any hope, after all, she used a pseudonym, and she definitely didn't want others to easily know her identity.

I never thought that as soon as the shopkeeper saw Li Changan, he greeted him with a smile on his face.

"Little lady, the old man has found the person you are looking for!"

"It's so fast!" Li Changan was surprised, there are one million people in Chang'an, even if the illiterate people are eliminated, there are still tens of thousands of literati, and fishing out of tens of thousands of people with a pseudonym who deliberately hides his name is tantamount to looking for a needle in a haystack.

She was ready to look for a year and a half, but she didn't expect to find someone in less than seven days.

The shopkeeper smiled: "It's just that this person is still unwilling to say his real name, the old man looks at this Lang Jun is very cautious, if the little lady wants to inquire deeper for your sister, she will have to spend a lot of effort herself." ”

He winked teasingly as he spoke.

Chang'an is prevalent in catching sons-in-law under the list, and it is also popular to catch sons-in-law under poetry, if women feel that talented poems are well written, it is common for them to take the initiative to attack.

I think that this old shopkeeper regarded Mingyue as her sister, thinking that they were in love with this person's literary talents, so he also had the heart to match talented and beautiful people, so he paid special attention to the news of this "Wei Zhuang".

As he spoke, the shopkeeper pulled out a page from the counter, and the paper was still familiar, but only half a sentence was written.

"The world is thin, and people are evil."

The shopkeeper shook his head and read this sentence, stroked his beard and shook his head: "I just don't know if this euphemism is the pseudonym of this handsome man or a confidant." ”

"I guess it's a pseudonym." Li Changan blinked and said lightly.

Tang Wan's "Hairpin Phoenix".

It seems that the old man is not doing well.

"The old man asked him his real name, but he refused to say, the old man had to provoke him and ask him if he was Jingzhao Wei, he denied it, and then said that Wei Zhuang was just a pseudonym, and his real name was Shen."

"Does the shopkeeper know where his family lives?" Li Changan asked again.

The shopkeeper shook his head: "The old man didn't ask this, but since he will come here on foot to study, I think I should live not far away." ”

Li Changan was already satisfied.

After returning home, Li Changan instructed Hong Aya: "You two should pay attention to inquire about whether there is a family surnamed Shen around you on weekdays." ”

Just two miles away, a small courtyard.

The willow trees in the courtyard have turned yellow and fall in the air with the wind, and several literati in half-worn robes are drinking in the courtyard, and the wine in the cup is slightly cloudy, and it is not a good wine.

"Brother Chengzhang, I'll say goodbye today, and see you again, it's three years later." One of them was full of bitterness, and the smell of wine in his mouth was smoking, "We have no way to wait for the investment bank, but we also fell into the ...... in the imperial examination."

"Brother Chengzhang, you have lived in Chang'an for a long time, why don't you find a way out?"

The young man known as Cheng Zhang held a wine glass, but did not drink, and looked a little out of place in the midst of a group of drunken people.

He lowered his eyes and said softly: "Today's court is not restless, and it is not easy to find a good way. ”

"Hahaha, it's just like what others say, Brother Cheng Zhang's literary brilliance, Zhang Lao cherishes his talents the most, and he has an old relationship with Cheng Zhang's family, if Brother Cheng Zhang invests in the bank, Zhang Lao will definitely appreciate Brother Cheng Zhang."

Zhang Lao is the current prime minister Zhang Jiuling, who is famous for cherishing talents, and most of the literati who want to seek officials in the Tang Dynasty love to invest in him. If you can get Zhang Jiuling's appreciation, then Qingyun Road is close at hand.

The young man only smiled bitterly, shook his head, and drank the wine from his glass.

What's the use of Zhang Jiuling appreciating him? Zhang Jiuling is now unable to protect himself.

November Renyin...... The Zhongshu ordered Zhang Jiuling to be the right prime minister of Shangshu and dismissed the governor.

And today, it's the fifth day of September.