Chapter 181: Cream Pastries (Edited)
Author: White Pear Flower
Raws: https://book.qidian.com/info/2386994/
Translated by Pill Bug
Edited by Gumihou
Gumihou: Some general assumptions to make before diving into the chapter.
- Fu Qiuning is not a cook, she is definitely not a chef
- Her knowledge is limited to the things she ate but did not make
- She does not know the basics of pastry making
Fu Qiuning: So, I’m a noob at cooking?
Gumihou: A noob at western baking.
Fu Qiuning: Okay, I can accept that.
Fu Qiuning coughed twice to cover up her moment of indecorum. She took the box and opened it, but before she could examine the content closely, a nostalgic aroma of cream wafted into her nose, nearly bringing tears to her eyes.
Distant memories resurfaced and Fu Qiuning had to blink hard to hold back her tears. She took a deep breath and picked up a cream-filled roll, putting it slowly into her mouth and savouring every bite.
It was still ancient times after all. Although it could still be called a cream pastry, the taste was slightly different from modern ones. Fu Qiuning recalled reading about the ancient methods of making cream in a novel. Perhaps in that era, the Western world hadn’t experienced any industrial revolution, and she couldn’t even be sure if the West in this alternate timeline was the same as the one she knew. Therefore, cream and similar things were undoubtedly [1] prepared using traditional methods, absolutely without any specialized machines.
“How does it taste, Madam? Isn’t this more unusual compared to our local pastries?” When Concubine Huo saw Fu Qiuning savouring the pastry slowly with a nostalgic expression on her face, she felt quite pleased with herself and couldn’t help the cheerful little comment.
Fu Qiuning snapped out of her thoughts. Her mood had settled by then and she put down the box of pastries, nodding with a smile, “So they are. The taste is indeed excellent. However, where do I have to go to find this kind of Western master? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Lord Husband could also invite one over to our estate just for making these Western snacks?”
Concubine Huo chuckled, “Madam, you must be joking. Where would we find so many foreigners? It has only been a little over a decade since the opening of the trade ports in our Great Ning Empire. Rumour is that the vast ocean is even larger than two Great Ning Empires combined. Once a storm hits, no matter how sturdy a ship is, it still cannot escape. Therefore, there are not many people coming and going, although it has improved slightly in the past two years. But who would willingly wander in a foreign land? The foreigner in our household is not a chef; he happened to be acquainted with my father, and they had a good relationship. That is why he came to our house. Usually, he is treated as an honoured guest. It is only during festivals that we ask him to showcase his skills. Otherwise, how would it be that easy to find an overseas chef?”
How could Fu Qiuning Concubine miss the way Huo initially mentioned inviting an overseas pastry chef, but she suddenly changed her story to refer to them being honoured guests. She understood that Concubine Huo either wanted to show off and let her know that they had a Western pastry chef or was afraid that influential figures in the capital like Jin Fengju would come to their house to target her foreigner and she changed her statement.
Fu Qiuning didn’t pay it much mind, but Concubine Huo seemed oblivious to her indifference and continued chatting aimlessly. Suddenly, they heard footsteps outside, followed by the voice of a junior maid, “The young masters and young misses have returned.” As soon as the words fell, the curtain was lifted and several small figures rushed in.
Jin Changfeng, Jin Changjiao, Jin Zhenyi, and others were caught off-guard by Concubine Huo’s presence. They stood frozen for a moment, and then Jin Changfeng and Jin Changjiao greeted her respectfully, calling her “Madam Concubine.” Jin Xiunan also hurriedly followed suit. Only Jin Zhenyi snorted disdainfully. However, before he could say anything ridiculous, Fu Qiuning made a slight ‘ahem’ sound, arched an eyebrow at the boy and said, “I do believe the Young Marquis should be back soon.”
Jin Zhenyi feared his father the most. Upon hearing that, even if he felt resentful to the point of gnashing his teeth, he still had to lower his head. He very reluctantly muttered something. No one could hear clearly, but it was probably a greeting towards Concubine Huo.
Concubine Huo raised an eyebrow in surprise and couldn’t help but look at Fu Qiuning, only to see her calmly pouring tea. Concubine Huo’s heart suddenly skipped a beat, but she didn’t show it on her face. She quickly stood up and smiled, “Indeed, it is getting late. I am afraid my daughter Xiuru has also finished her lessons by now. I should return now, or else when she cannot find me, how worried would she be?”
Jin Zhenyi snorted and said, “Don’t worry, Fourth Sister is practically following Second Sister around like a tail. She must be at Clear Soft Pavilion now.” He had originally wanted to mock Jin Xiuru for being a bootlicker, but as soon as he finished speaking, he realized that his words seemed to reassure Concubine Huo, as if telling her not to rush back. It made him feel even more uncomfortable.
Concubine Huo felt a bit embarrassed by Jin Zhenyi’s comment. Fu Qiuning glanced at him and said lightly, “Who has offended you? Why are you speaking so rudely? What’s with this aggressive tone? It is rare for Madam Concubine to come and visit us. Is this how the younger generation should behave? You better hurry back to the study and prepare your homework carefully in case your father asks about it when he returns.”
Jin Zhenyi clenched his lips even more tightly at that. He watched his older brother and younger sister went to the study and he followed behind. Concubine Huo also stood up and smiled, saying, “It is indeed not early anymore. I should go back now. If I have the chance, I’ll come and visit Madam. No need to see me off. If we keep being so courteous among family, it might never end.” As she spoke, she walked out the door. Although she said there was no need to send her off, Fu Qiuning still made a show of doing so before returning.
At that moment, Jin Ming entered through the courtyard gate with two young boys. He saluted Fu Qiuning and then smiled, “Master attended a banquet today at noon and he was dragged by a few friends to the western outskirts’ hunting grounds. Although it was only an afternoon, he still managed to catch some game and brought it back. Right now, he is at Old Madam’s place. He had instructed the servants to send some wild game over for Madam to prepare. He will come over for dinner shortly.”
Fu Qiuning waved for Aunt Yu to receive the wild game, which consisted of deer legs and roe deer meat. The western outskirts’ hunting ground was a moderately sized forest where various animals could be found. For example, roe deer were originally more common in grasslands, but because their meat was delicious, some were captured and bred in that hunting ground. Since it wasn’t a royal hunting ground, there weren’t any large predatory animals around, and the vegetation was abundant, they reproduced quite successfully. Someone like Jin Fengju, who excelled in both literary and martial arts, rarely had time for hunting, but whenever he went, he would undoubtedly have a bountiful harvest.
Soon, Jin Zhenyi, Jin Changfeng, and the others all ran out. When they saw the fresh meat, Jin Zhenyi then said to Jin Ming, “Father went hunting? Why didn’t he bring me? I am also grown up now, and it’s time for me to experience horseback riding and hunting.”
Jin Ming didn’t dare to retort and looked at Fu Qiuning for help. Fu Qiuning raised her eyebrow at him. However, she accepted the duty, turned to the boy and said, “Just how old are you? Even your elder brother hasn’t learned how to ride a horse yet. You want to go hunting with your father? What can you do? You are so small, even a rabbit could swallow you whole.”
Jin Zhenyi was very dissatisfied. Although he was not older than Jin Changfeng, he had been brought up with good food and drink and, therefore had grown up rapidly. Right now, he was only half a head shorter than Jin Changfeng. Therefore, he stubbornly said, “What, can’t I do anything? I can help pick up the prey. If Dad shoots and kills a rabbit or a pheasant, I’ll pick it up.”
Feeling tickled by the childish words, Fu Qiuning couldn’t help but laugh and playfully flicked Jin Zhenyi’s forehead with her finger, saying, “You want to go pick up rabbits and pheasants? At your speed, even the hunting dogs would be faster than you. Before you have even picked up a single rabbit, you would have been left behind by the dogs [a].”
Jin Zhenyi glared at Fu Qiuning, feeling frustrated and speechless. Indeed, even his own old man, let alone himself, might not be able to outrun the hunting dogs. Jin Ming led the servants to the kitchen. He continued to watch as Fu Qiuning entered the house with a smile and beckoned the children with her. There, she took out some new summer clothes made of lightweight fabric. Fu Qiuning had personally embroidered the edges of the clothes. Each child received two sets. “[a] Brother Yi and Third Young Miss, your father has set aside some silver for you, so I had these made. Go on, try them out.”
Everyone tried on the clothes and they fit very well, providing a cool and comfortable feeling. Fu Qiuning handed them the clothes and instructed them to go back and put them away. Even after Jin Changfeng and the others had left, Jin Zhenyi remained there motionless. He looked at Fu Qiuning with reddened eyes and asked, “Tell me, can my mother… can she really come back?”
Fu Qiuning [b] looked at him for a long time. Finally, she said, “Whether your mother comes back or not depends entirely on your father.”
Jin Zhenyi waited, but when she said nothing else, he turned his head away, his eyes filled with resentment. “My mother was sent to the village, a place of poverty and hardship. Who knows how many years she can endure there? I am not even seven years old yet. If my mother is waiting for me… waiting for me…” He paused, clenching his fists, with tears that were about to fall.
Fu Qiuning recalled her body’s memories about the days spent in the village and laughed, “Indeed, the village is not a very pleasant place. However, it is far from being a place of complete hardship and misery. Life is much simpler there. Considering your mother’s temper and her age, she would probably fare better than I did.”
“You have stayed in the village too?” Jin Zhenyi, being a child after all, couldn’t grasp the situation for a moment. He wondered: When had she ever lived in the village? Hasn’t she always lived in Night Breeze Pavilion?
Fu Qiuning laughed and said, “Before I married into this household, I lived in the village for many years. The days there were indeed unpleasant.”
Jin Zhenyi finally understood and felt a twinge of empathy in his heart. He realized that this woman had also experienced something similar to his mother. So he anxiously asked, “What was that village like? What can Mother do when she is bullied there? No, I must go and see Mother. I cannot let her be bullied.”
Fu Qiuning asked curiously, “What do you think you can do to prevent your mother from being bullied? Running away will only make your father angry, moreover, could you even find your way to the village? Considering how she left her most trusted servant here with you and your sister, it is clear that she wanted to protect you. Even if you do manage to go to the village, what about your sister? Are you going to leave your sister here or bring her with you to the village to suffer?”
Gumihou: The reason for the notes at the beginning of the chapter is due to the very dubious assumptions made by Fu Qiuning regarding the Western desserts as Pill Bug had observed in note [1].
It is also unclear what these ‘cream rolls’ are, because 奶油蛋卷 only resulted in Swiss Rolls, which is historically problematic since soft and flexible sponge recipes haven’t been invented yet even in Western countries until the middle 1800s.
The sponge cake ‘roll’ has many elements that one has to observe to successfully make it roll and not break. Among them, ‘acid’ to stabilise the whipped eggs, oil to add moisture and flexibility, and low gluten flour for softness over chewiness, not to mention a stable steaming or baking heat source
The 奶油蛋卷 Swiss Roll, is kind of a stupid choice for the author to make when they could have chosen the castella or the pound cake instead. However, the Chinese version of the Swiss Roll also exists and is often available at Chinese coffee shops, so perhaps that’s the reason why she chose to showcase this nostalgic-brought-to-tears-sobsob-dish. Except, the author never said why Fu Qiuning would be so moved to tears?
It seems very unlikely for an opera singer teacher to be so attached to Western desserts to the point of shedding tears. Like, does she treat herself to a guilty treat of cream-filled desserts during her diet free time or does she have a favourite coffee shop that serves these cream treats?
The tears came out of the blue and were mentioned twice within 2 paragraphs like ‘oh my, she’s so touched, so, so, so touched, sobs’ very forced.
Also.
Cream smells like milk. Like mild milk.
Or whatever additives such as chocolate, sugar, vanilla etc.
If it’s the Chinese-style Swiss Roll, the smell of eggs would be the strongest because the sponge is steamed and instead of butter they would often use neutral oil to make the sponge. So, no matter how one twisted it, this entire chapter was like watching a car crash in slow motion.
Ugh.
End Gumi rant.
[a] Reduce the JFJ butt polishing where I can [b] Reduce condescending fake ‘benevolent’ mother act on FQN’s behalf. I’m sure the author thinks she made FQN sound sincere, but she sounds more like a fake bitch to me.
Fu Qiuning laughed and said, “Missing your mother? Whether she can come back or not, I do not know. You should ask your father about that. But, if you study hard and excel in martial arts, becoming accomplished in the future and gain the confidence to speak in front of your father, then why wouldn’t he bring your mother at that time?”
Gumihou: Someone tell me that ain’t a condescending bitch there.
Pill Bug TL Notes:
[1] She is so sure by merely basing things upon an assumption? Really?Gumihou: It’s all Chinese propaganda talk. Cream has been made as long as there has been milk cattle. Desserts with cream have been made since the existence of royalty wanting fancy snacks, the Industrial Revolution had nothing to do with it.
Also, what Fu Qiuning was smelling was not nostalgia but a whiff of nationalistic superiority
https://dairy-products-from-france.com/cream/history/
By the way, just so everyone knows, cream has been in existence since the Palaeolithic Era in France.
So, Gumi calls bullshit on this chapter
