Zeng Xiaoya’s eyes were full of amazement. “Zhan Yue, you really are a hidden treasure. The deeper you dig, the more surprises there are. You can actually make such beautiful pastries. They look so good that they make people hungry just by looking at them. They must taste great.”
Zhan Yue brought over a pair of disposable gloves and handed them to her. He put on a pair himself, then picked up a petal shaped pastry and handed it to Zeng Xiaoya. “Try it and see if it tastes good.”
Zeng Xiaoya took it and had a bite. After slowly savouring it, she nodded and said, “It is delicious. The sweetness is just right, not like the ones bought outside that are too sweet, and there is a faint floral fragrance.”
“It is good, really good.”
Zhan Yue finally relaxed. As long as she liked it, that was enough.
Zeng Xiaoya ate several pastries in a row, and Zhan Yue poured her a cup of warm water.
“Zhan Yue, you could open a pastry shop. Your pastries are both beautiful and delicious. You could beat many pastry chefs.”
“Opening a pastry shop would not earn much. This is just a hobby of mine. I make some pastries in my spare time for myself. If there are extra, I give them to relatives and friends to try. Since you think they taste good, take two boxes home later for Second Uncle and Second Aunt to try as well.”
“I made quite a few varieties, including some for children. When the little ones wake up later, I will give them some to eat.”
At home, they had a habit of having afternoon tea. Sometimes the pastries for it were made by the family pastry chef, and sometimes they made them themselves.
Grandmother required them to develop in all aspects. Even if they were not particularly interested, they still had to hand in an answer sheet that would satisfy her.
Zeng Xiaoya smiled and said, “So I am eating and taking at the same time.”
“That is nothing. You like them and think they taste good, that is recognition for me. I am happy about it.”
“Since you put it that way, I will not be polite with you. I will take two boxes back later for my second uncle and second aunt to try. My second aunt especially loves sweets. My second uncle always says that she eats too much and worries about her blood sugar, so he usually controls how much she eats.”
“The sweetness of your pastries is just right and they taste good. My second uncle will probably like them too.”
“Yes. If they like them after trying them, next time when I have time to make pastries, I will send you some again. When I move into the flat at Wansheng Garden and become your neighbour, we can exchange the food we make.”
Zeng Xiaoya said, “Then you might be at a disadvantage. I can cook meals, but my cooking skills are only average, the kind that will not kill anyone. As for pastries, I cannot make a single one, and I cannot bake bread either.”
“I can only make dumplings and wontons and the like. I am nowhere near as skilled as you. Grandma Zhan is really amazing, raising you all to be graceful in public and capable in the kitchen. No wonder so many girls outside want to marry into the Zhan family.”
They might not be attracted only by the Zhan family sons’ looks, but by their excellence. They were truly outstanding, able to earn money to support a family, able to make all kinds of food, willing to help with housework and childcare, and not the type to shirk responsibility.
Zeng Xiaoya thought to herself that the more she learned about Zhan Yue and the Zhan family, the more she felt like marrying into the Zhan family herself.
It was just that the real gap between the two families was a bit large. The hardship of marrying above one’s station was something she could not bear, so she should forget it. Being friends with the Zhan family was already very good.
Zhan Yue smiled and said, “Even if they want to marry in, it still depends on whether we want to marry them. We are not very picky. As long as we see eye to eye, get along well, can chat easily, and share similar values, that is enough.”
“The family background should be clean. It does not have to match ours exactly. The elders in the family are very open minded. It might be because we brothers all married late. The elders urged us to marry so much that they even said that if we brought a man home, they would accept it too.”
