Uncle Yu was very supporting of his idea, he told him the details of villages around their area, “If you need egg, you can buy in the Yanghe Village which is closer to your village. Their location is around the mountains which save you from riding a boat. They used to be a farmer but the river flooded their fields so they have to changes profession and sell livestock.”

Yanghe Village was next to his Xioahe Village, it was still on the same riverside and only three km on foot, Jiang Zhou thought it was a good deal. Now, he got the ingredients, he had to make this sponge cake and found a way to sell it.

He stared at the river, lost in thought. This was Xihe River, it mostly calm and clear. But last year, the water raised high and caused havoc in some villages. Most of the time, the river was full of boats floating here and there, which could be regarded as the special scenery on Xihe River.

Special scenery… Jiang Zhou’s eyes brightened ‘wouldn’t his soft sponge cake perfect with this beautiful and peaceful scenery?’ This way, he could sell the sponge cake in uncle Yu’s boat.

.

When he got home, Jiang Zhou thought about his business preparation. The ingredients were ready, he got some from the villagers by bartering that wild boar meat. But now, the tools weren’t complete. This thatched house only had stove for boiling water and cook dish. It wasn’t enough to produce sponge cake.

Fortunately, Jiang Zhou had a little knack for bamboo craft. It would be enough for him to make steamer. Jiang Zhou chopped some bamboos from the back mountain, cut them into thin slices then polished them. He soaked them into hot water, formed a circle and fixed it with rattan. Usually, the finished steamer had to be soaked in the water overnight. But he had appointment in the evening with uncle Yu, he was rushing to make a sample sponge cake for uncle Yu.

He cracked two eggs, added sugar and beat it hard. He thought mixing the egg and sugar was simple task but he almost doubted his life. He didn’t if his batter was a success, he could only follow the method in his memory.

While Jiang Zhou waited for the sponge cake, he went to deal with the wild boar’s blood. It was slaughtered this noon, so the blood was still fresh. He added oil, salt, onion, ginger and garlic. He put the leftover trotter’s soup and stirred well until the blood a little thick. Once done, he washed the intestines carefully; he turned it inside out and boiled in the hot water to remove the blood.

At this moment, the sponge cake was done. Jiang Zhou opened the pot and took a look, “……”

He looked at the weird shapes of his sponge cakes, he suddenly understood why Wen Yan drove him away. Turned out, his cooking level was this poor. Well, it was actually mediocre but compared to his wife, of course Wen Yan did it better.

Even with the traveler’s recipe, it still didn’t upgrade his skills. The trotter soup was good because he added a lot of ingredients, only need to put them in and made sure it tastes good. But this sponge cake, it wasn’t so complicated but he still failed.

Jiang Zhou didn’t give up; he figured out what was wrong and tried again. He observed the sponge cake he made again, although it wasn’t the same like in the traveler’s memory, it had some cracks and not so soft. He probably added too much flour and didn’t clean the foam before he mixed the batter.

He pinched a piece and tasted it, it was dense but soft. Well the taste was a little different but still the same like in the memory. Now, he just needed to adjust his recipe and steamed another batch.

.

He was frying the pork liver when uncle Yu arrived with a water and wine in his hand, “Young man, I don’t have anything else. These are what I have, since I will eat your food. I will treat you this wine. But your food smells really good.”

Uncle Yu had traveled around and smelled many good foods. He once smelled a pastry from pastry shop in Penghu Town, it was really good and sweet, a small piece sold for five wens.

Jiang Zhou brought the fried liver pork to the stone table, turned around to serve the blood sausage, sponge cake and other dishes. He invited uncle Yu to sit down, “Uncle Yu has a good nose. Today, I invite you to eat for this.” Jiang Zhou pushed the sponge cake toward uncle Yu.

Uncle Yu bowed his head and thought for a while, after he tasted the sponge cake, it was really good. He was sure the passengers on his boat had money and would willing to buy this cake. He agreed after some thought, this business was good enough for him.

The two drank the wine for a while, Jiang Zhou agreed to hand over the sponge cake tomorrow. When the moon was high in the sky, uncle Yu went home drunk.

After cleaning up, Jiang Zhou went to his bed and thought about Wen Yan in a daze, slowly he fell asleep after a tiring day.