Chapter 51
Chapter 51: Fu Chengque, the Puff Pastry Apprentice
The rain fell all night, accompanied by gusts of north wind.
The next day, Wen Yu lingered in bed for a while before heading out, finding Fu Chengque waiting for him.
Wen Yu handed her a fried dough twist.
“I thought you would leave first. Do you want this fried dough twist?”
“A puppy has bitten it, I don’t want it.”
“I just got it, eat it if you want. I didn’t intend to give it to you anyway.”
“Give it to me.”
“You really have a problem.”
Fu Chengque took the fried dough twist and ate it, enjoying its fragrance.
In the morning, the class announced that the parent-teacher meeting for the midterm exams would be held this Saturday, and this information needed to be conveyed to the respective parents.
During this time, Chen Xiongguo called Wen Yu outside and played the role of a mysterious person.
“You’ve been studying diligently lately and have contributed a lot to Class 4, winning many class honors. Ahem… Regarding your life and study issues, the school and teachers will do our best to help, but there are some things you need to handle on your own.”
Wen Yu smiled, “Teacher, I understand.”
That day, when he got home, Wen Yu mentioned the parents’ meeting during dinner, then asked, “Who’s going?”
“I’ll go, let your mom take a rest,” Father Wen said, then turned to sit on the sofa.
Mother Wen whispered, “Just finished eating and sitting down, don’t you see your belly?”
“My belly? What about it?” Father Wen patted his beer belly, “This is happiness!”
Then he smugly looked at the news.
“Don’t follow your dad, do more exercise and go out more, otherwise, you’ll get sick when you’re old.”
Father Wen pretended not to hear and pointed to the news on TV about the approaching meteor shower, “Have you guys seen a meteor shower before? Do you want to go see it together?”
Wen Yu glanced at the TV, where reporters were interviewing citizens about their expectations for the meteor shower.
He didn’t quite understand why so many people liked meteor showers, which were fleeting and transient. Just like the fake meteor shower he’d seen advertised, it had been very popular.
But regardless, he definitely couldn’t go.
“Dad, you take mom to see it. I’ve got something in two weeks.”
“What’s going on?”
“Fu Chengque’s birthday.”
“Qiao’er’s birthday is here,” Mother Wen said, “Last time she celebrated Xiao Yu’s birthday secretly and even sneaked a gift. Xiao Yu, what did she give you?”
“That’s not important.”
“Hiding secrets from your parents?”
“Everyone needs to have some secrets, right?!” Wen Yu finished dinner and moved to the sofa, “Last time she threw me a party, so this time, I’m planning to return the favor.”
“Why are you so clear-cut with the Old Fu family!” Father Wen exclaimed.
Wen Yu explained, “That’s your older generation’s relationship. Haven’t you noticed that before this year, Fu Chengque hardly ever came to our house?”
Mother Wen sensed something and changed the subject, “Forget it, we won’t ask too much about your affairs. Everything’s good now.”
Wen Yu continued with the previous conversation, “So, I’m planning to have a small party for her outside in two weeks on the weekend, and invite some classmates to join.”
“Outside?”
“Without you guys.”
“Oh, you’re only in the third year, and you’re already thinking of leaving your parents behind?” Father Wen joked.
Mother Wen gave her husband a look and asked their son, “How many people? Is it safe?”
“Mom, don’t you know me? From before until now, I haven’t been that great, but I wouldn’t do anything bad. Don’t worry.”
“Yes, that’s true.”
***
On Friday, Wen Yu got the keys from Lu Min and took the opportunity of the parents’ meeting on Saturday to go check out the small building.
Three floors, with a private courtyard, Western-style columns at the door, and large French windows.
The downside was that it had a bit of a nouveau riche aesthetic, and the road to get there was far; the upside was that, according to Lu Min, the first floor would be redecorated, so it was okay to make noise now.
That was great.
After confirming the location, he started buying things to furnish it.
This trip after trip was quite exhausting…
Fu Chengque was also not staying at home properly that day.
In the afternoon, she went to Lu Min’s house to apprentice herself to the latter, vowing to make a super cream puff that Wen Yu would like and also fit the Empress’s style, leaving a deep impression on Wen Yu.
She wanted to paint a vivid picture of her high school years in his mind.
But to make a super cream puff alone, she had to first learn how to make a regular cream puff.
The great Empress had no reason not to learn.
In the kitchen, Fu Chengque stood in front of Lu Min, her expression serious.
“Teacher, please begin!”
“Roar, Fu, you’re very motivated. Let’s begin,” Lu Min nodded, taking on the appearance of a master chef, “First, prepare 200 grams of low-gluten flour.”
“Huh? Flour has gluten?”
Fu Chengque was confused from the start in the kitchen.
“The gluten in flour is different from the one in your body. Look at the flour bag, it’ll be written on it.”
“Oh, I see!”
“Weigh it with a scale and sift 200 grams.”
“150… 190… 197… a bit more, oh, 202, I’ve gone over!”
Fu Chengque felt she was too clumsy. She should have been more careful when it reached 197 grams.
“It’s okay, this doesn’t matter.”
“Then, break six eggs.”
Fu Chengque awkwardly cracked six eggs into a bowl, and after each crack, she had to use chopsticks to pick out eggshells from the bowl.
Just cracking the eggs made her start sweating.
Then, as required, she struggled to beat them with an egg beater.
Lu Min advised from the side, “Be gentle, don’t beat out bubbles.”
Seeing that the eggs were beaten, she continued, “Get a bowl, wipe it clean, then cut 160 grams of butter, 320 grams of water, and 10 grams of sugar and put them in.”
“Report, it’s ready!”
“Good! Next, pour them all into the pot, then turn on the induction cooker to medium-low heat. Wait for the butter to melt, and when the water boils, switch to low heat.”
Fu Chengque fumbled with the induction cooker for a while, sorrowfully saying, “How do you use this thing…”
Lu Min taught her, and she quickly learned, starting to tinker with it.
Slowly and cautiously.
She would occasionally bend down to look at the bottom of the pot.
Lu Min comforted her, “Stop looking, the induction cooker doesn’t have flames, the temperature is constant…”
“Then I’m worried it’s not smart enough?”
After a while, the pot gradually started bubbling.
“Add flour…”
Fu Chengque obeyed, adding flour under Lu Min’s guidance. Then she received a series of instructions again—
“Stir quickly.”
“Use a scraper to mix it, see, like a shovel.”
“Mix quickly.”
Fu Chengque was in a flurry.
One minute later, a slightly glossy light yellow dough formed.
Lu Min clapped her hands, delightedly saying, “It’s done!”
Fu Chengque also breathed a sigh of relief, smiling. She proudly poked the dough, “Not difficult, right? Is this a choux pastry? Can we eat it after baking?”
“What can we eat? We just made choux pastry shells, it’ll be a while before we can eat them.”
“What!?”
Fu Chengque’s face fell: Choux pastry was so difficult, couldn’t Wen Yu like to eat some Southern dishes like stir-fried water spinach or stir-fried sweet potato leaves? It’s so annoying.
Hey, keep going, keep going.
“Preheat the oven to 200 degrees, like this.” Lu Min demonstrated once, then continued teaching after Fu Chengque took notes, “Pour half of the egg mixture into the dough, then mix until fully absorbed.”
Fu Chengque obediently mixed.
“Slowly add the rest, pay attention to the dough’s condition. When you use the scraper to lift it up, the dough should form a 4-5 centimeter inverted triangle, and it should only drop once. Then it’s ready.”
Fu Chengque felt overwhelmed, was this to save the world? The requirements were so high, this felt harder than doing a quest for a golden finger!
With gritted teeth, she thought fiercely:
Super choux pastry, Wen Yu must not say no!
Otherwise, Empress will remember him for life!
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