She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 185 - 184: Poverty Limited My Imagination

Chapter 185: Chapter 184: Poverty Limited My Imagination

Hearing Ye Xinyan’s words suggesting the delicacies could still be tasted, Xie Chun and Wang Shengxin paused their reaching hands.

Although the two had not been in Qingyuan County for more than two days, they had heard much about the Qi family’s snack shop. Even their own Sixth Master greatly esteemed the various snacks from the Qi family’s establishment.

Now, the snacks pushed forward by Steward Qi surely wouldn’t be bad either. Yet, Steward Qi had implied they should try them to see if they were palatable....

To eat or not to eat, that was the question.

Seeing their hesitant expressions and seeming uncertainty about whether to proceed, Ye Xinyan couldn’t help but laugh and say, "Gentlemen, there’s no need to be reserved. The two snacks we are tasting today are just trial products we are trying to make at home and haven’t been sold at our snack shop yet. I think they’re not bad, and you gentlemen should taste them too. If you find them satisfactory, then perhaps you can consider the Dairy Products Store for Changyuan, believing it to be an industry with prospects."

With gratitude, the five men took some crumbly pastries and brought them to their mouths.

As for the results of the tasting, they go without saying. The unique taste of cheese mixed into the crumbly pastry added a delicate, creamy softness that was quite striking for those who had never tasted cheese before.

Zhang Baokui swallowed the food in his mouth, looking somewhat excitedly at the dish of Cheese Powder and saying, "I never imagined that grinding dry and hard cheese into powder could have such wonderful applications. It’s a pity the nobles and herders across the Northern Barbarian Grasslands have consumed cow’s milk for so many years and made cheese for equally as long, yet they never considered that powdered cheese could create such delicacies."

Ye Xinyan then gave instructions to Bi Ning, "Sandwich some cheese with the cakes, let them taste it."

There happened to be cake slices brought back by Nanny Jin at home, specifically for Ye Xinyan to experiment with, used for sandwiching with cream or cheese.

Furthermore, when Cheese Powder is mixed with water and cream, it can be made back into cheese, and even into a cream cheese with a better texture. Although this kind of cream cheese lacks the fragrant taste that comes from long fermentation, in this era, it was already unique enough to be memorably delightful.

Since arriving at the Qi household, Bi Ning, despite experiencing the family’s poor and simple living conditions, had also encountered many wonders and stunning novelties, transitioning from absolute amazement at various dairy products to now being able to treat them with familiarity.

Bi Ning stepped forward, took several slices of cake from the dish, sandwiched them with cheese, divided them into portions, and laid them before Xie Chun and the others.

Having already tried the crumbly pastries, they found the milky-yellow, sweet-smelling dessert even more tempting and carefully cherished their portions.

As they sampled the cake sandwich, Ye Xinyan explained, "The cheese sandwiched between these two layers of cake is also dairy cheese, which I like to call ’cheese.’ The cakes are one of the snack shop’s pastries, which are already known for their excellent taste. Now with the addition of cheese, there is yet another different flavor."

Xie Chun and the others successively ate the cake sandwiches they received. After savoring them carefully, they were left speechless.

Upon the first bite, they immediately felt a soft, rich, velvety tenderness spread in their mouths, which was even more delicious than the cheese pastries. As they slowly chewed, the deep fermented milk flavor became even more enchanting, and the strange wonderful taste was beyond words, leaving them at a loss for what to say.

Ye Xinyan understood their current feelings well; the popularity of cheese, cakes, and other Western pastries was not due to their scarcity or exotic newness, but because these treats genuinely possessed exceptional taste and texture.

"The cheese was also made with Cheese Powder, but this isn’t the ultimate flavor of dairy products that Sixth Master is seeking," Ye Xinyan continued, "That’s why Sixth Master has brought you gentlemen here, in hopes of turning dairy products into an ingredient of ultimate quality and deliciousness."

After sampling the cake, cheese, and sandwich, Xie Chun and the others were met with Ye Xinyan’s verbal onslaught, all staring in disbelief.

Transforming such diluted cow’s milk into this delicious fare and to think it still isn’t the ultimate—then what would meet the Sixth Master’s, or Steward Qi’s definition of the ultimate?

Xie Chun instantly felt he had stumbled upon a very challenging task.

The troubled look on Zhang Baokui’s face was unmistakable. He had been summoned back by the Prince Household’s Steward precisely because he had spent many years in the Northern Barbarian Grasslands and was well-versed in the processing of cattle and sheep milk.

Originally charged with the task of creating butter and dairy products, he was quite confident and unfazed. To him, it was simply a matter of separating, extracting, and drying the different components of cow’s milk—a simple task for someone who had lived on the vast grasslands for years.

However, this young woman who held the position of a steward already had dairy innovations that were refreshing to him, and what she now demanded far exceeded what he thought he could achieve.

He truly only knew how to make butter, various kinds of milk curds, and milk skin—things like that. Even the two items made by Steward Qi himself were beyond his imagination, let alone requests that were a level or several levels higher?

Zhang Baokui felt he could already see the disappointed look on the face of the steward who had promoted him and envisioned a future where he botched the task and faced punishment and demotion.

Ye Xinyan signaled to Bi Ning to clear the various pastries and ingredients from the table and replace them with tea.

"Don’t worry too much, everyone. As long as you give it your best effort, there is a possibility of success, and it is directly related to how hard you try. If you don’t even dare to attempt, then you will certainly not succeed."

Ye Xinyan echoed a popular saying from her era: Effort might not guarantee success, but without it, failure is certain.

Zhang Baokui’s delightful sensation of tasting the delicious food had now vanished, replaced by a troubled expression. He said, "But Steward Qi, you’ve already processed the cow’s milk so well, where is there room for more perfection?"

Ye Xinyan shook her head, "Cheese Powder, you’ve all seen it. Especially you, Zhang Baokui and the three of you should know that if someone sees this, they can easily buy a stone mill and make it themselves. Cream cheese is the same, it’s just added butter flavor and more moisture. Trying it a few times, it’s not hard to make."

Ye Xinyan scrutinized Zhang Baokui, Xie Chun, and the others, "Do you think, with such ingredients, it’s possible to create a big business that Sixth Master wants?"

Xie Chun opened his mouth but no words came out.

If everyone could produce such items, even if the Sixth Master was wealthy and powerful, he still wouldn’t be able to make a premium business out of it. Just the merchants traveling between the North and the Central Plains, bringing goods from the North, could take away a lot of business. It is known that on the vast grasslands, things like dried milk curds and residues aren’t valuable.

Zhang Baokui mustered his courage and asked, "Does Steward Qi have any direction for other kinds of dairy products? Like ideas of similar taste or shape." As he spoke, he also explained with a sheepish look, "Please forgive us, Steward Qi. We all are fully committed to making a living, and we don’t have many thoughts on the matter of ultimate delicacies."

The first thought that popped into Ye Xinyan’s head was: Poverty limits my imagination. Zhang Baokui’s explanation was a specific embodiment of this phrase, a convincing one at that.