She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 186 - 185 Sixth Master Hasn’t Tried Yet

Chapter 186: Chapter 185 Sixth Master Hasn’t Tried Yet

Ye Xinyan nodded, recognizing Zhang Baokui’s explanation, "As you mentioned earlier, the stirred milk egg doesn’t have the unique scent of fermentation. My initial plan is to take out the solidified dairy after removing the cream and shape it, then preserve it in a specially made container where it can maintain a certain level of moisture. Through prolonged fermentation, it should achieve the effects of long-term preservation, suitability for long-distance transport, and a rich, lingering scent."

Zhang Baokui blinked, as if to suggest it wasn’t impossible. The milk from cattle and sheep isn’t like other foods or soups; it doesn’t simply spoil more as time goes on until it’s completely rotten.

Sometimes, when left for a very long time, milk becomes just a bit sourer or has a stronger smell but isn’t inedible.

Ye Xinyan continued, "The preservation container and the mold could be those breathable utensils, and the storage location needs multiple trials to find the best humidity and temperature conditions for producing superior dairy products. After a long fermentation, the cheese should be soft in texture, aromatic, and able to be sliced or shredded at any moment for convenient immediate consumption and pairing with meals."

After Ye Xinyan’s explanation, one could see from Zhang Baokui’s face that this rugged middle-aged man seemed to have an epiphany. He was no longer nervously fretful or bearing a look of utter despondency.

In order not to burden Zhang Baokui and Xie Chun with more thoughts and to ensure commercial secrecy, Ye Xinyan did not share more about the dairy products she had seen before. After speaking a few more encouraging words, she called over Fan Zhengyuan and went to a designated area to set up the tents for Xie Chun and the others.

As Xie Chun was about to leave with Fan Zhengyuan, he asked the question that had been troubling him for a while, "Steward Qi, do you know if Sixth Master has ever tried any of these pastries?"

If such delicious pastries had been eaten by all the servants, leaving the prince out... it would seem a bit like courting death.

Ye Xinyan, who had planned to discuss the dairy workshop construction with Wong Qiao, suddenly stopped in her tracks and looked at Xie Chun.

Not really, the pastries Jinrong eats? Is she also responsible for that?

She glanced at Bi Ning who was following her.

Sure enough, the young girl looked at her with eyes full of expectation, containing a complete trust and hope in her.

Look at how these house servants have been trained, how thoroughly brainwashed they are to have such loyal and subtle deep affection for their masters.

"Ahem," Ye Xinyan coughed lightly, speaking nonchalantly, "I wasn’t very confident about these two pastries before. Now that you all have praised their taste so highly, I’m reassured. I’ll send some for Sixth Master to try."

Ye Xinyan said this, but she didn’t have much spare time to arrange these matters, which she found very boring.

She turned around to find Nanny Liu, "Nanny Liu, since everyone says the cheesecake and layered cake taste good, shouldn’t we send some for Sixth Master to try?"

Nanny Liu nodded in a daze. Was there even a need to ask? The pastries tasted absolutely delightful, but Young Lady, you’ve always ignored Sixth Master. Without your word, none of us would dare to make a peep.

"Then I’ll trouble you to make a trip, send some for Sixth Master to taste. You can ask Steward Fan to arrange who will accompany you," Ye Xinyan said.

Using Nanny Liu for this task was the best, as people like Jinrong are very cautious about foreign food. Pastries arranged by Nanny Liu would cause much less trouble.

Nanny Liu quickly agreed, recovering from her surprise.

Such an arrangement by Young Lady was very appropriate, and it seemed she’d put some thought into it this time. If Young Lady had sent someone else to deliver the food to the prince, it wouldn’t have been for Sixth Master to consume, but a mere perfunctory gesture expressing the Steward’s sentimentality toward the master of the house.

Furthermore, Nanny Liu scoffed at the depth of sincerity in the Young Lady’s expression of her feelings.

She had led people to scrub the stone mill and to grind the cheese powder, and it was under her watchful eye that the first batch of cheese pastries made by the Young Lady came out of the oven.

And they were of the finest taste.

The Young Lady affirmed the result with a calm nod but never mentioned wanting to share a taste with the prince.

Never mind, who could blame her when the Young Lady was of high status and had an unbridled temperament. Even if the prince himself stood here, the Young Lady would dare not to prioritize him. It seemed there was nothing the prince could do about it.

Ye Xinyan thought for a moment and decided to send a portion to Jiang Yifan as well, treating him as just an ordinary employer and magistrate.

"Nanny Liu, prepare two portions of the dessert and send one to Lord Jiang as well."

What was the situation here? Weren’t the Young Lady and Lord Jiang almost at each other’s throats, like sworn enemies? Could this also be a facade to seek leverage with Lord Jiang?

Nanny Liu was surprised but did not dare to look at Ye Xinyan and went to prepare.

After settling the dairy farm and Xie Chun with Fan Zhengyuan, Ye Xinyan went to the new house construction site to find Qi Younian.

In order to meet the deadline, Qi Younian was urging the workers and craftsmen he brought with him to work. Cheung Wusi and Wong Qiao were also busy, with Wong Qiao getting his hands dirty, leading the work in water and mud.

Ye Xinyan called Qi Younian down and sat on a temporarily arranged chair.

"Grandfather, we have a lot on our plate. Let’s leave the supervision here to Grandfather Cheung. We’ll pull out Wong Qiao to set up the dairy product workshop. The dairy product workshop is different from the cattle sheds. This time, let’s set it up according to the Construction Regulations, following every procedure step by step," Ye Xinyan said, getting straight to the point.

"Understood," Qi Younian replied, "Ah Qiao can go do his calculations and designs, and I will work with your Grandfather Cheung to lead the workers."

Ye Xinyan shook her head, "That won’t do. You also need to put aside the tasks here and hire more craftsmen. The construction of our house cannot pause, and we need to complete a section of the dairy product workshop before the freeze. Time is too tight; we don’t have enough people."

Qi Younian voiced his difficulty, "The autumn harvest is upon us, and it will be hard to find people. At this time of year, everyone is usually dropping their work to focus on the farming, because the seasons wait for no one."

Ye Xinyan was aware of this. Not just in ancient times, but even in the mid-20th century, many schools located in towns and villages would grant extra holidays during the busy farming season so that farmer’s children could go back and help with the planting or harvesting.

She said, "The craftsmen and laborers go home merely to add an extra pair of hands to their households. We have the draft cattle from the dairy farm. When you recruit, promise free use of the draft cattle for a day or two for the craftsmen and laborer’s families. For those who live far away, subsidize them with some silver to hire temporary workers."

After some thought, Qi Younian found the proposal feasible, nodding, "Okay, that might work, but we need to agree on it beforehand since this is an extraordinary measure," he said with a chuckle, "Just make sure they don’t come to rely on your draft cattle for help during every busy season in the future, or you’ll have quite the headache."

Ye Xinyan was optimistic about the future, "You have to make your construction workshop a dream place for craftsmen. Once they earn big handfuls of silver here, even if you were to send them back for the farming season, they probably wouldn’t want to go. By then, their families could afford to buy their own beasts of burden. Why would they care for such a small matter as hiring draft cattle?"

What a wonderful prospect. Qi Younian eagerly nodded and said with a smile, "Then let’s work hard in the direction Ye Zi suggests."