Li Xia did not answer, but scrutinized Qiu Kui and asked, "Did you make this yourself?" If Qiu Kui made it, Li Xia did not plan to eat it.
Qiu Kui also knew that her cooking tasted strange, "Wu Auntie made it, and I assisted." Hearing this, Li Xia had higher expectations.
Li Xia was carving at the threshold when Qiu Kui brought over the prepared crystal cakes. Li Xia put down the carving piece, washed her hands, and came to the table to see the crystal-clear, smooth, and translucent crystal cakes. She put a piece in her mouth, and it was very soft and moist, cool and refreshing. She nodded in approval, as Wu Auntie had never let her down.
Li Xia swallowed the crystal cake in her mouth, "Did you send any to the Sister-in-law, Elder Sister, and Mother?"
"I've had Qiu Ling deliver them," Qiu Kui answered from the side.
Li Xia ate another piece of the crystal cake, her gaze falling on Qiu Kui's hesitant expression, "Do you have something to say?"
"Miss, the Eldest Miss wants the recipe for the crystal cakes," Qiu Kui said while observing Li Xia's expression.
"Just give it to her," Li Xia didn't mind at all.
"You're not angry, Miss?" Qiu Kui didn't expect Li Xia to be so unperturbed.
Li Xia put a piece of crystal cake in Qiu Kui's mouth, "Do you see me as a petty person?"
"Of course not," Qiu Kui immediately refuted. In Qiu Kui's eyes, Li Xia was the most generous person. Not to mention others, just the Third Miss's constant provocations. If it were someone else, they would have gotten angry long ago, but Li Xia didn't care at all.
"Even if Elder Sister takes it, she'll just put it in the kitchen for use. If she wants to eat it in the future, she can just have the kitchen make it. It's so hot in the summer; you and Wu Auntie won't have to suffer in the tea room making it, which is even better." Besides, this recipe also came from the travel journal Li Hui gave her. And Li Xin was not a petty person either; she would definitely express her gratitude after receiving the recipe.
"This slave has thought too little," Qiu Kui was ashamed of her pettiness and was moved that Li Xia had considered her and Wu Auntie's well-being.
As Li Xia had expected, after Li Xin obtained the recipe, the kitchen began providing a portion of crystal cakes to each courtyard the next day.
Not only that, Li Xin also brought a thousand taels of silver to the Orchid Courtyard and gave the silver to Li Xia. Seeing so much silver, Li Xia enviously said, "Sister, you really are rich."
Amused by Li Xia's different focus, Li Xin smiled, "All of this is for you."
Li Xia did not accept it, "The crystal cakes, you're not making them to earn money either. Now I can eat them every day. How can I take your money?"
"How do you know I'm not making money from them?" Li Xin's rhetorical question made Li Xia think of something, but she still couldn't take the money.
"Keep it, since you said I'm rich already," Li Xin said. Aside from her monthly allowance, Mrs. Lu's dowry paid Li Xin a sizable annual dividend in private, so Li Xin's personal savings were quite substantial.
Li Xia took out three notes and pushed the remaining seven back to Li Xin, "I'll take these, and that's enough."
Li Xin changed the subject and asked Li Xia, "How did you come up with this crystal cake?"
"It's thanks to Elder Brother's travel journal," Li Xia said, handing Li Xin the travel journal she got from Li Hui. Li Xin flipped through it, which only briefly mentioned how delicious the crystal cakes were but glossed over the recipe. Looking at this, Li Xin had no idea how to make them.
"Xia Xia, you're truly amazing. From just this simple sentence, you managed to recreate the recipe," Li Xin couldn't help but praise her.
"I'm not that talented. It was Wu Auntie and Qiu Kui who researched and figured it out. Wu Auntie has a great gift in this area," Li Xia didn't mention that in her previous life, she had eaten the crystal cakes made by her neighbor's wife and heard how they were made.
"Without your support, they wouldn't have been able to research it," making these required quite an expense on ingredients, and without Li Xia providing the funds, the two couldn't have researched it.
"I had no choice since I wanted to eat them," Li Xia had an expression of being willing to do anything for food, which dispelled the gloom Li Xin had been feeling recently and brought a smile to her face.
As the county exam approached, Li Ming and Mrs. Lu became increasingly strict in ensuring no disturbances affected Li Hui's studies. Being Mrs. Lu's biological daughter, Li Xin was also reprimanded twice by her. This made everyone in the manor tense, and Li Xin was especially cautious in ensuring the food was healthy when managing the kitchen. But in the summer heat, people naturally became restless. Li Hui was confined to his room, only eating, sleeping, studying, and writing essays, leaving him with no appetite at all.
The crystal cakes Li Xia had someone deliver were crystal clear and even more beautiful with a sprinkle of sugar and osmanthus flowers. Eating them was cool and refreshing, lifting one's mood considerably. Li Xin enjoyed them and brought some for Li Hui to taste. Li Hui ate several pieces. Only then did Li Xin consider getting the recipe.
"Xia Xia, you deserve this money," Li Xin said, pushing the seven silver notes on the table toward Li Xia.
"Sister, you went through all these roundabout ways just to make me take the money," after all, Li Hui was Li Xia's elder brother and had always treated her well. Li Xia was more than willing to do something for him.
"Regardless, Xia Xia, you have to keep this money."
"Alright, I'll keep it," Li Xia took the seven silver notes on the table. Li Xin was satisfied, as she would have felt uneasy if Li Xia didn't accept the money.
After seeing Li Xin off and returning to her room, Li Xia looked at the silver notes in her hand and pondered how to spend the money. But before she could get used to having it, Aunt Mei snatched it away.
"Auntie, at least leave me two notes," Li Xia tugged at Aunt Mei's arm, her eyes fixed on the silver notes. She hadn't even gotten a proper feel for them before Aunt Mei took them away.
"No, you'll just waste the money if you have it," Aunt Mei didn't trust Li Xia with money.
"Auntie, I'm already 12 this year. Look, I've added more people to my courtyard. Without any money, how can I manage them?" Li Xia's words made Aunt Mei ponder, and she gave Li Xia one note.
"Give me one more, Auntie," Li Xia took the silver note and tried to ask for more.
"Say another word, and I'll take this one back too," seeing Aunt Mei's stance, Li Xia hurriedly stuffed the silver note into her pocket.
The thousand taels she had just received had quickly dwindled to only a hundred. Li Xia sighed; money was hard to earn but too easy to spend. She called Qiu Shui and had her exchange the silver notes for silver ingots.
With the silver ingots, Li Xia immediately rewarded Qiu Kui and Wu Auntie ten taels each. When Aunt Mei found out, she regretted leaving Li Xia even one silver note. This girl was a spendthrift, unable to hold onto money in her hands.
With less than half a month until the county exam, Mrs. Lu had put considerable thought into who would accompany Li Hui to ensure he could focus on the exam in the Provincial Capital. In addition to the four servants Zhang Hu, Zhu, and others attending to Li Hui, she also had the manor's second steward, Zhao Pan, accompany them to handle external matters. Zhao Pan was meticulous and adept at dealing with outsiders. Worried that Li Hui might not eat well, she also had Cook Lady Bai go with them. If not for Li Ming's objection, Mrs. Lu would have even sent Liu Xiao and Xia Yin to attend to Li Hui.
Mrs. Lu and Li Ming, along with the family members, watched as Li Hui boarded the carriage and left Liuzhou for the Provincial Capital as the eldest son of the Li family carrying everyone's expectations.
After arriving in the Provincial Capital, the group stayed in a courtyard Mrs. Lu had purchased in advance near the exam site. To allow Li Hui to focus on preparing for the exam, Mrs. Lu had people bring silver half a year ago to purchase the courtyard at a high price in a location close to the exam site.
