She hadn’t expected one pleasant surprise after another to come her way.
Lin Shu hurried home. If her guess was correct, the spring water could not only improve one’s appearance and complexion, but might also be able to cure illnesses.
Hit by one unexpected blessing after another, Lin Shu’s heart pounded like a drum, as though it might leap right out of her chest at any moment.
Earlier, when she had gone to the backyard to feed the puppies, she had noticed that one of them seemed to be suffering from heatstroke.
As soon as she returned, she decided to test it on her father’s beloved pet.
Avoiding her sister-in-law and nephew, she took a container in her hand. The next second, it was filled with water.
Lin Shu took a sip first to make sure it was the same water.
Then she slowly approached one of the dogs. While it wasn’t paying attention, she grabbed it and hurriedly poured some of the spiritual spring water into its mouth.
Seeing the little white dog swallow it, Lin Shu nodded.
She would just have to wait until tomorrow.
If the puppy’s illness really disappeared, then her theory would be confirmed.
Early the next morning, Lin Shu got up even earlier than Shen Huai.
Using the excuse that she couldn’t sleep, she went to the backyard to observe the puppy.
The little dog was already barking loudly early in the morning.
Compared with its listless, sickly appearance the day before, the little white dog was now full of energy.
Lin Shu quickly returned to the house and closed the door, shutting out the noisy barking.
When she looked up, she saw Shen Huai standing there, seemingly waiting for her.
“Aren’t you going to morning drills? I just went to check on Dad’s precious puppy. It had heatstroke yesterday.”
Having gotten his answer, Shen Huai was satisfied and said goodbye to her.
“Stay home and behave yourself. Buy whatever you like, and call me if anything happens.”
“Got it. I’m going upstairs to sleep a little longer.”
Lin Shu was lying.
There was no way she could sleep. With such an amazing discovery, how could she possibly fall asleep?
Since the money duplicated by the space couldn’t be used, she would make money with the spiritual spring water instead.
As for how she was going to make money, she had already thought of a plan.
There were many flowers growing in the backyard, including plenty of edible roses.
She would start by making some fresh flower cakes to try.
Her goal wasn’t actually to sell the cakes.
Instead, she wanted to establish a reputation and make people come to her on their own to buy the recipe.
Of course, if a professional bought one of the flower cakes and tasted it, they would immediately know how it was made.
Lin Shu’s real goal was to keep control of the “ingredients.”
She would provide the “secret recipe,” while anyone who wanted to sell the cakes would have to continuously purchase the special ingredients from her.
Since Lin Shu had no connections or distribution channels, she naturally thought of her childhood friend, Cui Shu, who didn’t have much of a proper job.
Cui Shu’s father was a high-ranking official and had once served in the military. His family’s political background was extremely respectable.
But after growing up, Lin Shu realized that constantly seeking Cui Shu’s help might cause trouble for him and his family, so she had rarely kept in contact with him.
But now that her family’s lives might literally be at stake, surely Cui Shu wouldn’t refuse to help her this once, right?
Actually, Lin Shu had no idea whether he would.
After all, they hadn’t been in contact for six or seven years.
Lin Shu wasn’t particularly skilled at cooking, but she was very good at making flower cakes.
When she was little, she had learned the craft from her mother, who had inherited the recipe from Lin Shu’s maternal grandmother. Even though she hadn’t made them for many years, her hands still remembered what to do, and she quickly got the hang of it again.
Jiang Jie went out to buy breakfast and returned to find her sister-in-law busying herself in the kitchen.
Seeing her making flower jam, she immediately guessed that Lin Shu was planning to make flower cakes.
“Little sister, you’re in quite a good mood today. Are you making these for your husband?”
Lin Shu shook her head.
“Sister-in-law, we’re just making them for ourselves. I haven’t made them in a long time, so I wanted to give it a try today.”
Whether she was kneading the dough or cooking the jam, Lin Shu used spiritual spring water.
She even conducted a comparison experiment, testing whether there would be any difference in taste between using just a little spiritual spring water and using it for everything.
After breakfast, Lin Shu continued making the cakes.
An hour later, the fragrant aroma of freshly baked flower cakes drifted away on the breeze and made its way into the neighboring homes.
The fragrance was irresistible. The entire dining room and practically the whole first floor was filled with the sweet aroma of the flower cakes. Just smelling it was enough to make one’s mouth water.
When the fresh flower cakes came out of the oven, the first people Lin Shu gave them to taste were her sister-in-law and nephew.
She wanted the mother and son to give her some feedback.
The two had just taken their first bites when, before either of them could say anything, hurried knocking sounded at the front gate.
When they went outside to look, it was Auntie Li, a neighbor from the same street.
“Jiang Jie, what delicious thing are you making at home? The smell has drifted all the way into our courtyard!”
Neither Lin Shu nor Jiang Jie had time to respond before Auntie Li pulled five yuan from her pocket and held it out.
“I’d like to buy a few. Is that okay?”
The two exchanged a glance.
Jiang Jie was the first to react.
“Auntie, just take some and eat them. You don’t need to pay.”
But the older woman insisted on stuffing the money into her hand.
“My grandson has been sick for almost a month. Every day, he only takes a couple of bites before throwing up. He’s gotten so thin it’s heartbreaking. Just now, he smelled the cakes and said he wanted to eat some. That’s why I shamelessly came over to ask if I could buy a few from you. You have to let me have some, please!”
“Auntie, there’s no need to be so polite. I’ll go get them for you.”
Lin Shu reacted quickly and gave the older woman the entire plate of freshly baked cakes.
“Lin Shu! What are you doing?”
Whether Auntie Wang had deliberately been keeping an eye on their family or it was simply a coincidence, she happened to arrive just as one person was holding money and the other was holding cakes, seemingly about to make an exchange.
“You’re secretly buying and selling things?”
As soon as she got the cakes, Auntie Li shoved the money into Lin Shu’s hand.
“Sister Wang, you’re always making a fuss over nothing! I asked Jiang Jie to buy two pieces of meat for me at the market tomorrow. Am I sick in the head? I take care of my grandson all day long and I’m practically going crazy already. And now you’re putting a political label on me too? Wang Xiangqin, haven’t you had enough of arguing?”
“Lin Shu knew my little grandson has no appetite, so she made these cakes for him. I’m just taking some for him to eat, and you’re calling it private trading?”
Wang Xiangqin remembered how fierce Li Minhua could be.
Once, someone had accidentally bumped into her grandson, and she had made such a huge fuss that the child ended up sleeping at someone else’s doorstep for more than a month.
Wang Xiangqin’s aggressive attitude weakened slightly.
“Hey, who told you to make it look like you were doing something suspicious? You could’ve just explained it clearly.”
“Be more careful next time!”
She left reluctantly with her hands clasped behind her back.
The Lin family, being one of the so-called “Black Five Categories,” was one of her main targets.
If she could catch them with solid evidence, she might even earn recognition as an exemplary model.
Auntie Li looked apologetic.
“I’m sorry. I almost got your family into trouble.”
Lin Shu and Jiang Jie didn’t blame her.
After smelling the irresistible fragrance, the older woman thanked the sisters-in-law and happily left.
Lin Shu’s theory had been confirmed.
Even a single drop of spiritual spring water could cause a qualitative change in the flower cakes.
It had actually made the aroma so strong that neighbors several houses away could smell it.
Lin Xiaonan hadn’t had enough.
As his aunt, Lin Shu naturally had to fulfill her little nephew’s wish.
The mother and son hurried over to help. Jiang Jie especially wanted to learn the craft that had been passed down from her mother-in-law.
Lin Shu didn’t refuse.
There was still a little spiritual spring water left anyway.
That afternoon
“Sister-in-law, I’ll pack some of these up and go visit an old classmate. I’ll be back this afternoon.”
“Okay. Be careful when you’re out.”
Carrying some pastries, Lin Shu followed her memories and headed toward Central Street.
She wasn’t even sure whether she would be able to enter Cui Shu’s home.
There were armed police stationed at the entrance.
She waited until the afternoon, but still didn’t see him come out.
“Comrade, what are you holding? It smells so good!”
The sweet fragrance was so irresistible that the man had noticed it the moment he walked past.
“Flower cakes.”
“Flower cakes? Which department store did you buy them from? I’ve never seen them before.”
“I made them myself.”
Just as she was speaking, a familiar voice came from the entrance.
Her persistence had paid off.
She had finally waited for Cui Shu.
The usual carefree, unserious expression was gone from Cui Shu’s face.
He pulled her aside and whispered,
“I was just about to contact you. Your family has been put on the investigation team’s list.”