On her way home, Mu Simiao bought waterproof fabric according to the measurements she had calculated yesterday. Returning to the courtyard, she skillfully draped the fabric over the four wooden poles she had tied up the day before.
The hanging fabric completely covered the entire bed, not only providing good privacy but also preventing rainwater from falling onto the bed.
“Come try it?” Mu Simiao turned and waved to Liu Haoxuan, signaling him to test the sturdiness of the bed.
Liu Haoxuan didn’t hesitate. He walked to the bed and slowly sat down. The bedding spread on top had been sun-dried early that morning—soft and comfortable. His fingers stroked the bedding as his bright eyes gazed at Mu Simiao: “So soft, thank you, Mu Jiejie.”
“Don’t thank me—it’s your Qi-gege’s doing.” Although Mu Simiao had made the bed, the bed frame and bedding were indeed prepared by Qi Yuze.
Liu Haoxuan visibly paused. Though reluctant to thank Qi Yuze, he was, after all, the head of the household. He turned and reluctantly said to Qi Yuze, “Thank you for your trouble, brother.”
Qi Yuze accepted his thanks, carried the sleeping Yue’er into the inner room, then took the account book and walked to the cart to record the day’s expenses.
Mu Simiao went to the kitchen, picked up a pile of dried grass, and lit it with a flint.
“Mu Jiejie, let me tend the fire.”
Since it was just ordinary home-cooked dishes and not any secret recipe, Mu Simiao stuffed the dried grass into the stove and made room for him.
Cold cucumber salad, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and the simplest stir-fried greens—in less than half an hour, Mu Simiao had Liu Haoxuan carry out all three dishes.
The porridge cooking at the same time was already bubbling. Mu Simiao stirred some flour paste, poured it into the pot, then added two more handfuls of firewood. After it boiled a few more times, she took a ladle and served four bowls.
She left Yue’er’s bowl in the kitchen to cool and brought the other three to the courtyard.
Qi Yuze set down his brush, closed the account book, and sat beside Mu Simiao: “Mu Niang, I just calculated that after deducting costs, we don’t seem to be making much profit.”
“It’s fine.” Mu Simiao picked up a portion of greens for him. “We’re just starting out—we need to build our reputation first. When we rent a larger shop later, you’ll realize the costs are even higher.”
Hearing the first part, Qi Yuze thought she was comforting him, but he detected something else in her latter words.
Mu Simiao chuckled softly and looked at him: “It’s all part of the process—no need to worry.”
Liu Haoxuan was much quieter today. He kept his head down, occasionally picking up a bite of food, and sometimes glancing up to watch the interaction between the two.
After the meal, Mu Simiao wanted to use the excuse of checking the fish pond again, but Liu Haoxuan seemed to have noticed. Before she could speak, he said, “Jiejie, Qi-gege probably still needs to feed the little girl. If there’s anything you need help with, just tell me.”
Mu Simiao gave him a deep look, then forced a smile: “Alright.”
Her gaze was full of scrutiny. Liu Haoxuan instinctively lowered his head, his entire demeanor radiating guilt.
Washed dried sour jujubes were placed in cool water. Mu Simiao lowered her eyes, ignoring Liu Haoxuan’s wandering gaze, and signaled him to tend the fire. As the flames grew and the broth boiled, she added dried tangerine peel, goji berries, and rock sugar, then covered the pot.
“No need to keep the fire going, just let it simmer a while longer.” After speaking, Mu Simiao was the first to leave, though she didn’t go directly into the house. Instead, she pretended to close the door and hid, peeking through the crack toward the kitchen.
Upon hearing the door close, Liu Haoxuan lifted his eyelids to glance at the tiled house. After confirming that neither Mu Simiao nor Qi Yuze were in sight, he let out a sigh of relief, stood up, and walked over to the covered pot.
He lifted the lid, scooped out a spoonful into a bowl, swirled it a few times, and blew on it to cool the liquid before taking a sip.
Although the ingredients had just been added and hadn’t fully cooked through, there was still a faint taste. Liu Haoxuan immediately confirmed that this was indeed the correct recipe for Sour Jujube Drink.
As he recalled the ingredients needed for the preparation, he also felt that he had betrayed Mu Simiao’s trust—she hadn’t been guarding against him earlier.
Holding the bowl in his hand, he was wrestling with his thoughts when the door suddenly swung open. Startled, he quickly set the bowl aside, his face filled with panic: “Mu… Mu Jiejie…”
“I came to check how the soup is cooking? Sour Jujube Drink shouldn’t be boiled for too long, or it will turn bitter.” Mu Simiao pretended not to notice his actions. She picked up a nearby spoon, lifted the lid, stirred a couple of times, and checked the condition of the dried tangerine peel.
It hadn’t boiled to mush yet, indicating it was still acceptable.
Mu Simiao then glanced at the fire in the stove, removed one of the two pieces of firewood, and walked back into the house. This time, she didn’t sneak another look at Liu Haoxuan’s movements.
After feeding Yue’er and coaxing her to sleep, Qi Yuze looked up and noticed Mu Simiao’s troubled expression: “What’s wrong, Mu Niang?”
“Something’s off about him. Something must have happened at home.” Although Mu Simiao didn’t mention a name, there was no fourth person in the house, so he naturally knew whom she was referring to.
He felt a twinge of jealousy but still asked Mu Simiao, “How can you tell, Mu Niang?”
Mu Simiao walked slowly to the bedside, lowering her voice: “The recipe for Sour Jujube Drink is somewhat of a secret. That’s why I had you take him to the fields to see the fishpond that day—to keep him away. But just now, he kept watching me prepare the soup, and it seemed like he was deliberately memorizing the amounts of ingredients.”
Qi Yuze’s jealousy was instantly overshadowed by her words. Liu Haoxuan was clearly trying to steal the secret recipe. His expression turned alarmed: “Is that true?”
“I’m not entirely sure yet. We’ll have to wait for him to slip up to confirm his ultimate intentions.” Mu Simiao gently patted Yue’er’s back and then casually brushed her hand against Qi Yuze’s cheek. “After all, men and women shouldn’t be too familiar, and there are many inconveniences for me. Please keep a closer eye on his movements over the next couple of days.”
Even if Mu Simiao hadn’t said so, Qi Yuze would have paid attention. His cheeks gradually warmed as he glanced at her hand, then lowered his eyes and nodded.
After settling Yue’er, the two walked out of the room together. Liu Haoxuan had already left the kitchen and was standing in front of the chicken coop, holding half a handful of chicken feed.
Mu Simiao gave Qi Yuze a meaningful look, picked up some fish food, and headed outside: “I’m going to check on the fish in the field.”
Qi Yuze had been feeding the fish for the past few days, and algae had already grown on the water’s surface. Mu Simiao sat on the ground, pulled a handful of fish food from her pocket, and scattered it into the pond.
Several small fish surfaced, competing to eat the food she had thrown in, bite by bite.
The growth cycle for fingerlings was too long. As she scattered the fish food, Mu Simiao pondered the need to diversify their food offerings—relying solely on Liangmian was truly insufficient.
Following Liu Haoxuan’s actions, the secret recipe for the evening Liangmian sauce would surely be learned by him as well. Mu Simiao had to prepare countermeasures in advance. Moreover, with the temperature about to drop, the Liangmian business would inevitably decline once the weather turned colder.
The thought of falling temperatures immediately brought hotpot to Mu Simiao’s mind. Unfortunately, there were no chili peppers available here. Although Cornel provided a spicy sensation, it couldn’t be consumed in large quantities.
So she set aside the idea of hotpot and compromised—perhaps making Guandong Zhu would work. Selling small portions in large quantities was also a good strategy. As for meatballs, she could mince the meat into paste and mix it with ingredients like radish strips to reduce costs.