“Do you want to try some?” Little Doudou raised her tiny head and looked at Lin Youyou as she asked.
“No. I’m not into self-torture,” Lin Youyou refused decisively.
The three members of the Jiang group following behind them all wore amused smiles on their faces. Their young miss had always behaved like a proper little lady in front of their master. It couldn’t be said that she was unhappy—after all, the master truly spoiled her like a treasure held in the palm of his hand.
Still, men and women were different. The playful way these two interacted now was something that would absolutely never happen between the master and the little miss.
Although their young miss could also be mischievous around the master, she had never been this lively and carefree. Jiang San couldn’t quite describe the feeling, but it was simply different.
Little Doudou pouted in disappointment and handed the grilled meat in her hand to Jiang San. “Take this. If we see a beggar later, give it to them.”
“Alright.” Jiang San nodded, not thinking there was anything wrong with that.
Even if it didn’t taste good, to beggars who couldn’t even afford steamed buns, meat—especially roasted meat—was still something valuable. Better than wasting it.
The two continued walking forward. Having learned from the earlier lesson, Little Doudou now widened her eyes carefully whenever she looked at food stalls. She examined whether the food looked good and whether it smelled nice before buying one portion to try. If it tasted bad, she wouldn’t buy more. If it was good, she’d buy two more portions.
Lin Youyou and the others followed behind her, watching her choose food on her own. Lin Youyou herself wasn’t very hungry, only buying the occasional snack that caught her interest.
After strolling around for a while, Lin Youyou asked, “Are you full? Should we head back now?”
“Let’s go back.” The little girl looked rather dispirited. This place was nothing like she had imagined, and the food wasn’t very tasty either.
Seeing her like this, Lin Youyou asked, “Didn’t you want to go shopping? Why are you still unhappy?”
That question seemed to open the floodgates for the little girl’s frustration. She kicked at the pebbles on the ground and rubbed her belly, her voice filled with grievance.
“I’m full, but it also feels like I’m not full. My tummy says it’s stuffed, but I still feel empty inside. It feels like it’s not satisfied.”
“Pfft—”
This time Lin Youyou truly couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter.
“Haha…”
“Big Sister, what are you laughing at?” Little Doudou protested.
“I know what the problem is now. Come on, let’s go back. I’ll make you something delicious.”
“Let’s go then! What are we waiting for?” Little Doudou immediately brightened up and grabbed Lin Youyou’s hand as they ran back together.
She knew Lin Youyou made amazing grilled meat, but she hadn’t tasted any of her other dishes yet. Today she was definitely going to try them.
Sure enough, having money made things easy. The moment Jiang San took out a silver note, the innkeeper immediately led the kitchen staff out of the kitchen, leaving Jiang San and Jiang Wu behind to help.
Lin Youyou looked around at the kitchen ingredients and instantly got an idea. There were tomatoes, and even fresh raw milk. Perfect.
The moment Little Doudou saw Lin Youyou pick up the bucket of fresh milk, she quickly said, “Big Sister Lin, raw milk tastes awful. It’s really nasty. I’ve tried it before.”
“Really? Then today I’ll let you try something different—something that’ll make you want more after one sip.” Lin Youyou didn’t stop because of her words. Instead, she smiled lightly and got to work.
She found some tea leaves while Jiang San acted as the fire tender. She heated the dry pot, poured in the milk, boiled it, then removed it. Next came sugar and tea leaves into the pot as she began stir-frying the tea.
Before long, the kitchen filled with a sweet tea fragrance. Once the sugar melted and the tea leaves turned a caramel color, she poured the boiled milk back into the pot.
Sizzle—
The pure white milk slowly darkened, while the air filled with the rich aroma of milk blended with sweet tea.
Little Doudou could no longer sit still. She hurried over and leaned against the stove, her sparkling eyes full of curiosity as she stared into the pot.
“Big Sister Lin, what is this? It smells so good! I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“It’s not done yet. This is called milk tea. It’s made from milk and tea leaves. You need the right proportions and heat control to make it smooth and tasty instead of bitter.
“We don’t have ice here, otherwise we could drink it iced or chilled. And we don’t have enough ingredients to make different flavors, but even the simplest version tastes wonderful.
“Wait a little longer and try it later. I guarantee you’ll love it.”
Lin Youyou watched the milk tea bubbling in the pot. It just needed to simmer a little longer before it could be poured out to steep.
Then she took a chicken, chopped off the legs, removed the skin, cut the meat into chunks, marinated half of it, and minced the other half. Soon the kitchen was filled with rhythmic chopping sounds.
As she worked, she said, “Jiang San, pour it out now. Cover it right away and let it steep a bit longer.”
“Alright.” Jiang San nodded and got busy. After pouring out all the milk tea, he even washed the pot clean.
Once finished, Lin Youyou began making ketchup from the tomatoes. After that, she casually prepared a simple bowl of shredded chicken noodles.
She had made quite a large amount, so she told Jiang San, “I made extra portions. Leave some in the kitchen and split it among yourselves. As for the noodles, there are too many people, so you’ll have to cook those yourselves.”
“Alright, thank you, Miss Lin.” Jiang San was practically grinning from ear to ear. The grilled meat Miss Lin had made at noon had already left them drooling, and now they were unexpectedly getting to taste even more of her cooking. Just from the appearance alone, he knew it had to be delicious.
After having some food delivered to Madam Xu’s room, Lin Youyou finally sat down at the table in the hall and said to the bright-eyed Little Doudou, who had been eagerly waiting to eat together with her:
“Alright, let’s eat too. It won’t taste as good once it gets cold.”
“Okay!” The moment she heard that, Little Doudou impatiently picked up the bowl of milk tea she had been craving and took a huge sip.
The rich milk aroma and tea fragrance blended together perfectly—smooth, creamy, sweet, with a slight refreshing note from the tea. After just one sip, Little Doudou completely fell in love with it. Her already large, bright eyes instantly lit up even more.
“I swear, this is the best thing I’ve ever tasted! It’s so delicious! My absolute favorite!”
“Milk tea is too sweet, so you can’t drink too much. Just this one bowl today. If you want more, I’ll make it for you another time.”
“Oh…” Little Doudou looked a little disappointed, but she could still accept it. After all, this had instantly become the number one thing in her heart.
Thinking of that, she immediately perked up again.
“I hereby announce that milk tea is now the love of my life!”
“Haha…” Lin Youyou burst into laughter again. “Your standards for true love are way too simple, aren’t they? How many delicious things have you even tried? How do you know I can’t make even tastier food? Want to try the other dishes too?”
“Yes, yes, yes!” Little Doudou nearly jumped with excitement. “You can make even more delicious things?”
“Mhm. Eat first.” Lin Youyou smiled as she picked up a piece of fried chicken, dipped it in ketchup, and popped it into her mouth. Then she grabbed a piece of popcorn chicken. A crispy crunch sounded in her mouth.
Mm. It still tasted pretty good, but without breadcrumbs, the popcorn chicken felt like it was missing its soul. Still, it was acceptable enough.