Her eyes lit up, and with a graceful smile, she greeted, “Was the young lady drawn here by the aroma of our desserts? What a coincidence. A new item just came out of the oven today, and since you are the very first to come across it, allow me to gift you a taste.”
Seeing how passionately hospitable the shop owner, Little Lady Xue, was—smiling at her with two sweet dimples framing her mouth and a lively, spirited air suffusing her features, not the least bit deterred by Qi Yue’s own cold expression—and watching her generously take out a small pottery jar of dessert and offer it to her, Qi Yue was momentarily stunned.
Seeing that she didn’t immediately reach out to take it, Xue Li blinked, suddenly leaned in a few inches closer, and asked with concern, “Why is your face so dreadfully pale, miss? Could it be that you’re feeling unwell?”
Looking at the bright and beautiful face so close at hand, Qi Yue’s ears grew hot. She quickly turned her head away. “I didn’t come to your shop to eat desserts, I’m looking for sour apricot preserves to help with digestion!”
“Oh, I see,” Xue Li smiled cheerfully, playing along. “It seems that packet of hawthorn cakes from earlier wasn’t quite enough to aid your digestion.”
Startled, Qi Yue looked somewhat bashful. “Y-you saw all that?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” Xue Li said openly. “You have such bright teeth, red lips, and a face as beautiful as a flower and the moon. It would be hard for me not to notice, even if I tried.”
As if these words had struck a nerve, Qi Yue’s nose tingled, and tears fell with a pat onto the celadon plate on the counter, shattering like broken jade. “But someone clearly thinks I’m ugly…”
A perfectly fine young lady had suddenly burst into tears, crying a river.
Xue Li and Jiang Xiyu exchanged dismayed glances.
“What should we do?” Jiang Xiyu scratched her head and ears in distress. “I don’t know how to comfort people!”
“Don’t panic, I’ve got this!” Xue Li patted her chest, stepping up to the plate, and simply pulled Qi Yue inside the shop to sit down.
After the two of them properly consoled her for a while, they finally got a rough idea of the reason for her heartbreak.
“Who does that Fifth Young Master think he is!” Upon hearing the story, Jiang Xiyu slammed the table in indignation, making the porcelain bowls and tea sets rattle loudly. It frightened Qi Yue, who had been happily eating her Scorched Jade Cheese Cake, causing her to cover her mouth and let out a sudden hiccup.
Xue Li nodded calmly, “If this Fifth Young Master were a true gentleman, he wouldn’t be making disparaging remarks about Little Sister Qi’s physical appearance.”
“Plus, he toyed with your sincere feelings!” Jiang Xiyu fumed. “Any girl who marries a man like that would be cursed with eight lifetimes of bad luck. Little Sister Qi, do your parents know about this? You absolutely cannot swallow this grievance for nothing. We must teach that Fifth Young Master a lesson he won’t forget!”
Because her older brother was well-known, it had been inconvenient for Qi Yue to reveal her family background earlier, so she had just used Deng Qiao’s family ranking to substitute his name. Seeing these two complete strangers stand up for her with such righteous indignation, she couldn’t help but feel a surge of warmth in her heart.
“Actually, my older brother warned me from the very beginning. He said the Fifth Young Master’s father was crooked, and if I got together with him, I would inevitably suffer in the future,” she said softly, lowering her head. “But… but I just couldn’t listen.”
And wasn’t that the truth? As soon as he noticed the budding romance, Qi Xun had warned her that the Minister of Revenue was suspected of embezzling military funds, formed self-serving cliques, and repeatedly opposed him in the imperial court. His son, Deng Qiao, had to be guarded against. But she had been so infatuated with the man at the time that she treated his warnings like wind blowing past her ears.
Thank goodness, I escaped before it was too late… Qi Yue consoled herself with lingering dread.
“Your brother is right; a bad bamboo yields bad shoots. You really cannot associate with that kind of person. Fortunately, you’ve seen his true colors now, so it isn’t too late,” Xue Li praised.
Qi Yue offered her a grateful smile, lowered her head, and scooped up another spoonful of Scorched Jade Cheese Cake, popping it into her mouth.
The cake was warm and soft. As it rested in her mouth, a rich, caramel-like fragrance spread first. Almost as soon as it touched the tip of her tongue, the milky aroma and honeyed sweetness of the molten center filled her mouth—dense, silky smooth, and sweet without being cloying.
The acidic feeling in her stomach was swept away, replaced by a wave of warmth. Yet, for some reason, her eyes reddened again.
Seeing the corners of her eyes gradually tinged with pink, Jiang Xiyu couldn’t help but grow anxious again. “Why are you crying again? Could it be that this Scorched Jade Cheese Cake isn’t to your taste? It can’t be, right?”
She herself thought it was out of this world when she ate it!
“No, no…” Qi Yue took a deep breath, her voice slightly hoarse. “It’s precisely because it tastes so wonderful that I can’t help but feel sentimental.”
“There’s delicious food to be had every single day.” Xue Li’s eyes curved into a smile as she placed her hand gently over Qi Yue’s. “If you like it, I’ll save a portion for you tomorrow too.”
Qi Yue, however, still shook her head, saying aggrievedly, “The pastry is sweet and fragrant, but eating too much will make you gain weight. If I want a willow waist too, I can only eat less.”
“Little Sister Qi, how could you still be taking that heartbreaker’s words to heart?” Jiang Xiyu sighed, exasperated at her failure to make good. She pointed outside the shop. “Do you see Third Lady Jin sitting in front of the meat and vegetarian eatery across the street? Her waist is as thin as a willow branch. But did you know, she once starved herself so severely to please her sweetheart that she passed out cold at her own wedding banquet? And the result? Yes, her sweetheart became her husband, but he spends his days staring at the plump courtesans in the pleasure districts, unwilling to spare her even a glance. To torture your own body like that for a fickle, unfaithful man—what’s the point?”
“But… I see that most noble ladies in Bianjing are like this.” Qi Yue was somewhat shaken by her words, a thin layer of tears coating her eyes. “You don’t know; to keep a slender figure, they bind their waists tightly every day. If they eat even one extra bite of rich food, they urge their personal maids to help them throw it up.”
Jiang Xiyu was stunned, unable to stop herself from gasping. “There are actually people so cruel to themselves?”
Qi Yue nodded, mumbling softly. Hadn’t she tried it too? She just hadn’t been able to stick with it in the end, that’s all. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have had to hear Deng Qiao’s cold, sarcastic remarks.
Listening to this, Xue Li couldn’t help but frown, a complex emotion rising in her eyes. In her previous life, she had done the exact same extreme things to maintain her figure. The result was obvious: it was terribly detrimental to her health.
Otherwise, why would she have ended up here?
Wait!
Maybe the heavens letting her run into Little Sister Qi was giving her a perfect opportunity to save the past version of herself?
Thinking of this, Xue Li sighed. She reached out and gently dabbed away the drying tears on Qi Yue’s cheeks with her handkerchief, her tone gentle: “If you want to be thinner for your own sake, that’s fine. But if you’re tormenting your body like this just because of a few words from someone else, then it isn’t worth it.”
“Maybe… I just feel a bit resentful.” Qi Yue lowered her eyes, listlessly gripping the porcelain spoon in her hand.
“If you’re resentful, then you shouldn’t mistreat yourself even more,” Xue Li looked at her, her tone firm. “Since the world always loves to judge a woman’s body, then it should be up to women themselves to decide whether to be plump or thin, rather than letting irrelevant people point fingers.”
As she spoke, she naturally took the spoon from Qi Yue’s hand, scooped up a large spoonful of the creamy cake from the clay jar, and lightly waved it at her.
“Just like this Scorched Jade Cheese Cake.” Xue Li brought the spoon to Qi Yue’s lips. “Some people might find it too sweet and rich, turning their noses up at it. Others find it sweet and delicious, gladly eating it even if it means gaining weight. Food has its own flavor, and its true value lies in that original taste. Forcing someone else to eat it would only ruin the experience. It’s better to let everyone follow their own preferences—why force it?”
Qi Yue stared blankly at Xue Li, her red lips parting slightly.
For a brief moment, she suddenly felt that although the young woman in front of her was young, she possessed a clarity and insight that far surpassed ordinary commoners. They didn’t even look that far apart in age!
“I really never expected that even though you’re barely older than me, you could be so perceptive.” Qi Yue’s face flushed slightly. The conflicted and embarrassing emotions she had felt just moments ago suddenly seemed too shameful to bring up.
She lowered her eyes to the spoonful of cheese cake Xue Li offered. After a moment’s hesitation, she finally took a bite. The sweet flavor rippled between her lips and teeth, and the redness at the corners of her eyes gradually faded along with it.
After a moment of silence, Qi Yue suddenly pulled out a heavy purse from her sleeve and slammed it onto the table. Having made up her mind, she declared solemnly, “I want to pay for a monthly meal plan here.”
“A monthly meal plan?” Jiang Xiyu didn’t understand. “Is your family keeping you short on food?”
Qi Yue seemed a little embarrassed, murmuring, “Not exactly, it’s just… I talked tough to my brother… I said I was going on a hunger strike…”
Jiang Xiyu blanked for a moment, then burst into laughter. “Good for you, Little Sister Qi! Turns out you actually have quite a bit of backbone!”
“If you want a monthly plan, you don’t need to pay this much silver.” Xue Li pushed the purse back toward her hand, smiling. “Our Treasure Delicacies Shop currently only serves breakfast, medicinal meals, and desserts. If you want a monthly plan, you can only eat the same three meals as Xiyu and me. It’ll just be a few home-cooked dishes, it won’t cost this much.”
But Qi Yue hurriedly stopped her. “It’s fine, it’s fine, money isn’t an issue. I’m the one intruding on you. Besides, your culinary skills are so good. If you think I’ve given too much, just buy more delicious ingredients to cook with. Treat it as upgrading the meals for the three of us.”
Seeing her insist like this, and clearly not looking like a girl from a poor family, Xue Li didn’t decline any further. She smiled, “Alright, then we’ll settle it by the month. Just come over every day.”
After Qi Yue ate and drank her fill and left the shop, Jiang Xiyu watched her receding figure and chuckled secretly. “What an interesting young lady. She has a bit of pride, but she’s just a bit too naive. Who throws money around this generously?”
“There’s no need to worry about her.” The corners of Xue Li’s mouth lifted slightly. “Did you see the clothes she was wearing just now? Peacock-patterned damask. She must be a lady from a wealthy and prominent family; she doesn’t need to fret over money.”
“Pea… the peacock-patterned damask that costs fifteen hundred wen for a single bolt?” Jiang Xiyu clicked her tongue in shock. Then, as if realizing something, she teased, “A’li, don’t tell me you noticed Little Sister Qi’s expensive clothes from the start and that’s why you invited her in to sit down?”
Xue Li gave her a sideways glance, raising an eyebrow slightly. “Shouldn’t someone doing business have a sharp eye?”
She paused, adding with gratification, “Besides, we did a good deed here. We not only comforted a heartbroken Little Sister Qi, but we also freed a girl from the worldly constraints placed upon her physical form.”
For the next few days, at every mealtime, Qi Yue arrived right on time.
[Author’s Note]
“Thank goodness, I escaped before it was too late…” (猶可說也) is derived from the poem “The Meng” in the Odes of Wei from the Book of Songs.