Hearing this suddenly, Qi Yue, whose cheeks were stuffed full of food, choked violently: “Cough, cough…”
“Eat slowly, no one is fighting you for it.” Xue Li didn’t understand the reason and just assumed she had eaten too fast, raising her hand to gently pat her back.
Jiang Xiyu was quick-handed and handed over a handkerchief.
Qi Yue frowned as she took it, wiped her mouth clean, and after hesitating for a moment, finally voiced weakly, “I’ve heard that the Marquis of Ningwu doesn’t have a very good temper. With A’li’s culinary skills, if he catches her and refuses to let her go, wouldn’t she suffer grievances? …If you really run into people from the Marquis’s estate, you must remember, it’s best to avoid them!”
“Aiya, are the people from the Marquis of Ningwu’s estate the kind that ordinary commoners like us can just casually run into?” Jiang Xiyu’s gaze was fixed straight on the last piece of meat on the belly of the Osmanthus Honey Roasted Quail. She licked the corners of her lips. “It’s not as tangible as this plate of roasted quail.”
Saying so, she happily reached out her chopsticks to grab that piece of meat, but unexpectedly, Qi Yue’s reaction was faster. With a deft twist of her wrist, she intercepted her food.
Jiang Xiyu glared: “You!”
Qi Yue took a bite, raised her eyebrows slightly, swallowed it contentedly, and said with a beaming smile, “Many thanks for yielding, Xiyu.”
Jiang Xiyu was so angry she raised her chopsticks to snatch it back. Xue Li couldn’t help but laugh, and transferred a few pieces of the remaining meat from her own bowl into both of theirs. “Alright, alright, neither of you are allowed to fuss anymore. Split the rest fifty-fifty.”
During this meal, all three ate to their heart’s content. By the end, they hadn’t wasted even a drop of the honey glaze under the quail skeleton, each adding two more bowls of rice just to mix with it and eat.
The next day, the morning mist had not yet dispersed, shrouding the alleys and enveloping the signboard of the Treasure Delicacies Shop.
Xue Li woke up bright and early, planning to prepare the filling for the Cloud Flaky Buns. She lifted the door curtain and stepped into the kitchen. Just as she set foot inside, she let out a yawn, moist tears from a lack of sleep still hanging at the corners of her eyes.
The Osmanthus Honey Roasted Quail they ate yesterday was truly delicious. Not only did the three of them pick the meat completely clean, but they also wolfed down two large bowls of brown rice with the osmanthus honey glaze. Shortly after stuffing themselves, they fell into a food coma and slept incredibly soundly through the night.
Even upon waking up this morning, she still felt the rich, sweet fragrance of osmanthus faintly lingering between her lips and teeth!
Xue Li was still relishing the meaty aroma of the roasted quail in her heart. However, upon entering the room, she was met with an astonishing sight.
The bamboo basket usually kept on the kitchen shelf to hold vegetables had somehow been knocked over onto the floor. The fresh vegetables inside were long gone, leaving only a few rotten, bug-eaten leaves scattered sparsely about, as if intentionally discarded by someone.
This was clearly a case of someone picking out all the good vegetables and leaving the rotten leaves for her to clean up!
Seeing the scene before her, Xue Li sobered up instantly.
Her kitchen had been robbed; how could a chef still be sleepy?
“Yawn— A’li, what are we eating this morn…” Jiang Xiyu swayed in from the back, letting out a long yawn as well. With a casual glance, her half-drooping eyelids suddenly snapped open. “Hey! Which little monkey dared to snatch this old lady’s vegetable basket!”
Xue Li leaned against the doorframe, resting her forehead in one hand. “Xiyu, I think we really need to buy a guard dog to watch the yard.”
Jiang Xiyu was still furious, immediately bristling with anger. “Preposterous! In the past, only I, Jiang Xiyu, had the right to steal other people’s things. Now, the tables have actually turned? No, no, no, today I must ferret out this little thief!”
Just as she was cursing, a muffled thud of a heavy object hitting the ground suddenly came from the courtyard, like someone falling. Listening closely, it seemed there was also a voice muttering: “…Hurry up and climb over! They’re coming, put some muscle into it!”
Xue Li and Jiang Xiyu exchanged a glance, instantly knowing what was going on.
The childish voices—wasn’t it the beggars who had received Madam Lu’s favors a couple of days ago?
Jiang Xiyu’s eyebrows slanted fiercely; she rolled up her sleeves and raised her foot, ready to rush out and catch them.
“Wait! Xiyu, let’s wait and see first.” Xue Li hastily grabbed her sleeve, glanced outside, and lowered her voice. “Let’s trail behind those little brats and see exactly where they’re going.”
Jiang Xiyu nodded forcefully in indignation: “Right, we’ll catch them red-handed with the stolen goods!”
The two waited until the group of little rascals climbed over the wall before quietly following them. Along the way, they weaved through alleys and crossed streets, even crawling through a dog hole once, resulting in grass and leaves clinging to their clothes and their hair buns coming loose.
Jiang Xiyu spat out a couple of grass roots from the corner of her mouth and muttered through gritted teeth, “Are these little runts playing tricks on us?”
Xue Li looked up, saw the scene before her, and reached out to gently tug at her sleeve. “Hey, Xiyu, look.”
“What is it?” Jiang Xiyu poked her head out to look.
She saw the three little beggars slip into a dilapidated courtyard. In the middle of the yard, an old woman with a head full of silver hair sat upright in a rattan chair. Hearing footsteps, she tilted her head slightly, but her eyes were dull and cloudy gray.
Upon seeing her, the beggars crowded forward, pulling out several flatbreads from the large sleeves of their tattered robes, along with the fresh vegetables they had stolen from their kitchen, and handed them all to the old woman.
“I knew they stole them.” Jiang Xiyu ground her teeth, rolled up her sleeves, and prepared for a big fight.
This time, however, her arm was once again smacked down by Xue Li. “That old granny seems to be blind. Although they stole our vegetables, it looks like it was to help provide for this old woman.”
Jiang Xiyu looked closely and saw that the old woman’s eyes were indeed a cloudy, lifeless gray. Only when she accepted the food handed by the beggars did a kind smile appear on her face.
“These little runts actually have some conscience. If they hadn’t helped Madam Lu cause trouble for us earlier, I would have praised them for respecting their elders.” Jiang Xiyu frowned as she watched from the side, muttering in a low voice. “But now… what do we do? Even though they did a good deed, the matter of them sabotaging us isn’t over yet.”
She had originally thought that after stealing the food, the beggars would go to Madam Lu to ask for a reward. She didn’t expect them to come here; this made things difficult to handle.
Xue Li pursed her lips in thought, her eyes shifting. A moment later, she gave Jiang Xiyu a sly wink. “I have an idea.”
In the desolate courtyard, although the house was dilapidated and run-down, the front yard was lively.
“Granny, we brought you scallion oil flatbreads again today!”
“And green vegetables, they’re so fresh!”
“Open your mouth, Granny, I’ll feed you a taste.”
The three ragged beggars sat around the old woman, affectionately calling her “Granny” with every breath. One of the young girls carefully tore the flatbread in her hand into small pieces and gingerly offered it to the old woman’s lips.
As soon as Xue Li reached the courtyard gate, she caught a whiff of the scallion oil aroma.
On West Street, only the flatbreads sold by Madam Lu’s shop had this exclusively secreted fried scallion oil added. Earlier, standing far away, she saw them but couldn’t be completely sure the flatbreads were from Madam Lu’s hands. Now, smelling the scallion oil fragrance, she knew she couldn’t be wrong.
Madam Lu, oh Madam Lu. She had originally thought that once the beggars got the flatbreads, they would have long since wolfed them down until nothing was left. She hadn’t expected these children to save the bread, just so this blind old woman could have a taste.
With both witnesses and material evidence present, she had really kicked an iron plate this time.
“Ci’er, where did you little children get the money to buy these green vegetables and flatbreads, and even deliver them to me for several days in a row?” Although the old woman was blind, her mind was clear. These children begged for a living every day, and sometimes even she had to help them out with a little rice porridge. How could they suddenly have no worries about rations and turn around to take care of her instead?
The little boy called Ci’er was stunned for a moment, then stammered, “I, Mo’er, and Dougu have been helping out at the Lu Family Flatbread Shop on West Street recently. Not only does Madam Lu give us wages, she also provides our meals. This scallion oil flatbread is the meal she provided. Try it, Granny, isn’t it incredibly delicious?”
Hearing him say this, although the old woman still had some doubts in her heart, they were replaced by sorrow upon hearing his last sentence. What pitiful children. At such a young age, having never eaten a few full meals, they actually found a mere scallion oil flatbread to be the ultimate delicacy.
The old woman lifted her sleeve and quietly wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes. “Granny is old, my teeth have long been unable to chew bread. It’s you little children who are growing and need to eat more.”
“If Granny cannot chew this flatbread, wouldn’t it be quite nice to boil a bowl of porridge and soak it until it’s soft to eat?” A clear and beautiful female voice suddenly drifted over, as warm as the spring breeze.
The little girl, Dougu, clutching the flatbread, looked up towards the voice. The half-crooked reed mat awning over the gate leaked strands of spring sunlight, perfectly illuminating the person arriving.
That older sister was around the age of sixteen. Her black hair was loosely tied in a drooping bun, and a few strands of dark hair casually fell by her slender white neck, making her look like a fairy descending from the silver palaces of the immortal realm. Although the light cyan cross-collar blouse looked like it had been washed many times, those lively, fox-like eyes quickly drew one’s gaze away from her clothes. It truly made one unable to resist immersing themselves in those eyes—as clear as a mountain spring and even brighter than the wild peach blossoms outside the eaves.
For a moment, Dougu was so enchanted that she forgot to tear the flatbread in her hand, almost letting it slip to the ground.
“Dougu, Dougu! The bread is going to fall!” Mo’er, catching sight of the flatbread dangerously close to slipping from her palm, hurriedly raised his hand to catch it and scolded.
“You, you…” Ci’er’s eyes widened. Staring at Xue Li, who was swaggering into the courtyard, he instantly shot up like a startled sparrow in a disturbed nest, facing a formidable enemy.
Xue Li didn’t avoid his surprised gaze at all; instead, she playfully winked at him.
That seemingly mischievous glance swept across Ci’er’s face, scaring him so much that his spine stiffened as if struck by lightning.
“Ci’er, who is it?” The old woman, unable to see, only slightly turned her face towards the direction of Xue Li’s voice.
“It’s a very beautiful older sister!” Dougu looked at Xue Li with sparkling eyes.
“Shh! Don’t talk!” Mo’er hurriedly covered Dougu’s mouth, staring warily at Xue Li and Jiang Xiyu.
Xue Li walked up to Ci’er, leaned down, and smiled. “Little gentleman, will you tell her, or should I?”
Ci’er slowly lowered his head, his lips pressed tightly together. His throat bobbed a few times as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately he just took several deep breaths, never mustering the courage to speak.
“Does the young lady know these children of mine?” The old woman, sensing his unusual silence, was the first to ask. Her voice was clouded but exuded peacefulness.
“I know them, of course I know them,” Xue Li replied briskly, adding with profound meaning, “And… it’s not as simple as just knowing them.”
These words were spoken so cleanly and openly, without a hint of sarcasm, yet to Ci’er’s ears, they tasted completely different.
He suddenly lifted his head, almost instinctively throwing his body across to resolutely block the old woman and the two little beggars, separating them from Xue Li.
“I-I don’t know you! I am… Granny, she…” He opened his mouth, his face gradually flushing bright red. His hands clenched into tight fists, and after hesitating a few times, he finally lowered his head in shame, leaving his sentence unfinished.
Next to him, Dougu broke free from the palm Mo’er had clamped over her mouth. With her dark eyes shining, she cried out, “Dougu remembers now! Isn’t she the one from whom we took—mph!”
Mo’er’s face flushed with embarrassment, and he hurriedly covered Dougu’s mouth again. This time, he simply used both hands, covering it even more tightly.
“Ci’er?” The old woman groped forward in confusion, her brows slightly knitted.
Xue Li cast her eyes down at the boy’s bowed, messy head and his slightly trembling arms. Then, she raised her head, smiled at the old woman, and said gently, “Granny might not know this, but the seasonal vegetables they brought back today were actually given by me for them to deliver.”
As soon as the words fell, Ci’er abruptly raised his head, staring at Xue Li in disbelief.
“I run a food shop on West Street. A few days ago, I saw these children on the street, thin as rakes, looking truly pitiful, so I invited them into my shop to eat and fill their stomachs. Only after asking did I find out that although they had flatbreads on them, they couldn’t bear to eat them all, saying they wanted to save them for an old granny who has always taken care of them. Hearing this, my heart was deeply moved with admiration, and I thought I should also do my small part. That’s why I asked them to bring some vegetables over.”
Xue Li’s smile remained unchanged. Her explanation was seamless and completely logical.
Ci’er stared blankly at her, his earlobes slightly red, his lips parted slightly, as if he didn’t know what to say.
“So that’s how it is.” The old woman relaxed her brows and said gratefully, “With such a kind heart from the young lady, this old woman is truly ashamed. These eyes of mine cannot see, and my legs are not agile. I originally thought I could protect these children, but I didn’t expect that I’d end up dragging them down instead…”
“Granny, you’re not allowed to say that!” Ci’er furrowed his brows. “You are the person who treats the three of us the best in this whole world.”
Xue Li smiled faintly and said slowly, “Granny is too serious. If it weren’t for your careful care, I’m afraid what I would have seen on the street wouldn’t have been three sallow and emaciated children, but three skeletons.”
Hearing this, Mo’er couldn’t help but burst into laughter, though he still didn’t forget to keep his hands clamped tightly over Dougu’s mouth. This angered Dougu so much that she could only protest with muffled whimpers against his palm.