“Brilliant! So perfect for your first try.”

Ye Li supported Jiang Ji’s shoulder, tiptoeing to kiss him.

Though flattered, Jiang Ji showed no sign of it.

He lowered his head and gave Ye Li a quick peck on the lips.

The kiss was over before it began. Ye Li took a step back and pointed at the bamboo basket. “I bought three pounds of hind leg meat and four marrow bones. You chop the meat for the filling while I stew the bones.”

Jiang Ji’s gaze shifted to the basket.

It was packed full, with several oil-paper parcels on top. He couldn’t see what lay beneath.

But he hadn’t expected Ye Li to buy marrow bones too.

This meant the meat alone would cost nearly a hundred wen.

But it was already bought.

He wasn’t like Xiao Mai or Ya-ger, too young to offer any return for the kindness shown to him.

He now possessed the ability to repay.

From now on, anything less than giving one hundred percent effort to his studies would be a disservice to this meat.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Jiang Ji followed Ye Li’s instructions, grabbing the cleaver and chopping the filling with a steady rhythm.

Ye Li blanched the large bones, then shoved a thick log into the stove to slowly simmer them.

By now, Jiang Ji had finished mincing the meat and finely chopped the chives, ready to mix the filling.

To get the buns ready sooner, he had Jiang Ji knead the dough before mixing the filling.

Before heading to the county town, he had already prepared the dough. With the warm weather, it had fermented perfectly after just two or three hours.

Unfortunately, the household didn’t have much white flour, and he still needed to fry pastries that afternoon. So, he mixed in a generous amount of cornmeal as usual.

The dough now had an orange-yellow hue.

Jiang Ji had never kneaded dough before, but growing up on a farm, he’d witnessed the process countless times. Without Ye Li’s guidance, he took to it with ease.

Seeing him knead with such skill, Ye Li began preparing the filling.

The scallions were strong and fresh; using them as filling required minimal seasoning.

The pork needed deodorizing. Since they had no cooking wine, and Ye Li didn’t use it much anyway, he added just a splash of yellow rice wine, plus some soy sauce, salt, and sesame oil.

That finished the filling.

Once Jiang Ji finished kneading the dough, Ye Li took over. Rolling out wrappers required skill; he handled that while Jiang Ji focused on filling and sealing the buns.

The couple worked together efficiently. By the time Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya returned with the pig grass, the first batch of buns was already steaming in the pot.

The two little ones were thrilled. Jiang Ya even washed his hands, eager to sit down and help.

Ye Li smiled and said, “Sure, mark the ones you make. Once they’re steamed, you can eat those.”

“Brother Li will eat too,” Jiang Ya blurted out instinctively.

This made Ye Li want to pinch his little cheeks. “Alright, alright! Then make sure to make extra. Later, I’ll only eat the ones you made!”

“Mm!” Jiang Ya’s little face turned serious.

He absolutely had to make extra, so Brother Li wouldn’t go hungry.

He sat down on the small stool, grabbing a dumpling wrapper larger than his hand. With his other hand, he scooped filling onto the wrapper.

“Ya-ger, put it on the cutting board to wrap.”

Seeing his little hands struggling to hold it, Jiang Ji pointed to the cutting board.

“Okay.” Jiang Ya replied softly.

The filling before him was raw, yet it smelled so delicious. If he spilled any on the floor, he’d surely feel heartbroken!

He cradled the wrapper in his small hands and moved it to the cutting board.

Though it was his first time making buns and he didn’t know how to pinch pleats, he had his own approach.

Like tying a bundle, he gathered the wrapper toward the center. Then, with a firm squeeze of his small hand, he pressed the top of the wrapper tightly closed. And just like that, a bun was born.

However, this left the top layer of dough excessively thick and heavy.

He furrowed his little brow in thought, then flattened the thick portion into a wrapper using the palm of his hand.

He grabbed a spoon and began scooping filling onto the small wrapper.

Ye Li watched, amused: “Ya-ger is so clever—he made a gourd-shaped bun!”

Jiang Ya had been carefully sealing the edges, but his praise made him blush.

Truthfully, the bun was a bit ugly, all lopsided and misshapen…

So ugly, in fact, that he’d already decided to eat it himself later.

“Brother Li, I’ll make you a pretty one to eat,” he said, tilting his little face up to look at Ye Li.

“Okay, I’ll be waiting.”

Ye Li couldn’t resist gently poking his little nose.

This little guy actually had quite nice features. Plus, with the extra nourishment lately, his cheeks had filled out a bit compared to before.

Now, seeing this little person earnestly promise to make him a pretty one, Ye Li would have loved to cup his cheeks and plant a few kisses if his hands weren’t covered in flour.

Jiang Ji watched the scene, a faint smile curving his lips.

Soon, the first batch of buns came out of the steamer.

Ye Li placed them into a willow basket, added some tofu to the bone broth, and prepared to steam the second batch.

Freshly steamed, these buns—though made with a two-flour blend—were still light and fluffy.

A gentle bite revealed the meat filling inside.

The abundant juices made the steamed bun’s inner surface look smooth and glossy. The filling wasn’t loose; it clung together in a lump, giving off an enticing aroma.

The group couldn’t wait for them to cool and took another bite immediately.

Delicious!

Jiang Ya held a large bun in his small hands, so delighted he hopped around Ye Li in a circle, shouting, “Delicious! Brother Li, so delicious!”

“Save room for later—there’s still bone broth to come,”

Ye Li said with a smile.

Jiang Ya gasped at this, immediately glancing down at his own belly.

His tummy was too small.

Not big enough!

So frustrating.

Ye Li reached out and gave his little tummy a couple of playful flicks, making him scurry behind Jiang Ji for cover.

Soon, Ye Li had devoured the bun in his hand.

But with the buns not yet finished, he and Jiang Ji got back to work.

Finally, the dough was used up, though half a bowl of filling remained.

Ye Li promptly rolled up his sleeves and kneaded more dough.

He’d planned to fry pastries anyway, so preparing the dough early saved him the trouble later.

Once the dough was ready, he tore off a piece, rolled it into wrappers, stuffed the remaining meat filling inside, shaped them into dumplings, and steamed them alongside the second batch of buns.

During this time, villagers came to buy tofu.

Seeing their meal—meat buns and bone broth—they couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration. It was fit for a New Year’s feast!

Soon after, Ye Liang arrived.

He, too, couldn’t resist commenting on today’s spread.

Splurging nearly 100 wen on meat every few days—at this rate, his third brother might not even be able to afford Jiang Ji’s schooling.

Moreover, after returning home yesterday, he’d discussed it thoroughly with the others. They’d ultimately decided to postpone the tuition matter until next year.

This year’s three taels for tuition had already been given to Jiang Ji during the New Year. The next payment wasn’t due for another half year.

They’d see how things stood then.

After hearing Ye Liang’s words, Ye Li didn’t object.

By this time next year, he’d have to have built up some family assets—otherwise, it would be an embarrassment for a transmigrator.

Then he’d use sheer strength to make the Ye family change their minds.

After lunch, he began frying pastries.

The pastries he was frying were called mian guo, a traditional deep-fried dough snack from his hometown.

Visually, they resembled two doughnuts pressed together—plump, adorable, and eye-catching.

As for the taste? Unmatched.

This old-fashioned pastry featured two distinct layers.

The inner flaky dough required malt syrup and soybean oil mixed into the flour.

To achieve a fluffy texture, a bit of potash water is added to allow the dough to ferment slightly.

The outer crust is made from plain white flour.

While kneading the dough, Ye Li cracked several eggs into the mixture.

This way, the mian guo became high in sugar, oil, and protein—essentially a Snickers bar, perfect for an energy boost anytime, anywhere.

Plus, it wouldn’t spoil for a whole week.

Perfect for the cheap husband as a snack between classes.

Beyond snacks, Ye Li also wanted Ye Liang to test-sell them at the pancake stall.

Transforming eggs into cash takes half a month—far too long.

Since he fries tofu puffs daily anyway, he pondered all yesterday and finally decided to fry some doughnuts alongside the tofu puffs.

The dough sticks didn’t require much sugar, resulting in a mild sweetness that kept costs manageable.

As the starting point of the South-North Canal, Baxian Town saw heavy foot traffic. As long as the taste was good and the price wasn’t outrageous, he wouldn’t have to worry about finding buyers.

While kneading the dough, he shared his plan. Jiang Ji and Ye Liang both agreed enthusiastically.

After kneading both layers of dough, he spread the flaky dough over the plain white dough, folded it, rolled it flat with a rolling pin, and then cut it into finger-thick strips.

Shaping these strips into rings, he was ready to fry them in oil.

The resulting fried dough rings had a soft interior, a crispy exterior, and a sweet flavor—utterly delicious.

In truth, the method for making these dough rings closely resembled that of cat’s ears or honey-glazed three-knife pastries.

All required kneading two types of dough before deep-frying.

But honey-glazed three-twist pastries were too sweet.

Cat’s ears were too crispy—or rather, too hard.

Thus, Ye Li ultimately chose the dough rings.

Soon, the fried dough rings were ready.

Their distinctive reddish-brown hue from deep-frying, combined with their plump, round shape, made them quite eye-catching.

Jiang Ji, Jiang Mai, Jiang Ya, and Ye Li shared one among the four of them. After just the first bite, they all exclaimed how delicious it was.

Their praise not only boosted Ye Li’s confidence for tomorrow’s trial sale but also lifted his spirits immensely.

All this effort was just to make sure his dear husband ate well, after all.

Now that his dear husband was raving about it, all his hard work hadn’t been in vain.

He’d fried a total of twenty doughnuts, mainly because he’d run out of flour; otherwise, he would have made more.

He gave five to Ye Liang to take for the trial sale.

He kept two for Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya to satisfy their cravings.

One more was sampled.

Twelve pastries remained. He wrapped them all in burlap and placed them alongside the steamed buns.

He’d steamed extra buns today, packing twenty for Jiang Ji.

In this weather, cold food was perfectly fine. If anyone preferred warm, the kitchen staff could steam the buns with a little oil when making the pancakes.

Of course, pickles were essential.

These were shredded mustard greens pickled by Second Aunt. Half a clay jar remained. Ye Li scooped out two pounds, stir-fried them in soybean oil to add some nourishment for Jiang Ji.

Actually, salted duck eggs would have been perfect right now.

Unfortunately, there were none.

Ye Li could only prepare a few boiled eggs for Jiang Ji, just like Liang Erxiang would have done.

These four items filled half a bamboo basket.

It felt heavy to carry.

Gripping the basket, Ye Li stepped out of the kitchen and into the main hall.

Jiang Ji was sorting clothes in the east room. Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya hadn’t gone out to gather firewood today. At times like this, the two of them never left Jiang Ji’s side.

Ye Li stood at the east room doorway, gesturing for Jiang Ji to look at the contents of the basket.

Jiang Ji set the basket on the wooden table beneath the window. He gave its contents a cursory glance before turning to Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya. “Take a few buns over to Uncle Er’s place. Tell him I’m heading back to the private school.”

He’d been too busy at noon to deliver buns to Jiang Dahu’s family.

“Brother, wait for me and Jiang Ya to return before you leave,” Jiang Mai immediately said.

Jiang Ya hurriedly added, “Big Brother, you have to wait for me and Second Brother.”

Jiang Ji smiled and ruffled their little heads. “Of course. You two have to see me off.”

The words made both children beam with joy. Jiang Mai grabbed Jiang Ya’s small hand, and they scampered out of the main hall.

Jiang Ji stood at the main hall doorway. Seeing the two children carrying a small basket out of the courtyard, he turned to Ye Li beside him and said, “You fried all those doughnuts yourself, didn’t eat a single one, and made me take them all?”

“I can fry more,” Ye Li said indifferently.

He wasn’t missing a single bite.

He looked completely at ease, yet a whirlwind of emotions surged within Jiang Ji.

Jiang Ji lowered his gaze, took Ye Li’s hand, and murmured, “Thank you.”

“Just a ‘thank you’?” Ye Li raised an eyebrow.

“I’ll do my best to become a Xiucai and return.”

Jiang Ji’s expression was earnest, as if making a solemn vow.

Ye Li was instantly speechless. He yanked his hand free, then stood on tiptoe to kiss Jiang Ji’s lips. “Silly.”

Jiang Ji: “…”

His eyes crinkled.

He wasn’t silly.

He’d sent Xiao Mai and Ya-ger away precisely to do this with Ye Li.

It just hadn’t happened yet.

He bent down, one arm around Ye Li’s back, the other cupping his hips. With a slight lift, he hoisted Ye Li up amidst his startled gasps.

He closed the main hall door with his foot, then pressed Ye Li against it.

Ye Li’s face still bore traces of shock. He watched him silently for a moment before leaning in to kiss him. “Like this.”