“Do you wish to continue the mission, Host?” the Culinary God System asked. Ji Rongxia thought for a moment and said, “I’ll continue.”

It had only been a short while; he could practice a little longer.

Culinary God System: “Alright, Host.”

[Dish No. 12: Brown Sugar Rice Cake.]

[Hint: A simplified recipe is as follows: Soak the glutinous rice in advance, steam the soaked rice until cooked, then pound it into a dough. Use a mold to shape it, then press the pounded rice firmly into the mold and set aside.]

[To make the brown sugar syrup: Heat a pot, then simmer the brown sugar and water until it becomes a thick syrup.]

【Cut the pressed glutinous rice dough into thin, long strips and fry in hot oil until golden brown. Once fried, pour the brown sugar syrup over them. Finally, garnish with a light dusting of soybean flour using a sieve or sprinkle with a few osmanthus flowers.】

【Please enjoy the finished dish, Host.】

“Hmm? These brown sugar rice cakes look so simple,” Ji Rongxia said, stroking his chin.

But he had learned his lesson: things that look simple aren’t necessarily easy to make, just like those crystal shrimp dumplings. Although they only required a few ingredients, making them taste good was no easy feat.

This dish is both oily and sweet—it’s easy to make it too rich if you’re not careful.

He picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of rice cake coated in brown sugar, and put it in his mouth to taste. The rice cake was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and the syrup on top was sweet without being cloying—simple yet delicious.

“It tastes great.” Although Ji Rongxia preferred spicy food, this side dish had a sweet, fragrant flavor that was quite enjoyable. Having a few pieces of brown sugar glutinous rice cake after a heavy meal would surely be a treat.

After finishing the perfect sample, Ji Rongxia began making his own batch. The biggest challenge was simmering the brown sugar syrup.

The time of an incense stick passed quickly, and Ji Rongxia had barely managed to bring the completion rate up to seventy-six percent. He’d have to keep working hard.

“I’ll continue tomorrow.” Ji Rongxia was quite satisfied with his progress; barring any surprises, he’d likely finish this task in about eight or nine days.

That was really tough!!!

Ji Rongxia emerged from the system space and opened his eyes to find Gu Tangjin still sitting at the desk.

Tangjin hasn’t gone to sleep yet?

Oh, right—Gu Tangjin was supposed to help Magistrate Wu write a letter today.

Ji Rongxia’s eyes twinkled. He got out of bed on tiptoe and crept toward the desk, thinking he’d give Tangjin a good scare. Just as he reached Tangjin’s back, Tangjin looked up and said, “Xia-ger, don’t be silly.”

Ji Rongxia leaned in to look at him. “How did you know I was coming? You weren’t paying attention while writing that letter!”

“I saw your shadow,” Gu Tangjin said, pointing to the shadow beside him with his slender finger.

At that moment, their shadows were intertwined, looking incredibly intimate.

Ji Rongxia’s cheeks flushed slightly. He pulled over a stool and sat down beside Gu Tangjin, propping his chin in his hand and saying, “Oh my, I haven’t even counted the money yet today. How much silver did we make today?”

Gu Tangjin replied calmly, “After deducting the cost of chickens, ducks, fish, meat, and vegetables, the restaurant made a total of nine guan and seven hundred sixty-three wen today.”

“That’s almost ten taels of silver?” Ji Rongxia exclaimed in surprise. 

Gu Tangjin: “Right, almost ten taels of silver.”

Ji Rongxia pinched his cheek to calm himself down.

“That’s nothing yet. Once I hone my skills further, I’ll be able to earn even more.” Ji Rongxia wasn’t sure if he was saying this to himself or to Gu Tangjin.

“Mm-hmm.” Gu Tangjin reached out and ruffled his hair.

“Alright, I won’t bother you anymore. You go ahead and finish writing.” Ji Rongxia obediently lay face-down on the table, waiting for Gu Tangjin to finish. Seeing this, Gu Tangjin quickened his pace.

Ji Rongxia watched Gu Tangjin’s handwriting and felt that the characters he wrote in the letter seemed a bit more fluid, somewhat different from the handwriting he used for his daily bookkeeping.

“All done.” Gu Tangjin folded the letters one by one, then pulled Ji Rongxia back to the bedside. “Time for bed.”

Ji Rongxia smiled slightly. “We don’t have to set up the stall tomorrow, so it’s fine to stay up a little later.”

Gu Tangjin had Ji Rongxia lie down on the inner side of the bed and said leisurely, “But we still have to prepare the ingredients tomorrow.”

Ji Rongxia: “……”

He quickly closed his eyes.

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

“What does Uncle mean? Doesn’t he want our Xiaobao to take care of him in his old age?” Mrs. You fumed. That evening, Old Man You had come over and told them that the two families would no longer have any dealings with each other—after all, they’d split up, so there was no connection left.

Madness kept Mrs. You from sleeping a wink.

She was her brother’s blood relative; they even shared the same surname—Yao.

She had given birth to three sons, and even when her in-laws were alive, they had always indulged her.

You Dalan was often away at sea and rarely home. Now that there were no parents or in-laws to oversee the household, the men in the family were even more at her beck and call. Old Master Pei and Old Man You, eager to ensure someone would care for them in their old age, went out of their way to curry favor with her every day.

She was living a very comfortable life.

Today, Old You must have lost his mind to dare tell him he wouldn’t associate with them anymore?

“Mom, if they ever bully you again, once they can’t walk anymore, I’ll beat them up!” You Xiaobao said fiercely, curling up in his mother’s arms and shaking his little fists.

Madam You beamed, “You’re such a good boy.”

But her joy was short-lived; the front door was kicked open. Startled, Mrs. You hurriedly pulled on her clothes and peered out while holding Xiaobao.

She saw You Dalang stride in, looking disheveled from his journey, his face radiating an uncontrollable aura of anger.

“Aren’t you out at sea? Why are you back at this hour?” Mrs. You wasn’t the least bit afraid of him and snapped, “If you’re back, you’re back—why did you have to kick the door down? Have you suddenly gotten so bold?”

Yao Dalang was so furious that he hurled the stool by the door at Yao Shi and shouted, “Why do you think I came back?! The boatman kicked me off! No one at the dock dares hire me anymore! Your husband’s out of work—are you happy now?! You’re the only one who knows how to talk, aren’t you? I’ll see if you want to keep living after you slandered the county magistrate!”

Madam You was startled, and little You Xiaobao in her arms began wailing at the top of his lungs.

“Fine, you’ve really gotten bold. You want to hit me, don’t you? Come on! Hit me! Hit me right in the face! Let’s see if you dare!” Madam You’s first reaction after being frightened wasn’t fear, but rage. Over the years, Yu Dalang had rarely even raised his voice at her, let alone hit her. If she didn’t put him in his place now, he’d think he owned the world!

But this time, You Dalang really did slap her hard across the face. Madam You was knocked to the ground, and You Xiaobao, who had been just wailing, now fell and began to cry for real.

You Dabao and You Erbao rushed in to block You Dalang, kicking and shoving him.

“How dare you hit our mother!” 

“You can’t hit Mom!”

Normally, You Dalang spoiled these three little darlings rotten, but right now he couldn’t care less. He kicked one of them aside with a single blow. Grabbing Mrs. You by the hair, he dragged her out to beat her.

“Ah! You’re crazy! I never saw you get this angry when I was talking about Zhen’er!” Mrs. You was beaten until her nose was running and tears were streaming down her face, but she still wouldn’t let up with her verbal attacks.

“You’re scared of the magistrate?! You’re such a wimp! Marrying you was the worst luck I’ve had in eight lifetimes!”

“Bad luck?! I’m the one with bad luck! I’m going to divorce you, you troublemaker!” You Dalang spat. Thinking of the looks he’d received from the people at the wharf and his own fear of the Magistrate, he wanted nothing more than to beat her to death!

“You want to divorce me?! So you can go find that Zhe-ger, is that it?! You’re dreaming! I’d rather die than leave!”  

“Then I’ll beat you to death!”

The wailing of the children and the woman was so loud that several neighboring families could hear it. Quite a few people got up to gawk at the spectacle.

The onlookers pointed and whispered.

Those in the know recounted the whole story as if narrating a ballad. Word spread like wildfire, and before long, the news had reached everyone.

“Good heavens, this Mrs. You is incredibly bold—daring to slander a scholar’s husband and the county magistrate. She really doesn’t value her life.”

“It’s all because You Dalang spoils her rotten day in and day out—he’s made her bold as brass. If you ask me, You Dalang isn’t much of a man himself!” 

“And this Madam You still haven’t stopped badmouthing Zhen’er. Who knows, maybe that whole Zhen’er affair was just something the two of them made up.”

“That’s quite possible.”

“But didn’t You Dabao and Erbao say they saw Zhen’er taking off his clothes?” 

“Hah! Can you really trust what those two little rascals say? You’ve got lard in your eyes!

Among the onlookers was someone involved with the very person Mrs. You had mentioned: Zhen’er’s younger sister.

She stared at the You family’s door, a satisfied smile spreading across her face, yet tears couldn’t help but stream down the corners of her eyes.

Her third brother clearly had no dealings with You Dalang, yet Mrs. You insisted he had seduced him. To make matters worse, You Dalang and those two little devils actually sided with Mrs. You, claiming her brother had indeed seduced him—driving him to the brink of suicide. Even after he was saved, he’d become dazed and vacant.

Her parents, consumed by anger and grief, fell ill and died with their eyes wide open. Unwilling to marry, she had spent all these years caring for her third brother. If it weren’t for the support of her second sister and eldest brother, she wasn’t sure they could have even kept the house they were living in now—it might have been snatched away by her uncles and cousins.

Well, now the karma has finally caught up with the You family.

She wiped away a tear and dared not look any longer. With only her third brother left at home, she had to hurry back. She had to tell him this good news—perhaps he would react to it.

With that thought, she turned and left. Amidst Madam You’s wailing and You Dalang’s curses, her steps grew lighter and lighter.

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

The Shi household.

Tao Xingsheng returned home, and Shi Fulang met him at the door: “Why are you back so late today? Has something happened?” 

As a constable, Tao Xingsheng often had to work long hours, unable to clock out on time,

Tao Xingsheng explained the situation in a few words: “No new cases. The magistrate just had us go through the old cases and documents again. He gave Deputy Magistrate Zhong a stern dressing-down for dereliction of duty. The strange part is that Constable Xu sided with the magistrate. Now Deputy Magistrate Zhong has been sidelined; from now on, he’ll likely be nothing more than a figurehead.”

Shi Fulang asked, sounding slightly anxious, “That’s none of your business as constables, is it?”

“Hey, no matter what the higher-ups decide, we’ll just keep doing our duty as usual. I don’t have anything to do with Deputy Magistrate Zhong, and I’m not the only foreman in the county office. It’s no big deal,” Tao Xingsheng reassured him.

Hearing that it had nothing to do with them, Shi Fulang was put at ease. “Are you hungry? I’ve cooked some congee for you.”

Tao Xingsheng shook his head. “At noon today, Magistrate Wu brought back some fine dishes for us to eat, and he’ll do the same tonight. I was worried the food he gave me at noon might spoil by evening in this heat, so I ate it. I’ve brought the food from tonight back for you. Wake up Yue’er so he can eat before going back to sleep.”

As he spoke, he took several bamboo tubes and a lotus leaf parcel out of his old backpack.

“The lotus leaf contains shrimp cakes. This is called ‘Koushui Chicken’—it’s fragrant and spicy, with a wonderful flavor. This is ‘Fish-Flavored Shredded Pork’; the pork really does taste like fish. And this is scrambled eggs—smooth and tender.”

“It took me quite a bit of effort to get all this. Those kids are like animals—they snatch things up so fast. My old bones just can’t keep up with them.”

“You’re something else—why did you have to wake the kid up? Couldn’t we eat this tomorrow?” Though Shi Fulang said this, he still went into the next room to call Yue’er up to eat.

“Dad, what’s so good that you had to wake me up?” Yue-ger rubbed his eyes as he entered the room.

“Hurry up and eat. It’s from Uncle Gu’s place. Xia-ger cooked it, and it’s even better than Uncle Gu’s.” Tao Xingsheng shoved a pair of chopsticks and a shrimp meat patty into Yue-ger’s hands.

Yue Ge took a drowsy bite of the meat patty. That single bite woke him up completely.

Tao Xingsheng asked with a smile, “How is it? Tasty, isn’t it?”

Yue-ger nodded repeatedly, mumbling somewhat indistinctly, “Good, really good!” Seeing him eat with such relish, Shi Fulang’s face softened into a smile.

Yue-ger had eaten more than half of the patty when he suddenly remembered that his father and the others hadn’t eaten yet. He hurriedly said, “Dad, Father, you should eat too!”

“You just eat with your father; I’ve already eaten.” Tao Xingsheng had just gone to the kitchen to scoop a bowl of porridge, which he placed in front of Shi Fulang. “Have a little with the boy.”

Shi Fulang said nothing, but picked up his chopsticks and took a piece of cucumber. He decided to save the meat for Yue’er.

The cucumber was refreshing and appetizing, with a hint of spice. Shi Fulang took a sip of rice porridge, then picked up another piece of cucumber with his chopsticks.

Accompanied by the cucumber, Shi Fulang ended up finishing a whole bowl of porridge. “It really tastes great. Xia-ger has only been learning to cook for a few days—how did he develop such skill so quickly?”

Tao Xingsheng shook his head. “How should I know? It’s just a blessing from Heaven.”

Meanwhile, at Gu’s Restaurant.

Yao Tianlan lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

“Business was so good today—what are you tossing and turning about?” Gu Chuncai, kept awake by Yao Tianlan’s restlessness, asked.

Yao Tianlan thought for a moment and said, “I just can’t shake the feeling that Tangjin and Xia-ger are hiding something from us. Do you think they went to the county seat and bought a cookbook? Xia-ger’s skills have improved way too quickly.”

Gu Chuncai replied with his eyes closed, “That’s Xia-ger’s own talent—he was born with it. Haven’t you seen how Tangjin can burn a pot to a crisp? You can’t argue with natural talent.”

“It’s best to turn a blind eye. Even if they are hiding something from us, that’s only natural. We can’t possibly tell the children everything, can we?”

Yao Tianlan thought of the cast-iron pot ruined by Tangjin and still felt a pang of regret. She was right—who could you even argue with about natural talent?

With Xia-ger’s skills, they should be happy about it.

“If you ask me, you should worry less. Our shop is in Xia-ger’s hands now, so stop overthinking things all the time.” Gu Chuncai opened his eyes and looked at her. “Would you really feel at ease if Xia-ger were a slow learner and his skills weren’t as good as they are now?”

Upon hearing this, Yao Tianlan gave Gu Chuncai’s thigh a hard pinch. “What are you talking about!”

The pain made Gu Chuncai suck in a sharp breath. “Ouch, that’s enough. Instead of worrying about this, I’d be better off getting some more sleep.”

“You’re right. We’re really living the good life.” Yao Tianlan lay back, stretched out comfortably, tugged at the blanket, and closed her eyes. After hearing the old man say that, she felt a weight lift off her shoulders. It was all good news—why was she worrying so much? She might as well get some more sleep!