Coal Ball whined a few times in grievance and turned his head to avoid it, but Changsheng held the back of his neck in his hand. He paused and simply scratched Changsheng's hand with his back claws. Changsheng was quick to withdraw his hand, and as soon as he loosened his hand, Coal Ball immediately rushed out and disappeared in a few seconds.
Xie Wangzhi was amazed: "… Really amazing."
Changsheng touched his nose awkwardly and looked at the crispy yellow cubes on the plate: "Come out to feed the cat?"
"Not really. I was just practicing and I just happened to see the coal balls. Because this snack is salty..." Xie Wangzhi paused and suddenly looked up. "This is salty! It's just made and it's still hot. Do you want to try it?"
This was the nth time she asked if he wanted to eat. Her eyes were so eager that Changsheng couldn't refuse. He hesitated for a moment and took a small piece. The size of the small square was just right, one or two bites each, and Changsheng took a bite hesitantly.
He took a bite and was shocked.
The outer layer of the small square is crispy yellow, and Changsheng thought it was puff pastry, but he found out it was not when he bit it. The outermost layer was roasted with fire and crispy, but it was soft when bitten into, like an egg cake. This layer is very thin, and just when I tasted the slightly sweet taste, the filling inside had already flowed out, filling my mouth with the aroma of milk and milk crisps, and the tip of my tongue could feel the extremely finely ground particles, the sweet and salty taste mixed together, surprisingly delicious.
He ate the remaining half, and met Xie Wangzhi's expectant eyes. He asked him with sparkling eyes: "How is it? Is it delicious?"
"It's delicious." Changsheng nodded, "I haven't eaten it before."
"Many people have never tasted it. I think even the nobles in the palace have never tasted it."
Changsheng originally thought that this was a favorite dish of a concubine in some palace: "Why? It's delicious."
"I tried it myself. It's egg cake on the outside, and milk and ground salted egg yolks are used inside." Xie Wangzhi said a little depressed, "It's sweet and salty. I gave it to Sun Dianshen to taste before, but he said the taste was not right, so he didn't present it to me."
"So, I'm lucky to be able to eat it."
"You can't say that. As long as you think it tastes good, that's fine." Xie Wangzhi pushed the plate towards Changsheng. "If you like it, eat more. I'll make something else for you next time."
Changsheng did not refuse and took another piece. He lowered his eyelids slightly, and his dense eyelashes fell down, covering a small part of his pupils. When he blinked, the transparent amber under his eyelashes flickered.
He ate in good manners, without making any noise while eating. It was obvious that he was squatting on the ground, yet he managed to eat with the demeanor of a man attending a banquet. However, one of his cheeks was slightly bulging and moving, like a little squirrel stealing food.
Xie Wangzhi stared at the small ridge, his fingertips itching, he couldn't help but poked it. The skin his fingertips touched was delicate and slightly cool, like accidentally touching a jade sculpture.
"What's wrong?" Changsheng had just swallowed the cake in his mouth and felt a little confused.
Xie Wangzhi realized what she had just done, her face quickly turned red, and the fingertips that had poked Changsheng felt hot, so she quickly put her hand behind her back and said, "I usually like to watch cats eat..."
"What's the matter?" Changsheng understood and teased her deliberately, "Do you think I'm a cat again?"
Bringing this up again, Xie Wangzhi made a double joke. His face flushed red. He looked at Changsheng and after a long while, he could only utter an apology: "… I'm sorry, I didn't mean it."
Having grown up, except for my mother, I have never been touched like this by anyone. I was not disgusted by Xie Wangzhi's poke. Changsheng smiled and said, "Do you want to touch me?"
Xie Wangzhi was startled and blinked blankly. Changsheng's hair was very good, dark, smooth and distinct, like the finest satin, slightly reflecting light in the sun, with some fine fluff, looking softer than a cat's belly, which made Xie Wangzhi swallow.
She didn't quite believe it and hesitated: "Can I really touch it?"
"No." Changsheng refused coldly.
"...Oh." Xie Wangzhi was a little disappointed. After thinking about it, it was not easy to touch someone's head casually. "Then forget it."
Changsheng looked at her: "You don't seem very happy."
"No." Xie Wangzhi explained quickly, "I know I can't touch other people casually. In fact, I can't poke others either. It was my own fault..."
"That's not it." Changsheng interrupted her, "I noticed that you were not very happy before, did something happen to you?"
They did encounter each other, and if they really brought it up, they could talk about it for a while, but Xie Wangzhi instinctively felt that such things should not be talked about casually, not to mention that she was not very familiar with Changsheng. She pursed her lips and thought of finding a random excuse to fool him.
"You can tell me." Changsheng seemed to know what she was thinking. "I don't have many acquaintances in the palace, and I don't like to talk, so I won't tell anyone."
Xie Wangzhi was startled for a moment and looked towards Changsheng. He saw his own reflection in those beautiful eyes. The little child was squatting on the ground with words like "distressed" and "boredom" written on his face.
This was not a good look, and they were just a chance acquaintance. Everyone in the palace had troubles, and no one was kind enough to listen to a little palace maid's rambling. However, Changsheng did not despise her. He looked at her quietly and seriously, waiting for her to speak out her troubles.
Xie Wangzhi held back the inexplicable bitterness and swallowed: "So what did I say?"
"Um."
Xie Wangzhi glanced at Changsheng and told him about Shi Manqing in a picky manner: "... That's it. It's nothing, but I just feel that she lied to us, and I feel uncomfortable because of it."
It was just a small matter, and Changsheng didn't think it was a big deal. Not to mention that Shi Manqing was just a little palace maid, and her wits were not good enough. If she really went to any palace, she would be swallowed up skin and bones in two days. Even if her father came, he was only a seventh-rank chief clerk, and he had to pay his respects in front of him.
But he also knew that Xie Wangzhi was different. She could tell good people from bad people seriously, and she could be so kind to a person she didn't know well. It was obvious that she had never suffered any hardship, and she always had some illusions about people's hearts. She was still a young lady, and there was nothing wrong with being naive. Changsheng didn't intend to burst this bubble. After thinking about it, he leaned over.
Xie Wangzhi was stunned: "You..."
"Do you want to touch it?" Changsheng sighed.
How could you not rub the hair that was delivered to your door? Xie Wangzhi wiped his hands on her skirt, stretched out his hand with trembling fingertips, gently placed it on the top of Changsheng's hair and rubbed it.
Human hair is different from cat hair. Changsheng's hair is soft, not fluffy like a cat's. The most obvious feeling in the palm of your hand is smoothness, just like touching a piece of brocade. Xie Wangzhi couldn't help but touch it a few more times. He was too embarrassed to take his hand back, so he rubbed his fingertips in his palm: "I'm much better. Thank you."
It felt strange to have someone touch my head, but it wasn't unpleasant. Changsheng didn't know what was wrong and didn't bother to think about it: "Next time I'll get the coal ball and you can touch it."
Xie Wangzhi's eyes lit up: "Okay! Then I'll make this cake and wait for you."
**
Changsheng kept his word and really caught Meiqiu the next day. Meiqiu was usually arrogant, catching birds and catching fish, and ignored all the palace servants, but when she came into Changsheng's hands, she became weak and lay on the ground obediently for Xie Wangzhi to touch her.
Xie Wangzhi touched her enough and put Shi Manqing behind his mind. He was in a particularly good mood when making cherry blossom cakes on September 20th. He even hummed a tune under his breath while putting them in the steamer.
She didn't mean any other thing, she was just in a good mood, but Shi Manqing next to her felt inexplicably annoyed when she saw this.
It is difficult to make the crabapple flower glutinous rice cake. The glutinous rice skin has to be rolled repeatedly until it is semi-transparent, and the bean paste inside has to be pounded over and over again. It is repetitive and strenuous work. After doing it all, your hands are almost broken. It was the first meal that Emperor Qiu returned to the palace. The chef and the chef came to prepare the dishes. The maids came in and out to help her. No one could help her.
Shi Manqing became more and more annoyed when she saw Xie Wangzhi relaxing beside her. She was the daughter of the chief secretary after all, but she wasted time in the kitchen after entering the palace, and had to patiently please the group of female officials above her. She did a lot, but when she really wanted to inquire about Concubine Xiao, they all seemed to have their mouths sewn shut. Her father was in the outer court, so asking about the harem was like asking for death.
In the end, the news about what Concubine Xiao liked actually came from Xie Wangzhi's mouth.
Shi Manqing was fifteen years old when the next year came, which was the time for her to come of age. Her father wrote to her and said that he wanted to arrange a marriage for her. However, if she couldn't climb up the social ladder, she would just waste her time in the palace. Once she left the palace, which good man would want a wife who had been a palace maid for five years
Not knowing whether the Touhuaci could please Concubine Xiao this time, Shi Manqing was anxious and annoyed. Just then, she heard a voice from afar. It was Sun Dianshen's voice. She said anxiously, "Wangzhi, there's no one here. Come over and make some pear soup!"
Just steam the cherry blossom cake, Xie Wangzhi didn't think much about it, responded, and hurried over to help.
To make pear soup, you first have to hollow out a whole pear, fill it with white fungus, wolfberry, red dates and diced pear, then steam it. It takes a long time, but it’s not difficult to make, just annoying, so the palace maids are often asked to do it.
Xie Wangzhi was digging a pear over there, and before he could dig a pear empty, a waiter came in from outside and went straight to the place where the dim sum was being steamed. The big kitchen was made up of several connected rooms, so the soup and dim sum were not in the same room. There was a pot of Tangyu Xiuwan on the side, boiling, and Xie Wangzhi could not hear the sound from the other side.
Shi Manqing heard it clearly. The eunuch pinched his throat and said, "Are the snacks ready? The imperial concubine is in a hurry to eat. Don't be so slow. If you make the imperial concubine wait impatiently, you won't be able to afford the compensation if you stew them."
Shi Manqing hated the eunuch so much, but she couldn't show it on her face. She could only bow respectfully and turn around to get the crabapple flower cake: "It's ready. Please wait."
No one could tell what he was thinking, so he just had to be respectful on the surface. The young supervisor felt relieved, and when he saw Shi Manqing putting the touhua glutinous rice cake into the food box, he raised his chin and asked, "What about that?"
Shi Manqing looked over and saw that it was the cherry blossom cake made by Xie Wangzhi.
It had just been put into the pot, and the fire for steaming dim sum couldn't be too strong, so the cherry blossom cake was definitely undercooked and inedible. It shouldn't be presented, but since it was specifically requested by the young eunuch, and the kitchen was in a mess with too many people coming and going, even if there was a reckoning afterwards, at most the Shangshi Bureau would share the blame, and Xie Wangzhi would definitely be the one to be punished the heaviest.
There aren't many opportunities to move up, so if there's one less person trying to grab them, there's a greater chance of seizing them.
The young eunuch thought she was unhappy because of this hesitation, and snorted coldly: "Why, can't we take this cake?"
"... No." The thought came to her mind and she couldn't stop it. Shi Manqing was so nervous that her hands were shaking. She opened the steamer with trembling hands, took out the cherry blossom cake inside, and put it into the food box. "I am clumsy, please forgive me, Junior Supervisor."
The young eunuch didn't bother to pay attention to her and nodded. Immediately, a young eunuch took the food box from Shi Manqing.
Shi Manqing heaved a sigh of relief only after watching the eunuch who came to fetch the meal walk away. She half leaned against the stove, her heart beating like a drum.