Hearing that Su Qingluan had arrived, Liu Sheng and Xi Niangzi in the main hall came out to greet her.

Because Madam Xi was supporting Liu Sheng, her steps were a little slower than usual. Liu Sheng beside her kept urging her, "Don't worry about me. Go and meet Madam Su first."

During this time, Liu Yunniang had already walked in, carrying a food box in one hand and holding Su Qingluan's shoulder with the other. After hearing what her father said, she raised her voice and said, "It's not Qingluan's first time here. We are all so familiar with each other. Why are we still being polite?"

Su Qingluan also nodded quickly: "Yunniang is right! Uncle Liu, your legs are not fully recovered after all, and you have been standing at the stall all day. Don't get tired, go back and sit down and rest!"

"Did you hear that?" Madam Xi carefully supported her mistress and scolded her, "I told you Miss Su wouldn't care about these things, but you still insisted on showing off!"

"Etiquette cannot be abandoned!" Liu Sheng was very stubborn. "After all, Madam Su is the shopkeeper of our family. We are employed by her and should be polite to her master!"

Su Qingluan was stunned: Strictly speaking, the Su family can really be regarded as the "employer" of the Liu family, so it cannot be said that Liu Sheng is wrong to think so.

However, she really didn't want to act like the "master of the house" in her heart.

After finally persuading Liu Sheng to treat her as an ordinary junior, Liu Yunniang took Su Qingluan back to her room.

"It's finally quiet," Liu Yunniang sighed, "My father is a loyal man, but sometimes he is a little inflexible." As she spoke, she nodded her head.

Su Qingluan looked at the food box placed in the middle of the table: "There are quite a lot of snacks in here. I made enough for three people." Although it was a gift for Liu Yunniang, she couldn't just make one portion and let Liu's parents look after it, right?

When Liu Yunniang heard this, she knew that Su Qingluan wanted to ask a question like "Is it really okay for the two of us to eat in your room alone and not share it with others?"

She laughed heartily: "I'll wait until you leave and then give it to my parents. Otherwise, given my father's temper, I'm afraid he'll bow to you three times after every bite. Can you bear it?"

Of course, Liu Yunniang's words were a bit exaggerated. However, Su Qingluan recalled Liu Sheng's serious look in front of her just now, and a chill ran down her spine: Forget it, in that serious atmosphere, any good appetite is gone.

Thinking of this, Su Qingluan smiled and said, "Please don't let Uncle Liu hear what you said, otherwise he will be very sad."

Liu Yunniang, however, didn't care much and started to open the food box. She curled her lips and said, "Tsk, he won't be sad, he will beat me up."

"Can you beat her?" Su Qingluan was surprised: as far as she knew, although Liu Yunniang's boxing and kicking skills were not the best, her speed on the feet was definitely outstanding.

Liu Yunniang smiled and blinked: "It was possible before - the old man was too fast. But now he can't outrun me, he can only stare blankly - wow!"

The next sound of amazement came after Liu Yunniang saw the lotus cakes inside the food box when it was opened.

The snow-white petals are layered, with the center stamens tinged with a soft yellow. The outermost layer is a soft green, like leaves supporting the flower. Unlike the bright red flowers, the white lotus flowers are pure and elegant, equally pleasing to the eye.

"T-Is this for me?"

Su Qingluan nodded. "This pastry is called Lotus Pastry. Originally, the lotus was supposed to be light red, but I made some improvements to the flavor and I think white would be a better match."

As she spoke, she wiped her hands with a handkerchief she carried with her, then took out a lotus flower from the food box: "Here, try it. I know you like sweets, but this one isn't particularly sweet. I wonder if you like it."

In fact, according to Su Qingluan's own taste, the sweetness of this kind of cake with sugar added to the outer crust can be considered "too sweet", but she does not know how much Liu Yunniang likes sweet, so she is not sure whether this level of "sweetness" is enough for her.

Liu Yunniang stared at the lotus pastry that looked like layers of slowly blooming buds. Suddenly, as if waking up from some illusion, she raised her head and said to Su Qingluan, "Wait a moment." Before she finished speaking, she ran out like a gust of wind.

A moment later, she came back with a light yellow handkerchief embroidered with a pattern of forsythia in her hand - it was obviously new, with the crease still on it.

Liu Yunniang carefully spread the handkerchief flat on the palm of her hand, holding it with both hands almost reverently, and said to Su Qingluan anxiously, "Put the snacks on the handkerchief!"

Su Qingluan burst out laughing: "Why not just eat it with your hands?"

Even though she said this, she still obeyed and placed the lotus flower in Liu Yunniang's palm: "Here, why are you being so cautious?"

"I'm afraid I might accidentally crush it." The moment the snack was placed in her palm, Liu Yunniang felt as if some acupoints had been pressed on her, and she didn't even dare to move.

"It's broken, so it's broken," Su Qingluan said nonchalantly, "There's another box over there." As she spoke, she opened the second layer of the food box, making two layers in total, enough for the Liu family's three members to eat.

"That's different," Liu Yunniang held the lotus pastry in front of her, "This is the first time I've seen such a beautiful pastry that looks like a flower!"

"I just don't know if the taste will suit your taste."

Liu Yunniang shook her head desperately: "But judging by the appearance of this, even if it tastes terrible, it's still delicious to me - besides, how could something you make, Qingluan, taste terrible?"

Liu Yunniang's tone was very firm.

Su Qingluan laughed out loud at Liu Yunniang's words, not because she said her cooking skills were good, but because Su Qingluan now felt that, in a sense, Liu Yunniang could be considered a "face control" - after all, she was someone who could tolerate the taste for the sake of the "appearance" of the dim sum.

…Although she was confident that the taste of her snacks was not so bad that it could be described as “tolerable”.

"Try it?" Su Qingluan suggested. After all, the snacks she had painstakingly made weren't meant to be served as a feast.

Liu Yunniang looked at it from several angles, feeling a little conflicted: "I... I'm a little reluctant to eat it!" At the end, she actually felt a little aggrieved: she just couldn't bear to destroy such a beautiful snack with one bite!

Su Qingluan did not have so many "perfectionist burdens". She picked up a piece of lotus cake casually, as if on purpose, and opened her mouth. Liu Yunniang wanted to stop her, but she was holding another piece in her hand and could not free her hands. She watched helplessly as the lotus cake in Su Qingluan's hand was reduced to half in an instant, and the remaining half, because it was too crispy, also shattered and fell into Su Qingluan's hand.

"Hey, why did you eat it like that?" Liu Yunniang was speechless.