"My God, what a wonderful place this is, buddy! I asked you before what fun things there were to do, and you said you didn't know. It seems you've been keeping all the good sights to yourself."

Gangzi looked in the direction Yunling was looking. Even though he was usually very single-minded, seeing this scene made him feel like he had an extra nerve.

"Exactly, exactly. It would be so unfair of you not to mention such a great place."

The youngest son rejoiced:

"That's a fairy mountain, and below it is a fairy lake. In the words of those scholars, it's something that can only be admired from afar and not really seen. It's enough to just take a look from a distance. Besides, there are many such sights in our Shucheng. Once you've seen them many times, they'll naturally become familiar with them."

These words were truly infuriating. Yunling wanted to go and see it, but she didn't know how far it was. It didn't seem far to the naked eye, but walking there would definitely be choking. She might miss the ship's schedule because she wanted to see the fairyland, which was unacceptable.

Yunling and Gangzi took a few more glances before following their youngest son down the mountain. Back home, Tang Ling had already helped the old woman boil water and said to Yunling:

"Young man, go take a hot bath first to refresh yourself."

Yunling was delighted at the thought of soaking in hot water, so she quickly agreed and carried the wooden bucket to the outhouse. Although it was not quite what she had imagined, she still felt extremely comfortable when the hot water was poured over her.

The scent of soapberry is faint; after putting on the clothes, that delicate fragrance wafts out from them, a subtle and pleasant aroma that Yunling really likes.

After coming out of the outhouse, Tang Ling took the wooden bucket, filled it with hot water from the pot, and carried it to the outhouse. She closed the door to wash up. Her youngest son was nowhere to be seen. She guessed he had gone to inform the village chief and take some people to pick tiger paw mushrooms.

The smoked pork, blackened by the smoke, had been washed and sliced, and the bamboo shoots had been peeled. With Gangzi helping the old woman, Yunling strolled out of the kitchen and saw her father-in-law making maltose. She excitedly went over to him.

The father-in-law held a piece of golden maltose in his hands. As he pulled it back and forth, the maltose was stretched out like dough, then folded, stretched again, and folded again, repeating this process.

Yunling had eaten maltose before, and its sticky, chewy texture almost made her teeth break. But her father-in-law was a master at pulling it, making it supple and flexible as if it were effortless.

To Yunling's surprise, the maltose syrup transformed in her father-in-law's hands, becoming so soft it could be folded into several large loops. Then, placed on a winnowing basket, it seemed as if he was using some kind of skill—the maltose syrup, which had previously been countable in its loops, suddenly turned into thin strands as he rubbed them together, the strands becoming finer the more he pulled.

It was thinner than a strand of hair, and Yunling could almost see double. It has to be said that this father-in-law had some skill. If it were her to pull it, she would have to stand up and push against the wall to pull it without using her superpowers.

"Father-in-law, you are truly formidable. Do you have a reputation in the martial arts world?"

The father-in-law was amused by Yunling's words and laughed:

“I don’t have any reputation; the village chief just told me that.”

"village head?"

"Yes, I suppose you all know about our family situation from our youngest son. His parents... well, the village chief felt sorry for our family, so he gave me a piece of candy, which is this lotus root candy."

Yunling hadn't expected that the lotus root candy was made by the village chief. Hearing her father-in-law mention it, she became more intrigued.

"Does this village chief know how to make candy?"

"I don't know, but as you know, the roe deer mushrooms on our mountain are offered as tribute. So over the years, the village chief has inevitably had to deal with those high-ranking officials and nobles. We can naturally feast our eyes on those rare items that we've never seen before."

So that's what happened. No wonder the little boy reacted that way when she touched the tiger paw mushroom. This village chief must have treated them well.

"My father-in-law is truly amazing to be able to replicate the taste and appearance of this one piece of lotus root candy."

"Not at all," the father-in-law tore off a piece of lotus root candy, coated it with some sugar frosting, rolled it up gently, and handed it to Yunling. "This method was found out by the village chief."

Yunling took the lotus root candy and put it directly into her mouth. The candy melted in her mouth, sweet but not cloying, and very delicious. Even she, who doesn't have a sweet tooth, wanted another piece, which shows how delicious it was.

Zhang and the others must also like to eat it, but the logistics here are not as convenient as in later generations, where you can taste delicacies from all over the world without leaving home. If they buy it now, it will probably be eaten within two or three days after the ship sets sail, and they won't even need to wait until next year.

But Zhang is clever; if she knew how to make it, she might be able to make this lotus root candy. However… before Yunling could ask, her father-in-law spoke first:

"The village chief said that to make candy, you can't do without two things: barley and glutinous rice. The barley needs to be soaked in water to sprout in advance, then pounded with the roots, water is added, and it is mixed with steamed glutinous rice. After soaking until the glutinous rice is no longer sticky, the juice can be pressed out and then cooked in a pot."

Yunling wrote them down one by one. The words sounded simple, but they were actually very difficult to put into practice. How much barley to add, how much glutinous rice to add, and how much water to add—these were all things that could only be learned through practice. It was not simple at all.

"In the end, it's my father-in-law who's really smart; he figured out even such a complicated thing."

After speaking, Tang Ling came out of the outhouse, and Gangzi went in immediately. After Gangzi finished washing, the youngest son came down from the mountain. Once everyone was together, they started lunch.

For lunch, we had stir-fried bamboo shoots with cured pork, cold bracken salad, steamed egg with mushrooms and minced meat, and a soup with oyster mushrooms and cabbage. Although there were only a few dishes, the portions were very generous, especially the stir-fried bamboo shoots with cured pork, which was so plentiful that it was almost overflowing.

"These are just some simple home-style dishes, not as good as what you gentlemen usually eat. Please don't mind them, and eat them with gusto."

"No problem, no problem."

Yunling, Tangling, and Gangzi responded in unison, and then simultaneously picked up the cured pork. The cured pork had a smoky aroma, was fatty but not greasy, and because it was stir-fried with bamboo shoots, it absorbed the bamboo shoot flavor, adding an extra fragrance.

"This cured meat is pretty good, isn't it?"

"Not bad, very good."

The three of them nodded in unison again, as if they had agreed beforehand, making the scene extremely polite.

Finally, it was the youngest son who mentioned accompanying the village chief to the mountain to pick roe deer mushrooms that broke the awkward silence, giving his father-in-law something to ask and Yunling something to answer.

After the meal, Yunling was drenched in sweat. She now knew exactly what it was like to be a guest in someone's home she didn't know well—it was so awkward and uncomfortable that she just wanted to grab a few bites and leave.