The younger children only saw Hong Xiaoduo say something to her master, but they didn't know what it was about, and then they saw her master leave.

They didn't have time to think about these things; after all, their master was an adult.

As arranged by Tianxuan, once everything was ready, they all stood around him, their eyes shining as they stared at him.

In front of Tianxuan, a small pot was placed on a charcoal stove, and syrup was being simmered inside.

"Mom, could you please look up the recipe for making maltose?" Tianxuan dipped her chopsticks into the syrup according to the recipe, observing how the syrup flowed down the chopsticks. Before she could finish, she remembered and asked Hong Xiaoduo, who was standing next to her.

Buying ready-made icing is too expensive, but he'd heard people talk about making syrup from malt, though he didn't know the specifics of how.

“Okay,” Hong Xiaoduo immediately agreed.

"Second brother, why don't you go to the bookstore to find this yourself?" Tianquan asked casually, unable to understand why he should bother his mother when he could do it himself.

Tianxuan glanced at her younger brother and said, "You've seen me look for it before, but the ones I found were all very vague. I tried to do it many times, but they were all unsatisfactory."

But the one my mother found was different; it had all the steps and precautions written in great detail, and I could basically get it right after trying it once or twice.

Tianquan and the others agreed. Whenever Tianxuan tried to make snacks or new dishes, even if they weren't successful or tasted bad, they never threw them away. They had all been hungry before, so how could they waste ingredients?

However, this is because they don't want to waste food, not because they like to eat bad food.

As they were talking, the syrup in the pot was ready. Tianxuan carefully and attentively picked up the skewered hawthorns, rolled them in the syrup, and then placed them on an oiled tray that had been prepared beforehand.

Because it was my first time doing this, my movements were a little clumsy, but when I coated the third skewer with syrup, I was noticeably faster and became more and more skilled.

"Fourth brother and little sister, you two stand back a bit, don't drip your saliva into the plate." Tianji teased the two little ones closest to the tray.

Tianquan rolled his eyes at his third brother without saying a word, while Yaoguang subconsciously wiped her mouth with her hand before realizing that her brother was teasing her.

"Mother, Third Brother bullied Fourth Brother and me," Yao Guang complained.

"Okay, then we won't let him eat the candied hawthorns later. Let him watch us eat them and make his mouth water." Hong Xiaoduo reached out and patted the little guy's head.

"Third brother, did you hear that? Mother said you can't have any candied hawthorns, hehehe." Yaoguang happily stuck out her tongue at Tianji and made a face.

Tianji immediately showed a regretful expression, but he naturally knew that Hong Xiaoduo was just joking when she said that, how could she really not let him eat?

Tianxuan's movements became more and more skillful, and the syrup coating became thinner and more even. Soon, a tray was full. Feiyan came over and carefully placed it on the other side. Tianshu placed another tray next to Tianxuan.

"Yuheng, go get some white sesame seeds. Sprinkle some on while they're still fresh from the pan. Let's see if it tastes better later," Hong Xiaoduo said, remembering the idea.

Yuheng immediately went to the cabinet next to her to look for sesame seeds: "Don't rummage around, they're labeled." Tianxuan, who was focused on rolling the syrup, called out to the person behind her.

As living conditions improved, the condiments they acquired were no longer limited to salt. The condiment shelf on the cabinet was filled with porcelain jars of various sizes, bamboo tubes, and small cotton bags.

Tianxuan herself can use it without deliberately searching; she can accurately get what she wants just by looking and reaching out. But others can't do that.

Tianxuan, the second brother, has always had a good temper, but he doesn't like others touching the spice jars and knives he has arranged, or the recipes that Hong Xiaoduo has found for him.

Yuheng found the bamboo tube containing white sesame seeds, and when he returned, he sprinkled some onto the candied hawthorns that had just been coated with syrup, just as Hong Xiaoduo had instructed.

"Mom, how long will it take before we can eat this?" Yao Guang asked anxiously, looking longingly at the strings of glistening candied hawthorns on the tray.

"Ah, I don't know. Maybe it'll be fine once it's cooled down?" Hong Xiaoduo looked up the recipe on her computer in her space, printed it out, but didn't read the contents carefully, so how would she know?

"It will only take fifteen minutes," Tianxuan told her, referring to the recipe.

After Hong Xiaoduo left, Jiang An remained seated in the pavilion, replaying in his mind the words Hong Xiaoduo had spoken to him.

He tried to calm himself down. If what that girl said was true, how stupid he must have been to be betrayed by the person he trusted most, to be raising someone else's son while his own son, whom his wife had given birth to with her life, was suffering outside.

Thinking of what the girl had said about his and his wife's biological son, who, although no one had disciplined him since childhood, was of upright character, kind and righteous, he couldn't help but want to see the child immediately.

"Master, what's wrong? Why are you in such a bad mood after seeing that young lady today? Is there something that she needs that's causing you trouble?" After hesitating for a long time outside the garden, Madam Pang finally mustered up the courage to come over. She asked the maid to brew another pot of tea while cautiously probing the situation.

Jiang An slowly raised his head and looked at Pang Shi. He didn't consider himself someone who was easily swayed and only believed what he saw.

But at this moment, looking at the person in front of her, she couldn't help but wonder, was that bastard really her biological son? Did she really switch her son with someone else's?

"Master, did I say something wrong?" In the more than twenty years since she entered the Jiang family, the master had never looked at her like this before, and Pang felt inexplicably flustered.

Jiang An shook his head and said self-deprecatingly, "No, it's your master who's thinking, do I also have times when I'm blind and make the wrong judgment about people?"

The maid who had brought fresh tea immediately stepped back a few paces.

Upon hearing this, Madam Pang thought for a moment. If the young lady had left, did that mean that she had made some impolite request to the master when she came to the mansion today?

Moreover, he didn't even personally escort the young lady to the gate of the mansion when she left.

The more Ponzi thought about it, the more he felt he had guessed the reason.

She stepped forward, poured a cup of tea, and placed it beside the master, saying softly, "Master, don't be upset. They say you can know a person's face but not their heart. In this life, it's inevitable that you'll misjudge someone sometimes. Now that you know what kind of person she is, it's not too late. Just stay away from her and ignore her."

"Yes, you can know a person's face but not their heart. People's hearts are unpredictable. But the fact that I was deceived doesn't mean the other person was particularly clever; it just means I was too stupid."

"I'm going out for a walk. Don't wait for me for dinner." Jiang An said self-deprecatingly again before getting up and walking out.

Seeing her master's figure disappear at the entrance of the garden, the maid cautiously looked at Madam Pang.

"Go and tell the kitchen to prepare a few extra dishes for tonight; I want to have a few drinks," Madam Pang instructed with a smile.

The maid agreed, but she was a little puzzled. The master was clearly in a bad mood, so why did the concubine seem so happy...?