Su Qingluan imagined a beautiful scene in her mind where everyone could have enough food and warm clothes, and before she knew it, a silly smile appeared on her face, making her look not very smart.
Mu Xingzhi admired with interest for a while Su Qingluan's silly smile, which was caused by some fantasy.
The expression on his face was very light and hard to detect. It was not a smile with any hidden meaning, nor a smile with probing consideration, but a smile that came from the heart, with a relaxed and happy mood.
The smile was so faint that even Mu Xingzhi himself didn't notice it.
Only the little sparrow perched on a branch of a fruit tree near the yard tilted its head and saw this smile - but although this smile caught the bird's eyes, it did not catch anyone's heart.
This moment of tranquility was broken by Yang.
She didn't want to disturb her eldest daughter's conversation with Mu Xingzhi—mainly because she didn't want to disturb Mu Xingzhi—but...
"Daya, what's with those little dough lumps in your kitchen?"
Su Qingluan suddenly came back to her senses and remembered that she had been "imagining the future" with Mu Xingzhi and completely forgot the dough for lotus pastry in the kitchen!
"Mother, please don't touch it. I'm useful!" Su Qingluan shouted towards the kitchen.
"What dough?" Mu Xingzhi restrained his expression. "If you are busy, don't bother me. Just go and do your own thing."
"Come to think of it, this dough has something to do with you." Su Qingluan gave Mu Xingzhi a cunning smile.
"Oh? Could it be that..."
"It's a 'reward' for you." Su Qingluan smiled.
Mu Xingzhi smiled: "Really? I'm still looking forward to seeing Qingluan's craftsmanship."
Su Qingluan immediately raised her head and chest and said, "Please wait quietly for the miracle to happen!" Then she performed an exaggerated Western etiquette of a man inviting a woman to dance.
Mu Xingzhi had never seen such a gesture of greeting before, and was a little curious: "Where did Qingluan learn this gesture? It's very strange."
"I saw foreign merchants performing this kind of ceremony, but I didn't know what it meant, so I just learned it for fun." Su Qingluan waved her hand and pointed in the direction of the kitchen. "I'm going to go finish those 'doughs' first, or my mother will be furious when you leave!"
As he said this, he jumped and ran to the kitchen to deal with the dough that had already relaxed enough.
Su Qingluan carefully removed the cotton cloth covering the dough and breathed a sigh of relief: Fortunately, it is autumn and it is cloudy today, so even though she has been out for half a day, the dough has not risen and will not be completely wasted.
Before leaving, the iron pot was already filled with oil, and since dinner time was approaching, Yang had already lit a fire in the furnace in advance.
Su Qingluan smiled ingratiatingly and waved her arm at Yang. "Mother, I'm going to use this stove to make lotus cakes. Could you use the stove next to it for dinner? I'll make lotus cakes for you to try later!"
"Oh, this name is quite unique... No, where is Mr. Mu? Is he gone?" Yang sighed for only a second before coming back to her senses and turning to ask Su Qingluan.
Su Qingluan was busy carrying the oil pan to the stove, and her entire attention was focused on it. She didn't pay much attention to Yang's implication, so she said truthfully without thinking: "No, he's drinking tea alone in the yard."
"You left Mr. Mu alone in the yard, and now you come here to make your stupid pastry?!" Yang's voice suddenly rose eight octaves, frightening Su Qingluan so much that her hands trembled and she almost overturned the entire frying pan.
Fortunately, she had already brought the oil pan to the stove. Although the pan shook a little, it still firmly supported the stove and remained stable.
After placing the pot steadily on the stove, Su Qingluan turned around helplessly: "Mother, I'm holding the oil pan, please don't raise your voice suddenly... okay..." When she turned around, there was no one behind her. Su Qingluan turned her head and saw Yang Shi hurried into the yard.
Yang had always had a good voice, so even though they were some distance apart, Su Qingluan could still vaguely hear Yang's flurry of apologies, along with her words like "imprudent" and "ignorant of etiquette." Mu Xingzhi's occasional remark, "It's no problem," was also sprinkled in.
Su Qingluan also understood that Yang didn't really want to scold her, but was afraid that she would make a mistake in front of Mu Xingzhi, which would really upset him and make things difficult for her.
"Should I say you underestimated Mu Xingzhi's magnanimity..." Su Qingluan muttered softly, then laughed, "Or is it 'care leads to confusion'?"
Thinking about it this way, Yang's incoherent apology seemed cute... although there was really no need for her to be so nervous.
Su Qingluan initially approached Mu Xingzhi with a cooperative attitude, and he never gave any sign of rejection. Although she didn't know what Mu Xingzhi wanted, she understood one thing very well:
The initiative of this cooperation is completely in Mu Xingzhi's hands.
If I lack the other party's help, I may not necessarily fail, but every step will be extremely difficult.
If such a shortcut is presented to you and the other party does not explicitly reject you, it means that you are worth cooperating with.
Su Qingluan knew that Mu Xingzhi's refusal wasn't some kind of saintly mentality, a willingness to help without asking for anything in return. However, she didn't mind him having his own agenda—after all, when it came to business, mutually beneficial cooperation was the most stable and long-term path.
So from the very beginning, Su Qingluan made up her mind to "work hard and do her job well whenever she can be used" - of course, she still had to get all the benefits.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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