"Here, some snacks for you." Su Qingluan pushed the food box in front of Mu Xingzhi.
"Is this... mung bean cake?" Mu Xingzhi stared at the pale yellow cakes with a hint of interest, but he only picked up a piece and played with it between his slender fingers, and did not rush to put it into his mouth.
Su Qingluan didn't know what he was hesitating about. She put herself in his shoes and thought about it. She roughly imagined the possibility of "hesitation" and explained, "Don't worry, eat it. This snack is not very sweet."
As everyone knows, "not very sweet" is the highest level of evaluation for foods such as "pastries". Su Qingluan naturally thought that Mu Xingzhi didn't like sweets very much, but she couldn't think of any good excuse to refuse, so she told him this very considerately.
But it was obvious that she guessed wrong, because after listening to her explanation, Mu Xingzhi was obviously stunned for a moment, and then he laughed: "Qingluan, of course I believe in your craftsmanship." As he said, he put the piece of mung bean glutinous rice cake in his hand into his mouth.
This was the first time Su Qingluan had watched Mu Xingzhi eat so closely. To be honest, in her previous life, she had helped out in the kitchen with her master, and eventually she was able to handle the food on her own.
The master opened a private restaurant, and the people who came were usually his former comrades and their families and friends.
Because some of the old comrades have retired and some are still in the army, there are people from all walks of life, so the people they brought here are from all walks of life.
Although Su Qingluan is in the kitchen most of the time, occasionally when everyone is curious about the chef or the chef wants to show off her as his favorite student, he will ask her to come out of the kitchen to meet and chat with everyone.
Frankly speaking, Su Qingluan had seen those who came from different backgrounds, the second and third generations, and some were even from the first generation. Among them were many noble sons and daughters from scholarly or wealthy families.
But Su Qingluan watched coldly. According to her memory, there was no one who could make such a tacky action as "eating" so elegant.
Originally, even though Su Qingluan added glutinous rice flour and lard as adhesives and lubricants to this kind of pastry, it was not as stretchable as mochi, so it would still have some crumbs.
It goes without saying that children like my younger brothers and sisters often make a mess when eating. Even adults like me and my parents, who eat more carefully, still find it difficult to avoid spills.
But Su Qingluan looked at Mu Xingzhi. Even though he wore a wide robe with big sleeves, there was no food residue on his clothes when he ate. Not only that, the tiny food crumbs that had been splattered everywhere seemed to be under some kind of magic, not even a single drop escaped from Mu Xingzhi's mouth.
Not only that, Su Qingluan also discovered that when Mu Xingzhi was eating, his chewing movements were not very obvious - in short, if you didn't observe carefully, you wouldn't even notice that he was eating. Of course, smacking lips, which is very rude for ordinary people, is even less likely to happen to Mu Xingzhi.
Mu Xingzhi ate a piece of mung bean and glutinous rice cake, took a sip of tea, and said with a smile, "This cake is delicate and soft, and the filling has a rich floral fragrance. It is worthy of being made by Qingluan. The sweetness is not cloying, and the floral fragrance is not overpowering. Even if you look at the capital, it is a rare treasure."
When he spoke, his words were clear, and there was no awkward food residue flying around as he spoke. Not even his soft lips were stained with pastry...
Wait, isn’t it inappropriate for her to stare at someone’s lips like that... Su Qingluan silently withdrew her gaze.
After watching for a while, Su Qingluan couldn't help but sigh, "I used to think the saying 'every movement, every sitting, every lying down, has its own grace' was exaggerated, but after watching your every move, I finally believe it. I've never seen anyone eat so beautifully that it could be painted."
Su Qingluan's compliment was sincere, but she didn't pay attention to the fact that praising a grown man as "good-looking" might not please him.
Although Mu Xingzhi frowned slightly, he knew that Su Qingluan was simply praising him and didn't necessarily have the despicable thoughts of those despicable people he had met before. So he joked subtly, "In that case, you can draw a portrait of me as a thank you gift - didn't you say that you should thank me for helping you so much in your free time?"
Su Qingluan blinked. "I can paint a portrait for you, but it doesn't have to be a thank-you gift. Even as a friend, I can give you a painting. It's not a difficult task. But the banquet we agreed on as a thank-you gift will have to wait."
"Oh? Is Qingluan going to start busying herself with the Xie Mansion's business again?"
Although he asked this, Mu Xingzhi knew that this was impossible - although the informants he sent out did not specifically monitor Su Qingluan and the Xie family, they also knew that according to the pace of the Xie family's people, the batch of fruit jam should have just arrived in the capital in a few days, and the nobles might not have had time to taste it yet.
Su Qingluan waved her hand: "I hope business is booming, but we have to take a break. Besides, the jam should have just arrived in the capital by now. By the time these nobles have finished enjoying it and sent someone back to convey their wishes, it will probably take ten days or half a month."
Although it is also possible that this jam is simply unpopular and should be abandoned, Su Qingluan would not say such discouraging words even for "auspicious" reasons.
"Actually, this time, besides wanting to thank you for your help, I also have a friend who has been helping me day and night. Although I paid her wages, she did much more than I paid her - she even fell ill from taking care of me."
Su Qingluan definitely pays wages to more than just Liu Yunniang, and it doesn’t mean that no one else works diligently and responsibly except Liu Yunniang.
However, Su Qingluan understood that there was absolutely no need for someone who was "serious and responsible at work" to do what Liu Yunniang did - as long as Mu Xingzhi didn't rest, Liu Yunniang wouldn't rest either; no matter whether it was Liu Yunniang's job or not, as long as Su Qingluan needed it, she would definitely help; and she would take the risk of being infected to take care of her when she was sick.
Each of these is not the extent that needs to be done between “workers and employers”.
She was able to do this only because Liu Yunniang regarded Su Qingluan as a friend.
As for Mu Xingzhi, to be honest, Su Qingluan wasn't sure how this man viewed her, but it was clear that he had always helped her a lot, and the two of them had a lot in common. At least from Su Qingluan's perspective, she truly regarded Mu Xingzhi as a rare "confidant" in this world.
That is why Su Qingluan did not want to simply give these two important friends a piece of cake or a painting as a "thank you gift".
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