Complaining all she wanted, Si Li opened the system and was about to check the redemption mall when she suddenly felt her sleeve being tugged.
Xiao Que squeezed past her, tiptoed through the crack of the door to look at the maids cleaning the eaves, and took out a handkerchief from her pocket. On the handkerchief was a piece of cake as white as jade, with orange-yellow fillings and a faint fragrance. Xiao Que held out the handkerchief, "Miss, have some cake."
Si Li's silence made her a little nervous, and she added, "My mother divided it with a knife, it's not dirty."
The handkerchief belonged to the original owner, and the cakes were also given to Xiao Que, who was playing with the children on the farm, by the original owner on the way. This kindness reminded Xiao Que of the original owner's rescue of people in the water when everyone else was paying attention to the second young lady. However, although the person was rescued, he passed away during the subsequent treatment, and was replaced by her soul from another world.
Si Li suppressed her annoyance and took the cake, "Thank you, Xiao Que, I'm just hungry."
Half a cake can be eaten in one bite. It is soft and sweet. The glutinous rice cake is a little sticky. The persimmon-flavored filling is sweet and delicious, awakening the taste buds on the tip of the tongue that have been soaked in bitter medicine for a long time. As a senior foodie, Si Li has eaten a lot of ancient and modern cakes. This cake made by the original owner is not the most delicious. It is different from modern cakes with leavening agents or butter and milk. After the initial surprise, you can taste the simple beauty.
Xiao Que supported Si Li's side in an unskilled manner, her cheeks slightly red. "My sister and mother both said that it is a blessing to eat Miss's cakes. They are sweeter than those in the cake shops in Beijing."
Si Li crooked her eyes at the clumsy comfort, knowing that Xiao Que had misunderstood her because she was daydreaming while listening to the system prompts. Without further explanation, Si Li returned to the couch and said, "Thank you for your help. Go home and don't waste your time."
The little bird shook its head quickly, "How can that be? They are bullying the young lady."
Good intentions always comfort people. Si Li sat down with Xiao Que and said sincerely, "I have nothing else now. I can only wait until I make money or have a good future to repay you for saving my life..."
Before he could finish his words, Xiao Que stood up anxiously and said, "Why, why do you say that? I'm not greedy for these!"
Si Li pulled her hand, "Don't worry. I want to say that if you are willing, you can come to my side to help me. In the future, if I have a mouthful of porridge to drink, you will definitely have a mouthful of rice to eat. No need to sign a contract, no need for paperwork, you can leave anytime you want. It's just that the monthly salary is not much. Now the mansion gives me one or two taels of silver a month. When I get it, I will give you half of it, okay?"
Si Li couldn't help but blushing as she spoke. These words sounded like the unrealizable pie that her boss had drawn before. They were all empty promises, with no real benefits. Moreover, they said there would be one or two months' salary. Si Li was "recuperating from a serious illness" on the farm, and her stepmother might not be kind enough to give him money. If the system crashed, the master and servant would have nothing to lose.
Si Li was ready to be rejected, but Xiao Que held her hand and asked with bright eyes, "Can I always eat such delicious cakes with you, young lady?"
Si Li couldn't deny such expectations. She could only eat cakes and dishes but not cook them. Fortunately, she was bound to the Kitchen God System, so... it should be able to solve this problem, right?
Seeing Si Li's affirmativeness, Xiao Que nodded repeatedly, "I am willing. I will definitely protect the young lady and not let them bully her!" As she said this, she shook her fist.
Si Li pursed her lips and smiled softly, "It's getting late, go back and talk to your mother about this first. If she agrees, come find me tomorrow."
Xiao Que hesitated, "But the lady is here alone..."
Si Li thought for a moment and made arrangements, "Then I'll give you a task first. When you leave, ask Steward Wang to come see me. With Steward Wang here, I'll be fine."
Xiao Que agreed immediately, "Then I'll go home! Miss must ask the steward to teach them a lesson. How can they bully others like this?"
How could a farm manager teach a maidservant who was beside the young lady? Si Li did not intend to let Xiao Que understand the secret immediately, and smiled as she watched her run away like a gust of wind.
It would take some time for the manager to come over, so Si Li opened the system page. The mall column, which was previously a gray asterisk, was now lit up. The futuristic mall interface was filled with a sense of shopping for New Year's goods in a supermarket due to the various special effects flashes and bright colors.
The mall is divided into three modules: recipes, dishes, and ingredients. The trial version only unlocks the dishes part. The Longevity Soup with 999999999999 achievement points is at the top, followed by Dragon Liver and Phoenix Marrow, Nan Ke Yi Meng, and Xi Jin Fa Sui Cauldron with 888888888888 achievement points.
Si Li counted the numbers three times and felt heartbroken when she saw her wallet had only 0 achievement points.
Legend has it that dragon liver and pheasant marrow are often used to describe the preciousness and rarity of dishes, but now I have no money to buy them. Not only that, when I scrolled down the list of shopping malls, except for the last three items, all the others were marked with small words "Insufficient authority, cannot be purchased".
Soul-Stirring Rice, Golden Egg Fried Rice, Strong Spinach... The strange names of the dishes coupled with the beautiful plating and lighting made Si Li swallow her saliva.
Wow, it looks delicious.
Si Li turned to the three dishes available for purchase and once again felt the malice coming from the system.
[Qinfen Popping Candy, priced at 100 achievement points, sour and sweet, stimulating and delicious.
Description: Jump up and work hard together! You can consume one bag a day, and the effect of hard work lasts 24 hours. It is recommended not to consume more than three bags a week, otherwise it may cause long-term sequelae such as aversion to learning and work. 】
[Healthy beef tendon, priced at 100 achievement points, strong and soft, smooth and nourishing.
Description: Tired and weak? Eat this! You can consume one bag a day to replenish the energy components needed by the body. After consuming it for 24 hours, the degree of improvement in the body varies from 1% to 10%. It is recommended to stop consuming it after one month of continuous consumption to avoid obesity caused by excess nutrition. 】
[Unknown failure easter egg, priced at 1000 achievement points.
Description: This is a lucky draw of failed products, and the professional sellers are at a loss. The number of times you can buy in a month (1/1)]
Who on earth would buy something at a loss and get cheated? !
Although the Easter eggs look unreliable and the popping candies look like whips, for Si Li who is somewhat weak, the beef tendons with special functions are a very suitable tonic. Even if you don't consider supplementing nutrition, just looking at the picture of the beef tendons, the crystal clear and translucent, the dark brown soup, Si Li can almost smell the brine of stewing through the screen.
Why do we work so hard? Isn't it just for a bite of food?!
Si Li is full of fighting spirit and refreshes the task list.
[Novice Mission 2: A qualified reserve chef god needs to understand the use of kitchen utensils in the world. Please use the kitchen utensils you can obtain to make a dish.
Mission duration: one day.
Reward: The Appraisal section is opened, and the money is increased by one wen. Punishment: One tael of silver is deducted from the money. (According to the prices in this time and space, one gold is equal to ten taels of silver and ten thousand copper plates)]
If you succeed, you get one cent, if you fail, you get one or two cents deducted. The price difference is simply insane. And she has no money, how can she afford to deduct money from the system if she fails? Si Li, who was rushing to put the product on the shelf, sighed.
After a round of knocks, the door that Xiao Que had left half-closed was pushed open. In the dim sky, a woman with shiny black hair tied up walked in. Without being greeted by others, she walked around the wooden screen and bowed, "Miss."
Si Li's smile, which was used to comfort herself in the midst of suffering, had not yet faded when the woman saw it. In the unlit room, the girl's beautiful eyebrows were filled with sorrow, and she looked weak and helpless. Although she was smiling, it made people feel sad.
"Manager Wang." Si Li quickly recognized the woman and said softly, "Manager, please take a seat. I wonder how Atang is doing? I heard that I fainted for three days. Atang and I fell into the water together. She is in better health than me, so she should have recovered faster. But I didn't see her in the courtyard. Is everything okay?"
Steward Wang was blocked from asking about her health as a matter of routine. He leaned over to light the oil lamp on the table, paused for a moment, and then followed Si Li's words, "The second young lady swallowed some water, but fortunately she didn't have a fever, so Madam took her back to the mansion to let her copy scriptures to cultivate her temper. The young lady is weak and has a fever, so Madam asked you to stay and recuperate, and return to Beijing when you are well enough, so that you can come out for the coming-of-age ceremony."
The two young ladies got into trouble at the same time. Regardless of right or wrong, one protected the other and exiled her. Her stepmother really loved her daughter. She said she would wait until she was well before returning to the capital, but whether she was well or not, didn't it all depend on her stepmother? The original owner was about to come of age, and it was completely possible to guess that her stepmother didn't want her to return to the capital to steal the limelight from her daughter. Fortunately, Si Li didn't plan to rush back to the capital to complete the mandatory mission so foolishly without any trump cards. Obviously, her father, who was the prime minister, could not be relied on.
Si Li pretended not to hear the difference between the two treatments in her words, and smiled, "Then I feel relieved."
The girl was pure-minded and was happy that her sister was fine, but Manager Wang felt unhappy. She was in charge of a farm outside Beijing, and although she made a living under the Madam, the second daughter had already returned to Beijing, and now there was only the eldest daughter who was left to live long-term, so she couldn't help but feel sympathy.
"It's cold at night. Since you're awake, I'll call Doctor Chen to come and see you. If your maidservant is still away from work, I'll find a skilled maid to bring over later. You can use her first. By the way, do you like the mashed date cakes and porridge that the kitchen prepared today?"
Manager Wang carefully nodded a few words, and then saw the girl's eyes widened like a cat, obviously knowing nothing about what she was talking about. This left him with the impression that Qingyu and Qinglian were slaves who bullied their masters.
Si Li hesitated and said, "I don't have a good appetite, so I shared the food with them. Let's go to the snack stand on the official road to buy some food. There may be a long wait if there are too many people. Don't worry, the manager will definitely be back before it gets dark."
This obvious cover-up could not deceive the housekeeper, and Si Li did not want to hide it from her. It was just that the original owner had to pretend to be a coward in front of these people for a while, lest they inform the stepmother and be discovered.
Being far away in the suburbs of Beijing, life is much easier than being controlled by my stepmother in the government office.
Steward Wang sighed inwardly and said softly, "You just woke up and your appetite is poor. Don't worry, young lady. The oranges in the farm have just come down, and the first can of pickled oranges has just come out. I'll have someone send some over, along with a dish of side dishes and white porridge. Eat a little, and you'll be able to sleep well tonight."
"The housekeeper is so nice to me." Si Li smiled and crooked her eyes. "When I get better, I'll make you some tangerine snacks. The cakes that Xiao Que brought today are also delicious. I heard that she made them herself. I'm still short of an errand boy. When she comes tomorrow, we'll have another treat."
The lie that was told with a blind eye changed Xiao Que's identity. There was a little maidservant beside the young lady, but Manager Wang didn't take it seriously at all. "If the young lady wants to eat, just call Mrs. Li in the kitchen to make it."
Si Li's cheeks turned slightly red. "I sleep and wake up frequently, and I don't eat regularly. I don't want to trouble Madam Li. If there is extra rice, grains, vegetables and fruits in the kitchen, please give me two or three. When I want to eat, I can call Xiao Que to make it."
According to the rules of the mansion, the rice and food for the small kitchen must be deducted from the monthly salary, but looking at the simple appearance of the eldest lady, she probably has never cared about these things. Thinking about the way Qingyu and Qinglian bought food and drinks everywhere, it is easy to imagine who has the money.
When the second young lady was around, the expenses of the small kitchen were combined with the big kitchen. At that time, the purchase of expensive snacks was paid from the public account. Now, the eldest young lady is just preparing some food. How much money can it cost to cook in the manor?
Manager Wang, who was unconsciously leaning towards Si Li, made a decision in a moment, "Just call someone to bring it over. It's such a small matter, there's no need for the young lady to pay for it."
Si Li thanked him softly, and Steward Wang saw it and couldn't help sighing. He didn't know how many things he had been tortured with since he was a child, but such a small thing was worthy of the Xiangfu lady's happiness.
Si Li didn't know that anyone was pitying her. She ate the candied oranges that Wang had sent her after she left. She ate them one by one. They were sweet and juicy, with just a hint of sourness. They tasted fresher than the modern industrial canned oranges. They were delicious and free. She was so happy.
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The author has something to say:
I want to eat canned oranges and orange jelly, but I’m afraid of getting a sore throat and I dare not eat it. I’m so sad.