Encounter (1)
Mi's first encounter with Lady Aldrich was a profound shock. She had seen countless pretentious nobles at Derek's Palace balls, all maintaining an air of elegance, even exchanging polite greetings with enemies. The beautiful, wealthy, and proud Hannah, however, revolved entirely around Prince Ryan, devoting all her energy to ingratiating herself with Princess Denise and guarding against any unmarried woman who spoke more than a few words to him. She was indifferent to the other noblewomen of Suncity. Yet, these ladies, after receiving Hannah's cold shoulder, would greet her with smiles and compliments, praising her beauty and refinement. These ladies, for a time, made all the nobles of Suncity wear a uniform mask; no one knew what they were truly plotting.
Mrs. Aldrich had a fierce expression; she was clearly a middle-aged woman who made no attempt to conceal her desires. She was obese, had a voracious appetite, and was domineering and arrogant. Mi was certain this was their first meeting. She had followed them all the way after a fleeting glance on the road, then arrogantly had her maid convey her message, as if even expressing admiration to Mi herself would be beneath her dignity. Mi couldn't understand what it was about her that attracted Mrs. Aldrich. Sheila returned to the inn but carefully put away her cheongsam. Born in Sun City, she had learned from a young age not to provoke nobles. Mrs. Aldrich was very famous in Sun City. Her father, Grand Duke Baze, was King Derek's cousin, and the only one who stood firmly by Derek's side when his position as crown prince was in jeopardy. Count Aldrich was also a close advisor who had served Derek since childhood.
“My lord, Countess Aldrich is fond of collecting different women.” Sheila brought Mi hot tea and told him about the noble lady she had met that day: “She is the king’s niece and is almost the only noble who can speak to the king.”
Mi picked up her teacup. She wouldn't provoke the royal family again, but what did it mean to collect different women? Mi thought of Hua Lin and her companion. According to Anna, Hua Lin ran to Mrs. Aldrich on her own, while the other girl was offered to Mrs. Aldrich by her family. It seemed that the whole of Sun City knew about Mrs. Aldrich's fondness for women.
“Actually, Countess Aldrich has always had only one criterion for choosing girls—beauty. At our age and with our looks,” Sheila was also a little puzzled. She shook her head and stared at Mi, who was wearing a black cheongsam and whose age was completely undetectable from behind: “It’s probably the clothes that are the problem.”
“Could you find a tailor for me tomorrow to remake two traditional Suncity dresses?” Mi hadn’t expected this question, but she decided to go with the flow: “Is Mrs. Aldridge famous?”
“Very famous.” Sheila was also taken aback today. She finished one cup of hot tea and poured another. “In Sun City, it’s not uncommon for noble ladies to have female companions. But it’s quite rare to see someone like Mrs. Aldrich.”
What is Mrs. Aldrich like?
"She—I heard that none of the girls who entered the Earl Aldrich’s mansion were ever released. None of the girls who served Lady Aldrich lasted more than a year. Nobody knows where these girls went."
"Has no one bothered to look for it?"
"No." Sheila stared blankly at the cup.
"The laws of Sun City are so harsh, how did Mrs. Aldrich manage to escape?" Mi thought of Fried's fear when he was a wanderer. Citizens of Sun City all knew that once caught by the law enforcement, the only way out in the city was exile. It was not uncommon for entire noble families of Sun City to disappear from the city.
“What kind of good family could send a girl to Earl Aldrich’s mansion?” Sheila came to her senses. “Mrs. Aldrich is rich, very rich. She loves girls and always uses money to pave the way. Just like tonight, those families who sent their girls to Earl Aldrich’s mansion have been showing off all the jewels their girls brought home.”
"How could she be so rich?" According to Mi's understanding, these nobles also need to pay taxes, and many nobles are willing to marry their second sons or unloved daughters to wealthy merchants in order to obtain the merchants' wealth.
"I heard she's on good terms with the Longevity Clan," Sheila said in a low voice. "The Longevity Clan is the richest person in the Flower Kingdom."
"Long-lived species, where can we find them?" Upon hearing about long-lived species again, Mi couldn't help but become interested.
“The Long-lived Species are very mysterious.” Sheila shook her head. “Herbal medicines are produced near the Long-lived Species’ habitat. All the herbs in the entire Sun City and the entire Flower Kingdom are bought from the Long-lived Species.”
Thinking of pine needle drink, she asked, "Have you ever seen a longevity plant?"
Sheila shook her head again: "Although the Long-lived race are also nobles, they are even more mysterious than the king. There are more than a dozen Long-lived race nobles in Sun City, and no one knows which noble is actually a Long-lived race."
"So mysterious," Mi became even more curious. "Is it rare that no one is curious about this?"
“Who dares to be curious?” Sheila lowered her voice. “I only dare to tell you this quietly. King Derek I has issued a decree that anyone who inquires about the Long-lived Race is considered a threat to them and will be exiled if discovered. Besides, the medicine provided by the Long-lived Race is so good that no one wants them to be killed.”
"If the longevity plant dies, the medicinal herbs will be gone?"
“Yes, these medicinal herbs grew alongside the long-lived species.” Sheila’s eyes flashed with envy. “The long-lived species are the race blessed by the gods.”
"God?" This was the first time Mi had heard of God since entering the Flower Kingdom: "Are there gods in Sun City?"
"No, legend has it that our ancestors were gods who came from the realm of gods to the land of flowers and found that this place was even better than the realm of gods. The long-lived species are the true gods."
"Are you descendants of God?"
“This is something my mother told me to play with when I was little,” Sheila smiled shyly. “If there are gods in the Flower Kingdom, they can only be long-lived beings. They have lived for countless years and witnessed the fall of too many stars.”
Sheila stood up and went out onto the balcony. The blue moon was particularly sad tonight, and the stars surrounding it twinkled. "Those stars that have lost their luster, those fallen stars, represent people who have died. You know, each star represents a person." Everyone in the Flower Kingdom believed that each star in the sky represented a living person on earth.
Mi refocused her life on the restaurant, dedicating herself to researching braising spices. The country of flowers doesn't have many edible spices, so Mi needed to find more edible spice seeds to create suitable braising liquid and marinade. Now, Mi only handles the seasoning preparation, while Filet has become the mainstay of the kitchen. Whether it's soaking the purchased meat to remove blood or marinating the chickens, ducks, and geese for smoking, Filet does all the work. Filet's younger sister, a chubby little girl named April, also helps out. The little girl's fingers are incredibly nimble; Mi doesn't need to lift a finger to prepare side dishes or make pies. April has an even greater talent for seasoning; after watching Mi prepare fillings a few times, she can replicate almost the same meat filling and sweet red bean filling. Mi is happy to relax and teaches the little girl different filling combinations, as well as how to make sweet soups. Doug Toh, seeing this, grinned from ear to ear, already thinking about when he could buy another shop and open a branch.
Kraft took over Fried's purchasing duties. He loved flowers and always brought back various fragrant blooms. One day, Mi was sorting through the dried flowers Kraft had brought back. Among them were small, golden, bell-shaped flowers with a refreshing, minty scent, like minty osmanthus. The scent was so familiar. Mi took a handful of the dried flowers and brewed tea. Sure enough, the tea had a slightly cool minty aroma and a refreshing, grapefruit-like fragrance. Mi thought for a moment, then set the tea aside to cool. She took out a small millstone to grind peas into flour. Kraft saw this and quickly came to help. Mi asked Kraft to get another millstone to grind the peas. People in Sun City loved sweets, and sweet soups were always more popular than savory ones. Mi also started thinking about desserts. She had Kraft buy three or four millstones of different sizes to grind various bean flours; and also tiny, elongated pastry molds, each one small and exquisite. As Philip put it, a plate of eight wouldn't even be enough to fill a tooth gap. Such exquisite and delicate pastries, eight in a serving, cost twenty copper coins! Sweet desserts and sugary treats are priced differently in Taiyang City, after all, sugar is very expensive and needs to be transported by ship from distant overseas. When Mi first learned the price of sugar, she particularly regretted not having learned how to make sugar, or even just knowing the raw materials. The only raw material she knew was sugarcane, and she had never seen a single sugarcane since she came from Bian Suo 17 to Taiyang City.
Dougto's desserts are incredibly popular, and they always sell out. Dougto wants to persuade Mi to make more desserts to sell, but he doesn't dare to ask, fearing that Mi might get angry and quit. Everything else is easy to talk about, but the skill of making desserts is really hard to learn. The steps are complicated, the ingredients are delicate, and they often use spices that Dougto has never seen before.
Mi used a small, fine sieve to filter the pea flour, and then used a small pestle to further refine it until it was smooth and silky, with no visible or tangible particles. Kraft went to a carpenter to order several sets of flower molds, each about half the size of a finger. Looking at the smaller, more delicate flower molds than the previous finger models, and then at his and his sister's chubby fingers, Philip asked worriedly, "Can we make these?"
Mi mixed pea flour and starch in a certain ratio with cooled tea water, washed and sifted the mixture. She placed the mold under the sieve and layered the fine dry powder on top. She covered the mold with gauze and put it in a steamer. Soon, a cool aroma wafted out with the steam. Mi carefully poured out the steamed cake, tasted a bite, and then poured the cooked syrup over it before letting everyone taste it.
"Mmm, delicious, delicious!" Kraft and Philip, the two foodies, exclaimed while muttering, "It's just too small." The shop owner, Doug Tor, kicked Kraft and said, "Smaller is better, smaller means we can make more portions!"
“It’s sweet enough,” said Philip’s younger sister, April, after taking a small bite and chewing it carefully. “The flavor doesn’t seem quite right.”
Mi also took a piece of pastry drizzled with syrup and tried it, nodding and saying, "The aroma isn't very strong, but we can't add more water." Mi stared at the dried bellflowers and syrup for a while, then said to Felix, "Light the fire, I need to make the syrup."
Large chunks of rock sugar melted into syrup, bubbling in the pot and slowly turning golden. The small bellflowers, soaked in warm water, unfurled their beautiful shapes. "Turn off the heat." Mi carefully added the softened bellflowers to the bubbling syrup, stirring gently. The bellflowers slowly solidified in the syrup. The warm syrup was then poured over the pastries again. This time, the unique coolness of the bellflowers and the aroma of grapefruit mingled with the sweetness of the syrup. The flower-like white pastries, drizzled with golden syrup and topped with several three-dimensional bellflowers, were so beautiful that everyone couldn't take their eyes off them.
"It smells so good! May I have a taste?" A slender, elegantly dressed girl stood backlit at the entrance of the mysterious Eastern shop.
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