After hearing what he said, An Shuyi realized that she had misunderstood. Every time she saw him, he was wearing worn-out robes and had no accessories. He also read books every day, so she thought he was a poor scholar.
"Madam An, try this pastry. It tastes quite good." After saying that, she picked up a piece and put it in her mouth.
Looking at the pastries, An Shuyi hesitated. The pastries looked delicious and were made so beautifully, but if she dared to eat someone else's food, Hua Hua would chop her up.
Seeing that she didn't move but kept looking at the pastries, Xiao Yubai guessed that she was afraid there was something wrong with them. He didn't try to persuade her anymore, but just picked up a piece of each pastry and ate it.
After he finished eating one piece of each kind, An Shuyi pushed her tiramisu over, saying, "Young Master Xiao, this is the tiramisu I bought from the pastry shop, the one that just opened in the capital."
"It might not be as good as yours, but I can't just eat yours for free, so here you go." Saying this, she pushed the remaining pastries over as well, "And these, I bought them from my pastry shop, they're especially delicious."
Seeing the pastries being pushed towards him, Xiao Yubai picked up a red pastry, not knowing what it was made of. He took a bite, and frowned at the sweetness, but still swallowed it. Then he put the pastry down, picked up his teacup, and drank a cup of tea in one go. Then he drank another cup before he felt that the cloying sweetness was gone.
"Madam An's pastries are quite good, very delicious. You should try mine, especially this lotus flower pastry. I heard from the servants that it is a secret recipe from the palace, taught to him by his master."
An Shuyi nodded, pretending not to see him choking on the sweetness and gulping down water. She picked up her chopsticks, took a bite of a lotus-shaped pastry, and found it delicious—sweet but not cloying, with a delicate lotus fragrance.
The piece she picked up was green on the outside, white on the inside, and had a little yellow filling in the middle, but she couldn't tell what it was. Looking at the piece on the plate, it was pink on the outside, white on the inside, and green in the middle.
“Madam An, I don’t really like lotus flower pastries. Please finish this one for me,” Xiao Yubai said.
"Then I won't be polite!" It wasn't that she was shameless, it was just that it was so delicious. If she were even more shameless, she might ask Xiao Yubai's chef to make her a few more servings.
"Madam An, please don't be so polite. Good food should be shared. By the way, I haven't asked you where you're from yet. You said you came to the capital for sightseeing, but I haven't seen your husband."
He saw this Madam An several times, but she was always with another woman; none of the other maids or nannies were there.
An Shuyi replied, "I am a widow. My husband passed away unexpectedly a few years ago. I now live in Taoyuan Village, Jinnan City."
"I'm sorry, I didn't know your husband had passed away. Please accept my condolences." Xiao Yubai said apologetically.
"You don't need to apologize. So many years have passed, I've long since come to terms with it." He wasn't her husband, so why should she grieve? After saying that, she ate the last bit of lotus flower pastry, then picked up another piece of eight-treasure cake. After taking a bite, she realized she didn't really like it, so she put it on the plate in front of her.
I picked up a piece of Guifei cake, took a bite, and it felt very smooth and soft. The filling inside was jujube paste, which was a bit greasy after eating a lot. Looking at the remaining green rice dumplings, I had no desire to eat any more.
She picked up a piece of tiramisu, took a big bite, and said, "This is the best, it's especially sweet." The lotus flower pastry was delicious, but unfortunately there were only two, and she didn't like the rest.
Xiao Yubai saw her put down her chopsticks and glance at the pastries on the plate, and he knew she didn't like them. But thinking about it, it made sense, since the pastries were prepared for him and had very little sugar.
Judging from Madam An's pastries, they were obviously very sweet, no wonder she didn't like them. However, she did like the lotus flower pastry.
Put the pastries back into the food box. "Mrs. An, are you coming to see the play again tomorrow? I see you really like lotus flower pastries. If you come again, I'll have the cook at home make some for you to bring."
An Shuyi stopped, swallowed what was in her mouth, and asked, "Is it okay?"
Xiao Yubai is practically a mind reader; he even knows when she wants to eat more lotus flower pastries.
"Of course!" Xiao Yubai looked at her. "It's not difficult at all, and I can see you really like it. Besides the palace, only my chef knows how to make lotus flower pastries."
"Then I'll trouble you, Young Master Xiao! If it's too much trouble to make, just make a few pieces." It would be best to make more so she can keep some to eat slowly.
“Madam An, you’re too kind. I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow at noon.”
"good!"
After the two made this agreement, they watched the play in the afternoon. It was already late afternoon. After saying goodbye to Xiao Yubai, An Shuyi took the snacks she hadn't finished and went back to her residence.
She planned to have some good food tonight and didn't want to eat too many snacks. Besides, she had already eaten some of Xiao Yubai's snacks, which added up to quite a lot.
When they arrived at the courtyard, the lock on the house next door was gone. They guessed that Hua Hua must have returned, so they hurriedly ran into the house and saw Hua Hua sitting in the courtyard.
"You're back," Xia Hua said when she saw her.
"Yes, you're back, Huahua. Where did you go? Why didn't you tell me? And I didn't even know when you left." An Shu ran over and sat down next to her, asking.
"I told you I was going to teach those kids to ride horses, and you could get some sleep before you got up. Besides, I can teach them all by myself, so I didn't call you," Xia Hua said.
He was probably still half asleep and didn't even hear what she was saying.
"I had no idea. I must have fallen asleep and didn't hear anything. How did it go with the children today? Are you going again tomorrow?" If Huahua goes again tomorrow, then she will continue to watch the play.
Anyway, Huahua is enough to learn horseback riding, so we don't need her. Besides, she needs to go to the teahouse to get some snacks tomorrow.
“They’re doing well. We didn’t let the younger ones learn; they just watched from the sidelines. Now we’ll teach them, and when we get back, they can learn on their own.”
In ancient times, horses were the most important means of transportation. If you didn't learn to ride them properly, it would take several days, or even longer, to get somewhere by walking alone.
"If you're not going tomorrow, will you still be supervising their training?" An Shuyi asked.
Xia Hua shook her head, "We don't need to keep an eye on them all the time. We've already taught them most of what we needed to teach them. The rest is up to them to figure out on their own."
"When we leave, we'll give them one last showdown and see how it goes."
She brought those children back to teach them how to kill. If she had to supervise them every day, there would be no need to keep them around; she didn't have that much time to watch over them anyway.
When An Shuyi heard that she didn't have to supervise tomorrow, she smiled and said, "It's great that you're not going tomorrow. I ran into Xiao Yubai at the teahouse today..."
"Xiao Yubai, who is that?"
“Don’t you remember?” An Shuyi said helplessly, “He’s the young master we met at the teahouse last time. His surname is Xiao and his given name is Yubai.”
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