Chapter 43

Chapter 43

“Exactly, Auntie. What on earth did Suisui do to make the Young Master like her so much?”

Quite a few people pricked up their ears; they wanted to know as well.

Cook Chen shook her head. “How should I know? What could a little four-year-old girl like Suisui possibly do? I reckon it’s just because there aren’t any children that small in the estate, so the Young Master thinks she’s fun to have around.”

“That makes sense. If I remember correctly, Suisui hasn’t even been trained by Nanny Zhou. How would she know the first thing about serving someone?”

“The Young Master is still young, after all. He probably just wants a playmate.”

Everyone chimed in with their guesses. Most were envious of Jiang Yunsui, but naturally, there were those who were jealous.

“If you ask me, Cook Chen, you’d better keep your wits about you. Jiang Yunsui is young; she might just enjoy her time in the Front Courtyard and forget all about you. Then all your previous efforts will have been for nothing. You’ve been so good to her, but be careful you don’t raise an ungrateful wolf.”

Upon hearing this, Cook Chen shot a fierce glare at the woman who had spoken.

“Suisui is a good child. What are you acting so sour for? No matter how bitter you are, you’re still not going to the Front Courtyard.”

The surrounding maidservants looked at each other, unsure of what to do for a moment.

That woman was the goddaughter of a minor Steward in charge of procurement for the estate.

Even though he was only a minor Steward, he wasn’t someone low-ranking maidservants like them could afford to offend.

Jiang Yunsui stood at the door for a while, originally just curious to listen to the gossip, but she hadn’t expected the gossip to be about her.

She silently cheered herself on.

In the future, she would become Ji Yan’an’s most favored little maid!

“Auntie~”

Having set a small goal for herself, Jiang Yunsui ran inside.

The woman who had been arguing with Cook Chen immediately shut her mouth.

“Suisui!”

Cook Chen was beyond pleasantly surprised to hear Jiang Yunsui’s voice.

“Auntie, I asked the Young Master for some time off to come see you!”

“Look, I brought all of this for you.”

She held up the basket in her hand, which contained delicious pastries and a small jar of tea leaves.

She had managed to scrounge all of it from Ji Yan’an.

“This is… tea leaves? It smells so fragrant.”

Tea leaves were expensive, especially those transported to Mobei. The price was much higher than in other regions, yet many people still clamored for them.

This was particularly true for the small tribal nations in the grasslands and desert oases.

“Yes, yes! The Young Master gave them to me, so I’m giving them to you, Auntie.”

After saying this, she stole a glance at the woman who had called her an ungrateful wolf.

Seeing the woman’s face turn a ghastly, livid shade of green, Jiang Yunsui’s mood instantly brightened.

If she had a little tail, it would definitely be wagging high in the air right now.

The others immediately stepped forward with compliments.

“Suisui, you’ve really moved up in the world.”

“Exactly. I always said that even though Suisui is young, she’s a good child. There’s no way she’s like what some people say.”

In the end, that woman left dejectedly with a dark expression.

Cook Chen dismissed the other maidservants and pulled Jiang Yunsui aside to ask her, “What happened to your hand? Are you hurt?”

Jiang Yunsui nodded. Seeing the heartache in the cook’s eyes, she hurriedly said, “It’s okay! It’s just a tiny little wound. It doesn’t even hurt anymore.”

“Auntie, this is an insect-repelling sachet I asked Shen… I asked the Young Master for. Put it on quickly.”

Cook Chen was also aware of the assassins bringing venomous snakes into the estate yesterday, and she had heard they hadn’t all been caught yet.

When she came in for her shift today, she had seen people still searching for the snakes.

“What about you?”

“I have one too!”

Jiang Yunsui gave her little waist a wiggle, making the small sachet hanging from her clothes sway back and forth.

Cook Chen couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

How could this little girl be so quirky and clever?

But she truly was adorable.

Jiang Yunsui chatted with Cook Chen for a while and ate a few steaming, fragrant roasted sweet potatoes. Even the two puppies got a share. Then, while wandering around the kitchen, she spotted a small basin of goat’s milk.
The smell was a bit gamey.

“That’s goat milk. Nobody really likes it, so if no one drinks it by later tonight, it’ll just be thrown out.”

Jiang Yunsui’s eyes lit up.

“Auntie, I want it! I’ll make milk tea with it.”

Even though the Little Mushroom was a homebody fungus from the mountains, she still had friends.

Specifically, friends who loved freedom, loved going out to play, and loved good food.

One such friend was a Silver-throated Long-tailed Tit. Because he loved to eat and knew exactly what was good, he had managed to make himself quite round. When he stood next to the other tits in the forest, he looked like he’d been inflated several sizes.

That tit was also a little spirit, and one of the rare ones who could take on a human form.

He had gone to the human world to find a chef to be his master, learning how to make many delicious things to bring back for them to eat.

He had made milk tea and all sorts of pastries before.

Milk tea was very simple; even she had learned how to do it.

“Milk tea? What kind of tea is that?”

Jiang Yunsui was extremely proactive and eager. “I’ll do it, Auntie, let me make it.”

But once she stood before the stove, Jiang Yunsui fell silent.

The stove was taller than her. The short, stubby Little Mushroom couldn’t reach it at all.

Cook Chen took one look at her little expression and knew exactly what she was thinking. She couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Jiang Yunsui huffed, “Auntie, I can stand on a stool.”

Cook Chen rolled up her sleeves. “I’ll do it. You just tell me what to do.”

“Auntie, do you have any white sugar?”

“White sugar?”

Jiang Yunsui described it, and Cook Chen replied, “You must be talking about Snowflake Sugar Frost. We don’t have any of that; only the nobility can afford such a thing.”

“Would rock sugar work? I think there’s a bit left in the small kitchen.”

“Let’s try it!”

Cook Chen called over a young maid to help tend the fire. Then, she and Jiang Yunsui worked together, one giving instructions and the other doing the labor.

When it came time to use the tea leaves, Cook Chen felt a pang of distress over the cost.

The tea leaves and rock sugar were stir-fried together. Once the sugar melted, the goat milk was added, and the mixture was left to simmer over a low flame.

Gradually, the gamey scent of the goat milk faded until it was almost gone, replaced by a milky fragrance blended with the aroma of tea.

“It smells so good!”

The maid tending the fire was drawn in by the scent.

“The gamey smell of the goat milk is completely gone!”

Cook Chen was also pleasantly surprised.

Still, having to use tea leaves made her heart ache a little at the expense.

“Alright, just scoop out the tea leaves and it’s done.”

Jiang Yunsui gripped the edge of the stove with her small hands, taking deep breaths of the fragrant milk tea. Her little face was filled with an impatient, craving expression.

Cook Chen did as she was told and strained out the tea leaves.

She didn’t throw them away, though. Instead, she put them in a small bowl.

They could still be steeped in water; it would be much more fragrant than plain water.

The milk tea was ready, but it was still boiling hot.

It had to cool down before it could be consumed.

Jiang Yunsui stood on a small stool, her mouth constantly puckered as she blew on her bowl of milk tea sitting on the stove.

Cook Chen used a separate, clean large soup bowl to set aside more than half of the batch.

The milk tea had a greenish tint, but it looked very nice.

“The portion in this soup bowl is for the Young Master. There’s a little left in the pot, so you girls can each have a bit.”

The eyes of the young maids instantly lit up.

“Thank you, Auntie Chen!”

Once it had cooled slightly, everyone couldn’t wait to start drinking.

“This is delicious!”

“Is this really goat milk? If goat milk tasted like this before, we wouldn’t have wasted so much!”

“Well, we didn’t have tea leaves before.”

“Oh, right.”

One of the young maids with slightly darker skin let her eyes wander thoughtfully.

“We can’t afford tea leaves, but we could buy the broken tea dregs and dust.”