Li Shi’s eyes were a little wandering and she didn’t dare to look at her mother-in-law. “Well, it’s time to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. Mom gave me some money. I want to go to the county to buy some supplies.”

Zhulan said nothing. Li Shi was obviously hiding something. When Li Shi couldn’t bear it any longer, Zhulan said, “Just in time, go and see if there is any honey. If you find it, buy two kilograms for me. Remember to come back early.”

Li Shi’s heart dropped to the ground, and she felt a little ashamed of deceiving her mother-in-law. She wanted to speak several times but finally held it back. Now was not the time. She lowered her head and took the money from her mother-in-law, “I will come back as soon as possible without delay.”

Two hours later, Li Shi came back with her bag, “Mom, this is the honey you asked for, and this is the mooncake I bought to honor my mother.”

Surprised by the mention of mooncakes, Zhulan realized that these weren’t made by Wang Ru but had been a tradition even before. The original owner used to buy them every Mid-Autumn Festival. Zhulan attributed any unusual aspects to the fictional setting, taking a bite of the mooncake and asking, “Why did the pastry shop make mooncakes so early this year? It’s still a month away from the Mid-Autumn Festival.”

Li Shi’s morning guilty conscience had long since disappeared, and she explained: “It’s not like there is a new Ruyi Pastry Shop in the county. They will launch snow-skin mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the other companies that were suppressed had to make mooncakes in advance. Mom, What can make snowskin mooncakes?”

Zhulan swallowed the mooncake in her mouth and thought ancient mooncakes were delicious. Eating them made her happy. She did know a bit about the snowskin mooncakes she had in modern times at home, which her grandmother used to make. She didn’t know how to make them. All she knew was what was inside.

“The glutinous rice cakes in the pastry shop are made with the same ingredients as the snow skin mooncakes. But to prevent them from being too sticky, it seems they add more glutinous rice flour. I’m not entirely sure, but glutinous rice cakes tend to crack over time, so it’s better to eat snow skin mooncakes fresh,” Zhulan explained.

It was best to eat them refrigerated, but unfortunately, the conditions in ancient times didn’t allow it. But Ruyi Pastry Shop was from the Shi family and they should have their own ice cave.

Li Shi clapped her hands, “Oh, why didn’t I think of that.”

Zhulan raised her eyebrows. Li Shi seemed to have bought mooncakes, “You want to make mooncakes yourself?”

Li Shi’s heart was beating fast, “I am also idle, thinking that it is expensive to buy mooncakes every year, so I might as well save some money by making them myself.”

Zhulan wiped her fingertips with a handkerchief, realizing that Li Shi was not just trying to save money. She looked at Li Shi in silence, avoiding being caught. With a sigh, she said, “Alright, hurry up and go prepare the meal!” Her head was bowed almost to her chest.

Li Shi exhaled. Fortunately, her mother-in-law didn’t ask again, otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to hold it anymore. So she ran away quickly with her baggage.

In the afternoon, when it was time for the boys to come home from school, Zhulan was squatting in the vegetable garden picking cucumbers and eating them. Just as she was about to get up, Li Shi and the third child came to the backyard, and Zhulan squatted down again.

Li Shi whispered, “Third brother, you’re making it tough for your dàsǎo. I’m not a clever person. Today, Mother must have noticed something, but she just ignored me. Third brother, I won’t be able to keep it hidden for long. Don’t blame your dàsǎo when the truth comes out.”

Chang Lian’s mouth twitched, “Dàsǎo, you just helped me make mooncakes, do you need to hide this?”

Li Shi widened her eyes, “Didn’t you tell me to put my heart into making unique mooncakes that could earn the appreciation of the Dong family? You even suggested using the recipe as an opportunity for our future third dìmèi to connect and sell the recipe to their distant relative’s pastry shop, right?”

Chang Lian nodded, “Yes, that’s right. But the precondition is to gain appreciation. If we don’t earn their appreciation, then all your efforts, dàsǎo, will be just helping me make mooncakes.”

So, there isn’t really anything to hide. He kept it from telling his parents about the plan because he was afraid of embarrassment. He hoped that once things succeeded, his father would see that he was a capable person. However, the whole premise was that things had to work out; otherwise, it would just be sending Chu Chu a Mid-Autumn Festival gift.

Li Shi thought the same thing, “Then why am I feeling guilty for this? You should have made it clear earlier.”

Chang Lian, “.”

He had already made it very clear. It was obviously my dàsǎo who wanted to think too much.

After Li Shi and her son left, Zhulan let her legs hang down, feeling a bit numb from squatting for too long. Chang Lian was quite clever indeed. From their conversation just now, it seemed he had thoroughly investigated all the relatives of the Dong family, even knowing about distant relatives. She realized that she knew less about Chang Lian than Chang Lian knew about her. Upon careful consideration, among the four sons in the family, Chang Lian was becoming more and more like Zhou Shuren.

It was past dinner time in the evening, but Zhou Shuren didn’t come back. Zhou Shuren didn’t come home until it got dark. He stayed at Dong’s house for dinner. Zhulan took out the clothes Zhou Shuren wanted to change and said, “Is there a guest at the county magistrate’s house today?”

Zhou Shuren was wiping his face and said, “Yeah, and you know the person.”

Zhulan blinked, “Nonsense.”

The few people she met in ancient times were all ordinary women. How could they become the guests of the county magistrate?

There was a smile in Zhou Shuren’s eyes, and he was not in a hurry to answer the question, “If you think about it carefully, you may not have met him before, but you must know today’s guest.”

Zhulan racked her brains, and an idea flashed, “Is it him? “

(End of this chapter)

T/N Dundundun Guess who it is?

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