After noon, Lin Fei walked out of the warehouse with the files. When he passed the corridor, he saw Wen Mingtang and others squatting in front of the iron box that was used to make roast duck and sweet potatoes, which Wen Mingtang called an “oven”, and they were looking around curiously.
A unique aroma of eggs mixed with milk was emanating from the iron box.
“Master Wen, what happened?” Ah Bing asked Wen Mingtang excitedly while rubbing his sore arm.
Although Lin Fei’s oven was considered very good for Dayong, except for a few holes on the side, it was difficult to see what was inside the oven, and Wen Mingtang had a hard time seeing it.
“It’s almost done!” Wen Mingtang looked along the hole, at the top of the cake that had risen to the top in the “mold”, and asked the two children beside him with a smile, “Do you smell that smell?”
Tangyuan, who was standing by, had already swallowed her saliva countless times. Hearing this, she quickly nodded and said, “Yes, I smell it. It has the sweet aroma of milk and eggs! This thing called cake smells delicious!”
For today’s evening meal, they were going to make cold dishes and braised dishes. Since the dishes had been prepared in the morning, they could take a break in the afternoon. All they needed to do was just go over and add the ingredients half an hour before the evening meal.
So when she had nothing to do, Master Wen took two eggs and some flour and wanted to try making a snack called cake.
This cake snack was not difficult to make, but the step of stirring the eggs, oh no, Master Wen said it is called “beating”, which took some effort. Fortunately, Ah Bing had plenty of strength, so he beat the cake quickly and then put it into this “iron oven”.
There was not much aroma when beating and stirring at the beginning, but after baking for a while, the smell of milk and eggs became stronger.
Watching the three people peeking around the iron oven, Lin Fei suddenly thought of the time when the girl took out the “spring rolls” from her arms when she was waiting for Prince Yu to come out in front of the Jiaofang Gate.
The cook had no shortage of food, the girl was right.
Cake? Lin Fei smelled the milk and egg aroma that entered his nose and coughed lightly.
The light cough startled the three people gathered in front of the iron oven. When they turned around, they saw Lin Fei who appeared behind them at some point.
“Lin Shaoqing!” Several people turned to look at Lin Fei and called out.
The cake was about to be baked, so the few people had no intention of dealing with Lin Fei.
Tangyuan winked at Ah Bing, who immediately understood and laughed dryly twice, and asked Lin Fei: “Mr. Lin, we are making some snacks, do you want to try them?”
It was originally just a polite remark, but Lin Fei on the opposite side nodded seriously, looked at Wen Mingtang, and said, “Send some to me when it’s done.” After that, he turned around and left.
Three people said in one sentence: “…”
After Lin Fei left, Tangyuan immediately stepped on Ah Bing who was standing beside her. When Ah Bing jumped up and cried out in pain, she snorted, “Why are you talking nonsense? Why don’t you just say other polite words but invite him to have a snack?”
Ah Bing jumped up and down holding his foot that was stepped on and said, “How could I have thought so much at that time? Who knew that Lin Shaoqing would be so rude? He really ate it just because I invited him to eat it?”
How could the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple and the second son of the Marquis of Jingyun Mansion not hear that he was just being polite?
How could he really not hear it? Wen Mingtang, who was standing by, said quietly, “Our Lin Shaoqing may look like he doesn’t care about worldly matters, but if he really encounters food that suits his taste, he will never be polite.”
Whoever sees it gets a share. So when Lin Shaoqing saw the cake, she would naturally share it with Lin Shaoqing.
“I’ll send the cake to him later.” Wen Mingtang looked through the hole next to the iron oven, estimated that it was almost ready, and opened the iron oven.
The rich and sweet cake aroma hits them.
The first cake she made when she came to Dayong was pretty good! Tangyuan, who loves sweets, couldn’t help but drool at the sight of the golden-yellow cake. If it weren’t for the steam rising from the top, she might have lost control and grabbed it directly.
Two greedy little bugs were standing by, so they couldn’t wait until the cake was completely cool before eating it.
When the cake was slightly cool, Wen Mingtang took it down, simply divided it into four portions, and then picked up two of them and walked towards the front yard.
Watching Wen Mingtang leave with the cake, Ah Bing couldn’t wait to pick up the cake, take a bite, and whisper to Tangyuan, “Master Wen is so good to Lin Shaoqing. She even gave her share to Lin Shaoqing!”
The first time she saw something called cake, the taste was completely different from other pastries, it was soft like a ball of cotton that could bounce back, but it had the unique smoothness and moistness of pastries. When she took a bite, the sweetness mixed with milk, eggs, and flour filled her lips and teeth. Tangyuan felt that no one who loved sweets could resist the temptation of this thing called cake, it was simply irresistible!
After taking the first bite, she was a little concerned about the piece in Ah Bing’s hand, after all, Master Wen and Lin Shaoqing’s cakes were not to be considered. Only Ah Bing, who was the best meat eater, might have some left.
But she didn’t expect that before she could say anything, Ah Bing at the side had already thought about her cake first. He even cited the example of Master Wen giving it to Lin Shaoqing to eat. Did he think that Tangyuan couldn’t understand what he meant?
Tangyuan used her sleeve to block Ah Bing’s view of her piece of cake. She stuffed cake into her mouth, making it bulge with food, and said, “How dare you, a grown man, snatch food from a girl!”
Ah Bing laughed nonchalantly and said, “A man reaches adulthood at twenty, I am still far from being a grown man, but I’m the best at grabbing food from girls!”
Boys of this age were just hated by everyone. They were fine when they were working, but they liked to bully others when they were not working!
Tangyuan was startled. When she was about to shout “Master Wen” and “Ji Caimai”, she saw Ah Bing suddenly take away the piece she had bitten, stuff the rest of the cake into her hand, spread his hands nonchalantly, and say, “It’s just a joke. We grown men won’t snatch food from a little girl!” After that, he turned around and walked away quickly.
He had to walk fast! If he walked slowly, he was afraid that he would turn around and take the cake back.
If he had known that this thing called cake was so appetizing to everyone, he would not have advised Master Wen to make less cake when they were making cake together.
Hey! They must make eight or ten of them tomorrow so that they can enjoy them to their heart’s content! Let’s just let the little girl Tangyuan enjoy her meal today!
It would save her from crying again. She looked ugly and pitiful, but he couldn’t bear to see her cry every time!
…
This was not the first time that Wen Mingtang came to deliver food. Lin Fei’s door was open. Zhao You was not at the office today. She heard that he was borrowed by Liu Yuan and others to run errands.
Wen Mingtang knocked on the door frame. When Lin Fei, who was flipping through the files inside, heard the sound and looked up at her, she stepped over the threshold and walked in.
“Shaoqing Lin, the cake is here.” Wen Mingtang said as she put the cake down and turned to leave, but she heard Lin Fei’s voice behind him.
“Master Wen, wait a minute!”
(End of this chapter)

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