Such are the rumors circulating in the streets; they spread and become increasingly bizarre and terrifying, eventually leaning towards the realm of demons and monsters.

Fortunately, they were at the Dali Temple and knew the truth: Feng Shilling’s body was intact and had not been made into human flesh buns.

Tangyuan rubbed her stomach, licked her lips, and said, “Then we can buy a few more meat buns when we go back! I’ve been thinking, those buns taste pretty good! It’s rare to find them so cheap, so we can take advantage of this time when everyone is avoiding them and eat them a few more times. Hmm, it’s what Master Wen was talking about… that, taking advantage of the situation!”

Wen Mingtang couldn’t help but chuckle at Tangyuan’s determination to take advantage of the situation: the wool comes from the sheep’s back. Tangyuan had probably forgotten that this meal of meat buns wasn’t part of her three meals; it was an extra late-night snack, something she didn’t usually eat.

Without listening to Liu Yuan and Tangyuan’s idle chatter any longer, Wen Mingtang and Ji Caimai left the public kitchen.

As Dali Temple kitchen staff, they did more than just cook; they also had to handle all sorts of miscellaneous tasks, big and small.

Every so often, they need to take stock of the kitchen’s inventory. Ingredients that couldn’t be stored for long, or those that would spoil if not eaten soon, needed to be arranged early to avoid waste.

After checking the rice, flour, and oil in the kitchen, it was clear that the rice and various grains and flour had just been replenished. Since Wen Mingtang arrived at the kitchen, a variety of dishes have been prepared, so these grains and cereals certainly wouldn’t just sit in the warehouse, gathering dust. Dried goods like mushrooms are also consumed regularly, all delivered in the last few months. Just as Ji Caimai was about to breathe a sigh of relief after checking the inventory, she heard Wen Mingtang exclaim, “Eh!”

Hearing the sound, Ji Caimai looked in the direction of the voice and saw Wen Mingtang pointing to a small burlap sack in the corner. “What’s in here? I hadn’t noticed it before. I wonder what’s in it. Will it spoil?”

Ji Caimai slapped his forehead and sighed, “Look at my bad memory!”

“Looks like I forgot about the niángāo we brought back from the zhuāngzi!” Steward Ji said as he walked over, picked up the small burlap sack, and untied it. Pointing at the few snow-white pieces of niángāo inside, he said to Wen Mingtang, “Some time ago, when I went to the zhuāngzi, I ran into an old acquaintance there. We chatted for a bit, and when we parted, that old acquaintance casually grabbed a few pieces of niángāo and gave them to me. I completely forgot to mention it to you.”

After all, it was only a few pieces of niángāo, so they certainly would not be used for the public kitchen staff’s three daily meals. If this had been before Chef Wen arrived, he would definitely have taken the niángāo home to cook porridge for breakfast. But ever since Chef Wen came, he did not want to miss a single meal from the public kitchen.

So… these niángāo could most likely go to waste.

After thinking for a moment, Ji Caimai said to Wen Mingtang, who was looking at the rice cake and seemingly lost in thought, “Chef Wen, I’m giving you these niángāo. If you make anything interesting…” At this point, Ji Caimai’s face turned red, and he coughed twice but still said, “Let me have a taste too.”

He had already seen several of Chef Wen’s ways of preparing niángāo. Whether it was the savory freshness and soft chewiness of the soup niángāo or the very soul of the ròuxièbāo, just thinking about them made saliva uncontrollably well up in one’s mouth.

He wondered what these niángāo would become in Chef Wen’s hands. Looking at Wen Mingtang readily agreeing, Ji Caimai was somewhat looking forward to it.

Making niángāo wouldn’t take up time during the three meals. The small bag of niángāo had remained untouched since Wen Mingtang took it back to the kitchen.

When it was almost time for dinner, only Liu Yuan, Bai Zhu, and Lin Fei were left in the kitchen. Only then did Wen Mingtang turn around and go to the back kitchen.

After spending the afternoon fishing, Lin Shaoqing, who had gone to pick up guests, unexpectedly returned for dinner. After dinner, he asked the two of them if they had any clues from the afternoon.

Liu Yuan and Bai Zhu were somewhat troubled, but they still gritted their teeth and honestly told their superiors, “We haven’t found any clues yet!”

Good heavens, it wasn’t that they were shirking responsibility; the case was genuinely at a loss. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have bothered searching for “human flesh buns” based on rumors circulating in the streets.

Even so, they hadn’t found any leads.

Lin Fei nodded, slowly finished his last bite of dinner, put down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, looked at the two men, paused, and was about to speak when they heard a sizzling sound of frying oil coming from the kitchen.

That sound… Liu Yuan and Bai Zhu, about to reply, subconsciously turned to look at the dim sky outside, then at the messy, empty dishes and bowls around them.

Dinner was definitely over by now! A satisfied belly let out a contented burp.

How could Chef Wen…

Ah Bing and Tangyuan, who had been standing behind the kitchen counter, had already run to the back kitchen when the frying sound began. They watched as Wen Mingtang opened the bag of niángāo, inserted a wooden skewer into each cake, and then poured oil into a specially made frying pan to start frying.

As soon as the snow-white niángāo were placed in the oiled pan, numerous tiny oil bubbles immediately gathered around them, sizzling. As more and more oil bubbles gathered, some burst, making a “sizzle” sound.

The sound was truly impossible to hide.

Seeing Lin Fei, who had asked the question, take a step, Liu Yuan and Bai Zhu quickly followed, heading towards the back kitchen.

The niángāo slices were neatly arranged side by side in the frying pan. Unlike when frying other snacks, Wen Mingtang didn’t flip them as he would when frying dough sticks. After placing them, she didn’t touch them until she felt they were almost done, then she picked up the bamboo skewer inserted into the rniángāo and flipped them over.

With one flip, the originally snow-white side met the hot oil, producing a sizzling sound and revealing the fried side to everyone.

The originally snow-white niángāo slices had formed a light yellow crispy shell upon contact with the oil. Although they were placed flat in the pan, the light yellow color still varied in shades, adding a unique aesthetic appeal to the crispy shell.

Wen Mingtang, who was frying niángāo, glanced at the group of people who had gathered around her at some point, smiled, and said, ‘This snack is called Cuìpí Niángāo. Ji Caimai gave me some niángāo, but since there wasn’t much, it wasn’t used in the main kitchen. I just used them to make a small snack to satisfy my craving.”

The ingredients for these Cuìpí Niángāo were truly obvious: nothing but niángāo.

Who among them hadn’t seen or eaten niángāo before? But for some reason, looking at these Cuìpí Niángāo still sizzling in the hot oil, everyone subconsciously swallowed.

Even though this dish was far from being a perfect combination of color, aroma, and taste, for some reason, just seeing Chef Wen standing next to the food, even the most ordinary dish, stirred up their cravings.

(End of Chapter)

---