Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 797 - 795

Chapter 797: Chapter 795

Shangguan Xuanyi felt that he had just gone to sleep when he heard the watchman’s voice.

Between sleep and wakefulness, he seemed to find the watchman’s voice familiar, like he had heard it somewhere before. However, it sounded slightly different from what he remembered. This thought flashed across his mind and quickly dissipated, and as lethargy took over him, he went back to sleep.

The next morning, Shangguan Xuanyi got up and went to the kitchen with a bag of flour and a basket of vegetables and eggs in tow.

Mrs. Ma was startled to see Shangguan Xuanyi in the kitchen. "Master, why are you here? If you want to eat something, just send a maid to pass the message to me."

"It’s alright, I’m going to make a bowl of noodles."

Hearing this, Mrs. Ma almost dropped her jaw. She hurriedly said, "Which noodles do you fancy, Master? Let me do it!"

"No need, this is none of your business. You can leave." Shangguan Xuanyi dismissed her outright.

Everyone under Shangguan Xuanyi’s command strictly followed his orders. Mrs. Ma was somewhat uneasy. The saying goes, "A gentleman stays away from the kitchen, but can the Master actually make noodles? He won’t burn the kitchen down, right?"

With a restless heart, Mrs. Ma left the kitchen to share her complicated feelings with her husband.

Indeed, Shangguan Xuanyi did not know how to make noodles. He had never cooked before, except for barbequing meat, which he learned during his youthful wanderings.

However, he had seen Xiao’er make noodles. On his birthday, Xiao’er would always make him a bowl of longevity noodles. He was not a romantic person and didn’t know how to make Xiao’er’s birthday unforgettable. The only thing he could think of was to personally cook a bowl of noodles for her.

As for the ruby ring, last year, Shangguan Xuanyi had personally carved a white jade hairpin for Xiao’er, and the year before that, he polished a crystal bracelet for her. In other words, he would hand-craft a piece of jewelry for Xiao’er every year. It had always been this way and would continue this tradition every year moving forward.

Shangguan Xuanyi tried to recall the process of Xiao’er making noodles, then he rolled up his sleeves, cleaned a clay basin that was specially used for mixing flour with clean water, and started to knead the dough.

After a try, he put in too much water, creating not a dough but a batter.

He dumped some of it into a wooden barrel used for storing swill and then added a little more flour to start over. His second try turned out to be much better.

Looking at the round dough in the basin, he pinched off a piece of dough and started rolling, pulling, and swinging it. However, the thick noodles kept breaking in the middle, and he couldn’t quite get them to turn into thin and even strands of noodles.

Shangguan Xuanyi paused and tried to remember how Xiao’er did it, and then he started again. He repeated the process over a dozen times, all ending in failure. His face and hair were covered in white flour, making him look utterly wretched.

Making noodles turned out to be much harder than he thought!

As the morning wore on, the lump of dough he worked on became mishandled, even starting to harden a bit.

Shangguan Xuanyi decided to use a knife to cut the noodles. So he dumped the dough and kneaded a new batch.

He took out a kneading board and a rolling pin to roll the dough into a flat disc, but controlling the pressure was difficult for him. The dough was punctured in the east and the west with some parts being unevenly thick.

Upon seeing this, Shangguan Xuanyi kneaded the dough once again, re-flattening it, and retried a few times until it was moderately satisfactory.

Then he started cutting the noodles with a knife. At least this didn’t stop him — at least the width of the noodles was consistent, although the thickness of the two ends of each noodle strand varied.

The tasks of washing the pot and starting the fire couldn’t stop him either, since he had assisted Xiao’er before.

The end result was that he presented Xiao’er with a bowl of tomato noodles...or rather tomato paste.

Looking at the bowl of noodle-like paste in front of her, Xiao’er glanced at Shangguan Xuanyi’s suspiciously red face and smiled, "Is this the longevity noodles Brother Shangguan made for me?"

"Yep, it may not look great, but it tastes decent." It took him five tries to present a bowl that was decent enough.

Those he made before were either undercooked, too salty, or directly turned into paste. This bowl was the most perfect one.

Xiao’er knew it was because she once shared with him that every year on her birthday, her mother would make her tomato noodles. Likewise, in this life, Mrs. Liu, her stepmother, would make her a bowl of noodles as well.

Shangguan Xuanyi probably felt that since she married him, he should be the one taking care of her and making noodles for her.

Xiao’er didn’t say anything, but she felt warmth spread in her heart. She picked up the chopsticks and began to eat. The noodles didn’t look appetizing, but they tasted good. Shangguan Xuanyi wouldn’t give Xiao’er anything that was hard to swallow, he couldn’t bear to do so.

"Good job, my first batch of noodles didn’t taste as good as these." After tasting her first mouthful of noodles, Xiao’er turned towards Shangguan Xuanyi, who was sitting next to her looking both anxious and hopeful.

"Next time, you can teach me. I will make delicious noodles for you every year."

Xiao’er smiled and agreed. She then lowered her head and continued to eat silently, only stopping when she was full.

After spending so much time together, Shangguan Xuanyi knew Xiao’er’s appetite. When he knew she was full, he picked up her leftover noodles and finished them off.

After eating the noodles, Shangguan Xuanyi took Xiao’er out for a walk.

Mrs. Ma was deeply moved when she saw Shangguan Xuanyi prepare a bowl of longevity noodles for Xiao’er early in the morning, while looking all haggard and bedraggled. She pinched Niu Tian: "Look how attentive the master is! He got up early to make longevity noodles for the young mistress on her birthday. On my birthday, you wouldn’t even lift a finger!"

Niu Tian winced in pain and rubbed his reddening arm, rolling his eyes at her: "Are you as beautiful as the young mistress? Are you as gentle as the young mistress? Are you as talented as the young mistress? If you possess any of these attributes, I would make you longevity noodles every day! If not, please stop making a fool of yourself!"

Furious at hearing this, Mrs. Ma retorted: "Alright, big-head buffalo, you dare to dislike me? Let’s see how I deal with you!"

With that, Mrs. Ma unwound the whip from her waist.

Seeing this, Niu Tian hastily begged for mercy: "Spare me, my lady! Although you fall short in looks, character, and talents compared to the young mistress, I still like you for who you are! Longevity noodles, right? I will make them for you every year, not only longevity noodles but also longevity buns, how does that sound?"

Niu Tian shouted as he ran, but Mrs. Ma didn’t fall for his tricks.

Thus, the town witnessed the roar of Mrs. Ma, the lioness from the east of the river... but the people were used to it.

Shangguan Xuanyi took Xiao’er out for a walk around the town. Xiao’er noticed that the residents seemed to love flowers. The air was filled with a distinct floral scent, and every household and shop front had a few pots of fresh flowers as decorations.

"Do the people in this town love flowers?"

"Yes, because it is close to Nangong Country. Nangong Country is famed for its spices. Many people in the town grow flowers and sell spices for a living. However, their skills are not as good as the people of Nangong Country, so many flowers are sold to Nangong Country at a low price, and we buy their spices at a high price."

Now in spring, it was the perfect season for flowers to bloom. Shangguan Xuanyi planned to show Xiao’er the flower fields of the town.

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