It turns out Shen Xuezhu was already married.

There was no chance for him at all, so he immediately excused himself.

Shen Xuezhu called out to him, “Xing… Chu, I brought some cured meat I made. Let’s go to Xuanyun Restaurant now, you should come along and taste how my cured meat turned out!”

“I’ll go back to my residence first, then I’ll head to the restaurant.”

“Oh, alright.”

---

At the entrance of Xuanyun Restaurant, Shen Xuezhu waited for Lu Xiaoyue and Lu Xiaoli to finish their candied hawthorns.

Both of them were munching on the sugar.

“Mother, let’s first take you both to the kitchen at Xuanyun Restaurant to wash your faces.”

The two children obediently followed Shen Xuezhu into the restaurant.

Shen Xuezhu went to the front desk and greeted the shopkeeper.

She also asked the two children to greet him as “Uncle.”

Then she explained why she had come today.

She mentioned that she had met Xing Chu on the street, and he said he would be coming to the restaurant shortly.

She wanted to take her two children to the back kitchen to wash their faces first.

The shopkeeper was even more polite to her than last time. “Miss Shen—no, I should say Madam Shen. Last time, I thought you hadn’t married yet, but it turns out your children are already this big.”

Shen Xuezhu nodded.

The shopkeeper continued, “The four dishes you sold to our restaurant last time have really improved our business.”

Shen Xuezhu was genuinely happy for them. “That’s great.”

“Madam Shen, do you have any more recipes?”

Shen Xuezhu couldn’t think of any other dishes at the moment. “No, not at the moment.”

“Ah, I was just asking casually,” the shopkeeper said, though he sounded a little disappointed.

“Well, I’ll take the two children to the back kitchen now.” Shen Xuezhu said, then walked away.

---

The three of them arrived in the back kitchen, where the head chef approached them. He looked to be in his forties.

When he heard Lu Xiaoyue call Shen Xuezhu “Mother,” he was surprised. It turned out that she was already married and had children.

He stepped forward and greeted her, “Madam Shen, welcome!”

After Shen Xuezhu sold the four dishes to the restaurant, the business had improved so much that people started inquiring about her name.

Soon, everyone at the restaurant knew who Shen Xuezhu was.

Shen Xuezhu nodded and smiled. “Today I brought some cured meat I made, and I’d like to sell it to the restaurant.”

“The Young Master hasn’t arrived yet, so I’ll wait for him here in the restaurant.”

“Ah, I thought you were here to provide us with another recipe.”

“You don’t know? Since you gave us those four recipes last time, our back kitchen has been so busy. We had to hire two more people.”

Shen Xuezhu smiled, “It’s good that the business is going well. You’re just a bit busier.”

“Being busy isn’t a problem. If we were idle, we’d be more worried.”

“We should thank Madam Shen. Without the four recipes you gave us, we might still be sitting around doing nothing.”

Shen Xuezhu found his words funny but also a little exaggerated.

She couldn’t help but laugh. “No need to thank me!”

She then turned to the two children and said, “Say hello to Uncle.”

Lu Xiaoyue and Lu Xiaoli obediently greeted him, “Uncle.”

The head chef, whose name was Li Qingshu, had joined the restaurant when it first opened.

Li Qingshu smiled when he heard the children call him. He was really happy. Their mother had taught them well.

Shen Xuezhu thought that Xing Chu should be arriving at the restaurant soon. She wanted to prepare a piece of cured meat.

“Brother, may I borrow the kitchen for a moment?”

“Of course! Feel free to use it.”

Shen Xuezhu thought Li Qingshu was getting more and more interesting.

Just then, a few people came over to greet Shen Xuezhu, and she responded to them.

Not seeing Aunt Yang, she casually asked where she was.

Someone told her that Aunt Yang had the day off and didn’t need to work today.

Shen Xuezhu thought Aunt Yang was a good person. It was also Aunt Yang who had brought her to Xuanyun Restaurant and introduced her to the shopkeeper.

Shen Xuezhu felt grateful to her and kept her in mind, now caring for her as well.

Afterward, Shen Xuezhu took the two children and went to prepare the cured meat.