When Jiang Yanyi learned that the soldiers from the next door had chased Hu Baiwan away, she felt a complicated surge of emotions at the thought of Feng Shuo.

Even now, she couldn’t quite grasp what had happened that day.

With such a disparity in their social standings, it was impossible for her to have a proper conversation with him.

Jiang Yanyi still couldn’t believe that Feng Shuo genuinely liked her.

After all, aside from her appearance, all she had was decent cooking skills, and her real identity was a significant complication.

What could he possibly see in her?

In terms of beauty, he came from an aristocratic family and had likely seen countless beauties.

As for her cooking, while she could whip up a good meal, she wouldn’t consider herself a master.

The royal palace had plenty of top chefs.

In matters of love, Jiang Yanyi never saw her cooking as leverage.

In her previous life, she had thrown herself into managing her family’s hot pot restaurant and had no time to think about romance, only forced into a blind date by her family.

During that blind date, the other party expressed satisfaction because she could cook.

This made Jiang Yanyi feel quite resentful. Was the other party looking for a free cook in a relationship?

Naturally, that blind date had no outcome.

No matter how much her relatives urged her afterward, Jiang Yanyi never went on another date, focusing all her attention on the hot pot restaurant.

She wasn’t keen on reminiscing about her past life; being in another world, remembering those things only brought her sorrow.

Now in this new world, if Feng Shuo hadn’t made such a sudden move a few days ago, she wouldn’t have even thought about marriage.

Her heart had indeed been chaotic for a moment, but it quickly calmed down.

She was well aware that she and Feng Shuo were not of the same kind.

Since that day, Feng Shuo had not shown up again; perhaps he hadn’t taken what happened that day seriously at all.

Taking a deep breath, Jiang Yanyi pushed aside all her thoughts, unwilling to dwell on such trivial matters.

When the carpenter arrived to knock on the door with the plaque, she finally opened the shop.

Madam Chen from the next-door tailor shop had witnessed Hu Baiwan’s ruckus that morning and specially reminded her, “Little sister, you need to be careful in the future. That Hu Baiwan is a vile person who relies on his family’s money and has caused trouble for many young women.”

“Moreover, his mother is a fierce woman; previously, a singing girl from the Fuke Inn was harassed by him several times. His mother led a group of wicked servants and dragged the girl onto the street to beat her, claiming the girl seduced her man!”

Jiang Yanyi was stunned. “Is there no law here?”

Madam Chen had a somewhat cryptic expression. “Before the upheaval in Xizhou, the government officials were all in Hu family’s pocket, colluding with merchants and corrupt to the core. How can ordinary folks like us fight against them? It’s only because a new general has taken charge in Xizhou that the Hu family has toned down their actions a bit.”

Seeing Jiang Yanyi look frightened, she felt a twinge of pity and said, “Don’t be too scared. Once your restaurant opens, just operate later in the evening and close earlier. In broad daylight, even the Hu family can’t make a fuss!”

Jiang Yanyi thanked her and turned to close her shop door tightly.

Qiu Kui, still scared, asked, “What if those people come back again?”

Jiang Yanyi remained calm. “They probably think they can bully us since we’re just two women running the shop.”

She gently brushed her fingers over the custom-made plaque reading “Jiang’s Old Hot Pot,” already forming a plan. “We should hire two waitstaff, preferably someone skilled in martial arts, so we won’t have to worry if trouble comes.”

Some physical labor could also be delegated to them.

Initially, Jiang Yanyi thought that the shop was small enough for just her and Qiu Kui to manage.

However, today’s incident made her realize the importance of safety.

Qiu Kui frowned. “Where are we supposed to find such people?”

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Yanyi replied, “We may not have connections, but Head Zhao and Master Li have been in the kitchen brigade for many years and have a wide network. When they come to help with the opening in a couple of days, I’ll talk to Master Li about this.”

Qiu Kui nodded vigorously. “Okay!”

Jiang Yanyi pinched her recently fuller face and smiled, “What’s there to be afraid of? There are always more solutions than problems. This is just the beginning. Once the shop opens, there will be plenty of troublemakers to deal with!”

Qui Kui felt worried when she heard Jiang Yanyi mention that there might be more situations like today in the future.

However, seeing Jiang Yanyi’s calm demeanor somehow reassured her.

She said, “As long as Hua Hua is around, I’m not scared!”

Feeling a bit better, Jiang Yanyi decided to head to the kitchen to try out the new oven that had been built a few days ago.

Outside the back door of the kitchen was a small platform about half a foot wide.

The previous homeowner had piled up a lot of junk there, but after clearing it out, Jiang Yanyi built an oven against the wall.

She also made a small stove specifically for earthenware pots and jars.

Occasionally, when making soup, using an earthen pot would enhance the flavor, and a small stove would save firewood.

Living on the main street, they had to buy firewood and charcoal, so every little bit saved mattered.

Jiang Yanyi planned to make egg tarts to test how well the oven worked.

Xizhou was a border town of the Great Xuan Dynasty, and since the nomadic tribes were just beyond the borders, dairy products weren’t particularly rare here.

Jiang Yanyi even discovered that butter was available for sale.

In the past couple of days, she found out that there was a shop called Yudai Fang diagonally across from the Protectorate that specialized in selling cow and sheep milk.

However, one had to arrive early, as the fresh milk was mainly supplied to nearby nobles and officials.

This morning, when she went out to buy groceries, she also picked up a jar of fresh milk, estimating it to be about a pound, along with some butter.

To Jiang Yanyi, making egg tarts was simpler than making traditional pastries.

She combined flour with butter and sugar, added water, and kneaded the dough to make the tart shells.

While the dough was resting, she flattened a portion of butter with a rolling pin, then did the same with the dough, spreading the butter on top.

She folded the dough over like making a quilt and rolled it out again.

After repeating the process of folding the dough and butter together and rolling it out three or four times, the layers for the egg tart shells were complete.

Jiang Yanyi rolled the dough into a cylindrical shape, then cut it into pieces about an inch thick.

Without aluminum foil, she directly placed the dough pieces into the specially made pear-flower-shaped porcelain bowls, flattening them to shape the tart shells.

For the filling, she mixed a few eggs into the fresh milk and stirred until well combined.

If someone liked it sweet, they could add a bit of sugar during mixing.

Jiang Yanyi cracked fewer eggs, not because she was stingy, but because adding too many eggs would make the tarts less tender.

Worried that the oven she built might not reach the right temperature and would ruin the ingredients, Jiang Yanyi decided to bake just six tarts for her first attempt.

Using such a rudimentary setup to make egg tarts, Jiang Yanyi stayed in front of the oven, concerned about controlling the heat.

Qui Kui brought over a small stool to sit beside her, while Jiang Yanyi snacked on pumpkin seeds and recounted the plays and novels she had read before.

Qui Kui was so captivated that she forgot to crack her pumpkin seeds.

Whenever Jiang Yanyi took a sip of water to moisten her throat, Qui Kui couldn’t contain her curiosity and asked, “So what happened to the Yang family’s female general later?”

The sweet, fragrant smell of the tarts wafted from the oven, and Jiang Yanyi didn’t have time to answer Qui Kui.

She quickly extinguished the fire, saying, “I’ll tell you later! I need to take the tarts out first, or they’ll burn!”

This wood-fired oven was different from modern electric ovens, which cool down immediately when the power goes out.

The residual heat from this wood-fired oven could still bake a few sweet potatoes.

Using a damp cloth to protect her hands, Jiang Yanyi carefully took the tarts out.

Some of them were slightly burnt around the edges, but luckily not too badly.

The air was filled with a sweet and milky aroma.

After letting the tarts cool a bit, Jiang Yanyi picked one up to taste.

The shell was crispy, while the filling was soft and sweet—just like she remembered egg tarts to be.

Indeed, sweet treats could brighten one’s mood, and Jiang Yanyi squinted her eyes in delight.

While Qui Kui craved the egg tarts, she was also eager to hear the story.

With her mouth full, she mumbled, “This pastry is the best! What happened to the Yang family’s female general next?”

Jiang Yanyi couldn’t help but chuckle, “I think once the shop opens, I might as well tell stories right here.”

Qui Kui finally finished her first egg tart and nodded vigorously, “I think that’s a great idea!”