When Chu Lian saw that the maid was about to serve this world’s terrible sencha, she grimaced. She quickly stopped the maid and said, “Princess, this dessert doesn’t go along with sencha; it’ll spoil the taste.”
Hearing that, the princess lost her usual noble bearing as she rolled her eyes at Chu Lian. “Chu Liu, you’re just saying that because you don’t like to drink sencha, right?”
From the shine of Chu Lian’s eyes, she could see that she was just trying to make up an excuse.
The corner of Chu Lian’s mouth twitched speechlessly; this princess was way too clever.
Princess Duanjia’s personal maidservant laughed in response. “Third Young Madam, please be at ease. Our princess doesn’t like sencha either. This servant will be pouring honey water, not sencha.”
Chu Lian sheepishly chuckled. How awkward.
Princess Duanjia picked up a matcha-flavored cookie and asked curiously, “Chu Liu, can you tell me how you made this ‘cookie’?”
Inwardly, Princess Duanjia was thinking to herself, ‘Chu Liu must have come up with the name herself. It’s so weird, and so inelegant. Hmph, all she knows how to do is eat!’
Chu Lian was quite surprised. In the past few days, she had made quite a number of delicacies which exceeded the current standards of the Great Wu Dynasty. Although every dish she made had received tremendous praise, since the people here guarded their secret recipes even more preciously than their own lives, no one had ever straight out asked her for the recipe. That is, until she met Princess Duanjia!
Chu Lian didn’t quite know how to react for a moment. “Princess, do you really want to know?”
“Of course, do you think I’m kidding!?” Princess Duanjia rolled her eyes at her again.
Chu Lian’s eyes were wide open by now, and her thick eyelashes trembled as she blinked. “Since you’re that curious about how the cookies were made… Well, it’s hard to say. It could be hard for some and easy for others.”
“Then make it easy for me.”
Chu Lian almost choked. All she could do was gather up her patience and begin to recite the instructions. “To make these cookies, you’ll need butter, eggs, flour, and sugar. Prepare all these ingredients first, then mix the butter, add in the sugar, throw in the beaten eggs, and stir the mixture. After mixing them thoroughly, add the flour and stir. Shape the dough as you like, then just bake it. However, it won’t be easy for most people to grasp how to mix and bake it properly.”
Although Chu Lian made it sound simple, it was practically impossible for the people of this era to make a proper cookie without experience. They would probably be in over their heads just trying to deal with the butter alone. The recipe was only simple to Chu Lian; it was a completely different matter for other people.
Princess Duanjia frowned. “So that means… for most people, it’ll be very hard to bake this cookie?”
Chu Lian nodded. “Princess, something like this cute matcha cookie you’re holding will require even more steps to make. If you want to try making some, you could learn how to make a simple cookie first, without making any special shapes.”
“No way! I want to make one shaped like a cat’s head, and it has to be matcha-flavoured!”
“Ah?” Chu Lian’s suffering showed a little in her expression, but without waiting for her to gather her thoughts, Princess Duanjia spoke again.
“Bring more cookies the next time you come over! Remember, they must be shaped like cat heads, and they have to be as cute as this one! I won’t let you go if they’re not cute!” A little embarrassed by her own words, Princess Duanjia pouted. Her awkward expression was rather endearing.
Once again, Chu Lian replied with a stupefied, “Ah?”
After some thought, she realised that she had been invited by the princess again.
She suddenly thought that Princess Duanjia’s awkward expression was actually pretty adorable.
Chu Lian smiled, “Alright, I’ll bring some other flavours next time.”
Princess Duanjia’s eyes lit up, but she immediately followed it up with a pout. “Who wants you to come? I just want to eat more of these cute cat-shaped snacks.”