I won't be a prince's concubine; I'll cook delicious food and raise two villainous cu

Hearing the voice behind her, Shen Yu turned around abruptly.

It was still dark when a tall, muscular black figure suddenly appeared at the kitchen doorway. The blurry outline looked particularly frightening in the dim light, and Shen Yu screamed in terror, "Oh my god!"

She was already standing on one foot by the stove when the sudden fright caused her to lose her balance instantly. In her panic, she didn't have time to grab the cane next to her, and she swayed and fell to the ground beside her.

The dark figure moved with astonishing speed, almost instantly darting into the house. Just as Shen Yu was about to fall to the ground, a large, strong hand reached out and grabbed her waist tightly.

Her slender waist was so delicate that it could be encircled with one hand, and the touch was so exquisite that Li Xiaoyun's body stiffened abruptly, and even the hand holding her paused.

After regaining her balance, Shen Yu realized that the person who came was Li Xiaoyun, who had gotten up early. She quickly used his strength to stand up straight, holding onto the stove with one hand, her heart still pounding.

A rich aroma of pancakes wafted from the pan. Shen Yu quickly picked up the spatula and flipped the wild vegetable pancakes in the pan, but she didn't dare to look at Li Xiaoyun. She muttered to herself: I just finished off the last of his family's food. Will he be angry?

Shen Yu has been resting her leg at home for the past few days and has hardly seen Li Xiaoyun.

Although she didn't know why this rough man was nowhere to be seen with the renowned Li siblings ten years later, she needed to earn a living from him for three months, and she couldn't afford to offend him under any circumstances.

Shen Yu picked up a steaming hot pancake, turned around, and respectfully handed it to Li Xiaoyun: "I made a few pancakes, please try them while they're hot, young master!"

Li Xiaoyun took the cake, her eyes full of suspicion, clearly not believing that this seemingly delicate woman could make any decent food.

He held the pancake and took a big bite.

The scalding hot pancake, mingled with the aroma of lard, the roughness of wheat bran, and the freshness of wild vegetables, burst forth in the mouth, its rich flavor leaving Li Xiaoyun momentarily stunned.

He took another bite. The cake was very substantial, as it contained a lot of wheat bran. Each bite required a lot of chewing before swallowing. Although the texture was a bit rough, the taste far exceeded his expectations.

With such simple ingredients, she actually made something so delicious? The aroma of the pancake still lingered on Li Xiaoyun's tongue, and she finished the whole pancake in no time.

Shen Yu saw the glint in his eyes and watched him quickly finish the pancake without saying a word, and couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.

Having spent nearly eight years in Li Xinyu's manor, she combined modern cooking ideas to develop excellent culinary skills and also learned many survival skills of ancient women. She thought she would never need these skills again, but unexpectedly they came in handy after her rebirth.

After Li Xiaoyun finished eating, Shen Yu confessed somewhat embarrassedly, "Young Master, to be honest, there's no rice left in your rice jar, and I've used up all the wheat bran flour too."

"I'm lucky to have a hearty meal this morning, but I might not have anything to eat next time... Sigh!"

Shen Yu blinked her round eyes, secretly observing Li Xiaoyun's expression.

She had heard from the people who brought the silver up the mountain that after Ye Xiaoqin was driven out of Chenjia Village, her mother-in-law asked someone to return five taels of silver to Li Xiaoyun. Although Li Xiaoyun had said he wanted twenty taels, seeing the pitiful state of the Chen family with only a widow and a young girl left, he agreed that the rest could be returned slowly and did not return the five taels of silver.

Since Li Xiaoyun had silver on him, he could exchange it for some grain. Shen Yu immediately had an idea. She cleared her throat and said, "Young Master, please forgive me for speaking out of turn."

Li Xiaoyun looked down at her face, which was smeared with soot, and said calmly, "You speak."

Shen Yu quickly said, "Ya'er and Erlang are both at the age where they need to grow, but they only eat thin porridge and wild vegetables without any meat or fish every day. Their nutrition is too monotonous. If this continues, their bodies will not be able to grow strong. Don't you think that makes sense?"

She silently added in her heart: Only you are as strong as a bull, not afraid of malnutrition! That Wen Erlang has a sharp tongue, but his body is as thin as a fallen leaf in the autumn wind; Ya'er is even more pitiful, she started to have a runny nose as soon as the weather turned cold, it's all because of her poor constitution.

Listening to her words, Li Xiaoyun seemed to finally realize the crux of the problem, and looked at her, asking, "So, you want to eat meat?"

Shen Yu was speechless for a moment, her eyes widening in disbelief. "W-what do you mean I want to... Okay, I do want to, but it's mainly for the sake of the two children!"

"Young master, look, if the child wants to grow up strong and healthy, tall and sturdy without getting sick, he needs to eat well and have nutritious food! He needs to eat meat, vegetables, and white rice, with a balanced diet. He can't just drink thin porridge and eat wild vegetables and sweet potatoes every day, can he?"

Shen Yu really wondered how Li Xiaoyun managed to raise her younger siblings.

She had heard from others that the three siblings had only moved to Qingshan five years ago. At that time, Ya'er was about one year old, Li Erlang was only three, and Li Xiaoyun himself was only fourteen. It was hard to imagine how he had managed to survive all these years. But being able to raise his two young siblings was enough to prove that he was capable; he just didn't know how to take care of children.

Li Xiaoyun was silent for a moment before speaking, "If it's just about letting them live, that's not difficult."

"But raising them properly requires a lot of thought and effort."

Shen Yu recalled the rumors she had heard about the Li siblings in her previous life: Li Shuozhou, though powerful and influential, was a sickly man who was weak and frail all year round; Li Shuoya, though a bewitching concubine who was unparalleled in the harem, was a sickly woman with a weak constitution.

Even without witnessing their fate, one could guess that both of them would ultimately be dragged down by their frail bodies and meet a short end.

Since she had received kindness from the Li family in this life, she couldn't just stand by and watch all this happen; she had to find a way to change their fate. Shen Yu made up her mind, her dark eyes fixed on Li Xiaoyun, who also stared intently at her.

After a long while, Li Xiaoyun slowly spoke: "They never ate the meat I used to cook."

Shen Yu immediately guessed the reason; it was probably because his cooking skills were too poor, and the meat he made was hard to swallow.

With Ya'er's greedy appearance, let alone meat, she would probably take a few bites even if it was just a shoe insole dipped in sauce. How could she be a picky eater?

She patted her chest and assured Li Xiaoyun, "Don't worry, young master, leave the cooking to me from now on. I guarantee the two children will enjoy their meals!"

There were four pancakes left in the pot. Since Li Xiaoyun was the main breadwinner in the family, Shen Yu left two for him.

But eating just flatbread was too dry, so she scooped a ladle of water into the pot, and using the last bit of oil at the bottom of the pot, sprinkled in a few grains of salt and the last bit of wild vegetable scraps, and made a simple soup to eat with the flatbread.

Before long, Li Shuoya and Li Shuozhou were attracted by the aroma. This was the first time the four of them had sat around the small square table in the kitchen to eat together.

"Sister! Steamed buns, such big steamed buns!" Li Shuoya's big, bright eyes lit up like stars when she saw the steamed buns on the table.

She eagerly grabbed the pancake from the bowl, took a big bite, and was immediately captivated by its aroma. Her cheeks were bulging, like a little hamster stealing food, and she was so engrossed in munching on the pancake that she didn't even have time to say a word.

Li Xiaoyun had already eaten one pancake and was now slowly tearing off the second one, eating much more gracefully than Li Shuoya. Li Shuozhou, however, sat to the side, staring at the pancake in his bowl with a look of disgust, hesitant to touch it.

Li Xiaoyun looked at him and asked, "Why aren't you eating?"

Li Shuozhou glanced at Shen Yu and said to Li Xiaoyun, "Is what she made edible?"

Shen Yu looked at him with a smile and teased him deliberately, "Could it be that Erlang is a picky eater?"

Li Shuozhou's thoughts were exposed, his face flushed slightly, but he stubbornly retorted, "You! You're talking nonsense..."

Just then, a small hand suddenly reached into Li Shuozhou's bowl. Li Shuoya looked up at him with pleading eyes and asked, "Second brother, if you're not going to eat it, can you give me the cake instead?"