Shocking! The entire court was drooling with envy because of me.

"Dad, are you really not going to eat?"

Madam Yan noticed her father's gaze and couldn't help but feel a bit teasing.

She had a feeling that her father would love Shen Niangzi's brown sugar glutinous rice cakes.

No, it's not that no one would refuse Lady Shen's delicious food.

General Tao turned his head away somewhat awkwardly: "You eat yours, I don't like those sickeningly sweet treats, I don't like them."

"Stubborn to the end..." Madam Yan muttered under her breath.

But this suited her perfectly; the whole plate of brown sugar glutinous rice cakes was now hers!

I can't get enough to eat, I really can't get enough.

How could Madam Shen make such a common food as brown sugar glutinous rice cakes so delicious?

One bite after another, the brown sugar glutinous rice cakes on the plate disappeared one after another.

General Tao couldn't concentrate on the sounds of his daughter eating beside him; his mind was filled with the golden glutinous rice cakes.

He swallowed his saliva repeatedly.

"Dad, this is the last one, you can have it."

Madam Yan brought the white porcelain plate to General Tao.

She had almost finished eating.

This last one was left for my father.

Today she was determined to let her father try Shen Niangzi's brown sugar glutinous rice cakes. Once her father tasted them, he would surely fall in love with them.

If her father falls in love with Madam Shen's cooking as much as she does, then the matter of recognizing her as a goddaughter can take a big step forward.

Then she and Madam Shen will be able to become family.

I have to say, she's incredibly smart.

"I don't like it..." General Tao was still being stubborn, but the next moment, Madam Yan put the brown sugar glutinous rice cake to his mouth.

"Hurry up and eat, I've heard you swallowing your saliva for ages."

"At such an old age, I don't know why you're so concerned about saving face."

General Tao wanted to refute, but as soon as he opened his mouth, his mouth and tongue seemed to be out of his control, and he directly bit into the brown sugar glutinous rice cake.

click-

The outer layer is cracked and broken, and the glutinous rice cake is fried until it is crispy and crunchy.

Beneath the crispy shell lies soft and chewy glutinous rice, with long, stretchy strands that gently bounce between your teeth.

Almost instantly, the sweetness of the syrup surged up, but it wasn't the cloying kind of sweetness. Instead, it was a sweetness with a refreshing aroma of dried tangerine peel and a slight sourness of lemon, creating a very layered sweetness.

As he chewed, the aroma of soybean flour and the oily fragrance of sesame seeds filled the air, making him unable to help but show an expression of enjoyment.

Sweet and soft, not cloying at all.

General Tao's eyes lit up; he hadn't expected sweets to be so delicious.

I couldn't resist taking another bite and savoring it.

The shock on his face deepened, and he even seemed to question the meaning of life.

"This dessert...it's so delicious!"

"I remember eating brown sugar glutinous rice cakes before, they were oily and greasy, and sickeningly sweet. This... how come today's brown sugar glutinous rice cakes are completely different from what I imagined?" General Tao was dumbfounded.

He actually ate sweets when he was very, very young.

But most desserts are extremely sweet, cloyingly sweet, so sweet that they make you want to vomit.

He still remembers that he ate a piece of honey osmanthus cake, which made him sick, and he never ate sweets again after that.

After living most of his life, he never imagined that there were such delicious sweets in the world.

Madam Yan revealed a knowing look: "Father, it's definitely different. This is brown sugar glutinous rice cake made by Madam Shen."

"And it's not just brown sugar glutinous rice cakes, Madam Shen can also make many other delicious foods, like spicy strips, hot pot, and home-style dishes—everything is absolutely delicious!"

"Moreover, my husband and Minister Xin of the Ministry of Works are planning to pull off a big heist using Lady Shen's hotpot!"

General Tao was stunned.

Spicy strip hotpot—the name wasn't unfamiliar to him, but he simply couldn't understand it.

As for what Yan Wenli and Xin Heng were planning to do, he didn't have time to think about it right now.

With his mouth full of soft, sweet flavor, he had only one thought at that moment: he wanted to eat, and he wanted to eat to his heart's content!

Click, click—

In no time at all, the only brown sugar glutinous rice cake was gone.

General Tao looked at Madam Yan with a hint of resentment: "It's so delicious, why didn't you give me one to try sooner?"

"Did you do this on purpose? Did you deliberately leave me with only one?"

I didn't get to eat my fill, my mind was filled with cravings, it was awful, really awful.

Madam Yan smiled smugly: "Father, I just asked you a question."

"I've asked you several times, and you're the one who said you didn't like it."

"That last one, it's my filial piety towards you!"

General Tao: "..."

Is this all there is to filial piety?

Her daughter definitely did it on purpose, absolutely on purpose!

"Brown sugar glutinous rice cakes are delicious, but the General's Mansion taking on an adopted daughter is no joke. Don't think I don't know what you're up to," General Tao sneered.

"I'm not here for the food; the most important thing is that Madam Shen is a good person—beautiful, capable, and straightforward. I want to be her sister, like family!"

"You wouldn't believe it, just two days ago in the food competition, Madam Shen was practically the winner, but she withdrew at the last minute and ended up selling spicy snacks next to the competition. Watching that scene was quite satisfying; Madam Shen is just so charismatic!"

When it comes to Shen Qing, Madam Yan raves about him.

She wanted Shen Qing to become the adopted daughter of the General's Mansion. Besides wanting to become family with Shen Qing, she also wanted everyone in the capital to know that Shen Qing had the backing of the General's Mansion.

Therefore, anyone in the capital who wants to harm Shen Qing will have to think twice.

The reason she was in such a hurry to persuade General Tao these past few days, hoping he would agree to adopt her as his goddaughter, was mainly because she saw that Master Jin's face was extremely dark that day.

This year's cooking competition has been a complete disaster, and Jin Ye will most likely hold Shen Qing responsible for it.

Moreover, given how popular spicy snacks are, she was afraid that Mr. Jin might do something unethical for profit.

Madam Yan praised Shen Qing to the skies, but General Tao did not relent. He simply said, "I met that Madam Shen today, and she is indeed quite remarkable."

She is very pragmatic and intelligent.

She didn't actually want to become his goddaughter the moment she came to his door.

"Oh, Father, she's more than just good! You just haven't realized how wonderful Madam Shen is yet. Once you do, you'll definitely want to adopt her as your goddaughter!"

General Tao laughed heartily: "Right now, I only think that Madam Shen's brown sugar glutinous rice cakes are absolutely wonderful, delicious!"

"It's not just brown sugar glutinous rice cakes. How about this, you come with me to the Yan residence later. Madam Shen lives there. If we're lucky, we might even get to eat some of her homemade delicacies tonight."

After all, one needs to have feelings for someone to recognize a goddaughter, and feelings require time to develop. If they spend time together, her father will eventually take the initiative to recognize Madam Shen as his goddaughter.

"Success! Success!"

Upon hearing that there was something delicious to eat, General Tao readily agreed.

He was still thinking about how to get Madam Shen to make some more brown sugar glutinous rice cakes.

It smells amazing, absolutely wonderful!