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

"Let that brat bring all his friends over; we can have lunch together."

After Shen Qing finished speaking, he went straight to the kitchen to steam the rice.

No matter what dishes you eat, the rice has to be steamed in advance, otherwise you'll have to wait a long time.

Old Chen did as instructed and went out to report back to Nangong Yao.

A moment later, a cacophony of children's voices arose:

"Wow! What a beautiful house! I've never seen such a beautiful house in my entire life!"

"Boss, you're really loyal, bringing us all the way to Ping'an County."

"Sister Shen is so kind; she actually offered to cook for us! I'm so happy!"

"I've only ever seen Sister Shen from afar; I never imagined I'd be having dinner at her house today."

"..."

A jumble of noises, chattering and clattering, all vying to speak; you could tell there were both boys and girls among them.

Upon hearing the commotion, Shen Qing immediately went out to greet them.

The sight before her eyes shocked her greatly.

Good heavens, these children in front of me are all filthy, wearing tattered clothes, with black faces, and some of them are even holding broken bowls.

There were no princes or princesses as she had imagined; they were clearly just a bunch of little beggars.

The leader, Nangong Yao, looked proud, but when he saw Shen Qing, his eyes instantly filled with excitement: "Sister Shen!"

"They... are your friends?" Shen Qing asked helplessly.

It wasn't that she looked down on beggars, but rather that they were far from what she expected.

She's far from achieving her goal.

Nangong Yao: "Yes, that's them! I don't even know any of the little beggars in Ping'an County, so it's hard for them to do anything. That's why I brought some of my friends from the capital."

"I'll have them beg for food in Ping'an County, and then I'll gather those little beggars from Ping'an County!"

Shen Qing: "..."

Are we suggesting they beg for food in Ping'an County? Is that right?

This directly increased the population inflow into Ping'an County.

"Sister Shen, I'm Baozi!"

Just then, a dirty little beggar stepped forward and knelt directly in front of Shen Qing.

"You may not know me, but that's alright. It's because of your snail rice noodles that I was promoted by His Highness the Crown Prince. Now I'm the head of the beggars in Ping'an County, personally selected by His Highness the Crown Prince. It's all thanks to you, Sister Shen!"

"And Sister Shen, your snail rice noodles smelled so good! I've never eaten anything so delicious in my life!"

"Sister Shen, you are my greatest benefactor!"

After saying that, he knelt on the ground and began to kowtow repeatedly.

Shen Qing was startled and quickly said, "Alright, alright, get up now."

She had absolutely no recollection of steamed buns or dumplings.

"Hurry up and wash your faces and hands clean, we'll eat together later!"

"Old Chen, quickly take them to wash up, and then go buy some children's clothes for them to change into."

The main problem is that it's too dirty, and it also smells a little bad.

Moreover, these children are truly pitiful, having to beg for a living at such a young age; it would be a lie to say they aren't moved.

When the children heard that they would have new clothes, they all excitedly followed Old Chen away.

Only Nangong Yao didn't leave.

Although he was mixed in with a group of beggars, Nangong Yao's aristocratic air could not be hidden.

"Sister Shen, what are we going to eat?" This little brat only has food in his eyes.

Shen Qing thought for a moment and said, "I'll make you a bear-shaped omelet rice."

She originally intended to cook a few dishes, but that was to win over the royal family.

Since they're just a bunch of little beggars, let's keep it simple and make some omelet rice.

For people who are constantly hungry, having enough to eat is more important than fancy dishes.

"Bear Cub Omelette Rice? What's that?" Nangong Yao asked, his face full of curiosity.

Shen Qing smiled and said, "You'll find out soon enough."

This bear-shaped omelet rice is best made with leftover rice, but that's not available now, so freshly steamed rice will also work.

Shen Qing went to the kitchen to start preparing the dishes.

She beat several eggs, added water, starch, salt, and other seasonings, preparing to fry the egg crepes first.

The egg crepe is the "blanket" of the omelet rice; it needs to be thin, chewy, and unbroken.

Heat oil in a wok, pour in the egg mixture, and shape it into a large round sheet.

This step requires precise control of the heat. The heat cannot be too high, or the eggs will burn, but it also cannot be too low, or the egg skin will stick.

Before long, golden-yellow egg crepes were ready, thin and translucent.

By this time, the rice had also been steamed.

To prevent the rice from sticking together, Shen Qing used chopsticks to loosen the rice as soon as it was taken out of the pot, and then placed it in a ventilator to quickly evaporate the moisture from the rice grains.

During this process, she also chopped some ham and carrots, and prepared some corn kernels and green peas.

Then crack the eggs and separate the yolks from the whites.

These are the ingredients I've prepared for making fried rice later.

After the rice had cooled down, she didn't rush to stir-fry it. Instead, she put a spoonful of oil into the pan, turned off the heat after the oil was hot, and then poured in the cooled rice to stir-fry.

Before long, each grain of rice was coated with a layer of oil, further preventing the rice from becoming sticky.

Next up is fried rice.

This step is the same as making fried rice.

Once the golden fried rice is cooked, wrap it in the previously fried egg crepe, and the omelet rice is ready.

But Shen Qing didn't stop; what she wanted to make was bear-shaped omelet rice.

Dip a bamboo skewer in a little ketchup and dot two dots in the center of the egg crepe to make the bear's eyes. Draw an inverted triangle below the eyes to make the nose, and finally draw an upward-curving arc.

Cut cucumber into thin, semi-circular slices and place them on either side of the top of the omelet rice to serve as ears.

"It's done!" Shen Qing was very satisfied with his painting skills.

Watching from the side, Nangong Yao was already absolutely delighted: "What an adorable little bear! Sister Shen, you're amazing!"

"Do you want to draw it?" Shen Qing blinked.

"think!"

Nangong Yao was extremely excited.

He not only wanted to draw, but he also wanted to eat.

A rich aroma of eggs wafted into his nostrils, mixed with the caramelized scent of ham, the sweetness of corn kernels, and the sweet fragrance of carrots—it was simply irresistible!

Before long, plates of fragrant omelet rice were ready.

The clean-up little beggars all sat around the table, each with a plate of bear-shaped omelet rice in front of them.

"It smells so good! I can't resist!"

"This little bear is so cute, I almost don't want to eat it..."

"No, it smells too good! I'm sorry, Little Bear!"

"..."

For the first time in their lives, the little beggars were dressed in clean clothes and sitting at a table eating.

You should know that they used to have to compete with street dogs for food.

Even after acknowledging Nangong Yao as their leader, they were still filthy beggars.

After all, Nangong Yao's rewards were not given every day, and many of them couldn't even get their hands on them.

Therefore, as we sat at the table eating today, everyone's eyes welled up with tears.

Large tears rolled down into the omelet rice.

I miss my mother...

"If I had parents, they would definitely buy me delicious food every day."

"So this is what fried rice tastes like. When will I ever have a home?"

"..."