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

Shen Qing's voice was calm, but to Wu Cixin, it was like a bomb had gone off.

No way! How come there are no ingredients left?! She hasn't even had a chance to taste it properly yet!

Moreover, what if Mengmeng insists on eating Four Beauties Soup in the future?

"Madam Shen, just tell me what ingredients you need, and I can help..."

"The ingredients for the Four Beauties Soup are precious, and many of them are hard to find. I only have a little bit left, and there won't be any left before I sell them all."

Shen Qing wasn't lying; there really were no more ingredients.

Moreover, some of the ingredients were exclusively supplied by the system, which was not available in this dynasty.

Without sufficient ingredients, it's difficult to recreate the original Four Beauties Soup.

"So, from now on, Zhiweixuan..."

"We will no longer sell Four Delicacies Soup."

Wow--

As soon as she finished speaking, Li Mengmeng burst into tears.

She understood what the adults were saying; there would be no more delicious Four Delicacies Soup from now on.

The little girl was crying so hard she could barely breathe, her face covered in tears; she looked extremely heartbroken.

Shen Qing had never interacted with children before, and was suddenly at a loss for what to do.

Wu Cixin quickly picked up Li Mengmeng and coaxed her gently, "Mengmeng, be good. We can't make the Four Beauties Soup now because we don't have the ingredients. We can make it again when we have the ingredients. Be good."

"Waaah... um... really...?" Li Mengmeng asked between sobs, her big, dark eyes fixed on Shen Qing.

Clearly, she didn't believe Wu Cixin's words of comfort.

"It's true. Once we have the ingredients, I'll definitely make it for you," Shen Qing said readily.

For children, white lies are sometimes necessary.

Moreover, she wasn't exactly lying. If the system ever reopened the procurement channels for the Four Beauties Soup, she would naturally make a special batch for Li Mengmeng.

Hearing Shen Qing's affirmative answer, Li Mengmeng immediately cheered. She wiped away her tears with her chubby little hands and said to Shen Qing, "Thank you, sister!"

"Once we have the ingredients, you must make the Four Beauties Soup for Mengmeng, sister!" The little girl spoke with great seriousness, as if afraid that Shen Qing would forget.

Shen Qing pinched Li Mengmeng's cheek: "Don't worry, I'll definitely make it for you."

"Today, your older sister will make you something else delicious."

He then looked up and invited Wu Cixin, "Why don't you bring your child to my house for dinner? It'll be more lively with more people."

"How could I possibly accept this..."

"Oh my, Sister Shen's food is so delicious! You won't regret staying with your child today. Just listen to me!" Zhao Wan interrupted Wu Cixin's attempt to decline.

She's always been easygoing, and having eaten quite a few meals at Shen Qing's residence, she's already become quite familiar with him.

Mother Shen also spoke up to persuade them to stay and eat together, saying, "I like this little girl too."

At this point, it would be impolite to refuse any longer.

So Wu Cixin smiled and agreed, "Then I shall respectfully comply."

Li Mengmeng's eyes were already full of anticipation. As soon as she heard her mother agree, she jumped up happily.

"Great! I can eat my sister's cooking! Thank you, sister!!"

The little girl was overjoyed.

Shen Qing smiled and went to the kitchen.

I've already decided what I'll be cooking for today.

If you have young children, you can skip the fancy dishes and just make simple, healthy meals.

The first dish is steamed egg with minced meat.

She deftly cracked three eggs, whisked them, added warm water, sprinkled in a pinch of salt, skimmed off the foam, and steamed them over low heat.

Then I added a spoonful of lard to the pot and poured in the minced meat.

With a sizzle, the room was filled with the aroma of meat, a touch of sugar, a touch of salt, and some soy sauce.

By this time, the eggs were steamed, and the minced meat was evenly spread on top of the tender steamed egg custard, followed by a drizzle of soy sauce.

This steamed egg with minced meat is now ready.

The second dish was stir-fried vegetables with tofu.

The greens were freshly picked from the backyard garden, vibrant and juicy, and the tofu was incredibly tender, so tender you could practically squeeze water out of it.

Pour the broth into the pot; it's leftover bone broth. Once the broth boils, add the tofu, then the greens.

Add seasonings, and drizzle a few drops of sesame oil before serving.

The steaming hot stew of vegetables and tofu is ready.

The third dish was honey-glazed yam.

Peel the yam and steam it until it is soft and sticky.

Shen Qing poked it with his chopsticks; it went through easily, so it was done.

Put a spoonful of honey and a little osmanthus in a pot, simmer over low heat until it bubbles, then turn off the heat and pour it directly over the yam.

The soft and chewy honey-glazed yam is now ready.

The fourth dish was meatball soup.

Mince the pork, add minced ginger, chopped green onions and other seasonings, then add some egg white and stir in one direction until the pork can be clump together.

It's the same bone broth as before. Bring it to a boil, squeeze the minced meat into balls, put them into the broth, add some bright green leafy vegetables, and casually toss in a few goji berries.

The fragrant meatball soup is ready.

Finally, for the main course, Shen Qing chose pumpkin rice.

With a swift stroke of her knife, she cut the old pumpkin into pieces. She greased the bottom of the pot with lard, laid out the pumpkin pieces, poured in the rinsed rice, added water, covered the pot, and simmered it over low heat.

Soon, the aroma of rice mixed with the scent of pumpkin wafted out.

Seeing that it was almost ready, Shen Qing opened the lid and used a spatula to mix the pumpkin and rice together.

The golden pumpkin completely coated each grain of rice.

"Okra, you and Old Chen should try some of these."

Shen Qing divided each dish into two portions, one larger and one smaller.

Okra's eyes lit up upon hearing this: "Thank you so much, sir! It smells amazing!"

Okra was helping Shen Qing in the kitchen; she had been craving the food for ages.

To be honest, she has eaten a lot of good food since she entered the manor, and she has gained some weight.

It's so wonderful to be able to stay by the master's side!

"Let's go, let's take these to the guests first." Shen Qing smiled.

When the food was served, Wu Cixin felt like she couldn't see enough of it.

Good heavens, these are all just ordinary ingredients, how come Madam Shen made them look so beautiful?

The pale yellow eggs are smooth as a mirror, with glistening minced meat spread on the surface, and soy sauce seeping into the eggs little by little, like a traditional Chinese ink painting.

The snow-white tofu, the emerald green vegetables, and the milky white soup are all in perfect harmony in the rough earthenware bowl, pure and innocent.

The yams were arranged in sections on a plate, drizzled with amber-colored honey syrup, and sprinkled with a few golden osmanthus blossoms—it looked absolutely beautiful.

Small meatballs float on the soup, the leafy greens are green, the goji berries are red, and the soup is clear.

Looking again at the pumpkin rice in the bowl, the golden rice resembled an autumn field, making one's appetite surge.

Li Mengmeng couldn't resist picking at the pumpkin rice in her bowl.

"It smells so good, it's so sweet, it's so delicious!" Her little head was almost buried in the bowl, and her two little pigtails kept shaking.

"Eat up, everyone," Shen Qing said with a smile.

Wu Cixin then picked up her chopsticks, and as soon as she tasted the food, she was completely shocked.

Goodness, how come...it's so delicious??

The eggs were tender, the greens were crisp, the yam was soft, sweet, and juicy, the meatballs were tender and juicy, and the pumpkin rice was fragrant and sweet.

She didn't care about anything else, taking one bite after another, unable to even utter a polite word.

It smells so good, it's absolutely delicious!

......

Li Duan was handling official business in his study when he learned that his wife had taken the children to buy Four Delicacies Soup that day.

A secret sense of anticipation and curiosity inexplicably arose in my heart.