Wang's Oil-Crisped Cake, You Su

Wang's Oil Pastry Shop, in front of the shop.

"Mother-in-law."

The elderly woman selling pancakes, with her slender back and white hair, heard someone calling her. She put down the dough she was kneading, looked up at the person, and her slightly squinted old eyes instantly brightened.

"You are... You Su's junior sister?"

Ji Lingruo peach blossom eyes, as alluring as the autumn moon, blinked twice, her voice clear and melodious:

"Does my mother-in-law know me?"

In her memory, although she loved this shop's Oil-Crisped Cake the most, she had never bought them herself before. How could this old woman recognize her?

"Of course! Besides you, who else in this city deserves the title of 'the Number One Beauty Under Heaven'?" Granny Wang said kindly, her smile radiating from every wrinkle.

Ji Lingruo's delicate face flushed crimson instantly. The old woman's words contained no mockery, but rather praise for the girl's beauty, yet they still sounded incredibly embarrassing to the ears. She felt both ashamed and annoyed, secretly resenting her blind senior brother for his unbridled tongue—how could he even utter such self-aggrandizing words to others?

"Grandma is joking. That was all my senior brother talking nonsense." Ji Lingruo awkwardly tugged at the corners of her mouth.

"No nonsense, no nonsense, it's exactly what it sounds like." Granny Wang smiled, wiping her flour-covered hands on her skirt, and then called out, "You're here to buy pancakes, right? You used to always You Su to buy them, but now that he's injured saving everyone, are you craving some while lying in bed? He's our great benefactor! I'll pack you a few extra; from now on, all the pancakes you eat here are free."

Grandma Wang then enthusiastically packed two kinds of pancakes, one with beef and the other with preserved vegetables. Despite her advanced age, she clearly remembered the two apprentice brothers and sisters' favorite types of pancakes.

Ji Lingruo smiled sweetly, feeling honored by the respect others had shown her senior brother this morning, and her heart was filled with joy. However, she still took out a few taels of silver from her purse and handed it over.

"Young lady, what are you doing? I'm just selling pancakes for fun, and I don't mean I don't want money." Granny Wang's face hardened, as if she was about to get angry.

"No, no, no, Grandma, this isn't money for the cakes," Ji Lingruo quickly explained, not wanting to offend the kind old lady.

"What kind of money is that?" Granny Wang asked curiously, her eyes darting around.

"I... I..." Ji Lingruo was also a little hesitant to speak, but she still mustered up her courage and said, "This is the money I'm asking you to give me to be your apprentice."

"Become an apprentice?" Granny Wang was clearly surprised by this answer.

Ji Lingruo bit her lower lip, thinking that there was no hope of becoming a disciple. Although she didn't understand human relationships very well, she knew that wanting to learn how to make cakes was no different from wanting to learn a Cultivation Method. These were important traditions that people relied on for survival, and there was no reason to teach them to others so easily.

But now that she's left, who knows when she'll return? Will she still be able to taste that familiar flavor when she goes back to this place?

This Oil-Crisped Cake accompanied her through the happiest three years of her life, and she didn't want to easily forget its flavor. Whether she was making it for herself or for You Su, she had to learn how to make it.

"That's right, Grandma, I'd like to learn how to make these Oil-Crisped Cake from you."

Ji Lingruo spoke solemnly, and she simply took out all the silver coins from her purse, which glittered in her hands.

Granny Wang was also taken aback, not because she was frightened by the money, but because she looked at the girl with gentle eyes:

"Are you leaving?"

The old man's hair was half-white, and he always lamented that his eyesight was failing, yet he saw things more clearly than anyone else. Ji Lingruo she obediently nodded.

"Um."

"Does You Su know?"

Ji Lingruo nodded again. Granny Wang smiled serenely, pushed Ji Lingruo's hand holding the silver coins back, and said:

"It's good that you know. A proper farewell is essential for a proper reunion. Don't be like those characters in the folk tales who leave without a word. It may seem cool, but they'll regret it later. If you really want to learn, your mother-in-law can teach you for free."

Hearing Ji Lingruo felt a surge of warmth in her heart. She didn't refuse further, knowing the old lady wouldn't accept the money openly, so she simply thanked her verbally.

"Thank you, Grandma!"

The young girl was about to bow deeply when the old woman quickly stopped her. The old woman, whose hands were rough and wrinkled from a lifetime of hard work, held Ji Lingruo's plump, fair hand and said with heartache:

"It's just learning how to make a pancake, why the formalities? But your hands are so beautiful, you'll be kneading dough and frying them later, so you'd better be careful, or You Su will be worried."

Ji Lingruo let him hold her hand, and pouted, "He wouldn't care. He makes me do all the dirty and hard work in the sect."

"You Su really that awful?"

As Granny Wang led Ji Lingruo into the shop, she echoed the girl's complaints. However, the girl's delicate skin had already given away the truth, and Granny Wang was unwilling to expose her little scheme, finding her even more adorable.

The old woman had a son, but he had struggled to start a family in a larger city. The two elderly people couldn't bear to part with their ancestral shop and didn't want to be a burden on their son, so they voluntarily separated from their children and grandchildren. When they saw the charming Ji Lingruo, it was as if they had seen their own granddaughter.

Ji Lingruo wanted to continue complaining about You Su, following the old woman's lead, since the best way to get closer to someone is to complain about them together. Unfortunately, the bad words stuck in her throat and she couldn't say them. Ji Lingruo shook her head, annoyed that she had been deceived too deeply by this hypocritical You Su, and now she couldn't even bring herself to speak ill of him behind his back.

"Actually, no, he's been pretty good to me..." Ji Lingruo chuckled awkwardly.

Granny Wang patted Ji Lingruo's hand, a knowing, knowing look on her face.

"Young lady, do you know why You Su is called You Su?"

"Why?" Ji Lingruo's beautiful eyes sparkled, intrigued.

"Haha, it's because your master also loves our cakes. After she found You Su, she didn't know what to name him, so she just called him You Su (meaning 'fried dough'). Before You Su was five, all the neighbors called him that. You know, he's really strange. He's blind and can't read, but when he was five, he started to announce to everyone that his name was 'You Su,' the 'You' in 'to roam' and the 'Su' in 'perilla.' If anyone teased him about 'fried dough,' he would get angry. And you know what? Even the schoolteacher in the city said that the name 'You Su' was quite interesting. But speaking is not the same as writing, so we old folks still think of him as 'fried dough.'"

Ji Lingruo had always thought it was just a coincidence, but she never expected there to be such a reason. Listening to You Su's funny stories from his childhood, an image of a spirited blind boy seemed to leap out of her mind. The more she listened, the more interesting it became, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously turned up, adding a unique touch to this simple shop.

At this point, it wasn't time for breakfast yet, and only a few breakfast stalls were open on the street. There weren't many customers, but it wasn't deserted either.

Three well-dressed young monks were also gathered in front of Wang's Oil Pastry Shop.

"Sir, you've misunderstood. The cakes on the left are the ones for sale. What you just ate was the one on the right, which isn't for customers. It's something my apprentice used for practice."

Granny Wang explained with a forced smile that she didn't recognize the three cultivator guests. Judging from their attire, they were probably reinforcements sent from other cities to aid Chuyun City in the past few days. In fact, she had already reminded them once, but they insisted on buying the pancake that Ji Lingruo had tried making, which led to the dispute.

The young cultivator at the head of the group frowned upon hearing this, glancing at the angry-looking girl beside him. Even if he looked at her again, he would still be awestruck by her beauty.

However, the more beautiful the flower, the more thorns it has. He had come to buy the cake because he was attracted by the girl's beauty, hoping to make her his friend. So he deliberately bought this burnt cake to try and strike up a conversation, but the girl smashed the cake in his hand to pieces with one blow, leaving him no face at all.

Although he wasn't afraid of the girl at the Spirit Platform Initial Stage, this wasn't his home turf, and using his power to intimidate her wasn't a good idea. A thought flickered in his mind, and he devised a brilliant plan to regain his face. He then declared righteously:

"What bad luck! We've traveled all this way to your Chuyun City to help, and we can't even have a decent breakfast. If this is just practice, why is it displayed outside? Instead of blaming your apprentice for his poor skills, you're blaming me for giving you the wrong pancakes. Your pancake stall is being far too unreasonable."

A monk dressed similarly to him chimed in, "That's right! If it's not meant to be sold, why are you displaying it outside? Your Wang's Oil Pastry Shop have even made their name known throughout Nahe City, but in my opinion, they're undeserving of the reputation!"

Another companion waved his hand and called out, "Everyone come and see! Wang's Oil Pastry Shop are using inferior ingredients to rip off us tourists!"

"Aunt Wang, what's going on?"

"Sir, that can't be right. This bakery is a family business passed down through generations."

"What's wrong with that? Would I lie to you? If you don't believe me, look at this cake yourself, isn't it full of brown spots?"

Sure enough, among the pancakes arranged in the basket to the right of the oil pan, there were many with obvious burnt spots.

"This..." Granny Wang tried to explain, but her voice was immediately drowned out by the noisy crowd that surrounded her.

"Hey! If you feel you've been cheated, we'll give you three more! What are you spreading rumors about!" Ji Lingruo's eyebrows shot up.

"Hmph! Isn't it because we sought the villagers' judgment? If we were mute, wouldn't we have suffered in silence?"

Ji Lingruo gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. These three were only at the Spirit Platform Realm; she wasn't afraid if they were deliberately trying to cause trouble. Granny Liu had already informed her through telepathy that she would be leaving tomorrow, so she was definitely lurking nearby. But instead of making a move, the three cultivators were using words to try and smash the shop's signboard. If she couldn't resist and attacked first, wouldn't that play right into their hands?

But she disliked meeting strangers, and now, seeing the crowds gathering to watch the spectacle, her mind was a complete blank, unsure how to react. She couldn't help but feel sorry for herself; if Granny Wang lost her business because of her, she would be culpable and would never forgive herself.

Who said Wang's Oil Pastry Shop are of inferior quality?

A clear, resonant voice rang out, drowning out the chaotic murmurs of conversation.

I have to go out, I'll be a monster if I don't finish this volume by tomorrow.