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Now, she could finally truly taste this dish!

She ate, and ate, and ate, and ate, and ate!

Yu Qing, who had watched Xiang Changge for two minutes without receiving a single glance in return: "..."

It seemed her steward was indeed starving.

At the dining table, Yao Ningran tasted the Scallion Oil Chicken and nodded: "It really is delicious. This chef must be at a state banquet level."

Chu Keke had been a bit reserved at first; both the dishes before her and the person at the head of the table made her feel a bit shy about using her chopsticks. But seeing the other girls chatting away so openly and lively, she began to loosen up as well.

"I think the sea bass is delicious, very fresh and sweet."

As she spoke, Chu Keke pushed a piece of deboned fish belly from her plate toward Xiang Changge and whispered: "Steward Xiang, could I trouble you to pass this to Miss Yu?"

After saying this, Chu Keke accidentally glanced over and froze.

Wait, where was the rice in Steward Xiang's bowl?

Hadn't they only just sat down less than five minutes ago?

Xiang Changge, interrupted from her state of burying her head in the food, looked up. Seeing the deboned fish meat that was still perfectly intact, she gave Chu Keke a thumbs-up since her mouth was busy, then turned and passed the fish to Yu Qing.

Yu Qing looked at the fish by her bowl, then at Xiang Changge, who was already back to battling the Eight Treasure Duck. Finally, she looked past Xiang Changge and nodded at Chu Keke, expressing her thanks.

The meal was a lively affair... or at least that was how it felt to Yu Qing, even though she hadn't actually said more than a few words throughout the entire process.

But the other three were incredibly talkative, and their range of knowledge was quite broad.

They went from cooking methods to the origins of dishes, then to foreign food culture, then to the cultivation of ingredients, which eventually extended into the development of talent cultivation, before finally settling into gossip.

By the end, Yu Qing even knew the tail dimensions of the three goldfish kept by Ge Bufan.

When they finished, looking at the mostly empty plates, Yao Ningran touched her earlobe in embarrassment: "We really can eat."

Yu Qing looked silently at Xiang Changge, who was elegantly wiping her mouth with a napkin.

The others had been chatting, but she had seen it clearly: the majority of the food on the table had been eaten by Xiang Changge.

Exactly how many stomachs did she have?

While she was pondering this, the kitchen staff brought out the after-dinner fruit and desserts.

Xiang Changge tossed aside her napkin and entered a new round of combat.

Although she felt they were quite noisy, she was starting to get used to it as she listened.

Moreover, some of the things they said were actually quite interesting—content she had never been exposed to before. Yu Qing ate while listening, occasionally consuming the extra dishes they placed on her plate. It wasn't until she snapped back to reality that she realized she had eaten a bit too much.

She rubbed her stomach, watching as Xiang Changge finished a lemon tart, then a caramel pudding, and then reached for the blueberry cheesecake...

Watching this, Yu Qing fell into deep thought.

Could what Aunt Yang said earlier—that Xiang Changge could eat eighty steamed buns for breakfast—actually be true?

Was this reasonable?

Could it be that her own appetite was abnormally small, which only made Xiang Changge's stand out more?

Since there were others present, Yu Qing didn't say anything, merely making a mental note of the matter for now.

After the meal, Yu Qing felt a bit of a food coma setting in. Coupled with the fact that she had woken up early that morning, she hadn't slept in a long time.

Seeing Yu Qing yawn, the three of them exchanged a look and immediately stood up.

Ge Bufan: "Let's go, let's go make incense. I haven't done it in a long time; I'm already getting impatient."

Yu Qing lifted her heavy eyelids.

Could she not go?

The thought had barely crossed her mind when Yao Ningran spoke to her: "Let's go, Miss Yu. I wonder what kind of scent profiles we can choose from."

Asked directly, Yu Qing sobered up for a moment.

Her gaze subconsciously drifted toward Xiang Changge.

Did she really have to go?

Xiang Changge, now full and satisfied, also stood up. Meeting Yu Qing's vacant eyes, which looked as if she hadn't slept in thirty days, she reached out a hand: "Shall I assist you, Miss?"

"..."

Did that mean there was no room for negotiation?

Yu Qing raised her hand and lightly swatted away Xiang Changge's palm, standing up on her own.

Fine, she would go.

The three of them were still chatting.

They surrounded Yu Qing like a tripod, with Yu Qing as the central basin and them as the three legs.

Yu Qing heard the one who looked quite cute, the one who seemed to be called Chu Keke, ask the extremely cheerful Ge Bufan: "So, you have to make the seasonings yourself when cooking? I thought they were all store-bought."

Ge Bufan replied: "Most seasonings are definitely bought, but some need to be processed a bit."

Yao Ningran was also curious: "Then what kind of incense have you made before?"

Ge Bufan: "Just cinnamon, star anise, Sichuan peppercorns, and bay leaves."

Yao Ningran pondered: "How do you make incense out of these?"

She felt that the incense produced would be very suitable for... putting into dishes?

Yu Qing also curiously pricked up her ears.

Ge Bufan: "You just grind them into powder according to a ratio, mix them together, and make them into sachets."

Chu Keke was a bit confused: "What kind of incense is this for?"

Ge Bufan: "Braised-flavor incense."

"..."

The other two fell silent for a moment.

Yu Qing, wearing her signature deadpan expression, blankly turned her head to look at Ge Bufan.

So, when she said she had a lot of experience in making incense, she meant she was very good at making spice packets for braising?

Is there really much of a connection between the two?

Faced with the silent trio, Ge Bufan was uncharacteristically flustered. She scratched her head: "What's wrong?"

"That's amazing."

"?"

Yu Qing, Chu Keke, and Yao Ningran all looked at Xiang Changge, who had just spoken.

Xiang Changge was looking at Ge Bufan with a pleasantly surprised expression, as if thinking, To think a genius was right by my side all along: "I never expected you to know how to make braising packets."

Praised, Ge Bufan gave a silly grin, returning to her happy-puppy persona: "It's nothing much, but this spice secret recipe was passed down from my ancestors. After so much refinement, I dare say that the things braised with it are better than the vast majority of what's sold on the market today."

"Wow—"

Xiang Changge exclaimed in admiration.

The others: "?"

So supportive?

Wait, what happened to the serious, poker-faced Steward Xiang?

Xiang Changge made a prompt decision: "Then next time, I'll hire you privately for a few hours; you can braise a pot for me to try."

"Eh, that's nothing," Ge Bufan, who had been so flattered she'd lost her composure, said generously, "Why don't we just go braise some after we finish making the incense? I won't charge a fee; let's just call it 'post-work team building'!"

As she spoke, she looked at Yu Qing with a smile: "As long as Miss Yu provides the ingredients, how about it?"

"..."

How about it?

Team building after making incense?

Yu Qing felt her vision go dark.

Maybe she should just fake a faint right now.

Author's note: Eat less, but eat often [Dog head holding a rose]

Chapter 21: Just short of knowing what Yu Qing wants...

"That would be wonderful!"

As if seeing through Yu Qing's thoughts, Xiang Changge appeared out of nowhere within their "tripod" group, walking right beside Yu Qing at a distance so close their shoulders were almost touching.

It was guaranteed that if Yu Qing tried to faint, Xiang Changge could immediately catch her in her arms and quickly perform a "pinch the philtrum" routine on her.

While adjusting her position to nip any trouble in the bud, she didn't forget to reply to Ge Bufan, finalizing the inexplicably added, magical team-building event.

Although Yu Qing was still strolling toward the flower room, her unfocused eyes and heavy eyelids indicated that her soul had actually left her body a while ago.

After confirming the plan to eat braised food later, the group began to discuss their personal preferences—

"When it comes to braised food, you definitely can't skip chicken giblets. Chicken hearts, chicken intestines, chicken gizzards—that's the essence of braised dishes!"

Even though she had just eaten her fill, Ge Bufan smacked her lips as she spoke, clearly still craving them.

"I think braised broth with rice noodles is even better."

Yao Ningran also expressed her opinion.

Chu Keke was a bit shy, whispering: "I, I like braised pork intestines, especially the spicy kind."

Hearing this, Ge Bufan gave her an appreciative look: "Yes, yes, it seems Keke is the real foodie. Braised pork intestines are also great for hot pot; spicy and soft and chewy..."

They were all talking about things they hadn't eaten in a very long time. Listening to their lively discussion, Xiang Changge felt she could eat two more cows.

To distract herself and find something for Yu Qing to do, she looked at the zombie-like Yu Qing and asked: "Miss, what about you? What do you like to have braised?"