"Please, don't joke around," the old woman said with a hurried smile, steadily holding the tray of sweet biscuits.
"All right." Yan Huan stopped teasing them. He straightened up, walked over to the old woman, casually picked up a still-warm biscuit from the edge of the tray, and tossed it into his mouth.
The biscuit melted on his tongue. It was just sweet enough, rich with butter and carrying a gentle hint of honey. It really was delicious.
Seeing this, the old woman's face took on a nostalgic smile as she said softly,
"Watching you children always reminds me of when I used to serve the Saintess Lord."
Her gaze grew distant.
"The Saintess Lord loved the little sweet biscuits I made... Every time she finished training or praying, she would sneak into the kitchen to ask me for some."
"But later, when she started losing her baby teeth, I worried she'd get cavities, so I secretly hid the biscuits away."
As she spoke, her eyes were filled with tender memories.
"But the Saintess Lord was so greedy for sweets that she always found wherever I hid them... Under the bed, on top of the wardrobe, even buried in flowerpots—she could dig them all out." The old woman shook her head, her smile deepening.
"When I realized I simply couldn't hide them from her, I had no choice but to let her eat them. Still, we agreed that she had to brush her teeth properly before bed."
Coming back to herself, she looked at Yan Huan somewhat embarrassedly.
"Ah... Sorry, I got carried away reminiscing. The next time you come, I'll prepare more for you. They smell best fresh out of the oven," she said politely.
"Then have you seen..." Yan Huan had just begun to ask, but realizing that