A heretical cultivator in Bureau 749, I'm the fiercest at pulling out tendons and skinning peop

"I remember……"

Qiqi murmured, her voice sounding like she was in a dream.

"The osmanthus flowers must first be soaked in the spring water for three hours, then dried and preserved in honey..."

"The honey must be acacia honey from March, nothing else can be used. And you also need to add..."

"And we need to add... snow lotus stamens? Yes, the stamens of Tian Shan snow lotus, dried, ground into powder, and kneaded into the dough."

The shopkeeper was completely dumbfounded.

He shakily pulled a pen from his pocket, tore off a piece of paper, and frantically jotted down notes: "And then? What else?"

"besides……"

Qiqi closed her eyes, and the image became clearer and clearer.

"Add a little bit of mint juice, but not too much, otherwise it will mask the fragrance of the osmanthus."

"When steaming, use a bamboo steamer, not an iron one. The heat should be high at first, then low, and finally a gentle simmer for the last fifteen minutes..."

She described more than a dozen ingredients and procedures in detail, explaining each one clearly, as if she had seen them with her own eyes.

The boss's pen was practically flying; towards the end, his hand was trembling.

These are clearly the ingredients recorded in their family's ancestral recipe, and even more!

The recipe Qi Qi mentioned contained several more ingredients than his family's traditional version, all of which he had never seen before!

"Girl, where...where did you find out?" The boss looked up, his voice trembling.

Qiqi blinked blankly, "I don't know... I think I saw someone do it somewhere."

The boss swallowed hard, his heart pounding as he looked at the densely packed records on the paper.

He took a deep breath, carefully folded the paper and put it in his pocket, then turned around and took several boxes of pastries from the counter, stuffing them into Qiqi and Zhao Lingling's hands.

"Girls, wait here! I'm going to the kitchen to try out this recipe right now!"

After saying that, he dashed into the kitchen.

Holding a pile of pastries, Zhao Lingling looked at Qiqi with a puzzled expression: "Qiqi, how did you know?"

Qiqi herself was confused. She frowned and thought for a long time, but finally gave up: "Qiqi seems to have seen someone do it before... but she can't remember where she saw it."

"Huh? But didn't the boss say the recipe was lost back in the Ming Dynasty? Who made it?"

Qiqi lowered her head, looking at the osmanthus cake in her hand, and a strange feeling suddenly welled up in her heart.

It's like... there's something very important right in front of her, veiled by a thin layer of gauze. She can reach out and touch it, but she just can't grasp it.

This feeling made her a little panicked.

But soon, Zhao Lingling stuffed a pastry into her mouth and said with a grin, "Don't think about it anymore, as long as it tastes good!"

As Qiqi chewed on the sweet osmanthus cake, the feeling of panic slowly dissipated.

Hmm, I don't want to think about it anymore.

Anyway... her brother will protect her.

In the kitchen, when the boss rushed in, his younger brother was squatting in front of the stove tending the fire. Seeing his brother burst in like a whirlwind, he was startled: "Brother, what's wrong with you?"

"Shut up!" The boss slammed the recipe in his hand in front of his brother. "Quick, try this recipe!"

His brother glanced down at the paper, paused for a moment, then frowned: "Brother, what is this? This is different from our family recipe; there are several extra ingredients..."

"Just try it! Stop talking nonsense!"

"Okay, okay..."

The two brothers frantically worked for half an hour, and finally, a new batch of osmanthus cakes came out of the oven.

The moment the steamer was lifted, a rich aroma of osmanthus burst forth, filling the entire kitchen and even drifting into the shop in front.

The fragrance was many times stronger than before, yet it wasn't pungent at all. Instead, it had a refreshing sweetness that made people feel comfortable all over.

The boss and his brother stood in front of the stove, looking at each other with tears in their eyes.

"Father..." the boss's voice choked with emotion, "We've finally recreated Lingxi Osmanthus Cake..."

His younger brother squatted down on the ground, clutching his head and wailing, "Waaah... the recipe passed down from our ancestors, I've finally made it!"

The two brothers hugged each other and cried for a while before the boss remembered that there were two little girls waiting outside.

The boss quickly wiped away his tears, picked up a plate of freshly baked osmanthus cakes, and ran out.

"Come on, little girl, try this!" He placed the plate on the table and looked at Qiqi and Zhao Lingling with anticipation.

Qiqi picked up a piece and took a bite.

The osmanthus cake melts in your mouth, the aroma of osmanthus explodes in your mouth, carrying a touch of refreshing coolness, and slides down your throat, making you feel light and airy.

"Delicious!" Qiqi's eyes lit up, and she nodded repeatedly. "This is exactly the taste!"

Zhao Lingling couldn't wait any longer. She grabbed a piece and stuffed it into her mouth, then felt a jolt all over her body, as if she'd been electrocuted.

"Ugh—Ugh!"

She almost swore, but remembering she was a well-behaved child, she swallowed the rest of her sentence and instead said, "It's so delicious!"

The shop owner grinned from ear to ear, rubbing his hands together and saying, "Girl, thank you so much today! If it weren't for you, I don't know when we would have been able to recreate this recipe!"

He thought for a moment, then said, "How about this, you two can come anytime from now on, and take whatever pastries you want from my shop, all for free!"

"Really?" Zhao Lingling's eyes lit up.

"Really!" the boss patted his chest to assure her, "I, Wang Guifang, keep my word!"

Qiqi didn't react much, she just nodded politely: "Thank you, Uncle."

Then, the two girls started eating to their hearts' content.

When they came out of Guixiangzhai, Qiqi was carrying three...

Zhao Lingling carried five of the seven boxes of pastries in her hands, her pockets were bulging, and they jingled as she walked.

Over the next half hour, the two girls visited several more shops.

When the bosses saw Qiqi arrive, they all became incredibly enthusiastic, as if they'd been injected with adrenaline.

Wherever Qiqi went, people would give her things.

In the end, Qiqi and Zhao Lingling were covered in packages of all sizes, looking like two moving Christmas trees.

"Qiqi, I'm so happy today!" Zhao Lingling said, her mouth full of osmanthus cake, "Let's come again next time, okay?"

Qiqi nodded: "Okay."

"Oh, right, let's come again after school tomorrow, okay? I saw a place over there selling roasted spirit beast meat, it smells so good!"

"Um."

"And that stall selling candied hawthorns, those hawthorns are huge! I'll go buy some tomorrow too!"

"it is good."

The two girls continued their journey together, making plans for their after-school schedules for the next week.

That evening, Ji Zuodao was completely dumbfounded when he saw Qi Qi return.

Wait, what's going on?

Where are the seventy-seven people?

Ji Zuodao stared wide-eyed at the door for a long time, but still couldn't catch a glimpse of Qi Qi's face.

I saw a pile, or rather, several piles of packages of different sizes, stacked like a human pyramid, slowly being moved into the house.

The packages were piled up so high that only two short legs were visible underneath, as they moved forward step by step with difficulty.

Ji Zuodao stared at the two short legs for three seconds before realizing: Oh, this is Qiqi.

Qiqi was buried under the package.

He could only see the top of his head.

"Holy crap?"

Ji Zuodao's mind went blank for a moment. The first thought that popped into his head wasn't "Qiqi, are you alright?" or "Where did all these things come from?", but rather—

It’s over.

Qiqi has gone astray.

They've learned how to extort money.

I got it for free.

Ji Zuodao felt his heart skip a beat.

A picture instantly flashed through his mind—

Qiqi, his obedient, adorable, and gentle Qiqi, who wouldn't even step on an ant.

Wearing small sunglasses that covered half of his face, with a lollipop in his mouth, he tilted his head, squinted, and had a smug expression on his face.

She stood in front of a shop, one small hand clutching the shopkeeper's collar, her voice sweet and childish, yet carrying an undeniable air of authority, as she spoke, each word deliberate and forceful:

"This shop is under my protection. Protection money, you get it?"

The shop owner looked troubled, sweat beading on his forehead, and stammered, "This... young lady, our shop is small and operates on thin margins, we really can't afford this... I'm in a difficult position too..."

He hadn't finished speaking yet.

Qiqi spat out the lollipop from her mouth onto the ground.

Then, with her free little hand, she flipped over the table next to her—

"Splash!"

The table overturned.

The contents were scattered all over the ground.

Qiqi looked at the boss expressionlessly and said slowly in her childish voice:

"Difficult to handle?"

"Then let's not do it."

"..."

Ji Zuodao shook his head violently, trying to banish the image from his mind.

Omg.

I should have known better than to do these things in front of Qiqi!

He was filled with regret and frustration, wishing he could slap himself twice.

But then I thought about it again—

That's not right.

Qiqi, that girl, learns way too fast!

He only took her out on patrol a few times, occasionally "teaching" a few troublemakers a lesson in front of her, and occasionally demonstrating to her what it meant to "persuade with reason"...

How did this girl become so self-taught?

Moreover, her technique is far superior to his back then!

Ji Zuodao recalled his childhood.

Back then, he also craved osmanthus cake and wanted good things.

But what did he do?

He crouched stealthily in the corner, waiting for the little fox who had bought osmanthus cake to pass by. Then he sneaked up from behind, knocked it unconscious with a stick, and stole the osmanthus cake.

The results of it?

Before he could run far, the Empress discovered him.

The lady grabbed him by the ear, picked up the rattan cane that was specially used to whip him, and whipped him until he howled. He didn't dare to sit down for three days.

That was absolutely awful.

That was incredibly embarrassing.

But what about Qiqi?

Qiqi is so smart!

She doesn't steal, she doesn't touch, and she doesn't knock people over.

She just snatched the store!

This level of skill, this vision, this method...

He's way better than him!

The more Ji Zuodao thought about it, the less regret he felt, and what replaced it was a strange sense of pride.

He couldn't help but smile, thinking to himself with a smug satisfaction:

My sister is amazing!

This talent, this comprehension, this ability to adapt to changing circumstances...

As expected of my sister, Ji Zuodao!

Follow me!

The more he thought about it, the more pleased he became, and he couldn't help but applaud Qiqi in his heart:

Good! Well done!

As for that thought of "worrying that Qiqi will go astray"?

He had long forgotten about it.

So what if I go astray?

Going astray means she's smart!

This means she has a bright future!

Besides, with him as her older brother protecting her, even if Qiqi causes a huge mess, he can fix it for her!

Ji Zuodao thought to himself with satisfaction, then stepped forward and helped Qiqi unload the various packages she was carrying.

While unloading, she asked, "Qiqi, you've had quite a haul today! Where did it all come from?"

Qiqi tilted her little face up, smiling like a flower: "Brother, the uncles and aunties at the market gave it to me! They're so kind!"

Ji Zuodao nodded, feeling extremely gratified.

it is good.

well.

very good.

This girl has potential.

How can you say that the 749th Bureau was robbing? The word "give" is much more clever.