The pots and pans looked a little messy, but full of the breath of life. There was no one in the kitchen right now, only a few pieces of cookware leaning at an angle, and it was unclear whether Meng Wange had arranged it in advance or if it was simply too early for mealtime.
“Miss Su, since this is our first time making this type of pastry, I’ve found…”
Meng Wange skillfully tied on an apron while handing another matching apron to Su Wanli.
“…Cough, I mean, I’ve found a relatively simple recipe for us. It’s a kind of cookie with very simple steps but a decent taste. The ingredients needed are only cake flour, cornstarch, butter, powdered sugar, and one cooked egg yolk.”
“Flour, starch, butter, sugar…”
Su Wanli raised an eyebrow slightly as she listened to Meng Wange’s introduction.
“Cooked egg yolk? What’s that for? You put that in cookies too?”
“Yes, it’s the key to making the cookies crispy, and it also adds a unique fragrance to the final product.”
Meng Wange handed two raw eggs to Su Wanli and gave her a gentle smile.
“So, I’ll leave the task of boiling the eggs to you, Miss Su. Can you do it?”
“Heh, what’s so hard about boiling an egg? Who do you take me for?”
Su Wanli silently rolled her eyes at Meng Wange, then confidently took the eggs from her hands.
Boiling an egg—how could such a skill-free task possibly stump the genius villainess Su Wanli?
Su Wanli casually placed the pot under the water tap to fill it with water, then set it on the stove, lit the flame, and dropped the eggs into the pot.
Having done all this quickly, Su Wanli quietly turned around and glanced at Meng Wange from the corner of her eye.
At this moment, Meng Wange was slightly lowering her head, focusing intently on weighing flour and butter with the kitchen scale. She had casually gathered her light brown long hair up and tied it with a hairband, exposing her slender, fair neck in front of Su Wanli. A few stray strands of hair fell by Meng Wange’s ears, swaying gently with her movements. Even while making a dessert she had never tried before, her unhurried demeanor gave off a sense of reassurance.
‘…Though I’ve probably thought this hundreds of times by now, Meng Wange really is so beautiful.’
Su Wanli couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.
Moreover, Meng Wange was not at all the kind of female lead who was just a pretty face with no substance. She was exceptionally talented and brilliant, yet humble and polite. Whether playing games, watching movies, or making desserts, as long as she was with Meng Wange, even the most boring things seemed to become fun…
If possible, even without those twelve billion, Su Wanli would want Meng Wange to stay in the Su family like this and keep the current life going.
Unfortunately, neither the system nor Meng Wange would be content with this—they would definitely leave her behind and keep moving forward…
“What’s wrong, Miss Su? Have you put the eggs on to boil?”
Just then, Meng Wange suddenly looked up and met Su Wanli’s stolen glance with a beaming smile.
“O-Of course! Something this small wouldn’t take more than a dozen seconds, right?”
Su Wanli flusteredly looked away, pretending to stare at the rolling water bubbles in the pot, but her ears betrayed her by turning a shade redder.
“I see. Then next, would you weigh the flour proportions with me? According to the recipe I just read, the ratio of cake flour to cornstarch is about one to one, then add melted butter and powdered sugar, and finally add the crushed egg yolk.”
Meng Wange leaned forward slightly, fished out a blank slip of paper from her pocket, and wrote down the recipe on it.
“If you like sweets, add more sugar. Using a double boiler to melt the butter, mix these ingredients together with the crushed egg yolk.”
“Mmm, simply put, mix flour and starch one to one, and if you like sweets, add more sugar…”
“Yawn, I don’t get it. This kind of chemistry experiment stuff, just do it yourself.”
Listening to all those tedious steps, Su Wanli yawned and waved her hand at Meng Wange.
“Alright, considering the portions, about 50 grams each of flour and starch, and for the powdered sugar…”
Su Wanli sat in the kitchen, lazily watching Meng Wange weigh each ingredient bit by bit, then combine them together, and finally fish the eggs out of the pot, split the egg whites apart, pick out the yolks, crush them into fine crumbs with her fingertips, and sprinkle them over the surface of the dough.
‘I see—she said the steps were very simple and there weren’t many ingredients, but it’s actually pretty troublesome to execute?’
It wasn’t just about weighing everything—you also had to put the butter in a bowl and heat it over boiling water until it became liquid, and only then could you mix it with the starch, flour, and sugar into a big yellow lump of dough…
Su Wanli stuffed the leftover egg whites Meng Wange had set aside into her mouth while propping her face up with both hands, gazing up at Meng Wange’s movements.
Watching a beautiful girl bustle around the kitchen, preparing to make a plate of exquisite desserts—it felt so cozy, so blissful.
Most importantly, this was something Meng Wange was making specially for her…
…Right?
No, wait—hadn’t she been called over by Meng Wange to help? How had she ended up just boiling an egg and then sitting here resting?
She had unknowingly sat here watching Meng Wange work for over ten minutes—now she wouldn’t have any sense of participation at all!
“Um, Meng Wange, is there anything else you need me to do together with you right now?”
“Yes, of course. I need you to continue waiting for me for a few dozen minutes, and then enjoy the cookies with me once they’re baked.”
Hearing this question, the brown-haired girl responded without even looking up.
“…Tch, you…”
“I’m just kidding. Actually, most of the preparation is done. As for now… it happens to be your turn to help me with a step.”
Turning around, Meng Wange held her index finger up in front of her lips.
Before Su Wanli could scold her, Meng Wange chuckled softly.
“Hehe, just kidding.”
As she spoke, she placed the yellow dough made from all the combined ingredients in front of Su Wanli, then pinched off a small piece of dough and rolled it into a ball.
“Next is the final step. We need to divide the dough into small pieces, roll them into balls, and then press down in the center of each ball with our thumb.”
“…Press down?”
Su Wanli asked, somewhat puzzled.
“That’s right.”
As Meng Wange’s finger pressed down, the edges of the dough naturally cracked, forming several irregular fissures that looked like a blooming little flower.
“This is what’s called a ‘Marguerite Cookie.’ Because the baker’s fingerprint is naturally left on the cookie during the making process, it was especially popular between couples in a certain era. Lovers would gift each other this dessert and call the fingerprint on it the ‘Imprint of Love.'”
…L-Love’s imprint!?
Su Wanli’s heart skipped a beat.
‘Really? Why would Meng Wange suddenly bring this up to me? And she specifically said “especially popular between couples”—could this be some kind of hint?’
No, no, no, calm down. This was just something Meng Wange came up with on the spur of the moment after seeing her hungry. If her stomach hadn’t growled at that moment, maybe this opportunity wouldn’t have existed at all.
So she was just explaining the origin of this cookie to her—there shouldn’t be any other meaning…
Su Wanli took a deep breath, then patted her cheeks to steady her heartbeat.
“Hmph, it’s just a lazy trick, and you call it ‘Imprint of Love’—so cheesy.”
As she spoke, she grabbed a piece of dough the way Meng Wange had, rolled it into a ball, and pressed down hard with her thumb.
Perhaps because she pressed too hard, or because the ball was rolled too big, the cookie Su Wanli made didn’t form the pretty cracks like Meng Wange’s—instead, it pressed flat into a somewhat misshapen oval.
“Mmm, I see. So this is the shape Miss Su likes.”
Meng Wange looked at the piece of dough and nodded thoughtfully.
“Huh? This is obviously a mistake, okay? I already told you I don’t like this kind of inexplicable flattery…”
The next second, Meng Wange suddenly extended her index finger and gently nudged the edge of the pressed cookie.
The originally crooked round disc instantly became much more regular, and because of that nudge, an extra soft indentation appeared.
“How about this, then?”
After doing this, Meng Wange slightly lifted her head and gazed softly into Su Wanli’s eyes.
‘This… this looks like a…’
Looking at the dough Meng Wange had fixed up, Su Wanli felt it looked somewhat familiar, yet slightly awkward.
Holding some strange thought, Su Wanli involuntarily reached out and gently pinched the other side of the indentation, shaping the round disc into a small point.
Gazing at the perfectly heart-shaped cookie on the table, Meng Wange narrowed her eyes and smiled at Su Wanli.
“Sure enough, only this shape truly deserves to be called the ‘Imprint of Love.'”
“I see, as expected of Miss Su Wanli.”
“Sure enough, only this shape…”
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