Chapter 75
Chapter 75: Sweet Steamed Egg Custard and Frosted Egg Yolks
The next morning at dawn, Lin Yu Ning fluttered through Second Branch’s courtyard like a gaudy butterfly, catching anyone she could and announcing it like a decree.
“I’m telling you! Sister Xiao Man’s brown sugar mochi is heavenly! The best thing in the world!”
Lin Yu Jiao was drawing her brows in the mirror. Hearing that, she paused mid-stroke and glanced at Lin Yu Ning through the reflection.
“Oh? It’s only been a few days and you’re already calling her ‘sister’?”
Her tone carried a quiet bite.
“Wasn’t it you who was shouting not long ago that she and Cousin were ‘doing it in broad daylight’ in the courtyard, disgracing the Lin family name?”
Lin Yu Ning’s face flared scarlet. She stammered, grasping for an excuse.
“Well… I… I hadn’t tasted her snacks yet!”
She hurried over and clung to Lin Yu Jiao’s arm, coaxing.
“Second Sister, her mochi is really too good. Let’s go now and have her make more, all right?”
Before Lin Yu Jiao could answer, Eldest Sister Lin Yu Wan spoke from her seat, eyes still on her book.
“If you want to go, go yourself.”
Her voice was flat.
“Just bring some back for me.”
“Yes!”
Lin Yu Ning lit up like she’d been granted a royal pardon. She waved a hand, called for her little maid Chun Cao, and rushed straight for the Auspicious Cloud Residence.
When she arrived, she spotted Xiao Man at once, tending flowers in the courtyard.
Lin Yu Ning ran over, tugged at Xiao Man’s sleeve with practiced affection, and looked up with shining eyes.
“Sister Xiao Man, make me some more mochi to eat, will you?”
Xiao Man took one look at her greedy kitten expression and felt helpless.
“Third Miss, mochi is troublesome,” she said patiently. “The glutinous rice has to soak a full night, and the manor doesn’t have ready-made rice flour. I’m afraid I can’t make it today.”
Lin Yu Ning’s mouth fell into a pout so deep it could hang an oil bottle.
Xiao Man quickly added, softening her disappointment before it could root, “But the kitchen just delivered fresh goat’s milk. I can make you sweet steamed egg custard instead. Would you like that?”
“Is it good?” Lin Yu Ning’s eyes brightened again. “Sister… is it really good?”
“It’s very good,” Xiao Man said with a smile. “And you can eat it right away. No waiting until tomorrow.”
“That’s perfect!” Lin Yu Ning clapped her hands. “Make lots! I’ll have Chun Cao carry some back so Eldest Sister and Second Sister can taste it too!”
Warmth slipped into Xiao Man’s gaze.
“You’re a good sister. Even when you’re eating, you still think of your two sisters.”
“Will you wait here, or go walk around and come back?”
“I’ll go pay my respects to Grandmother first!” Lin Yu Ning said, already lifting her skirt. “I’ll be right back!”
She ran off in a whirl.
Xiao Man turned into her small kitchen and set to work with quick, steady hands.
Three bowls. Four eggs per bowl—only the whites. She poured in the newly delivered goat’s milk, added three spoonfuls of clear amber honey, and pinched in a small scatter of dried osmanthus.
She whisked the whites gently with chopsticks—just enough to loosen them, never enough to foam.
Then she stirred in the goat’s milk and honey, slow and careful.
The key step came next: she strained the mixture through fine silk, catching every stubborn strand and bubble so the custard would steam smooth as polished jade.
She brushed a thin film of lard along each bowl’s inner wall to keep it from sticking, poured in the strained mixture, and covered the bowls.
Once the water boiled, she lowered the flame to the smallest breath of heat, then set the bowls inside.
She didn’t leave the stove for even a moment. A single mistake in the heat would raise honeycomb holes and ruin the texture.
It was delicate work.
While the custard steamed, she didn’t waste time.
She took the leftover yolks, steamed them over water, and pressed them into small round cakes.
In another pot, she melted white sugar into syrup, then added the yolk cakes and turned them gently over low heat.
As the moisture cooked off, the syrup crystallized into a snowy frost over the yolks.
Frosted egg yolks—done.
Not a scrap of ingredient wasted.
By the time she finished packing both treats into a tidy food box, Lin Yu Ning had returned.
“Third Miss, take it back and eat while it’s hot,” Xiao Man said, handing the box over. “If you want mochi next time, tell me a few days ahead.”
“Thank you, Sister Xiao Man!”
Lin Yu Ning accepted it with delight and ran off as if a second of delay might let the warmth escape.
“Chun Cao! Hurry!”
Chun Cao chased after her, panting, skirt gathered in both hands.
“Miss, slow down!”
“Watch your step!” Lin Yu Ning shouted without looking back. “If you drop Sister Xiao Man’s snacks, selling you still wouldn’t be enough to pay for it!”
When she blew back into Second Branch, the three sisters gathered at once.
The moment the box opened, a sweet perfume filled the room—milk, egg, and osmanthus, soft as warm fog.
The custard’s surface was smooth as jade. A slight tremble sent ripples across it, and flecks of golden osmanthus lay scattered like fallen petals.
Lin Yu Ning scooped a spoonful and tasted it.
It melted on her tongue.
Silky. Tender. Lightly sweet.
The goat’s milk was tempered perfectly by honey and osmanthus, leaving only a rich creaminess, with not a trace of gaminess.
“So good…” She shut her eyes, blissful.
Lin Yu Jiao tasted a bite too, and something in her expression shifted.
Then she picked up a piece of frosted egg yolk.
The white sugar shell cracked the instant her teeth touched it—crisp, sweet, clean.
Inside, the yolk was sandy and soft, savory richness meeting brittle sweetness in a strange, perfect clash.
Layered, without being cloying.
“Who would’ve thought,” Lin Yu Jiao said quietly, setting her chopsticks down. “This Xiao Man is a first-rate cook.”
Her tone held something complicated.
“I used to think she was just a maid who climbed her way up with a pretty face and shameless tricks.”
“Second Sister! Don’t say that!” Lin Yu Ning bristled at once, possessive as a little beast guarding its food. “Sister Xiao Man isn’t some fox spirit! She’s beautiful, and her cooking is amazing!”
She pulled the box closer.
“Say bad things about her again and I won’t let you eat!”
Lin Yu Jiao laughed and flicked Lin Yu Ning’s forehead.
“Oh? Two bites of food and now it’s ‘Sister’ this and ‘Sister’ that?”
“And who was it before, shouting every day about her ‘doing it in broad daylight,’ desperate for the whole manor to know?”
“That was my mistake!” Lin Yu Ning said, shamelessly righteous.
Lin Yu Wan, who had been quiet until now, finally spoke, her gaze steady.
“I don’t think Xiao Man is what the rumors say—a bad woman who seduces Cousin.”
She looked at her two younger sisters.
“Think back to the Qiu Ru Ying incident. If Xiao Man hadn’t been sharp and warned us in advance, your dear friend Qiu Ru Ying, Yu Jiao, would’ve already fallen into the Third Princess’s hands. The Lin family would’ve suffered right along with her.”
Lin Yu Jiao’s expression tightened. Then she nodded, slow and honest.
“That’s true.”
Her eyes dropped to the food box, thoughtful.
“She… isn’t like the rumors at all.”