Chapter 8 You’d Better Keep Your Cake for Yourself…

Chapter 8: You Can Keep Your Pancake for Yourself...

A Chan saw the two men out, then turned to see the owner of the neighboring bookstore happily carrying two oily paper packages back to his shop.

Spotting A Chan, he greeted her warmly, "Miss Ji."

"What delicious treats did Boss Xu buy?" A Chan asked with a smile.

A Chan had only met Boss Xu once that morning, but Ji Chan had a strong impression of him.

When she first moved here, Boss Xu, seeing her alone and appearing naive, had taken her around the street to buy essentials, worried she might struggle.

The rice, flour, charcoal, and firewood at home were all purchased with Boss Xu's help.

Ji Chan had once offered him a silver tael as thanks, but he refused. In the end, they settled on treating him to lamb buns from Granny Huang’s stall, which made everyone happy.

From this, A Chan knew Boss Xu was a kind man with a love of good food.

"Grandpa Hu set up a stall at the street corner selling smoked chicken. His smoked chicken is truly exceptional. Today, I was lucky enough to get two."

As he spoke, he lifted the oily paper packages in his hand.

Though it was some distance away, the aroma of the chicken still reached A Chan’s nose. She turned to close her door and said to Boss Xu, "Boss Xu, could you keep an eye on my place for a moment? I’m going to buy some too."

"Go, go!"

Watching A Chan hitch up her skirt and hurry toward the street corner, Boss Xu remarked to his assistant, "Miss Ji seems in much better spirits than before."

The young assistant peered out and muttered, "Earlier, two Bright Mirror Bureau Guards saw Miss Ji home. They looked quite fierce. I wonder what her status is?"

A Chan had no idea what Boss Xu and his assistant were curious about. By the time she reached the street corner, a crowd had already gathered around Grandpa Hu’s stall.

Some complained the smoked chicken was too expensive but refused to leave. Others simply bought a bowl of plain noodles from the nearby stall, eating while savoring the aroma of the smoked chicken, enjoying their meal nonetheless.

A Chan waited in line for almost an hour before finally buying half a smoked chicken.

Grandpa Hu’s smoked chicken smelled divine, but it was also expensive—half a chicken cost her thirty copper coins.

For the first time, A Chan felt a strong desire to earn money. As a Fox Spirit, she at least needed to afford chicken.

Since Grandpa Hu said the smoked chicken tasted even better when cooled, A Chan wasn’t in a hurry to eat it. She still had to finish the sachet for her visit to the Zhao residence tomorrow.

Her spices were placed on the new table, along with some tools. She tidied them up and gathered the spices she needed for the day.

Spices could be made into stick incense, spiral incense, incense pellets, and many other forms, but sachets were the easiest to begin with.

However, the hardest part of incense-making was formulating the recipes. Fortunately, Xiao Lin Shi only requested a simple insect-repelling sachet, which used common spices and was easy to prepare.

A Chan took wormwood, mint, dried citrus peel, and four other spices, ground them into powder, mixed them in equal proportions, and packed them into a cotton pouch before placing it inside the sachet she had bought.

These spices were all insect-repellent, with a slightly sharp aroma. When blended, the aroma was strong but not overbearing, something most people could tolerate.

With the sachet finished, A Chan glanced at the sky. Without her noticing, it was already past late afternoon, and the sky outside had darkened, with the wind picking up.

Only then did she realize she was hungry. She had bought half a smoked chicken earlier, and with some pancakes for dinner, she’d have a decent meal.

A Chan thought it would be easy, but she underestimated her cooking skills.

Making pancakes required mixing dough—add water if it was too dry, add flour if it was too wet. By the time she finally got the dough to the right consistency, what was supposed to be enough for two meals had turned into enough to last two days.

No matter, she comforted herself—she could make handmade noodles tomorrow.

Half an hour later, she emerged from the kitchen carrying six large pancakes, each the size of her face.

She lit an oil lamp, placed the pancakes and shredded smoked chicken on the table, and just as the aroma of the chicken filled the air, a knock came at the door.

"Who is it?" She walked to the door but didn’t slide the bolt.

"Open the door." The person outside neither gave a name nor identified themselves, their tone unfriendly, but A Chan recognized the voice.

Sliding the bolt, she opened the door to find the Bright Mirror Bureau Commander, whom she hadn’t seen in days.

Earlier in the day, she had considered that her words might lure this man over, but she hadn’t expected him to disregard all courtesy and visit her at such an hour.

"Please come in, Commander." After silently grumbling, A Chan still politely invited him inside.

Bai Xiuming stepped over the threshold into the barely furnished room, his gaze sweeping around before settling on the two plates on the table.

Seeing him looking at her dinner, A Chan reluctantly asked, "Commander, have you not eaten yet? Would you like to join me?"

Bai Xiuming looked at the uneven, inconsistently thick, and partially burnt pancakes on the plate, then expressionlessly looked away.

Seems he won’t be eating, A Chan thought. She then brought over the only stool in the room. "Please have a seat, Commander."

Bai Xiuming didn’t sit. Instead, he studied her for a moment before asking, "Was it you who told Feng Yang about the Snow Needle Snake?"

A Chan admitted readily, "Yes, I did. I happened to recall this unusual snake and passed it on to Commander Feng."

"Feng Yang is grateful to you."

"I’m glad to have been of help to Commander Feng," A Chan replied modestly.

But in the next moment, his tone turned ominous. "Was that really why you helped him?"

A Chan wanted to say yes, but given the painful lesson she’d learned from this man before, she chose silence.

The oil lamp on the table crackled, its dim yellow light casting Bai Xiuming’s shadow like a ferocious beast ready to pounce.

A Chan remained silent, and so did he, as if waiting for her answer.

Left with no choice, A Chan confessed, "I helped Commander Feng because I wanted to use his status to shield me from Xue Mingtang. You must know he still wants me dead and hasn’t given up."

Bai Xiuming pressed further, "Why were you at the West Market?"

"To buy spices." She pointed to the wooden stump in the corner, piled with spices and the sachet she had made. "I’ve studied incense blending before and thought I could make a living from it. So I went to buy some spices, only to stumble upon the Bright Mirror Bureau’s arrest."

"What a coincidence."

His tone made it clear he didn’t believe her.

A Chan finally realized—this man had come specifically because he suspected her connection to the Snow Needle Snake.

She thought with resignation. She had long since learned that this man was inflexible, trusting only his own judgment.

Arguing with him was pointless. Better to try a different tack.

"It was a coincidence, but I helped Commander Feng for another reason as well." A Chan’s alluring gaze settled on Bai Xiuming.

Bai Xiuming cocked his head slightly, as if waiting to hear her explanation.

"I figured that Sir Feng would inform you about today's events, and you might come looking for me."

"And then?"

"Then I’d have the chance to curry favor with you."

"Curry favor with me?" Bai Xiuming found it absurd. "What exactly do you plan to use to curry favor with me?"

Their gazes met, Bai Xiuming’s eyes deep and piercing, as if he could see right through A Chan. She averted her eyes and, in a moment of spur-of-the-moment inspiration, pointed uncertainly at the table. "That?"

Thirty coppers' worth of sincerity was already quite generous. Such a fragrant smoked chicken—half of it would have been enough to win her over. But Bai Xiuming’s eyes fell on the plate of pancakes.

He fell silent. In the capital, no end of people had tried to win his favor—with rare beasts, gold and jewels, or even stunning beauties. But this was the first time someone had attempted such an… unusual tactic: trying to impress him with terrible cooking.

"...You should keep your pancakes for yourself."

"What?" A Chan was bewildered.

Bai Xiuming ignored her and continued, "Don’t leave the capital recently. We may need your cooperation in the investigation."

"Rest assured, my lord." Where else could she go besides the capital?

"If I find out you’re involved in this case..." Bai Xiuming spoke slowly, each word deliberate, "your maternal grandfather’s family won't get off with just exile. I won't think twice about hauling them back and interrogate them again."

A Chan’s heart skipped a beat. Ji Chan only knew that her maternal grandfather’s family had committed some grave offense and were exiled overnight, but she had no idea what exactly had happened.

From Bai Xiuming’s tone, it seemed related to this case. And if it involved that mysterious snake, the matter was likely no small matter.

Moreover, so much time had passed since Ji Chan’s maternal grandfather’s family was exiled, yet the case was still under investigation.

"My lord must be joking. I really was just passing by."

"You'd better be."

Bai Xiuming turned to leave. He had only taken a few steps, his hand just touching the door, when a sweet, affected voice called from behind, "This is our second meeting, and I still don’t know your name."

Bai Xiuming: "You don’t need to know."

"Then at least tell me your surname?" A Chan pressed relentlessly.

"..."

"Am I not even worthy of knowing your surname?" Her voice carried a barely noticeable sob.

Affected, Bai Xiuming thought to himself. But before stepping over the threshold, he threw out a single word: "Bai."

Once the door was closed, A Chan let out a sigh of relief—finally, the jinx was gone.

Bai? More like black as his heart.

When you help someone, you'd expect at least some gratitude, but with him, she just got suspicion in return.

Bai Xiuming stepped into the deep night, the cold wind tugging at his robe's hem.

Not far away, Feng Yang, who had been waiting outside, approached. "My lord, the watch on the Zhao and Xue families has been set up."

"Assign two more men to keep an eye on her. See if the Lin family has been in touch with her."

"Yes."