Side Story 1: Mysterious Snack Shop

On the street behind the royal palace, there was a chef who had repeatedly turned down invitations from international restaurants. She ran a small shop there.

The prices of the dishes in the shop were highly arbitrary; the same dish could cost one hundred today and rise to one thousand tomorrow, even going up to ten thousand when the chef was in a bad mood. The dishes were also limited in supply, causing customers to grumble. Even so, many people still made reservations and waited.

The service there was terrible, as customers had to carry their own dishes and clean up their utensils. And the worst of it, they even had to wipe the tables! My god, the owner must have gone mad!

A diner put away his phone news and exclaimed to his companion, "So, do you know how amazing this restaurant is now?" However, his companion was too busy devouring the steamed buns on the table.

"Hey, wait a minute, save me a couple!" he urged.

"Boss, another basket of buns, please!" The diner shouted towards the entrance.

Standing at the entrance, Yan Wei, who had been looking forward to something in the direction of the palace, didn't turn her head, but instead replied, "No more buns!"

"How can you be like this? Can't you just jack up the price like before? Why won't you sell them at all?" The diner's voice was desperate.

"I just won't sell them, now hurry up and finish eating!" Yan Wei said impatiently.

The diner could only slowly enjoy the last basket of buns, sighing, "Oh, what a pity, she has such a pretty face, but her personality is too terrible."

Two tables of diners next to him seized the opportunity to ridicule him, "The boss is very gentle with her sweetheart, it's just that you're not good enough!"

"Hey, why do you guys talk like that!"

The three tables of diners began to argue.

Yan Wei, standing at the door, glanced at the time. It was almost ten o'clock, and there still hadn't been any movement from the palace, so she assumed that no one was coming.

Returning to the shop, she began to drive out the customers inside, "I'm closing the shop, finish eating quickly."

The three tables of diners didn't think much of it and hurriedly ate their breakfast.

After the diners left, Yan Wei rolled down the shutter door and prepared to lock up the shop.

At that moment, a familiar voice sounded behind her, "Closing up shop?"

Hearing the voice, Yan Wei's face turned brilliant, she twisted her head and saw Xia Yu walking towards her from the other side of the palace.

"I didn't think anyone was coming today." Yan Wei opened up the door again, smilingly inviting Xia Yu inside.

A slow-walking diner watched Yan Wei in disbelief. She had just chased everyone away, but now she claimed that no one was coming to eat!

After Xia Yu entered, Yan Wei hung a temporary suspension of business sign on the door.

She led Xia Yu to the second floor, where there was only one table. The floor-to-ceiling window facing the street let in excellent sunlight, giving the place a warm and tidy atmosphere.

"What would you like to eat today?" Yan Wei asked Xia Yu.

"The usual," he replied.

Yan Wei went downstairs and brought Xia Yu a bowl of dried noodle soup and a basket of soup dumplings.

Picking up his chopsticks, Xia Yu ate while marveling at how Yan Wei's cooking skills had improved yet again.

Halfway through his meal, Xia Yu saw Yan Wei carrying a small bamboo steamer up the stairs.

Yan Wei placed the steamer in front of Xia Yu, expectantly saying, "These are my new soup dumplings, give them a try."

Xia Yu curiously looked at the dumplings inside the steamer.

There were five baby palm-sized buns with a smooth, glossy surface, and one could vaguely see the soup flowing inside.

"What do you call these?" Xia Yu picked up a soup dumpling, and under the sunlight, it appeared even more translucent.

"White Jade Buns," Yan Wei urged, "Try them!"

Xia Yu took a bite, and when he bit down, it had the texture of a white jade dumpling; once in his mouth, it had the delicious taste of a soup dumpling.

There was also a bit of sweetness.

"Delicious!"

Hearing Xia Yu's praise, Yan Wei smiled, squinting her eyes.

Xia Yu quickly finished one dumpling and picked up the second one.

He bit it a little too eagerly this time, and the soup inside spilled out, reaching his neck.

Before Xia Yu could react, Yan Wei hurriedly came to him, bent down and removed her apron to wipe his neck.

Her palm touched Xia Yu's neck, tickling him. Lowering his gaze, Xia Yu wanted to tell Yan Wei this was not good, but he was distracted by the scene before him.

After removing her apron, Yan Wei was wearing an ordinary t-shirt, which easily revealed too much when she bent over.

Unaware of the situation, Yan Wei wiped Xia Yu's neck clean and looked up.

"Be more careful when eating," she said to Xia Yu.

Feeling guilty, Xia Yu absent-mindedly picked up the third white jade dumpling, trying to change the subject as he said, "This dumpling is so big."

As soon as he said it, he realized he had made a mistake.

Yan Wei looked at the white jade dumpling in confusion, not understanding how such a small dumpling could be considered big.

However, if Xia Yu said it was big, then it was big.

She continued to introduce the dish, "Not only is it big, but it's also very tender, right?"

Xia Yu looked at Yan Wei in astonishment and nodded awkwardly.

"If you smell it, you can smell the fragrance of glutinous rice," Yan Wei said happily. Nothing made her happier than receiving Xia Yu's approval.

"Oh," Xia Yu's gaze was a little unfocused.

"Because the skin is modified from white jade dumplings..." Yan Wei was about to continue introducing the dish, but her subconscious slowly began to catch on, telling her that something was off about their conversation.

It took her five seconds to understand the cause and effect, and Yan Wei's face immediately turned red.

Seeing Yan Wei's reaction, Xia Yu knew that his mistake had been exposed, so he lowered his head and pretended to be ignorant while eating the dumpling.

Yan Wei poured Xia Yu a cup of tea and sat down next to him.

After finishing their breakfast, Xia Yu got up to leave.

"If you want, I can make this for you every day," Yan Wei said with her head down.

Before Xia Yu could respond, she nervously raised her head to clarify, "I meant the white jade dumplings."

Xia Yu thought for a moment, sat back down in his chair, and looked into Yan Wei's eyes.

Back when he was in high school, Yan Wei would always hover around him and even confessed her feelings to him. Xia Yu thought that after so many years, Yan Wei would have forgotten those emotions, but he never expected that she would be so persistent.

This shop had already been open next to the palace for a year.

Xia Yu was not a heartless person; he noticed Yan Wei's persistence all along, and though he hadn't initially felt any romantic emotions towards her, as they spent this year together eating three meals a day, his feelings began to grow.

Reaching out his hand, he caressed Yan Wei's cheek.

Yan Wei nervously looked at Xia Yu.

"Just making white jade dumplings isn't enough," he said.