novelSusiti Chapter 133 Sugar Painting, a Big Dragon!
Chapter 133 Sugar Painting, a Big Dragon!
Chapter 133 Sugar Painting, a Big Dragon!
Winter days are short; before you know it, the sky is already getting dark.
The room in the backyard of the imperial kitchen, where the chimney had been modified, was so warm that it made you want to doze off.
Su Mu was leaning against the headboard, flipping through a tattered book in his hand.
There was a little fleshy lump wriggling around my leg.
"Brother—your mouth is bland!"
Little Sizi lay on Su Mu's lap, its eyes watery, looking utterly pitiful.
Su Mu closed the book and glanced at the little girl's mouth, which was missing several teeth.
"No way, your teeth are so brittle they're practically sieves. If you eat any more candy, your dad—your dad might just tear my stove apart."
The memory of eating candied hawthorns last time is still fresh in my mind; Li Shimin almost broke his teeth.
These past few days, Si Zi has started losing a lot of baby teeth, and Li Er has given a strict order that not even a sugar crumb is allowed in the Lizheng Hall!
The little girl pouted and tugged at Su Mu's clothes with her little hands.
"Just a tiny bit—can I just lick it a little bit?"
That soft, sweet voice, paired with those two big, bright eyes, could melt even the hardest heart.
Su Mu sighed and tossed the book aside.
"Okay, but this candy can't be chewed, you can only lick it, or—you can just look at it."
"It's okay to just look! It's sweet even just looking at it!"
Little Sizi's mood immediately brightened, and he bounced around on the kang (heated brick bed) a couple of times.
Su Mu got off the kang (a heated brick bed) and took out a large, polished bluestone slab from the cabinet.
Wash it clean, dry it, and apply a thin layer of rapeseed oil.
Set up the pot and start a fire.
No need for a big fire, just the embers left in the stove are enough.
A spoonful of cane sugar was poured into a small copper spoon and swayed over the tip of the flame.
The originally distinct sugar granules slowly melted, turning into a brownish syrup. A sweet, cloying aroma wafted with the steam, instantly filling the entire room.
Little Sizi knelt by the kang table, sniffing hard, his drool almost dripping onto the stone slab.
"Hold on."
Su Mu tapped her forehead with his chopsticks.
He flicked his wrist, and the copper spoon tilted slightly.
The golden sugar syrup dripped down the edge of the spoon, forming a thin line that landed on the bluestone slab and solidified instantly.
Su Mu's hands were extremely steady.
With a flick of the wrist, the sugar thread moved across the stone slab.
First, there was a majestic dragon head, its beard and hair bristling.
Next came the winding, coiling dragon body, its scales layered upon layer. Finally, with a sudden jerk of the spoon, a powerful dragon tail lashed out!
Before the candy hardened completely, Su Mu took a bamboo skewer and pressed it into the middle of the dragon's body.
With a gentle scoop, the shovel scoops up the soil.
A golden, translucent dragon was lifted into the sky.
"Wow--!"
The little ox opened its mouth wide, its eyes widening as big as copper bells.
Through the crystal-clear sugar painting, you can also see the light and shadow on the window paper behind it.
"This is a dragon duck! It's a yay!"
The little girl reached out to grab it.
"Don't move it, it's not completely cooled yet, be careful not to get a blister." Su Mu stuck the sugar painting into the bundle of straw that had been prepared next to him.
At that moment, the curtain was lifted.
Li Lizhi led Fang Qingjun in.
Fang Qingjun was carrying a food box in her hand, and her face was flushed from the cold wind outside.
"It smells so sweet."
As soon as Li Lizhi entered the room, she saw the golden dragon on the straw bundle. "Wow, even the Imperial Kitchen in the palace probably couldn't make this."
Fang Qingjun followed behind, placed the food box on the table, glanced at Su Mu with a slightly evasive look, and spoke in a voice barely audible.
"Young Master Su, my father said the dumplings last time were excellent, and asked me to send some homemade pastries as a return gift."
Su Mu didn't stand on ceremony and pointed to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).
"Sit down. Since you're here, play with this little troublemaker for a while."
He took out a round wooden plate from the side, which had twelve squares drawn on it, each square containing a zodiac animal image, and a rotating wooden needle nailed in the center.
"Just eating is boring, so draw whatever comes to mind."
Su Mu placed the turntable in the middle of the table.
Little Sizi was the first to try, and with a forceful flick of his little hand.
The wooden needle spun rapidly before finally coming to a slow stop in one of the squares.
A dragon with bared fangs and claws was drawn in that square.
"Wow! It's a dragon again!" Little Sizi clapped his hands with joy.
Su Mu didn't hesitate either. He boiled another spoonful of sugar, drew a smaller dragon in a few strokes, and handed it to her.
Li Lizhi fiddled with it with great interest.
The needle is pointing at a phoenix.
"What luck."
Su Mu raised an eyebrow. "It seems that Her Highness the Eldest Princess is destined to be a true phoenix."
With a flick of his wrist, a phoenix, its wings outstretched and ready to take flight, leaped onto the rock in an instant, its feathers full and its tail long.
Li Lizhi held the phoenix, so enamored with it that she couldn't bear to eat it.
It was Fang Qingjun's turn.
She reached out somewhat awkwardly and gently flicked it.
The wooden needle spun around a few times and stopped on a rabbit.
"rabbit?"
Fang Qingjun was stunned for a moment, then a blush spread across her face.
She happened to be born in the Year of the Rabbit, but then, after her zodiac sign was changed, Young Master Su painted her with sugar water—wasn't that just too...
"Rabbits are easy to draw."
Su Mu was about to pick up the spoon when he suddenly stopped.
He glanced at Xiao Sizi, who was staring intently at the syrup in the pot, and then at Fang Qingjun, who was still somewhat reserved.
"Sizi, you hold the spoon handle, let's draw a big rabbit for Sister Fang together."
"Okay, okay!"
Little Sizi immediately climbed off the kang (a heated brick bed) and snuggled into Su Mu's arms.
Su Mu's large hand enveloped the chubby little hand and grasped the copper spoon.
He lowered his head slightly, his chin almost touching the top of the little girl's head.
The two people, one big and one small, stared intently at the stone slab.
The sugar syrup flowed.
It has two long ears, a round body, and a pitifully short little tail.
Fang Qingjun sat opposite, watching this scene.
Su Mu looked relaxed, with a faint smile on his lips.
He held Xiao Sizi's hand gently and patiently, completely unlike his usual rebellious and unruly nature.
The warm winter sun shone through the window and fell on his profile, giving him a fuzzy golden edge.
Fang Qingjun's heart skipped a beat.
This scene is so heartwarming, so much like the daily life of ordinary people.
"alright."
Su Mu released his grip, picked up the chubby rabbit sugar painting, and handed it to Fang Qingjun.
"Take it."
Fang Qingjun snapped out of her daze and hurriedly reached out to take it. Her fingertips accidentally touched Su Mu's fingers, which burned her, causing her to flinch.
Li Lizhi took in all of this from the side, a meaningful smile playing on her lips.
She leaned closer to Su Mu and whispered, "Just drawing rabbits isn't enough, aren't you going to give me some kind of prize?"
Su Mu glanced at her, then scooped up another spoonful of syrup with the copper spoon in his hand.
This time, the turntable wasn't used.
He sketched the blank space on the stone slab with flowing strokes.
Two slender flower stems intertwine, and at the top bloom two twin lotus flowers, their petals unfurling, lifelike.
"Give."
Su Mu handed the twin lotus flowers to Fang Qingjun, saying, "That rabbit was too ugly, so this girl drew it. This one is mine, and here's your box of pastries back."
Fang Qingjun looked at the two lotus flowers nestled together, and her face flushed red to the roots of her ears.
Twin lotus flowers —
The implication is—
She lowered her head and took the sugar painting, not daring to look Su Mu in the eye. She felt the sugar painting in her hand was frighteningly hot, and her heart was burning as well.