Under everyone’s curious gaze, Duoduo calmly began sketching with a calligraphy brush.
Stroke by stroke, she worked with utmost seriousness.
It was as though she were not drawing a picture, but an actual cake.
The birthday celebrant’s round, plump face, festive clothes, and the enticing peach of longevity in his hand slowly took shape before everyone’s eyes.
“Wow…”
Someone let out an involuntary gasp.
“It looks delicious!” someone else said, unconsciously licking her lips.
Madam Li had initially been speaking in a low voice to her daughter-in-law, reminding her to prepare the finest return gifts for the princess and Madam Li later, so they would not appear discourteous.
But the astonished exclamations from the women of the household soon drew her attention.
Madam Li focused on the picture on the table.
The moment she saw it, she was stunned!
She suddenly felt that if she did not order this cake, she would regret it for the rest of her life!
Madam Li rubbed her eyes.
She could hardly believe what she was seeing.
By the time she opened her eyes again, Duoduo had finished the initial sketch.
She changed to another brush and began applying color to the picture.
Since Lüdou could only produce a limited range of colors at present, Duoduo used only the simplest shades of red, yellow, and white.
Even so, the birthday celebrant on the table gradually came to life.
Everyone watched as the image took shape before their eyes, stroke by stroke.
They were all dumbfounded.
When Duoduo finished coloring, the room fell completely silent.
The expression on everyone’s face was not one of awe, but delight.
It was the kind of happiness that seemed to rise straight from their hearts the moment they saw the picture!
They all had the same thought.
They wanted to take this birthday celebrant home!
Madam Li’s daughter-in-law was the first to recover.
With a respectful smile, she asked, “May I ask, Princess, would it be possible to leave this painting here?”
The others immediately showed regret.
Madam Li heard her daughter-in-law’s question and saw the expressions on the other women’s faces. She understood at once.
“Princess Changle, this painting of yours looks just like the real thing!”
“Simply looking at it makes this old woman want to kneel and kowtow!”
“If the cake could truly be made to look like this, I would enshrine it! I’d offer three sticks of incense to it every day!”
The other women of the household nodded and echoed her words.
Duoduo smiled until her eyes curved into crescents.
“We can’t make the cake look like this yet!”
“But if you don’t eat a cake after it’s made, it will spoil!”
Xu Jinxin also smiled and teased, “Exactly, Old Madam. Food is food, after all!”
“The whole point is to give everyone good fortune!”
“If you refuse to eat it, that would actually be disrespectful to the food!”
“If you truly feel bad about it, you could have a flower cake made instead!”
Xu Jinxin offered a way out.
After hearing her suggestion, Madam Li nodded approvingly.
“That’s an excellent idea!”
“Then we’ll make a flower cake!”
“Just imagining this living, breathing birthday celebrant being cut apart and eaten makes me uncomfortable!”
“It would make me feel like some old monster who only eats people!”
“What a sin! What a sin!”
Her humorous remark made everyone laugh.
Duoduo nodded.
“Good! Then we’ll make a flower cake instead!”
Xu Jinxin, however, fell into thought.
In the world she came from, elderly people often had birthday cakes made in the shape of the God of Longevity because it was considered auspicious and symbolized a long life.
But the people of this world feared all manner of gods and spirits.
It seemed that suggesting a birthday cake shaped like the God of Longevity had been a mistake.
Every era had its own taboos.
She would have to be more mindful of them in the future.
Duoduo tilted her little head. “Then I’ll draw another picture of a flower cake?”
Madam Li hurriedly waved her hands.
“Please don’t trouble yourself, Princess!”
“What if you draw a flower cake so beautifully that this old woman can’t wait to eat it immediately?”
“It would be better if you let someone make it when the time comes!”
“At least that will give me something to look forward to!”
Duoduo smiled and nodded. “All right!”
“Old Madam, once you see the flowers Princess draws, you won’t be able to bear eating them,” Yingniang quietly added from the side.
Madam Li paused.
She remembered that this little girl was Madam Li’s daughter.
Madam Li glanced at the birthday celebrant in the painting again. She felt that Yingniang was probably right.
Madam Li had just mustered up the courage to ask her question, and when Duoduo did not respond, she opened her mouth to continue.
Unexpectedly, Madam Li tugged at her sleeve.
How could the princess’s brushwork be handed over to just anyone?
Besides, Princess Changle’s painting was worth a fortune, to say nothing of a thousand taels of gold!
She understood that it was only because of her husband that Princess Changle was willing to be somewhat friendly with them.
Madam Li knew her place.
Madam Li looked at her mother-in-law in surprise, only to see the older woman give her a meaningful glance.
Madam Li lowered her head and did not dare say another word.
She vaguely realized that she had said something inappropriate.
The exchange between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law did not escape Xu Jinxin’s notice.
She did not speak up to smooth things over.
On this matter, she supported Duoduo’s own decision.
Duoduo had also noticed their movements.
She blinked, then put the painting away.
If she was going to give it to someone, she would naturally have to take it home and finish preparing it properly.
That way, it would not seem discourteous.
Duoduo saw the disappointment that unconsciously appeared on Madam Li’s face when she noticed the painting being put away.
Duoduo merely curved her lips into a faint smile and offered no explanation.
There were too many people here.
Besides, these women had not shown her enough respect at first.
If she offered the painting to Madam Li, what would she do if some shameless person among the guests asked for one as well?
Refuse?
That might embarrass Madam Li, after all, since she was the hostess who had invited them.
Agree?
She was a princess, not a portrait painter!
Why should she draw pictures for them?
The women who had regretted not speaking up sooner saw Duoduo put the painting away.
Smiles appeared on their faces.
That was simply human nature.
If one could not have something, one naturally did not want anyone else to have it either.
As long as nobody got it, everyone felt balanced!
Because of Duoduo’s painting, everyone immediately became interested in this new pastry called cake.
They crowded around Xu Jinxin, asking one after another about the cake’s price and flavor.
Xu Jinxin answered every lady and young miss with a warm smile.
However, since none of them had ever seen or tasted cake before, they were still waiting and watching.
Xu Jinxin was in no hurry.
The conditions here were limited, and cakes could not be mass-produced in the first place.
Neither the baking process nor the later refrigeration was feasible on a large scale.
Moreover, Xu Jinxin had set the price of the cakes very high.
A cake of ordinary size cost fifty taels of silver.
When Lüdou first heard the price, her eyes had nearly popped out of her head.
What kind of cake was this?
It was practically made of silver!
Xu Jinxin, however, was not worried in the slightest.
Her intended customers were the wealthy.
Madam Li had excellent connections among the capital’s upper circles. As long as she approved of the cakes, they would soon make their way into the social circles of the capital.
That was also why Xu Jinxin had agreed to arrange Madam Li’s residence at such a low price.
