Housekeeper of the Hundred Blossom Palace

Chapter 118: Worrying with a Manju in One Hand

Eh, but arent you glad with that? The more your patrons drink, the better it is for your business, aint it?

General Li half teasingly remarked. The pub owner scratched his head, replying true enough if you put it that way.

Still, its a pity for the wine to be drunk like that. Wine is also painstakingly created to be enjoyed, no?

The pub owner uttered those words with sadness before heaving a sigh. He then continued on.

But then, he will just leave and drink somewhere else if we nag him. Our pub is still a business, so theres no way we can tell him that were not going to sell any more liquor to him. And so, when he first came to us from another pub, we gave him a strong one to make him sleep faster.

So thats what happened.

Yui Mei felt inexplicable when she learned the backstory of Mings drunkenness last night.

This person must have been worried about Ming whenever he wasted himself in booze.

Ahh, sorry, I made the mood gloomy.

The pub owner laughed brightly when he noticed that Yui Mei looked dejected.

Nah, its fine, its just like you said. Also makes one want to stop folks from drinking if they cant drink wine appreciatively.

General Li agreed with him, and Yui Mei also nodded her head.

Thats right! If I see someone eating my beloved manju with a sour face like its something disgusting, it will also make me want to yell dont eat it for the rest of your life! to that person!

Yui Mei declared, and the pub owner happily laughed.

Yeah, yeah, I also hope that that guest will also understand this feeling, ah.

The pub owner replied, then he suddenly clapped his hands, saying Oh, right.

Speaking of manju, the shop straight ahead sells delicious manju, so Ive heard.

Ooohh!

Yui Meis interest was piqued when she heard his recommendation. She wanted to check it out.

And so, Yui Mei and General Li headed towards the aforementioned store after parting with the pub owner.

Ah, that must be it?

Yui Mei pointed to a crowded store.

Hoh, rumors must be true that its delicious seeing how many people gathered there?

General Li seemed interested, too, so both of them lined up in front of the store.

Welcome, these are todays manju!

Yellow manju were displayed in front of the lively shopkeeper.

Is something kneaded into it?

Yup.

Yui Mei asked, and the shopkeeper nodded his head.

I kneaded some gourd into it.

Gourd, huh..

Even though he said it was gourd, that plant had a lot of varieties.

Yui Mei was curious about the taste, so she bit into the manju.

She immediately recognized it with a single bite.

This taste, its definitely squash!

Indeed, squash, as it was called in her previous world, was kneaded into this manju.

There were several kinds of gourds that resembled squash in this world, but they were often eaten for their seeds, not their fruits.

And yet, here it was, a rare kind of manju with squash in it.

She could really taste the flavor of squash, and it was quite tasty.

This is the gourd harvested in the south, right? Isnt it unusual to use the fruit instead of the seeds?

Wow, you know a lot about it.

The shopkeeper widened his eyes as he answered Yui Meis question.

Yep, youre right. Getting only the seeds and throwing the rest of the fruit seem wasteful, and I thought that maybe its edible, so I tried a few things until it turned out like this.

It was a magnificent trial and error experiment. Yui Mei wished he would continue on until he developed dishes made from squash.

Yui Mei also loved pies and puddings made from squash in her previous life.

When Yui Meis belly was finally bulging with all those manju, she started to think anew.

Still, seems like my moms the catalyst, huh.

Yui Mei didnt know anything about her mother aside from the nuns stories about her, so she didnt have a concrete idea about what really happened.

Additional information had been trickling to her recently, but the general gist still remained the same.

However, now that it had come to this, Yui Mei had that feeling of wanting to know no, it was as if there was the urge to know what kind of life her mother led inside the Inner Palace.

At the very least, she wanted to know what Ming was worrying about when he desperately apologized while calling her mothers name.

If her mother was the reason why Ming turned to alcohol as a form of escapism, then she should help him all the more.

It would only make her depressed if she didnt do that..

Hmmm, who on earth can I consult about this..

Yui Mei mumbled, then she sank her teeth on the manju again while wearing a bothered expression all the while. General Li looked amused as he stared at her.

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T/N: Just taking a moment to appreciate how down to earth this Bear General is, coz I forgot to comment that in the earlier chaps ? Big Uncle Bear ?